PIONEER
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
Worship
via Blog 2nd Sunday of Christmas January
3, 2021
~~~~~~~~~~
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 go out to serve in
Christ’s name—though we do it differently during this pandemic.
Pioneer offers worship in several modes:
a)
The
blog.
b)
The
blog service mailed through US Postal service.
c)
Sermons
only, mailed to those who so request.
d)
Zoom
services at 10:00 Sunday mornings.
e)
Live
worship with masks and social distancing has plenty of room for additional
worshipers.
We will share the
Lord’s Supper as part of this worship service. So please pause
and gather your choice of bread and beverage. While the bread and grape juice
served in community and led by the pastor in person is our tradition, we are
facing times that call for us to do worship in new ways rather than being tied
to rigid tradition—much like the early church.
-
Women’s
Spirituality Tuesday at 10:30
-
M&M
meets next Sunday after worship
- Pastor Jean has returned from vacation and study leave. Ankle surgery had been scheduled
and canceled three times. We don’t know when it might be rescheduled—maybe February
or March. Pastor's working schedule is Monday through Thursday, 8:30 to 5:30 or later and Sunday. Days off are Friday and Saturday.
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
Have you seen the star of Bethlehem?
Arise, people of God; let it shine in your
lives.
We
have seen Christ’ star and have come to worship.
We
are ready to let God lead and direct us.
Come from the shadows of earth
To the light of God’s eternal purposes.
We
see the glory of God in our midst
And
our hearts rejoice in expectation.
The promises of the gospel are for us,
And for all people everywhere.
We
are here to be equipped by God
To
carry good news into the world.
PRAYER OF THE DAY
We come to the light, God of all history,
seeking to experience your presence at work among us and within each one. In
our poverty of spirit we reach for the unsearchable riches of Christ. Amid our
narrowness of vision we long for an outpouring of your all-inclusive love. From
our advantaged position in your world we seek to develop greater compassion for
the needy and oppressed. Move us from our complacency to be and do more fully as
you intend. Amen.
OPENING
SONG: “I Am the Light of the World” LU#144
CALL TO CONFESSION
Lift your eyes to see the mercy of our
God. We need not carry the guilt that is in us, day after day. God is willing
to knit the fragmented pieces of our existence into a meaningful whole. Let us
pour out our need for pardon, trusting God’s mercy.
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
Just
and righteous ruler, we bring to you our good intentions and our poor
follow-through. We want to live in the light, yet we continue to dwell content
in the shadows, where less seems to be demanded of us. We desire to identify
with the poor and help to win justice for them, but sometimes they seem a
threat to our values and advantages. We pray for peace and yet tolerate
whatever violence seems to offer us protection. Forgive our duplicity and
restore us to a single-minded devotion to your compassionate will, through
Christ we pray. Amen.
ASSURANCE OF PARDON
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 one another.
GLORY
BE TO THE FATHER
TIME WITH CHILDREN
Good morning Zoey and Fiona. Are you
enjoying the things you got for Christmas? It’s fun getting presents, isn’t it?
Which one did you like best? You know what I think was the best present? The
baby Jesus! Did you know that Jesus got presents for Christmas, too? Actually,
I guess they were birthday presents. There were wise men who came to Bethlehem
looking for the baby Jesus so they could worship him and give him presents.
They brought gold and frankincense and myrrh. They came from a place far away.
Do you know how they found Jesus? There was a really bright star in the sky.
They followed that star and it stopped above Bethlehem, the town where Jesus
was born and right over where Jesus was living then. Let’s pray.
Dear
Jesus, the wise men found you by following a star. We find you today in our
hearts. Thank you for always being there. You really are the best present.
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.
SCRIPTURE 1: Isaiah 60:1-6
Arise, shine; for
your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold,
darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord
will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. And nations shall
come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. Lift up your
eyes round about, and see; they all gather together, they come to you; your
sons shall come from far, and your daughters shall be carried in the arms. Then
you shall see and be radiant, your heart shall thrill and rejoice; because the
abundance of the sea shall be turned to you, the wealth of the nations shall
come to you. A multitude of camels shall cover you, the young camels of Midian
and Ephah; all those from Sheba shall come. They shall bring gold and
frankincense, and shall proclaim the praise of the Lord.
