x

75% of people globally want unbiased news (Pew Research) but are concerned they're not getting that.

Get balanced coverage with Symby. See how stories are covered across diverse outlets and spot when one side covers a story the other skips.

PODCAST

Progressive Faith Sermons - Dr. Roger Ray

Sermons from the Community Christian Church of Springfield, MO. We are believers in Jesus Christ who accept all people without judgment and who desire to work and worship as a community striving for social justice.

religion & spirituality philosophy

All Episodes

27:12

What is a Cult and are You in One?

Progressive Faith Sermons - Dr. Roger Ray ·

2024/06/16

The gloves are off, at least in the left leaning media, as we now hear the Trump base regularly being referred to as a "cult." That's strong language that should not be used lightly but does the "shoe fit?" This message asks us to consider the diagnostic criteria for identifying any movement as a cult and to apply these criteria to ourselves.

en

26:17

Your Jesus, My Jesus, and the Jesus of History

Progressive Faith Sermons - Dr. Roger Ray ·

2024/06/02

Most progressive church goers have been exposed to academic criticism of the New Testament, especially as concerns the nature of the historical Jesus. After all, the Jesus Seminar has been around for 40 years, giving us those wonderful books by Marcus Borg, John Shelby Spong, Karen Armstrong, and Jon Dominic Crossan. Still, I have marveled at how church members can leave a brilliant lecture about the historical Jesus and in minutes, default to a kind of 4th century creedal set of beliefs about

en

25:01

Faith Without Certainty

Progressive Faith Sermons - Dr. Roger Ray ·

2024/05/19

When we watch a movie like Star Wars, we immediately know that it is fiction. No one tries to hitch a ride on the Millennium Falcon or tries to order a working light saber from Amazon. Sadly, however, many modern religious people read biblical myths as if talking with a snake in the Garden of Eden or following Moses through a divided Red Sea is something that actually happened. This sermon attempts to help us all to interrogate the myths that help us to define morality in the modern world.

en

26:54

USA at War with Russia and Iran

Progressive Faith Sermons - Dr. Roger Ray ·

2024/05/05

Similar to the WWII generation, we are living in a time facing dramatic changes that may end up being good but which also have the potential of being catastrophically bad. As Eric Holder recently warned, there is no cavalry coming to save us. Storied institutions like the Supreme Court and the Congress have demonstrated their willingness to side with a fascist trend led by Donald Trump. We, persons of conscience and compassion, must be the cavalry the world is waiting for.

en

20:38

Hyperbole, Hysteria, and Hypocrisy

Progressive Faith Sermons - Dr. Roger Ray ·

2024/04/21

The claim that the coming election is "the most important election of our lifetime," has been sadly over used and possibly worn out to the point that people easily ignore those of us who are urgently crying "wolf" about the November 2024 election. This message attempts to state the stark reality of the risk to democracy and individual freedoms at stake in this election. Please, listen to it and share with every voter you know.

en

21:24

Why No One in the Bible Accepted Jesus Christ as...

Progressive Faith Sermons - Dr. Roger Ray ·

2024/04/07

Two great periods of revivals saved the Christian religion from extinction in the United States. The Great Awakening, near the birth of our nation, and The Second Great Awakening that came along with the western expansion, the Civil War, and the end of slavery. Much of what modern American Christians think is a biblical faith is actually the echos of revivalist preaching based on a very poor reading of the writings of John Calvin.

en

33:08

The First Easter

Progressive Faith Sermons - Dr. Roger Ray ·

2024/03/31

Easter, as it has been taught to us through traditional modern sermons, is, as Bishop John Shelby Spong described it, simply "unbelievable." Stepping back from the "yippee, we're all gonna live forever" myth, this lecture tries to treat the first Easter in a historical context with a critical discussion of early Christian writing.

en

18:13

This is Not Normal

Progressive Faith Sermons - Dr. Roger Ray ·

2024/03/24

THIS IS NOT NORMAL! Cultural values we worked hard to correct over the past century are slipping back into what is being allowed to become normative language, thinking, and voting. North Carolina's GOP nominated candidate for governor, Mark Robinson, who enjoyed more than 60% of the vote in the primary, has publicly denied the holocaust, insisted that the Nazis were "not that bad," is opposed to women's right to vote, to LGBT+ rights, and he even insists that the Sandy Hook School shootings were a

en

21:22

Redemptive Suffering

Progressive Faith Sermons - Dr. Roger Ray ·

2024/03/10

The sad news of Alexey Navalny's death in prison brings to mind many who have chosen personal sacrifice as a way to raise awareness in the public's mind or to confront the evils of governments through the centuries. Navalny takes his place along side the likes of Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, Jr., Gandhi, and others whose names remain written on our hearts. There is a kind of suffering that can be redemptive. We might wish that such sacrifices were unnecessary but, alas, they almost

en

19:04

How Much Does it Cost Me?

