Kirkville Community Church

Kirkville Community Church Kirkville Community Church is a Global Methodist community of faith

09/12/2026

Hi Friends!
Just a reminder that the RR crossing is closed for repairs on Kirkville Bridgeport Rd!
If you reside north the tracks you will need to take an alternate route for church Sunday 9/13!

09/11/2026

PRAYING FOR FAITHFUL CHOICES!
Good morning! Our reading for this September 11 is Psalm 25.
1 A psalm of David. To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul. 2 I trust in you, my God! Do not let me be disgraced, or let my enemies rejoice in my defeat. 3 No one who trusts in you will ever be disgraced, but disgrace comes to those who try to deceive others. 4 Show me the path where I should walk, O LORD; point out the right road for me to follow. 5 Lead me by your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me. All day long I put my hope in you. 6 Remember, O LORD, your unfailing love and compassion, which you have shown from long ages past. 7 Forgive the rebellious sins of my youth; look instead through the eyes of your unfailing love, for you are merciful, O LORD. 8 The LORD is good and does what is right; he shows the proper path to those who go astray. 9 He leads the humble in what is right, teaching them his way. 10 The LORD leads with unfailing love and faithfulness all those who keep his covenant and obey his decrees. 11 For the honor of your name, O LORD, forgive my many, many sins. 12 Who are those who fear the LORD? He will show them the path they should choose. 13 They will live in prosperity, and their children will inherit the Promised Land. 14 Friendship with the LORD is reserved for those who fear him. With them he shares the secrets of his covenant. 15 My eyes are always looking to the LORD for help, for he alone can rescue me from the traps of my enemies. 16 Turn to me and have mercy on me, for I am alone and in deep distress. 17 My problems go from bad to worse. Oh, save me from them all! 18 Feel my pain and see my trouble. Forgive all my sins. 19 See how many enemies I have, and how viciously they hate me! 20 Protect me! Rescue my life from them! Do not let me be disgraced, for I trust in you. 21 May integrity and honesty protect me, for I put my hope in you. 22 O God, ransom Israel from all its troubles. (NLT)

Is it true that those who trust in God will never be disgraced? Does God lead the humble and those who keep His covenant and obey His decrees? Will friendship with God guarantee we shall be privy to the secret plans and purposes of God? Are we truly protected by maintaining our integrity? This is the belief of King David. It is also the hope of all who follow Christ.
I say that it is our hope because should we base our faith on what we observe in daily life we could justify conflicting beliefs. In life, while some of those who do maintain a questionable morality get caught and punished, a greater number succeed unscathed by consequences for choices they have made, or at least that is the way it may appear to us.

This skepticism is born from a present moral struggle we are engaged in at the time. I have found the most common time of doubt in the principles I believe in comes when I am faced with difficult choices I have to make. It is these times that cause me to question the advisability of keeping my principles in the present circumstance. And it is at these times of decision making that I find I get involved with intense “self-talk.” By this I mean the process the internal conversations we have with ourselves where we weigh our values in the light of the advantages and disadvantages they offer. Hopefully the right and true wins out, but too frequently we should confess that the wrong prevails.

This is what I believe is going on in this psalm of David. In the throes of decision making or pondering the results of decisions he has already made he asks these questions regarding whether it is worth taking the “higher road” considering we do not always know with certainty any positive results from our faithfulness. We know that faithfulness should be its own reward and take offense with ourselves over how easily we abandon our principles for immediate self-interest. It also exposes our doubt in the belief that holding steadfast to our principles will ultimately work out for the best for us and God’s plans for blessing others.

In this psalm, David’s prayer raises the questions and reminds himself of what he hopes – that he has made the right choice. He prays that God will uphold him in the integrity he has attempted to apply to decisions, and that God will forgive him should he had been wrong especially from the evil of others who are waiting for signs of weakness and failure from him. Many times prayer serves not only the purpose of weighing our options before making decisions, but also for evaluating our faithfulness and affirming our value and faithfulness to God after decisions and actions have been made. Such prayerful reflection keeps us close to God and reveals the integrity of faith.

As we remember the tragedy of September 11, 2001 and also the upcoming midterm elections, let us remember the consequences of our choices and those of others. Let us pray for those who have suffered from the evil choices others have made.

