Thursday, May 19, 2022

Update: May 19, 2020

We will not be posting on this blog anymore. If you would like weekly worship services sent to you, please email your intent to: pionerpresbyterianburnsor@gmail.com

Also, if you would like to see our service, check out our website http://www.pioneerpresbyterianchurch.com



Thursday, May 12, 2022

May 15, 2022 Worship

 Pioneer Presbyterian Church

Fifth Sunday of Easter

 

10:00 a.m.                                                                                                May 15, 2022

 

Prelude

 

Welcome and announcements

 

Choral Introit

 

Prayer of the Day                                                                                                      

 

*Call to Worship                                                                                      from Psalm 148                                                                          

\

     Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise him in the heights!

 

     Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his host!

 

     Praise him, sun and moon; praise him, all you shining stars!

 

     Kings of the earth and all peoples, princes, and all rulers of the earth!

 

     Young men and women alike, old and young together!

 

     Let us praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exalted; his glory is above 

     earth and heaven. Praise the Lord!

 

*Hymn of Praise                 “Praise the Lord! God’s Glories Show”                   Glory #33

 


Call to Confession                                                                                           

 

Prayer of Confession

 

     God of mercy, your command to love one another across all differences opens us to

     new horizons. Yet our fears and hesitancy, together with the judgments we make

     against others, hinder your reconciling work among us. Forgive our disobedience,   

     we pray. Grant us courage and a true repentance that leads to renewed life for

     all your good creation. We pray in the name of our Savior, Jesus the Christ. Amen.

 

Assurance of Pardon

    

     God’s promises are trustworthy and true: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.

 

     

     We rejoice in the good news! Now God, give us grace to live for you, and to be     

     people who are known for our love.

Passing the Peace

    

     The peace of the Lord Jesus Christ be always with you!

    

     And also with you!

    

     Let us share the peace of Christ with each other.

 

Glory be to the Father

    

    

     Glory be to the Father, to the Son, and the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning,

     is and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

 

Time with Children

 

Choir Anthem

 

Gospel Reading: John 13:31-38                                                                           Pew Bible Page 938                                                                              

 

Message:                                 “The Mark of the Christian”                       Pastor Daryl R. Wilson

 

Last Sunday afternoon, I celebrated the day by calling a person who’s very special to me. Maybe you did the same thing—or you received a call from someone special. When you live at a distance from loved ones, it’s important to reconnect with them from time to time. I’m glad we have certain days during the year that remind us to reach out and simply say, “I love you and I’m glad you’re a part of my life.” For many people it’s a Mother’s Day tradition. For me, May 8th is special, because on that date in 1997, my dear friend Fred Davis was grievously injured—first dragged beneath, and then crushed by his own church bus. The paramedics who arrived on scene urged witnesses to call Fred’s wife right away because he had no chance of survival. “Maybe she can get here before he dies,” they said. But against all odds, after four months in the ICU and eight weeks in rehab, Fred not only survived, but returned to pastoral ministry. And so, every May 8th I say a prayer of thanks for his life and I call him to rejoice and remember. But we don’t talk about the unspeakable pain he endured or the abilities he lost in the accident. We celebrate the simple goodness of being alive.

 

Yet here we are on the fifth Sunday after the resurrection, a time for rejoicing with trumpet fanfares and loud “Alleluias” to burst the devil’s eardrums, and what happens? The Lectionary whisks us back to the darkest night of Jesus’ life! We’ve been on such a high the past few weeks. Why return to this scene where Judas has just gone out to betray the Lord and Jesus is about to announce that Peter will deny him three times? This feels like spiritual abuse. What was the Lectionary Committee smoking when they chose this Gospel lesson for today?

On the other hand, maybe they made a wise choice. Maybe the Holy Spirit guided them. How can we tell? Because our Easter joy grows even deeper when we remember what our Lord suffered for us before his glorious resurrection. Sacrifice and the strange glory of the cross come first, before the triumph of Sunday morning. Which means that even today, on the victorious side of Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection, we shouldn’t forget the deep darkness against which the light of the empty tomb shines even more brilliantly.

