Partaking in the Lord's Supper at our church, rules and principles.

 Updated Dec. 2020

Partaking of the Lord’s Supper at the First Presbyterian Church of Perth Amboy

 

Welcome to our church!  This first Sunday of the month, we share the Lord’s Supper.  For those who may wonder, “What are the rules for taking Communion in our church?”

 

1.       If you are a confirmed member of this church and you are well with the Lord, please partake.

 

2.       If you are a baptized member of this church and you are well with the Lord, please partake.  If you have any questions, ask your parents or pastor.

 

3.       If you are a guest in our church, and you confess Jesus as Lord and Savior, and you are well with the Lord, please partake.

 

4.       If you are a member or confess Jesus as Lord and Savior, and you are not well with the Lord today, use the time during worship to lay your cares before Jesus.  Let this Communion mark a new beginning in your life with the Lord and please partake.

 

5.       If you have never accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior but you feel the movement of the Spirit, if you are ready to accept Him this morning, please use the prayer of invitation to come into His loving arms and please partake.

 

6.       If your heart is of another faith or of no faith, there is nothing that we can say or do to prevent you from partaking of the Lord’s Supper.  Simply be aware that Jesus saves us through the breaking of His body and the shedding of His blood on the cross.  That is the sacrament we celebrate this morning.  It is life changing.  It can change yours.  Be aware.

 

7.       These principles apply to the partaking of communion in the sanctuary or during participation in the remote order of worship provided by the Church.  One reminder from Scripture is that this is an opportunity of worship and reverence is appropriate.  In 1 Corinthians 11, the Apostle Paul warns against taking the elements of the Lord’s Supper in an unworthy manner.  It seems that, at the time he was writing, there were communal meals including the Lord’s Supper which seemed to be more like dinner parties than opportunities for worship.  We ask people participating according to our Remote Order of Worship to participate, to enjoy, to know the blessing of the sacrament but recognize that it is a sacrament set down by Jesus for us.

 

8.       If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Pastor Peter at pastorpeter@fpcperthamboy.org.

 

 

 

Instructions for the Remote celebration of Communion on Sunday, Jan. 3, 2021

 1.  For the New Year.  We shall be celebrating communion in person and remotely for our service on January 3, 2021.  For everyone who comes in person, we have the individual servings that come pre-sealed.  For people participating remotely, we shall be using the model that our Presbytery used at their last Presbytery meeting.

 

We ask everyone who is watching and wishes to participate to prepare for themselves the resources in the safety of their own home.  This is the bread and the wine.  The bread, for us, is usually white bread cubed or a roll that we tear up for the process.  The rule of thumb is that the kind of bread should be appropriate to the location to where communion is being served.  So what is appropriate to each household is appropriate to communion.

 

In the sanctuary, we celebrate with grape juice.  The reason for this is because of those who might have an issue with alcohol and for the participation, without debate, of our underaged members.  For those who have an issue with alcohol, it has been demonstrated that even the smell of wine can be a trigger and we, as a community of faith, are sensitive to the needs of all our members.  In the privacy of one's home, the use of wine or of grape juice are both appropriate to the Ordering of Worship in the Church.  Traditionally it is red wine or grape juice, but that is not something in the Ten Commandments or anything.

 

We ask that each household prepare the resources and we will take time in the remote service for each to be shared by our extended church family.  Please find attached our statement of principles in partaking of the Lord's Supper.

This was the body of an email sent to those on the mailing list to view the service remotely.  We share it here for all who may be following us on YouTube or Facebook.

Peace,
Rev. Peter Hofstra  

 

Sermon for the Sabbath Celebrated on Sunday, Dec. 27, 2020

Sermon            December 27, 2020                 Rev. Peter Hofstra

            “The consolation of Israel”, “the redemption of Jerusalem”, “a light for revelation to the Gentiles”, and “the glory to your people, Israel.”  These are what Simeon and Anna saw in the baby Jesus when his parents brought him up to Jerusalem for his dedication to the Lord.  As the firstborn son of the family, according to the law of Moses, he was “designated as holy to the Lord”, to be redeemed by a sacrifice of a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons. 

            What it means to be “holy to the Lord”, as the firstborn, was established in the law of Moses at Passover.  Because of the tenth plague, where every firstborn of Egypt died to move the heart of Pharaoh to let God’s people go, the firstborn of all in Israel was holy to the Lord, to be redeemed by a sacrifice offered in the stead of the first-born son. 

