PIONEER
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
Worship
via Blog 5th Sunday after Epiphany February 7, 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.
-
Session
meets Tuesday night at 6:00 p.m.
-
Men’s
Prayer Group Thursday 8:30 a.m.
-
Next
Sunday M&M meets following worship
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
Worship God who is from everlasting to
everlasting!
The God of creation does not faint or grow
weary.
How
good it is to sing praises to our God!
How
expansive is God’s understanding of us!
The whole universe is subject to God’s
power.
Creation continues as the universe
expands.
God
rules all time and space, yet cares about us.
God
is pleased with all who reflect steadfast love.
Sing to God with great thanksgiving.
Praise God with the best you have to
offer.
We
lift up our eyes to see God’s wonders.
We
open our ears to receive God’s message.
PRAYER OF THE DAY
Light of lights, shine into our gloom,
granting knowledge of your glory in the face of Christ Jesus. In many ways, we
are afflicted but not crushed; perplexed but not driven to despair, struck down
but not destroyed—for we are confident of your presence wherever we go.
Reassure us now that you are with us. Feed our hungers, heal our brokenness,
melt away our conflicts, renew our strength and restore our hope so that we may
faithfully continue the work of Jesus in our world today.
OPENING
SONG: “Resting in You” LU#93
CALL TO CONFESSION
We hold the treasures of heaven in clay
jars. The gifts of God are defaced by our poor choices, by our self-serving
desires, by our willful disobedience. We become enslaved to habits that
destroy. We become addicted to activities that waste our time and energies. We
need to seek forgiveness and a better way.
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
Holy God, help us to know ourselves as we
are and set before us a vision of what life could be if we followed your way.
We act in ways that seem to meet our immediate interests without considering
the long term results. We let our appetites rule us. We squander the gift of
time in frivolous pursuits. We ignore your Word as if it were unimportant. O
God, we cannot escape the truth of our lives. We want the life you offer in
Jesus Christ. Forgive and help us, we pray. (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: Isaiah 40:21-41
Have you not known? Have you not
heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood
from the foundations of the earth? It is he who sits above the circle of the
earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens
like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to dwell in; who brings princes to
naught, and makes the rulers of the earth as nothing. Scarcely are they
planted, scarcely sown, scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth, when
he blows upon them, and they wither, and the tempest carries them off like
stubble.
To whom then will you compare me, that
I should be like him? says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high and see: who
created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by
name; by the greatness of his might, and because he is strong in power not one
is missing. Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, "My way is hid
from the Lord, and my right is disregarded by my God"?
Have you not known? Have you not
heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary, his understanding is unsearchable. He gives
power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even
youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they
who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with
wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not
faint.
SCRIPTURE 2: Mark 2:1-12
And when he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was
reported that he was at home. And many were gathered together, so that there
was no longer room for them, not even about the door; and he was preaching the
word to them. And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men.
And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the
roof above him; and when they had made an opening, they let down the pallet on
which the paralytic lay. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the
paralytic, "My son, your sins are forgiven." Now some of the scribes
were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, "Why does this man speak
thus? It is blasphemy! Who can forgive sins but God alone?" And
immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within
themselves, said to them, "Why do you question thus in your hearts? Which
is easier, to say to the paralytic, `Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, `Rise,
take up your pallet and walk'? But that you may know that the Son of man has
authority on earth to forgive sins" -- he said to the paralytic -- "I
say to you, rise, take up your pallet and go home." And he rose, and
immediately took up the pallet and went out before them all; so that they were
all amazed and glorified God, saying, "We never saw anything like
this!"
SERMON: “Raising the Roof” Rev.
Jean Hurst
Picture Jesus sitting in a small home
teaching the people who have squeezed in to be near him and those craning their
necks from outside trying to get a glimpse and hear what’s being said.
Suddenly, dust starts sifting down on the heads of those gathered. Noise above
them has everyone, looking up. Suddenly dirt pours down on them as the ceiling
is torn open right over Jesus’ head! He’s got dirt in his hair and beard and
face. His clothes are covered in dirt.
With dirt still drifting down, they
see a litter being lowered by four people on the roof. Those sitting near Jesus
probably had to scramble out of the way. On the litter lay a paralyzed man.
