What is our Vision? Been awhile since we checked that.

                Our church has a Christian view of the world.  On the one hand is the call “I give my heart eagerly and sincerely to the Lord.”  On the other, we look to our neighbors with the call “With you, through all.”  It is the total commitment to the work of the Lord in this congregation.  These actions define us as “a neighborhood in the Kingdom of God”.  This is who we are in the Lord at the First Presbyterian Church of Perth Amboy.

                I was watching a movie the other night, which, like so many, I have on DVR to complete.  It is called “The Kingdom” with Jamie Foxx.  He plays an FBI agent, part of a US investigative team, that goes to Saudi Arabia to investigate a terrorist attack aimed at a Western community located within the nation.  During the movie, there are cut scenes to the terrorists who have masterminded the attack.  What came across that struck me is the utter passion that such leaders have for their work, a misguided passion to Allah and an impassioned hatred for those they have labeled as their enemies.

                Yes, it was a movie.  But it comes on the heels of the eighteenth anniversary of 9/11, when that thing happened to us, right here, and we could see the columns of smoke rising up over Staten Island.  I arrived here in December of that year.  I did not see the smoke rising at that point, not from here, but I saw the searchlight tribute that was in place for such a long time.

                And I wonder.  I wonder how we even begin to arose the passion in our community for a God of peace.  This God of peace who stands up to the passions for the god of war that terrorists create for themselves.  Because Allah is not that way.  I wonder about the long view.  It is not the short view of making a point by killing another person.  Destruction has always been easier than creation.  I am talking about the long view, of a passion for the peace, love, and forgiveness of Christ that changes the world so there is no more breeding ground for the makers of war. 

                The things that churches say about themselves, they are words on a page or a bulletin or a website.  They usually sound good and, like most clichés, they carry a powerful truth.  But it is the church that lives into that vision, that brings passion to the work of the Lord, it is that church that changes things for the Lord and does not simply float in a happy limbo.  I believe this is who we are called to be.  I invite you to renew your commitment to the Lord and join me.

Peace,
Pastor Peter

How God is “Powered”

These are the Q&A's from this past Sunday.  The decrees of God, in other words, what God has done.  Theologians are like other human beings, they like a little of the technical in their vocabulary.  Certain words have precise meanings, something that everyone 'in the group' is supposed to understand in common.  Such language does not always travel well through time.  Phrases like “God’s decrees” or words like “Providence” are not so widely used in the current vernacular. 

These questions and answers are going through ‘how does God make stuff?'  It is not in the abstract, but it is with holiness and other aspects of who and what God is.  In addition, it is not just parts that God has made, but the whole.  Everything comes from God.  God speaks and the power of creation is unleashed.  Yes, I do not understand the mechanism either, but that is God!

Teaching by catechism is teaching by questions and answers, but it is also the unfolding of knowledge in a directed way.  It started with us, what is our chief end?  Another way to put it might be ‘why are we here?’  Since our purpose is to glorify God, the next piece in the puzzle is to understand who God is.  It is nice to know what we are glorifying, after all.  But it is not that God simply “is”.  God is a creative, interactive, directed Spirit (see Question 4) and this is how God gets things done. 

Remember why this was written.  It was not to put people to sleep.  This was written after the Reformation, when the church was returning to the rule of Scripture.  Literacy was on the rise, reading the Word of God was becoming available to the whole population, not just an educated elite.  It was changing the social and political landscape in Europe and beyond. 

In England, as they struggled with the Word of God recovered, these Westminster “Standards”, the Confession of Faith and the Catechisms, would carry the authority of Acts of Parliament for a time, before the winds of change swept back over the politics of the time.  But they served as the foundation of the Church of Scotland and of the Presbyterian Churches that have grown out of her, here and around the world.

Q. 7. What are the decrees of God?

A. The decrees of God are God’s eternal purpose, according to the counsel of God’s will, whereby, for God’s own glory, God has foreordained whatsoever comes to pass.

Q. 8. How does God execute God’s decrees?

A. God executes God’s decrees in the works of creation and providence.

Q. 9. What is the work of creation?

A. The work of creation is God’s making all things of nothing, by the word of God’s power, in the space of six days, and all very good.

Q. 10. How did God create humanity?

A. God created humanity male and female, after God’s own image, in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, with dominion over the creatures.

Q. 11. What are God’s works of providence?

A. God’s works of providence are God’s most holy, wise, and powerful preserving and governing all God’s creatures, and all their actions.

Boscov’s “Friends Helping Friends Day”

 Save the Date: October 16, 2019   WEDNESDAY

Presbyterian Women are once again selling shopping passes to Boscov’s annual fundraising event.  Available for $5.00 through our Presbyterian Women, each shopping pass earns shoppers 25% off almost all purchases in the store throughout the day.  Store hours are 8am-11pm.  So shop early or shop late or all day if you prefer.  Another way to help is if you are able to sell passes on behalf of PW. 

This has been an amazing fundraiser for the Presbyterian Women over the last few years.  With our 

help, we can make this the best year yet.

A few amazing things happen with this fundraiser:

            -We support the work of Presbyterian Women in this prime fundraiser.

            -We get a tremendous savings to jumpstart Christmas shopping.

-We can coordinate our arrival times at the store to pass along a shopping cart.  

