DISASTER RECOVERY RIGHT HERE

This is a time of possibility!   

The church is at a crossroads.  For years, we lived not by depending on the Lord, but by the generosity of an old-time member.  But now is the time when we must depend on our Lord Jesus afresh.  Shortly before I arrived at the church, Veronica Smith passed away and left the church a bequest of a million dollars.  That became the ‘go to’ for church operations.  And for many years, it was wonderful.

Instead of having to worry about church budgets year in and year out, we had deep pockets left to us by the loving memory of one of our own.  But the reality is that these funds do not last forever.  We are now at a place where most churches find themselves.  We have expenses and it is by the tithes and offerings of our membership that we meet those expenses.

We are in a very rough period of adjustment.  Our operating expenses got ahead of us over the last quarter.  Summer attendance-and giving-is always the lightest season in the church, but it hit us when we were already at a difficult time in paying for everything.  With a substantial fund transfer from what investments we have left, we have caught up, for now.  But the bills keep coming…

We are also at a place where there are significant maintenance issues in the church, issues of roof repair and a newer problem of water leakage into the Auditorium.  Tackling those problems has become secondary to balancing our finances.   

But now is the season of our Recovery.  As good people are working to recovery from Harvey and Irma and Maria and whatever else nature chooses to throw at our nation, so too, this is what we are doing.  Session sat together last night and began this work.  Laying out the reality for the whole congregation is our next step.  Then, together, in the Lord’s power, we shall recover, overcome, and carry forth His work in our city. 

Readings for the Week of Aug. 20, 2017

Readings for the Week of August 20, 2017

The joy of God is expressed powerfully in the Psalms.  The readings this week seek to express to us why God is our joy. 

Sun., August 20: Psalm 145  David calls upon the people to offer joy to the Lord. 

Mon., August 21: Psalm 24-God’s power over the Earth is made clear.   

Tue., August 22: Psalm 46-God is our fortress, giving us reason for joy.

Wed., August 23: Psalm 69-Daring to cry out to the Lord for His salvation.    

Thu., August 24: Psalm 98-A celebration of our God’s saving power.    

Fri., August 25: Psalm 131-A call for us to be calm and receive the power of God.    

Sat., August 26: Psalm 146-Trust in the Lord.

Readings for the Week of August 13, 2017

There are a number of passages that assume and undergird the need for a church to have smaller groups to thrive.

Sun., August 13: Mark 4  This is the full chapter inclusive of our Sunday Scriptures today.

Mon., August 14: Ephesians 4: 1-16 Paul describes the church in terms of the human bodies, the parts acting together.   

Tue., August 15: Matthew 18: 10-20 In the ways of forgiveness, Jesus outlines how the smaller gathering acts first, concluding with what qualifies as a Christian gathering.

Wed., August 16: Galatians 6: 1-5  As Paul closes his letter, note how he assumes that smaller parts of the community will work one with another. 

Thu., August 17: Hebrews 3: 7-19  In the context of a passage on the consequences of unfaithfulness, the writer assumes the smaller gathering of believers. 

Fri., August 18: 1 John 4: 7-21  The assumption of smaller, intimate relationships among the believers is assumed as John reminds the love binds them together. 

Sat., August 19: Acts 5: 7-42  This may not be our definition of a ‘successful church’, but the persecution suffered by the apostles continued to drive the home communities that formed the basis of the church at that time. 

What Does Wealth Have To Do With The Christian Faith?

Some churches have a theology of prosperity, in which the depth of one's belief is connected to the shower of material blessing that will be received.  There is Biblical precedence to this sort of behavior.

Throughout the Old Testament, God was always in a battle for the hearts and minds of God's people.  After the Exodus, God granted them the Promised Land where they would find their rest.  It always worked for a little while.  There was always a problem.

