Sermon for Sunday, May 2, 2021

 

May 2, 2021                John 15: 1-8                Rev. Peter Hofstra

            Does our passage today speak to today’s world about Jesus?  Jesus speaks to us of being the true vine, of his Father being the vinegrower.  Then we get into pruning, those who bear fruit will bear more and those who do not, well, they will be removed completely. 

            But for those of us who bear more fruit, we have been cleansed by the word of Jesus, we are called to abide in Jesus, because as the branch cannot bear fruit unless it abides in the vine, so we cannot unless we abide in Jesus.  Where is Jesus going with this?  15:5 I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. 15:6 Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.  AND, if we abide in Jesus and His words abide in us, it is like we have a genie.  Whatever we ask for will be granted. 

            Jesus’ Father is glorified by this and we can bear much fruit.

            I can conceptualize the metaphor.  It helps that there are vineyards in New Jersey and wineries that we can visit.  Because we can actually get a look at what Jesus is talking about here.  Jesus wants us to understand the connection that needs to exist between himself and ourselves.  That we are not out there as Christians on our own, but that we are intimately linked to our Savior.  That this intimacy is laid down in us by God the Father. 

            But the question that remains is how do we get there?

            I think I found this rather frustrating because of an incident with my cel phone.  I have my news sources on the phone, trying to catch up with the events of the day as I can.  I don’t do newspapers, used to do the morning shows, but with COVID, the morning routine is much more quickly to the school connections my family has to make.  So there are several…online news services I try to keep up with.

            Of course, there is always advertising.  There are also hooks for further reading.  Scroll to the bottom of the article and there will be a list of other links to things that their algorithms think I might be interested in.  Now this is something that has to be considered carefully, because the news reports and advertising hooks are intermingled.  And I saw one on back pain.

            One simple exercise to relieve back pain.  Now, I know better, but sometimes I just do not know better.  The picture was someone on their back with their feet raised and balanced on a chair.  Maybe it meant something.  So, I started the video while I was doing some morning chores.  In the first twenty minutes, I learned all about the car accident the promoter had been in, how there was one simple solution to deep problems I most likely have that I never even knew about, and that most Americans suffer from this.  The video also showed no signs of ending.  Okay, it was a YouTube video, so I went to find it there.  I have consumed enough, tell me how to get there.  Embedded in a commercial, I have no control, on YouTube, I can slide up and down the whole length of the video.

            Wow, we post our services to YouTube.  Go watch there, and you can fast forward through the sermon.  That makes one think.

            Sorry, so I go find this video on YouTube, and I fast forward to the end.  First of all, the whole thing was fifty, five zero, minutes long.  I was already invested for 20 minutes.  I just wanted to see the promised exercise.  So I take the cursor to the last few minutes where she is explaining how my credit card information will be secure when I order her DVD set, a DVD set mind you, that will show me this ‘one simple exercise’. 

            Yes, so I wrote an imaginary “Sucker” across my forehead and closed the video in disgust.  Because I knew, deep down, it wasn’t going to get me there.  There are a ton of short videos on YouTube about stretching and exercising and doing things better, and each of them gets to the point and is actually there to help you.  Almost an hour on back pain is trying to sell me something, it is not getting me there.

            So what does a backpain video (which turned out to be the provider of pain just a little lower than my back) have to do with our text this morning?  Well, we have a special today, for just five payments of $29.95, I can send you my DVD set explaining just what the heaven I mean….

            But there is a connection here.  Jesus is promising us some pretty amazing things in our passage.  Doing what we ask?  That’s the allure of the lottery.  “Give your dreams a chance.”  Or “Anything can happen in Jersey.”  Jesus says, if we abide in one another that, “ask for whatever you wish and it will be done for you.”

            And yet there are a huge number of people out there who want that, but have no idea how to get there.  Or they tried, and they got burned over by the church community that they joined to get there.  These were churches that were in for the money.  These were churches that were in it to promote their personal savior in their faith leader.  These were churches that were so motivated by political agendas, to the left and to the right, that people were left overwhelmed, burnt out, cast off. 

            It has been my experience that while there are a lot of people who have problems with the institutional church, there are very few that have issues with Jesus directly. 

            I am the vine and you are the branches.  I think we can imagine what that means, Jesus’ words, Jesus’ love, Jesus’ actions, all these things coming out meaningfully in our lives as believers.  But for whatever reasons, it does not come about.  I believe that is why there is a whole vocabulary built up around spirituality and spiritual growth, this internal connection to what is good and loving and wonderful.