-We can run into church family and friends shopping together in support of our PW.

For more details, please email Marge Miller at mpmiller46@gmail.com or TEXT her at (732) 586-2218.   

And remember, we are the First Presbyterian Church of Perth Amboy.  We offer our hearts eagerly and sincerely to the Lord.  We are here to be with you, with our neighbor, through all.  This is who we are as a neighborhood in the Kingdom of God.

Peace,
Pastor Peter

Good Question…What is God?

Understand that this is a nuanced question.  We are not talking about some abstract transcendence, some Grand Other, it is not something Universal in its conception.  Rather, this is the collected wisdom of Christianity, Presbyterian-style.  It is not about how we, humanity, created a Godly notion in our collective imaginations. 

Our presupposition is that God IS, that God revealed God-self to us, and that God has a plan for us.  Here is the kicker, God is unlimited, we are limited.  God creates, we are created.  How can we even wrap our minds around that?  That is where God gave us a strong hand up.  In our limited capacity, we call it Trinity.

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, that is the traditional trilogy of revelation.  It is how we, as limited humans, have come to best understand how God has chosen to self-reveal.  We use gender terms to understand that there is relationship within God.  We can identify how each is revealed to us in Scripture, and what their purpose is in God’s plan.  We use the term “Persons” in distinction to being “Things”, which again reflects the limits of human language. 

In the end, it is about how God has set up a process by which we can begin to comprehend what is incomprehensible.  But God was never about creating a faith where we might simply "comprehend" our God better.  Rather, our faith is about ever deepening our relationship with our God. 

These are the question and answers from Sunday’s portion of the Shorter Westminster Catechism.    

Q. 4. What is God?

A. God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal and unchangeable, in God’s being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.

Q. 5. Are there more Gods than one?

A. There is but one only, the living and true God.

Q. 6. How many Persons are there in the Godhead?

A. There are three Persons in the Godhead: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; and these three are one God, the same in substance, equal in power and glory.

Presbyterian Women's Kick Off Is This Sunday!

This Sunday, September 8, 2019, at 11am, we kick off the 2019-2020 Presbyterian Women program year in the church.  Everyone is invited to join us for coffee and rolls, good company and fellowship.  PW is the longest running ministry of the church.  We have a tremendous legacy in this congregation and our group continues even as many of our sister churches find that their own Presbyterian Women Societies have faded into history.

We are currently sharing space in Westminster so we will need some help Sunday.  Worship will go forward as usual, but then, at its conclusion, we will magically transform the space into an area for PW to carry forward with their meeting and fellowship. 

On the Presbyterian Church USA website, I found this link to PW and to what their purpose is:

“Everything we do as an organization and as a community is guided by our PW Purpose, and that includes ministry, resources and relationships.

Forgiven and freed by God in Jesus Christ, and empowered by the Holy Spirit, we commit ourselves

·         to nurture our faith through prayer and Bible study,

·         to support the mission of the church worldwide,

·         to work for justice and peace, and

·         to build an inclusive, caring community of women that strengthens the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and witnesses to the promise of God’s kingdom.

Anyone who supports the Purpose in any way is participating in Presbyterian Women. So even if you’re just learning about Presbyterian Women, there’s a good chance you’re already supporting Presbyterian Women—in spirit or in action!”

On behalf of the Board and the Membership of the Presbyterian Women of the First Presbyterian Church of Perth Amboy, I invite you to join us in this vibrant community of people doing Jesus’ work in our community.

Peace,
Pastor Peter

Building Update

It seems to be all about the water.  We have been working toward resolution of the problems in church.  The troubles are coming under three broad headings for repair.  And all of them have to do with water. 

The first is the water that resulted from the frozen pipe in the Narthex.  The trouble there is that the pipe froze in a place where we did not see it.  This trouble was magnified by the fact that wherever that water was running off to, it was not visible to us.  But that is what caused the chill in the sanctuary, caused the flooding in the Narthex, the lifting of paint by humidity, the loss of heat from the other zones of the system.  At this point, to fix it is going to require that the carpet be taken up in the Narthex and the floor opened up to the pipes beneath.

The second is the water that leaked in through the roof.  Tarps were put down on the roof in an attempt to stem the flow until this past spring, when it was hoped we could begin repairs.  The weather turned out to be too much.  The trouble was that mold developed in the areas between roof and ceiling, causing the vast mitigation efforts that continue, and our move to Westminster Hall for worship.

The third is the water that washed up over the floor in the Auditorium.  That traces back to the drain being blocked in the alley between the Auditorium and the Scout Room.  What confused us is how water travels.  The drain is between the buildings, the water found its course to enter in on the far side of the Auditorium.  It made us believe that there might be issues with the foundation on the Market Street side of the building. 

All these came together in a storm last winter.  These are the broad strokes of what is going on, to my understanding.  There is a reason we have a public adjuster to help us with this entire process.  I spoke with a representative for the insurance company last week, so now we wait for the next decisions to be made.  May God bless us as we continue down our path of restoration.

And remember, we are the First Presbyterian Church of Perth Amboy.  We offer our hearts eagerly and sincerely to the Lord.  We are here to be with you, with our neighbor, through all.  This is who we are as a neighborhood in the Kingdom of God.

Peace,

Pastor Peter