Worship Service for Sunday, August 29, 2021

Sermon for Sunday, August 29, 2021

 

August 29, 2021            Sermon       Rev. Peter Hofstra

          Who are we as “Christians”?    What is the history of the name?  According to the Biblical record, the followers of Jesus were first called Christians in Antioch, according to Acts 11, when Barnabas brought Paul there to teach the disciples.  Antioch is outside of the Jewish homeland, is Gentile more than Jewish, so it makes sense.  There has been ongoing competition between the establishment Jewish faith and this upstart Jesus-cult.  So they are Christians, followers of Christ.  Earlier than that, in the book of Acts, Jesus’ religious movement, still well within Judaism, is referred to as ‘the Way’.

          So that is ‘when’, but does it answer the question ‘why’?  Last week, we considered what is in a name, particularly Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the name by which Peter claimed that the members of ‘the Way’ were  doing their work.  We spent some time on considering “Christ”.  This isn’t Jesus’ last name, he was not “Jesus Christ” like I am “Peter Hofstra”.  Rather, the Christ is ‘the Anointed one’, drawing on the Hebrew as ‘the Messiah’, the one called upon God, anointed to special purpose for God’s work here on Earth.  In Jesus’ case, it is carrying out God’s plan for the redemption of the world.

          So “Christians” naturally plays out as ‘those of the Christ’, those of the Anointed One.  But one detail we did not look to then was a consideration of when Jesus was anointed.  I used David, anointed to be king, and Aaron, anointed to be the high priest, as my examples for how one is anointed to a special role by God.  But I forgot one.  Isaiah, the prophet, tells us in chapter 61 of his prophecy, “The Spirit of the Almighty Lord is with me because the Lord has anointed me to deliver good news to humble people.”  So there is chapter and verse for Prophet, Priest, and King to be anoint ed, rolls that Jesus all took upon himself.  Didn’t the angels tell the shepherds about good news for all the people?

          But when was Jesus anointed?  For Isaiah, the mark of anointing connects to the Spirit of the Almighty Lord, the Holy Spirit.  And while we call it the baptism of Jesus, I would suggest to you that the baptism also serves as the anointing of Jesus, by the spirit and in the spirit, as the called one of God.  I make this suggestion based on our memory verse today, drawn from the first letter of John, 1 John 2: 27, where John says, “²⁷As for you, the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and so you do not need anyone to teach you.”  The anointing we received from him, that we received from Jesus, in the sacramental command that Jesus gave to us that we must be baptized.  For the early parts of Acts record baptism in two parts, by water AND by the Spirit.

          I would suggest that from John’s letter as well, we get more significance for the idea that we are called “Christians”.  It was not simply a nickname hung on Barnabas, Paul, and their crowd in Antioch.  It carries a deeper, more connected meaning to Jesus and who our Lord is.  Christ, the Anointed one, Christians, the anointed ones.  We believers in Jesus are anointed, by the act of baptism, anointed with the Spirit, to carry forward the work that Jesus himself was given by God for the redemption of the world. 

          John has a reason to call out the importance of the anointing that the followers have Jesus have received, calling out that it abides in them.  He says so that no one needs to teach them.  This is something to be understood in context.  This does not mean that once I have been baptized in the Holy Spirit, I know all there is to know about Jesus, the Faith, and everything.  It does mean that I know enough to know the salvation that comes in Jesus.

          When John wrote his gospel, one of the things he shared was Jesus’ teaching about the Holy Spirit.  How the Holy Spirit would be Jesus with the disciples when Jesus himself had gone back to heaven.  That comes back here.  The anointing that was received from Jesus abides in them, and in us, because the Holy Spirit, sent by Jesus, abides in them, and in us.  And that is enough for our salvation.  And that is so important at this moment in John’s letter because John is addressing a particular problem going on among the believers. 

          This problem begins our passage, in verse 18, “¹⁸Children, it is the last hour! As you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. From this we know that it is the last hour. ¹⁹They went out from us, but they did not belong to us; for if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. But by going out they made it plain that none of them belongs to us.”

