(NCC News) 'Gifts for the common good' sermon on Day1
New York City, August 29, 2007--The Rev. Bob Edgar, outgoing general secretary of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA (NCC) is this Sunday's (Sept. 2) guest preacher on Day1, the nationally-syndicated radio program of the Alliance for Christian Media. The Rev. Edgar gave his sermon the title, "Gifts for the Common Good."
"The key phrase in Paul's letter (1 Corinthians 12) is this: 'To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.' The common good," says Edgar in the sermon. "There it is, right there in the Bible. God's Holy Spirit gives each one of us a unique gift for the good of all of God's creation."
Day1 can be heard on more than 150 radio stations plus American Forces Radio. It can also be heard online at http://day1.net/ where a transcript of the sermon is also available.
"We have an obligation for 'the common good' to share our abundance with those who have so little," says Edgar. "We have an obligation to help our neighbor-no matter where in the world they live-to learn how to grow enough food to sustain all of the population of planet Earth."
The sermon addresses the three themes he has been championing during his service as NCC's general secretary since 2000: the peace that Jesus promised, taking care of the poor as Jesus and the Hebrew prophets always advocated, and being faithful stewards of God's creation.
"As followers of Jesus, we must stop arguing among ourselves about who's in charge and find the gifts given to each of us," says Edgar. "And indeed each of us has been blessed with gifts of insight, resource, talent, and time that we can use to make a difference where we are. We must use those gifts for the common good to build up what Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., called, 'the beloved community.'"
Edgar assumes fulltime duties Sept. 1 as president and chief executive officer of Common Cause, a nonpartisan nonprofit advocacy organization founded in 1970 as a vehicle for citizens to make their voices heard in the political process and to hold their elected leaders accountable to the public interest. Now with nearly 300,000 members and 36 state organizations, Common Cause works for honest, open and accountable government, as well as encouraging citizen participation in democracy.
The National Council of Churches USA is the ecumenical voice of 35 of America's Orthodox, Protestant, Anglican, historic African American and traditional peace churches. These NCC member communions have 45 million faithful members in 100,000 congregations in all 50 states.
---
NCC News contact: Dan Webster, 212.870.2252, NCCnews@ncccusa.org
Latest NCC News at www.councilofchurches.org
------
You are currently subscribed to nccnews as: wfn-editors@wfn.org. You are included as a part of nccnews. To UNSUBSCRIBE from NCC News, SEND A BLANK E-MAIL TO: leave-92735-1914481H@chrlists.ncccusa.org.
---------
Send QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS to NCCnews@ncccusa.org. This is the news list of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA and is intended only for those who have expressed interest in the information herein contained.