November 21, 2021, Lord's Day Integrated Order of Worship

 First Presbyterian Church

November 21, 2021

10:00 AM

Order of Worship

 

CALL TO WORSHIP (from Revelation 1:4-6)

 Grace and peace to you from him who is and who was and who is to come,

Grace and peace to you from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.

To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood,

To him who made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever.

Let us worship the Living God.

 

*Hymn of Praise: “Fairest Lord Jesus”

1. Fairest Lord Jesus, ruler of all nature, O thou of God and man the Son, Thee will I cherish, Thee will I honor, thou, my soul's glory, joy, and crown.

2. Fair are the meadows, fairer still the woodlands, robed in the blooming garb of spring: Jesus is fairer, Jesus is purer who makes the woeful heart to sing.

3. Fair is the sunshine, fairer still the moonlight, and all the twinkling starry host: Jesus shines brighter, Jesus shines purer than all the angels heaven can boast.

4. Beautiful Savior! Lord of all the nations! Son of God and Son of Man! Glory and honor, praise, adoration, now and forevermore be thine.

      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: Matthew 7: 12-29

¹²“In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets. ¹³“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. ¹⁴For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it.

¹⁵“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. ¹⁶You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles? ¹⁷In the same way, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. ¹⁹Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰Thus you will know them by their fruits.

²¹“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. ²²On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?’ ²³Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers.’ ²⁴“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. ²⁵The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock. ²⁶And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. ²⁷The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great was its fall!” ²⁸Now when Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were astounded at his teaching, ²⁹for he taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.

SERMON:               “How We Can Simply Slide Away From Our Lord”                  Rev. Peter Hofstra

                Jesus speaks of the path into heaven as being a narrow one, while the path to destruction seems wide open.  As Jesus develops this idea, he seems to have a particular focus.  He speaks first of the false prophet, the one who comes in the name of the Lord-apparently-but who is not truly here in Jesus’ name.  Such a prophet may not even come along in the name of Jesus.  Rather, these may be individuals or groups that preach their own version of happiness, of joy, and of fulfillment.

                But Jesus has a test for such people.  What is the fruit of their labor?  What is the result of what they teach?  Of what they demand?  Of what they practice?  The good tree cannot bear bad fruit nor the bad tree good fruit.  Then, returning to the theme of the wide road that leads to destruction, such is the fate of the ‘bad trees’, they shall be cut down and burned in the fire.

                From the generalities, Jesus goes on to illustrate his point in the words by example.  There will be people who speak all the right Christian words, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?’  But these are people who say things and do things that look Christian, but are nevertheless not the will of the Father in heaven.  That is a little frightening.  How then is the difference between one of these veneer Christians and a Christian deserving of heaven to be discerned?

                Such discernment is to be found in the final parable, the parable of house building on the rock or no the sand.  “The wise man built his house upon the rock…”  It is a simile, to hear the words of Jesus AND to act on them is like the wise man who builds his house upon a rock foundation.  It will not be moved into the storms of life.  But to hear the words of Jesus and NOT to act on them, that is like the foolish man who built his house upon the sand, where it is sure to be washed away.

                If we truly intend to use this coming Christmas as a season of renewal, these words of Jesus are CRITICALLY important.  It may seem obvious, we must not only hear the words of Jesus, but we must also act upon them.  The stagnation and the shrinkage of God’s family comes from that lack of activity.  The words might be there.  Everyone might know how to recite the Lord’s Prayer, John 3:16, the Apostle’s Creed, but are they more than words to us?  How does the community of faith, one that was vibrant in word and deed, in faith and practice, how does it fade away so that the hearing of the words of Jesus does not lead to anything else?

                I would suggest that Christmas is a present parable in trying to understand that.  For all the political correctness of saying ‘Happy Holidays’, for all the other religious and political holidays that have been gathered into this season, I am thinking in particular of Hanukkah and Kwanzaa, for all the attempts to create an inclusive package to appeal to everyone to join the season of buying, there is an exclusivity at the center of it.  You know the bumper sticker, “Keep Christ in Christmas”?  Santa and Rudolf and Frosty and the countless other add-on’s and plug-in’s that have been piled onto this holiday, it finds its relevance and its origins with the baby in the manger, where Linus recites from Luke 2 in the Charlie Brown Christmas Special. 

                Thanksgiving is a national holiday.  It is an ideal that we can celebrate no matter what our faith, creed, code, or beliefs may be.  But when the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade comes to its conclusion and Santa arrives in Herald Square, that marks a transition from a national holiday to a holiday that is celebrated nationally.  It is a subtle but very significant difference.

                I would suggest this morning that what Jesus is seeking to teach us, of the separation of hearing the words of our Lord from acting on them, that the way Christmas is celebrated in this present day is a prime example of exactly how that separation can happen.

