A few pictures from our Vacation Bible School

Happenings and opportunities at Pilgrim Reformed Church for the week of June 19, 2011

Monday, June 20th, 7:00 ... Pastoral Committee in Parsonage
Tuesday, June 21st, noon,... Prayer in the Parlor
7:00 PM ... Bible Study, Fellowship Hall
Wednesday, June 22nd, 7:00 ... Consistory in Fellowship Hall
Thursday, June 23rd, 7:00 PM ... Choir
Sunday, June 26th ALL DAY...STUFF THE TRUCK
9:15 ... Sunday School Opening
9:30 ... Sunday School
10:30... Worship Service


BIRTHDAYS THIS WEEK
Sunday, June 19th ... Gary Gibby & Gene Edwards
Tuesday, June 22nd ... Peggy Black & Abigail Fulton
Wednesday, June 23rd ... Carlin Truell & Elizabeth Reynolds

THIS PASTOR’S VIEWPOINT
Self-criticism goes just so far. Although it is good to take a look at what you have accomplished and try to judge whether it is good or bad, whether it does or says what you want or mean to say, it is frequently better left to another to judge us. If we have just one failing (actually we have many, but let’s be upbeat) it is usually the inability to judge ourselves.

One thing I learned long ago was, that no matter how well I thought I wrote a piece, there was an editor who made it better. Oh, to be sure there were those few times when I disagreed with some corrections, but basically, I’m glad other eyes were the final judge.

Even after I write a Viewpoint, I have to read it several times, often out loud, before I find all the errors and still there are those that elude me. It takes other eyes (perhaps yours) to discover the flaws I’ve overlooked.

One of the problems we probably all share, however, is a general dislike of someone else pointing out our flaws. “Okay, I’m not perfect, but I don’t need you to tell me so” we may respond to a critic.

Think then, about the courage of the psalmist David when he wrote (prayed) these words in Psalm 139:23-24a (NLT). “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you.” How challenging would that be for a writer, an artist, an actor, a politician, or a Christian?

Indeed, how courageous would those words be for any of us, no matter how good or righteous we believe ourselves to be! “Point out anything that offends you, God” Sometimes we may even ask that of God in our prayers, sometimes, but, even so, I suspect we come to our “Amen” before we’ve spent much time listening for God’s reply.

I imagine that God’s response to us might be something like, “Well, if you’re really interested in knowing what bugs me about you, if you really mean it, then put aside all of next week and we’ll go over it together.”

Most of us would never put aside that much time for plain correction, not even from God, but perhaps it might truly benefit us, and God as well, if we did set aside a few minutes every day for having our hearts tested and our behavior graded.
You think?


Sermon For, June 19, 2011
Trinity Sunday & Father’s Day Fathers Day
GODLY FATHERSSermon text: Romans 8:14 –17

I love it when Father’s Day falls on the Sunday designated as Trinity Sunday and our Epistle for the day contains these wonderful words from St. Paul: “Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation—but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. 13 For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, 14 because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory."

What better good news can we have than that? We are children of God. Let’s face it though, the concept of the Trinity may be a little abstract for us--God as Father, God as Son, God as Holy Spirit. That may all be a little murky.

Author Liz Curtis Higgs writes about a conversation she had with her young daughter Lillian on the subject of religion. Liz first asked, “Who rules the universe?”

Without hesitation, Lillian replied, “God does.”
Next, Liz asked about Jesus, and Lillian answered, “They work together.”
Time for the big one. “What about the Holy Spirit?” Liz asked.
And Lillian replied, “He works on weekends.”

Obviously Lillian didn’t have a very clear concept of the Trinity. But who does? If we could reduce all God is into a pat formula, God would not be God. But most of us can understand quite readily what it means to call God, Abba! Or Daddy! We know what it means to say we are children of God. And, as we honor Christian fathers on this special day, we can gain a better understanding of what God means for Christian fathers to be.

Now, it’s not easy being a good father --- any more than it is to be a good mother or a good son or a good daughter. Always in the home we have tensions.

Two explorers in central Africa were comparing their stories.
“I am a man of action,” said the first. “Modern life was too stuffy and predictable for me. I wanted to experience new horizons, danger, adventure. I wanted to see nature in the raw. That’s why I came out here……..What about you?”
“I came,” said the second man, “because my son is taking bagpipe lessons.”