            It is about five and a half miles to Jerusalem from Bethlehem, so Mary and Joseph could have done this in a day-even traveling with a newborn. 

            This is the ritual required of all families on the Jewish faith, the redemption of the first born.  What makes this one different is that it is Jesus.  He is not simply ‘holy to the Lord’ because he is the firstborn, but he is straight up ‘holy to the Lord’.  Simeon and Anna are there to lay out what this will mean for Jesus’ parents.

            The consolation of Israel and the redemption of Jerusalem are the return of Israel to right and free relationship with God.  Israel is the entire nation and Jerusalem is the center of worship for the nation, so they are virtual synonymous. The Promised Land will be restored to them, under God’s reign where they shall be free of the foreign interventions and invasions that mark Israel’s history.  This promise is to come to pass with the coming of the Messiah-that the people have been waiting for.  That is what the Holy Spirit revealed to Simeon, he would not die till he had seen the Messiah, this is what the Prophet Anna spoke of on behalf of God.

            Being a light of revelation to the Gentiles, that is good news for all of us.  Because the Messiah is not simply reserved for the nation of Israel, but for the whole world.  This goes back to a promise God made to Abraham, that through him, all nations (the Gentiles) would be blessed.  The fulfillment of this promise made to Abraham is the glory of God’s people, Israel.  Their glory comes as the whole world is brought into right relationship with God through the coming of the Messiah. 

            And all of this joy and wonder is being dumped into the laps of a couple bringing their newborn into the Temple to fulfill the requirements of God’s law.  First, a crazy old man and then a nutty old woman both come wandering up, making grand and insane sounding pronouncements about an 8 day old, before they each go tottering off, praising God. 

            I wonder if Mary, when she stood at Calvary, watching her son slowly dying on the cross, hearkened back to that last bit Simeon said to her, “a sword will pierce your own soul too.”  His words would make me exceptionally cautious about ever taking my child out in public again.  Who else might be out there who will come up and pronouncement more things about their son?

            It could be that Mary and Joseph were getting used to it by now.  After all, on the night of His birth, the rather…fragrant…environment of the stable became even more so with the arrival of a band of shepherds, for whom baths were few and far between-given their keeping the sheep out in the fields on the overnight.

            Huge, world changing events are swirling around this child.  And as much as we want to acknowledge the still of the night when the Baby Jesus was born, Luke is committed to us getting that something far greater is happening. 

            Before Jesus, when it comes to God’s communication with humanity, it comes in three basic forms.  The first is what comes through Simeon and Anna, it comes through the Old Testament passages pointing forward to birth of Christ, they are prophecies, they are words.  God says it and that is that.  But there are times when God upgrades from words to deeds, it is not simply the Lord saying something is going to happen, but in a display of divine power, the authority behind the prophecy is established, it is when God sends a sign.  Gideon, in Judges 6, is probably the most direct challenge a human ever aims at God.  Gideon is called to lead the people, but before he will, he insists on what are essentially magic tricks to be convinced that God has the power to do what God says God will do.

            On Christmas Eve, we read about the angels, talking to the shepherds, echoing the promise given in Isaiah 7, that God’s sign to them would be the birth of a baby from a virgin mother.  When Moses came upon the burning bush in the wilderness, that was another sign of God.  When Elijah was fed in the desert by ravens, that was another sign of God.  Jonah in the belly of a fish for three days was another sign of God.  These are demonstrations of God’s power, designed to show that the full faith and measure of heaven is behind the words that God speaks. 

            If signs are the second form of God’s communication, what is the third?  It is the coming to pass of what God said was going to happen.  So in the case of Gideon, after the signs, he led God’s people to triumph.  The ten plagues in Egypt are awful signs of God’s power, to reinforce the message “Let my people go.”  In the end, the people were let go. 

            Here, at the beginning of the life of Jesus among us here on earth, the words of the prophets Simeon and Anna come to Mary and Joseph, looking forward to what Jesus is going to accomplish.  We could, I suppose, consider them to be doddering old people who come wandering up and chatter on about the baby Jesus, but I would suggest that we consider them each to be a sign to the parents of Jesus.

            Yes, Mary was visited by Gabriel and yes, Joseph was visited by God in a vision, but to read Luke, they missed the angelic lightshow.  Honestly, that is probably the last thing Mary needed after giving birth, a multitude of the heavenly host shing in her face.  It reminds me of certain comedic scenes in television shows.  The mother is in the birthing suite, the husband and the nurses are present, when the doctor comes in, parading along his class of interns, because this is a teaching hospital.  Probably for the best that the angels went to find the shepherds and not come to the stable.

