PIONEER
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
Worship
via Blog Fifth Sunday in Lent March 29, 2020
This
is the day the Lord has made! (Let us
rejoice and be glad in it.)
WELCOME AND
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Welcome to Pioneer’s blog worship
service. Though we are accessing this remotely and unable to look each other in
the eye, we are still the Pioneer faith community, gathered as children of God
to worship, to be spiritually fed, and to be equipped to serve in Christ’s
name—from home and safely. We rejoice in this day even in the midst of the
crisis of this virus because we know we are not alone. God’s grace will see us
through.
Announcements:
Continue to watch the blog for new
postings including the Soup Supper Devotionals (consider planning a simple meal
of soup and bread along with the reading of it), abbreviated worship with
sermon, and other communications. This is a work in progress and is continues
to change over time.
Demolition work for replacement of the
sidewalks on the north and east side of the church and replacement of the
asphalt parking there with concrete is beginning. If you come to the church,
please use the back parking lot and come in those doors. This will take several
weeks and while the church services and activities are on hold is a good time
to get it done.
One Great Hour of Sharing is a special
offering we receive each Easter. It generally encompasses three categories: disaster
assistance, hunger relief, and helping people build new lives. Presbyterian
Disaster Assistance works alongside communities as they recover and find hope
after the devastation of natural or human-caused disasters. Presbyterian Hunger
Program takes action to alleviate hunger and the systemic causes of poverty so
all may be fed. Self-Development of People invests in communities responding to
their experiences of racism, oppression, poverty and injustice, and educates
Presbyterians about the impact of these society ills. Our generosity makes a
difference in the lives of those Jesus called ‘the least of these’. Jesus said
doing for them is like doing for Jesus himself.
Our collection of food for the Food Bank
is suspended for the time being. I talked with the Senior Center and they feel
they have sufficient food for now as they have reduced hours for distribution.
If they run short, Angie will let me know and I will put the word out to you
for financial donations for them to replenish stock.
Now allow yourself a brief time of
silence as you open your hearts and feel God’s presence with you, right where
you are.
BAPTISM: Friends, remember your baptism … and be thankful.
CALL TO WORSHIP Psalm
100:1, 2, 5
Cry out with joy to the Lord, all the
earth.
Worship the Lord with gladness.
Come into God’s presence with singing.
For
the Lord is a gracious God,
Whose
mercy is everlasting;
And
whose faithfulness endures to all generations.
PRAYER OF THE DAY
Holy God, we yearn to gather in your
sanctuary, to be your people of faith who find strength and encouragement
within our church family. We long to lift our voices together to sing your
praises and to bear witness to your faithfulness. Instead, from our homes we
seek connection in unfamiliar ways. Yet we trust in your promises, that
wherever we are, you are present with us. You are not confined to the walls of
a church. Let your blessings rest upon us, Tender God, just where we are and as
we are. Open our hearts and minds to your word and guidance. Amen.
CALL TO CONFESSION
Even when we
have been too busy to notice, God has been constantly loving us and encouraging
us to grow in the light of God’s love.
We can trust God with our deepest confession.
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
Holy
and merciful God, in your presence we confess our sinfulness, our shortcomings,
and our offenses against you. You alone know how often we have sinned in
wandering from your ways, in wasting your gifts, in forgetting your love. Have
mercy on us, O Lord, for we are ashamed and sorry for all we have done to
displease you. Forgive our sins, and help us to live in your light, and walk in
your ways, for the sake of Jesus Christ our Savior.* (personal
confessions … ) Amen.*
ASSURANCE OF FORGIVENESS
Anyone who is in Christ is a new
creation.
The old life has gone; the new life has
begun.
Friends, believe the Good News!
In Jesus Christ we are forgiven and
restored to new life!
PASSING THE PEACE
May the peace of Christ be with you.
And also with you.
Let us extend the peace of Christ
in heart and prayer to
God’s children everywhere.
TIME
WITH CHILDREN
Hey, Zoey and Fiona, we still have to
talk with you through the computer. We’re still trying to keep people from
getting sick so we’re doing church from home. God is in our homes, too. I bet
you’re hearing a lot about this sickness. That can be scary when all this is
happening and we have to stay at home. Even adults get scared about it. People
in the Bible got scared about things, too. You know what they did? They talked
to God about it. They told God that they were scared and what they were scared
about. They knew that God listened to them and helped them to not be so scared.