Family life always has its tensions. Even in the best of families. Still, as I read this text I see quite clearly three things that Christian fathers ought to be.

First of all, Christian fathers ought to love as God loves. The word is one of intimacy: “Abba,” “Daddy.” The feeling that Jesus gave us about God…is not that God is somewhere far removed from us. God does not seal Himself away from us, unavailable, unyielding, uncaring. Rather God is a God who sees every sparrow fall from the sky, who counts every hair of our head. Think about that for a moment. It is really a radical view of God. It is one of closeness and deep caring.
In our society the whole idea of fatherhood has been at least partially disconnected from manhood. Maybe somewhere in many men’s subconscious it somehow feels unmanly to show their children affection. Maybe that was how they were raised. Maybe they had no model of outward displays of affection.

“Our heroes have never been daddies,” wrote Hugh O’Neill in a piece for MOTHERING magazine, adapted from his book, DADDY COOL:

“Consider the pantheon of manliness -- the granite-jawed Randolph Scott, Clint Eastwood, the Duke, Alan Ladd as Shane, the outlaws Bogart and Cagney, the denim cool James Dean, not to mention Springsteen. All the legends have one thing in common: they are entirely undomesticated.

Cool is the open road to wherever it leads; Daddy is … is the station wagon to the swap meet.
O’Neill continued, “The fact is that any fool can be cool if he is well rested, and well-groomed when he makes the decisions about his life. But it takes real sand to be cool when you haven’t slept since June, when your son only plays “Red River Valley” on his harmonica and is threatening to drive you mad, when you have just been awakened with a GoBot to the head.”

Many fathers have had no models for showing affection to their children, affirming their children, encouraging their children. Society doesn’t provide them with models. And perhaps their own fathers were distant, remote.

Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton had this to say about her father, “My father would come home and say, ‘You did well, but could you do better? It’s hard out there.’ I would come home from school with a good grade, and my father would say, ‘Must have been an easy assignment . . . ’”

Now you might say that her father’s conditional expressions of love probably helped make Hillary Clinton the over-achiever she is today, but don’t you think that it also exacted an emotional price?

Lee Strobel is an immensely gifted man who has had at least three successful careers: as an award-winning journalist for the Chicago Tribune, as a pastor at one of the largest churches in the country, and as a best-selling Christian author. Through the years, Lee secretly wished that his father would affirm him more. How much he longed for those words, “Son, I’m proud of you.” But he never heard them.

In 1979, Lee’s father died. At the funeral, dozens of his father’s friends and business associates came up to shake Lee’s hand and all told him the same thing: how proud his father was of him. According to these men, Lee’s father had bragged about him all the time.

What a bittersweet moment it was for Lee to hear those precious words from his father -- after the man’s death. What a difference it would have made if his father had said them while he was alive.

Arnold Schwarzenegger, past governor of California, tough guy star of macho movies like Robocop, and as we know, unfortunately not the perfect husband, but, here is what Schwarzenegger had to say about fathering:

“The little things make you a hero to your children. When you’re there to help them pick out the perfect clothes for school and the perfect shoes. If you comb out their hair in the morning and if you help them with their breakfast--those are the kind of things, the little things that make you a hero.”

Most Dads do not have exciting jobs like being a movie star or a pastor but Dads can still do the little things that make them heroes to their children. A Christian father ought to reflect God’s love. And a Christian father ought to reflect God’s character.

An Internet poll asked respondents to answer the question, “Which one family member is best identified as your role model?” The father was listed as the top role model in most families, with mother coming in a close second.

Whether you like it or not, Dad, you are a role model to your children. However, what if Dad himself hasn’t really grown up? What if Dad indulges in irresponsible behavior? The damage can be considerable.

When General Norman Schwartzkopf was interviewed by Barbara Walters, some time ago, she asked him for his definition of leadership. He reflected for a moment and said, "It's competence. More important, it's character. It's taking action. It's doing the right, the ethical, thing. These four qualities are also critical for success in the business world.”

Later Barbara asked him what he wanted on his tombstone. For a moment he grew very quiet. Then, with just the hint of a tear in his eye, he said, "I want it to say, 'He loved his family and he loved his troops- and they loved him.'"