          Now that is something we do not deal with a whole lot of in the mainline, the question of the antichrists, plural.  The idea of the Antichrist, the one who will rise up in Apocalyptic times as the contradiction to our Lord Jesus, that is a pretty popular one.  It’s in Revelation, it is a favorite trope in end times movies and television shows.  But John is not talking about THE Antichrist, but a whole plethora of them.

          The Antichrists…  Now, the popular culture around the End Times and the Antichrist is that there is a single supernatural being of diabolical origins that will face off against Jesus in some kind of supernatural wrestling cage match.  Jesus wins, but there is great cost to humanity.  Intriguingly enough, much of that imagery and metaphor is drawn from the book of Revelations, also attributed to John, the author of our letter.  But that does not seem to be where he is going with this.

          Rather, he seems to be looking at a more fundamental challenge to people of faith.  We Christians, we who are anointed in Jesus, the pro-Christs, face the ‘anti-Christs’.  And, according to John, these are those who rise up from within the movement.  These are not those who are ignorant of Christianity, but those who are actively opposed to it.  Those who are working against the anointing that we have received from Jesus, those seeking to destroy our faith and lead us astray.  And it is “Them”, not “Him”.  Not some charismatic parallel to our Savior. 

          Who are they?  Verse 22: ²²Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son.”  Now John does not come out and call us Christians in his letter, but the implication is laid there powerfully.  He calls us those who have received the anointing by the one who abides in us.  The anointing of Jesus, the Christ, the Anointed One.  The Anointed of the Anointed, as rough as that sounds.  Christians.  Another rough way to say it, “Pro-Christs”, versus the “Anti-Christs”.  The Christians, versus those who are seeking to pull us away from our Lord.

          John makes a very powerful promise to us when we are dealing with a world that would seek to undermine our faith.  There is a base knowledge that we have been anointed with as Christians which is sufficient against any assault.  This does not mean that there is not a lifetime of amazement and growth to be found in our faith, but that there is an immovable foundation.  As John says in verse 24, ²⁴Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you will abide in the Son and in the Father.”  What did they hear in the beginning?  What John opens his letter with.

          First, in God, there is no darkness.  For John, darkness is not just a moonless night.  Go to the beginning of his gospel, Jesus is the light that shines in the darkness and the darkness shall not overcome it.  In Jesus was life, and the life was the light of all peoples.  It is the darkness of our separation from God.  But the overcoming of the darkness comes very specifically. 

          If we walk in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Christ cleanses us from our sins.  What is sin?  The cause of the darkness that separates us from God.  The light is offered to us, in God.  The way to the light is offered to us, in the blood of Christ, the Anointed, the Son of God, in Jesus. 

          Finally, there comes our actions to receive the cleansing from our sin, when we confess our sins to the Lord.  We are sinners, we confess, we receive the cleansing of the blood of Jesus, we are restored to the light of God in our new life, our new eternal life.  That is the knowledge of the anointing we have received in Christ, from we derive our names as Christians.

          So, when I confess to being a Christian, that means something.  I am anointed in Jesus, as Jesus was Anointed, as my Christ.  Jesus was anointed to forgive us for our sins, something done by His blood in his death and resurrection.  That was the promise made to Joseph as Jesus’ birth, when Joseph was called upon to name Him Jesus.  I gain this forgiveness in the confession of my sins to receive the grace of forgiveness.  The result is that I walk in the light, having emerged from the darkness that is a world separated from God by the effects of our sins.

          So to call myself a Christian without anything else, that is just an empty title.  To be a Christian, to confess, to know forgiveness in Jesus, to walk in the light, it is sufficient to stand against any Anti-Christ that may rise up against us.  This is what it means to be a Christian.  As to why we are Christians, why we would do all this?  Same reason God does it, for love of God’s creation. 

          So to call Christianity a feeling, that misses the point.  Yes, we feel as Christians, but that comes from actions, very specific actions.  These are the actions that look at the world around us and realize that we need something more than ourselves to rise up.  If we denigrate what ‘sin’ is, we lose sight of what has brought the darkness upon us in the first place.  But it doesn’t mean we lose sight of the darkness.  Look around brothers and sisters, is the world a perfect place?  Nearly perfect?  Getting perfect?  Because it is not. 

