On Sunday, January 12th, 2020 The first person I baptized was Adam Prouty on Easter Sunday of 1993. He was, in many ways, an average 8th grade boy. My preparation of him for baptism was enjoyable, as he was endlessly curious and enthusiastic. The church I served at that time had a baptistry that was built for full immersion baptisms. It was…
First Presbyterian Church of Urbana, a Member Church of the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. and More Light Presbyterians
First Presbyterian Church of Urbana, a Member Church of the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. and More Light Presbyterians
Epiphany
Sunday, February 24th, 2019 by David Oliver-Holder Loving your enemies has always been a radical idea. We see that very plainly in the scene from Genesis. Long before Joseph’s brothers had wanted to kill him, for many reasons, some not altogether bad. Joseph was primarily a spoiled brat. He was daddy’s favorite. They had to…
Sunday, February 17th, 2019 by David Oliver-Holder What would a dream-come-true look like for you? Landing the best of all jobs? Seeing the Illini win a national championship? Would riches be a dream come true? I believe many would say so. John Rockefeller defined riches as “A gift from Heaven signifying, ‘This is my beloved…
Sunday, February 3rd, 2019 by David Oliver-Holder Have you ever found yourself thinking abo ut your life, only to say suddenly, “How in the world did I end up here?” Many, maybe even all, of God’s faithful saints must have asked themselves this question. For God works in mysterious ways, we say, and we often see the evidence of that in our…
Delivered on Sunday, January 27th, 2019 by David Oliver-Holder Next Sunday, this congregation held its annual meeting of the corp. Like most congregations, and all Presbyterian ones, we meet annually to report on the fiscal aspects of the past year. This church has done this, I would assume, just about every year since its founding in 1856. And I anticipate that it…
Delivered on Sunday, January 20th, 2019 By David Oliver-Holder A wedding ceremony as the symbol of God’s grace, as an image of what God wants to happen in the word, as the scene of an epiphany, a revelation of God. It’s almost too much to be believed. Someone has written that “Weddings are accidents waiting to happen.”[i] I have not yet seen,…
Delivered on Sunday, January 6th, 2019 By David Oliver-Holder I greet you all in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Happy New Year! Although Christians have already begun our new liturgical year with the First Sunday of Advent, for many folks the first of January marks an important turning point. Some of us watched the ball drop in New…