SCRIPTURE 2: Matthew 2:1-12
Now when Jesus was
born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from
the East came to Jerusalem, saying, "Where is he who has been born king of
the Jews? For we have seen his star in the East, and have come to worship
him." When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem
with him; and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he
inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, "In
Bethlehem of Judea; for so it is written by the prophet: `And you, O Bethlehem,
in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from
you shall come a ruler who will govern my people Israel.'" Then Herod
summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star
appeared; and he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search diligently
for the child, and when you have found him bring me word, that I too may come
and worship him." When they had heard the king they went their way; and
lo, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came to
rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced
exceedingly with great joy; and going into the house they saw the child with Mary
his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their
treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. And being
warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by
another way.
SERMON: “Guiding
Light” Rev.
Jean Hurst
Wednesday is Epiphany--the day
associated with the arrival of the wise men who came from afar to bring gifts
to the Christ child. Shortly, we’ll sing the hymn “We Three Kings.” But the
Gospel of Matthew doesn’t say these travelers were kings. It says they were
magi, a Greek word that means wise men, those trained in astrology and dream
interpretation. Legend has elevated them to kings. That offered a theological
significance--that kings of nations would come to worship the Christ--as was
foretold in Old Testament prophesy. Later legends even named them--Caspar,
Melchior and Balthasar--and gave them descriptions.
We can deduce from the Greek that they
came from east of Jerusalem, but not necessarily that they came from exotic,
far off countries. Their number was nailed down to three, presumedly based on
the three gifts--gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Yet we really don’t know if
there were two or two dozen.
Another myth is their presentation of
gifts to the Christ child at the stable. Though many of our nativity scenes
include the wise men and their camels, they didn’t arrive until the holy family
was settled into a house.
These travelers were said to be
astrologers, they read signs in the stars. One day they interpret what they see
to mean that a king is to be born--king of the Jews they said. They want to go see. It’s a long, long way
off. It’s not even their king. It’s a different religion even. And they take
expensive gifts--very symbolic gifts: gold for kingship, frankincense for
priesthood, and myrrh, a spice used for burial. Odd gifts for an infant. Yet
they symbolize what his life and ministry would be.
Was it all written in the stars? Or
was it something deeper--a mystery those men really couldn’t themselves
understand? The answer may be lost in the pages of history. But one way or
another, those magi were drawn to follow a heavenly light--whether the light
was in the sky or in their mind’s eye. It was so compelling an urge that they
left behind their normal activities, their livelihood, their homes and
families, and set off in search of something they could only vaguely explain.
They didn’t have the answers. They
didn’t know the traditions and prophesies. But they were drawn nevertheless.
They sought a king. They brought gifts for a king. But did they have an inkling
of who this king really was? Could they have any notion that the king they
sought was the very God of the universe?
Yet there was that restlessness in
them that led them out on this journey of seeking. They could not abandon their
quest until they had satisfied that for which their hearts were longing. Once
done--the king found, homage paid, gifts presented--they returned home, home by
a different route. But could they ever be the same after being touched by that
divine light? Was their journey over?
There is that longing in each of us.
There is an incompleteness, a void in us that will not be filled with anything
but the divine, no matter what we try to substitute, no matter how we disguise
our search, no matter where we look.
Each of us is also searching for the
answer to who we really are and where we belong. Ever seeking, never satisfied
until we find our way back to the presence of God. As much as we might wish it,
it is not a journey of a straight line; our path may wander in the search; we
get drawn in different directions. It is not a journey of a finite time, where,
once accomplished, we return to our ‘normal’ lives. We speak of a faith journey
and it is truly that. Our faith is formed in the wandering.
Perhaps our wandering is at times
because we are guided by the wrong things that lead us in the wrong directions.
Or perhaps we fail to accept directions from those who are more experienced in
the seeking, or we are enticed by temptations we think will gratify our
desires. Or perhaps we wander because there is a divine purpose in that
wandering. There are things that we see and experience along the way, people we
encounter who are shaped by how we touch their lives--and we are shaped by how
they touch us. On those wandering paths we learn what our compass is, we learn
to trust the light that guides us.