Steve Goodier in his book, One Minute Can Change a Life, tells about another man of character, tennis great Arthur Ashe. Ashe once related a defining incident that occurred when he was 17 years old. He was playing in a tournament in West Virginia. As was often the case, he was the only contestant of color in the tournament.

One night, some of the kids trashed a cabin. They absolutely destroyed it … then decided to say that Arthur was responsible. The incident was reported in the newspapers; Arthur denied his involvement, but the boys would not change their story. The worst part for Arthur was worrying about what his father would say and do.

He eventually made the dreaded phone call. As he surmised, his father had already learned of the vandalism. His father's tone was grim. He asked Arthur only one question. "Arthur Junior," he asked, "all I want to know is . . . were you mixed up in that mess?"
Arthur answered, "No, Daddy, I wasn't."

His father never asked about it again. Arthur learned that day why he had always been encouraged to tell the truth. Because there would come a time when he had to be believed. Because he had already earned his trust and respect, he knew his father believed him. From that day on he was determined, above all else, to live a life of integrity.

Arthur Ashe learned about character from his father -- the way most children learn from their parents about character. Christian fathers reflect God’s love and God’s character.

A Christian father reflects God’s gentleness and at the same time God’s strength. Obviously we’re not talking about physical strength, but emotional strength, spiritual strength. The kind of strength that takes fathers through difficult periods of sickness or just hard economic times. These are the times when families fall apart when parents fight and fathers storm out of the house. It is the time when the most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother.

Real Dads have emotional strength, spiritual strength. They are gentle, yet strong, in the same way that Christ was gentle, yet strong.

My guess is that there could be some people in this room who grew up somewhat afraid of their Dad.

Perhaps your Dad embodied a style of parenting that confused strength with stoicism. Perhaps your Dad was relatively absent except when discipline needed to be meted out --- and then it was with an iron hand.

For some of you, this awkward relationship with your Dad may have affected your relationship with God. You see God as a harsh, remote God.

If that is your experience, listen again to the words of our scripture lesson: “because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, (Daddy) Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.”

That is the God we worship and that is the God we should reflect as fathers, as parents, loving as God loves. People of character reflecting God’s character, people of gentleness and strength.

Amen

The happenings at Pilgrim for the week of June 12, 2011

Here's Whats Going On

Sunday, June 12th 6-9 ... Vacation Bible School
Monday, June 13th 6-9 ... Vacation Bible School
Tuesday, Jube 14th 12 noon ... Prayer in the Parlor
6-9 Vacation Bible School
Wednesday, June 15th 6-9 ...Vacation Bible School
Thursday June 16th 6-9 ... Vacation Bible School
Sunday, June 19th FATHERS DAY
9:15 ... Sunday School Opening
9:30 ... Sunday Schhool
10:30 ... Worship
6:30 .. Youth Fellowship


BIRTHDAYS THIS WEEK
Sunday, June 12th ... Kelly Mosley
Friday, June 17th ... Justin Neese

THIS PASTOR’S VIEWPOINT

Great expectations. No, I’m not thinking about the book. I’m thinking about the concept, the idea. Very few of us have gone to long without having had a “great expectation” of some sort. Perhaps you have hopes for the Braves, or for you favorite golfer, for Junior or your favorite race driver in the “chase,” such that, by mid-summer, you begin to get that “great expectation”… Champions! Well, that’s been dashed a few times, hasn’t it!

Then for students there are/were the expectations of “killing” that final and getting an “A” for the course. That doesn’t always happen either. Or when we were (or are) teenagers we had (or have) certain expectations about that person we are dating for the first time and sadly staying home with the parents often would have been more fun. A lot of retired folks today find their retirement dollars don’t go nearly as far as those early expectations led them to believe.

Great expectations are common on the job, at school, at play, for the young as well as the elderly. In spite of our proclivity for expecting great things we are also aware of the dangers of expecting too much. The idea that if something is too good to be true often the best course is it to stay clear of it. We also sometimes feel that things must be terribly complicated in order to have value.