When we’re scared or worried, we can talk to God, too. Let’s do that now.
Jesus, thank you for loving us. We know
you don’t want us to be sick or scared. Help us to remember that you are always
there and when we talk to you, you hear us. Please keep us well and Mommy and
Daddy and others we love. Help those who are sick to not be scared. Thank you
for watching over us. Amen.
HYMN: “Jesus
Loves Me”
Jesus loves me
this I know, for the Bible tells me so
Little ones to
him belong, they are weak but he is strong.
Yes, Jesus loves
me. Yes, Jesus loves me.
Yes, Jesus loves
me. The Bible tells me so.
Recollect how, following each children’s
time, they return to their pews or class as the congregation links hands in an
arch over the aisle and over their heads. They go down the aisle knowing that
they are part of our worship, that they count, that they are important. As we
sing, we remember that this song is for us as well. Jesus loves us. The Bible
tells us this truth over and over again. We tell each other. Our hearts tell us
as well.
GLORY BE TO THE FATHER
All glory and honor be to our triune
God. Always. No matter what.
God is faithful.
SCRIPTURE 1: Ezekiel 37:1-14
The hand of the
Lord was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord, and set me
down in the midst of the valley; it was full of bones. And he led me round among them; and behold,
there were very many upon the valley; and lo, they were very dry. And he said to me, "Son of man, can
these bones live?" And I answered, "O Lord God, thou knowest."
Again he said to me, "Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, O dry
bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus
says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and
you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come
upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live;
and you shall know that I am the Lord." So I prophesied as I was
commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold, a rattling; and
the bones came together, bone to its bone. And as I looked, there were sinews
on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them; but there was
no breath in them. Then he said to me, "Prophesy to the breath, prophesy,
son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four
winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live." So I
prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived,
and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great host. Then he said to me,
"Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say,
`Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are clean cut off.' Therefore
prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your
graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you home
into the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I open
your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will put my
Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land;
then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken, and I have done it, says the
Lord."
SCRIPTURE 2: Psalm 130
Out of the depths I
cry to thee, O Lord! Lord, hear my
voice! Let thy ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications! If thou, O Lord, shouldst mark iniquities,
Lord, who could stand? But there is
forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared. I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in
his word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning,
more than watchmen for the morning. O
Israel, hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with
him is plenteous redemption. And he will
redeem Israel from all his iniquities.
SERMON: “Out of the Depths” Rev. Jean Hurst
“It was the best of times; it was the
worst of times.” This is the opening line of Charles Dickens’ novel, A Tale of Two Cities. It could be
retitled “A Tale of Today.” The worst of times is evident in the pandemic of
the coronavirus and the terrible toll it has taken on human life, the health
care system, and businesses struggling to survive which then carries down to employees and their families.
From that pandemic, some of the worst
of human nature has also been exposed—the inclination to put profit and
economics over human life, those who would exploit and profit from people’s
fears and vulnerability, those who see this as an opportunity for theft and
violence, and those who are indifferent to the impact on or needs of their
fellow human beings.
And despite all of that, in the midst
of this atrocious virus, we can also see the best of times. One of the
blessings is that overall, we have a scenario that focuses on people. Our lives
are pulled back to relationship, who we are to each other, the concern for
another human being.
Families are (unwillingly perhaps)
drawn back into closer units. Within the family we are seeing each other and
interacting with each other much more; being creative in how we spend that time
together. People are reaching out to check on the well-being of their neighbors
and church families. We are realizing the importance of friendship and family
relationships when we are forced to be away from them. We are valuing our
emergency responders and health care providers in ways we've not done before.
Today’s psalm echoes the words, ‘the
best of times and the worst of times’. What do we do when those times come? For
the psalmist, it was to turn to God. Out of the depths. We don’t know what
those depths were for the author of this psalm.
We do know that for each of us, those depths
can be wide-ranging. The coronavirus becomes an obvious one that creates a
depth of fear for ourselves, our families and friends, our businesses, our
world. There is the fear of the unknown, as we wonder how big this thing will
get, what the overall impact will be, how it will change our lives, how we will
survive it.
