Sermon: Christmas "Simeon and Anna"

Click here to listen to Christmas Sermon

Simeon and Anna are two people that meet Joseph and Mary as they bring Jesus to the temple in Jerusalem, they have one thing in common, they both are awaiting the hope of the world, a messiah that would save their people.  This hope, which is our hope of Christmas, is found in Jesus not as a great teacher or moral example or but as the "Son of God"proclaimed in the beginning of the Gospel of Mark.  In Jesus, hope enters into the world, because Jesus is Emmanuel, "God with Us".  The hope that we can indeed be freed from bondage and slavery is a reality.  Simeon responds by leaving with God's peace and Anna as a joyful witness.  What is our response?  

Should Christians celebrate Christmas?

Surprising as it may seem occasionally a Christian objects to celebrating Christmas.   One objection is the fact that Christmas took the place of solstices-oriented pagan festival like the Norse celebration of Yule and the Roman celebration of the god Mithras.  When the church decided to celebrate Christmas on Dec 25 it absorbed the traditional pagan holidays.  While this is true there is precedent for its celebration going back to the apostles and the early church.  So much more must be said to understand its importance.  

The church has from its inception observed special days of worship.  Dating back to the Old Testament worship, Israel had a number of special festivals and holy days that were celebrated like Passover, Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits and Weeks.  Early Christians began worshipping on Sunday as the Christian Sabbath in order to emphasize the resurrection of Jesus (Acts 20:7, 1 Cor 16:1-2).  While the resurrection of Christ is celebrated every Sunday, the day of 14 Nisan (the same day as Passover in Judaism) was observed as the historical day of the resurrection.  This was based on apostolic tradition.  

The earliest record of Christmas actually goes back to the Feast of Epiphany, sometimes called the Feast of Theophany which is today celebrated on January 6th.  This is documented in the Apostolic Constitutions, early treatises on Christian worship and by St Clement of Alexandria (150-215) who also mentions the feast and vigil that accompanied it.  Christmas was more actively promoted during the fourth century and by the Council of Tours in 567 Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany were established and celebrated as a cycle.

The significance of this is more than just celebrating the "birthday of Jesus", it is rather, a recognition of the redemptive acts of God in Jesus seen through his birth, baptism, ministry, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension.  The Christian liturgical cycle functions to emphasize those important events that define our faith, it is a time not just to celebrate and commemorate it is a time to reflect, understand and ultimately to believe in what we as Christians are being called to, a life and vocation of discipleship in the footstep of Jesus.

Understanding the historical roots of Christianity is important because it helps us to understand and pass down important traditions, traditions that remind us of what those that came before us valued.  When we lose our history, we lose our grounding.  So, yes, we can certainly enjoy celebrating Christmas with many of our holiday traditions that make this time of the year joyful, but we must always remember that the root of Christmas is in the worship that takes place when Christians gather to praise, read, and hear the word proclaimed and celebrated Holy Communion together on the day the church sets aside to focus on the birth of Jesus, the inauguration of a new and wonderful act of salvation into the history of humanity.

So, should Christians celebrate Christmas?  Of course, but the celebration is truly a life changing one, it is one that calls us to grapple during Advent with the most serious of questions, because only when we can fully understand the nature of the darkness in the world, can we then celebrate the coming of the light that shines brightly directing our paths back to God.  

Sermon: Fourth Sunday in Advent "Advent's Wake-Up Call"

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Advent is a time that calls people to "wake up!"  We are asked to listen for the voice of God in our lives and in our world.  During this season, the lectionary turns our attention to John the Forerunner, who breaks out calling loudly in the wilderness to prepare the way for the Messiah!  The message is simple, God has come to us, God is calling us, God is about to be revealed to us.  Therefore, repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of sins.  John's role as the first witness was simply to point people to the Messiah that would come.  Too often we get this out of focus.  Distracted by other voices it is easy for us to take our focus off of the life and teachings that the scriptures bear witness to.  This time of the year we are asked to refocus on the Christ and prepare our hearts in an attitude of repentance, humility and receptivity to the message we are about to hear.

Advent Devotional Sunday 4

This Advent Devotional invites us to reflect on several pieces of Art during the Advent Season as we prepare our hearts for Christ's coming.

Faith and Art in Advent

Advent Devotional Sunday 3

Year B: St. John Introspective

This Advent Devotional invites us to reflect on several pieces of Art during the Advent Season as we prepare our hearts for Christ's coming.

Advent Faith and Art

Advent Devotional Sunday 2

Year B:  John the Forerunner

This Advent Devotional invites us to reflect on several pieces of Art during the Advent Season as we prepare our hearts for Christ's coming.  

Accordance Bible Study Program from Oak Tree Software

Accordance Bible Software

I have to give my recommendation to "Accordance Bible Software" as one of the best Bible software product on the market.  If anyone is looking to purchase and begin using Bible study tools in an electronic format on a computer, laptop, app, or tablet, you should look at Accordance. 