Jesus, though a rabbi deserving respect, is covered with the debris of these
intruders’ determination. Rather than being irritated, I can picture him
smiling as he watches the paralytic being lowered in front of him.
Let your attention move from the man
on the mat to the rooftop. Four guys are lowering their friend with ropes into
the room below. Think about that. Four friends cared enough to haul this man
either from his home or from where he would be begging for alms so that he
might be healed by Jesus.
Travel is slower when you’re carrying a
grown man on a pallet. They are too late. They can’t even get close enough to
the door to hear what is going on inside. Perhaps the paralytic said, ‘forget
it’ and ‘thanks anyway.’ But the friends are not to be stopped. They haul their
buddy up the ladder to the roof.
Roofs were used as additional living
space. The homes in Palestine were flat roofed with just enough slant to let
the rain run off. People slept there on
hot nights. They dried food on the
roofs. The roofs were constructed with wooden beams about three feet apart. The
space between was filled in with packed brushwood and mud. It was easy to tear
it out and easy to repair.
The four friends set their paralyzed
comrade aside and proceed to tear a hole in the roof big enough to lower their
friend through. Why? They believed. Whether or not their paralyzed friend
believed, they did. They loved their friend enough and believed enough that
they were willing to go to extremes to help him. Jesus saw their faith and was
moved by it. So Jesus healed their friend.
I wonder about these friends of his.
Here is this great rabbi who has done such incredible things both with his
teachings and with his healings. I imagine that anyone would have something
they would want from this holy man. These guys could have arrived on Jesus’
doorstep plenty early enough to get a good seat, to have their own needs met.
Instead, they sacrificed their own desires in order to secure healing for their
friend.
Do you have friends like that, friends
who are willing to raise the roof for you? Has your life ever been touched by
someone else’s faith? Are you a friend like that? It’s what we do as
Christians. We go beyond what is expected.
Literally, physically doing for each
other is one way we serve. Lending a helping hand is part of being a church
family. Another way to serve is to provide emotional support during a
crisis--encouraging, caring, being supportive, listening. Just being there,
even sitting silently with someone when they’re going through a hard time is a
huge gift.
In her book, My Grandfather’s
Blessings, Dr. Rachel Naomi Remen tells of the experience of a colleague, a
psychologist, who attended a professional workshop based on the work of the
great Jungian dream analyst, Marie-Louise von Franz. As part of this workshop
there was a panel of heads of two Jungian training centers and Carl Jung’s own
grandson. The panel would receive and respond to written questions sent up to
the stage on cards.
One of the cards told the story of a
horrific recurring dream in which the dreamer was stripped of all human dignity
and worth through Nazi atrocities. A member of the panel read the dream out
loud. As she listened, Remen’s colleague began mentally formulating a dream
interpretation preparatory to the panel’s discussion, considering symbolic
explanations for the torture and atrocities described in the dream. But when
the reading of the dream was finished, Jung’s grandson looked out over the
large audience and asked them to stand. He said, “We will stand together in a
moment of silence in response to this dream.” Remen’s colleague impatiently
waited for the discussion she was sure would follow. But after they sat, the
panel went on to the next question.
Not understanding, the woman later
asked one of her teachers, also a Jungian analyst, about it. He told her,
“There is in life a suffering so unspeakable, a vulnerability so extreme that
it goes far beyond words, beyond explanations and even beyond healing. In the
face of such suffering all we can do is bear witness so no one need suffer
alone.”
There is yet another way we serve each
other during times of need--spiritually. Certainly prayer is an important part
of that. We have the prayer chain which is activated in times of crisis. We
lift each other up during prayers of the people. We pray for each other in our
private devotions.
Sometimes the spiritual need goes much
deeper. We all have times when our faith falters, when we feel we have lost
connection with God; times, even, when we question the existence of God. We may
feel that God has turned his back on us or abandoned us. We may carry the burden of feeling that
something we have done or left undone has alienated us from God. We may be in a
state of depression where there is such bleakness, such darkness, that even God
feels irrelevant.
Those dark nights of the soul, as they
are often called, come to most of us sooner or later, even to those of the
deepest faith. Mother Theresa of Calcutta, the renown Roman Catholic nun who
dedicated her life to the poor, the leprous, the untouchables of India, had
those times. In one of her letters she said, “I am told God lives in me--and
yet the reality of darkness and coldness and emptiness is so great that nothing
touches my soul.” And in another, “Where I try to raise my thoughts to heaven,
there is such convicting emptiness that those very thoughts return like sharp
knives and hurt my very soul. Love--the
word--it brings nothing.”
