Pastor Robert Foote

How Not to Take Holy Communion Part 5 – The Mystery of Reba’s Overnight Rolls There’s something about Hoosier grandmas (and maybe specifically German Hoosier grandmas), that is a bit mysterious regarding their wonderful cooking. My wife Sheila’s paternal grandma Reba Reichart made these wonderful rolls which we usually tasted at Thanksgiving. The only thing […]

How Not to Take Holy Communion Part 4 – Do Not Receive It Drunk! Struggle. When I began my ministry in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, after several years of service, I was leading worship service on a Sunday morning when a man came into the back of the sanctuary, obviously intoxicated and raving. His cries were hard

How Not to Take Holy Communion Part 3 – The Motive & Meal Is Important  Ever go to a garage sale and find out that the garage is not for sale?! One time, when my wife and I went to Arby’s Roast Beef in Pittsburgh, we had the crazy idea of actually ordering roast beef

How Not to Take Holy Communion Part 2 – The Rx of Redemption As for me, I said, “O Lord, be gracious to me; Heal my soul, for I have sinned against You.” (Ps. 41:4)                                         

How Not to Take Holy Communion Part One – Divisions and Unity In the devotion from yesterday (Feb. 26), St. Paul in, I Corinthians 11, identified several problems with the way that the Corinthian congregation practiced Holy Communion.  His starting point was divisions within the congregation. Divisions and distinctions are not all bad – indeed,

Who Are the “Stewards of the Mysteries of God”? I Corinthians 4:1: “Let a man regard us in this manner, as servants of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God.” The Corinthian church was a dysfunctional congregation. Thanks be to God!  This dysfunction inspired the Spirit to inspire St. Paul to write a letter

Admirals and Under-rowers – Working Together! Most people know that Jesus washed feet. The hallmark of His incarnation and ministry was that God in the flesh takes on the form of a humble servant (Philippians 2). The point of that famous passage is that Jesus took that humility all the way to the Cross.  He

The Medium Is the Message – What do you think? “… The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” (John 1:14a) Consider the difference between an hourglass and a digital watch. Both measure time.  But the similarities pretty much end there. Similarly, when you drink out of a silver chalice, versus a paper cup, no

Mysteries as Memory “Do this in remembrance of Me.” (I Cor. 11:24b) My children grew up reading all sorts of children’s books – just as entertaining for me as they were for the kids…. Don’t start laughing. We read several different Bible story books, typically with a simplified account, stripping away the minor characters and

Mysteries Revealed “Let a man regard us in this manner, as servants of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God.”         (I Corinthians 4:1) Mysteries abound in life! In the cosmos, we have quasars, black holes, dark energy….On earth, we have the platypus and the water bear/tardigrade.  (Ask someone who went to VBS last year