            It came home to me last week when we had the joy of celebrating a baptism here in the service of worship.  There were promises made and there are expectations that the gathered family and this gathered congregation are going to fill that young man’s life with Christian love and attitudes, that he will know Jesus abiding in him and know himself abiding in Jesus.  But we seem to live in a time where we cannot seem to embed that knowledge, those life lessons, in the next generation.

            The answer to this bridging question, this question of getting from where we are right now to a place where we, individually and collectively, is something that Jesus lays out in the chapter before this one.  John 14 is one that is pretty well known, where Jesus says things like “in my father’s house there are many dwelling places” and “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”  He also talks about sending another, a Counselor, an Advocate, one who will be with us when he returns to heaven.  We know this counselor as the Holy Spirit who, with God the Father and Jesus the Son, make up the Trinity that we understand as our God.  And in three weeks, we are going to celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the Church at Pentecost.

            But what exactly do we do to grab onto that Holy Spirit?  When I was watching that back pain video, what I wanted to know was what the exercise was that would make the back feel better.   What is the mechanism, what is the exercise, what is the process by which the Holy Spirit enters into us?  My assumption is the Holy Spirit is the process by which Jesus abides in us and we abide in Jesus.  The Holy Spirit is the bridge. 

            Something Jesus repeats twice in these verses, above the references to the vines, is his word.  We are cleansed by the word, vs. 3, and the words abide in us, vs. 7.  The truth, the bridge, the knowledge is in what Jesus shares with us. 

            So where do we even start?  What words of Jesus do we seek to absorb into our memories?  Into our hearts?  How do we seek to live differently?  Maybe we begin by going to the outside.  The truth that Jesus tells is that apart from him, we can do nothing.  Figuring out what it means to abide in Jesus in this day and age, understanding not just in the symbolism, but in the reality of head and heart what it means that Jesus is the vine, and we are the branches.  Juxtapose that against what else is out there, which is not much of anything.

            And unlike the world today, Jesus is not so much out to sell us something as to give us something.  We are given the free gift of salvation in Him.  Well, there is actually a cost, it is our whole being, but what truly does it cost us?  It costs us the joy of knowing what true love is.  It costs us the sure and certain knowledge of life everlasting.  It costs us the strength of the Lord to bring love to the world-a world that is deeply in need of God’s love. 

            If we have hit the wall and we are truly wondering about our faith, it can be very helpful to pause and consider the other option.  Because there isn’t one.  And the call is to abide in Jesus.  We can renew that process simply by embracing again the promise of Jesus’ love, of the glory of God carried out through our discipleship.  The branches that don’t bear fruit, they are the ones that are removed, gotten rid of.  But the promise of the metaphor is that if we are feeling pruned back, if we are feeling like every avenue of faith and its expression just seems to be shutting down and slipping away, sometimes things get pruned back so that a greater expression of faith may blossom.

            So how do we get there?  How do we abide in Jesus?  Take seriously the other option and push away from it.  How often do we discover just how much we love something when it is taken away from us?  Simply acknowledging afresh “Lord Jesus, I am here for you” is a step into the arms of the Holy Spirit.  Know that no matter what happens, in the church, in life, in our own journeys of faith, Jesus is there.  That is the foundation upon which life in Christ can always be built powerfully, for we are the branches, but Jesus is the vine.  And Jesus is the vine, but God the Father is the vine grower.  And nothing can stand against God’s love.  Amen.

Order of Worship, Sunday, May 2, 2021

 

First Presbyterian Church

May 2, 2021

10:00 AM

Order of Worship

  

CALL TO WORSHIP (1 John 4:16,19)

God is love.

Those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.

We love because God first loved us.

Those who abide in love, abide in God, and God abides in them.

Let us worship the Living God

 

Hymn of Praise: “O Worship The King”

1. O worship the King, all glorious above, O gratefully sing God's power and God's love; our Shield and Defender, the Ancient of Days, pavilioned in splendor, and girded with praise.

2. O tell of God's might, O sing of God's grace, whose robe is the light, whose canopy space, whose chariots of wrath the deep thunderclouds form, and dark is God's path on the wings of the storm.

3. The earth with its store of wonders untold, Almighty, thy power hath founded of old; hath stablished it fast by a changeless decree, and round it hath cast, like a mantle, the sea.