The problem (for the people) was how God did things.  This all-powerful being dealt with all-fallible human beings.  The focal point was the Ark, the footstool of God, located first in the tabernacle and then in the Temple in Jerusalem.  There was a center of worship.  God's problem was that the local religious practices were more...well...'practical'.  There was Baal, there was Ashteroth, there were rituals for the harvest, rituals for prosperity, rituals for the activities of daily living.  A lot of them involved sex.

Doing things the local way gave the people two distinct (and apparent) bonuses.  The first was 'hands-on', so hands-on it was carnal.  There were ways to get things done to beat the odds.  It was not simply a matter of planting the seeds, the local deities provided for an extra 'oomph' that was both religious and recreational.  The second was that it allowed the people to feel like they had a hand in their own future.  Their work would push the deity to get them what they wanted.

The trouble was that THE God, our God, did not operate this way.  In fact, our God is a jealous God, one who is all-providing.  So, needless to say, things did not go so well a lot of the time.

Fast forward to our time and place, and we have our same God, the same yesterday, today, and forever.  AND we have the gift of Jesus, God's only begotten Son, who brings forgiveness as a free gift to the whole world.  AND we have the universal offering of the Holy Spirit, God at work within us.  But...and there is always a but...

But we live in a world where the promise of wealth arises as our solution to everything.  We can invest for it, we can gamble for it, we can shop for it, we can prepare to retire early with it, it will make us happy (if you believe the commercials).  $350 million jackpot in the lottery, why not?  "Give your dreams a chance."  Heck, "anything can happen in Jersey".  This is the American dream, is it not?  People came here, and come here to build a better life.

It carries the same appeal as the Baals and the Ashteroth!  This work is hands-on, we can do it.  And it feels good.  Have you heard of "retail therapy"?  Building wealth is something I can build.  My hand is in it.  A theology of Prosperity is appealing because this returns me to the old ways.  I can push God to help build my wealth, if I am but faithful enough.  And it surely helps that God is an American, after all...

But this is NOT the way God operates.  God's wealth is invested in us as love, not dollars.  Money cannot buy happiness, it can only buy.  There is nothing more to it than that.  Physical wealth is provided to us by the grace of God for something other than its own pursuit.  It is provided to us so that we, all of us, the collective human experiment created by God, can invest in love.

During the Cold War, a Canadian Prime Minister dared to say that if both sides, back then the US and USSR, took the money they spent for ONE DAY of military purchases, they could feed the world.  That is the purpose of money.  He was ignored of course.

A wise man once said, "You can't have everything, you have no place to put it."  Jesus spoke of the rich man who tore down his barns to make bigger ones for all his stuff, only to lose it all when his life was demanded of him.  Wealth is not the answer.  In Christ, there is more, so much more.
   
     

The Renewal, the Need of the Mainline

Our fearless leader led the Presbytery of Elizabeth through a book study about not leading a dying church.  Cheryl Galan, our Transitional Leader, gave us that book.  And although I am not what one might call a faithful Presbytery-Meeting attender, that book gave me pause.  It started a train of thought.

We have been limping along for far too long.  I am in Perth Amboy since 2001, I was there for the Christmas after the attack that redefined who we are.  I have done too many pledge campaigns, wandered through too many 'vision quests', looking for the magic bullet that would change the church.

Let me say it out loud.  Right now, my church is fading into oblivion.  My Presbytery is fading into oblivion.  MY DENOMINATION is fading into oblivion.  If it were dying, we could bury it with honors, but it is fading to nothing.

For a couple of years, I thought the church growth movement was the answer.  Entrepreneurial in spirit, it had practical measures of growth, money in the plate and backsides in the pews.  By their measures, our PCUSA is the ideal reverse of all they measure.

So what else is out there?  There are two areas of thought in American Christendom that, quite frankly, scare me.  The first is prosperity theology, what I understand to be preachers daring to share from the pulpit that the more we believe, the more wealth God will shower on us in this life.  The second is the fear-threat response to evangelism.  I have read the gospels, I am just about through the book of Acts, nowhere can I find a place where Peter or Paul or the others told listeners that they best accept Jesus as Lord and Savior or they were bound for the barbecues of hell.  But I hear that a lot in American evangelism.