            On the whirlwind that was Christmas Eve, that was the birth of Jesus, as much as Mary pondered all these things in her heart, how much would have just flown right past?  She was a mom, for the first time, she had a lot on her plate.

            So now, it is eight days later.  They are in THE place where the Lord is worshipped.  The Temple was the one place to offer sacrifice to the Lord.  In the scattered communities, they had their synagogues, but those were places people came to hear and learn the word of God.  The Temple was where they came to worship and, through the sacrificial system, realign their lives rightly with the Most High God.

            It is in this environment, in the heart of the worship of God in Israel, that Mary and Joseph have come.  And yes, I made light of them, but Simeon is described as a man who was righteous and devout, in his old age certainly.  But Luke tells us that when he wrote his gospel, he sought out the truth, spoke to eyewitnesses and earwitnesses.  The legacy of Simeon carried forward to the time of the writing of the gospel.  He was not just some random citizen, he was known for the life he lived in devotion to the Lord.  The Holy Spirit was upon him, he was one to be listened too.

            Anna as well.  She is a prophet of the Lord.  A prophet is known for the words they speak on behalf of God.  And it seems she was a fixture in the temple.  She was eighty four now, widowed after a marriage that lasted seven years.  Given the age at which girls married at that time, if she’d given the rest of her life over to prophecy and worshipping in the temple, she could very well have been known in the temple for sixty years. 

            Thus, if Mary and Joseph had considered reporting these two strangers accosting them to security, the credentials, the bona fides, the nature of the devoted relationship each of these two had to the Lord would have been well established.  I believe these two served as a confirmational sign to Mary and Joseph, in God’s House, that all God had told them in regards to Jesus was already known and being shared ahead of them.

            Because that is what Christmas is.  It is a sign for us of the power of God.  God has told us about the Messiah and what the Messiah is going to accomplish.  That is the first way God communicated at that time.  The coming of Jesus was the sign to us of God’s power.  These two were the sign to Mary and Joseph of God’s power.  And the words and deeds of the Lord at this moment, at Christmas and the days following, they are borne out in the actions of God in the life, the death, and the resurrection of Jesus that we celebrate at Easter.  Every word and story in the Gospel reaches forward to be a sign and confirmation to all of us.

            Jesus is the revelation to the Gentiles.  Brothers and sisters, we are the Gentiles.  The promises made about Jesus have come to us.  Christmas has become for us the sign of God to the whole world.  We have heard what God has to say, we have seen what God has done as signs to demonstrate God’s power, we have lived through and into the prophecies of what God has said would come to pass.  What do we do with all of this?  I think Anna provides a good role model.

            We should praise the Lord for what has been done and let the world know of what has been accomplished in Christ Jesus.  Amen.

Order of Worship For the Sabbath Celebrated on Sunday, Dec. 27. 2020

 

First Presbyterian Church

December 27, 2020

10:00 AM

Order of Worship

  

CALL TO WORSHIP  (based on Psalm 148)

 Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens; Praise God in the heights!

Praise the Lord, all angels; Praise God, all God’s host!

Praise God, sun and moon; Praise God, all you shining stars!

Praise God, you highest heavens, And you waters above the heavens!

Let us worship the Living God.

 

Hymn of Praise: “Angels from the Realms of Glory”

1. Angels from the realms of glory, wing your flight o'er all the earth; ye who sang creation's story now proclaim Messiah's birth:

Refrain: Come and worship, come and worship, worship Christ, the newborn king.

2. Shepherds, in the field abiding, watching o'er your flocks by night, God with us is now residing; yonder shines the infant light: (Refrain)

 4. Saints, before the altar bending, watching long in hope and fear; suddenly the Lord, descending, in his temple shall appear: (Refrain)

     PRAYER OF CONFESSION (In Unison)

Merciful God, we confess our complicity in the divisions that have wounded our country and our world. We have been silent when others are disparaged or held in contempt. Indeed, we ourselves have harbored ill will in our hearts. Forgive and restore in us your Spirit of compassion and justice-seeking love. Amen.

 *SILENT PRAYERS OF CONFESSION

*THE GLORIA PATRI

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end.  Amen.

