Fairplain Presbyterian Church

Articles

  • Mission: The Good God is Inviting Us to Do in the World Together

    What is the good God has invited you to do in the world? And what is the good you believe God might be inviting you to do in the world through your church with other church members and our community?

  • When We Move Toward God, God Moves Toward Us

    Sometimes the practices we follow really do shape our lives.

  • Some Updates About Fairplain

    A couple weeks ago, someone from Presbytery asked me to write a few notes about Fairplain and how Presbytery (other area PC(USA) churches) can pray for us. I wanted to share some (slightly edited) highlights with you.

  • Sermon Transcript: Why Do We Keep Telling This Story?

    The Rev. David Schell preached this sermon at Fairplain Presbyterian Church on Easter Sunday, April 9, 2023. You can view a video of this Easter Sunday service below, and an audio recording. The manuscript is below the recordings. Video: Sermon Audio: Manuscript: Remember: Sermons are preached, not read, so the recordings and the text of…

  • Turn Down the Radio

    If Lent tunes our hearts in to a reality beyond what we can see with our eyes, hear with our ears, and taste with our mouths, then when Easter arrives, our hearts will be better tuned to sense God’s grace.

  • Helped By Those We Know, and Those We May Never Meet

    Ben Franklin said, “God helps those who help themselves,” but in my experience, God most often helps us through others, and others through us. We have all been helped along by people we have never met, and most of us have helped people we’ve never met. What a gift God gave us in each other!

  • The Parable of the Talents, Revisited

    The parable of the talents has always bothered me. If you’re not familiar with it, in Luke 19 Jesus tells the story of a nobleman who goes on a trip and gives ten of his servants, by my math, almost $500,000 each and tells them to do business with it until he gets back. One…

  • Praying for and Imagining God’s Kin-dom

    If we all keep praying “Thy kingdom come,” I believe it will change the way we respond to our world so we respond instead of react. And I hope it will lead to us participating in God’s work of bringing God’s good road closer.

  • Looking Back on 2022 with Kindness and Gentleness

    I hope you can look back on your life in 2022 not only with a sense of “good riddance,” but also with kindness and gratitude for all the good God has given you, and with gratitude for God bringing you through all its challenges.

  • While Mary Slept: A story for Christmas Eve

    By Rev. David Schell, for Christmas Eve, 2022. Joseph stood over the manger looking at his baby boy. Well, his in every sense but one. After all the fussing over him from his Bethlehem family, Aunt Elizabeth had finally chased them all to bed and given him and Mary a moment’s peace – a moment…