 

Of course, today’s Gospel lesson is about more than sorrow and betrayal. It’s here we learn what sets the followers of Jesus apart from others. Jesus tells his friends in the upper room that there’s one attribute in particular that’s meant to make us recognizable to the world, one characteristic leading people who see us to say, “Ah, those people are followers of Jesus.” You know what that sign is, right? We all know that Jesus says the mark of the Christian is to be sincere, self-giving love for each other, starting in the family of God and radiating outward into the world.

 

Who knows how the disciples heard those words on that Thursday evening so long ago? They didn’t know at the time all that Jesus’ love would entail, or the monumental cost attached to his gift. They’d understand more by Friday evening. Now that they (and we) have been to the cross, the acoustics have changed. Today, when Jesus tells us to love one another as he has loved us (pay attention to that tiny word “as”—a transformative little verb particle if ever there were one!), those words echo in our hearts and minds in a new way. The Jesus kind of love is much more than a pleasant feeling or sweet sentiment or the surface level cordiality that characterizes so many human relationships, even among Christians. The Jesus kind of love that’s the mark of the Christian isn’t sweet or sentimental at all; it’s a hard-headed, resolute, full-throttle, hold-back-nothing decision to live for the sake of others, no matter the cost, and, if it should come to it, to die for them as well. That’s the glory that Jesus speaks of and that John sees in the cross—the unexpected glory of a suffering God who gives himself away for the sake of others, indeed, for the salvation of the world. And Jesus says, “that’s the way I want you to live; that’s how folks everywhere and for all time will know you belong to me.”

 

“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.”

 

As we saw, that little word “as” packs a punch in this context. The Greek word is kathos. Professor Dale Bruner, my favorite Bible teacher and commentator, says this word carries with it the idea that the love that must fill the hearts and lives of the disciples is not merely a love that imitates Jesus but that actually wells up from the overflow of Christ’s love. That is, the love of Jesus himself needs to be IN you if you’re going to live off its riches. This love is so unique, so powerful, and so utterly mind-blowing that it’s not something you could ever concoct on your own. You must receive it as a gift.  

 

Theologian Laura Smit of Calvin University in Michigan says that very often when people—sometimes even theologians—speak of God’s attributes, we take a human concept like love and, when applying it to God, simply magnify it. In other words, we love, but God L-O-V-E-S, and the difference is in degree but not in essence. We suppose that by adding an exponent to human love we’ll have a clear picture of God’s love. But what if God’s love isn’t an enlarged version of human love at all? What if, while bearing some resemblance to human love, the God-kind is an attribute with a wholly different quality than ours?

 

Indeed, the love Jesus gives us and in turn commands us to display before a watching world is far more than a souped-up version of human love. His love is unique, divine, unconditional, and overflowing, qualities we simply can’t conjure for ourselves, no matter how much we want to, no matter how hard we try. No, if this Jesus-kind of love is to be found in us, to grow in us, and to flow from us, then our Lord himself must place it in our hearts.

 

Therefore, the reason we see deficits of love in the Church may be that we tend to get off-center. Sometimes we get so focused on policing the boundaries of faith that we lose touch with the Center. At other times we’re so caught up in doing the Lord’s work (or so focused on institutional maintenance) that we lose an intimate connection with Jesus, the Lord of the Church. Listen, it’s tough enough to generate the kinds of cozy feelings and warm fuzzies for one another that form the typical human concept of being a “loving community.” With Jesus as our Teacher and guide, we’re entering unexplored territory. He exemplifies and leads us toward a quality of love that’s wholly atypical of the world. If we’re willing, even in fits and starts, to risk our comfort and defy our fears, our union with Christ will draw us into the sort of intimacy shared between the members of the Godhead—the Holy Trinity—where a whole new kind of self-forgetting, sacrificial love engulfs us. Or, to put it another way, if our churches are lacking in love, is it because we’re not trying hard enough or because Jesus isn’t fully welcome to do his transforming work in us and among us? And if we’re not experiencing his transforming presence, is it because he isn’t willing, or because we aren’t ready? Maybe we’re too busy with other things.

 

I have no formula for experiencing the presence of Jesus and becoming enveloped in his love. But there’s something to be said for living into that experience by doing what Jesus would do. It’s as if in the doing, in the acting, there’s a becoming. Do what Jesus would do, even if your heart isn’t fully in it at first, and he’s likely to meet you in unexpected ways and unexpected places. And then your whole heart and life will be changed. Francis of Assisi had this sort of transformative experience.