Progressive Faith Sermons - Dr. Roger Ray ·

2024/02/25

32 of the 33 developed nations in the world have universal healthcare. Why is the United States the only outlier? We spend more on healthcare than any of the other nations, why can't we get the distribution system to be more fair? We also have between five and ten times as many of our citizens in prison, than any of those other developed nations. Why have we not managed to address the roots of poverty (which is what causes most crime) as those other nations have? Obviously, it is some combination of

en

20:25

Fear is the Root of Anger

Progressive Faith Sermons - Dr. Roger Ray ·

2024/02/11

Men and sometimes women confuse anger with a show of strength, or of being courageous when, in most cases, anger is simply a product of being afraid. As we try to understand the dangerous divisions within our American population, I think that we need to give careful consideration to the role of grievance, of irrational anger fueled by a paranoid level of fear. Fear of immigrants, loss of white privilege, and Evangelical influence in society is largely ephemeral but the consequences but a move

en

29:07

God Doesn’t Write Books

Progressive Faith Sermons - Dr. Roger Ray ·

2024/01/28

For many congregations, the Bible is still the church's book but not many progressives find scripture to be either authoritative or even relevant in their lives. We have lost an anchor in our lives when we give up on sacred texts but the church of the 21st century has to find its truth to less clearly identified but indisputably more reliable sources.

en

29:41

What Your Teacher Didn’t Tell You (and probably...

Progressive Faith Sermons - Dr. Roger Ray ·

2024/01/14

The prophetic church has always advocated for human rights, civil rights, LGBTQ+ rights, women’s rights, and has opposed the forces that create poverty, war, illness, and racism. As fascist language keeps rising in our current political environment, the prophetic church must find its voice again; before it is too late.

en

26:02

Time Does Not Exist

Progressive Faith Sermons - Dr. Roger Ray ·

2023/12/31

Time is not a material thing. Our units of time actually measure movement, i.e. if there was no movement the concept of time would be meaningless. Talk about going back in time is not merely science fiction, it is, in fact, more a matter of fantasy, of imagination disengaged from reality. Understanding science is increasingly important but to move forward intellectually we have to accept that simply saying "it pleases me to believe in delusions" is not helpful.

en

18:40

Finding Balance in a World that Demands Action

Progressive Faith Sermons - Dr. Roger Ray ·

2023/12/17

Americans have fewer annual vacation days than any other western government and more than that, we tend to tie retirement and healthcare to our employment. So, out of fear and anxiety, we work more than almost any other nation and yet have millions without healthcare, income, or housing. Our world obviously needs our involvement and action but it also needs for us to step back from the fire and gain perspective, insight, wisdom, and peace. Take a break. Enjoy the holiday. Then come back smarter and

en

18:51

“When the Darkness Stares Back” (the world on the...

Progressive Faith Sermons - Dr. Roger Ray ·

2023/12/03

The war in Ukraine shows no signs of coming to an end and now the war in Gaza is escalating to an unthinkable death toll and seems only to get worse daily. What are we to make of these tragic wars that remind us so much of the way that WWII started? And as Americans, since our tax dollars and military hardware are deeply involved in both wars, what are we to say within this democracy that is supposed to care what we think?

en

19:22

No One Hears the Sound of a Wooden Bell

Progressive Faith Sermons - Dr. Roger Ray ·

2023/11/19

The United States has perpetuated compromises in our constitution which were originally written to give slave holding states assurances that the institution of slavery would not be immediately wiped out by larger and more populous industrial states. What gave some citizens a larger voice in managing our government at the end of the 18th century has become a choke collar in the 21stcentury, taking away the voice of the poor, minorities, and immigrant communities who tend to live in major cities in

en

18:22

Is Justice Blind Or Just Crazy?

Progressive Faith Sermons - Dr. Roger Ray ·

2023/11/05

The familiar image of Lady Justice, blindfolded, holding up balanced scales in one hand and a sword in the other (a little frightening if she can’t see) suggests our desire that we will be a nation of laws and that there is only one standard of justice in the nation. We hope that the rich and the poor, people of all races, nations of origin, and public status will be treated the same in our courts. However, we know that is not how it really works. We have a goal of equal justice in mind but our

en

26:12

Israel and Palestine (Migration, Immigration,...

Progressive Faith Sermons - Dr. Roger Ray ·

2023/10/22

Most of us have given an uncommon amount of time and energy to the news in the past weeks as Israel mounts a military response to the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks launched by Hamas. Just as the USA did after 9-11, it is only human to want to strike back against such a horrible act of war with an overpowering military response. But Hamas is like Isis, they are more of an ideology of hate than they are an army or even a political party. Trying to fight an abhorrent idea always ends up killing more

en

32:14

Why Support Ukraine’s War with Russia?

Progressive Faith Sermons - Dr. Roger Ray ·

2023/10/08

Does our support for Ukraine in their defensive war against Russia’s invasion qualify as a “just war?” Thomas Aquinas insisted that for a war to be just it must be conducted by a sovereign government, and the war must be for a just cause, and it must be fought by soldiers who fight to accomplish something that is good. Of course, innocent people die in all wars and no army is comprised of entirely noble soldiers, so war crimes will be committed by all nation’s armies in some instances. When is the

en

399 results

Similar Podcasts

Jeff Haygood, Pastor

PodPoint

PASTOR ALVARO VALENCIA

Pastor Alvaro Valencia

Grace Life Church CT.

Joseph Levesque

Pleasant View Church

Ted Nance

Christian Heritage Church"s Podcast

PodPoint