There is loss in those depths. Lost
opportunities, missed family reunions or trips, missed milestones like
graduations and birthdays. There are lost events such as having to hold Bob’s funeral
service at graveside with just a few in attendance, lost celebrations like the
100th birthday celebration for Jack’s mom Phyllis, lost witness to
birth as with Brenda’s newest grandchild. There is the loss of the faith
community being able to gather and support and encourage each other and lost
social/community gathering for food and games and laughter. I feel that loss of
gathering in the sanctuary and as a people of faith raising our voices together
in song and prayer.
The corona virus along with its impact
on our lives is huge. But it also creates a smokescreen for the rest of our
lives. We are more than a virus. All of our everyday struggles get kind of lost
in the focus on the virus. Think about your own life. What creates ‘the depths’
for you? Where do you need God’s help in your own struggles?
Those struggles might be in
relationships, in finances, in a sense of direction, in decisions that need to
be made, in health, in the future and where it leads. The struggle might be
with our own demons—what’s inside of us that lead us to bouts of darkness and
depression, to dependence on substances, to times of doubt in our faith and in
our relationships and about ourselves. We may struggle with forgiving ourselves
or others. With more ‘thinking time’ right now, we may have much on our minds
and hearts—negative things we keep replaying like tapes in our minds. These are
all very real depths.
The psalmist speaks as though his
depths are attributed to something sinful that he’s done. It was the common
belief in that time that if bad things happened in your life it was because you
had sinned and God was punishing you. While that’s bad theology, it did also
leads them to turn to God in their pain, to be attentive to how they’ve lived
their lives, regret the wrong they’ve done and seek forgiveness--and that’s
good theology.
Like I explained to Fiona and Zoey,
when people in the Bible were scared—or hurting or worried or in trouble—they would
talk to God about it. And God would listen to them and give them the courage
and strength they needed to get through the crisis. You know how it helps to
talk to someone when you’re troubled. That’s what prayer is, talking with God.
God hears our cries for mercy, for
forgiveness, for comfort and strength and help. However, God doesn’t always
respond according to our timetable or in exactly the way we ask. The psalmist says
he waits and he hopes. That is our challenge as well.
Waiting is one of the hardest things
we have to do. And we’re not always so good at it. We can make good use of that
waiting time. We can spend more time in scripture and prayer. We can try to
discern God’s will for our lives. We can change our focus and reach out to
other people in their need and in their waiting. Because the way God works in
the world is most often through other people. You can become one of Fred Roger’s
helpers.
Fred Rogers once told of his childhood
experience when he would worry about the scary news he was hearing. His mother
comforted him by telling him to look for the helpers, that whenever something
bad happens there are also good things happening. That’s often through the
people who become the helpers in a cris or need. During the waiting, you can
watch for those helpers and be encouraged and uplifted by the good that is in
people. Or you can be one of those helpers and be an inspiration to others to
also be helpers.
Through those actions, big and small,
we find hope. As the psalmist says, “With the Lord is unfailing love and with
him is full redemption.” We wait and we hope and God waits with us and grants
us the courage to see this crisis through. Out of the depths, God will answer
us. Wait and hope. Thanks be to God.
HYMN: “I
Will Come to You” Glory
to God Hymnal
I will come to
you in the silence; I will lift you from all your fear.
You will hear my
voice; I claim you as my choice. Be still and know I am here.
Do not be
afraid, I am with you. I have called you each by name.
Come and follow
me, I will bring you home; I love you and you are mine.
I am hope for
all who are hopeless; I am eyes for all who long to see.
In the shadows
of the night, I will be your light. Come and rest in me.
Do not be
afraid, I am with you. I have called you each by name.
Come and follow
me, I will bring you home; I love you and you are mine.
I am strength
for all the despairing; healing for the ones who dwell in shame.
All the blind
will see; the lame will all run free, and all will know my name.
Do not be
afraid, I am with you. I have called you each by name.
Come and follow
me, I will bring you home; I love you and you are mine.
I am the Word
that leads all to freedom; I am the peace the world cannot give.
I will call your
name, embracing all your pain. Stand up, now walk and live!
