Author: carlock

Rev. Neal Kentch’s sermon for Carlock Christian Church on April 26, 2020.

The food pantry is currently low on or out of the following items. Please contact email hidden; JavaScript is required to donate or get an updated list of requested items:

• corn
• green beans ( have about 20 left)
• fruit cocktail
• apple sauce
• carrots
• potatoes
• peas
• mixed veggies
• soups
• tomato products: juice, sauce, crushed, diced, paste
• spaghetti noodles
• mac n cheese
• flour
• sugar
• Brown sugar
• water (seems to be a big request)
• toilet paper ( if you can believe it)

Rev. Neal Kentch’s sermon for Carlock Christian Church on April 17, 2020.

Rev. Neal Kentch’s sermon for Carlock Christian Church on April 12, 2020.

Rev. Neal Kentch’s sermon for Carlock Christian Church on April 5, 2020.

COVID-19 TIME

It’s a matter of time. Covid-19 time. Time to contemplate. Time to reflect. What to do with all this time? What better time to have a conversation with God than at this time? Ask Him questions about this situation we are in. The world has never experienced a time quite like this time. How will He respond to our petitions for mercy? Is the universe even aware there is a pandemic occurring down here? The birds are still chirping. The winds still carry clouds across the sky. The Big Dipper still keeps it’s watch from far above during the nighttime quiet. Mother Nature is not sheltering in place. The hands of God remain on the helm. Maybe this is the best of times and yet the worst of times. Call it a Correcting Time. Mark it as the chaotic time when mankind labored to bring forth a better time and a brighter future. Maybe this is the time when more of us hear His voice and the divinity within responds with a step towards a more civilized and enlightened time. Only time will tell.

—
Marc Thomas

From the Pastor

Since there wasn’t much else I could do, given the stay-at-home order from the state, I decided to call everyone. I went through the church directory, calling everyone I knew. And I got ahold of most everyone. I am pleased to report that everyone appears to be doing fairly well, given our circumstances, and that everyone seems to be in pretty good spirits, all things considered. I plan to make another round of calls next week. I plan to do this until we are able to worship again, until I can see you again.
*****
This is a strange and dangerous time. This pandemic reminds us just how dependent we human beings are. We are dependent upon the natural world. We are reminded of those natural processes and powers in which our lives come to be and which sustain our well-being. Our lives are given to us, are gifts. In this time of pandemic, we become acutely aware that those same natural processes powers can threaten our lives and well-being. It is in those same processes that the virus now spreading among human beings around the world came to be. There are, of course, other diseases. And hurricanes and earthquakes occur. We cannot completely control these things. We are not in charge of everything. We are mortal. These lives we have been given are not, in the end, our own. They belong to God. We belong to God.
This time also reminds us just how much we depend upon other people. For all of our talk about rugged individualism, we have created a society in which we very much depend upon other people. Sure, we pay them, but we still depend upon them. We depend upon the healthcare workers in our hospitals. We depend upon scientists working in labs on a vaccine. We depend upon truck drivers to deliver to our grocery stores and upon the clerks to stock those shelves. And a person’s job may well depend upon another person being able to do his or her job. We very much depend upon other people, people we don’t even know.
Just the same are all of these other people depending upon us. We need to be dependable. Some of these other people are very worried and afraid. Some of them are sick. Others a grieving. We need to care about people in this strange and dangerous time, to care about those worried and afraid, those sick, those grieving. We need to care about them and, when possible, to care for them. This we need to do in this strange and dangerous time and then when this time passes. For these people are like us. They belong to God, too. All of them and all of us belong to God.
Neal Kentch

Rev. Neal Kentch’s sermon for Carlock Christian Church on March 29, 2020.

Rev. Neal Kentch’s sermon for Carlock Christian Church on March 22, 2020.

Rev. Neal Kentch delivering his sermon at Carlock Christian Church on March 15, 2020.