Wealth is the new idolatry.  More and more is being concentrated in the hands of fewer and fewer, and what happens to the rest?

Love and justice and generosity, all the fruits of the Spirit, where have they gone?

The Christian faith, how often has it been co-opted into the politics of the nation?  What answer is there to how it has been changed from its origins?

What else can we point to?  How else had the voice of Jesus been twisted, suppressed, and recast into things that are not even recognizable?

The vision is not the small, not the community changing, but nothing less than changing the face of the church for the coming age.

Readings for the Week of June 4, 2017

The readings this week include the book of Malachi, the final prophetic book in the Old Testament, and the first chapters of Ephesians.  Malachi carries in it a good number of prophetic references fulfilled in Jesus Christ.  Paul opens his letter to the Ephesians by reminding them of the relationship that Jesus has established with them.

Mon., June 5: Malachi 1

Tue., June 6: Malachi 2

Wed., June 7: Malachi 3

Thu., June 8: Malachi 4

Fri., June 9: Ephesians 1

Sat., June 10: Ephesians 2

Readings for the Week of May 28, 2017

The reading for this week will be Paul’s letter to the church in Galatia.  Our passage for Sunday comes from the final chapters, but consider the context of the entire book.

Mon., May 29: Galatians 1

Tue., May 30: Galatians 2

Wed., May 31: Galatians 3

Thu., June 1: Galatians 4

Fri., June 2: Galatians 5

Sat., June 3: Galatians 6

Why Support The Church?

I almost left out the word 'support'.  It smacks of asking for money, and I do not know about you, but when it comes to asking for money, there are fewer things that make my ears disengage.

But in church this past Sunday, during the Prayers of the People, we added a category under the "Joys" section of "Joys and Concerns".  If anyone reading is unfamiliar with that, we have a two stage prayer process in our worship service.  The first is to open the floor to joys and concerns to lift to the Lord.  Concerns usually come faster, but the joys are just as important-maybe more so.  Once we have gathered those, they become the heart of the Prayers of the People.  It is how we do things.

Three generations of one family sit and worship together on Sunday.  It is a thankful testament to the Word of God that passes from one generation to the next.  The work of the church has been to continue to make its worship into something that all ages can invest in.  While our 'style', if it had to be labeled, might be called 'traditional', the hope is that families can worship here together.

Friendship, enduring friendship, was also a thankful testament to the church.  We have people who have known each other and enjoyed one another's company for more than 75 years within our congregation.  This is a joy that transcends the tenure of the pastor by FAR.  It is also a demonstration that there is, within this community, a spirit that carries this church family over the long term.

The competition for the hours of our lives on Sunday mornings, the physical distances that carry people away, the changes of day to day life, they make Sunday morning a difficult thing to commit to on a regular basis.  Some churches lament that, others respond by trying to rise up and wrest control of people 'in the name of Jesus', using guilt or manipulation.  Still others simply throw up their hands.

What we have come to realize is that this church has a special place in the hearts of so many people even though they cannot be here on a regular basis, for whatever reason.  That does not come from sheer luck.  There is a movement of the spirit in our extended family.  Whether here on a Sunday or not, whether consciously thinking about the church, or not, make a move to take it away, and people get VERY testy.

We have found that out the hard way when we have sought to 'clean the rolls' of the church, delete the names of those no longer active in the daily life of the congregation.

Why support the church?  These are not the answers of the pastor, but those of this church's members.  I am asking for your answers as well.  What is it about this place that you do support?  What makes it worth something to you?  Where has your faith been embedded in the place, the people, and the mission that make up the First Presbyterian Church of Perth Amboy?

