Thursday, February 12, 2026

Mission Yearbook: Presbyterians join with Church World Service partners to fight hunger

Witness, Share and Evangelize: Mission Yearbook: Presbyterians join with Church W...: The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has endorsed a statement from  Church World Service  — and 16 CWS partners — calling for a renewed effort t...
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Wednesday, February 11, 2026

Mission Yearbook: Congregations get help thriving from Presbytery of the Inland Northwest

Witness, Share and Evangelize: Mission Yearbook: Congregations get help thriving ...: Image The Rev. Dr. Alyssa Bell (left), Pastor of Emmanuel Presbyterian Church in Spokane, Washington leads with Mark Elsdon of Rooted Good. ...
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Mission Yearbook: Service urges good care of Creation

Witness, Share and Evangelize: Mission Yearbook: Service urges good care of Creation: Image Photo by Emilia Morariu via Unsplash The title and lyrics of the gentle hymn “ Touch the Earth Lightly ” (Glory to God #713) served as...
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On the Road from Jerusalem: A Study of Acts (The New Kid Takes the Stage - Acts 13:1-52)

In our Wednesday morning Bible study, we're using the Acts of the Apostles to discuss the growth of the earlier church from its birth in the city of Jerusalem to Paul’s arrival in Rome. During our time together, we’ll look at the following:

In our fourteenth session, we looked at Acts 13:1-52 and discussed Paul's commission to share the gospel to the ends of the earth. The discussion and passage are below.



Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a childhood friend of Herod the ruler, and Saul. While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.

So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. And they had John also to assist them. When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they met a certain magician, a Jewish false prophet, named Bar-Jesus. He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man who summoned Barnabas and Saul and wanted to hear the word of God. But the magician Elymas (for that is the translation of his name) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul away from the faith. But Saul, also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him and said, “You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord? And now listen—the hand of the Lord is against you, and you will be blind for a while, unable to see the sun.” Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he fumbled about for someone to lead him by the hand. When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was astonished at the teaching about the Lord.

Then Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. John, however, left them and returned to Jerusalem, but they went on from Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia. And on the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down. After the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the officials of the synagogue sent them a message, saying, “Brothers, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, give it.” So Paul stood up and with a gesture began to speak:

“Fellow Israelites and others who fear God, listen. The God of this people Israel chose our ancestors and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with uplifted arm he led them out of it. For about forty years he put up with them in the wilderness. After he had destroyed seven peoples in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance for about four hundred fifty years. After that he gave them judges until the time of the prophet Samuel. Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, who reigned for forty years. When he had removed him, he made David their king. In his testimony about him he said, ‘I have found David, son of Jesse, to be a man after my heart, who will carry out all my wishes.’ Of this man’s posterity God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised; before his coming John had already proclaimed a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. And as John was finishing his work, he said, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. No, but one is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the strap of the sandals on his feet.’

“Brothers and sisters, you descendants of Abraham’s family and others who fear God, to us the message of this salvation has been sent. Because the residents of Jerusalem and their leaders did not recognize him or understand the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath, they fulfilled those words by condemning him. Even though they found no cause for a sentence of death, they asked Pilate to have him killed. When they had carried out everything that was written about him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead, and for many days he appeared to those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, and they are now his witnesses to the people. And we bring you the good news that what God promised to our ancestors he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising Jesus; as also it is written in the second psalm,

‘You are my Son;
    today I have begotten you.’

“As to his raising him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, he has spoken in this way,

‘I will give you the holy promises made to David.’

“Therefore he has also said in another psalm,

‘You will not let your Holy One experience corruption.’

“For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, died, was laid beside his ancestors, and experienced corruption, but he whom God raised up experienced no corruption. Let it be known to you therefore, brothers and sisters, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you; by this Jesus everyone who believes is set free from all those sins from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses. Beware, therefore, that what the prophets said does not happen to you:

‘Look, you scoffers!
    Be amazed and perish,
for in your days I am doing a work,
    a work that you will never believe, even if someone tells you.’ ”

As Paul and Barnabas were going out, the people urged them to speak about these things again the next Sabbath. When the meeting of the synagogue broke up, many Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who spoke to them and urged them to continue in the grace of God.

The next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy, and blaspheming, they contradicted what was spoken by Paul. Then both Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, “It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken first to you. Since you reject it and judge yourselves to be unworthy of eternal life, we are now turning to the gentiles. For so the Lord has commanded us, saying,

‘I have set you to be a light for the gentiles,
    so that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’ ”

When the gentiles heard this, they were glad and praised the word of the Lord, and as many as had been destined for eternal life became believers. Thus the word of the Lord spread throughout the region. But the Jews incited the devout women of high standing and the leading men of the city and stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas and drove them out of their region. So they shook the dust off their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium. And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

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Bible Readings for February 11, 2026

Study, Learn and Grow: Bible Readings for February 11, 2026: Let's read the Bible together in the next year.  Today, our passages are  Exodus 32:1–33:23; Matthew 26:69–27:14; Psalm 33:1-11; and Pr...
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Tuesday, February 10, 2026

2025 at Sligo: A Year in Pictures

Below is a video presented at the Sligo Presbyterian Church during its annual meeting, Sunday, February 8. It includes some pictures from 2025. The slides are below the pictures. 



