          But if we don’t get where we came from, what it means to be a Christian, we are in serious trouble.  I am not saying the church is doomed, that would be so arrogant on my part.  God’s church will survive and thrive, because of God.  But if we don’t get what it means to be a Christian, it is such a loss to our own lives, now and into eternity.  How can we conceive of overcoming the darkness on our own?  In another place, a bible writer looked around and said that everything was vanity, everything was an affectation, without the truth of the Lord Jesus in us as Christians.

          Everywhere that we seek to turn back the darkness, in eco-justice, in combatting racism, in overcoming poverty, in bringing a word of comfort to someone in need, that will ultimately find success in the power of God.  But there are Anti-Christs, those that would pull us away from the delight of our faith, that would undercut our desire to make the world a better place, that would lead us to be part of the problem of the darkness that separates us from God.  Except that God is the power of the light in the world.  This power came in Christ, the Anointed One, by whose blood our sins-the Darkness-is taken away, if we but confess our sins to the Lord.  As we have been anointed to do.  That’s what it means for us to be called “Christian”.  Amen.

Order of Worship for August 29, 2021 Service

 

First Presbyterian Church

August 29, 2021

10:00 AM

Order of Worship

 

CALL TO WORSHIP

There is salvation in the name of no one else.

There is salvation only in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

There is no other name under the heavens.

Jesus is the name given among mortals by which we shall be saved.

 Let us worship the Living God.

 

*Hymn of Praise: “Oh How I Love Jesus”

1. There is a name I love to hear, I love to sing its worth; it sounds like music in my ear, the sweetest name on earth.

Refrain: O how I love Jesus, O how I love Jesus, O how I love Jesus, because he first loved me!

2. It tells me of a Savior's love, who died to set me free; it tells me of his precious blood, the sinner's perfect plea. (Refrain)

3. It tells of one whose loving heart can feel my deepest woe; who in each sorrow bears a part that none can bear below. (Refrain)

      PRAYER OF CONFESSION (In Unison)

 Father in heaven, though we know in our heads that Jesus Christ is Lord, how often has this knowledge remained unconnected to our hearts?  We sin against You, against ourselves, and against our neighbors.  May we come to know again the power of the name of Jesus, the meaning You have provided to us in Your Word.  May it renew a desire to confess our sins to You as we become more mindful and more heartfelt in our understanding of the power of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.

*SILENT PRAYERS OF CONFESSION

ASSURANCE OF PARDON

Jesus is our Savior.  By His death and resurrection, we have received the gift of grace from our God that our sins are forgiven, that we are made right with the Almighty.  Know these words and be at peace.

 

*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: 1 John 1: 1-10; 2: 18-27

We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— ²this life was revealed, and we have seen it and testify to it, and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us— ³we declare to you what we have seen and heard so that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. ⁴We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.

5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. ⁶If we say that we have fellowship with him while we are walking in darkness, we lie and do not do what is true; ⁷but if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. ⁸If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. ⁹If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

¹⁸Children, it is the last hour! As you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. From this we know that it is the last hour. ¹⁹They went out from us, but they did not belong to us; for if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. But by going out they made it plain that none of them belongs to us.

²⁰But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and all of you have knowledge. ²¹I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and you know that no lie comes from the truth. ²²Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. ²³No one who denies the Son has the Father; everyone who confesses the Son has the Father also. ²⁴Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you will abide in the Son and in the Father. ²⁵And this is what he has promised us, eternal life. ²⁶I write these things to you concerning those who would deceive you. ²⁷As for you, the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and so you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, abide in him.

SERMON:                       “Why Are We Called Christians?”                                    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!”

PASSING OF THE PEACE

THE OFFERING OF OUR TITHES & GIFTS

Our God has given us so many gifts.  Let us know live into the generosity of our Father in heaven with our gifts and offerings for God’s work in God’s 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

Christ has made the name of the Lord known to us, so we give thanks. In your name, O Lord, use these gifts, and the time, talents and very lives they represent, for your glory as your kingdom breaks forth in this world. Amen.