 

Francis came from a merchant family of some means, but not great wealth. He worked beside his father in the cloth trade, and fought for Assisi in its war with nearby Perugia, where he was captured and held prisoner for over a year before being ransomed back to his hometown. This ordeal cast Francis into a long struggle to find meaning and direction in life. He tried religious devotion such as worship, prayer, and fasting, the very sort of activities we associate with being close to God, but those things only seemed to lead him deeper into the morass.

 

In the winter of 1206, Francis was wandering alone in the woods during a snowstorm, singing songs to God in his garbled French. Suddenly, he was assaulted by two robbers. Angry that he had no money, the men beat Francis and left him for dead in the snow. Battered and freezing, Francis made his way to a nearby monastery, where the monks cared for him for several days. Frustrated, lonely, and uncertain of what purpose God had for his life, Francis then headed back toward Assisi, where at least he could enjoy the comforts of home.

 

Somewhere on his journey, he encountered a group of lepers. Lepers had always repulsed and horrified Francis. Their deformities offended his sense of beauty. But somehow, this time, he sensed that God had ordained the meeting, and so Francis chose to stay with the lepers and care for them. Here’s what historian Augustine Thompson says in his recent biography of Francis:

 

“His experience with [the lepers] was a dramatic personal reorientation       that brought forth spiritual fruit. As Francis showed mercy to these outcasts, he came to experience God’s own gift of mercy for himself. As he cleansed the lepers’ bodies, dressed their wounds, and treated them as human beings, not as refuse to be fled from in horror, his perceptions changed. What was ugly and repulsive now caused him delight and joy, not only spiritually, but also viscerally and physically. Francis’ aesthetic sense, so central to his personality, had been transformed, even inverted. The startled veteran sensed himself, by God’s grace and no power of his own, remade into a different man. Just as suddenly, the sins that had been tormenting him seemed to melt away, and Francis experienced a kind of spiritual rebirth and healing. Not long after this encounter, later accounts tell us, Francis was walking down a road and met one of these same lepers. He embraced the man in his arms and kissed him.

 

This sort of immersion into the life and love of Jesus is our goal in the journey of life. Our aim is to honor Jesus by loving one another—and finally, loving the whole world—as Jesus has loved us. To become that sort of people, we need an infusion of a depth and quality of love that’s beyond natural human experience. We need to meet the Lord for ourselves and experience what it means to be the beloved of God. Out of the overflow of that richness we can begin to live into love ourselves, and practice acting out that same love toward others. And then the world will see and know that we’re followers of Jesus. They’ll look for him, but as Jesus says in verse 33, they’ll not find him, except for the Jesus they see in us when we love one another as he has loved us.



*Hymn of Response:                 “We Are One in the Spirit”                            Glory #300




Prayers of the People and the Lord’s Prayer

 

     Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed by 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. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us    

     from evil. For thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

 

Call to the Offering

 

*Grateful Response:

 

              Praise God from whom all blessings flow; Praise God all creatures here below;   

     Praise God above, ye heavenly host; Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen. 

 

*Prayer of Dedication

 

*Closing Hymn:                  “Jesu, Jesu, Fill us with Your Love”                    Glory #203

 


*Charge and Benediction

 

*Choral Response                                                                  

                                                                                                                                        *Please stand as you choose

 

 

LOOKING AHEAD

*Please ensure your group’s activity is current on the office calendar.

*Sandy Cargill will continue to take pictures following service for the membership board.

*Remember the Deacon’s Book Drive as they work to build Pioneer’s book library.

*Our new email address is: pioneerpresbyterianburnsor@gmail.com

*Update your address books!

                       

5/15     1:00 p.m.                     Prayer Shawl

5/17     7:00 p.m.                     Great Figures Bible Study

5/17     10:30 a.m.                   Women’s Spirituality

5/18     5:30 p.m.                     Choir Practice

5/20     Noon                           Deacon’s No-Host luncheon @ Juniper Cookhouse

 

 

PRAYER CARE:

For the people of Ukraine, Larry Koskela (shingles),  Somer Bauer undergoing cancer treatments, Darlene Wingfield, Mary and Ray Swarthout, George and Joyce Sahlberg, Margaret Dunbar dealing with declining health issues, continued  prayers for baby Hagen and parents Alex and Tucker Burckard, and  for Gretchen Oswald for healing from cancer surgery. Our thoughts and prayers are with our friends and family near and far.

