The Heart of the Matter - Pentecost Sunday

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Throughout this season, we have proclaimed that love is that which binds us (the root of “religion”) to God, to Jesus, to each other. Love IS our religion. On the day of Pentecost, the church received the power of the Holy Spirit to let this message flow out to all. The power of this message is ever-so important to spread in the world today. Let us be a community of messengers letting living compassion flow from our hearts.

“All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability... 'In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. Even upon those bound, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy...’” -- Acts 2:4, 17-18 

"On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, he cried out, "Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, 'Out of the believer's heart shall flow rivers of living water.'" -- John 7:37-38 

Open the Eyes of My Heart - Ascension Sunday  

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The story of the last time the disciples saw Jesus is a story of blessing. Jesus says that as witnesses to his presence and resurrection, they too will be filled with power to carry on his ministry, to be his hands and feet in the world. To see the world through the eyes of Jesus is to see through the eyes of love. 

"I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you...” -- Eph 1:17 

“You are witnesses of these things. And see, I am sending upon you what [Abba, God] promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high." -- Luke 24: 48-49

Kept in Our Hearts - Sixth Sunday of Easter

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To “sanctify” something is to set it apart as holy and consecrated. The resurrected Jesus tells his disciples that the Spirit will be with them when he is gone. Holiness resides within each one of us. It calls us to see holiness in others. It calls us to do the right thing in the name of Love, even when the right thing isn’t easy. 

Now who will harm you if you are eager to do what is good? But even if you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear, and do not be intimidated, but in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord.  -- 1 Peter 3:13-22

"If you love me, you will keep my commandments.And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever... They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them." -- John 14: 15-21 

No Trouble in My Heart - Fifth Sunday of Easter

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Jesus himself cried out to God from the Hebrew scriptures that were his holy texts, “Into your hands I commit my spirit.” He reminded his disciples, and he reminds us, to trust in God when our hearts are troubled. Steadfast love is what God shows and what we are called to offer each other. 

“Into your hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O LORD, faithful God. My times are in your hand; deliver me from the hand of my enemies and persecutors. Let your face shine upon your servant; save me in your steadfast love.” - Ps 31:5, 15-16 

"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?” -- John 14: 1-2

Hearts Overflowing - Fourth Sunday of Easter

Jesus used the metaphor of a shepherd several times in his ministry. In this passage, the sheep know the shepherd’s voice and they follow because this Shepherd offers abundant life. What does a loving Christian community look like? What would it take to live with “glad and generous hearts?” 

“Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.” -- Acts 2:46 

“The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own  sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice... I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly." -- John 10:1-10 

Straight from the Heart - Third Sunday of Easter

Jesus’ table ministry was a preeminent way that he showed and shared a depth of love unseen in his time. He ate and spent time with those considered unworthy of his attention. Even in his post-resurrection appearances, it was in the breaking of bread that he was “recognized.” As we gather this day, we remember that, at the heart, his message was unconditional love. 

Now that you have purified your souls by your obedience to the truth so that you have genuine mutual love, love one another deeply from the heart.” -- 1 Peter 1: 22 

‘When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, "’Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?’" -- Luke 24: 30-32

With Glad Hearts - Second Sunday of Easter

To live “as Easter people” is to live knowing that death is not the final word. What would we do differently if we really believed that we are loved beyond all endings? That there was nothing to fear? Today we imagine Jesus at our “right hand,” counseling us throughout our days, “peace be with you.” 

“I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand so that I will not be shaken; therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; moreover my flesh will live in hope.... “ -- Acts 2: 25-26 

"I bless the LORD who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me. I keep the LORD always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices; my body also rests secure." -- Ps 16:7-9 

“When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’" -- John 20:19

This all-generational virtual worship will celebrate Christ’s resurrection with special music, prayers and liturgy. An invitation to sing Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus will conclude worship.  

Conviction, Crucifixion, and entombment of Jesus Christ

A series of pictures portrays events in the Passion of Christ, from his condemnation by Pontius Pilate to his entombment, narrated by Rev. David Randall-Bodman and Beth Astarte. Images reflect the times of Jesus as well as similarly oppressed people of today. Gather virtually on Good Friday Morning during this Holy Week and Easter Season. Adapted from www.worshipdesignstudio.com/easter2020. Used with permission.

The Maundy Thursday worship service draws its purpose and themes from historical events that our Christian tradition believed happened on the Thursday before Easter. It is a reenactment of the Last Supper. “Maundy” is the English form of the Latin word meaning commandment. Jesus’ new commandment, “Love one another as I have loved you,” is the focus of Maundy Thursday. This special service will be held in the Sanctuary.

The Garden: Risking Temptation

NOTICE: Worship services will be via Facebook LIVE, not not by gathering until further notice, due to COVID 19. BHS Food effort is ON!