ASSURANCE OF PARDON

Friends, hear the good news of the gospel. In Christ we are forgiven and set free from the sins that bind and enslave us. God’s Spirit has been sent into our lives and our world to empower us to live out the Great Commandment — loving God with all of who we are, and loving others as ourselves. Thanks be to God.

INVITATION: “Dear Lord, I need You, please come into my life today.  Amen”

LESSON: Luke 2: 22-40

22 When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord ²³(as it is written in the law of the Lord, ‘Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord’), ²⁴and they offered a sacrifice according to what is stated in the law of the Lord, ‘a pair of turtle-doves or two young pigeons.’

25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him. ²⁶It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. ²⁷Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him what was customary under the law, ²⁸Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying,
²⁹ ‘Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; ³⁰ for my eyes have seen your salvation, ³¹which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, ³² a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.’

33 And the child’s father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him. ³⁴Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, ‘This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed ³⁵so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul too.’

36 There was also a prophet, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, having lived with her husband for seven years after her marriage, ³⁷then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshipped there with fasting and prayer night and day. ³⁸At that moment she came, and began to praise God and to speak about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.

39 When they had finished everything required by the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. ⁴⁰The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.

SERMON:                                            “This Child Is Destined…”                       Rev. Peter Hofstra

AFFIRMATION OF FAITH (from A Brief Statement of Faith)

In life and in death we belong to God. Through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, we trust in the one triune God, the Holy One of Israel, whom alone we worship and serve. With believers in every time and place, we rejoice that nothing in life or in death can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. Amen.

PASSING OF THE PEACE

THE OFFERING OF OUR TITHES & GIFTS

In the Christmas season, we celebrate the great gift of Emmanuel, God with us. Let us now bring our gifts in joyful response to God’s incarnate love.

*DOXOLOGY

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow; Praise Him, all creatures here below; Praise Him above, ye heavenly host; Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.  Amen.

 

*PRAYER OF DEDICATION

O God, giver of all good gifts, we offer gifts to you in return, including the gift of our very lives. May they, and we, bear your peace, love and justice into our community and our world. Amen.

JOYS AND CONCERNS

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE AND THE LORD’S PRAYER

Loving God, in this season of celebration, we remember all for whom hardship has robbed joy. We remember especially the children in our church family, in our community and around the globe. We lift before you children who are separated from their parents, who are without a family or who grieve the death of a parent during this season in which family is our deepest yearning. Help us to be ever attentive to the needs and tender sufferings of children in our midst. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Help us to be your witnesses in word and deed in our communities. Empower us to break down barriers that divide your human family — to resist and disarm stereotypes that malign, to stand in solidarity with outcasts and to hold our civic leaders accountable for our common life and for support of the most vulnerable in our midst. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

God of the nations, we pray for elected officials of this country and countries around our globe. Help them resist greed, prideful ambition and partisan gain in order that they may serve the welfare of all. Inspire them to strive for peace and justice so that all your children may dwell secure, free of war and injustice. Move them to hear the cries of the poor and hungry, and to ensure a rightful share of the resources needed to sustain life. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

And as we continue to grapple with overwhelming pandemic challenges, we pray that you would grant special measures of strength and endurance to weary healthcare workers who labor on the frontlines of this struggle and to all who are now facilitating vaccinations. We pray for your comfort for all who are sick and for all who have lost loved ones. Grant us all wisdom and courage for the living of this hour. We pray all these things in the name of Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray saying,

 Our Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.  Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil; for Thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory forever.  Amen.

CLOSING HYMN: “O Sing A Song of Bethlehem”

1. O sing a song of Bethlehem, of shepherds watching there, and of the news that came to them from angels in the air. The light that shone on Bethlehem fills all the world today; of Jesus' birth and peace on earth the angels sing alway.

2. O sing a song of Nazareth, of sunny days of joy; O sing of fragrant flowers' breath, and of the sinless Boy. For now the flowers of Nazareth in every heart may grow; now spreads the fame of his dear name on all the winds that blow.

3. O sing a song of Galilee, of lake and woods and hill, of him who walked upon the sea and bade the waves be still. For though like waves on Galilee, dark seas of trouble roll, when faith has heard the Master's work, falls peace upon the soul.

4. O sing a song of Calvary, its glory and dismay, of him who hung upon the tree, and took our sins away. For he who died on Calvary is risen from the grave, and Christ, our Lord, by heaven adored, is mighty now to save.

*BENEDICTION

*THREE FOLD AMEN

Elements of Order of Worship drawn from The Presbyterian Outlook, written by Roger Gench.