4. Thy bountiful care, what tongue can recite? It breathes in the air, it shines in the light; it streams from the hills, it descends to the plain, and sweetly distills in the dew and the rain.

5. Frail children of dust, and feeble as frail, in thee do we trust, nor find thee to fail; thy mercies how tender, how firm to the end, our Maker, Defender, Redeemer, and Friend.

     PRAYER OF CONFESSION (In Unison)

Merciful God, in Jesus, our risen Lord, we have seen your glory. Yet our sinfulness often blocks out the light of Christ. We are quick to accuse and slow to confess. We find faults easily in others, while ignoring our own shortcomings. We have squandered your gifts. We have turned from your ways We have ignored your Word. Have mercy on us, compassionate God. Pour out your Holy Spirit on our sinful lives. Wash us with your love and cleanse us with your grace, that day by day we might move closer to the people you would us be. Amen

 *SILENT PRAYERS OF CONFESSION

ASSURANCE OF PARDON

The resurrection of Jesus shows us the grace of God is stronger than death and the love of God has no boundary. This is good news! In Jesus Christ we are forgiven!

*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.

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

LESSON: John 15: 1-8

”I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. ²He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. ³You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. ⁴Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. ⁵I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. ⁷If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.

SERMON:                                “Lesson One: There Is No Other Choice”             Rev. Peter Hofstra

Affirmation of faith (from A Brief Statement of Faith)

We trust in God the Holy Spirit, everywhere the giver and renewer of life. The Spirit justifies us by grace through faith, sets us free to accept ourselves and to love God and neighbor, and binds us together with all believers in the one body of Christ, the Church. The same Spirit who inspired the prophets and apostles rules our faith and life in Christ through Scripture, engages us through the Word proclaimed, claims us in the waters of baptism, feeds us with the bread of life and the cup of salvation, and calls women and men to all ministries of the church. In a broken and fearful world the Spirit gives us courage to pray without ceasing, to witness among all peoples to Christ as Lord and Savior, to unmask idolatries in Church and culture, to hear the voices of peoples long silenced, and to work with others for justice, freedom, and peace. In gratitude to God, empowered by the Spirit, we strive to serve Christ in our daily tasks and to live holy and joyful lives, even as we watch for God’s new heaven and new earth, praying, “Come, Lord Jesus!” 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. Amen.

PASSING OF THE PEACE

 THE OFFERING OF OUR TITHES & GIFTS

With gratitude for God’s faithfulness and with thanksgiving for all that we have received, let us bring our gifts to God.

*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

O God, with faith and hope, we offer these gifts. Use them, even as you use us, to accomplish your purposes in Jesus Christ, the Head of the church and the Lord of our lives. Amen.

 

INVITATION

All are welcome at God's table - at Christ's table - at this table. People from near and far. Neighbors and strangers. Young and old. Rich and poor. In whatever way you know the Christ, know you are invited to eat and drink with him... and with us. Alleluia!

 

God be with you.

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts.

We lift them up to God.

Let us give thanks to God, our God.

It is right to give God thanks and praise.

 

We do say thank you, loving God. We thank you for creating the heavens and the earth. We thank you for being the source of all life and all creation - for sharing with us the tiniest seed and the grandest stars... for creating us - with our tears and our laughter, with our joy and our sorrow, with our curiosity and our thinking... with our life. We thank you for Jesus, the Christ - for all that he learned from you and in you, for all that he taught, for all that he shared with the disciples, and all that he shares with us. Thank you, loving God!

Therefore, we praise you, wonderful God, joining our voices to sing out the glory of your name!

 

Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of Power, God of Might. 

Heaven and Earth are full of your Glory!

Hosanna in the highest!

Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.

Hosanna in the highest!  Hosanna in the highest!

 

THANKSGIVING

We rejoice that, through Eve and Adam and all of their children, You entered into relationship with us. We rejoice that, through Sarah and Abraham and all of their children, You entered into covenant with us.   But we also remember that the covenant and relationship with You has been broken, many times by our ancestors - and by us.

Each time the covenant was broken, You invited us back! Through prophets and pastors and wise ones, You invited us back! And still we broke faith with You. But, at the right time, You sent Jesus to live with us.

