COPC News

July 20th

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 12:00:00 -0500

I need to begin this week's email in rather a different way. Someone pointed out to me that my choice of an illustration in last week's email was insensitive. They did it in rather an insensitive way, but I believe their main point was essentially correct. Bigots fall into the biblical category of the fool, and it is healthy and biblical to point out the folly of fools. Still we must do it being careful not to be offensive ourselves or to make people as uncomfortable as bigots do. I failed to exercise proper caution and sensitivity. I am deeply and genuinely sorry. This general apology is the best I can do unless some (or all) of you let me know you were personally offended. Then I would welcome the opportunity to apologize personally and seek your forgiveness.

This week's journey into Matthew's gospel may look like deja vu to those who have been with us through the series. You may read the account of Jesus feeding thousands of people and think, "Didn't we just do this one chapter back?" Well, remember a wise man once said "Deja vu is not what it used to be." We all know people who tell us the same story over and over again. Matthew is not one of them. There are many similarities but the differences are critical. In fact, the second miraculous feeding is a continuation of the lesson Jesus was teaching the disciples in his dealing with the Canaanite women we looked at last week.

In the evening service we will find Paul struggling with being down and praising God for helping him get back up. He also teaches the Corinthians (and us) a very important distinction between worldly sorrow and godly sorrow. Though they can look very much the same they differ in both cause and effect. Good to know the difference. Sorrow is not just sorrow and can be harmful or, when it is godly, actually helpful.

Don't be sorry in either way that you missed worship this week! Services at New Hope at 10:45 and 5:30. Come early and stay late. See you there.

Jack

July 13th

Sun, 13 Jul 2008 12:00:00 -0500

Connie and I used to go out from time to time with a large dinner group. There were several real "characters" in the group and one is particular delighted in being provocative. This could be amusing, especially when he was provoking someone else, or it could make everybody uncomfortable. One such occasion was when he announced in a crowded restaurant and in his booming voice, "I hate [the 'N' word], I hate Jews, (dramatic pause here), and I hate bigots!" OK. Kind of amusing had it been said in private but rather frightening in public. We were all laughing timidly, shaking our heads, and furtively glancing about the room to see if any offended people were coming toward, or moving away from, our table.

I imagine we all know someone like this or at least people who can be this way sometimes. People who make us uncomfortable by the way they treat or refer to others. If you are now forming a short list in your mind, I am wondering if Jesus is on it. What?! you ask, no doubt shocked at the mere suggestion. Am I thinking of his calling the religious leaders "hypocrites" or "blind guides" or even "painted tombs"? No. I'm thinking about when a Canaanite woman, desperately seeking help for her daughter came to him and he seemed first to ignore her, then to reject her, and then to call her a dog. Would you have been uncomfortable with that? Are you now? Many people are. I think that is quite understandable. I also think it is wrong. Figuring out why we shouldn't be offended by Jesus is not so hard, but figuring out how not to be, in this case, is. We will be trying to do that Sunday morning as well as trying to learn something from a woman who had enormous faith and from Jesus.

Later in the day we come to a passage at the end of 2 Cor. 6 that just doesn't seem to fit in the immediate or broader context. This "don't be unequally yoked" passage has been used for everything from discouraging mixed marriages to avoiding anyone who, oh say, smokes. Some just ignore it altogether. Usually the truth is somewhere between the extremes. We'll go looking for it Sunday evening.

Worship, or at least some parts of it, can make people uncomfortable. But it is not really about being comfortable. It is about loving and serving God and loving and serving one another. Opportunities abound! Opportunities this Sunday at 10:45 and 5:30 at New Hope.

See you there?
Jack

April 13th

Sun, 13 Apr 2008 12:00:00 -0500

If you hear a news story and they mention a "Good Samaritan", everybody knows what they mean. This is just one of the many biblical words and phrases that have passed into our common language. Studies show that fewer and fewer people actually know the story of the Good Samaritan or the Prodigal Son, but certainly many more are familiar with them than other teaching of Jesus. People, after all, do like stories From childhood to old age people are far more likely to say "Tell me a story" than "Teach me some doctrine". So Jesus told stories. Stories that taught doctrine and ethics and revealed sin and grace.