Worship for the Sabbath celebrated on Sunday, Dec. 27, 2020

Sermon for Christmas Eve, Dec. 24, 2020 7:30pm Service

 Sermon            December 24, 2020                 Rev. Peter Hofstra

Luke 2: 10, But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people, and don’t we need it?  How does the song go?  For we need a little Christmas, right this very minute…we need a little Christmas now…

            The angels told the shepherds not to be afraid, when they had good reason to be.  Until they identified themselves, this is the most impressive Unidentified Flying Object in the Bible since the opening chapter of the Prophet Ezekiel.  But the angels told them not to be afraid, that which was unidentified was now identified.

            For those following over the last few weeks, we have been looking at this good news of which the angels sing.  From the Old Testament, we have engaged with the prophecies of the Old Testament that look to Jesus’ birth. 

            What the angels are telling us is news of great joy for the all the people.  Born in the City of David is a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord.  Such is the good news of great joy, to all the people.  And I would be willing to bet that Luke would have no idea of just what that meant.  For him, all the people, the whole world, it seems to be contained within the Roman Empire.  I say that because of the very first verse, “A decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.”

            Did Luke not know there was a world beyond the Roman Empire?  Certainly not a civilized one, if you believe the propaganda.  Because the New Testament gives us a skewed view of life in the Roman Empire.  When Jesus went traveling all over the Promised Land, when Paul and the other Apostles went traveling on their missionary journeys, that is not the norm of that time and place.  People stayed put.  That is why Luke goes on to tell us that ^3”All went to their own towns to be registered. ⁴Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David…”  Joseph was not going back to Bethlehem to register and then leave. 

            No, this was more of a return order.  Bethlehem would register so many people and the taxes were based on the number of people registered, because where they were from is where they were expected to stay.  If there were one hundred people registered, if Mary and Joseph departed, the 98 who were left would have to cover their taxes.  Social mobility was a function of the elite, not the common people.  Notice, Joseph and Mary were in Bethlehem through the coming of the Wise Men, one to three years after Jesus’ birth, and they only fled because God told them there was danger.

            I love the idea that the angels rising up from where they sang to the shepherds became the Christmas star that the Magi spotted at its rising.  I know Jupiter and Saturn have aligned this year to provide what is being called the Christmas Star, but the romantic in me likes the angelic version.  It is the little bit of Christmas lore that I like to fill in, because I do not biblical support for it.

            The angels have a message for the shepherds, there is sign from God for them to find.  “you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.”  As the multitude of the heavenly host began to sing “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”  Here is a brief sidenote: THIS is what the Old Testament is referring to when it calls God the “Lord of Hosts”.  God sent them down to sing.

            The good news of great joy to all the people is there for us every year, but I am feeling it more powerfully this year, because in 2020, all the people of the world are united by this Covid pandemic.  It is certainly not the first time there has been a global pandemic, but the pandemic flu of 1918-19 was a century ago.  This is the first pandemic of a truly global community, where technology in the internet and through social media has connected us like we have never been connected in the past.

            Great Britain having to shut down because of this new strain…how quickly before it hits us?  Because it is going to.  Yes, vaccines are in the works, but we have them in the hundreds and thousands where there are millions of us.  And our privilege is showing because the US and its fellow rich nations have locked down purchases of all vaccines against the rest of the world well into 2021.

            Jesus is the Sign and the Messiah and the Savior and the Lord.  Jesus is the Sign promised through the Prophet Isaiah seven hundred years before this event.  Jesus is the Messiah, promised from God from the verses just after the fall of Humanity in Genesis 3 and through the Bible.  Jesus is the Savior, by whose death and resurrection, we are saved from our sins.  Jesus is Lord, triumphant over all, even death itself, for us.

            So there is a baby, lying in the hay in the feeding trough of a stable.  Watch the television portrayals and the animals all seem happy, but Jesus is in their food dish.  This baby brought out a multitude of the Heavenly Host to sing his praises.  Beginning with the shepherds, the good news of great joy began its journey.  It is a journey that renews the hearts of all who are here in person or online to celebrate the birth of Christ, of all Christians around the world wherever they may gather to take a moment at the manger.  It is a journey that carries forward to this very day and this very place.  