                “And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.”  This is the Good News of the birth of Jesus.  And the angel is explicit, ‘which shall be to all people’.  And if we look around, there is much accuracy in that statement.  Christmas has become something which shall be to all people.  But what is that Christmas that the world is going to celebrate?

                A prime example may be taken from that most wonderful of Christmas stories, Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol”.  I think we know that story pretty well, Scrooge becomes a changed man because of the spirit of Christmas.  He is shown his life, past, present, and future, and a change has to happen or he will simply die, forgotten and unmourned.  But there is something on the written page that almost never makes it into any of the multitude of adaptations of this story.  Scrooge began Christmas Day by going to services.  Tiny Tim hoped people would see him so they would be reminded of the words of Jesus toward the poor and the lame.  Woven into Dickens’ narrative is a foundation of Jesus.  That is where the spirit of Christmas finds its power, that’s where the basis of proper action finds its seat, in Jesus.

                And while goodwill to all people is still in the language of Christmas, while it is reflected in Santa, in the spirit of giving, in all of it, I feel like in the world around us, the virtues of the Season have become as abstract as those of Thanksgiving.  They are the right things to do, of course, but they are divorced from their spiritual foundation.  They have been lifted from the Christian foundation of the birth of Jesus and are celebrated on their own strength.  Even where the story of Jesus is still part and parcel of the Christmas extravaganza, like at the Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall, its just one piece among many.  I don’t know about you, but when I have had the privilege of watching the show, what I have left with is not the impression that the part about the birth of Jesus was foundational to everything else that has built upon it.  No, my impression is “oh wow, they had camels and donkeys and sheep in this building in the middle of New York City…who cleans up after them?”

                When Jesus speaks of people who thought they were good Christians, who say in surprise when they find out they are condemned that “Lord Lord, I did all this stuff for you!”, but where these actions are not coming from what we would DO when we hear the word of Jesus, I think that split begins here.  There are so many other messages of the world, there is so much more piled on top of the simple truths of our Christian faith, that Jesus is drowned out of our lives completely.

                I have always considered these words of Jesus to be a condemnation of those who have chosen to attempt to deceive Jesus, to those Christian leaders who have deliberately exploited their congregations for their own purposes, to get rich, to cover secret lives of sin, to practice what is the opposite of what Jesus calls upon us to do, that it is done deliberately and openly, as though someone has said, “I am going to get whatever I can for me and I am going to use the Christian faith as a cover.”

                It can happen that way, but I think the path from engaging in acts of obedience to Jesus to engaging in acts of obedience to the self, to the world around us, is far more insidious.  People who come into the Christmas season desperate to find a measure of peace in a moment at the manger once again find themselves in a rat race, in a grind that has them almost cheering when the season is over and they can ‘get back to normal’, that they can take a vacation from the vacation of Christmas.  Suicide goes way up in this season because there is some vague notion of ‘goodwill toward all’ that is in the atmosphere, but it is not grounded in the saving love and power of our Lord Jesus Christ.

                The people of the world are hungry for real meaning and purpose in their lives.  The birth of Jesus should be the start of the real answer to those questions of who we are in a sinful world and where is there something better.  But instead, the season has gotten so busy, Bethlehem is lost in the glitter of the season’s lights.

                By no means is it only Christmas that divides people from acting on the words of Jesus.  Whenever there is power and opportunity, this danger exists.  I think of the last couple of mayors of Perth Amboy.  I knew both Wilda Diaz and Joe Vas in my time here in the City.  In my estimation, they were both good people who got into politics to make a difference in their home town.  But after so many years in office, the power accumulates.  The power to do good is always there, but also the possibility to abuse that power.  And if we become convinced that we have the power for good in our own makeup, in our own activities, in ourselves, we will fall.  We are sinful beings.  Salvation, the true ability to do good, it comes in Jesus, it comes in that power beyond ourselves.

                That is why it is so much easier to point the finger at someone who has done evil and condemn them for it.  That is not what Jesus would do.  But this present age is so much more insidious in how we are separated from the call of Christ.  All that is good and wonderful and to be celebrated at even the most wonderful time of the year can be lifted and turned against the actions of Christ.  Giving and receiving, left to themselves, can lead to ever deeper competition and greed.  Goodwill, as a solitary notion, can sour as judge and mock the poor and the needy for not pulling themselves up, for living on government handouts.  All the good things that can be done turn into that desperate list of ‘have I gotten everything done?’ 

