Linwood Christian Church Renewal

09/07/2026

Today Pastor Frank Everett spoke on Deuteronomy 30:15-20, where Moses is speaking to the descendants of the original Israeli people who fled from Egypt. He asked them to make a choice. They were at a crossroad, even if they did not realize it.

Pastor Frank also spoke on the many little choices that affect each one of us each and every day. He reminded us that there are many things designed to distract us from doing God's will. He explained that we are bowing to the Alter of success, comfort and being right. That these things will remove us from doing what God wants us to do, from God's will for us, which is to be kind and helpful to all humanity.

Just remember how important a simple interaction can be to those we talk with on a daily basis and how a kind word or special act, can be what changes things for the other person, for the better or worse. The choice is yours.

Tomorrow is Labor Day and I heard the Rummage Room will be open. As well as Tuesday and Wednesday from 10 AM to 1 PM and Thursday from 5 to 7 PM

Wednesday is Food Pantry Day
Coffee ☕ and donuts 🍩 from 8 - 9 AM.
Food Distribution is from 9 - 11 AM

Won't you join us. We'd love to welcome you! ❤️

Thanks to Gary Harding for the pictures. You won't see me on the video either since I was under the weather.

Sunday Worship streamed as a service for those not ready to attend/

08/30/2026

Pastor Frank Everett's sermon was based upon Nehemiah 8:1-12 which is in the old testament, a part of the Bible I often struggle with. However, Nehemiah began life as a cup bearer to the king of Persia and he rose to be a leader of the exiled of Jerusalem in the land of Babylon. The King of Persia sent Nehemiah to the ruins of Jerusalem and in 52 days with the others, they rebuilt the wall of Jerusalem. However he knew that even though a wall made a city, it did not make a people, so Nehemiah had Ezra bring out "The Book" which was the Law and had him read from the book and they listened for hours. They leaned in because the wanted, needed to hear their story.

So what is our story? What is the story of the church and those of us who attend? What is the story that we carry into our lives?

We find that story in the scriptures. God's word must become a story in our lives in order to remind us who we are and who's we are. Pastor Frank then told a story about a businessman who incorporated that story into his business plan and treated his employees more like neighbors. That is our story. We are the exiled and the scripture is our story. Remember to study the scripture to help guide you in your story.

Won't you join us this week. Because of the upcoming Labor Day weekend there has been some changes.

Monday, 8/31 - 9:30 AM
Food Delivery - Help appreciated

Wednesday, 9/2 - Food Pantry
8 - 9 AM - Coffee ☕ and Donuts 🍩
9 - 11 AM - Food Distribution 🛒🛍️

Rummage Room (subject to change)
M/T/W 10 AM - 1 PM
Thurs 5 - 7 PM

Bible Study - Thursday 9/3 at 1 or 5 PM

Weekly Exercise Class - 9/5 at 10 AM

Worship 10:30 AM

Won't you join us. We'd love to welcome you ❤️

Sunday Worship streamed as a service for those not ready to attend/

08/23/2026

To begin with, due to technical difficulties this morning, there was no streaming video, so I will do my best to recap this mornings sermon.

Pastor Frank Everett's sermon was based upon Jeremiah 31:31-34 and was entitled "Written on the Heart" which he admitted would not have been the final title of his sermon. He believed it should have been "Something Fresh", because that is what the Jewish people were seeking in the time of Jeremiah.

In Verse 33 it states “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.

In the sermon he explained that things had gone stale with them. The Covenant had been written on stone tablets and seemed more like rules, and just like any human when things don't go our way, they and we blame God. At the time of Jeremiah they had been exiled in Babylon and they blamed God for their hardship. Jeremiah told them that God wanted to give them a new covenant. Not just written in stone but written on their hearts. The important message he was telling them was that God wanted a relationship with them, much like he still wants with each of us.

He is inviting us to belong through grace, with the promise of a dance and the melody of hope into a relationship with God. With his covenant written on our hearts this allows us to grow and gives us the freedom to dance.

Kathleen Shickles also gave an insightful message from the table about former President Carter who was on a Missionary trip with a Hispanic Pastor and how impressed he was with his interactions with the people he was ministering to. She said that Pastor Cruz explained to President Carter that there were only two relationships that were important in that moment. Your relationship with God and the relationship with the person you are speaking to at that moment.

God wants a relationship with us. He wants to be our Lord and Savior. Come dance with the Lord.

We have a busy week around Linwood Christian Church.

Food Pantry on Wednesday
8 - 9 AM - Coffee ☕ and Donuts 🍩
9 - 11 AM - Food Distribution

Rummage Room - various dates and times

Won't you join us. We'd love to welcome you. ❤️

08/16/2026

Today Pastor Frank Everett spoke on Micah 6:1-8, which has another good verse to live life by. In Verse 8 he tells us - "He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly[a] with your God."