The section of Matthew's Gospel we are moving into now is a section often referred to as "Parables of the Kingdom". We often pray, "Thy Kingdom come". But, what do we mean by that? What is God's Kingdom? Jesus explains it by telling some stories. The first one starts, "The sower went out to sow...". We'll explore that one together this week.

For the last several Sunday evenings we have been observing the tense, damaged relationship of Paul and the Corinthians. This week we continue listening in as he explains why he changed his plans, but are really hearing him trying to make corrections in their thinking and behavior while at the same time working not to cause further damage their relationship. Surely only grace can find that delicate balance. We'll see if we can glean some tips from Paul as we pray for grace from God.

I took my mother to see the New Hope building yesterday. She was having trouble imagining where it was. She said she was sure she could tell others how to get there now. Not bad for a woman with advanced macular degeneration. Hope you all can see your way clear to join us there as we worship our wonderful Savior.

Jack

April 6th

Sun, 06 Apr 2008 12:00:00 -0500

As is usually the case I am waaay late in leaving for presbytery so this week's little missive has to be, well, little. Big morning service this week. Our band steps into the service for the first time and we will be observing both sacraments. Nolan Haris will be baptized and we will have Communion after the sermon. Appropriately, I think, we will continue in Matthew and look at the ultimate futility and even danger of self-help programs and then the wonderful alternative of being part of the family of God.

In the evening service we will see Paul begining to deal with an accusation that he is not reliable and then moving quickly to discussing the God and Gospel that are altogether reliable.

I am hearing from the weather reports that it should be a beautiful day Sunday. Prayer, the Word, Sacraments, Christian fellowship...what other kind of day could it be?

See ya then.
Jack

March 30th

Sun, 30 Mar 2008 12:00:00 -0500

My fun fact calendar tells me today that Hippocrates believed that astrology and birth sign affected one's physical health. Many Greeks believed in those kinds of signs. Most Jews did not. The knew star gazing was Pagan, Babylonian, to be shunned. And yet Matthew tells of "wise men" from the East who read the signs and came looking for Jesus. Jesus later provided very different kinds of signs for all to see. Many saw and were amazed but not changed. Some saw and listened, even followed. The Pharisees heard and saw and yet convinced themselves all the more that these signs could not signify that Jesus was actually from God. As we get back to Matthew's Gospel this week we see them asking him for another sign. He told them all they would get would be the sign of Jonah. What was that? Did they see it? Did they understand it? Do we?

In the evening we are getting back to 2 Corinthians. This is just the second sermon from that book. In the first we talked about how Paul viewed comfort. Next, he gives an example of how he came to understand it. In one of the darkest and most difficult times of his life, he found new insight into the real strength of God and the power of prayer. A most encouraging text.

Sunday School classes will be meeting this week. We agreed among the elders to have only one adult class and New Hope will be suspending their series for a few weeks while I finish the book we have been using on 1 Kings. We are on ch 25, considering only the last few verses of 1 Kings 19.

Please remember the schedule as we continue to meet with New Hope. Sunday School is at 9:30. Morning worship is at 10:45 and evening worship will be now at 5:30. There are no youth groups meeting this week but they have been meeting at 6:00. So, we bumped the evening service up a half hour and they agreed to move the youth activities back a half an hour. We didn't think having them at the same time was a good idea.

So you all know what to expect in worship this week. We will open with a call to worship from the Book of Revelation that we have used several times before. We will move from declaring God's greatness in that reading to singing his praise led by the New Hope band we heard last week. Following that there will be a time of sharing praise and prayer requests (as we usually do in the evening except they use microphones so we can hear one another). Either Rick Schroeder or I will then lead in prayer. We will then sing a hymn which leads us into the Word section of the service. Here we will hear the Word read from the Old and New Testaments, we will sing the Word (Psalm 69), and hear the Word proclaimed in the sermon. After the sermon we will respond to God's Word by singing the Doxology, giving tithes and offerings (during which there will be a soloist), singing another hymn and then receiving God's benediction.

A reminder for those who were not there last week or visitors coming, there are directions to the church building on the New Hope web site It is not difficult to find and when you get close there are, well, signs.

See you Sunday.
Jack