                The true meaning of Christmas is regained in coming seriously and completely back to the message of the manger above all else.  Goodwill is not abstract, it is the concrete expression of the salvation brought in that baby.  Gift giving is not just a nice thing, it is the reflection of the greatest gift we have received.  We are not simply nice to each other because it is ‘that time of year’, we are nice as one piece of the whole package that comes from living a life of loving our neighbors as ourselves.  And when we realize that we can’t do all that on our own, we have the sure and certain knowledge that we are not alone, but that we belong, body and soul, to our Lord Jesus, who was not only born for us, but born again for us.

                And that is the hard part, keeping our eyes upon Him, looking full on his wonderful face.  Because everywhere there exists a world around us that would distract us, pull us away, turn our faces to our own desires and satisfaction, presume that we are strong enough to be our own roots of a happy life.  When the truth of the gospel is that it just isn’t so.  Jesus is the only one who does that for us, in the true expression of love that we have not only heard, but are called to action for.  Because that is the narrow gate.  That is the good fruit from the good trees.  That is activity of God that reflects the words of our Savior.  That is our renewal as people of faith this Christmas Season.  Amen. 

 

AFFIRMATION OF FAITH (The Apostle’s Creed)

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, 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 rose from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sitteth at 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 Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. 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.

 

*PRAYER OF DEDICATION

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.

JOYS AND CONCERNS

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE

Great God, in you is more love than we can imagine and more grace than we can fathom. You have shown yourself in Jesus Christ as a God who meets us where we are and loves us as we are. We are glad for this day and grateful for your many gifts. You bring good things into our lives, more than we can name, more than we can number. You give us the bread of life, sustaining our souls and feeding our deepest hungers. You accompany us on our way. Thank you for your abundant faithfulness. Our hearts are full of many things today. Disease and death and pain and sorrow are constantly among us. The journey through these days is marked by uncertainty and heartache. We are frequently overwhelmed by the needs around us and within us. Some need healing, some need encouragement, some need comfort, some need assurance, we all need hope. So we turn to you asking you to hear our prayers and grant what we need for the living of these days. We pray for our nation. We pray for renewed commitments to our common life. Refresh us in the values of your heart: justice, righteousness, compassion, mercy, peace. Help us to find a unity of purpose as citizens and neighbors. We pray for your church in places near and far. May the waters of your grace continually refresh and empower us to extend the love of Jesus to all people. We pray for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A), for the clarity of our witness and the success of our mission. We pray for our congregation, for our life together and for our efforts to follow in the way of Jesus. Hear us. Hold us. Heal us. Help us. For the sake of our Savior, our Lord, Jesus Christ who taught us to pray like this:

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: “Come Ye Thankful People Come”

1. Come, ye thankful people, come, raise the song of harvest home; all is safely gathered in, ere the winter storms begin. God our Maker doth provide for our wants to be supplied; come to God's own temple, come, raise the song of harvest home.

2. All the world is God's own field, fruit as praise to God we yield; wheat and tares together sown are to joy or sorrow grown; first the blade and then the ear, then the full corn shall appear; Lord of harvest, grant that we wholesome grain and pure may be.

3. For the Lord our God shall come, and shall take the harvest home; from the field shall in that day all offenses purge away, giving angels charge at last in the fire the tares to cast; but the fruitful ears to store in the garner evermore.

4. Even so, Lord, quickly come, bring thy final harvest home; gather thou thy people in, free from sorrow, free from sin, there, forever purified, in thy presence to abide; come, with all thine angels, come, raise the glorious harvest home.

 

*BENEDICTION

*THREE FOLD AMEN

Elements of Order of Worship Liturgy written by John Wurster, pastor at St. Philip Presbyterian Church in Houston, Texas, courtesy of the Presbyterian 

Service of Worship for November 21, 2021

Worship for the Lord's Day, Sunday, November 14, 2021

November 14, 2021 Integrated Order of Worship

 

First Presbyterian Church

November 14, 2021

10:00 AM

Order of Worship

 

CALL TO WORSHIP

In Jesus Christ, we are made righteous in God.

We thank the Lord that we are made right with our God once more.

In Jesus Christ, we are renewed in divine love.

Let us pray for and participate in God’s coming kingdom.

Let us worship the Living God.

 

*Hymn of Praise: “I Surrender All”

1. All to Jesus I surrender; all to him I freely give; I will ever love and trust him, in his presence daily live.

Refrain: I surrender all, I surrender all, all to thee, my blessed Savior, I surrender all.

2. All to Jesus I surrender; humbly at his feet I bow, worldly pleasures all forsaken; take me, Jesus, take me now. (Refrain)

3. All to Jesus I surrender; make me, Savior, wholly thine; fill me with thy love and power; truly know that thou art mine. (Refrain)

4. All to Jesus I surrender; Lord, I give myself to thee; fill me with thy love and power; let thy blessing fall on me. (Refrain)

5. All to Jesus I surrender; now I feel the sacred flame. O the joy of full salvation! Glory, glory, to his name! (Refrain)

      PRAYER OF CONFESSION (In Unison)

Eternal God, too often we settle for the way things are. We embrace what is comfortable and disengage from the work of necessary change. We fail to hope for a new day and a new world because our present reality feels good enough. Forgive us. Have mercy upon us. Fill us with the passion to live and work towards a world made just and equitable and new. Amen.