 JOYS AND CONCERNS

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE

Eternal God, Anxiety constricts and muscles tense as summer wanes, students return to school and the delta variant looms. What will this year bring? What new challenges will we meet? Have we learned enough, renewed ourselves enough to begin again? Will we do better? Will we survive? Gracious and patient God, bear with us in our fear and uncertainty. Calm our pinched nerves with the Spirit’s deep breath of peace. Guide and direct us with your wisdom. As we pour ourselves out to you in prayer, hear and receive us, Holy God. We come as we are. Great and wonderful God, we praise you for the gifts with which you bless us. Gifts of renewal, gifts of unexpected grace and intentional practice. We thank you for:

• Summer travel to visit family and friends;

• Porch swings to enjoy early evening breezes;

• New Netflix to binge, new fiction through which we can escape;

• Church groups meeting for theology on tap or to knit prayer shawls in love.

Merciful God, strengthen us in prayer that we might lift up the brokenness of this world for your healing. You make all things new, O God, and we offer our prayers for the renewal of our world and the healing of its wounds. Especially we pray for:

• Those who remain isolated, even as others enjoy new freedom;

• The newly sick, the break-through infections, the hospitals and hospital personnel under mounting pressure;

• The children who cannot get vaccinated, yet must return to school;

• The people of the world without access to vaccines, affordable and advanced health care.

O God, you are the well-spring of life. Pour into our thirsty and anxious souls the living water of your grace, that we may be refreshed this day to continue in mission and ministry. May the pressures of this moment not pummel or paralyze, but encourage us to lean into exposed needs and lean on each other, and you, for strength and support. United as a family of faith and as the Body of Christ we lift these prayers up to you, God our Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer. Finally, hear us pray the prayer Christ taught us, 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: “Jesus, The Name High Over All”

1. Jesus! the name high over all, in hell or earth or sky; angels and mortals prostrate fall, and devils fear and fly.

2. Jesus! the name to sinners dear, the name to sinners given; it scatters all their guilty fear, it turns their hell to heaven.

3. O that the world might taste and see the riches of his grace! The arms of love that compass me would all the world embrace.

4. Thee I shall constantly proclaim, though earth and hell oppose; bold to confess thy glorious name before a world of foes.

5. His only righteousness I show, his saving truth proclaim; 'tis all my business here below to cry, "Behold the Lamb!"

6. Happy, if with my latest breath I may but gasp his name, preach him to all and cry in death, "Behold, behold the Lamb!"

*BENEDICTION

*THREE FOLD AMEN

Elements of Order of Worship Liturgy written by Teri McDowell Ott.

Worship Service for the Lord's Day Aug. 22, 2021

August 22, 2021 Sermon

 

August 22, 2021   “What’s in a Name?”                Rev. Peter Hofstra

          In our memory verse today, Peter says, “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved.”  The name, as you can probably guess, is Jesus, or as Peter puts it in context, the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.  He then reminds them of who this is, someone that they knew and rejected.

          “The stone that was rejected by the builders, it has become the cornerstone.”  Jesus spoke these words in relation to himself.  Jesus is the cornerstone upon which the church is built.  That is what Peter means.  And he puts that before the Jewish leadership to remind them of what was done to Jesus by THEM.  He was rejected, killed on the cross.  But he returned, was resurrected, and his church goes forward.  This is the name they should know.

          Peter has the opportunity to give this testimony to the leadership because he and John have been arrested.  Read back through Acts 3 to get the backstory.  A man lame from birth, one who was carried each day to his ‘spot’ outside the temple to beg for a living, was miraculously healed by Peter and John as they passed by.  The power was not in the miracle itself but rather in the demonstration it provided of the power that Peter and John were claiming as the power of Jesus, not simply to heal, but for the resurrection of the dead, for the forgiveness of sins, for the gift of salvation through Jesus.

          Peter gives this testimony because he has been asked by the high priestly family, in the presence of the ‘rulers, elders, and scribes gathered in Jerusalem’ “By what name or power to you come and do this?”

          Peter is using a communication tool here that may not be so well known to us today.  But it is one that God has used extensively in the Bible.  It is the power of naming.  This has been used at times when God has renamed people for God’s own purposes, as when Abram became Abraham and his wife Sarai became Sarah.  There are progressions in the meanings.  Abram means “exalted father” but goes to Abraham, “father of many nations”-what God calls him to be.  Sarai meant “Princess” while Sarah meant “Princess of a clan”, the progression of Abraham and Sarah as parents of God’s people. 

