Placentia Presbyterian Church

A message by
Rev. F. David Throop, Pastor
August 24, 2008

Scripture: Colossians 4:2-18

A message by
Rev. T. Franklin Harmon
Associate Pastor
August 17, 2008

 
I can see it now, glimpses of Michael Jordan making the game winning shot.  He is jumping in the air and pumping his arm in celebration, while in the background you hear the chorus, “I want to be, I want to be, I want to be like Mike, like Mike if I could be like Mike.” And now during the Olympics that theme is, “One World, One Dream.”  We all come from different parts of the world, but our common dream is to be an Olympic athlete and win gold.  

I don’t know if it is just me, but anyone who is good in their sport gets compared to Tiger Woods.  During his quest for eight gold medals, Michael Phelps is constantly referred to as the Tiger Woods of swimming.  We cannot avoid it, from magazines, to billboards, to the television that we watch, we are constantly being told who and what we should be like, including Phelps, someone who has done something that no one else has ever done.

A message by
Rev. T. Franklin Harmon
Associate Pastor
August 10, 2008

 
“Do you take this man to be your husband, promising to live together with him according to God’s purpose in holy marriage?  Will you pledge your faithfulness to Him, and cherish him in all faith and tenderness, and forsaking all others, will you keep Him only unto yourself, so long as you both shall live?

Now please repeat after me, I, (your name), take you, to be my wife, and I do promise and covenant, before God and these witnesses, to be your loving and faithful husband, to have and to hold you, from this day forward, in plenty and in want, in sickness and in health, in joy and in sorrow, to love you and to cherish you, according to God’s holy purpose, so long as we both shall live, and, in this commitment, I entrust you with my life.”

These words should be familiar to everyone, and many of you have said words very similar to these, in your own marriage service.  Wedding vows are something that every man and women say to their spouse as a pledge and covenant in marriage.  In wedding vows we pledge to be loving and faithful, in the good times as well as the bad, when one spouse is sick or healthy, so long as we both shall live.  A marriage commitment is not something that should not be done lightly for when we hold true to our vows, it is a life long commitment. 

A message by
Rev. T. Franklin Harmon
Associate Pastor
August 3, 2008

As we get started this morning , I want to take a quick survey. How many of you have heard of Itunes? Iphone? Ipod? How many of you own or use Itunes or an Ipod? Since Apple introduced “I” into our vocabulary, we cannot escape it. Doing a quick internet search, I found Isafe, an internet safety site, IEarn, Ivillage, and Itools. And I have a friend who works in a church that has Igroups, the name of their Bible studies.

A message by
Rev. F. David Throop, Pastor
July 20, 2008

Scripture: Colossians 3:18-4:1

Please pray with me:

Loving and gracious God, we so often think and refer to ourselves as a church family. We talk about ourselves as Christ’s family and as Your family. But are we, really? Dear Lord, during these moments, if there is anything we need to learn anew about being a member of Your family, help us to hear it, to learn it, and then to do it. In Christ’s name we pray. Amen.

So now, you wives who are present here this morning, just what is your take on what we just shared, “Wives,” Paul writes, “submit to your husbands . . .” Are you wives okay with these words? Or, would you like to say, “Yah, right!” Taken alone, one thing is for certain: I don’t believe Paul would ever have won an election with this kind of advice to the wives of this culture.

A message by
Rev. F. David Throop, Pastor
July 13, 2008

Scripture: Colossians 3:12-17

Please pray with me:

Loving and gracious God, help us always to understand that being a follower of Christ should make a difference not only in us but also for those around us. As we have been raised with Christ, help each one of us to live lives which truly reflect Christ, in whose strong name we pray. Amen.

Last week during these moments, we talked about the “Garbage Barge of the East,” if you will recall. It was a barge laden with some 3,186 tons of raw garbage from Queens, New York, and it’s intended drop off point was the garbage dump landfill at Islip on Long Island. However, due to the fact that the garbage dump was now full, the garbage barge was turned away, thus beginning what turned out to be a five-month, 6,000 mile journey covering most of our country’s eastern and then gulf coastal states, including as well the countries of Mexico and Honduras and the Bahamas as it attempted to find a place, any place, to dump its load of garbage. Due to improper permits, along with the simple refusal for these seven states and three countries to refuse this boat load of garbage, the “Garbage Barge of the East” as it became known, eventually returned to Long Island, still laden with its load of 3,186 tons of garbage, garbage which was eventually incinerated and then deposited at its original point of destination — the Islip, Long Island dump. We noted that what had been generated in the Big Apple finally returned home.

A message by
Rev. F. David Throop, Pastor
July 6, 2008

Scripture: Colossians 3:1-11

Please pray with me:

Loving and gracious God, as scripture speaks of our hearts it speaks of our passions, and as it speaks of our passions, it speaks of what interests us the very most. In every direction we turn, we know that we live in a world wanting our hearts, indeed our passions. But as those who have been raised with Christ, help us somehow every day to place our hearts, indeed our passions, with Christ Jesus, in whose strong name we pray. Amen.

Before we get started today, let me preface my sermon by saying this sermon was intended to be given last week which was Father’s Day as well as the celebration of the baptism of Oliver Eugene Ernest, but because of an emergency during worship (everything is fine now, Jim is home, and everything looks good) I was unable to give this sermon. So…

A message by
Rev. F. David Throop, Pastor
June 8, 2008

Scripture: Colossians 2:6-23

Please pray with me:Loving and gracious God, as we have received Christ Jesus as Lord, help us to do as scripture reminds us — help us to live in him. Free us from the ways of the world so that our lives will truly grow in Jesus Christ, in whose strong name we pray. Amen.

When our family moved here a number of years ago, I was introduced to a term which has been helpful to remember, at least periodically. While I wish I had learned the term in seminary, it was about seven years following my graduation that someone told me about the “K.I.S.S.” method or system of doing things. K.I.S.S. is an acronym, and as some or many of you know, it stands for “Keep It Simple, Stupid.” The scripture in front of us is fairly lengthy, far too lengthy to detail in the very limited time in front of us. And so, as I have shared on recent Sundays, recognizing that most of these words will have been long forgotten by the time you return home this noon, or maybe even get to your cars (!), I will employ the K.I.S.S. method. I am going to “keep it simple,” not because any of us are stupid, but because sometimes, simpler is better, and always because our lives matter deeply.