The Kiski Weekly - September 20, 2026

 Below is last week's edition of The Kiski Weekly, the newsletter of the Presbytery of Kiskiminetas. 

The Sligo Presbyterian Church Celebration Service - Sunday, September 27, 2026

On Sunday, September 27, Brenda Haws led our worship service. She used Ezekiel 18:1-4, 25-32 and Philippians 2:1-13, and her sermon title was "Life On the Other Side of Surrender." A video of the service and the passages are below.

You can stream the service by going to the Sligo Presbyterian Church YouTube Channel on Sundays at 10:00 a.m. (EDT).  You can hear a podcast of the service at the Sligo Presbyterian Church YouTube Channel or the Sligo Presbyterian Spotify Page.

Ezekiel 18:1-4, 25-32 [New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition]

The word of the Lord came to me: What do you mean by repeating this proverb concerning the land of Israel, “The parents have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge”? As I live, says the Lord God, this proverb shall no more be used by you in Israel. Know that all lives are mine; the life of the parent as well as the life of the child is mine: it is only the person who sins who shall die.

Yet you say, “The way of the Lord is unfair.” Hear now, O house of Israel: Is my way unfair? Is it not your ways that are unfair? When the righteous turn away from their righteousness and commit iniquity, they shall die for it; for the iniquity that they have committed, they shall die. Again, when the wicked turn away from the wickedness they have committed and do what is lawful and right, they shall save their life. Because they considered and turned away from all the transgressions that they had committed, they shall surely live; they shall not die. Yet the house of Israel says, “The way of the Lord is unfair.” O house of Israel, are my ways unfair? Is it not your ways that are unfair?

Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, all of you according to your ways, says the Lord God. Repent and turn from all your transgressions; otherwise iniquity will be your ruin. Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed against me, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Why will you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, says the Lord God. Turn, then, and live.

Philippians 2:1-13 [New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition]

If, then, there is any comfort in Christ, any consolation from love, any partnership in the Spirit, any tender affection and sympathy, make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or empty conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,

who, though he existed in the form of God,
    did not regard equality with God
    as something to be grasped,
but emptied himself,
    taking the form of a slave,
    assuming human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a human,
    he humbled himself
    and became obedient to the point of death—
    even death on a cross.

Therefore God exalted him even more highly
    and gave him the name
    that is above every other name,
so that at the name given to Jesus
    every knee should bend,
    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue should confess
    that Jesus Christ is Lord,
    to the glory of God the Father.

Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence but much more now in my absence, work on your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

The Sligo Presbyterian Church Celebration Service - Sunday, September 20, 2026

Jesus reframes the ten commandments from a list of external rules into matters of the heart. He taught that true righteousness is not merely about avoiding bad actions, but about harboring pure thoughts and actively demonstrating love for God and humanity. During the months of July, August and September, we’ll consider the Ten Commandments Through the Eyes of Jesus, focusing on the following topics: 

• July 5 - The Ultimate Summary
• July 12 - No Other Gods
• July 19- No Idols
• July 26 - Do Not Take God's Name in Vain
• August 9 - Keep the Sabbath Holy
• August 16 - Honor Your Father and Mother
• August 23 - Do Not Murder
• August 30 - Do Not Commit Adultery
• September 6 - Do Not Steal
• September 13 - Do Not Bear False Witness
• September 20 - Do Not Covet

On Sunday, September 20, we discussed the Tenth Commandment: Do not desire to possess anything that belongs to another person—not a house, a wife, a husband, a slave, an ox, a donkey, or anything else. [Exodus 20:17, CEV] Below is a video of the service, a presentation of the sermon, and the bulletin & program for the service. You can stream the service by going to the Sligo Presbyterian Church YouTube Channel on Sundays at 10:00 a.m. (EDT).  You can hear a podcast of the service at the Sligo Presbyterian Church YouTube Channel or the Sligo Presbyterian Spotify Page.