I thought of this as I came across an example of a person, a man named Naaman, in my daily Bible readings who had the interesting problem of having expectations that were not met and a solution that seemed far too simple. 2 Kings 5:10-12 (NLT), “But Elisha sent a messenger out to him with this message: ‘Go and wash yourself seven times in the Jordan River. Then your skin will be restored, and you will be healed of leprosy.’ But Naaman became angry and stalked away. ‘I thought (expectation #1) he would come out and meet me! … I expected (expectation #2) him to wave his hand over the leprosy and call on the name of the Lord his God and heal me!’”

If, at last, he hadn’t listened to his officers and done the simple thing he had been instructed to do, poor Naaman would have lost “the whole ballgame.”

Today we are concerned about the prospects for a lasting world peace and it seems that no matter what we do or no matter what our expectations for success, global peace eludes us. Perhaps, in the end it really comes down to doing a simple thing on a global scale. Love each other as I have loved you.”(John 15:12b NIV). It’s certainly worth trying.

Sermon for Sunday, June 12, 2011
“THEM BONES GONNA RISE AGAIN”Sermon Text: Ezekiel 37:1 14
“Them bones, them bones, them dry bones . . . Now hear the Word of the Lord.” Who can read this colorful parable from the Bible without thinking of that old spiritual? “Well, the toe bone’s connected to the foot bone, and the foot bone’s connected to the ankle bone, and the ankle bone’s connected to the leg bone and the leg bone’s connected to the knee bone . . . now hear the Word of the Lord.”
Ezekiel says that the hand of the LORD came upon him, and the Lord brought him out by the spirit and set him down in the middle of a valley, a valley full of bones. (This sounds like an opening scene on television’s CSI, doesn’t it?) And the Lord led Ezekiel all around the bones--bones were everywhere--and they were very dry.
And the Lord asked Ezekiel, “Mortal, can these bones live?" Ezekiel answered, "O Lord God, you know."
Then the Lord said to Ezekiel, "Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live;and you shall know that I am the Lord." (NRSV)

So Ezekiel prophesied as he had been commanded; and as he prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. “The finger bone’s connected to the hand bone, and the hand bone’s connected to the wrist bone, and the wrist bone’s connected to the arm bone . . .”

Ezekiel looked, and there “were sinews on the bones, and flesh and skin had covered them; but there was no breath in them. Then God said to Ezekiel, "Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live."

And Ezekiel prophesied as the Lord commanded him, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude. Then God said to Ezekiel, "Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, 'Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.' Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: I am going to open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you back to the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord . . . when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people. I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act," says the Lord. “Them bones, them bones, them dry bones . . . now hear the word of the Lord.”
Now let’s jump ahead a few hundred years. It is the day of Pentecost. The followers of Jesus are gathered together in one place. Their Master has left them to ascend to the Father. They are on their own now. They are still trying to assimilate all that has happened to them, but they are a rather disorganized bunch. They know they’ve got a big job ahead of them, but they’re still a little confused about how they are supposed to go about it. The Master had told them to wait in Jerusalem until the Spirit came upon them.

What did this mean the Spirit would come upon them? It was Greek to them. Well, actually it was probably Hebrew…ok, I guess it was still Greek to them.

But then something quite unbelievable happened. The house began to shake. And from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. (Now, I know if that should happen here, right now, after what’s been happening this spring I expect most of us would be possibly somewhat concerned….like panic.)

Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. “Them bones, them bones, them dry bones . . . now hear the word of the Lord.”

These stories from God’s Word ought to make our hearts race. When the Spirit of God comes, things happen; that which was dead springs to life, that which was dreary and gray bursts forth into a rainbow of beautiful colors, that which was without promise is now shining with new hope and possibility. This is the Word of the Lord. God can take dry bones and give them life.

There was an interesting article in the little Upper Room devotional booklet sometime back. Alma Barkman shared a news report about a boat load of beans that was being transported across the North Atlantic. When the ship ran into a storm, some water got into the hold where the beans were stored. The beans began to swell until they nearly split the ship open.
Alma makes the point that we often underestimate beans. Consider that Southern phrase reserved for those things that are of little consequence: “Doesn’t amount to a hill of beans.” But get some water into those beans and they grow far beyond their original size.

The same sort of phenomenon occurs when the Holy Spirit comes into a life. We become empowered beyond our normal capabilities when we have God’s Spirit working in us. God can take dry bones and give them life.

