Cover Letter From The Summer Herald July, 2016

Dear Neighbors,

All too often, during the summer, we hit a cash crunch in the church.  Attendance, and giving, both drop.  As you are gearing up for summer plans and vacations, retooling lives to having the kids at home and under foot, please do not forget that the life of the church goes on.  Services go on, bills come in, the day-to-day does not come to a halt.  If you not able to come to church, would you please take a moment to drop your pledge or offering in the mail before you head out or away?

We are working on an easier system to make pledges and offerings for Sundays when attendance becomes a challenge.  The plan is to put up a “Paypal” donation button on the Church’s Facebook page, and then on the website.  After some searching and review, the Session has come to the conclusion that the Paypal online system is the most secure for our purposes. 

Having said that, if there is a member of our church family who is familiar with another way of doing this that is more secure and convenient, please let me know!  There is only one God, and neither the Session nor I aspire to that position.

Money is always hard to talk about.  But maybe not if we remember that it is a gift from God, as is everything else in life.  That is why the liturgical line on Sunday goes something like, “God has given us so much, let us give back a portion for His work…” 

We tried the National Public Radio version for a while, “The work and ministries of this church are supported by the pledges and donations of its members…”  While that is true, the greater truth is that the members are supported, in all things, by God.

Please remember to continue with your pledges and offerings.  Our hope is, by delaying this Herald till after July 4^th, it does not get lost in the ‘pre-season’ preparations.  May God bless you and bless our church.

Peace,

Rev. Peter Hofstra    

Readings for the Week of July 10, 2016

The law of God is an overarching theme of the Bible, for good and for bad.  It is the way to God, but a way that cannot hope to be mastered by we the people.  We just aren’t good enough.  So along comes Jesus, who tosses everything on its ear.  He didn’t end the law, he fulfilled it.  That changed the very nature of the beast, from condemnatory to preparatory.  It goes from being an instrument of our judgment by God to a tool to teach how to offer our lives more fully to our God.  There is lots of law in the Bible, five full chapters of it to start with, the Torah, Genesis to Deuteronomy.  We are going to consider passages around the Ten Commandments.

Mon., July 11: Exodus 20:1-21  The law and the reaction of the people.

Tue., July 12: Deuteronomy 5:1-33; 6: 1-3  This is the recap in the last book of the Torah.

Wed., July 13: Deuteronomy 6:4-25  The ‘why’ of keeping the law is given.

Thu., July 14: Matthew 22:15-40  The rulers of the Jews are taking turns taking their shots at Jesus, who completes his defense with a summation of the whole law.

Fri., July 15: Matthew 5: 15-26  Jesus lays out his relationship to the law and what he intends with it, giving a practical example of interpreting “Thou shalt not murder”.

Sat., July 16: Matthew 5: 27-48  He continues on the law, taking about “Thou shalt not commit adultery”, then going on to develop his thoughts and summary of the new role of law.

Readings for the Week of July 3, 2016

Our passage from Ecclesiastes comes at the conclusion of a reflection on life.  It is generally attributed to Solomon, the son of David.  But at the beginning of the book, the author identifies himself as the “Preacher” or the “Teacher”, depending on the rendering into English.  The Hebrew word is “Qohelet”, often used in the academic literature.  Our readings this week will take us through the opening, to see the developing path from the human to the divine that the author is taking.

Monday, July 4: Ecclesiastes 1: 1-11    Qohelet is reflecting on the absurdity of life by itself.

Tuesday, July 5: Ecclesiastes 1: 12-18  He seeks answers without success in wisdom.

Wednesday, July 6: Ecclesiastes 2: 1-11  He seeks answers in self-indulgence.

Thursday, July 7: Ecclesiastes 2: 12-17  His conclusions come to hating life itself.

Friday, July 8:  Ecclesiastes 2: 18-26  He comes to the realization that God brings fulfillment to life.

Saturday: July 9:  Ecclesiastes 3: 1-15  Here, he re-frames the context of experience from that of the human, to that of the divine.

Readings for the week of June 26, 2016

Psalm 96 is one Psalm whose historic context we can nail down with great accuracy.  It was sung by David when the Ark of the Covenant was brought up to Jerusalem.  David brought the ark close, but it did not enter Jerusalem until his son Solomon built that temple.  This is the story from 1 Chronicles.  Understand that the book of Chronicles is not so much a historic document as a genealogical document, recording those in the Lord’s nation who were present during these monumental times.

For added perspective, read the parallel account of David bringing the Ark up toward Jerusalem as found in 2 Samuel 7.  There are wonderful similarities and differences in the purposes and the perspectives of the stories.  It is akin to different points of view found in the parallel gospel accounts.

June 27-Monday: 1 Chronicles 14: 1-17

June 28-Tuesday: 1 Chronicles 15: 1-15

June 29-Wednesday: 1 Chronicles 15: 16-29

June 30-Thursday: 1 Chronicles 16: 1-34

July 1-Friday: Psalm 96

July 2-Saturday: 1 Chronicles 16: 35-43

Bible Readings for the Week of June 19, 2016

For Father's Day, we are considering Jesus' words to the people about who their Father was.  He had some choice words for them, piercing the bubble that God was their Father, accusing them of having the Devil as their Father instead. 

The Scripture verses for this week include the story from Sunday, but also the stories before and after this one from the Gospel of John.

Mon. June 20-John 8: 1-11

Tue. June 21-John 8: 12-20

Wed. June 22-John 8: 21-30

Thu. June 23-John 8:31-59

Fri. June 24-John 9: 1-12

Sat. June 23-John 9: 13-41

Readings for the Week of June 12, 2016

This Sunday, we will be looking at Acts 10, the story of Peter and Cornelius, the Centurion.  The focus will be on the result, Peter sharing the Good News with and finally baptizing Cornelius and his household. 
The readings for the week will give the full story from the book of Acts, and also the interactions that Jesus had with a Centurion (not named) in the Gospel of Luke.  As Luke and Acts are two parts of an ongoing story, this is a theme that follows between them, the theme of what constitutes belief in God.

Mon. Jun 13-Luke 7:1-10  Jesus heals the servant of a Centurion popular in Galilee

Tue. Jun 14-Luke 23: 44-49  The Centurion (we believe) is at Jesus’ death.

Wed. Jun 15-Acts 10: 1-16  The Prelude to Peter and the Centurion Cornelius

Thu. Jun 16-Acts 10: 17-29  Peter comes to the Centurion

Fri. Jun 17-Acts 10: 30-49  The Holy Spirit comes to the Centurion on our behalf, as Gentiles

Sat. Jun 18-Acts 11: 1-18  Peter makes a report to the Church of the change.

Readings for the Week of June 5, 2016

The first Sunday of the month is communion Sunday at the Church.  Our Scripture reading for worship is the story of Communion from the Gospel of Luke.  The Lord’s Supper leads in to the story of the death and resurrection of Jesus.  This week, we shall read that story as told in the Gospel of Luke.

Jun. 5, 2016-Sun: Luke 22: 7-30

Jun. 6, 2016-Mon: Luke 22: 31-46

Jun. 7, 2016-Tue: Luke 22: 47-70

Jun. 8, 2016-Wed: Luke 23: 1-12

Jun. 9, 2016-Thu: Luke 23: 13-42

Jun. 10, 2016-Fri: Luke 23: 43-55

Jun. 11, 2016-Sat: Luke 24: 1-12