Sunday's Message (The 10 Commandments Through the Eyes of Jesus: Do Not Covet)

Jesus reframes the ten commandments from a list of external rules into matters of the heart. He taught that true righteousness is not merely about avoiding bad actions, but about harboring pure thoughts and actively demonstrating love for God and humanity. During the months of July, August and September, we're considering the Ten Commandments Through the Eyes of Jesus, focusing on the following topics: 

• July 5 - The Ultimate Summary
• July 12 - No Other Gods
• July 19- No Idols
• July 26 - Do Not Take God's Name in Vain
• August 9 - Keep the Sabbath Holy
• August 16 - Honor Your Father and Mother
• August 23 - Do Not Murder 
• August 30 - Do Not Commit Adultery
• September 6 - Do Not Steal
• September 13 - Do Not Bear False Witness
• September 20 - Do Not Covet

On Sunday, September 20, we discussed the Tenth Commandment: Do not desire to possess anything that belongs to another person—not a house, a wife, a husband, a slave, an ox, a donkey, or anything else. [Exodus 20:17, CEV] Below is the text and a video presentation of the sermon. You can stream the service by going to the Sligo Presbyterian Church YouTube Channel on Sundays at 10:00 a.m. (EDT).  You can hear a podcast of the service at the Sligo Presbyterian Church YouTube Channel or the Sligo Presbyterian Spotify Page.

Well, this morning we come to the end of our sermon series dealing with the Ten Commandments through the eyes of Jesus, something we kicked off by considering how Christ took these laws and fulfilled them and radicalized them and reduced the ten to two:

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. This is the first and most important commandment. The second most important commandment is like this one. And it is, “Love others as much as you love yourself. [Matthew 22:37b-39, CEV]

And then, as y’all recall, we talked about the first nine:

Do not worship any god except me. [Exodus 20:3, CEV]

Do not make idols that look like anything in the sky or on earth or in the ocean under the earth. Don’t bow down and worship idols. I am the Lord your God, and I demand all your love. If you reject me, I will punish your families for three or four generations. But if you love me and obey my laws, I will be kind to your families for thousands of generations. [Exodus 20:4-6, CEV]

Do not misuse my name. I am the Lord your God, and I will punish anyone who misuses my name.  [Exodus 20:7, CEV]

Remember that the Sabbath Day belongs to me. You have six days when you can do your work, but the seventh day of each week belongs to me, your God. No one is to work on that day—not you, your children, your slaves, your animals, or the foreigners who live in your towns. In six days I made the sky, the earth, the oceans, and everything in them, but on the seventh day I rested. That’s why I made the Sabbath a special day that belongs to me.  [Exodus 20:8-11, CEV]

Respect your father and your mother, and you will live a long time in the land I am giving you.  [Exodus 20:12, CEV]

Do not murder.  [Exodus 20:13, CEV]

Do not commit adultery.  [Exodus 20:14, NRSVUE] Be faithful in marriage. [Exodus 20:14, CEV]

Do not steal. [Exodus 20:15, CEV]

And do not tell lies about others. [Exodus 20:16, CEV]

Now that’s what we’ve already covered, which means this morning, we’ve reached number ten:

Do not desire to possess anything that belongs to another person—not a house, a wife, a husband, a slave, an ox, a donkey, or anything else. [Exodus 20:17, CEV]

And I’ve got to tell you, when compared to the first nine, I think this one is the most challenging one of all, and I say that for two reasons. I mean, for one, even if we accept that the fancy sounding word “covet” really means wanting to possess or to own something that belongs to someone else, I don’t know about y’all, but this would seem to be virtually impossible for normal people, you know like us to do, not without a whole bunch of loopholes. My gosh, does that mean I can never look at anything that doesn’t already belong to me and say, “Ghee, I’d sure like to own one of those”? Now, for me, that’s one problem. And two, Jesus never really mentions this particular commandment. You see, while he talked about murder, adultery, stealing, and lying, outside of what he said about lust, he never really talked about this desire to possess what belongs to someone else. And I’ll tell you, that makes this commandment really challenging to understand much less apply, at least it does for me.

