PIONEER
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
Worship
via Blog 5th Sunday in Lent March 21, 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.
-
Worship
& Music meets following worship
-
Prayer
Shawl Ministry @ 1:00 p.m.
-
PPW
lunch meeting is Tuesday at noon
-
Men’s
Prayer Group meets 8:30 a.m. on Thursday
-
The
last Lenten Soup Supper is Thursday at 5:30
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
The days are surely coming, says our God;
The day is here to affirm a new covenant.
We
call on God’s steadfast love and mercy.
We
seek a strong and vital relationship with our God.
God’s law will be written on our hearts.
Our Creator claims us and forgives our
faithlessness.
We
are eager to know the God who loves us.
We
are ready to learn God’s intention for us.
God offers us the joy of salvation.
Our brokenness can be healed and wholeness
restored.
We
are open to the new and right spirit God offers.
We
seek guidance for our daily living.
PRAYER OF THE DAY
As Jesus offered up prayers and
supplications to you, O God, we cry out to you today. You know our losses and
our fears. You understand our suffering and pain. We wish to see Jesus, to know
the healing touch felt by so many. We want to hear a reassuring voice. We long
to see a new day when evil is overcome and wrong cannot prevail. Lift us up and
draw us to yourself as we worship in this hour. Equip us for our daily living as
we seek to be true to your covenant with us. Amen.
OPENING
SONG: “Healing Grace” LU#68
CALL TO CONFESSION
No matter how far
we have wandered, no matter how much damage we have inflicted on ourselves, God
still loves us and still wants what is good for us. That’s why God continues to
pester us with discontent and uncertainty when we do wrong. That’s why God never
lets us be fulfilled by anything other than God. That’s why God continues to
offer us forgiveness. Let us come before God with all that is on our hearts.
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
Have
mercy on us, O God, according to your steadfast love. Wash us thoroughly from
our iniquity and cleanse us from our sin. We know more of our own transgression
than we have been willing to admit, even to ourselves. We cannot escape from the
sin that clings so closely. By our actions and our neglect, we have done what
is evil in your sight. May your judgment help us to face the truth about
ourselves. Then wash away the stain of our iniquity. Create in us clean hearts,
and renew our spirits. We are ready for a new life. (continue with
personal prayers………..) 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
SCRIPTURE 1: Psalm 51:1-12
Have mercy on me, O
God, according to thy steadfast love; according to thy abundant mercy blot out
my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my
sin! For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against thee,
thee only, have I sinned, and done that which is evil in thy sight, so that
thou art justified in thy sentence and blameless in thy judgment. Behold, I was
brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, thou
desires truth in the inward being; therefore teach me wisdom in my secret
heart. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be
whiter than snow. Fill me with joy and gladness; let the bones which thou hast
broken rejoice. Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from thy presence, and take not thy holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.
SCRIPTURE 2: John 12:20-33
Now among those who
went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. So these came to Philip, who
was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, "Sir, we wish to see
Jesus." Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew went with Philip and they told
Jesus. And Jesus answered them, "The hour has come for the Son of man to
be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into
the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. He
who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep
it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am,
there shall my servant be also; if any one serves me, the Father will honor
him. "Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? `Father, save me from
this hour'? No, for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify thy
name." Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it, and I
will glorify it again." The crowd standing by heard it and said that it
had thundered. Others said, "An angel has spoken to him." Jesus
answered, "This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. Now is the
judgment of this world, now shall the ruler of this world be cast out; and I,
when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself." He said
this to show by what death he was to die.
SERMON: “Taking
Root” Rev.
Jean Hurst
The
end is near. Our Lenten journey is nearly complete. Next week we’ll remember
Jesus’ triumphant ride into Jerusalem as the people wave palm branches and
shout hosannas. But that celebration will be short-lived. It will quickly give
way to Good Friday and the cross. Jesus knew that. It was why he came.
The
Greeks are a significant element in that timing. They were in Jerusalem to
celebrate the Passover, so they were likely converts to Judaism, what were
called proselytes, or perhaps they were seekers who had not yet made the final
decision. These Greeks wanted to ‘see’
Jesus, an expression that may well have meant they wanted to believe in him, to
become his followers.
