March 11, 2026 - The View from the Pinnacle

God and Gravity

Are these forces we are subject to or immune from?

The second temptation Christ was offered by satan at the top of the Temple in Jerusalem. Again within our monotheistic tradition, the devil is not a dualistic figure equal to God but a servant to God and/or this figure can also be understood as an external embodiment of the ego. According to the story within Matthew, the devil carried Jesus to the top and then tested him with the idea of throwing himself down in front of everyone. The devil assured Jesus that God would send angels to catch him and that he would not “dash his foot upon the stone.”

A portion of the temptation is to believe that we may control God and use that control to protect ourselves. Whether it is to protect the body or to protect the soul (or to protect the ego), there is a very real temptation to want a divine protector and to make faith the transactional offering that is rewarded with safety and security. While our tradition affirms an image of God as a shield and fortress, our tradition also affirms that a faithful life will involve love and risk - even sacrifice. To prize protection above all else is to make faith something else.

A second portion of the temptation is what would occur if Jesus were to pull off this “sign and wonder” in front of everyone below - immediate authority. To one who understood himself to be a religious reformer, this is almost too good to pass up. But Christ sees it for what it is - authority is granted by the miracle and would then need to be maintained indefinitely. Authority by this means would again reduce the faith to protector and protected. It would deny vulnerability and grace, imperfection and inclusion, and this is not an end Christ is willing to accept.

As it comes to us, this part of the story brings an invitation to reflect upon our personal comfort with our vulnerability and even mortality. How do we honor the imperfection, brokenness, and wounds/scars in our own body? Is it something we can gaze upon or avoid? Is it something we can name to ourselves and those we entrust, or something we work to conceal? Is it something where we offer compassion and find grace moving in and out, or something that we fear has been a divine punishment for some error we have made? Our feet hit the stones in this world. The moral of the story is not necessary that God didn’t catch us, but that we are subject to forces like gravity in this world and that God (so very unfortunately at times) does not send the angels to catch us all. Faith and wounds are not opposed to one another but present together in one body and soul.

power and control

Over Creation, God, and Kingdoms

Every one of the three temptations of Christ is about seizing power and control of others. Whether it be Creation (stone) or God (temple) or Humanity (Kingdoms), the offering to Christ is to exert a power over to gain control of. This control, so the devil promises, would be satisfying and even beneficial for the world (this is soooo tempting, for I know that every problem in the world would be fixed if I was in charge!). In Christ’s decline, there is a revelation of faith and how we may move in this world.

One of the reasons that we are learning about White Christian Nationalism during this time of Lent is that the main components of this false teaching are all about power and control. Dominion over Creation, an Invincibility of Body and Soul, and Authority and Control over others. None of these are true to the gospel. All of them are a manifestation of an indulgence in temptation. Each of these conceals a sincere hunger of the soul, legitimate longing for communion, and real desire for belonging.

The wilderness of Lent is a season of refinement and clarity. It is also a time of discernment and preparation. Let us continue to reflect on the ways that we may have given and may be giving in to these temptations (for they come to all of us - again and again) and seek the courage and community to repent and change. Let us continue to look outward with grace and care to better understand our family, friends, and neighbors who subscribe to WCN. And let us continue to lean into this season to seek wisdom and grace in how we may approach and serve others by understanding the temptations and by offering compassion to the legitimate longings within the soul.

May this season guide and empower us to find a way to faithfulness and peace together.

Peace,

Rev. Chris McCreight

Transcript and Video of the sermon, “God and Gravity”

In Our Church and Community

  • The men will “graciously” be preparing a breakfast meal of eggs, sausage, hash browns, and veggies - served up with coffee from Bent Tree Roasters in Kent.

    Come on out to enjoy an excellent meal with excellent company - and invite a friend. This is a free meal and open to the community.

  • The College presents another Library Forum: Hollywood Fairy Tale: A Public Relations Case Study of Wrexham Football Club’s Transformation

    Join Dr. Xinlu Yu, associate professor of communication, for a talk examining how Wrexham AFC—one of the world’s oldest professional football clubs—was revitalized under the ownership of Hollywood actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.

    Founded in 1864 and long tied to the working-class town of Wrexham, Wales, the club was struggling financially and competitively before the takeover. The new owners launched a bold PR campaign with clear goals, compelling storytelling, proactive media engagement, and their own star power.

    Their efforts, showcased in the acclaimed series Welcome to Wrexham, attracted global attention, major sponsorships, and helped the club achieve three consecutive promotions—transforming both the team and its community.

    Free and open for all! description

  • The Village is gathering groups and organizations to share their upcoming events with the community. If you’re looking for opportunities to connect with neighbors around shared interests and shared service, stop in at Dix Hall in the Kennedy Center of Hiram College. The church will also be represented to share a bit about what we do and how folks can be involved.