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The Sligo Presbyterian Church Celebration Service - Sunday, February 8, 2026

During the season of Advent, we talked about how we might unwrap some of the gifts given to us by God through Jesus Christ. Well, now that Christmas is over, we've shifted gears and considered the gifts we might offer God. Beginning on Sunday, December 28, we started to focus on the following:

On Sunday, we continued this series by looking at how we can offer our gift of enthusiasm. Below is a video of the service, a presentation of the sermon, and the program & bulletin 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.











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Sunday's Message - Offering Our Gift of Enthusiasm

During the season of Advent, we talked about how we might unwrap some of the gifts given to us by God through Jesus Christ. Well, now that Christmas is over, we've shifted gears and considered the gifts we might offer God. Beginning on Sunday, December 28, we started to focus on the following:

On Sunday, we continued this series by looking at how we can offer our gift of enthusiasm. Below is a presentation and the text 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, here we are, on what is for a lot of Christians the third most important date on any church calendar. I mean, after Christmas and Easter (and you can put those two in whatever order you want), today is Super Bowl Sunday. You see, for many very sincere and dedicated believers, right behind the birth and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, come the game, and the commercials and the halftime show, and it doesn’t matter whether you plan to watch Bad Bunny or try to find Kid Rock or, like me, do anything, and I mean, anything else. Still, I know it’s all important. As a matter of fact, in my thirty-eight years of ministry, today is the first annual meeting I’ve moderated on Super Bowl Sunday. Let’s just say it’s a big deal.

But how big a deal, well that depends on the teams involved. I mean, speaking for myself, the amount of enthusiasm I feel going into the game is directly related to the whether the team I follow is playing or not. For example, growing up in eastern Virginia, man, we were Washington Redskins fans, and so I was really fired up in ‘73 and ‘83 and ‘84 and ‘88. I’ll tell you, the ‘80s were pretty good for the burgundy and gold. And then, after moving to Indianapolis, of course, I started bleeding royal blue. And even though they were pretty awful while I actually lived there, (Those were the Jeff George/Gary Hogeboom years), in 2007 and 2010, man, I was glued to my set in Fork Union and Weirton. Of course, I really don’t have to tell y’all about feeling passionate about a football team, not up here in Steeler Country. You see, for most die-hard football fans, if you’ve got a dog in the fight, your enthusiasm level gets turned up to eleven. 

And you know, that’s exactly what we’re going to talk about this morning. You see, today we’re getting close to the end of this series we started right after Christmas entitled Our Gifts to God: Offering Ourselves to Our Heavenly Father. And to this point, we’ve talked about giving to God our praise and our attention, our time and our talents, our treasures and our energy. And this morning, on Super Bowl Sunday, we’re going to look at offering God our enthusiasm, and I’m talking about our passion and our desires and our focused emotions. And to do that, we’ll be answering two questions that are remarkably similar to the ones I’ve already asked six times. First, why should we offer God our enthusiasm? And then, second, how can we give this kind of gift to God? Now that’s the plan. And with any luck, before we thaw out the pizza or mix up the Buffalo dip, we’ll have a better idea about how we can offer God something that we often reserve for our favorite team.

And of course, this all starts with the question: why should we offer God our enthusiasm? In other words, why is it important for us to direct toward God some of our passion and our desire? And why should we invest our emotions in the one who’s already given us so much? Now that’s the question. And I’ll tell you, I think the most obvious answer is simply that doing this kind of thing is exactly what God wants us to do. I mean, just listen to what Paul wrote to the Colossians:

Do your work willingly, as though you were serving the Lord himself, and not just your earthly master. In fact, the Lord Christ is the one you are really serving, and you know he will reward you. [Colossians 3:23-24, CEV]

And to Timothy he wrote,

So I ask you to make full use of the gift God gave you when I placed my hands on you. Use it well. God’s Spirit doesn’t make cowards out of us. The Spirit gives us power, love, and self-control. [2 Timothy 1:6-7, CEV]

Now that’s what Paul wrote; therefore, I think I’m safe in saying, that’s what God wants. But you know, when you look beneath the surface, well, I think there are three reasons why God wants us to make this kind of offering so badly, reasons that I’ve got to tell you, just make sense. 