This
event of the non-Jews coming to Jesus, prompts Jesus to proclaim that ‘the hour
has come.’ Throughout the gospels, we repeatedly hear that the authorities are
after Jesus but they don’t succeed because ‘his hour is not yet come.’ But now
everything is coming together. It is the beginning of the fulfillment of ‘all
nations being drawn to Jesus when he is ‘lifted up’ on the cross.
From
the narrative, we can’t tell whether these Greeks ever made it into the
presence of Jesus. For whatever audience of the moment, Jesus tells the parable
of the grain of wheat.
A
grain of wheat can be preserved indefinitely if it is shielded from moisture
and light. But it doesn’t produce. In order to be productive, it has to go into
the earth. The rains--or irrigation--must soak the ground and swell the kernel
so that it splits open and releases the life that is held within it. Roots
sprout and take firm hold in the soil and then the young plant sends up stalks,
ten to twenty or more. The stalks have heads that, with modern agricultural
practices, yield 50 to 75 kernels of wheat each--up to 1500 times the initial
planting.
But
Jesus wasn’t giving a lecture on farming practices. He was talking about his
impending death. The wheat kernel must die before it produces life. He was
saying that by dying he would bear much fruit--exponentially. And what was
produced as a result of his death is life:
the salvation of all. That means us. As we follow Jesus, in our baptism
we die to sin, we die to the ways of the world, we die to self-interest and in
baptism we symbolically rise from that grave of water to new life in Jesus
Christ. And then we share that life with others.
An
important part of that life occurs at this table, as it did in Jesus time. Each
time we share the Lord’s supper, we hear the sacred words that Jesus spoke to
his disciples at their last meal together. Only a short time passed between
Jesus’ parable of the wheat kernel in today’s scripture and what he told his
followers at that last supper. They would remember his words afterward, both
the story of the wheat kernel that had to die and his words that the bread
represented his body, given for them, that he was the bread of life that fed
them. It was an important time around
the table.
It
is important what happens at the table. Don’t we, as a culture, lament the fact
that our families don’t gather around the table for meals like we used to?
Sometimes what we do is grab our plate of food and sit in front of the TV where
conversation only occurs during commercials, if then. Or we have so many
competing activities, multiplied by the number of people in the family, that
each is eating at a different time. Fast food is sometimes the solution as you
drive through and eat on the way to the next event. It’s a shame. We lose the
community that comes with family gathered around the table. We lose the opportunity
to tell our stories.
There
is a story about a nomad being pursued across the desert by his enemies. The
desperate man comes upon an encampment. He rushes up to the tents, hoping that
these strangers will receive him. He runs up to the head tent and throws back
the curtains. Those within have just begun to eat. Breathlessly he looks into
their faces. Will they receive him or turn him away? They motion for him to
enter and be seated. He breathes a sigh of relief.
His
pursuers finally reach the camp. They go to the tent he has entered. They also
throw back the curtains, ready to seize the man and kill him. But when they see
him seated at the table, they draw back and leave him in peace, for they know
that in the Near East it’s a great act of hostility toward the host to trouble
a person who is seated at someone’s table.
I
think that sheds light on the words of the 23rd Psalm when it says, “you
prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.” Gathering at table is
an act of community; it is an experiencing of what we have in common rather
than what divides us. Inviting someone to share a meal with you at your table
is the ultimate sign of human hospitality. And so it is with God, that the
invitation to Christ’s table is the sign of God’s hospitality. It is the
ultimate act of community, of coming together.
During
Lent, we typically turn our thoughts inward to our own guilt in the agony and
crucifixion of Jesus rather than outward to the warmth and closeness of
community--though with our soup suppers, we find some balance in that. Lent is,
though, a time when we consider the great love Jesus has for us in dying for
us.
Jesus’
dying for us is called Atonement. Throughout the ages, we have tried to
understand exactly what that meant. Each gospel presents it a bit differently,
as do both Old Testament and New Testament writings.
As
people have struggled with this concept, many models of atonement have
evolved. Three major models stand out.