  • The Common Good will be hosting a gathering in the fellowship hall to discuss how people of faith may be politically engaged for “the common good.” Lunch will be served and time will be given to connect, learn about current matters, and advocate in letter writing campaigns and/or making protest signs in preparation for the nationwide event on March 28th.

  • Sarah Park is organizing a concert to benefit Kids Weekend Meals. She’ll be joined by a vocalist and violinist to perform a repertoire of classical music. The event is free and open to the public. There will be a good will donation and all proceeds will go to support Kids Weekend Meals, which provides families in the Crestwood District with groceries to cover the weekend.

  • We’ll continue our tradition of service on the Sunday following Easter. The Board is developing a list of projects to benefit the church and community. A potluck will be shared at noon.

Hiram Arts

Have you heard about what Hiram Arts is doing in the community? The Church is delighted to be able to host this new organization.

Utilizing Youtube

We are trying something new: sharing video of the scripture and sermon from our worship services. You can (re)view and subscribe if you’d like.

March 4, 2026 - The Stepping Stone

The First Temptation—"Command that these stones be made bread." by William Blake

The First Temptation

Transforming the landscape or allowing the landscape to transform us?

The First Temptation - "Command that these stones be made bread." by William Blake

The wilderness serves as the landscape where the practices of fasting and discernment can occur - listening for the calling within and preparing to respond. Jesus is ushered into this place by the Holy Spirit as a guide and accompaniment. This wilderness is also something of an inversion to the second creation account when temptation arrives for the first time. One story begins with a landscape of abundance; the other with a barren terrain. And while the transformation of the world and remaking of Eden is an idea dwelling within the faithful imagination, Christ’s resistance of temptation to take control of the elements and transform it all shows us the way.

The use of the figures within the gospel helps us to see the image more clearly: the Spirit leads us into the wilderness to find our place within it - to allow the landscape to be and come to love it and revere it; the devil brings the landscape to us and tells us we can change it to meet our needs - creature comforts and all. There’s something wise and humble about Christ’s response to this temptation that invites us to approach our world that honors the place and belonging of all members (beginning with the stones). The stones are not a means to satisfy one’s hunger or a foundation for one’s kingdom, but a beloved part of the world that the Spirit guides us to come and see and love as they are. Opposite this way of love is the temptation and force of dominion that would view all the world as "up for the taking” to be used, exploited, and consumed for every human hunger imaginable - the temptation begins with stones and only grows from there.

This first temptation is about how we may inhabit the world when the world is less than perfect - if we can sustain some discomfort and restrain our power and will, and even come to honor and love that portion of the world that does not satisfy our personal hunger, or if we will cite the harsh landscape as reason enough to take, use, and transform the world to meet our needs without regard for anything or anyone else. The latter is a path that not only ensures scarcity but fosters a world shaped by power; the former has the ability to lead us toward a just and peaceful home, community, and world.

These temptations are about power and control. The wisdom of Christ seems to show us that regardless of the condition of the world - perfect or flawed - understanding how to use our power and understanding where our power must end is beneficial in not only keeping one faithful and true to God, but essential in working together with God’s children to co-create a community and world that is graced with abundance and worthy of us all.

So where do we begin in God’s calling to mend and heal the world? It would seem that we start with the practice of loving rocks. This love and the Spirit (if they are any different) will guide us from there.

Peace,

Rev. Chris McCreight

Transcript and Video of the Sermon, “Crunchy.”

This Sundays scripture: Matthew 4: 5 - 7

Save the Date: A Special Concert on April 11 @ 6pm

Sarah Park will be gathering with friends to offer a concert that will raise funds and collections for a local food bank.

February 25, 2026

Surveying the Landscape

The first week of Lent

As we prepare for our Lenten conversation on the temptations of White Christian Nationalism, it is necessary for us to begin with a reflection on how we may approach.

Whenever we discuss temptation, sin, and evil, it is so very easy to look outward and cast judgment. I can ignore the plank in my eye and chastise another for the splinter in his eye. I can even deceive myself entirely and proclaim that I am pure and good, and that all of the temptation, sin, and evil can be found over there (just point a finger at anyone other than me!). There are times when it is faithful and loving to call attention to the sin of another and to call power to repent, but it does seem that the right course and faithful action always begins with prayerful reflection about oneself.

We look inward with humility to listen and search for the ways that this temptation or judgment may already be at work within us. This whole conversation about White Christian Nationalism is a conversation about control and the power to keep it, and who among us does not appreciate and has not grasped for more control in this life? This interior work allows us to remember that we are all imperfect. It will lead us to become familiar with the challenge and difficulty of repentance and repair. Finally. if I am not able or willing to consider the ways that I have given in to temptation and sinned and harmed another; if I am not willing to repent, how am I at all to hope that another may change?