          Jesus used this as well, changing the name of Cephas to “Peter”, Rock, as in ‘upon this rock I will build my church’.  Then, Jesus changed Saul’s name to Paul, from ‘asker of questions’ to ‘the humbled’.  Saul asked the questions as a persecutor of the church but was humbled to become Jesus’ apostle in the church.    

          If we really want to dig into this phenomenon, there are prophets called upon by God to give their children specific names that illustrate God’s message.  And all those multisyllabic titles of Old Testament names, they all have meanings of significance.  One example, Melchizedek.  He shows up during Abraham’s life, pops up as the king of Salem (which means Peace), the forerunner of Jerusalem.  Abraham honors him as a king in God’s service.  His name translates as “My King is Righteousness”-Melchi’s King is God, who is Righteousness. 

          Now, as with everything else, it is very possible to overplay the importance of the meaning of names in the Bible, unless we are following the Bible’s lead.  In reference to Jesus, “They shall call his name Emmanuel”.  Literally, that translates “God with us”, as decent a description of Jesus as any I have read.

          Or, in this case, ‘there is no other name given under heaven among mortals by which we must be saved.’  And that name is Jesus Christ of Nazareth.  So we will go from the end and work backward.  “Of Nazareth”, that is as close to a family name as we might find in the Bible.  They did not have “family” names as we know them.  You were part of a tribe, of a clan, of a community.  For example, Joseph ‘Of Arimathea’, he stepped forward to claim Jesus’ body after his death.  Or Mary Magdalene, Mary of Magdala.  Jesus of Nazareth, a real human, not a mythic figure or angelic being.  Of Nazareth, where the rest of Jesus’ people could still be found.  Jesus, a mortal among mortals. 

          Having said that, Nazareth does dovetail into other biblical terms like Nazarene, which do have specialty meanings.  That is another sermon.  In this case, Peter is establishing where Jesus is from.    

          So, that second name, Christ.  When Jesus’ name is used in vain, often times one gets the impression Jesus’ actual middle name is Harold or Hamish or something.  Ever heard the expression, usually spoken in anger or frustration, of “Jesus H. Christ”?  Given how we use family names, or surnames, today, Christ is often assumed to be Jesus’ family name, instead of ‘of Nazareth’.  I still remember a comedian playing with this, “Here is Jesus Christ, son of Mr. and Mrs. Christ”.  

          In Matthew 1, God promised Joseph that his wife Mary “will bear a son, and you will name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”  The title “Christ” came later, when Jesus was grown, and it means, most simply, the Anointed One.  It is from the Greek term “Khristos”, with a K, which means to anoint, which translates the Hebrew term ‘the Messiah’, the anointed one.  So, Jesus Christ is not something to be spoken in anger, but it is Jesus the Messiah, Jesus the Anointed One. 

          To be anointed was to be set aside by God for a special purpose.  David was anointed as King, the founding king of the people of Israel.  Aaron was anointed to be the high priest, the closest religious worker to God Almighty. Each was set aside to special service to God.  In fact, Jesus is identified as both King and High Priest in the Bible.  As Messiah, Jesus is set apart by God for a special purpose, in the role of a deliverer, of a bringer of God’s blessings in a final and complete manner.  Wouldn’t that punch up Jesus’ resume?  Instead of ‘Messiah’, he listed ‘bringer of God’s blessings in a final and complete manner’.

          I will agree, all this name stuff has the feeling of a Bible Trivia game.  And I claim this is how God makes the divine understandable to humanity, but how can we do this without a thorough grounding in Biblical Greek and Hebrew?  A shortcut is Google, I will confess that.  The deeper way is to get a Study bible, or one with piles and piles of foot notes.  This work has been done for us.  But be mindful that names become important when the Bible, when God, tells us they are, as when the phrase ‘in the name of’ pops.  That is the  signal that something deeper is be revealed.

          So, “Jesus”.  It is the Greek rendering of the Hebrew name “Joshua”.  So, before we translate anything, there is historic precedent to consider.  God called for God’s Son to be named for the champion of Israel who led God’s people through the conquest of the Promised Land.  It is a strong name, historically speaking.  Which lends weight to the strength of its translated meaning.  It means “God is deliverance” or “God is salvation”. 