Given life by the Holy Spirit, given life by the decision and action of your favored one, Mary, He came to share our life - to bring us back to each other and to our covenant with you! At the Jordan River Your Spirit came upon him, calling Him to tell the world the good news of your love. He healed people who were sick and fed people who were hungry. He cried with those who mourned and danced with those who celebrated. He looked for people who were lost and alone... and helped them to understand that they were welcome at your table! He lived out the fullness of your grace. We saw his holy love.

 

INSTITUTION

On the night before he was put to death, Jesus gathered with his friends for a special meal. He took bread and gave thanks to you, O Lord. He broke the bread and offered it to those gathered around him, saying, "Take this and eat; this is my body which is given for you, do this in remembrance of me."

Taking a cup, he once again gave thanks to you, and shared the cup with those gathered, saying: "This is the cup of the new covenant in my blood. Drink from this, all of you. This is poured out for you and for many, for the forgiveness of sins."

After the meal, Jesus was arrested. His disciples and friends ran away. He was beaten for what people thought he had said. He stood trial... and was put to death on a cross. He gave all of himself to your people, O God. His life and his death. Then you raised him from that death, holy God - that he might be one with you, now and forevermore!

As we remember his death, proclaim his resurrection, and look for His coming again, we offer to you, O God, this bread and this cup. Send your Holy Spirit upon us and upon these gifts, so that everyone who eats and drinks at this table might be one in Christ's body... your holy people.

Through Christ, with Christ and in Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory is yours, God most holy, now and forever more!

 

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.

 Jesus Christ, the bread of life. Jesus Christ, the true vine. The gifts of God, for the people of God. Thanks be to God! Come, for the table is prepared and our cup is overflowing.

 

SHARING THE BREAD AND THE CUP

 

*CLOSING HYMN #513        “Let Us Break Bread Together”

1. Let us break bread together on our knees; Let us break bread together on our knees. When I fall on my knees, With my face to the rising sun, O Lord, have mercy on me.

 

2. Let us drink wine together on our knees; Let us drink wine together on our knees. When I fall on my knees, With my face to the rising sun, O Lord, have mercy on me.

 

3. Let us praise God together on our knees; Let us praise God together on our knees. When I fall on my knees, With my face to the rising sun, O Lord, have mercy on me.

 

*BENEDICTION

 

*THREE FOLD AMEN

 

 

 

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

Service of Worship for the Lord's Day, May 2, 2021

Worship for Sunday, April 25, 2021

Sermon, April 25, 2021

 April 25, 2021                         John 10: 11-18                        Rev. Peter Hofstra

            A little over a thousand years before this was written, there was a young man who entered into the army of Israel to fight a giant.  The giant’s name was Goliath and he was the tank of the Philistines.  Every morning, he would get up, come out to the no man’s land between the armies of Israel and Philistia and issue a challenge.  Single combat and to the victor go the spoils.  Nobody in Israel’s army was willing to take up the challenge.  Until this young man.  His basic attitude is “If God is with you, who can be against you?”  King Saul certainly admires the young man’s moxie, but he needs a little more than that.  It is only the entire war that is at stake here. 

            So the young man offers his resume.  He is a shepherd by trade, and he guards his father’s flocks.  Out there, in the wilderness, on his own, lions and tigers and bears, oh my…well, lions and bears-bigger and nastier than the stereotypical wolf that goes after sheep, lions and bears have gone after the flock and he has fought them off.  That is enough for Saul.  So against the Philistine tank you have this Israeli recruit, armed with a BB gun. 

            The result?  To quote the title of a book about the history of snipers, “One Shot, One Kill”.  Except this was not the lore of the sniper.  This was the lore of the Old West, where the two gunmen faced off at high noon.  The Shepherd versus the Giant.  David versus Goliath. 

            From there, David goes on to become the Warrior King of Israel, the man known for his faith in God.  And God makes a promise to David.  A descendant of his will be the ultimate king to sit on the throne of the Jews.  Even after the kingdoms of Israel and Judah are wiped off the map, there is that promise, a shoot from the stump of Jesse (Jesse being David’s father) will arise.  They call him the Messiah, the one to save His people. 