Do not be
afraid, I am with you. I have called you each by name.
Come and follow
me, I will bring you home; I love you and you are mine.
What a marvelous hymn of assurance
during this time of not knowing what might come next. Through the voice of
Jesus, the hymn says that he will come to us. We come to church, feeling like
we are coming to the Lord. Now, as we stay at home and worship, we hear Jesus
saying that he comes to us, right where we are--in the silence, in our fears,
in our despair, in the shadows, in our sense of hopelessness, in our waiting.
He says not to be afraid, that he has called each of us by name. He is light
and hope and peace and healing and strength. Awesome, awesome God!
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
AND THE LORD’S PRAYER
Almighty God, in whom we live and move
and have our being, we give you praise for all you are, for all you have done,
for the grace and love you give to us, for our salvation through Jesus the
Christ. Open our eyes to your presence, open our ears to your call, open our
hearts to your purpose. Be our hope and light each day. Show us how to share
that hope with others, that they, too, might know the Good News.
Tender God, we lift up to you our
community, those who are frail, those for whom the burdens and struggles of
life are becoming more than they can shoulder, those who are recovering from
surgeries or who struggle with medical problems. Lord, keep them safe during
this pandemic. We lift up to you the family of Bob Wark as they grieve his
passing, for Sandy Cargill and Linda Kaesemeyer as they recover from surgery,
for Sandi Posz as she continues her cancer treatment. We pray for Paul M. … Trisha
… Dave … Jacob … Linda … Joyce … Jennifer … Chuck … Courtney … Bob … Ethel …
Helen.
We pray for those who are impacted by
the coronavirus—those who grieve, the ill, businesses that are taking a
financial blow, employees who are losing pay, those who live in fear of what
might be coming next, for those who are most vulnerable, for the homeless
community. We pray for medical providers and social service providers as they
try to respond with very limited resources in untenable circumstances. Stem the
spread of this virus, we pray. Help our leaders to make wise decisions for the
good of the people. We pray that the stimulus package will be effective as our
economy struggles to survive this pandemic.
Tender God, we pray for ourselves. Lord,
you know our struggles go far beyond concerns about this virus. You know where
we hurt. You know the relationships that are on shaky ground. You know our
anxiousness about our futures. You know the family members we worry about. And
we know that Jesus said not to worry. Help us to turn those worries over to
you, to trust you through all the trials of our lives.
We
pray in the name of Jesus who taught us to pray: 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. And lead us not into
temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power
and the glory forever. Amen.
OFFERING
We bring before God the gifts of our hearts and
labors. (The financial gifts you can mail to the church.) As we approach
Easter, we also consider our gifts for One Great Hour of Sharing. This is an
offering of compassion providing relief from natural disasters, food for the
hungry, and support for the poor and oppressed. Your generosity provides help
and hope to change the lives of God’s children.
The gifts of our hearts, of our time, our energy,
our talents is something we commit to God, then live out each day in our
interactions with one another. Take a moment to make those heart offerings to
the Lord.
Prayer: Generous and compassionate God, we bring
these gifts before you, the gifts of our money for your kingdom work and the
gifts of our hearts and lives … also for your kingdom work. Grant that we might
be as generous as you. Bless these gifts we pray. Amen.
CLOSING HYMN: “What
Wondrous Love Is This”
What wondrous
love is this, O my soul, O my soul,
What wondrous
love is this, O my soul.
What wondrous
love is this that caused the Lord of bliss
To bear the
heavy cross for my soul, for my soul,
To bear the
heavy cross for my soul!
To God and to
the Lamb I will sing, I will sing,
To God and to
the Lamb, I will sing;
To God and to
the Lamb who is the great I Am,
While millions
join the theme, I will sing, I will sing;
While millions
join the theme, I will sing!
And when from
death I’m free, I’ll sing on, I’ll sing on,
And when from
death I’m free, I’ll sing on;
And when from
death I’m free, I’ll sing and joyful be,
And through
eternity I’ll sing on, I’ll sing on,
And through
eternity I’ll sing on!