Peace,
Pastor Peter

Readings for the Week of May 14, 2017

The readings this week continue us in the life and times of the prophet Elijah.  His career will carry us to the end of the book of 1 Kings, and into the first couple of chapters of 2 Kings.  As you read his story, reflect on the fact that Elijah was the prophet that the people in the time of Jesus called John the Baptist, who came before Jesus, and Jesus himself.  The story of Elijah, this week, is also the story of King Ahab, whose story begins in Chapter 16:29.  Some of the big stories taught in Sunday School are a part of Elijah’s life and work.

Sun., May 14: 1 Kings 17:7-24

Mon., May 15: 1 Kings 16:29-17:24

Tue., May 16: 1 Kings 18

Wed., May 17: 1 Kings 19

Thu., May 18: 1 Kings 20

Fri., May 19: 1 Kings 21

Sat., May 20: 1 Kings 22  

Readings for the Week of Apr. 16, 2017

The Readings for Easter Week bring together this entire sermon series.  We begin with the Resurrection Story from the Gospel of John, which is our Sunday Scripture.  Then we return to the Sermon on the Mount, all three chapters as they occur in the Gospel of Matthew.  To close the week, we close the promises of the entire bible, reading the final two chapters of the last book, the Book of Revelations.

Sun., Apr. 16: John 20

Mon., Apr. 17: John 21

Tue., Apr. 18: Matthew 5

Wed., Apr. 19: Matthew 6

Thu., Apr. 20: Matthew 7

Fri., Apr. 21: Revelation 21

Sat., Apr. 22: Revelation 22

Readings for the Week of April 9, 2017

The Scripture reading for Sunday brings us into the Holy Week readings in the Gospel of John.  We will continue to read that story, up through Good Friday, which we shall continue in worship on Friday evening.  

Sun., Apr. 9: John 12

Mon., Apr. 10: John 13

Tue., Apr. 11: John 14

Wed., Apr. 12: John 15

Thu., Apr. 13: John 16

Fri., Apr. 14: John 17

Sat., Apr. 15: John 18

Readings for the Week of April 2, 2017

The readings for this week carry on from the story of Abigail and David to the conclusion of 1 Samuel.  1 Samuel was the story of the rise and fall of Saul integrated with the rise of David.  It concludes with the death of Saul and his sons, the end of his dynasty.  The book of 2 Samuel will chronicle David’s rise to power. 

Sun., Apr. 2: 1 Samuel 25

Mon., Apr. 3: 1 Samuel 26

Tue., Apr. 4: 1 Samuel 27

Wed., Apr. 5: 1 Samuel 28

Thu., Apr. 6: 1 Samuel 29

Fri., Apr. 7: 1 Samuel 30

Sat., Apr. 8: 1 Samuel 31

Readings for the Week of March 26, 2017

This story is told once and referenced once in the bible.  It is told in Judges and referenced in Hebrews 11, where Barak is in a group of ‘heroes of the faith’, but Deborah is not mentioned.  That is a very interesting consideration. The first interpretation is that the writer does not like women, but Rahab is singled out in the verse before.  But consider the list, not singled out for particular faithfulness: Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David and Samuel.  So we will look at pieces of their stories.  God did not pick them because of their faith, but despite their human weakness.  Deborah was chosen for her faith and stands above this list.

Sun., Mar. 26: Judges 4-The narrative story of Deborah is told in this passage.  Take note again of Barak’s need of Deborah to believe.  

Mon., Mar. 27: Judges 5-A song of Deborah is told, essentially the same story. Biblical scholars believe that the ‘song’ versions of the text are the bases for the prose versions of the passages.

Tue., Mar. 28: Hebrews 11-The writer looks back to the Old Testament for heroes of faith.  What is interesting is, in verse 32, Barak is mentioned, but NOT Deborah.

Wed., Mar. 29: Judges 6: 11-27 Gideon-look how he tested God before he was ‘faithful’.   

Thu., Mar. 30: Judges 11 Jephthah-resorted to human sacrifice to appease God.

