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