*SILENT PRAYERS OF CONFESSION

ASSURANCE OF PARDON (Mt. 9:2)

“When Jesus saw their faith, he said… ‘Take heart…your sins are forgiven.’” Amen.

 

 

*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: Philippians 3: 8-14

8 More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. 10 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, 11 if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

12Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.

SERMON:                            “On Being Made Right With God”                                Rev. Peter Hofstra

                Paul shares with us some difficult things to consider in our passage.   First, Paul says that everything he has in this life is but a loss-because he knows Jesus.  Then he develops that a little bit, that for Jesus, Paul has, in fact, lost all things, and that he regards them as-in this translation-rubbish.  His whole life without Jesus is rubbish.

                Now, that opens the door to a whole class of sermon-making about giving up everything in this life because of Christ.  That is the basis of our opening hymn this morning, “I Surrender All”.  This is a lyrical and poetic way of echoing Paul when he says that all things NOT Jesus are, in his words, rubbish.

                For Paul, this is the introduction to this part of his letter where his love for Jesus and the changes Jesus has brought to his existence are powerful and eloquent.  It is not his own righteousness, but one that comes through faith in Christ, righteousness from God based on faith, and faith alone.  He wants to know Christ, he wants to know the sufferings of Christ, he wants to know the death of Christ, because, ultimately, he wants to know the resurrection of Christ.  His closing verses might be summed up as “Aim for heaven children!”

                I hope we can grasp the truth of what Paul is telling us, how Jesus is, ultimately, the most important thing for us.  In him comes the gifts of forgiveness, renewal, grace, love, and eternal life.  This is ‘kick butt’ kingdom of God thinking.

                And it fits Paul’s experience, the conversion experience.  From disciple killer to leading apostle?  Let’s not even talk about the physical discomforts of his life, every time he preached the Word of God, he was reminded of how he was arresting, imprisoning, and spouting death upon those same believers.  Yet Jesus loved him so much that Jesus gave his life for that man.

                Psychiatric medicine would have a field day with the issues of guilt and personal inferiority that Paul is carrying around with him.  The reason this is so important is so that we understand where the Bible is coming from in these passages.  Christians can get sidelined with arguments over the inspiration and the inerrancy and the literalness of God’s Word and lose sight of the reality that God’s Word is filled with flawed, broken, healed, Holy Spirit driven individuals.

                Knowing what we do of the life of Paul helps us to understand what he is talking about.  And that is important because I do not agree with Paul that the rest of life is rubbish except for Jesus.  I don’t think my immediate family is rubbish, I do not think my church family is rubbish, I do not think that the multitude of blessings that I have received in God are rubbish.  I am not looking to gain the afterlife quite yet.  I get the feeling in my heart that the Lord still has work and blessings and many NOT rubbish things left here for me.

                So Paul’s life was rubbish and our life is not?  How do we understand Paul?  There may be some among us who know exactly what Paul is talking about, that life before Jesus was utterly destructive and ultimately soul-killing, but in Jesus, all that rubbish can be tossed aside for a new life, looking to be resurrected as Jesus was.  My words may sound like they are trying to scrub the rough edges off of Paul.

                The five dollar word that Paul is using in this passage this morning is “righteousness”, being made right with God.  That is the context.  That is the promise fulfilled in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we are made right with God.  Praise the Lord for that gift, but the moments Paul is now dwelling on are those moments in which he is living in between, in between his conversion to becoming a Christian and his final steps across the line of death into eternal life. 

                Paul was looking to shed the life of who he had been, before Jesus.  I believe he worked so hard and wrote so eloquently and drove so much of the church’s thinking after Jesus because he was driving a life that he hoped would somehow make up for what came before.  Which makes his passion undeniable.  But if we presume that Paul’s experience of the Lord Jesus is the only way of experiencing the Lord, or even the prototype of experiencing the Lord, we may tune out to the truth of Paul’s words.

                Paul is prepared to give his life for Jesus.  That is not the typical language of Christianity here, in this time and place.  We might use this language instead in consideration of our nation.  In time of war, we ask our young people to be prepared to give their lives for this country.  I grew up through the time of Selective Service, something my son will qualify for on his next birthday.  But my hope and prayer is that we shall not be called upon to do that.  Which is a perfectly legitimate response.  Being willing to do something is not the same as wanting to do so.