Prayer: Lord, give us the assurance that the choices we will have to make this day are the right ones for us to make and the confidence we have chosen correctly the responses the consequences for which we will have to live with. In those choices where expediency and convenience seem contrary to our values and even when there does not appear to be an immediate payoff, may the knowledge we are walking faithfully in Your way be the greatest reward for us. Amen!

Selah! Pastor Brian Homan

09/10/2026

THE BASIS OF ALL MORALITY!

Good morning! Our Word for September 10 is Romans 5:9-21.

9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him!

10 For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!

11 Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned--

13 for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law.

14 Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come.

15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!

(NIV)



Why is the Bible so complicated and hard to understand? Many times, simple concepts within a passage are described with such complexity. The reason for this, particularly when reading the writings of the apostle Paul, is to provide clarity and due to his anticipation of questions or responses he knew would arise from readers. This came most likely from face to face encounters of verbally explaining the gospel. Remember that Paul was writing and not speaking to an audience.



In today’s passage the apostle is declaring the wonders of God’s grace toward us through Christ. Before he goes on to elaborate on the subject, Paul states the concept in verse 9, “Since we have been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!” I can provide several explanations for how the death of Jesus could justify, or make things right, between God and us, but the simplest explanation is because God wanted to. God does not want to inflict His wrath upon us, yet He must if He is to be just. By the very nature of things wrong must be punished. Paul describes this in terms of the law which readers with a Jewish heritage should understand. He explains that even before the Law of Moses was ever composed, or any law for that fact, human beings have broken God’s law. What is true is true whether it is written down or not. Murder is wrong, lying is wrong, every basic concept of morality was true and enforceable before they were ever defined and recorded.



The moral law is only written down for our benefit, so that we might remember them. He cites a biblical fact - death, which is the penalty for breaking the law of God, was happening even before Moses, from whom the Ten Commandments were transmitted. The moral principles behind the written law were in effect and binding before the law was ever composed, even from the time of Adam, the first human being. Basic moral concepts are understood intuitively. This is the reason for the similarity between the moral codes of various religions, not at all implying that each religion is true.



It is by our experience of life that we know that we all break the moral code, whether it is written down or not, and are guilty and deserving of God’s wrath. Earlier in Chapter 2 of his letter, the apostle declares that none of us, whoever we are, have any excuse for breaking the basic moral code of God, because they are understood, intuitively and instinctively in our very existence.



What makes our Christian faith so special and unique above other human religions is the offer of God’s grace through Jesus. Until Jesus all human beings were guilty and deserving of God’s wrath. Jesus, who simultaneously is both the Son of God and Son of man, is the first human to fulfill the moral code, written and unwritten. The human race cannot be exterminated because of its moral failure so long as one, just one human being has successfully lived in moral righteousness. Secondly, since death is the penalty for moral failure, Jesus died needlessly because He did not sin.



In His solitary death Jesus paid the penalty for our breaking of the law. How does this work? Again I have listen and read so many descriptions by persons wanting to clarify the process. It in no way seems right that one person could substitute for us all, except for when you realize that in Jesus, who was equally God as He was human, God suffered on the cross. God swallowed the pill of our rebellion and failure; God, who defines the law, accepts the injury and releases us from His wrath. Why? Because He loves us! Why? Because in the course of forgiving us we might realize our failure and in gratitude for God’s grace live with awakened sense of moral resolve to live morally.



It is for this reason why true repentance is essential to salvation. God’s grace through Christ is available to all, but grace must be accompanied by corresponding moral resolve to live morally. Without this resolve, grace has had no effect upon us and we remain subject to God’s wrath. God gambles on our potential because He has faith and hope in us. That is love which is the greatest attribute of all three qualities –faith, hope, and love- the Apostle Paul declares in 1 Corinthians 13:13. Love is the basis for all morality.



Selah! Dr. Brian Homan

09/09/2026

WHO'S TO BLAME?

Good morning! Our reading for this September 9 is Genesis 3:1-13.

1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"

2 The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,

3 but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.'"

4 "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman.

5 "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden.

9 But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?"

10 He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid."

11 And he said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?"

12 The man said, "The woman you put here with me-- she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it."

13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."

(NIV)

What was it in the conversation with the serpent that was powerful enough to convince Eve to sin?

Why was it that the serpent selected Eve to tempt and not Adam? We may have other such questions regarding the opening chapters of Genesis which are meant to provide us with an understanding of our place in creation, of human relationships and the source of humanity’s problems – original sin. I want to focus on these two questions this morning, taking the last, first.