For example, when we give to God our enthusiasm, it can transform our lives. You see, it can actually alter who we are and how we live. As a matter of fact, I believe it can change how we see virtually everything we do. I mean, remember how Paul wrote, “do your work willingly, as though you were serving the Lord himself”? [Colossians 3:23a, CEV] Well, if this is something we choose to accept, all of sudden, the work we do is different, isn’t it? I mean, all of a sudden, the most mundane chores become spiritual signs, signs of faith and devotion and praise. As a matter of fact, in a very real sense, our entire lives become acts of worship, because what we do is directed toward God. But even more than that, our motives and reasons and rationales are now also directed to God. In other words, once I’ve given God my enthusiasm, my passion, my desire, my emotions no longer can I separate my faith from my actions. Instead, I’m going to actively and intentionally serve him with what I think you can call enthusiastic love, and I’m talking about a love that honors the love he has for me, rather than whatever comes from some kind of cold and detached and sterile legal obligation. You see, it’s not because I have to; man, I want to. I’m telling you, when we offer God our enthusiasm, our lives are going to be transformed and that’s a good reason for doing it

And you know, so is how this offering can testify to God. In other words, we’re actually bearing witness to him within the communities in which we live when we allow ourselves to be fired up about God and his love and his mercy and his grace. You see, those around us can begin to understand the one we worship and follow and serve when they see the enthusiasm we have to do it. But even more than that, I also believe that the desire and emotion we’re giving to God are contagious. Man, it draws others to Christ by demonstrating the genuine joy and life-changing power of the Holy Spirit. You see, when others see our passion for God, I believe that creates what you might call a “magnet effect” that draws those who don’t believe toward the faith we claim and encourage fellow believers to keep moving forward. It’s like what Paul wrote to the Corinthians:

I don’t need to write you about the money you plan to give for God’s people. I know how eager you are to give. And I have proudly told the Lord’s followers in Macedonia that you people in Achaia have been ready for a whole year. Now your desire to give has made them want to give. This is why I am sending Titus and the two others to you. I want you to be ready, just as I promised. This will prove we were not wrong to brag about you. [2 Corinthians 9:1-3, CEV]

I’m telling you, along with transforming lives, offering to God our enthusiasm is also a perfect way to bear witness. 

But even that’s not all, because I believe it can also sustain us as we go through tough times. In other words, expressing our passion, our desire for God can strengthen us when we’re feeling weak and empower us when we’re feeling tired and encourage us when we’re ready to throw up our hands and to give up. As a matter of fact, it can keep us moving forward when everybody around us is ready to quit. You see, when we tap into this spiritual fervor, this spiritual desire, this spiritual energy, I believe it can provide the kind of fire that we might need to overcome discouragement and setbacks and that apathetic “Sunday-only” kind of Christianity that’s just about as inspiring as a limp dish rag. I’m telling you, enthusiasm can act as fuel that helps us overcome defeats and disappointments, fears and frustrations, and all those other energy-draining battles we have to fight from time to time, because remember, like I said before, when we direct our desire and passion and emotions to God, it transforms routine tasks and mundane moments into missions of eternal importance. I’m telling you, when we offer God our enthusiasm, not only will it result in transformation and testimony, it can sustain us as face problems and challenges. And for me, that’s why it’s important for us to make this gift, the answer to our first question.

And as to the second, how can we actually do it, how can we actually direct some of the desire and passion that we feel toward our heavenly Father, and how can we invest some of our emotions in the one who’s already given us so much? In other words, how can we offer our enthusiasm to God? Well, personally, I think Paul offers us some pretty good direction in his letter to the Romans. Just listen. 

God has also given each of us different gifts to use. If we can prophesy, we should do it according to the amount of faith we have. If we can serve others, we should serve. If we can teach, we should teach. If we can encourage others, we should encourage them. If we can give, we should be generous. If we are leaders, we should do our best. If we are good to others, we should do it cheerfully.

Be sincere in your love for others. Hate everything that is evil and hold tight to everything that is good. Love each other as brothers and sisters and honor others more than you do yourself. Never give up. Eagerly follow the Holy Spirit and serve the Lord. Let your hope make you glad. Be patient in time of trouble and never stop praying. Take care of God’s needy people and welcome strangers into your home. [Romans 12:9-13, CEV]

You see, based on what he wrote, I think there are three very clear and specific ways we can offer God our enthusiasm. 

For example, first, I think we can do this by working diligently. In other words, we can work with passion and dedication. Simply put, we can work hard, something that the writer of Ecclesiastes certainly had in mind when he said, “Work hard at whatever you do. You will soon go to the world of the dead, where no one works or thinks or reasons or even knows anything.” [Ecclesiastes 9:10] You see, I don’t believe being passionate about God is shown by sitting around, waiting for God to act and looking for God to provide. And it’s sure not shown when we intentionally move slow and gripe and complain while letting everyone know that unfair life is. Instead, it’s about rolling up our sleeves and doing what God has equipped and empowered us to accomplish and to do it with dedication and even joy, and it doesn’t matter whether that involves preaching a sermon, driving a van, or fixing a meal. I mean, it’s about taking seriously everything we do, and I’m talking about whether at home or at school or at work. And it’s about doing the best we can do, because we’re doing it as a result of the excitement we feel about God and not for human approval. You see, in my opinion, we’re offering God our enthusiasm when we’re work diligently. That’s one way.