Like the magi, we bring our gifts. And
like the magi, those gifts may not be limited to tangible items of gold,
frankincense, and myrrh. The magi brought the gifts of being willing to let go,
of setting foot to a perilous journey, of risking. They brought the gift of
their time, of acknowledging they didn’t have all the answers, the gift of
sharing what they know, the gift of their homage and adoration, the gift of
their wisdom in discerning Herod’s intent, the gift of being willing to change
their path, the gift of their faith in the light that led them.
Our wealth may be one of our gifts as
we pledge and give our tithes and bring food offerings. The gift of our time,
our abilities, our energy, our commitment may be another. We see that gift
offered by those who serve as elders and deacons in the church, those who serve
as musicians or serve on committees or do all the behind the scenes work that
goes into being a church.
Though our paths may wander in our
search for the One who seeks us, we bring our gifts of love for God and love for
one another. We bring the gifts of our experience, our mistakes, our pain, our
joy, our hope. As we touch lives along the way, we touch the very One we seek.
If our paths wander more than we might think appropriate, we offer that, too,
as a gift to the One who redeems all our actions, all our wrong turns, all our
confusion, all our failings. Even as we stop and rest along the way, we can
trust that the One who guides us has a purpose and use in that as well.
Like the magi, we think we are the
ones doing the searching. Yet our actions are simply a response to the divine
initiative. God’s grace precedes our action. We can only seek God because God
calls us to that seeking. And so we keep seeking, compelled to pursue something
which we cannot quite understand, urged by a memory programmed into us from the
creation of the world and guided by a light which came into that world two
thousand years ago.
Long before that, the Isaiah passage
told of the world being in darkness and offered hope. Light is coming. The
Gospel of John speaks of the Word, Jesus, being life and the light for all
people. John says that light—Jesus—shines in the darkness and the darkness
cannot overcome it. That is our promise as we continue the journey.
If we choose, we can stumble through
the darkness, trying to find the way on our own. Or we can choose to be guided
by the light, just as the wise men were guided by the star. If a person is in
darkness and there is a source of light, it is the light they will follow, not
the dark. If all is dark, it is only darkness we see. If there is light in that
darkness, that is where we focus, that is what we follow. And with that light,
we know we are not alone. The time of Emmanuel—God with us—continues and leads
us into a brighter future, a future of hope, a future we can face because God
is with us. Amen.
HYMN: “We
Three Kings” #151
PRAYERS OF THE
PEOPLE AND THE LORD’S PRAYER
God of new years, new hopes and new
promises, lead us into the future with faith and a sense of purpose. May our
lives not be haphazard, but committed and deliberate. Out of the wreckage of
too many failures, too many hurts, too much hesitation, too little courage, and
too few victories, restore our confidence and faith in the power of your
presence.
May we dream dreams and dare to try
new ways of sharing your love. As we close the door on what has been a very
hard year, and look forward into the new year, give us the strength and heart
and clarity of mind to believe that it will be a better year. Open us to see what
needs to be done and do it; to hear the sound of loneliness and fill it with
compassion; to take the hands of children and lead them into your Kingdom; to
heal the sick of body and mind, and care for the isolated and lost.
We pray for your children here and
around the world—those who live in the shadow of fear and violence and hunger
and loneliness, those impacted by Covid, the front line workers who put their
own lives at risk, the businesses who struggle to stay open. We pray for those
close to us, for George and Joyce …
Phyllis Bauer … Beverly Patterson … Darlene … Lois White … Virginia … Cherry … John Matthews … Margaret
Dunbar … Trisha … Dave … Jacob … Jennifer … Chuck … Courtney … Ethel … Helen.
(Additional prayers …………)
God
who guides our lives, we entrust to you these prayers and those that remain yet
in our hearts as we pray the prayer Jesus taught: 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.
CALL TO OFFERING
Abundance and wealth have come to us, that
we might experience the privilege of sharing. Christ, who often had nowhere to
lay his head, gave life itself to unfold before us the way of life. As we share
what we have received, our lives are opened to appreciate and enjoy more of
God’s blessings. Let us bring our offerings to God.