 

 

 

LECTIONARY For  5/22/22

 

 

 


 

Thursday, May 5, 2022

May 8, 2022 Worship

 Pioneer Presbyterian Church

Fourth Sunday of Easter

 

10:00 a.m.                                                                                                                  May 8, 2022

 

Prelude

 

Welcome and announcements

 

Choral Introit

 

Prayer of the Day                                                                                                       Sally Hendry

 

*Call to Worship                                                                              Revelation 7:9-12                                                                                                                                                                     

 

\

     After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every

     nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the

     Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands. 

 

     They cried out in a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on   

     the throne, and to the Lamb!”

 

     And all the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living  

     creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, singing:

 

     “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and  

     might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”

 

*Hymn of Praise               “You Servants of God, Your Master Proclaim”            Glory #299

 


Call to Confession                                                                                            Linda Kaesemeyer

 

Prayer of Confession

 

     Holy God, we confess that we have strayed from your paths of right relationship and  

     peace. By choice and by neglect, we have dishonored you, diminished ourselves, and  

     damaged your good creation. We are humbly sorry for our sins, and we repent from  

     our hurtful ways. Have mercy on us, we pray, and grant us grace to forgive ourselves   

     and others, that we may live in freedom and joy. We ask this in Jesus’s name, Amen.

 

Assurance of Pardon

    

     Friends, God’s mercy flows as a healing stream, cleansing us from sin and making us whole.  

 

     We rejoice in the good news: In Jesus Christ, we are forgiven. Thanks be to God!

 

Passing the Peace

    

     The peace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you!

     And also with you!

     Let us share the peace of Christ with each other.

 

Glory be to the Father

    

    

     Glory be to the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the  

     beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

 

Pioneer Presbyterian Women Awards Presentation

 

Time with Children

 

Choir Anthem

 

Scripture Lesson: Acts 9:32-43                                                                     Cherry Day                                      

 

Message:                           “The Holiness of Love”                            Pastor Daryl R. Wilson

 

*Hymn of Response:                 “For All the Faithful Women”                         Glory #324




Prayers of the People and the Lord’s Prayer

 

     Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed by 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. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us    

     from evil. For thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

 

Call to the Offering

 

*Grateful Response:

 

              Praise God from whom all blessings flow; Praise God all creatures here below;   

     Praise God above, ye heavenly host; Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen. 

 

*Prayer of Dedication

 

*Closing Hymn:                      “Now the Green Blade Rises”                             Glory #247

 


*Charge and Benediction

 

*Choral Response                                                                  

                                                                                                                  *Please stand as you choose


 LOOKING AHEAD

 

*Please ensure your groups activities current on the office calendar.

 

*Sandy Cargill will continue to take pictures following the service for the membership board.

           

*Remember the Deacon’s book drive as they work to build Pioneer’s church library. The drop box is located in the Fireside room.

 

*Our new email address is: pioneerpresbyterianburnsor@gmail.com *Update your address books

 

            5/10       6:00 p.m.       Session

            5/10                             No Great Figures Bible Study this week

            5/12       8:30 a.m.       Men’s Prayer Group

           

PRAYER CARE:

For the people of Ukraine; Larry Koskela recovering from shingles; For Jan Oswald who will be having surgery this Tuesday; Tina Bossout with early-onset Alzheimer’s; Somer Bauer undergoing cancer treatments; Darlene Wingfield, Mary and Ray Swarthout, George and Joyce Sahlberg, and Margaret Dunbar dealing with declining health issues. Continued prayers for baby Hagen and parents Alex and Tucker, and for Gretchen Oswald awaiting results from her cancer surgery. Our thoughts and prayers are with our friends and family near and far. 

 

LECTIONARY FOR 5/15/22

Fifth Sunday of Easter

Acts 11:1–18                  Psalm 148                 Revelation 21:1–6                    John 13:31–35 


 


 

Update: May 19, 2020

We will not be posting on this blog anymore. If you would like weekly worship services sent to you, please email your intent to:  pionerpres...