            Luke tells us that, when the shepherds left, Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart.  I wonder if one of things she pondered was that the promise of Jesus cuts across all lands and all times, from that stable in Bethlehem, to all the billions of us today.  I wonder if she would delight in our circumstances today?  Because in a world where the shadow of the pandemic has fallen over us all, how much greater, how much more powerful is the good news of great joy that is the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, because we have the sure and certain knowledge that this promise is for all the people?  Amen.

 

Order of Worship for Christmas Eve, December 24, 2020 7:30 pm Service

 

First Presbyterian Church

December 24, 2020

7:30 PM

Worship Service

Christmas Eve Service

PRELUDE

 

CALL TO WORSHIP          

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

And also with you.

On this Christmas Eve, we come humbly before our God.

Let us come to the manger of the Prince of Peace.

May the blessings of your Son’s birth wash over us.

Let us worship the Living God.

 

*HYMN OF PRAISE  “Away In A Manger”

 

1. Away in a manger, no crib for a bed, the little Lord Jesus laid down his sweet head. The stars in the sky looked down where he lay, the little Lord Jesus, asleep on the hay.

 

2. The cattle are lowing, the baby awakes, but little Lord Jesus, no crying he makes; I love thee, Lord Jesus, look down from the sky and stay by my cradle till morning is nigh.

 

3. Be near me, Lord Jesus, I ask thee to stay close by me forever, and love me, I pray; bless all the dear children in thy tender care, and fit us for heaven to live with thee there.

 

*PRAYER OF CONFESSION (Unison)

God, Creator of all life, you made us in your image and sent your Son to be our flesh.  Grant us now in this glad time of his birth, that we, who have been made new through his grace, may daily find all things made new in him.  We offer to you our old lives, laden with sin and evil.  Take these lives from us and fill us with the new life in your grace.  In the name of Jesus, born in the manger, we pray.  Amen.

 

*SILENT PRAYERS OF CONFESSION

 

*ASSURANCE OF PARDON

 

*THE GLORIA PATRI 

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end.  Amen.

 

THE PEACE

Since God has forgiven us in Christ,

let us forgive one another.

The peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

And also with you.

 

WORDS OF WELCOME

 

LESSON:                                               Luke 2:1-20

 

2In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. ²This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. ³All went to their own towns to be registered. ⁴Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. ⁵He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. ⁶While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. ⁷And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

⁸In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. ⁹Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: ¹¹to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹²This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” ¹³And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, ¹⁴“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!” ¹⁵When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” ¹⁶So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. ¹⁷When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; ¹⁸and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. ¹⁹But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

 

This is the Word of the Lord,

Thanks Be To God.

 

 

SERMON:                                 Rev. Peter Hofstra                         “A Moment at the Manger”

 

Dear God, on this night we pray for peace.   We pray for peace to enter our hearts and our minds that this Christmas will be a renewal of our commitment to you and a revival of your Spirit in our community.  Amen.

 

*HYMN OF RESPONSE:  “Joy To The World”

 

1. Joy to the world, the Lord is come! Let earth receive her King; let every heart prepare him room, and heaven and nature sing, and heaven and nature sing, and heaven and nature sing.

 

2. Joy to the world, the Savior reigns! Let men their songs employ; while fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains repeat the sounding joy, repeat the sounding joy, repeat the sounding joy.

 

 

 

THE OFFERING OF OUR TITHES & GIFTS

 

*DOXOLOGY  

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow; Praise Him, all creatures here below; Praise Him above, ye heavenly host; Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.  Amen.

 

*OFFERTORY PRAYER

 

*LORD’S PRAYER

 

Our Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.  Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil; for Thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory forever.  Amen.

*SHARING OF THE CHRIST LIGHT

 

*CLOSING HYMN: “Silent Night”

 

1. Silent night, holy night, all is calm, all is bright round yon virgin mother and child. Holy infant, so tender and mild, sleep in heavenly peace, sleep in heavenly peace.

 

2. Silent night, holy night, shepherds quake at the sight; glories stream from heaven afar, heavenly hosts sing Alleluia! Christ the Savior is born, Christ the Savior is born!

 

3. Silent night, holy night, Son of God, love’s pure light; radiant beams from thy holy face with the dawn of redeeming grace, Jesus, Lord, at thy birth, Jesus, Lord, at thy birth.

 

4. Silent night, holy night, wondrous star, lend thy light; with the angels let us sing, Alleluia to our King; Christ the Savior is born, Christ the Savior is born!

 

 

*BENEDICTION

Go in peace, go in joy to serve God and neighbor in all that you do.