During those dark times, Mother
Theresa had a faith community that lifted her up. That is what we can do for each other. When
those times of doubt or spiritual emptiness come, what we can do is believe on
their behalf. We can assure them that until they are able to resume their own
belief, their own faith, that we will believe for them.
Of the paralytic in our scripture
reading today, we don’t know how long he’d been paralyzed. It may have been
long enough that he’d given up hope of things ever being different. We don’t
know if he lacked faith in what Jesus could do. We do know that his friends
believed. Their faith carried him to the roof top. Their faith raised the roof
for him. Their faith carried him to the source of all faith and because of that
he walked out of there in his own faith.
The paralytic relied on his friends.
For many people, the most difficult part of a life crisis is the helplessness
that goes with it, needing to rely on others. For some, it is the hardest thing
they can ever do. Many of us have an aversion to asking for help--and even
resist help that is offered. The truth is, we all have times when we need help
in one form or another. When we allow others to help us we enable them to do as
Jesus taught--to love one another and to be servants to one another. Jesus
demonstrated that in washing the disciples feet at the last supper, despite
Peter’s protestations.
I think of those four friends on the
roof. I believe that they, too, walked away with greater faith. When we give,
we receive just as surely as those being served. Those four were touched by the
presence of the divine. They could not help but be changed. That is our gift as
well. Thanks be to God.
HYMN: “I
Will Come to You” #177
PRAYERS OF THE
PEOPLE AND THE LORD’S PRAYER
O Generous God, your gifts abound and,
at times, overwhelm us with the weight of their love. How often, O Lord, we
have come to you with our empty cups that have been poured out to others or
that have been drained in the demands of our own lives, and you fill them to overflowing
with compassion, renewed strength, continuous courage, healthy hope, and the
will to go on.
Help us to trust you, to trust that
you are always going to be faithful. For we know, Lord, though we do not always
receive what we want, you continually supply what we need. And for that we are
thankful! We celebrate the joy you place in our hearts as we participate in the
divine act of giving a cup of cool water to the thirsty.
It is with that intent that we lift up
those who need your loving presence and healing touch: It
is with that intent that we lift up those who need your loving presence and
healing touch: Tasha Sizemore … Stephen
Meinzinger … Phyllis Bauer … Beverly Patterson … Lois White … John Matthews … Jacob Cunningham … Dena … Virginia
… Cherry … Darlene … Margaret … Trisha … Dave … George … Joyce … Jennifer …
Chuck … Courtney … Ethel … Helen. (Additional prayers …………)
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
Stretch out your hands. They are gifts
from God. With them, you have been able to do your work. Open your minds. With
them, you have been able to solve problems. Rejoice that God has so richly
blessed you and now offers you the opportunity to extend blessings to others.
Consider how you will give.
DOXOLOGY
PRAYER
OF DEDICATION
Thank
you, God, for the privilege of giving. We have received so much! Now it is a
joy to share. All we have belongs to you. You empower our use of the blessings
you have given us. May we use those gifts as an offering of thankfulness to
you. Amen.
THE LORD’S SUPPER
Song of
Preparation: “Let Us Break
Bread Together” #525
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: “How
Can I Keep from Singing” #821
CHARGE AND BENEDICTION
In our current realities, life takes a
lot out of us. Your charge for the week is to trust the God of love who
recognizes all that you are going through and wants the best for you.
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.
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LOOKING
AHEAD
February 9 6:00
p.m. Session meets
February 11 8:30 a.m. Men’s Prayer Group
February 14 following
worship M&M meets
February 16 10:30 a.m. Women’s Spirituality meets
February 17 7:00 p.m. Ash Wednesday Service
February 21 following worship Worship & Music meets
February 23 noon PPW
lunch meeting
February 25 8:30 a.m. Men’s Prayer Group
February 25 5:30 p.m. Soup Supper 1
February 28 following worship Deacons meet
PRAYER
CARE:
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),
Dena Hovey (back surgery), 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 2/14/21
2 Kings 2:1-12;
Psalm 50:1-6; 2 Corinthians 4:3-6; Mark 9:2-9