Peter said, “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved.”  The name given by God at his birth is “God is salvation”.  A man named “God is salvation”, that is the name given among mortals by which we must be saved.

Why the name?  If our presupposition of reading Scripture is that God is seeking to make the divine understandable to the human, our answer must be found there.  Do we accept the truth that God gave us the Bible for all generations to understand what God is up to?

If we tie it all together, “Of Nazareth”, ties Jesus to a place and time, makes Jesus one of us.  “Christ”, the anointed one, ties Jesus to the promise that God has made for the Messiah, the Special One, who will come among them, anointed as kings and high priests were anointed for God’s service.  And Jesus, in the Hebrew Joshua, ties Jesus to the warrior who led God’s people into the Promised Land, but speaks plainly in the translation “God is salvation”.  Yes, it is all just a name, but Peter is plain in his speech to the Jewish leadership that the truth, the power of Jesus, is in the name.

To literally answer the question of the high priests, Peter is telling them that they come in the name of the one called “God is Salvation”, the anointed, the Messiah, a man from the town of Bethlehem; Godly power, the fulfillment of the Messianic prophecy, and just a guy, God, and heavenly being.  That is the name, that is the power.  That is the answer to a question to those leaders in the book of Acts and it is an answer for us to remember when we consider Jesus as our Savior. 

          Acts records that five thousand came to believe because of the actions and the words of Peter and John.  I look at the continued shrinkage and consolidation of our churches today and I wonder I that power.  But the truth of the matter is that the question the leadership posed, “In whose name do you do these things?”  That has not changed.  We still come in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

          But in looking at the name of Jesus, I will admit I did not realize the full breadth and scope of the power of God contained in that name.  I mean, I know Jesus as Lord and Savior and Friend.  I know him as the Second Person of the Trinity.  I know he died for us and rose again for us.  One of my favorite references to Jesus’ name is “At the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow and every tongue confess…”  But reframe it when we include what “Jesus” means, “At the knowledge that God is salvation, every knee shall bow and every tongue confess…”  And this is not just an action of God, but the man, the Messiah, that has come to accomplish this salvation among us, this saving from our sins.

          We live in a world today where sin pushes our ‘potential’, where our ‘perfection’ as something that comes by our own hand.  Humans have figured out how to feed more of us, how to banish disease, how to live longer.  But we know the reality of it.  Pollution, global warming, the expense of our advances to the environment, the continued conflicts between people based on gender and skin color as we compete for resources, we, here, live better for now, but at the cost to our world.  This is the moment when we must realize that “God is salvation”, not we ourselves, that Jesus saves us.  That at his birth came the promise that he would save us from our sins, including the sins we have committed that are destroying the very world in which we live.

          We can understand that when we understand what God has said to us in the Bible.  Those are not just a bunch of long and unpronounceable names that we might hear used for characters on “Little House on the Prairie” or something.  God says what God means in the very names that God gives.  Divine knowledge is laid out in ways that we, mere mortals, can understand, and grasp, and believe, and find hope in this world and the world to come.      

          Which name first?  Jesus.  There is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved.  Amen.

August 22, 2021 Order of Worship

 

First Presbyterian Church

August 22, 2021

10:00 AM

Order of Worship

 

CALL TO WORSHIP

There is salvation in the name of no one else.

There is salvation only in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

There is no other name under the heavens.

Jesus is the name given among mortals by which we shall be saved.

 Let us worship the Living God.

 

*Hymn of Praise: “Oh How I Love Jesus”

1. There is a name I love to hear, I love to sing its worth; it sounds like music in my ear, the sweetest name on earth.

Refrain: O how I love Jesus, O how I love Jesus, O how I love Jesus, because he first loved me!

2. It tells me of a Savior's love, who died to set me free; it tells me of his precious blood, the sinner's perfect plea. (Refrain)

3. It tells of one whose loving heart can feel my deepest woe; who in each sorrow bears a part that none can bear below. (Refrain)

      PRAYER OF CONFESSION (In Unison)

 Father in heaven, though we know in our heads that Jesus Christ is Lord, how often has this knowledge remained unconnected to our hearts?  We sin against You, against ourselves, and against our neighbors.  May we come to know again the power of the name of Jesus, the meaning You have provided to us in Your Word.  May it renew a desire to confess our sins to You as we become more mindful and more heartfelt in our understanding of the power of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.