We are sent in the name of the Christ child.

 

THREE FOLD AMEN

 

Worship for Christmas Eve, December 24, 2020 7:30 PM Service

Worship for the Sabbath Celebrated on Sunday, December 20, 2020

Sermon for the Sabbath Celebrated on Sunday, December 20, 2020

December 20, 2020                 Sermon                        Isaiah 9: 1-9

            Is it four identifiers or five?  Thus is the controversy of Isaiah 9.  Is this, as laid out in Handel’s Messiah, Wonderful Counselor, Almighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace OR is it Wonderful, then Counselor, then Almighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace?  So what does it matter?  Well, for one thing, it begs the question: How thence shall we think about our Lord Jesus in the manner that the Bible calls us upon to do?

            Before we get bogged down into what we do not know about this passage, it would be helpful to consider what we do know so far, because this is powerful stuff.  This child is from the House of David, established for us in Jeremiah some three weeks ago.  Then the Micah verses, they confirm David, whose City is Bethlehem, but they mark this Messiah as the shepherd of the people, here again confirmed.  Isaiah says specifically, He will establish and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time onward and forevermore.   Uphold what?  He will establish and uphold peace with justice and righteousness.  This is the shepherd of the people. 

            Then, last week, and two chapters ago, Isaiah lays down for us two more pieces of the Messianic expectation.  This will be the child of a virgin: the child that God is going to give to her.  AND his name is Emmanuel, God is With Us.  That is where we come to these celebratory titles that sing to us.  Jesus said the first shall be last and the last shall be first.   He was talking about people who consider their own importance in the world, but this precept applies to our passage today.  Let us look to the last title first.

Jesus is the Prince of Peace.  In John, Jesus said My peace I leave with you, I do not give to you as the world gives.  When we talk about peace, we are really talking about peace.  We are not talking about the stretches of ‘ceasefire’ that pass for peace in a sinful world.  Because that is really what it is.  Look at the world map and how many flashpoints are there that could draw us into a war tomorrow?  Jesus is going to establish the peace with justice and righteousness, with fair dealings and right behavior, as its underpinnings.     

            But what if I said that justice and righteousness is a redistribution of the wealth and the stuff of the world equally to everyone because there is enough in the world so that none should be in poverty, that we would have no more reason to make war?  In the eyes of this nation, I would not be speaking for the Prince of Peace, I would be a Communist.  So I defer to the power of the Almighty, to the Prince of Peace to make peace truly happen.  Because, continuing to work in reverse, the power and authority that Isaiah says this child is going to have, they are derived from the second and third to the last titles of our passage. 

            Jesus is Almighty God and Everlasting Father.  But wait, we might say, we already have one of those.  As we know in the trinitarian blessing, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the first one is Almighty God and Everlasting Father, when we segment out the roles and responsibilities.  And Jesus was a guy, when he came to earth.  Well, Jesus was fully guy and fully God.  He spends a lot of time in the Gospel of John talking about how God flows to Jesus which then flows to us, love, judgment, authority.  The things of God are upon this child who is born King of the Jews.

            And we divide these titles for an important reason.  Almighty God is the best we humans can do to sum up what it means to be God.  All Mighty.  We have a dozen or more other theological terms that break down what Almighty means, but this sums it all up.  And remember what theology is, it is thinking about God.  It is thinking about God and what Almighty means that leads to breaking out the various areas where God’s power is all-encompassing.  Helps us get a toe in the door of trying to understand what is truly beyond our comprehension.

            Everlasting Father, that is different from Almighty God because it marks Jesus in relationship, Father to all of humanity.  Again, this is a role that, in our Trinity thinking, Jesus is taking up from the Father; person 2, the Son, taking up what we understand as person 1, the Father.  And we can get thoroughly confused as trying to figure out the One in Three and Three in One when it is more important to understand that the meaning of God is not in the formula.  The meaning of God is in whom God explains Godself to be to us.  God the Everlasting Father is the loving father of all time for all humanity.  This is the role that Jesus is stepping into, through his Messianic work, for us.  The language is confusing, the Son of God becoming the Everlasting Father, but I hope it makes a lot more sense when we consider God’s plan.  Sin separated us from God the Father.  Jesus-the Son-came to us and restored that relationship through his death and resurrection.  In glory, Jesus then rises to return once again to the Everlasting Father. 