I believe the serpent intentionally chose Eve as the target of his efforts because according to the Biblical record she only knew of the restriction regarding the fruit second hand, through Adam. This does not imply that Adam was superior in any way to Eve or that she was particularly weak morally. The purpose of her knowing coming second hand was to demonstrate our own disadvantage. Like Eve, we are not privy to the direct revelation of God’s will; we receive it second hand through the historic testimony of the Bible and through the witness of other believers. The serpent was able to capitalize on this by calling into question what God really said and meant. In today’s world we see theological debates over what God really said and meant in the Word. This leaves us vulnerable to misinterpretation and misapplication of the truth. Our own self- interest gets in the way and clouds our understanding.

I believe that Eve was well intentioned. She wanted to obtain wisdom and understand why God did not want her and Adam to take the fruit and why eating it would cause them to die. She thought that God would certainly want them to understand since they were made in God’s image. We are to grow in our understanding. We cherish education and the expansion of science and technology. It is natural and good for us to explore the reasons behind what exists and manipulate creation for both the benefit of the human race and creation. This is the authority God gave to us as it is recorded in the first chapter of Genesis. But like all knowledge and its pursuit, there are certain limitations placed upon us. We will never answer every question; there will always remain mysteries which only God will comprehend.

God will always remain God and there are limitations placed upon us by God concerning how we use creation. In chapter 2 we learn that humans were placed in the garden to tend and care for it. We are therefore not free to use the earth and its creatures, and even our own bodies in any way that we chose. God defines the parameters if we are to know life to its fullest and finest. Our ability to explore, learn and rule leads us open to pride and the misuse of our abilities. Just because we can do some things does not mean we should do them. Like Eve, we break some God defined boundaries out of the belief that we can control what we do and that it would be beneficial.

Eve was more susceptible to this temptation because she was not present when God explained the parameters to Adam. We question the limitations imposed on us because we have received the information second hand. We have to trust the scriptures and the persons through whom it was passed down to us. We must trust that the persons who translated, edited and forwarded the revelation to us were inspired by and faithful to God. We have to trust the persons who first told us the stories and the truth through we know their limitations and fallibilities. We take into account the weaknesses and limitations of those know and love the people who helped form and shape our faith. How can we then be sure the witness we have been given is true? Why should we trust it?

We cannot blame Eve without blaming ourselves. The real bothersome question was why Adam stood by and did not interject as Eve was being tempted? He heard the restriction directly from the Lord. The New Testament says that we sin because of Adam and not because of Eve. Adam represents those of us who have the truth and follow Christ. Too often we sit by and ignore the misuse of the truth. We are hesitant to radically follow and proclaim what we know to be true. Maybe we are fearful of the jeopardizing our relationships and the desire for acceptance overrides our loyalty to God. When we remain silent to the evils we observe we are complicit in the sin around us making us accessories’ after the fact. Because of the greater certainty we should possess by our faith have we also carry the burden of responsibility for explaining and interpreting the truth - at least for trying.



Unfortunately, we may have more direct knowledge of the truth, we may even have the Spirit of truth within us, and we can still question God’s authority. Our own desire to define and control life, and reluctance to live within the limitations of our abilities, tempt us to stretch the limits. Being dedicated Christians does not mean we do not struggle with God’s will. History reveals our frailty and need for God’s grace. As the Adams of our time, we Christians need to be humble and watch how we interpret and apply the Word of God. We need to be engaged in responding to the trespasses we observe in our culture and rather than blame others we need to accept responsibility and rely on grace as we proclaim the grace needed by all.

Selah! Pastor Brian Homan

09/04/2026

BRIDGING THE TRAP OF THE GENERATION GAP!

Good morning! Our reading for this September 4th is 1 Peter 5:1-5.

To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder, a witness of Christ's sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed: 2 Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers — not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; 3 not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. 4 And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.

5 Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because ,"God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." (NIV)

Until this June of 2012 I had served as the Dean of our Licensing School for eleven years. The school prepared women and men for service as pastors or who were intending on furthering their education to respond to the call of becoming ordained Elders in the church. This passage might be one I would select to address with those students as it speaks to those who bear the responsibilities of leadership in the church.