But you know, even though Jesus didn’t including coveting in any list, he did talk about greed and how that can cause all kinds of trouble, something we can see in this exchange between Jesus and a guy looking for a favor:

A man in a crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, tell my brother to give me my share of what our father left us when he died.”

Jesus answered, “Who gave me the right to settle arguments between you and your brother?”

Then he said to the crowd, “Don’t be greedy! Owning a lot of things won’t make your life safe.” [Luke 12:13-15, CEV]

Now that’s what Jesus said, and this morning we’re going to use it to understand and apply the tenth commandment. In other words, for the rest of this message, we’re going to consider three things Jesus talked about that might help us reduce our greed and to covet a little less.

For example, according to what we see in the Gospels, if we want to covet less, first, I think we need to be focused in our appreciation. In other words, it’s important for us to recognize that, regardless of what we think or want to be believe, God is the one who provides what we need. It’s like what Jesus taught his disciples. After describing how God cares for birds and wildflowers, Jesus said this:

Don’t worry and ask yourselves, “Will we have anything to eat? Will we have anything to drink? Will we have any clothes to wear?” Only people who don’t know God are always worrying about such things. Your Father in heaven knows you need all of these. But more than anything else, put God’s work first and do what he wants. Then the other things will be yours as well.

Don’t worry about tomorrow. It will take care of itself. You have enough to worry about today. [Matthew 6:31-34, CEV]

You see, we might be a little less greedy for what we want when we’re a little more appreciative of what we already have and a little more focused on the one who gave it. 

And I’ll tell you, I think this is something we can do when we intentionally thank God for what he’s done. For example, suppose we decided to say right out loud how thankful we are for all those things that are easy to take for granted, you know, like food and shelter, family and friends, community and church. And suppose we decided to fight the temptation to gripe and complain and instead to express just how grateful we are that, despite whatever problems we might be facing, God is with us, and as Paul reminded the Romans, that “nothing in all creation can separate us from God’s love for us in Christ Jesus our Lord!” [Romans 8:39b, CEV] As a matter of fact, suppose we decided to start our prayers not with a confession or a request, but rather with a simple word of appreciation. I’m telling you, doing this kind of thing could actually reshape our wants and desires. You see, if we want to covet less, first, we need to be focused in our appreciation.

But that’s not all, because, second, according to what Jesus taught, I think we also need to be content with our possessions. I mean, if I’m satisfied with what I have, there’s a better than even chance I’m not going to lust for more. It’s like that story Jesus told right after he said to the crowd, “Don’t be greedy! Owning a lot of things won’t make your life safe.” [Luke 12:15b, CEV] Just listen:

So Jesus told them this story:

A rich man’s farm produced a big crop, and he said to himself, “What can I do? I don’t have a place large enough to store everything.”

Later, he said, “Now I know what I’ll do. I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones, where I can store all my grain and other goods. Then I’ll say to myself, ‘You have stored up enough good things to last for years to come. Live it up! Eat, drink, and enjoy yourself.’”

But God said to him, “You fool! Tonight you will die. Then who will get what you have stored up?”

“This is what happens to people who store up everything for themselves, but are poor in the sight of God.” [Luke 12:1-21, CEV]

You see, for Jesus, genuine contentment doesn’t come by getting more. It comes by changing how we see what we’ve got. I mean, suppose we intentionally decided to see what we have as enough. In other words, suppose we decided that, if we’ve got food on the table and a roof over our head and that if we’ve got some people in our lives who care more about who we are than what we have and that if we’ve been placed in a community and led into a church where we can engage with others and grow into the men and women we were called and created to be, well, if all that’s true, we really don’t need anymore, do we? As a matter of fact, if more should enter our lives, suppose we decided to see this extra as a tool to be used rather than a windfall to be exploited. Now, if this is what we decide to do, we can prove that the writer of the Proverbs was actually wrong when he said, “Death and the grave are never satisfied, and neither are humans.” [Proverbs 27:20, CEV] You see, if we want to covet less, second, we need to be content with our possessions.