Gethsemane is the moment when a chain of events begins that cannot be halted. Once Jesus is taken into custody, there is no going back. So we pause a moment with him in the garden just before his arrest, and we feel with him the temptations that arise when facing difficult circumstances—to run, hide, use whatever power we have to change things, fight it, perhaps even bargain with God. We walk among the sleepy disciples who just can’t grasp what is about to happen. And we open to let the story remind us that no matter what we face, or how we fail to meet the demand of the moment, second chances are possible.

“They went to a place called Gethsemane; and he said to his disciples, ‘Sit here while I pray.’ He took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be distressed and agitated. And he said to them, ‘I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and keep awake.’ And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. He said, ‘Abba, Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me; yet, not what I want, but what you want.’” — Mark 14:32-36 (with references to Mark 14:32-52, John 18:1-11)

NOTICE: Worship services will be via Facebook LIVE, not not by gathering until further notice, due to COVID 19. BHS Food effort is ON!

Jesus’ response to a visit to the Temple in the midst of this busy, noisy, Passover “tourist season” is utter frustration turned to anger. With so much at stake, “business-as-usual” seems obscene. This can be true for us today. The banality of our everyday lives sometimes seems ludicrous in the face of such suffering around the world. But taking a moment inside the scene where Jesus is overturning tables in this “house of prayer for all nations” can offer us a way to see what we actually might do to reassess our own actions and make our own corner of the world (our “temples”) a more welcoming place for all people.

“Then they came to Jerusalem. And [Jesus] entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling and those who were buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers. . . . He was teaching and saying, ‘Is it not written, “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations”? But you have made it a den of robbers.’” — Mark 11:15-17 (with references to Mark 11:15-19, John 2:13-21)

Services are held virtually, without attendance until further notice.

Besides the Last Supper, Holy Week contains another important story that happens at dinner. Earlier in the week, Jesus and his followers gather for a meal, and a woman shows up unexpectedly to anoint Jesus in an extravagant show of devotion. To say she caused quite a “stir” might be understating it a bit. We imagine ourselves in the room and we see the looks of judgment and even outrage on the faces around us. Are we ourselves moved by her generosity and outpouring of emotion? Or are we uncomfortable as Jesus refers to his own death? Does our complaining or anger really serve to hide our own fear? Jesus invites us to tell this story “in remembrance of her.” What uncomfortable stories are we called to tell in our time?

“While he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at the table, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very costly ointment of nard, and she broke open the jar and poured the ointment on his head. But some were there who said to one another in anger, ‘Why was the ointment wasted in this way? For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor.’ And they scolded her. But Jesus said, ‘Let her alone; why do you trouble her? She has performed a good service for me. For you always have the poor with you, and you can show kindness to them whenever you wish; but you will not always have me.’” — Mark 14:3-7 (with references to Mark 14:3-9, Matthew 26:6-13, John 12:1-8) 

Participation in worship services will be via Facebook LIVE, not not by gathering until further notice,.

That last week, Jesus doesn’t “lay low.” He puts himself out there, susceptible to those who want to trap him, twist his words, get him to say something damning. He cannot turn from his vocation—he is not only a master teacher, but prophet and voice of the Divine. It is his ability to draw the people to his teachings that pose a threat, a challenge, to the authorities. We place ourselves in the crowd this week, to be moved and motivated by Jesus for our lives—to get a faithful perspective. What would we have seen, heard and felt? What do we do now?

“But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, ‘Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin used for the tax.’ And they brought him a denarius. Then he said to them, ‘Whose head is this, and whose title?’ They answered, ‘The emperor’s.’ Then he said to them, ‘Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.’” — Matthew 22:18-21 (with references to Matthew 22:15-22, Mark 12:13-17, Luke 20:20-26) 

Jesus’ response to a visit to the Temple in the midst of this busy, noisy, Passover “tourist season” is utter frustration turned to anger. With so much at stake, “business-as-usual” seems obscene. This can be true for us today. The banality of our everyday lives sometimes seems ludicrous in the face of such suffering around the world. But taking a moment inside the scene where Jesus is overturning tables in this “house of prayer for all nations” can offer us a way to see what we actually might do to reassess our own actions and make our own corner of the world (our “temples”) a more welcoming place for all people.

“Then they came to Jerusalem. And [Jesus] entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling and those who were buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers. . . . He was teaching and saying, ‘Is it not written, “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations”? But you have made it a den of robbers.’” — Mark 11:15-17 (with references to Mark 11:15-19, John 2:13-21)

Rev. Tyler Connoley, our newest CPC Conference Minister. Mark your calendars for a very special Lent series - Entering the Passion of Jesus. Inspired by Amy-Jill Levine’s book by the same name, this Worship Design Studio series takes us deeply into the events of the last week of Jesus' life.