Fri., Mar. 31: Judges 16 Samson-God’s ‘superman’, visiting Delilah, a prostitute, who, even in death, in his ONLY prayer, asked for vengeance. 

Sat., Apr. 1: 2 Samuel 11 David-Israel’s greatest king is an adulterer, liar, and a murderer.

The one person from the list not listed for a daily reading is Samuel.  Consider 1 Samuel 8:1-3.  When Samuel because old, he made his sons judges over Israel.  The name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of the second, Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba.  Yet his sons did not follow in his (Samuel’s) ways, but turned aside after gain; they took bribes and perverted justice.”  Good judge, questionable father, he obeyed God in the anointing of kings, but not in the appointment of judges.

Readings for the Week of March 19, 2017

This week, we shall be reading the book of Esther.  It is an interesting story drawn from the history of Israel.  It shows God’s faithfulness expressed through his people, yet, interestingly enough, God’s name does not directly appear in the text.  It is a story, one among many in the history of God’s people, where their destruction is being planned yet again.

Sun., Mar. 19: Esther 1 & 2  These are drawn from Sunday’s worship.

Mon., Mar. 20: Esther 3

Tue., Mar. 21: Esther 4

Wed., Mar 22: Esther 5 & 6

Thu., Mar. 23: Esther 7

Fri., Mar 24: Esther 8

Sat., Mar. 25: Esther 9 & 10

Readings for the week of March 12, 2017

The Israelites conquered the Promised Land as recorded in the book of Joshua.  Our story from Rahab was part of that history.  Today, we read the story of Hannah.  Once the Israelites were settled, they were initially led by ‘judges’, military and judicial leaders who rose up regionally to deal with invasions or other matters of importance.  Samuel, whose mother is Hannah, is the transitional judge before the kingdom was established.  Our readings in 1 Samuel detail his origin, his life, and judgeship.

Sun., Mar. 12-1 Samuel 1

Mon., Mar. 13-1 Samuel 2

Tue., Mar. 14-1 Samuel 3

Wed., Mar. 15-1 Samuel 4

Thu., Mar. 16-1 Samuel 5

Fri., Mar. 17-1 Samuel 6

Sat., Mar. 18-1 Samuel 7

Readings for the Week of March 5, 2017

Memory Verse: Matthew 5:3

The Lenten Sermons are going to be on the Beatitudes, the opening to Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, illustrated with stories of women in the bible whose lives demonstrate the Beatitude in question.  This week, we open the book of Joshua (we read a more extended portion of Joshua a couple of weeks back) to set the context of Rahab’s story.  The rest of the week sets the context of and covers the extent of the entire Sermon on the Mount.

Sun., Mar. 5: Joshua 2: 1-24; 6: 22-25

Mon., Mar. 6: Joshua 1

Tue., Mar. 7: Joshua 2

Wed., Mar. 8: Matthew 4

Thu., Mar. 9: Matthew 5

Fri., Mar. 10: Matthew 6

Sat., Mar. 11: Matthew 7

Readings for the week of Feb. 26

The stories from Isaiah and Luke overlap in theme.  Our readings from the book of 2 Kings outlines the entire story of Hezekiah and the readings from Luke provide a context to the teaching cycle of Jesus when this passage occurs.  In the readings from 2 Kings, there are a lot of names and what might be unfamiliar history.  Know that the history is in light of the king’s faithfulness to God.  Know also that you can ask pastor any questions you have about the context or just what the heck is going on.

Sun., Feb. 26- Isaiah 39:1-40:5; Luke 16 :19-31     

Mon., Feb. 27-2 Kings 18

Tue., Feb. 28-2 Kings 19

Wed., Mar. 1-2 Kings 20

These chapters are the story of King Hezekiah from the ‘histories’ of Israel, offered to set a context for the reading in Isaiah.  The prophet is mentioned by name in the book of 2 Kings.

Thu., Mar. 2-Luke 15: 3-32  The chapter before our passage from Sunday, Jesus provides three parables of grace.