            In American mythology, we might call him the lawman in the wild western town.  In the mythos of the Jews in the time of Jesus, it was the Shepherd.  And Jesus has just stepped into that role.  “I am the Good Shepherd, Jesus says, The Good Shepherd lays down his life for His sheep.”  When the wolf comes along, says Jesus, and the wolf will come along, the hired man is going to run for his life.  If you listen closely while he is running away, you will probably hear something like, “They don’t pay me enough for this…”

            “I am the good shepherd,” Jesus repeats, “I know my own and my own know me.”  And it is not just the power of a man, it is the power of God.  My Father knows me and I know my Father.  And I lay down my life for my sheep.  Thus, the Good Shepherd is invested with the power of God and comes to us in the Promise of Easter.

            But it is not just some particular sheep Jesus is talking to in the moment, the Jews of the first century, but its for all of us!  ^“I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.” 

            So we move from David, One Shot, One Kill, to Jesus, One Flock, One Shepherd.  And his death was not in vain.  Jesus did not die the way Goliath did, once and forever.  Rather,  ¹⁷For this reason (the reason being that Jesus gives his life for us) the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. ¹⁸No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.’

            One Flock, One Shepherd.  Knowing this, understanding this, being prepared to live into this, is doubly important today because we have the sacrament of baptism that we are carrying out.  In a few minutes, these parents, godparents, this entire gathered body of believers, we are all going to make a vow, a promise, to raise this child to know the Good Shepherd. 

            Because this is the basis of our understanding of Jesus Christ as a Presbyterian congregation.  We believe Jesus has created a covenant with us, as God created covenants with God’s people across the bible.  This covenant is bound by the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.  He died on the cross for us, He rose again from the dead for us, and in so doing, he brought to us the gift of salvation, the gift of eternal life, the gift of the forgiveness of sins, each and every one of which is the gift of God’s love extended to us.  The act of baptism itself, according to the New Testament, is passing from death to new life as a reminder of Jesus’ own death and resurrection. 

            And this covenant, this Bible word I am throwing around, this covenant is the promise that we make to God and the promise God makes to us.  The Lord shall be our God, and we shall be God’s people.  And this is how we promise to raise our children, in this faith, in this promise.  The way that our system is set up is that there will be a time in the future, a time through which we have raised our children in the promises, in the knowledge, in the learnings of Jesus and what Jesus has done for us, there is a time when our young people will stand before the congregation and they will confirm to us that they take up these promises for themselves.  What I have told my confirmation classes in the past is that this is the moment when, if it hasn’t happened already, this place goes from being their parent’s church to their church. 

             Now I could go into several hours’ worth of material on what it means to be baptized into the community of faith.  But I know you have a place booked for a reception.  So lets stay with our passage in John. 

            Jesus talks about the wolf coming in, hunting for the sheep.  We are the sheep.  Jesus is our protector.  The wolf is out there to hunt us down.  Notice Jesus does not invoke any apocalyptic imagery here about Satan or devils or the forces of evil that are out to get us.  They are certainly out there, but Jesus is not being nearly so…supernatural about things.

            Consider this pandemic. 

            What is the worst possible outcome?  That we lose somebody.  COVID is the wolf that kills us.  It could be due to the disease itself, it could be because the restrictions left our loved one vulnerable, for whatever reason.  In the resurrection of Jesus, we have the promise of a New Life, life eternal, in the Kingdom of God, where there is no crying, no pain, no tears, no suffering.  And we have our Lord Jesus who does NOT stand aloof to tell us, “They are fine, get over it.”  We have a Savior who knows us by name, who will be with each of us in our pain, who will cry with us, who will hold us, who will journey with us through our grief. 

            Or we know someone who’s suffered the debilitating effects of this disease.  It can affect lungs, heart, our organs, doing damage to them.  It looks like my cousin is going to have lifelong damage from this disease.  What does that mean for us as Christians?  It is probably not going to mean a miraculous cure-but it might.  That is not a promise made to a believer.  But we do have a community that surrounds us.  We have people who can pray for us.  We have a God who still loves us.  You know that verse that people quote, the one about God not giving you more than you can handle?  Let me clarify that.  It is from 2 Corinthians 10: 13, which says, “God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it.”

            That is a subtle, but incredible difference.  There is NOT a promise that we will always defeat the wolf.  The wolf may attack us and leave us for dead, and it may be God coming in person to scrape us off the very bottom of the rock as the way we endure it.

            Have you noticed that we are well passed the goodwill portion of this disaster?  When something bad happens, our first human response is to come together, to help and care and do what it takes, to open our hearts and wallets to our neighbors in need.  But one thing I know from working as a chaplain in emergency response is that there is a boomerang effect.  There comes a time when the charitable and opening hearts of giving begin to close. 