The first is the ‘ransom’ model. By dying, Jesus bought the world its freedom
from sin and death. He paid the price rather like the judge who finds the
prisoner guilty and sets a fine, only to pay that fine himself.
The
second model is ‘sacrificial’ or ‘substitutionary’ atonement in which God requires
punishment for the sins of the people, so Jesus takes our place, becoming the
sacrifice in order to atone for human guilt and sin.
The last model is called ‘moral’
atonement. This is what John’s gospel presents--that by dying on the cross, God
reveals to humanity how much he loves them. With that model, the gospel writer
demands human response and decision in order for that atonement to be
meaningful.
The
gospel writer’s understanding is a theology of reconciliation. In sin, we are
separated from God; the relationship is broken. Throughout history God has
initiated, seeking us out, trying to restore relationship. In a final act of
love that conquers sin and death, God comes in the person of Jesus, ultimately
suffering, dying, and rising again. In Jesus’ death God and humanity are
reconciled to each other. The brokenness is healed. The relationship is
restored.
That
tension between guilt and the restoring of relationship is reflected in how we
name this piece of furniture--is it an altar or is it a table? An altar is
where the blood sacrifice of animals was carried out in order to appease God. A
table is where people gathered in community to share a meal, to break bread, to
tell stories, to remember, to know that what we share in common is more important
than what separates us.
One
approaches an altar and worships in front of it. We gather around a table. In
Matthew Jesus said, “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in
the midst of them.” Following the grain analogy, Jesus said whoever serves him
must follow him and, “Wherever I am, there will my servant be also.”
To
follow Jesus, to be where Jesus is, is to be like that kernel of wheat that
falls into the ground, dying to sin. Sin is part of every human life. We don’t
like that word. There are lots of ways we try to soften it. But we need to know
it, to name it for what it is. Each of us has done things in our lives that
separate us from God, that go contrary to God’s laws, that break relationship
with God and with each other.
We
know our own guilt. Each one of us has in some way denied our Lord. Each one of
us has in some way betrayed the one who loves us. Each of us has been among the
crowd that cries, “Crucify him!” Not despite that guilt, but because of it,
Jesus invites us back into community, invites us to be reconciled with our God
of love.
The
Psalm read a few minutes ago reminds us what God expects. “The sacrifices of
God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not
despise.” When our hearts are broken for the sins we have committed, there are
four steps to healing: conviction, contrition, repentance, and forgiveness. To
recognize our hurtful action as sin is called conviction. To be sorry for it is
contrition. To stop doing it, to turn from it, to turn back to God is
repentance. The final step is to accept God’s forgiveness.
For
that, scripture offers promise after promise. 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess
our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us
from all unrighteousness.” Unlike our legal system where a rap sheet is
maintained on each lawbreaker even after they’ve served their time and paid the
penalty, after forgiveness God keeps no records.
There
is a story of two women who came to their pastor and said, “Pastor, God has
spoken to us. We have a word from the Lord.” The pastor, skeptical of such
statements responded, “The next time the Lord speaks to you, I want you to ask
him what sins your pastor confessed to him last night.”
After
several days the two women returned and stated again, “The Lord has spoken to
us.” And the pastor inquired, “Did you ask God what sins your pastor confessed
to him last night?” The women replied, “Yes, we did. God said he didn’t
remember.” The pastor responded, “The Lord has truly spoken to you.”1
God
is faithful and loving and merciful. Speaking through the prophet Jeremiah, God
proclaims that the day will come when there will be a new covenant and says, “I
will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” That is an
amazing promise. In God’s forgiveness it is as if our sins never happened. God
has let go of them. We need to do the same.
Jesus
invites us to do that, to accept forgiveness, to let go. The sins of our past
are not who we are. Jesus invites us to new life because he knows who we really
are, whose we are. He knows our struggles, the hurts we hold within our hearts.
He knows how easy it is for the things of life to separate us from each other.
He knows how the shame of our secret lives can separate us from God.
And
still he loves us. He calls us back into community, into wholeness. Like a
kernel of wheat, Jesus died and rose again so that we would have that
wholeness, have that new life, be restored to relationship with God. And then
he calls us to do the same, to follow him, to be where he is, to rise from the
death of our sins and be rooted in new life; to be that new life in the world
so that others, too, will be drawn to our risen Lord. Amen.