The elders to which Peter speaks are not persons of age, though certainly we can presume they were called elders because they were older and more experienced with living the faith. In today’s world and ordained Elder does not have to be a person of age, even though there are fewer young persons seeking to serve the church as Elders. An Elder has to give evidence of maturity in the faith, has prepared educationally for service and given evidence of effectiveness in leadership. In the context of Peter’s time, he is speaking as an elder apostle to pastoral leaders who were most likely introduced to Christ through his leadership or that of other apostles. They were referred to as elders because they were among the first to come to Christ. The younger men are those who represent a second or third generation of believers and were thus less experienced in the practice of the Christian faith. It was from those more experienced with proven success living the faith who were chosen by the apostles to lead the church.

As with every generation there is an experience of a “generation gap” where a younger group of followers vie for leadership that is held by older persons. There can be loving hostility between generations, with the younger feeling the older is “out of touch” with the movements of the contemporary culture and church and have become more stuck in their ways. The older may well feel uncomfortable and less willing to accept change or take chances. Older leadership may be used to the power they possess and become less willing to share it and view the younger as impetuous and less proven to carry the responsibilities. It is encouraging to read how what we struggle with today is similar to struggles of the first generations of the church. As King Solomon wrote , “there is nothing new under the sun.”

If the circumstances fit then Peter’s advice should be as equally heeded. He tells the elders to care for the entire flock which includes even the younger Christians who may seem to be competing for leadership. Added to the normal pressures of leadership they must deal with the pressure for change and maintaining relevance in an ever changing world. It is easy to become protective and shut off to the critical voices within the church, leaving established leaders even more entrenched in their opinion and resistant to the voices of change. Peter admonishes them to exercise their leadership willingly and even joyfully to avoid a grudging demeanor which will only feed the discord between generations. They are warned not to exercise their authority with harshness, but remain eager, and I would include open, to serve the Lord in whatever manner may prove effective.

John Wesley writes how vile he felt when he first attempted to preach in the open fields and streets. He was raised and taught to preach in the confines of the church and the unfamiliar field preaching was foreign to him. Having been expelled from the church he had no option left to him but to take up preaching wherever he could and to his surprise the venture met with great success and became one of the benchmarks of the Wesleyan movement and the successful revival which it brought to England and America. It is surprising that Wesley would feel this way since his Lord taught in both formal setting and in the fields of the countryside. Like Wesley, we must learn that while novel approaches may feel uncomfortable, should they be sound theologically and effective practically, we should be open to different ways to advance the gospel and the cause of Christ. Our reward, Peter reminds us, comes from presenting a good example and cultivating the expansion of the faith.

Peter addresses the “younger men” as men because in the days of the early church, leadership was relegated to men. Times have changed as has leadership in the world and in the church being shared with our feminine counterparts. Peter’s advice fits both genders pertaining to leadership within the church. Peter, as an older leader himself, recognizes the tides of change facing the church. Once contending that the Lord’s return would be so immanent that there might not be a second generation of disciples, he now recognizes that his time is limited as is those who first embraced Christ. The mantle of leadership must be passed down as well as the ability to maintain the foundational teaching and practices which have formed the life of the church. Tradition provides a foundation and stability while ministry prompts innovation. Keeping a balance is essential for securing the future.

To the younger developing leaders, Peter reminds them to accept and respect the authority of the older and established leaders within the church. It may take great patience to move forward, but acknowledging the struggles and contributions older leaders have made is essential for obtaining their cooperation in forging the future. The resistance of the establishment can help to balance the rash temptation to fads, of change for change’s sake. The spiritual and emotional needs of every generation are the same though their modes of expression changes. The message and offering of Christ remains relevant in every age. Those pressing for innovation must recognize that one day they shall be the “old school” with younger leadership pressing them for innovations and power which they shall also be reluctant to share. Humility is the basis for sound leadership. It is the humility which recognizes that everyone has something valid to offer and it is Christ who is ultimately the head of the church, not us.

This may sound like a message for leaders in the church. It is, but struggles over leadership influence every member as people of different opinion will side with leaders representing their tastes and interests. Openness and respect from all of us is demanded by Christ. We are each to be leaders as we influence others around us and represent Christ. We must make certain we are representing Christ accurately by caring and encouraging the faith of those around us. It is after all, Christ’s Church, and not ours. Remembering this goes a long way to promote the love of Christ.