            To understand the Trinity is NOT to understand a formula.  It is to understand how God has revealed Godself to us in a way we can understand.  And the closer we come and the more we understand our God’s relationship to us, the less we need to lean on these divisions that God structured as our foundation of understanding the nature of what is otherwise unknowable.  So, Almighty God, the Messiah has all the power of the Divine.  Everlasting Father, the Messiah is the loving Father for all time to all God’s children.  Prince of Peace ties back into these two because this is what God has come to accomplish among us.

            Now we come to the controversy.  Is it Wonderful Counselor or Wonderful AND Counselor?  Counselor may be a confusing sort of word, does loving Jesus implies some kind of therapy in our relationship?  Confession is a mandate of Scripture, but therapy, at least as we might understand it in the psychological sense, maybe not so much.  Because Wonderful Counselor, if we go with the single term, means so much more than having a Great Therapist. 

            Actually, Jesus helps us understand this term, “Counselor”.  In John 14, when Jesus talks about peace, he also talks about Counselor.  Jesus is explaining to his disciples that he is going to return to heaven, but that he is not going to leave them alone.  He is sending another, the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, but referring to its role as that of “Advocate”, also translated as “Counselor”, that will be, to use the other name “Emmanuel”, God with Us, because Jesus will be there indwelling as the Counselor.  So it is not like Jesus is describing God like a pie, that when the Jesus piece is put back, the Holy Spirit piece will come out to replace it.

            No, Jesus identifies as this Counselor who will come down and indwell us.  That puts a different spin on Pentecost.  The Holy Spirit comes down to us, but that is Jesus come back to us.  Not in person, but into each person.  Jesus’ whole life experience is the model by which we do things as God would have us do.  As Holy Spirit, as Counselor, Jesus then indwells us to guide us to live into his teachings, his actions, his prayers, on how to live out the Love of God. 

            Only recently did I do some reading by a theologian who has done some deep thinking on what the Holy Spirit actually is.  I know the general bits, fire on the head, the Spirit gives us fruit to live by, it is Jesus in us after Jesus was with us.  But the entire argument this theologian constructed from Scripture is to understand the Holy Spirit as the Divine Love.  We know God is love, but that is practically a throw away statement.  Jesus lived a life to counsel us, to be our ‘how to’ manual, to be our ‘self help’ book on being a Christian.  Then Jesus is also the Divine Love which comes down upon us so that we might live it.

            How do self help books work?  Their work presumes we internalize the lessons that they present to us.  Thus the mantras and the buzz words and the catch phrases.  How about the original internalization?  Jesus, the Man, returned to heaven, so that Jesus, the Divine Love, could come down and internalize all that Jesus taught and showed us in his time on earth?  Again, the more we meditate on who God is, the more these foundational divisions that God laid out to help us understand what cannot be understood break down and we come more completely into the Love that is God.  I think that is why the words and descriptions of God by mystics sounds like so much mumbo jumbo, there is just not the language to describe our union with Christ, our God.

            So the Son in “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit” is taking upon himself the roles and the powers of the Father and the Holy Spirit.  Notice, this passage does not stand on its own.  Theology, thinking about God, it requires a broad application of our primary sources about God, the Bible.  To my understanding, this is a major distinction between Christianity and Islam.  We believe God has given us the Trinitarian understanding so that we can understand that God comes into a personal, redeeming relationship with each of us.  My understanding of Allah, of God in the Muslim tradition is a loving but unknowable Almighty power that must be obeyed.  In my Christian point of view, it is the Almighty God of our titles from Isaiah.  So the Trinity is not three Gods or one God divided three ways, but a division of roles and responsibilities that are meant to help us mere mortals wrap our brains around the God who loves us and has a Plan for us, that plan fulfilled in Jesus, born in the manger, whom we are celebrating inside of a week.

            Isaiah 9:2 is a powerful introduction to the coming of Jesus.  The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.  John 1, the New Testament Creation story, steps off from these words, telling us, What has come into being ⁴in him (Jesus) was life, and the life was the light of all people. ⁵The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.  The darkness is the sin in the world that blinds us to the love and light of our God.  How God will accomplish this, God’s plan, we can see in the titles of Jesus given in Isaiah 9. 

            But we still have a problem.  Wonderful Counselor, Almighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  Is it four titles or is it five?  I will be honest with you, I can see arguments on both sides but I lean toward the five.  And the reason I do so is that before God even gets into the theological depths of what it means to receive the Messiah, God begins by telling us that Jesus is Wonderful.  Amen.