                But we should recognize that there are people who are more than just willing to serve.  Paul was more than just willing to serve Christ.  He wanted to give his life up that he would receive life eternal.  That is who he is and where he is in his Christian walk as he writes these words.  The eternal truth of his words that he shares with us is that in the death and resurrection of Christ, we are made right with God, we receive God’s righteousness.  And in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we receive the gift of eternal life with God.  But in our present circumstances, while we have given our lives to Christ, it does not necessarily mean we are quite ready to join him. 

                Because Paul is writing from a very specific place to a specific audience.  He is writing to those who have recently, in this first generation, become Christians.  Life has changed for them, everything is different, they are existing in a fledgling religion among all the others that existed in the Roman Empire. At this point, the oldest congregation of believers is probably less than twenty years old. 

                We are here for almost two hundred and twenty years now.  We have seen generations rise up and pass away in this congregation.  Children and grand children and great grand children have been raised here.  God has given us an ongoing community to live for and to raise in the faith, to raise to be made right with God as surely as Paul was, but we have the long game we are playing here.  In fact, Paul preached against the very idea of marriage in other places.

                But I should take a step back here for a moment.  There is another element to Paul’s faith that we need to take into account.  It is not simply the history he brings with him when he converted to the faith.  It was also an expectation of the future.  He was expecting Jesus back within his lifetime.  He did not have some kind of ideation of death so much as a Messianic expectation being made complete.

                What that means is he is writing for an audience in a different place than we are.  When he talks about wanting to die with Christ that he may rise with Christ, it is not some kind of religious veneer of suicidal tendencies.  It is the belief that the end of the world is coming, very soon.  It can change one’s point of view.

                What we share with Paul is the righteousness that is extended to us, Godly righteousness, through our Lord Jesus Christ.  Where we may differ is in consideration of what we do with that blessing.  For Paul, it was the driving force to a mission lifestyle, traveling from place to place, having no home to rest his head.  He was out there for Jesus.  And that is a powerful way to live and serve Christ.  But it is by no means the only way to serve Christ. 

                Now, there is some powerful metaphoric language in Christianity talking about spiritual warfare, of battling the devil, of being out there on the frontlines.  It is not my favorite language, but I understand the sentiment, the desire to carry the love of God to the ends of the earth.  But there is a song that speaks in that kind of language as well, “War is hell on the home front too…”  Life in Christ, being made right in Christ, it happens in the lives of people who go “out there”, who are active missionaries and evangelists and it happens in the lives of the people who make up the congregations that support them.

                What we have in common with Paul is how he concludes our passage today, “¹⁴I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.”  How do we accomplish that in the present world?  Have we ever formulated our life of faith in this church as pressing on toward the prize of the heavenly call of God in Jesus?  Or are we just trying to live good lives and keep out of the craziness that surrounds us?  Or are we frustrated by the faith language that is so intertwined into the political divisions in this nation that we just want to keep our heads down and love the Lord on the sidelines?  Or have we gotten so overwhelmed by life, by this present age, that we are just kind of existing, kind of coasting?

                Is it time to reboot, reset, reconsider, refresh, revitalize?  Get our brains and hearts and souls into serious consideration of what it is to be made right with God?  We need for ourselves a season of renewal?  Hang on to your socks children of the Lord, Advent begins in TWO weeks.  The season of the birth of Jesus.  The place where it all began. 

                The theme of worship for this Christmas is, simply put, renewal.  We were on a long road in need of renewal long before Covid came along and kicked us down that road a whole lot faster.  We know our Lord Jesus, at least we know OF our Lord Jesus.  We know what is expected of us; Jesus Law 101, love God and love Neighbor.  God knows we live in a time and place where the refreshment of the spirit that comes in our Lord would be so very welcome.

                To be righteous in God, made right with God, is the expression of our obedience to God.  And our obedience to God is expressed in our active love for our God.  Our active love for God is expressed in our worship of the Lord’s name and the active loving of our neighbors.  Our active love for our neighbors is expressed in how we are there for them, to serve to listen to aid to love. 

                Jesus was born to change the world as He brought in the Plan of God for the salvation of humanity.  We have been saved by Jesus, we are the instruments of change to bring the blessings of God to humanity.  In so doing, we are made right with God.  In so doing, we live into the Spirit of…dare I say it out loud…Christmas.

                May this then be the season of our renewal in the transforming power of the grace of our Lord.  Amen.

AFFIRMATION OF FAITH (The Apostle’s Creed)

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, 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 rose from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sitteth at 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 Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

PASSING OF THE PEACE

THE OFFERING OF OUR TITHES & GIFTS

“You will be enriched in every way for your great generosity, which will produce thanksgiving to God.” Let us present our tithes and offerings to the Lord.