Apparently Micah had performed a trial 700 hundred years before Jesus had come to earth and conveyed to the Israelites that all their worship of God was of no matter unless they learned to: Love justice, love mercy and to walk humbly with God. Couldn't we all do better to remember this, especially when we are riding on our high horse and think that we can do no wrong. Remember that pride comes before a fall. This is what Micah was trying to explain and what God is trying to teach us today.

Remember to join us this week for Food Pantry and Rummage Room.

Food Pantry - Wednesday
Coffee ☕ & Donuts 🍩 - 8 to 9 AM
Food Distribution - into 11 AM

Rummage Room - Various times

Sunday Worship streamed as a service for those not ready to attend/

07/07/2026

On Sunday, 7/5/2026 we had a very patriotic service, with the Choir singing “God Bless America”, however Pastor Frank’s sermon gave us something to think about during this our 250th Anniversary of our country’s founding.
He based his sermon on Romans 7:15-20 in which Paul states in vs 19 “For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want”.

Pastor Frank told a story of a speaker gave a speech about freedom when a young man called out from the crowd, “Why don’t you tell them the truth?” Confused, the speaker asked what he meant. He said, “It’s a dangerous gift, a two-edge sword. Our ancestors
just had to fight for freedom; we have to live with it.”

That is quite a bit to think about, especially in light of recent events but Pastor Frank went on to tell the story of Frederick Douglas and the speech that he gave at the dedication of the Emancipation Memorial (known as the Freedmen’s Monument) in 1876. It
also happened to be the eleventh anniversary of Lincoln’s assassination.
Even though Douglas was an admirer of Lincoln, he lamented about how slow Lincoln was from the abolitionists point of view, to act on Emancipation because of his desire to preserve the union, and even called him “preeminently the white man’s President,” but later in his speech he recognizes the impossible tasks that Lincoln had “but measuring him
by the sentiment of his country………he was swift, zealous, radical, and determined”. He recognized the tough job he had, and, in the end, Lincoln had had the courage to act at the right time.
When we know what is right will we have the courage to act at the right time?
Paul knew we would have times in our lives “times to try men’s souls,” when we would have to make a choice. That we would need to listen to that still small voice, the voice of God, to lead us to the right decision.

Freedom is a wonderful thing to have, however, there is a cost. It is a two-edged sword, and we need to listen to God if we are going to continue to live with it.

Won’t you join us some Sunday morning for worship or come help on Wednesday morning for Food Pantry. We would love to have you. ❤️

Coffee ☕and Donuts 🍩 8 to 9 AM
Food Distribution 🛍️ 9 to 11 AM
Rummage Room M/T/W 10 AM to 1 PM
Thursday 5 to 7 PM (Subject to change)

Sunday School 9:20 to 9:55 AM
Summer Hymn Sing 10:20 AM
Worship 10:30 AM

Sunday Worship streamed as a service for those not ready to attend/

07/05/2026

Blanket Sunday is coming to Linwood Christian Church on Sunday, July 19th. For only $10 you can provide this durable blanket, that has many uses such as a tent.

06/28/2026

Today Pastor Frank spoke on Genesis 12:1-9 in which God tells Abram to go! In fact, his sermon was entitled “When God says ‘Go’, God means ‘Go’ “. Last week he also spoke on Genesis 1:1-2 and his sermon was entitled “The God Who Acts”.

I know these are not part of the lectionary normally used to plan sermons in our denomination, Disciples of Christ Christian Church, but it is part of the Bible Study we have been doing in recent weeks, the “Kerygma – Discovering the Bible, A New Generation”. It is part of the Kerygma Program and has proved to be thought provoking.

I want to try to capture both of these sermons in this one post, since I’ve been taking a bit of a summer hiatus the past few weeks while doing some summer traveling for my son’s wedding and we have another trip coming up to celebrate 30 years of marriage. Hopefully, it won’t make this too long.

In our Bible Study we have been reading through Genesis, Exodus, Joshua and Judges. The study guide comes with a timeline and maps, to help you understand where in the history of the bible these events occur. Obviously, Genesis 1:1-2 starts at the beginning, in fact vs. 1 starts “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Exactly what Pat was discussing at the table this morning. You really cannot do a bible study on the Old Testament without starting there.

Pastor Frank used this passage to explain God’s covenant with man. This covenant was God’s way to bless the world that God dearly loves, however, the covenant does not cancel our responsibility in our relationship with God. He knew when he created us that sin was a real part of human nature, but yet He continues to love us.

Today’s sermon was more about Abram (who became Abraham), and God’s instruction for him to vs.1 …”Go forth from your country, and from your relatives and from you father’s house, to the land which I will show you, vs. 2 And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you…”.