Though it feels the train has been
derailed by this dreadful pandemic, we are still in Lent and Easter is
approaching. We know the story, we hear it every year, yet we need to be
reminded of the incredible love extended to us in the sacrifice Jesus made on
our behalf. This hymn reminds us that Jesus set aside his divinity in order to
come to us to find us in our lostness, to teach us and show us what love is and
to reconcile us to God and to each other. Indeed, what wondrous love this is!
For now and for all eternity.
CHARGE AND BENEDICTION
Your charge for the week: Every time the worry or
anxiousness comes into your mind, turn it over to God who will carry it for you
and give you a break.
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of
God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.
CHORAL RESPONSE
May the Lord, Mighty God, bless and keep you
forever. Grant you peace, perfect peace, courage in every endeavor. Lift up
your eyes and see his face and his grace forever. May the Lord, Mighty God,
bless and keep you forever.
*Reprinted by
permission from Book of Common Worship,
1993, Westminster/John Knox Press.
~~~~~~~~~~
LOOKING
AHEAD
Worship and church activities are suspended until this
pandemic is contained and it is safe for us to once more gather in Christ’s
name. Use the church blog to access worship and spiritual support articles and
to keep up with what’s going on.
Pastor Jean is now in the office Monday through
Friday. You may stop in for short visits (six feet apart) or call for a phone
chat.
Once we are well established on our blog, we’ll be
testing out Zoom—in addition to not instead of the blog.
PRAYER CARE: PLEASE KEEP THE FOLLOWING PEOPLE IN
YOUR PRAYERS:
The Wark family as they grieve Bob’s passing, Sandy
Cargill (aortic valve replacement), Sandi Posz (lymphoma), Sandi’s friend Paul
M, Trisha Cagley (health problems), Dave Clark (kidney cancer), Jacob
Cunningham, Linda Kaesemeyer (knee surgery), Joyce Sahlberg (health issues),
Jennifer Schirm (Parkinson’s), Chuck VanHise (leg/walking rehab), and Courtney
Ziegler (Huntington’s).
LECTIONARY
FOR 4/5/20
Palms: Matthew
21:1-11; Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29
Passion: Isaiah 50:4-9a; Psalm 31:9-16, Philippians 2:5-11,
Matthew 26:14 -- 27:66 or Matthew 27:11-54
5 comments:
Thank you once again, Jean, for an inspiring sermon and service. It was very comforting for all of us concerned about what comes next in this crazy time of Covid-19. We miss seeing you all and wait for the day when we can be together again. God bless us all! Mary Jo
We thank you for your unfailing comfort and support for all of us at this time. It's fairly easy to pretend we're all together, seated in the pews hearing you and worshiping together, even though I personally need Linda to keep me on pitch singing the hymns! God bless and keep us all.
Sally
Exceedingly inspirational and helpful to my faith journey at this time Jean is
today's worship and the Soup Supper Meditations. All this is new and it affirms my connected to our church family. Thank you also John for your expertise in making it all work. David Kessler is a national grief author and wrote an article for the Harvard Business Review pointing out how our loss of normalcy due to this virus causes us to grieve. His resources can be reached by grief.com and I believe facebook.com God Bless. Gene Scrivner
Jean, We want you to know how important this is to Rex and I. Your sermon and additional interpretations throughout the service are very meaningful. Thank you also for including the words for the hymns. This time apart has made us really realize what an important part music is of our service as well. We can hardly carry a tune in a bucket and really miss Linda and the choir. I have managed to find the music for most of our hymns by searching on Google by "hymn: "and the name of the hymn". We miss everyone. Please be safe and God bless!
Yes, thank you so much for this. I'm learning Zoom and can possibly help setting up, but it sounds like you've got it all in hand. I appreciate this reminder to give our worries up to God. That is what I will work on this week. Here are some accompanying pieces of music for those who want to follow along singing that I found. I find it inspiring and heartening to watch other church communities, perhaps very different from ours, singing these same hymns. Makes me feel part of our bigger church world, no matter our differences in the small stuff.
I miss Linda's and Carol's leading of music too and singing together, but I have been attending these in the presence of God and of dog, Dot! It is a unique experience for us (dog and human) both.
I Am Here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQDPmi--Rio
What Wondrous Love: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsVnvN3EVxY
Love in Christ, Debbie Pfeiffer
Post a Comment