So we begin with humility and compassion. We will proceed with this pair, too. A look inward. Into our hearts and our homes.

The temptation comes to all of us.

We begin with humility and compassion.

One of the themes that runs through the temptations here is “control.” Control over the elements for satisfaction (stone to bread), control over the kingdoms for power and pleasure, and control over God for protection and immortality (and perhaps control over change if there is any merit in my humble suggestion that there is a fourth temptation of self-deception). In each of these, Christ is tempted with controlling the world to change it, bend it, and will it to satisfy his hungers and ego, instead of offering Christself in humility to accept, love, and serve.

White Christian Nationalism is a false gospel that would find its origins if Jesus were to come out from the wilderness having said “Yes” to every single temptation from the devil. Throughout Lent, we will engage how this false gospel is a temptation to Christ’s Church in America today - not that we may point to others and judge and condemn, but that we may understand the power of the temptation, discern what is faithful and good, and move with grace into this landscape. But we begin with a humble and prayerful reflection on the temptation to control that we have encountered and perhaps given ourselves over to. And with humility and compassion, we proceed.

Peace,

Rev. Chris McCreight

Transcript and Video of the Sermon, “Surveying the Landscape”

This Sunday’s scripture: Matthew 4: 1 - 4

If you would like to share your gifts of music in worship, you can sign up here. 

Pastoral Care and Conversation can be scheduled Monday through Thursday by calling the office, emailing Rev. Chris, or using the app here. Rev. Chris is glad to meet with you online, over the phone, at the office, a coffee shop, a bar, or at your home.

Community Events

Bread and Soup returns to Hiram College as part of the Bissell Symposium, reviving a long-standing campus tradition that brings the community together around a simple, shared meal. The cost is $8 per person. Payment is accepted by cash or student meal swipes only.

Whether you’re continuing a tradition or experiencing it for the first time, Bread and Soup offers a welcoming space to gather, connect, and enjoy a piece of Hiram’s history.

A special Event

Following Bread and Soup, the college will host a screening of the documentary, “Join or Die”

What’s your story?

Friday @ 7pm in the Fellowship Hall

Whether it's the religious holidays of Lent or Ramadan, or the increasingly urgent call of "Spring Cleaning," this is a time filled with invitations to remove the obstacles and barriers between us and others that we may come together.

What is in need of reconciling? What does it look like to be reconciled? The joy, the hardship, the wisdom, the grace and the laughter of it all - it's all welcome.

Come join friends and neighbors from your village for an evening. Come prepared with a story to share (5-7 minutes) and/or come prepared to listen to the stories of others. This is just one of the ways that we cultivate community.

The church will provide some refreshments and hot beverages. You are more than welcome to BYOB.

Maple tapping - days & times dependent on weather (see below)

If you would like to join, or have questions, please contact Rev. Chris

From Zack Fox:

I wanted to provide details about the project if you are hoping to help with tapping or collections.

  • For tapping, we will need people to bring rubber mallets and cordless drills with a clean, sharp 5/16" drill bit, if possible.

  • Days and times for collections are dependent on weather and schedule availabilities, so decisions will usually be made the previous day. The work involves carrying buckets of sap through the woods, usually with muddy conditions, so please come dressed appropriately.

  • If you plan to join us, the sugarbush is on Norton Rd, north of Hiram. You can park on the north side of the road, in between the entrance and the Masters house.

  • The link below is a map that shows the parking location, as well as the trails we follow for collections. You can keep it on your phone to help with finding the trails while you're in the woods.

  • Don't hesitate to reach out with any questions or concerns you have. We're looking forward to another great season!

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1g2TKJX7vP5dBF5XxB7ELOHipnN7DIHc&usp=sharing

Zack Fox ’21 (he/him)

Sustainability Coordinator, Hiram College

Land Stewardship Manager, Hiram College Field Stations

Hiram College Events - open to the public

Reading and discussion with author Jonathan Gleason

Wednesday, February 25, 5pm, Kennedy Center Ballroom

Jonathan Gleason is the author of Field Guide to Falling Ill, a collection of essays exploring the human lives behind the corporate, legal, and cultural practices that shape medicine. Meghan O’Rourke selected the “layered, reflective, and unusually poised debut” as the inaugural winner of the Yale Nonfiction Book Prize. A 2023 Elizabeth George Grant Recipient and 2024 Granum Foundation finalist, Gleason’s work has also appeared in the Best American Essays (2024), The Sun Magazine, New England Review, and Kenyon Review. He teaches creative writing at the University of Chicago.

Hiram College's Events Calendar has full listings of campus events, many of which are open to the public.