*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, maker and provider of all, you have blessed us with many gifts. Use us and what we have gathered to feed the world through your love; through the one who gave himself for us, Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord, we pray. Amen.

JOYS AND CONCERNS

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE

Holy One, the stress and strain of these days weigh heavy. As we move into fall and as the days grow shorter, we are more in need of the hope you provide. Set our eyes to the sun, moon and stars. Remind us of the MORE of this universe plotted and patterned by your hand. Be with us in the small struggles as well as the great. Transform us so we can be transformational in love and service. Creator God, you are our refuge, our comfort and our strength in times of disaster, crisis or chaos. Surround those who are suffering with your grace and peace. May those devastated by fires, storms or floods find the strength they need to rebuild. May neighbors turn to help neighbors in need. May we be each other’s hope and help. Lover of justice, you call us to support the poor and oppressed. By the power of your Holy Spirit make us advocates for your justice and instruments of your peace. Help us seek reconciliation through beloved community inspired by Christ’s reconciling ministry among us. Empower us to work for what is good and equitable and just. Compassionate God, look upon us with mercy and grace. Free our minds from prejudice, and our preference for violence over peace. Grant us the wisdom and humility to seek your way above all worldly ways so our path may be righteous and true. Guide us, God, in all things. As a people of faith, we lift these prayers to you, trusting you hear us and receive us. Finally, hear us now, as we pray the prayer Christ taught us by saying together,

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: “For the Beauty of the Earth”

1. For the beauty of the earth, for the glory of the skies, for the love which from our birth over and around us lies; Lord of all, to thee we raise this our hymn of grateful praise.

2. For the beauty of each hour of the day and of the night, hill and vale, and tree and flower, sun and moon, and stars of light; Lord of all, to thee we raise this our hymn of grateful praise.

3. For the joy of ear and eye, for the heart and mind's delight, for the mystic harmony, linking sense to sound and sight; Lord of all, to thee we raise this our hymn of grateful praise.

 4. For thy church, that evermore lifteth holy hands above, offering upon every shore her pure sacrifice of love; Lord of all, to thee we raise this our hymn of grateful praise.

5. For thyself, best Gift Divine, to the world so freely given, for that great, great love of thine, peace on earth, and joy in heaven: Lord of all, to thee we raise this our hymn of grateful praise.

 

*BENEDICTION

*THREE FOLD AMEN

Elements of Order of Worship Liturgy written by Teri McDowell Ott courtesy of the Presbyterian Outlook

Worship for the Lord's Day November 7, 2021

November 7, 2021 Integrated Order of Worship

 

First Presbyterian Church

November 7, 2021

10:00 AM

Order of Worship

 

                                             CALL TO WORSHIP

How does Jesus’ resurrection benefit us?

He has overcome death and His resurrection is the pledge to our glorious resurrection.

So then we are raised up to new life in Him.

And we will join Jesus in the righteousness He has obtained for us.

Let us worship the Living God.

 

*Hymn of Praise: “Break Thou The Bread of Life”

1. Break thou the bread of life, dear Lord, to me, as thou didst break the loaves beside the sea; beyond the sacred page I seek thee, Lord; my spirit pants for thee, O Living Word!

2. Bless thou the truth, dear Lord, to me, to me, as thou didst bless the bread by Galilee; then shall all bondage cease, all fetters fall; and I shall find my peace, my all in all.

      PRAYER OF CONFESSION (In Unison)

God of mercy, in Jesus you modeled power through vulnerability, and victory through sacrifice. But we live in a world that celebrates abundance and might. God of grace, in Christ we find unhesitating welcome as siblings — all children of One loving parent. But, if we’re honest with ourselves, there are members of our human family we would rather avoid. God of love, reshape us that we might be brave enough to show strength by sharing power, encourage us that we might admit to ourselves our reluctance to acknowledge those across the ocean, over the border, or just around the corner as our family. And reorient us to the trailblazing example of Jesus, whose gift to us was sacrifice and whose gracious embrace knows no bounds. Amen.

*SILENT PRAYERS OF CONFESSION

ASSURANCE OF PARDON

Siblings in Christ, Our savior abandoned the company of angels for this marvelous and messy world, and in his sacrifice we find a fresh start for our relationship with God and with one another. May we live into this new day; in Jesus Christ, we are all forgiven. Amen.