Fri., Mar. 3-Luke 16  This includes our Sunday passage and concerns teachings about money.

Sat., Mar. 4-Luke 17  The chapter following is in contrast, teaching about faith and forgiveness.

Readings for the Week of February 19

The readings this week are the lead-up to our chapter in Joshua from today’s sermon.  It is the beginning of the conquest of the Holy Land under the leadership of Joshua.

Memory verse: Matthew 15:28

Sun., Feb. 19: Joshua 9; Matthew 15: 21-28

Mon., Feb. 20: Joshua 1

Tue., Feb. 21: Joshua 2

Wed., Feb. 22: Joshua3-4

Thu., Feb. 23: Joshua 5

Fri. Feb. 24: Joshua 6-7

Sat., Feb. 26: Joshua 8

Readings for the Week of Feb. 5

The writer of the fourth gospel is also credited with writing the book of Revelation and these three letters, the last two being among the shortest books of the bible.  There are many parallels in the language and metaphors that John uses.  His is a different voice from both Peter and Paul.  In 2 John and 3 John, the letters read the most like personal correspondence in the New Testament.

Sun. Feb. 5: 1 John 1:5-2:3

Mon. Feb. 6: 1 John 1

Tue. Feb. 7: 1 John 2

Wed. Feb. 8: 1 John 3

Thu. Feb. 9: 1 John 4

Fri. Feb. 10: 1 John 5

Sat. Feb. 11: 2 John & 3 John

Readings for the Week of January 29, 2017

The reading this week is from Peter’s first letter.  Unlike Paul, he wrote only two letters contained in the New Testament which, instead of going to a specific church, appear to have been circulated in a region where Peter was active.  The readings are going to begin with a chapter in Acts, where Peter is preaching in the early church, and then through the chapters of 1 Peter.  As you read, see if Peter’s preaching voice, as recorded by Luke, is similar to his writing voice.

Sun. Jan. 29: 1 Peter 1: 13-21

Mon. Jan. 30: Acts 3

Tue. Jan. 31: 1 Peter 1

Wed. Feb. 1: 1 Peter 2

Thu. Feb.2: 1 Peter 3

Fri. Feb. 3: 1 Peter 4

Sat. Feb. 4: 1 Peter 5

Readings for the week of January 22

After explaining that God has a plan for each of us, when speaking to someone about the Christian faith, the next point is to speak of the sinfulness that is in all of our lives, that no one is worthy of God’s love on our own.  The point is not to dwell on condemnation from God, but rather on the saving grace God has for each of us in God’s plan for each of us.  Still, sin is a difficult and often abused concept in the church.

Sun. Jan. 22-Romans 7:7-25  Paul is here trying to encapsulate the reality of sin in the context of God’s Word given as the law.

Mon. Jan. 23-Genesis 3  This is the story of Adam and Eve and the Serpent, what happened and the aftermath with God, the story of “Original Sin”.

Tue. Jan. 24-Psalm 1  This Psalm speaks of the contrast between the wicked and those who follow God’s path, a duality that many Christians divide all people into.

Wed. Jan. 25-Isaiah 59  The language here, of a disobedient people, of the sins they commit against God, and God’s punishment in return for their deeds, is the language that is preached on about our own disobedience to God as sinners and the punishment we can expect, except for Jesus.

Thu. Jan. 26-Luke 12: 13-34  These are Jesus’ words, first a parable of the rich man whose riches could not save him, then words of comfort as to the true power of God coming to us.

Fri. Jan. 27-Romans 8: 1-17  The follow on to the verses from Sunday, here Paul speaks of how are relationship to God changes in Jesus.

Sat. Jan. 28-Romans 8: 18-30  It is not only we who are caught up in sin, but all of creation, thus the plan of God is not just for us, but also for all of creation.

For all the complexities of sin, the reality is far simpler.  God saves us from it by Jesus.  That is God’s plan, that is our salvation, not something to be confused by, but something to embrace.