Christmas Eve message regarding the message of Luke's and Matthew's accounts of the birth of Jesus.

We are a hybrid church. We continue to exist only because we receive support both from our small seated church in Springfield and several of our Internet listeners. And more specifically, for the past several years we have been able to keep our doors open because of the larger year end gifts we have received in November and December. Please consider making a donation before the end of 2017 so that we can share 2018 together!

I hear from listeners who group our videos with the lectures of Spong, Borg, Crossan and Armstrong and while that is flattering, I know that I am not on the "A list" of progressive speakers (I can see the book sales numbers, after all!). But as important as the work of these leading progressive scholars has been to all of us, Borg is regrettably deceased, Spong is recovering from a stroke, and we get only a few new lectures every year from Armstrong and Crossan. Our channel produces 48-52 new messages every year, offering a progressive perspective on current events. Our continued presence on the web is entirely dependent upon finding a few folks who are willing to help to financially support us. No one is trying to make a big salary out of this effort, in fact, we are a very lean operation, but we still have to have some support to keep going. Please become more than a listener, become a donor by going to www.spfccc.org - click on the donate button and become a monthly donor to keep the messages coming…. for you and for literally tens of thousands of listeners who will never become a contributor but who benefit from the content of our channel.  Thank you!

We are proud to announce the release of Holly Ketchum's new children's book, America Will Be Great. This wonderful book is aimed at early elementary aged students and illustrates inclusion and acceptance rather than bans, walls, rejection and prejudice. We are distributing the books at our cost - please go to www.spfccc.org,  - click on the donate button - and donate $7 per copy and give us a mailing address and we will send you your author autographed copies.

Featuring "Purpose in the Pain" by David Greathouse

Featuring "The Sound that Love Makes" by David Greathouse

Featuring "Black Snake" by David Greathouse

Featuring "Shine On" by David Greathouse

Of the more than 15,000 viewers and listeners we have each month, fewer than 100 support us financially. Our continued existence is in question. Please become a regular contributor to keep this progressive resource in existence. Without listener donations our church would not exist. If we are your virtual church, please support us (you can donate on line at www.spfccc.org).
You can donate by clicking on the donate button on our website: www.spfccc.org
Or you can mail donations to us at:
Community Christian Church
4806 E Farm Road 136
Springfield, MO 65809

Reinhold Niebuhr said: Nothing worth doing is completed in our lifetime; and he added, Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone. These important observations should inform people of faith, recognizing that we are mired in the present moment yet the just society we long for cannot likely be attained during our lifetimes and we certainly can’t make much progress as isolated individuals. We must not allow our cynicism about the next four years to keep us from working for those important goals that will not be visible for generations to come.

Noam Chomsky offers two dire warnings following the election of Donald Trump: The first is an accelerated use of carbon based fuels that will bring the human race to extinction and the other is a renewed nuclear arms race leading quickly to a nuclear war. As real as these threats are, this sermon speaks to the ways in which fear is a villain that pushes us to make the worst decisions in response to these global threats.

The Standing Rock camps are still in operation. The DAPL construction equipment is still poised to return to drilling if the Trump administration reverses Obama's halt on the project. This important protest still calls for our involvement and support.

This sermon was written and delivered by Rev. Mel Miller in 1963. The Millers had four children when they decided to adopt a black child and then a Native American child in the early days of the Civil Rights movement. They were sorely abused for their progressive decision but Mel wrote this sermon (which is read today by his eldest daughter) to kindly and patiently help his congregation to understand the bold moves his family was making.