*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 Corinthians 15: 42-58
⁴²So it is with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable. ⁴³It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. ⁴⁴It is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body. ⁴⁵Thus it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. ⁴⁶But it is not the spiritual that is first, but the physical, and then the spiritual. ⁴⁷The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. ⁴⁸As was the man of dust, so are those who are of the dust; and as is the man of heaven, so are those who are of heaven. ⁴⁹Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we will also bear the image of the man of heaven. ⁵⁰What I am saying, brothers and sisters, is this: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

⁵¹Listen, I will tell you a mystery! We will not all die, but we will all be changed, ⁵²in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. ⁵³For this perishable body must put on imperishability, and this mortal body must put on immortality. ⁵⁴When this perishable body puts on imperishability, and this mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will be fulfilled: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” ⁵⁵“Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” ⁵⁶The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. ⁵⁷But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁵⁸Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

SERMON:                           “Resurrection: Jesus Versus Halloween”                        Rev. Peter Hofstra

                As we pack up after Halloween, as we gather today to partake of the Lord’s Supper, the body of Christ broken for us, his blood spilled for our redemption, consider how these two intersect.  That point of intersection is around the resurrection of the body.  We believe, in Jesus, in the resurrection of the body.  But consider how much of the horror genre finds its fear in the question of what happens to a person after they die.  It makes for popular media, books to movies to television, but why is that?  What is it about these popular images that speak to the deeper fears that horror can tap into?

                Because that is what good horror is.  It taps into something that we fear.  Orson Welles, remember him?  Known for Citizen Kane more than anything else, but he is also responsible for the radio show “War of the Worlds” which, while identified at the beginning as a fictional radio show, went on to terrorize the US when it was broadcast in the 1938.  That kind of horror was from a specific place and time, in the lead up to the Second World War.  The horror that surrounds popular ideas of what happens to us after we die, that continues to be integral to what scares us.

                What is it about ghosts?  The spectral image of those who have died, some kind of spirit left over here on the earth when the body had passed on?  First, consider these most powerful words of Paul, “When this perishable body puts on imperishability, and this mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will be fulfilled: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?””

                What is a ghost?  Somebody left behind?  Somebody stained with evil, cursed to walk the earth?  Sounds like Jacob Marley.  Somebody with unfinished business?  Sounds like Patrick Swayze’s character in “Ghost”.  Our popular imagination conceives of them as vengeful spirits, as spiritual creatures with unfinished business, or sometimes as a ‘spiritual impression’ of a terrible happening from the past.

                This is the perishable body that has been destroyed and there is nothing to replace it.  Paul asks, “Where, O death, is your sting?”  In the popular imagination, it really sounds to me that the sting of death lives on in the creature of a ghost.  What does that say about us?  I think it is a fundamental lack of belief in what Paul is triumphant about here.  The perishable body puts on the imperishable body, mortal puts on immortality, death is swallowed up in victory.  Not simply to have faith in Jesus, but to grasp what that means from this life into the next, to understand that Jesus died, descended into hell according to the creed, and came back triumphant. 

                To believe in ghosts, does that tap into something in our human consciousness, even as people of faith, that we do not have the assurance of the victory Jesus brings over death? 

                There is a whole other set of creatures that humans morph into after death, depending on virus or curse or whatever.  They are generally referred to as the ‘undead’ because we do not have a category between life and death otherwise.  These are things like zombies and vampires and the like.  In general, they are humans who have died (usually killed), who return as predators upon their fellow human beings. 

                Dracula is probably the quintessential ‘undead’ creature, but we have the night, the dawn, and the day of the living dead, the walking dead-all in the zombie genre, as well as dozens of other examples.  What usually happens is that the humans have to band together in a desperate attempt to overcome these destroyers of humanity. 

                What is that?  What is that tapping into in the human psyche and imagination?  The notion of evil and greed and destruction following the sinful human being after death itself?  The historic character known to us as Vladimir Dracula was a bloodthirsty character, from a very bloodthirsty time and place in human history.

                Is there a conviction behind these images of hopelessness?  That’s where we will end up?  Is this all, is there nothing more?  Consider what Paul tells us, ⁴²So it is with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable. ⁴³It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. ⁴⁴It is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body. ⁴⁵Thus it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.”

                The last Adam, that is Jesus.  Perishable to imperishable, we talked about that in relation to ghosts, sown in dishonor, raised in glory.  Born into sin, dying in sin, raised in the glory of eternal life.  What was weak is raised into power.  Physical body to spiritual body.  Adam was a living being, Jesus is a life-giving spirit.  In the popular media, the living being becomes the epitome of evil as an unliving being.  Hope is lost.  There is a denial of the hope that comes to us in Jesus as the life-giving spirit.  Paul leads into this passage about the resurrection of the dead by establishing this contrast of what came before and what comes after.

                Again, the gateway to this transition is Jesus.  Jesus was born perishable, and he perished, but was raised imperishable.  Such is the living example of our transition, in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, in the forgiveness of our sins, in the promise of new life.  This is the hope of the gospel. 