It might be the dry bones of a relationship. Relationships are difficult whether they be between husbands and wives or parents and children or whatever they might be.

I heard an amusing story about a family that had a tradition that whenever any of the children did something wrong, they had to go outside and cut their own switch. These were those primitive old days when punishment was usually corporal. Anyway, young Brad had done something wrong and he was sent out to find a small branch that would serve as the means of his punishment.

He finally returned with a small handful of rocks. With his lower lip quivering he said, “Daddy, I couldn’t find a switch. How about if you just stone me?” My guess is his Dad was laughing too hard to administer the punishment. Relationships are difficult. And some relationships can grow stone cold.

You might have heard this unusual story: A jeweler had one client, a recent divorcee, ask if he could transform her wedding band into a pair of earrings. Not such an unusual request. But she wanted the earrings inscribed. One would read “with all,” the other would read “my love.” The client explained that the earrings would serve as a reminder that “the next time anyone said, “with all my love” to let it go in one ear and out the other.”

Relationships are difficult. There is something very sad about an important relationship that has been allowed to founder on the reef of misunderstanding.

"Love never dies of a natural death," Anais Nin once wrote. "It dies because we don't know how to replenish its source; it dies of blindness and errors and betrayals. It dies of illness and wounds; it dies of weariness, of withering, of tarnishing." What a sad truth that is. Relationships are difficult. Any relationships but particularly those relationships that are the most intimate.
A young couple who were getting married on a shoe string asked if I could make their wedding rings out of silver instead of the usual gold which they couldn’t afford. My answer was certainly, and as a matter of fact silver is quite appropriate for marriage. It will only stay bright if used, just like love. Put it aside and, like love, it tarnishes. But God can breathe new life into dry relationships just as well as he can into dry bones.

In the same way God can breathe new life into dry hearts. Sometimes because we live such respectable lives in somewhat cloistered neighborhoods, we forget that Christian faith is not simply a convention that you grow up with. For many people it is a dramatic, life-changing encounter.

You and I meet people all the time who need that kind of experience of Christ. And they are not merely down-and-outs. Some of them are up-and-ins. But they are lonely, they are bored, they are afraid. They’ve let their lives get out of control and they are guilt-ridden and ashamed. They need Jesus just as much as the prostitute or thief needs Jesus. Jesus can bring new life to dry hearts.

And God can even breathe new life into dry churches. Today is Pentecost, the day the Spirit of God came upon the early church.

I remember a story that Dr. Zan Holmes, an outstanding African-American preacher, once told about Pentecost.

He said he was flying into a certain city and he was told that a man from the sponsoring group would meet him in the baggage area of the airport to drive him to the place where he was to speak.

Well, no one appeared. He stood there in the baggage area waiting while the other passengers gradually disappeared to their destinations, but no one came up to him to offer him a ride to the meeting place. Then he spied a man, almost concealed by an airport column, carefully looking him over.

Finally this man came over to him and asked, “Are you Dr. Holmes?”

“Yes I am,” Dr. Holmes replied.

“Well,” said the man somewhat indignantly, “You sure don’t look like your picture.”
“Pentecost,” says Zan Holmes, “is a picture of what the church ought to look like.” Then he adds, “But most of us sure don’t look like our picture.”

He’s right. We don’t look like the church at Pentecost. There are no tongues of fire above our heads. And people in the neighborhood are not going to accuse us of being drunk and disorderly in worship. And that’s all right. That’s a one-time occurrence.

But what is sad is that we don’t pray with the intensity that the early church prayed, and we don’t share like the early church shared, and we don’t love like the early church loved, and we don’t believe like the early church believed, and we don’t reach out to the people in our community like the early church reached out to the people in its community. That is sad, very sad.

Now before you try to stone me for saying those terrible things about “our church” I’m speaking of the Christian church in general. I’m very proud of the way this body of Christian believers responds to these things but, let’s admit it….we could still do better.

We may not need all the fireworks of that first Pentecost, but we do need the Spirit of God to fall afresh on our dry bones to make us all that Christ means us to be.

“Them bones, them bones, them dry bones…”I believe it can happen. I believe it can happen to dry relationships, I believe it can happen to dry hearts, and I believe it can happen to dry churches.

That’s the word of the Lord!

Amen.