Selah! Dr. Brian Homan

09/03/2026

KEEPING HEART HEALTHY!
Good morning! Our reading for this September 3rd is 1 John 3:18-24.
18 Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. 19 This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence 20 whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.
21 Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God 22 and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him. 23 And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. 24 Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us. (NIV)

God is greater than our own heart. The reference to the heart has always been associated with the center of our emotions or affections rather than the physical heart muscle of human anatomy. Hearts appear everywhere on Valentine’s Day in particular, but always describing the emotions equated with love. I suppose the reason for this is the fact that the heart is in the center of the chest between the lungs. Emotions affect the hearts beating as well as our breathing. When excited or angry we experience a physical reaction and so in ages past the heart came to be thought of as the source of these emotions and longings rather than the response to them.

We know that what we refer to as our emotional heart really will be found in the brain. We should also recognize that emotions themselves are unreliable. We can feel something and believe something is true that is really not, which is precisely the reason we should not judge the truth by how we feel. The prophet Jeremiah wrote that “the heart is deceitful above all things; who can trust it.”(17.3) We each know of times when we have felt something to be true and right only to find out later after making some choice that we come to regret that we were wrong and led astray by emotion.

There are times though that the heart is correct and the passions we feel, or the intuitive “gut feeling,” can spare us from harm and guide us. The difference comes in what it is that we love. Loving the wrong things can lead us down a path of painful consequences to choices we have made while the opposite can also be true, loving the right things can be liberating and life giving. Again, it is a matter of what we choose to love. Feelings come from varied influences. Understanding what makes us tick, or what moves us to feeling as we do can serve us well in determining what to love. We may well decide that a certain feeling is wrong, but still experience the emotion powerfully despite what we know is true.

It is due to the deceitfulness of emotions that we decide to follow our mind rather than our heart. I cringe over the advice I hear repeatedly given on television and the movies to “follow your heart.” I know that if I followed my heart I would be in jail, or living a severely dysfunctional life. Yet, when the heart is focused on the right things we are healthier. The deceitfulness of emotions is one reason why what we know as “the love chapter,” as 1 Corinthians 13 is called, excludes the emotional aspects of love for a description of the chosen actions that define love. The decision to trust one’s heart or not comes with maturity, which Paul’s description in Corinthians also proposes (vs. 11).

In our passage John states that God is greater than our hearts. I take this to mean two things. First, the love due God is greater than the love we can ever possess for Him and second, God’s love for us is greater than devotion we could ever muster toward God. In fact, when our heart, or emotions, are depressed or discouraged because of a failure in ourselves that we recognize, these in themselves do not determine how much God loves us. The fact that we may not feel good about ourselves does not alter the fact that God still loves us and is willing to work with what little we think we have to offer.

The acceptance that God’s love for us surpasses what we feel we deserve should put our hearts at rest, meaning that we may feel disconnected and far from God at any given point or place in life, but we can experience a peace from the knowledge that our feelings are only temporary and we can feel the closeness we desire to have with our Creator. It is at those times of greatest discouragement and distance that we are to focus on our behavior and choices over what we feel. If we follow the feelings of the moment we might surrender to doubt and lose faith. However, if we focus on the positive changes faith has made in us then we can feel confident that we can ignore our transient emotions and get on with doing and being the persons which make God and us proud.

However, if in examining why we feel so distant and unconnected from God is due to choices and behaviors we have made then our heart has been of great service. We can confess our sin, make changes with God’s help, ask from Him for the help we need, and be confident that intimacy can be restored. I would also say from personal experience that the relationship with God can be deepened through this process. This is the subject of the great prayer of King David we read in Psalm 139:23-24 . . . “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” The felt absences of God may well be in our imagination and failure to accept the grace offered us, or may be on the basis of some unconfessed sin.

If we are feeling under condemnation we must therefore take the time to inspect our life, correct anything that may contribute to our feeling guilty, or simply confess our having taken our eyes off of the love of God in Christ for us and are falsely condemning ourselves. To falsely condemn ourselves and refusal to accept the grace God offers is also a sin. Remember Jesus said that it is the truth that will set us free. We might also want to consider whether we are being spiritually oppressed in which case we will need spiritual help from a good counselor.

What we are looking for in our spiritual audit is our state of belief in Christ and the evidence of our love for others. If we uncover a struggle to love others as we should and as Christ has commanded, then we will have likely erected a barrier that separates us from Christ and give cause for our feelings of distance. So, check your heart against what you know is true; do what it takes to affirm the truth to yourself; and make certain you are living up to the truth in Christ you know. Doing this will keep you “heart healthy” and on track spiritually.

Selah! Dr. Brian Homan

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8317 Poolsbrook Road
Kirkville, NY
13082

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