DOXOLOGY
PRAYER OF DEDICATION
O God, from whom comes all the good things we enjoy,
we offer our gifts in the spirit of those long ago who opened costly treasures
before Jesus. We give in response to your generosity, asking your blessings on
these offerings and on our lives lived out according to your will and purpose.
THE LORD’S SUPPER
Song
of Preparation: “Let Us Talents and Tongues Employ”#526
Invitation to the Table
The
Lord’s table is not a piece of wood with clay dishes, but a place in our hearts
that connects us to our Lord Jesus. It is a place to which we come as we
remember his sacrifice, as we seek to experience his presence, as we are
nourished to continue his work, as we recognize our community in him despite
whatever distance or disease or obstacle that might separate us. It is the
place we come to renew our commitment to continue his ministry and mission. Our
Lord invites us to the table without condition, simply because we are loved.
Come with grateful hearts. Come with joyful hearts.
The Great Thanksgiving
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our
God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
It is indeed right, O Holy God, to
give thanks for your amazing grace, to praise you for who you are, for who you
created us to be. We marvel at the truth that you are with us wherever we may
be. Though we worship from home, separated and for some, isolated, it is still
in you that we find life and purpose. We are children of grace and nothing can
separate us from your love.
You have given us the gift of your
Holy Spirit who unites us, binding us together as one body across the miles. By
your Spirit of grace transform our social isolation and distance into a holy
community, connecting us to each other by your sacred presence.
Bless the elements we each have
gathered, elements common to our ordinary lives. Let them represent for us the
body and blood of our Savior who gave himself for us. Amen.
Words of Institution
As we share these symbols of bread and
cup across the distance, we remember the story of Jesus with the disciples that
last night before he was arrested. He took the bread and blessed it and broke
it and gave it to them saying “Take, eat, this is my body, given for you.” And
with the cup he said, “This cup is the new covenant, my blood poured out for
you for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink of it, remember me.”
And so we do. As we lift up many
pieces in scattered places rather than sharing the same loaf and as we drink
from separate cups instead of one, we do so remembering that throughout history
God’s people have often been scattered and in exile. Through the power and
mystery of the Holy Spirit, we are made one in Christ Jesus. These are the
gifts of God for us the children of God.*
The Bread of Life……………..
The Cup of Salvation …………….
*portions of
prayer adapted from prayer by Rev. Steve Kliewer, Interim General Presbyter,
EOP
Unison Prayer of Thanks
Gracious God, you have made us one with all
your people in heaven and on earth. You have fed us with the bread of life, and
renewed us for your service. Help us who have shared Christ’s body and received
his cup, to be his faithful disciples so that our daily living may be part of
the life of your kingdom, and our love be your love reaching out into the life
of the world; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
CLOSING HYMN: “Arise!
Your Light Is Come” #744
CHARGE AND BENEDICTION
Your charge for the week is to trust the light that came into the world. Believe that there is no darkness in your life that could ever overcome that light. Follow the light.
As you do the grace of the Lord Jesus
Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit are with you now
and always. 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.
~~~~~~~~~~
LOOKING
AHEAD
January 5 10:30
a.m. Women’s Spirituality
January 10 following worship Membership & Mission
January 12 6:00 p.m. Session
January 17 following worship Worship & Music
January 19 10:30 a.m. Women’s Spirituality
January 24 following worship Annual Congregational Meeting
January 26 noon PPW
lunch meeting
January 31 following worship Deacons Meeting
PRAYER
CARE:
George Sahlberg
(infection, heart problems), Phyllis Bauer (aging issues), Beverly Patterson
(Sheila Cunningham’s mother) (aging issues), Lois White (lymphoma), Virginia
DesIlets (broken hip), Darlene Wingfield (heart valve, pulmonary fibrosis,
breast cancer), Margaret Dunbar (fall/broken tailbone), John Matthews (cancer),
Trisha Cagley (health problems), Dave Clark (kidney cancer), Jacob Cunningham,
Joyce Sahlberg (health issues), Jennifer Schirm (Parkinson’s), Chuck VanHise
(leg/walking rehab), and Courtney Ziegler (Huntington’s).
LECTIONARY
FOR 1/10/21
Genesis 1:1-5, Psalm 29; Acts 19:1-7; Mark 1:4-11
No comments:
Post a Comment