            How about the wolf of division after our first national ability to come together to fight this pandemic?  We see troubles over masks and social distancing, conflicts between entire states.  Enough is enough is enough.  What we have done here is intentionally model what we have been instructed is proper COVID response behavior.  It gets to be a pain, I will readily accept that.  But for love of neighbor, for the protection of my friends and church family, to do that which Jesus has commanded in His law is what we are here to do.  That is doubly important on a day like this, with the baptism and the larger presence than the usual.

            That is on the preventative side.  How about the wolf inside us?  When we lose it? And we will.  This pandemic has been a year of imposition.  Someone snaps at someone else.  Someone takes a stand for their perceived rights not to have to do something, or to enforce what they think somebody else has to do.  Tempers flare, words are spoken, hopefully no more than that.  We have the gift of forgiveness from our Lord Jesus Christ for these sins that we have committed.  We have the capacity, no, the duty to confess our sins and ask forgiveness, or grant it in turn.  And Jesus does add a bit of a stick here.  How we judge others shall be how we, ourselves are judged in turn. 

             What we are promising, individually and as a congregation this morning, is that we will teach Dallas everything we can about the Good Shepherd so the wolf will not overwhelm him.  And if all of this sounds overwhelming, if there is anyone here feeling like they are so far from Jesus that they do not know where to begin, remember that prayer of invitation.  Dear Lord, please come into my heart today.  If you love the Lord, but you are feeling a little thin on what it means to be the Lord’s own, find that family of faith.  The world can be a big, sinful, dangerous place, there are a lot of wolves out there.  But we have the promise of Jesus, who died to fulfill it.    One Flock, One Shepherd.  He will never leave us on our own.  Amen.

Order of Worship, April 25, 2021

 

First Presbyterian Church

April 25, 2021

10:00 AM

Order of Worship

 

CALL TO WORSHIP  (Psalm 23)

The Lord is our shepherd, we shall not want.

God leads us into green pastures and beside still waters;

God restores our soul and leads us in right paths.

Even though we walk through the difficult valley, we fear no evil; for you are with us; your rod and your staff — they comfort us.

You prepare a table before us in the presence of our enemies; you anoint our head with oil; our cup overflows.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our life, and we shall dwell in the house of the Lord our whole life long.

Let us worship the Living God.

 

*Hymn of Praise: “Savior, Like A Shepherd Lead Us”

1. Savior, like a shepherd lead us, much we need thy tender care; in thy pleasant pastures feed us, for our use thy folds prepare. Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus! Thou hast bought us, thine we are. Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus! Thou hast bought us, thine we are.

2. We are thine, thou dost befriend us, be the guardian of our way; keep thy flock, from sin defend us, seek us when we go astray. Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus! Hear, O hear us when we pray. Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus! Hear, O hear us when we pray.

3. Thou hast promised to receive us, poor and sinful though we be; thou hast mercy to relieve us, grace to cleanse and power to free. Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus! We will early turn to thee. Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus! We will early turn to thee.

4. Early let us seek thy favor, early let us do thy will; blessed Lord and only Savior, with thy love our bosoms fill. Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus! Thou hast loved us, love us still. Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus! Thou hast loved us, love us still.

      PRAYER OF CONFESSION (In Unison)

O God, you are the Good Shepherd who attend to our needs, but we fail to see your abundant life in our midst. We see only scarcity. Our consumer culture has engraved upon us the message that we are “not enough” — not beautiful or handsome enough, not smart enough, not rich enough. At the core of our being, we believe that we are “not enough.” Help us to see that we are your beloved children, created in your image. And help us to live out of your goodness. Amen

 *SILENT PRAYERS OF CONFESSION

ASSURANCE OF PARDON

The psalmist tells us that God’s goodness and mercy will follow us all the days of our lives. Friends, believe this good news. Believe that God’s mercy is sure, and that God’s goodness will fill our lives and empower us to love God and neighbor as ourselves.

*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.

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

 LESSON: John 10: 11-18

11“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. 14I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. 16I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. 18No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”

 SERMON:                                 “One Flock, One Shepherd”                                   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.

PASSING OF THE PEACE

THE OFFERING OF OUR TITHES & GIFTS

God has given to us freely of the goodness of God’s creation. We now return a portion of these goods in the hope and promise that these resources will service God’s commonwealth in our church, community and world.