One thing to keep in mind is that Abram came before Moses. Reading this it was easy for my mind to go directly to Moses, but he doesn’t appear until Exodus. So, from the very beginning God has been trying to lead his people. Abram’s story is long and involves his wife Sarah (who he called his sister as they traveled through Egypt) and the promised son Issac that God gave them in their old age and then used to test Abram’s faith later. However, the point of today’s sermon was that when God told Abraham to go, and he went. He did not know what he would find, but he went out in faith. This was extraordinary because faith did not remove the difficulties along the way, it didn’t tell him where he was going but he went. The funny thing about faith is that it does not come when you are comfortable, but when you are deeply uncomfortable, unhappy or unfulfilled, which is why Abram was the “poster boy” for those traits, however the most important thing to remember is that God also went with him, just like He promises to us. If we keep the faith.

We would love to welcome you to Linwood Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) . Won’t you join us some Sunday morning for worship or Wednesday morning for our Food Pantry Ministry.

We would love to have you. ❤️

Coffee ☕ and Donuts 🍩 8 to 9 AM
Food Distribution 9 to 11 AM

Rummage Room M/T/W 10 AM - 1 PM
👖👞👚
Thursday from 5 to 7 PM

(Note: Hours subject to change especially during the summer - please verify before you make the trip)

6/21/3026
https://www.youtube.com/live/AY16JqHpKPA?feature=shared

6/28/2026
https://www.youtube.com/live/myLShM2Qyd8?feature=shared

Sunday Worship streamed as a service for those not ready to attend/

06/17/2026

Pastor Frank gave a very good sermon on Sunday. Unfortunately I haven't been able to find time to recap it and the last few weeks have been busy so here is a link from streaming on you tube. Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/live/sQQc05AemvE?feature=shared

Today is Food Pantry at Linwood which is every Wednesday morning.

Coffee ☕and donuts 🍩 from 8 to 9 AM
Food distribution from 9 to 11 AM

Rummage Room opens from 10 AM to 1 PM today (it's open M&T too and some Thursday evenings)

Won't you join us.

Sunday Worship streamed as a service for those not ready to attend/

05/18/2026

Yesterday Pastor Frank Sermon was on 1 Peter 2:18-25 which starts out "Servants (or slaves), be submissive to your masters..." A problematic statement during any age of human history, but then it goes on to state that any mistreatment and suffering should be endured because Jesus endured suffering for us. This is a fundamental teaching in Christianity, however I still struggle with telling someone who is enslaved to endure it.

Pastor Frank took this scripture to teach us a geaneological lesson in his own family tree. He told us how his family ended up settling in Topeka, Kansas (worth listening to on the attached link to YouTube), but about his Republican father who would not vote for his New Deal (FDR) Democratic Sister, Frank's Aunt Pearl.

Anyone who has done any geaneological work knows that history is complicated. Many people find evidence of criminals, philanderers, and lots of family secrets. I would also guess that if we go back far enough you will find a slave owner or a former slave in among our ancestors. It's our history. Man's inhumanity to each other. However, the biblical question is who is responsible for the sins of our fathers?

This brings us back to Frank's story because despite his Aunt Pearl's progressive politics, she was married to Uncle Duke. After Aunt Pearl died and Frank and his brothers were cleaning out her attic they found a sword. It was obviously a ceremonial presentation sword. However, it also held the initials K*K on it. An organization that has left a stain on both US history and closer to home, the history of Irvington, here on the Eastside of Indianapolis.

History teaches us that humans are full of contradictions and this is one of the darkest. So what is the writer of 1 Peter trying to teach us, because I'm sure things were even worse during the early days of Christianity. 1 Peter is actually a letter to the Galatians and others giving them instructions on how to act to ensure they will inherit all God intends for them and to help them to live during a dangerous time. Being a follower of Jesus during this time was dangerous. He was attempting to calm them through advice, telling them to be humble and calm in their suffering until God would exhalt them, I'm sure so that Christianity could grow.

Man's inhumanity continues, but with God's help it can be overcome. That we must continue to live as Peter instructed us so that we can continue to grow God's kingdom here on earth.

Please plan to join us this week either through worship, or at the Food Pantry or Rummage Room.

Sunday Worship at 10:30 AM

Wednesday - Food Pantry
Coffee ☕ and Donuts 🍩 - 8 to 9 AM
Food Distribution 🥦🍞 - 9 - 11 AM

Rummage Room - M/T/W - 10 AM - 1 PM
Thursday - 5 - 7 PM (Subject to Change)

Chair Yoga - Saturday 10 AM
(4 weeks left)

Hope to see you this week. ❤️

Sunday Worship streamed as a service for those not ready to attend/