                And while there is a lot of the good humans triumphing over the evil undead, it is certainly not an absolute. 

                But it is not all so completely depressing in a lack of faith and a lack of hope.  Because I truly believe that love conquers all.  And that sentiment is in the popular imagination as well.  But when Christians claim that love conquers all, we are working from 1 John 4, where John develops the idea that God is love.  That is the ultimate power beyond the universe. 

                The notion of love has been twisted to triumph found in romantic love.  Love is considered to be greater than death, another Biblical truth found in the Song of Songs-which is, in itself, a tribute to romantic love, but in the power of God. 

                Rather, ghosts, vampires, and zombies, they have all been portrayed as transcending the boundary of death to reestablish their romantic connections to the humans ‘left behind’.  It is usually a tragic story, or one that ends in a very ugly way.  But not always.  Yet it ends at humanity.  It becomes a contradiction in terms, a love that lives forever in creatures that are not living.  Or, love restores the monster to their former humanity.

                There is a human desire to find victory, to find our happily ever after.  But it denies the transition, the transformation that comes in the resurrection of the dead in Jesus.  Again, consider Paul, “But it is not the spiritual that is first, but the physical, and then the spiritual. ⁴⁷The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. ⁴⁸As was the man of dust, so are those who are of the dust; and as is the man of heaven, so are those who are of heaven. ⁴⁹Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we will also bear the image of the man of heaven. ⁵⁰What I am saying, brothers and sisters, is this: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.”

                Born of dust and to dust shall we return, that is the earthly, the creation cycle.  But in Christ, there is more than simply an earthly cycle to our lives.  From people of dust, we transform into people of heaven, as Jesus did.  It is in that nature, that imperishable nature, that we shall then inherit the kingdom of God, that the love of God for us, a love that is SO strong that God gave God’s only beloved Son so that we might not perish, but have everlasting life, such is the true nature of love that overcomes death.

                The preoccupation with humans as monsters after they die, it actively denies these first two.  It denies the faith we have in Jesus as our Lord and Savior.  It denies the hope we have that in Jesus, we will know the love of God and enter into God’s kingdom.  But humanity still has a desperate need for redemption.  So the perfection of love in our God is taken, down-sized, and stuffed into the model of romantic love overcoming all, even death, as human and ghost or human and vampire or human and zombie come together.

                But it just isn’t so.  That’s not how any of this works.  Paul gives us the most succinct explanation of what happens at the resurrection of the dead.  It is not a curse, it is the blessing.  It is not being left behind, it is the fulfillment of God’s promises made to us, carried out for us by Jesus. 

                I will admit, Halloween is fun.  As a species, we like to scare ourselves.  There is something about the fear of losing something that makes it more precious to us, especially our lives.  But there comes a time to put away the Halloween decorations.  There comes a time to return to the reality of Jesus who loves us and will transform us when we enter our eternal home.  There comes a time to fact check the reality of who we are and what we believe.  There comes a time to return to the sure and certain knowledge of the love of God, of the sacrifice of Jesus on our behalf.

                In a few moments, we are going to celebrate the Lord’s Supper.  It is a physical reminder of Jesus’ death on the cross that was NOT the end in itself, but the new beginning.  For it was in death that resurrection followed.  It was in the resurrection of Jesus that life returned to us, from the physical body to the spiritual body.  In the resurrection that we shall follow Jesus through, our bodies of dust will become bodies of heaven.  We are not ghosts or zombies or vampires or anything else that goes bump in the night.  If Halloween has any place in our faith, it is to remind us that the popular tropes of the world in consideration of death and resurrection are NOT the promise we have received.    

                Faith is not misplaced, hope is not denied, love is not misguided in the promises we have in Jesus, the promises we remember in the sharing of the bread and the sharing of the cup.  This is so precious to us that is makes sense in a world of sin that there would be so many ways in which it is denied, made fun of, diverted, and kept from our full and undivided attention.

                What is the call?  Christ has died so that death has no victory over us.  Christ has risen so that the heavenly body, the imperishable body will replace the body of dust, the perishable body.  Christ will come again, and in that day, we will all be gathered unto him for eternity.  Amen.

 

AFFIRMATION OF FAITH

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, the Creator of heaven and earth, And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell.
The third day He arose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty, from whence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.

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

PASSING OF THE PEACE

THE OFFERING OF OUR TITHES & GIFTS
God has told us what is good; and what does the Lord require? To do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with our God. In gratitude, humility, and sacrifice, let us return to God a portion of God’s gifts to us

*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

Holy God, thank you for entrusting us to participate in your worldwide circle of caring. May the offering of the time, talent and treasure that you have sewn in us bring you joy and bring our neighbors comfort and hope. Show us how to use these gifts entrusted to us for your glory and your dreams. 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