 

*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

Creator, Liberator and Redeemer God, we pray for the wisdom to be good stewards the gifts you have given to us. Take these gifts, we pray, bless and use them to benefit others and to empower our work for justice in the church and in the world. Amen.

LITURGY FOR THE SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM

Hear the words of our Lord Jesus Christ: All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.

And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.  Hear also these words from Holy Scripture:

You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of the One who called you out of darkness into God’s marvelous light.

Obeying the word of our Lord Jesus, and confident of his promises, we baptize those whom God has called.  In baptism God claims us, and seals us to show that we belong to God.  God frees us from sin and death, uniting us with Jesus Christ in his death and resurrection.

By water and the Holy Spirit, we are made members of the church, the body of Christ, and joined to Christ’s ministry of love, peace, and justice.  Let us remember with joy our own baptism, as we celebrate this sacrament.

TO THE CHILD

Little one, for you Jesus Christ came into the world, for you he lived and showed God’s love; for you he suffered the darkness of Calvary and cried at the last, “It is accomplished”; for you he triumphed over death and rose in newness of life, for you he ascended to reign at God’s right hand.  All this he did for you, though you do not know it yet.  And so the word of Scripture is fulfilled; “We love because God loved us first.”

PRESENTATION:

On behalf of the session, I present Dallas Frank, son of Frank and Robyn Wahler, to receive the sacrament of Baptism.

QUESTIONS OF INTENT

To the parents

Do you desire that Dallas Frank be baptized?  I do.

Relying on God’s grace, do you promise to live the Christian faith, and to teach that faith to your child?  I do.

To the godparents, Jill Thaisz and John DeVico

Relying on God’s grace, do you promise to support Dallas Frank, do you promise to live the Christian faith, and to teach that faith to your godchild? I do.

To the Congregation

Do you, as members of the church of Jesus Christ, promise to guide and nurture Dallas Frank by word and deed, with love and prayer, encouraging Dallas to know and follow Christ and to be a faithful member of this church? We do

PROFESSION OF FAITH

Through baptism we enter the covenant God has established.  Within this covenant God gives us new life, guards us from evil, and nurtures us in love.  In embracing that covenant, we choose whom we will serve, by turning from evil and turning to Jesus Christ.  As God embraces you within the covenant, I ask you to reject sin, to profess your faith in Christ Jesus, and to confess the faith of the church, the faith in which we baptize.

RENUNCIATIONS

Trusting in the gracious mercy of God, do you turn from the ways of sin and renounce evil and its power in the world? I do.

Do you turn to Jesus Christ and accept him as your Lord and Savior, trusting in his grace and love?  I do.

Will you be Christ’s faithful disciple, obeying his Word and showing his love? I will, with God’s help.

PROFESSION OF FAITH

With the whole church, let us confess our faith.

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, the Maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord:

Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into hell.

The third day He arose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy catholic church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting.  Amen.

 

THANKSGIVING OVER THE WATER

Lord God, we thank you for your covenant faithfulness.  We remember your acts of reconciliation to a sinful people, the rebirth of the earth after the floods of the time of Noah, the Exodus of your people through the sea from Egypt toward the Promised Land, the baptism of our Lord in the Jordan, His final baptism into death on the cross, and his resurrection to our salvation on Easter morning.

May the power of the Holy Spirit come upon us today to attend and empower the act of baptism, making this water for all who witness into living waters of redemption and rebirth, equipping your church and all its members to faithful worship and service.

We humbly ask this in the name of the Father, our Creator, the Son, our Redeemer, and the Holy Spirit, our Comforter.  Amen

BAPTISM

Dallas Frank, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

 

PRAYER OF DEDICATION (Godparents)

Father in heaven, we dedicate Dallas to your service.  We pray that you will watch him all the days of his life, that your spirit would guide him, and that he will grow up knowing your saving grace.  In Jesus name we pray.  Amen.

WELCOME

THE 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.

*CLOSING HYMN: “Lord, Dismiss Us With Thy Blessing”

1. Lord, dismiss us with thy blessing; fill our hearts with joy and peace; let us each, thy love possessing, triumph in redeeming grace. O refresh us, O refresh us, traveling through this wilderness.

2. Thanks we give and adoration for thy gospel's joyful sound. May the fruits of thy salvation in our hearts and lives abound; ever faithful, ever faithful to the truth may we be found.

*BENEDICTION

*THREE FOLD AMEN

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