1John M. Drescher, Disciplines 2012, p. 91,
Upper Room Books
HYMN: “When
I Survey the Wondrous Cross” Glory
#223
PRAYERS OF THE
PEOPLE AND THE LORD’S PRAYER
Creator of all that is, we come before
you in wonder and awe that you would care so much about our individual lives.
We marvel that you have been with us from before we were born. We thank you and
praise you.
God who never leaves us, help us to
understand that your presence and your action in our lives is experienced not
in the avoidance of life’s tragedies and struggles but in the mist of them.
When we don’t feel the presence we long for, help us to be patient, help us to
wait, and especially help us to trust in you—in your love and your grace. Hear
the prayers of our hearts for a deeper relationship with you (a time of
personal silent prayer…….).
We pray for that tender sense of your
presence in the lives of those of our community who especially need you: Lari Higgins … Summer Bauer … Bill Kaesemeyer
… Tasha Sizemore … Stephen Meinzinger … Phyllis Bauer … Beverly Patterson … Lois
White … John Matthews … Jacob Cunningham
… Virginia … Cherry … Darlene … Margaret … Trisha … Dave … George … Joyce …
Jennifer … Chuck … Courtney … Ethel … Helen. (Additional prayers …………)
We pray for your children around the
world, those who struggle just to get by in life, to have enough to eat, a
place of shelter, protection from the violence. We lift up those impacted by
Covid and pray for an end to this pandemic. We pray for unity in our country.
Thank you for all you are already doing, for the people you work through who
act with compassion and generosity. Open our eyes to see the good in the world,
to see the good in the people around us.
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
How much of ourselves and our resources
will we risk for the sake of the gospel? Jesus invites us to follow as
disciples and servants, risking everything for the sake of God’s love.
DOXOLOGY
PRAYER OF DEDICATION
We dedicate these offerings to the proclamation of
your word, the teaching of your ways, and the living of your will for all
humankind. We reach out with joy and gladness to offer your love to the world.
May these gifts enable the sharing of your presence with many who have not
experienced a sense of their own value as your children. Bless these gifts, we
pray. Amen.
CLOSING HYMN: “Beneath
the Cross of Jesus” Glory #216
CHARGE AND BENEDICTION
Your charge this week is to live as
forgiven and forgiving sinners, as a people of God, accepted and loved.
As you do the grace of the Lord Jesus
Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit is 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
March 21 following
worship Worship & Music
March 21 1:00 p.m. Prayer Shawl Ministry
March 23 noon downstairs PPW lunch meeting
March 25 8:30 a.m. Men’s Prayer Group
March 25 5:30 Soup
Supper
March 28 10:00 a.m. Palm/Passion Sunday Service
March 28 following
worship Deacons
April 1 7:00 p.m. Maundy Thursday Service
April 4 10:00 a.m. Easter Service
April 6 10:30 a.m. Women’s Spirituality
April 8 8:30 a.m. Men’s Prayer Group
PRAYER
CARE:
Lari Higgins
(breast cancer), Summer Bauer (breast cancer), Bill Kaesemeyer (breathing
problems), Tasha Sizemore (Crohn’s?), Stephen Meinzinger (Covid-19), Lois White
(lymphoma), John Matthews (cancer), (Jacob Cunningham, Trisha Cagley (health
problems), Dave Clark (kidney cancer), Virginia DesIlets (age 99!), Margaret Dunbar
(aging issues), George Sahlberg (infection in knee), Joyce Sahlberg (health
issues), Jennifer Schirm (Parkinson’s), Chuck VanHise (leg/walking rehab), Darlene
Wingfield (heart valve, pulmonary fibrosis, breast cancer), and Courtney
Ziegler (Huntington’s).
LECTIONARY
FOR 3/28/21
Palms: Mark
11:1-11 or John 12:2-16 and Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29
Passion: Isaiah
50:4-9a and Psalm 31:9-16, Philippians 2:5-11,
Mark 4:1 -- 15:47
or Mark 15:1-39 (40-47)
No comments:
Post a Comment