But you know, even though that’s important, I think there’s still one thing missing. I mean, although I believe it’s important to be focused in our appreciation and content with our possession, according to Jesus, if we want to covet less, third, we need to be aggressive in our giving. And when I say aggressive, that’s exactly what I mean. There’s an old saying, “God loves a cheerful giver, but he’ll accept money from grouches.” Well, somehow I can’t see a grouch giving anything more than the minimum, as a matter of fact, nothing close to what Jesus had in mind when he said this:

If you lend money only to someone you think will pay you back, will God be pleased with you for that? Even sinners lend to sinners because they think they will get it all back.

But love your enemies and be good to them. Lend without expecting to be paid back. Then you will get a great reward, and you will be the true children of God in heaven. He is good even to people who are unthankful and cruel. [Luke 6:34-35, CEV]

In my opinion, we’ll be less obsessed about what’s coming in when our attention is on what’s going out. And suppose as individuals and a church, we decided to adopt the mind-set that “more blessings come from giving than from receiving.” [Acts 20:35b, CEV] And suppose we decided to give without expecting to get anything in return. As a matter of fact, suppose we decided to live as though we really believe Jesus when he said this:

When the Son of Man comes in his glory with all his angels, he will sit on his royal throne. The people of all nations will be brought before him, and he will separate them, as shepherds separate their sheep from their goats.

He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right, “My father has blessed you! Come and receive the kingdom that was prepared for you before the world was created. When I was hungry, you gave me something to eat, and when I was thirsty, you gave me something to drink. When I was a stranger, you welcomed me, and when I was naked, you gave me clothes to wear. When I was sick, you took care of me, and when I was in jail, you visited me.”

Then the ones who pleased the Lord will ask, “When did we give you something to eat or drink? When did we welcome you as a stranger or give you clothes to wear or visit you while you were sick or in jail?”

The king will answer, “Whenever you did it for any of my people, no matter how unimportant they seemed, you did it for me.” [Matthew 25:31-40, CEV]

I’ll tell you, when that’s our mind set, when that’s our mission, when that reflects our generosity, I believe we’ll covet a lot less, because, third, we’ll be aggressive in our giving.

And now we’re done. We’ve looked at the Ten Commandments through the eyes of Jesus. And so, I think we’ve got a pretty good idea about how to live. I mean, as we relate to God, we know to focus our attention on him and to resist idolatry in whatever form it comes, to be honest and humble in using his name and to honor his Sabbath. And as we relate to one another, we know that along with honoring our parents, we should control those feelings that might lead to murder or to adultery, to theft or to lying. And as we discussed this morning, the way to covet less is to be focused in our appreciation and content with our possessions and aggressive in our giving. You see, thanks to viewing the Ten Commandments through the Eyes of Jesus, right now, we know all this. But of course, there’s still one thing of which we really can’t be sure. In light of everything we now know, what are we going to do about it? 

Bible Readings for September 19, 2026

Study, Learn and Grow: Bible Readings for September 19, 2026:   Let's read the Bible together in the next year. Today, our passages are Isaiah 30:12–33:12; Galatians 5:1-12; Psalm 63:1-11; and Pr...

The SPC Kindness Kids Remember Grandparents Day

Over two Sundays, the Sligo Presbyterian Church Kindness Kids remembered Grandparents Day. On Sunday, September 6, they made special cards for their grandparents. And on Sunday, September 13, they offered the congregation a special reception. We thank Debbie Rudiger for leading our Kindness Kids and our young people for their dedication

Below are some pictures of this activity. The SPC Kindness Kids meet every Sunday morning during the Sligo Presbyterian worship service. 

Mission Yearbook: Author discusses ‘Sacred Curiosity’

Witness, Share and Evangelize: Mission Yearbook: Author discusses ‘Sacred Curiosity’: Image Britney Winn Lee (photo courtesy of Britney Winn Lee) Author Britney Winn Lee literally wrote the book on sacred curiosity, and she ha...