The Sunday sermon I didn't hear.

[Imalittleteapot]

I don't attend this church. I do Sundays in the garden.

A friend asked me to read Dr. Coglazier's sermon from last Sunday. His words are thoughtful and surely inspired his Fort Worth parish.

Enjoy.

Sermon: "A New Year, A New You--Caring for the Mind"

http://www.universitychristianchurch.org/templates/cusucc/details.asp?id=24656&fetch=9314

[Cheswick2.0]

1. I like this part particularly

I always tell people that God gave us brains so we would ues them. Not everything in the bible is Gospel.




In other words, it’s not enough to say “I feel it!” It’s not enough to say, “The church believes it!” It’s not enough to say, “The minister said it!” It’s not enough to say, “I’ve always believed it.” It’s not enough to say, “I learned it in seminary!” It’s not enough even to say “It’s in the Bible!” Part of the gift of our humanity, that is to say, part of the gift God has given each of us is the opportunity to use our minds. But let me say it even more strongly: we love God, we honor Christ by using our intelligence, by asking our deepest questions, and by searching for truth wherever it might lead us. What would it mean for you – this year – to renew your mind?

One of the big challenges we face as a society is that we continue to dumb down our culture. It’s everywhere, this dumbing down of life. Television. Movies. Books. Music. Education. Church. It’s the decline of using our intellect; it’s the selling out for the simplistic answer rather than lingering with the complex question. It’s going for the quick pleasure rather than the marathon of exploration. How odd it is when people who want to think and explore issues at an intellectual level are often labeled today as “elitists.” Have you heard that over the last few years? Or they’re thought of as intellectual snobs. Look, there’s nothing attractive about being an intellectual snob, that kind of arrogance does no one any good at all. But I also want to suggest that most of us don’t even come close to having that problem. If anything, we need to find better ways of nurturing our minds and feeding our intellect and using our brains, especially when it comes to our faith.