And second, I think we also do it by worshiping passionately, by worshiping with emotion, by worshiping with desire, by worshiping with enthusiasm. In fact, I’m talking about worshiping with the same attitude the Psalmist told to the people of Israel to have as they approached the Temple: Be joyful and sing as you come in to worship the Lord! [Psalm 100:2, CEV] Of course, I recognize that may be challenging. I mean, it’s really easy to set comfort, not passion, as our highest priority as we worship God, and since I think we’d all prefer comfort to aggravation and stress and possible disappointment, it’s natural for us to like the old favorites and to settle into the familiar patterns and to base what we do on what we’ve already done. That’s really easy to do; I know it is for me. Man, we need to be aware of that. But you know, even though I believe all that’s true, I think the passion we feel as we worship God actually has less to do with the hymns we sing or the order we follow or even the comfort we seek. In other words, I think it’s about the attitude we bring. In other words, I doubt the most dynamic worship service in the world is going to do much for a group that’s already decided to be unhappy and passive and disappointed, that spends its time griping and complaining and reminiscing. You see, to feel passion, I’ve got to be ready and willing to express my love for God and to celebrate the hope we share, regardless of the music and the order and my personal comfort. And if I’m not, no special hymn or structure is going to change anything. But if I am, I’m not sure songs or order will matter that much. As Paul wrote, we really need to “eagerly follow the Holy Spirit and serve the Lord” [Romans 12:11b, CEV] whenever we gather in his name. You see, by doing this, by worshiping with passion, we’re also offering God our enthusiasm.

And finally, if we’re serious about making this gift to God, I think we really need to give generously. In other words, I think we need to be ready to pass on to others some of what we have and to do it as a way to express our faith in God. As a matter of fact, it’s really putting into practice what Paul challenged the Corinthians to do when he wrote, “Each of you must make up your own mind about how much to give. But don’t feel sorry that you must give and don’t feel you are forced to give. God loves people who love to give.” [2 Corinthians 9:7, CEV] You see, it may be impossible to offer God much of anything when we’ve made the decision to hold back. But I’ll tell you, when we choose generosity, when we choose to view what we have as tools that we can use to do what God has called us to do, and when we choose to give a portion of what we have to express our love for God and neighbor and to do it with desire and emotion, with excitement and joy, when that’s our attitude, now we’re offering something that’s really important. And just to be clear, this kind of generosity isn’t only about money. It’s also about the time we have and the talents we’ve been given. You see, I seriously doubt that anybody ever gets to the point where they love to give until they’ve made the decision to give generously. And for me, along with working diligently and worshiping passionately, that’s how we can offer God our gift of enthusiasm. 

And having said all that, right now, there are now only three  things that separate me from Super Bowl: an annual meeting, a meeting of our Worship Team and probably a nap. Of course, since the Colts aren’t involved, I thought I could sort of relax and just enjoy without a lot of tension and frustration. But I’ll tell you, that all changed, when a member of this congregation, a Steeler fan, said to me, and I’m paraphrasing, “Man, you’ve got to be fired up about the game. I mean, you’ve got to be cheering for Seattle and against New England, right?” Now, I must have looked really confused, because he then said to me sort of like he was talking to either a five-year-old or someone suffering from brain damage, “The Patriots already have six; we can’t let them have seven.” PTL, now I understood. And so, with that in mind, right here and now, I make the pledge that I’m going to cheer for Seattle with all kinds of emotions and against New England with all kinds of passion. And in the end, I promise to be either elated or crushed by the result. I mean, that’s the least I can give back to western Pennsylvania.

But you know, regardless of how I approach the game, we can certainly offer the same kind of thing to God. I mean, we can recognize that, because it can transform and testify and sustain, it’s really important to work diligently and to worship passionately and to give generously. And I’ll tell you, by doing those three things, I believe we’ll be offering God our gift of enthusiasm. 

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Mission Yearbook: Presbyterians join with Church World Service partners to fight hunger

Witness, Share and Evangelize: Mission Yearbook: Presbyterians join with Church W... : The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has endorsed a state...

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    Velma Grace Stewart, 92, of Shippenville Health Care Center, formerly of Perry Township, Parker, PA, passed away on Sunday, June 15, at the ...
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    Below is the obituary for Bus as it appears on the Varner Funeral Home website.  William “Bus, Buster” Clark, 78, of Sligo, passed away on W...