*SILENT PRAYERS OF CONFESSION

ASSURANCE OF PARDON

Jesus is our Savior.  By His death and resurrection, we have received the gift of grace from our God that our sins are forgiven, that we are made right with the Almighty.  Know these words and be at peace.

 

*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: Acts 4: 1-12

4While Peter and John were speaking to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came to them, ²much annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming that in Jesus there is the resurrection of the dead. ³So they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. ⁴But many of those who heard the word believed; and they numbered about five thousand.

⁵The next day their rulers, elders, and scribes assembled in Jerusalem, ⁶with Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family. ⁷When they had made the prisoners stand in their midst, they inquired, “By what power or by what name did you do this?” ⁸Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, ⁹if we are questioned today because of a good deed done to someone who was sick and are asked how this man has been healed, ¹⁰let it be known to all of you, and to all the people of Israel, that this man is standing before you in good health by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead. ¹¹This Jesus is ‘the stone that was rejected by you, the builders; it has become the cornerstone.’ ¹²There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved.”

SERMON:                                        “What’s in a Name?”                                        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!”

PASSING OF THE PEACE

THE OFFERING OF OUR TITHES & GIFTS

Our God has given us so many gifts.  Let us know live into the generosity of our Father in heaven with our gifts and offerings for God’s work in God’s 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

Christ has made the name of the Lord known to us, so we give thanks. In your name, O Lord, use these gifts, and the time, talents and very lives they represent, for your glory as your kingdom breaks forth in this world. Amen.

 JOYS AND CONCERNS

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE

Eternal God, Anxiety constricts and muscles tense as summer wanes, students return to school and the delta variant looms. What will this year bring? What new challenges will we meet? Have we learned enough, renewed ourselves enough to begin again? Will we do better? Will we survive? Gracious and patient God, bear with us in our fear and uncertainty. Calm our pinched nerves with the Spirit’s deep breath of peace. Guide and direct us with your wisdom. As we pour ourselves out to you in prayer, hear and receive us, Holy God. We come as we are. Great and wonderful God, we praise you for the gifts with which you bless us. Gifts of renewal, gifts of unexpected grace and intentional practice. We thank you for:

• Summer travel to visit family and friends;

• Porch swings to enjoy early evening breezes;

• New Netflix to binge, new fiction through which we can escape;

• Church groups meeting for theology on tap or to knit prayer shawls in love.

Merciful God, strengthen us in prayer that we might lift up the brokenness of this world for your healing. You make all things new, O God, and we offer our prayers for the renewal of our world and the healing of its wounds. Especially we pray for:

• Those who remain isolated, even as others enjoy new freedom;

• The newly sick, the break-through infections, the hospitals and hospital personnel under mounting pressure;

• The children who cannot get vaccinated, yet must return to school;

• The people of the world without access to vaccines, affordable and advanced health care.

O God, you are the well-spring of life. Pour into our thirsty and anxious souls the living water of your grace, that we may be refreshed this day to continue in mission and ministry. May the pressures of this moment not pummel or paralyze, but encourage us to lean into exposed needs and lean on each other, and you, for strength and support. United as a family of faith and as the Body of Christ we lift these prayers up to you, God our Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer. Finally, hear us pray the prayer Christ taught us, 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: “Jesus, The Name High Over All”

1. Jesus! the name high over all, in hell or earth or sky; angels and mortals prostrate fall, and devils fear and fly.

2. Jesus! the name to sinners dear, the name to sinners given; it scatters all their guilty fear, it turns their hell to heaven.

3. O that the world might taste and see the riches of his grace! The arms of love that compass me would all the world embrace.

4. Thee I shall constantly proclaim, though earth and hell oppose; bold to confess thy glorious name before a world of foes.

5. His only righteousness I show, his saving truth proclaim; 'tis all my business here below to cry, "Behold the Lamb!"

6. Happy, if with my latest breath I may but gasp his name, preach him to all and cry in death, "Behold, behold the Lamb!"

*BENEDICTION

*THREE FOLD AMEN

Elements of Order of Worship Liturgy written by Teri McDowell Ott.