Why Accordance?  The easy to use workspaces allow you to bring up multiple window panes and interface with multiple texts, it has very clear and beautiful text font, (which can be easily resized) a user can bring up Bible texts, commentaries, dictionaries, or study notes simultaneously.   An Instant details window at the bottom allows a user to view ancient languages such as Hebrew and Greek parsing, reference notes, syntax or grammatical information.  A very easy to use tool bar allows user to sort and organize their libraries, and it can be personalized.  Timelines, Atlases, and Analytics are all available and easy to use allowing users to graph frequency of words, use pie charts and tables to analyze and study data.  Text comparisons are available as well allowing multiple Bibles for side by side comparison.  It is very easy to do cross text searches instantly between let say, a word in the text of the Bible, to a dictionary, or commentary.  

Besides the powerful search tools, speed, and sleek interface, Accordance boasts a truly broad library ranging from pastoral and devotional, to top of the line commentaries and dictionaries, and very rare ancient texts.  Popular scholarly study commentaries such as the Anchor Bible Commentaries, New Interpreter's, Word Biblical and Hermenia are all available, along with Bibles in numerous languages and translations, Greek and Hebrew tools and texts, several versions of the LXX, Targums, the Mishna, Qumran texts, Critical version of Q, dictionaries, lexicons, Josephus and other historical sources such as the Didache.  Many other tools such as Bible photo guides, and numerous other volumes, including devotional and pastoral are featured in the various collection for sale.  Take some time to go to the Accordance home page and look at their product line and software tutorials.  This is not only ideal for seminary and Bible college students, but pastors, scholars, missionaries, and any one interested in exploring Biblical scholarship.  This truly is the future of bible software study.  

click to access Accordance Home Page

Advent Devotional Sunday 1 Devotional

Year B: The Light of the World

This Advent Devotional invites us to reflect on several pieces of Art during the Advent Season as we prepare our hearts for Christ's coming.  

Art and Faith for Advent

Service of Thanksgiving Matt 25:1-13

click on this link to listen to Thanksgiving Worship Service part 1

click on this link to listen to Thanksgiving Sermon

click on this link to listen to Thanksgiving Sermon part 2

Thanksgiving is a civil holiday and not part of the liturgical year, nevertheless, it is an opportunity to reflect as a nation and to give thanks.  This special service of thanksgiving at First Presbyterian Church of Umatilla reflects on Matt 25:1-13 and the healing of the ten lepers.  Only one leper, appreciating the grace and mercy that he had received, returned to give thanks as an act of Worship to God.  In the same way, for us, gratitude for God's grace and love should be the heartbeat for our living. 

Reformation Hymns Remembered

The Reformation saw changes to worship, including the versification of Psalms among the Reformed churches, and new hymns that were introduced such as Martin Luther's "A Might Fortress is our God" and a lesser known hymn attributed to John Calvin which first appeared in the Strasbourg Psalter in 1545 "I Greet Thee Who My Sure Redeemer Art."  This hymn illustrates the Reformed theological emphasis of God's grace and mercy, the sovereignty of God, a prayer for unity in the church, and our need to trust in Jesus Christ.  This arrangement comes from singer, songwriter, and pianist Zachary Harris.

Some churches observe "Reformation Sunday" as a time to reflect on the Reformers, their message and the origins of numerous Christian denominations.  While this usually reflects on the positive aspects of the reformation, we cannot ignore the many divisions, religious wars, political and social  upheaval that resulted during this period.   There is no question that for better of for worse the Reformation had a profound impact on the social fabric of Europe and the world.  Even within the Roman Catholic church, the catholic reformation which in many ways preceded the Reformation gained steam after the outbreak of the Protestant Reformation.  The Catholic church saw changes during this period with the Council of Trent and under St. Ignatius and the Jesuits who brought about a new emphasis on mission and education around the world.  The hymn lyrics are provided below for "I Greet Thee" given as a prayer and hope for the peace and unity of the catholic church that we may one day heal the divisions that separate us.  It is also presented in memory of those reformers that following their consciousness called the church to a renewal of faith and practice.

I Greet Thee, Who My Sure Redeemer Art

I greet Thee, who my sure Redeemer art,

My only trust and Savior of my heart,

Who pain didst undergo for my poor sake;

I pray Thee from our hearts all cares to take.

Thou art the King of mercy and of grace,

Reigning omnipotent in every place;

So come, O King, and our whole being sway;

Shine on us with the light of Thy pure day.

Thou art the life, by which alone we live,

And all our substance and our strength receive;

Sustain us by Thy faith and by Thy power,

And give us strength in every trying hour.

Thou hast the true and perfect gentleness,

No harshness hast Thou and no bitterness;

O grant to us the grace we find in Thee,

That we may dwell in perfect unity.

Our hope is in no other save in Thee;

Our faith is built upon Thy promise free;

Lord, give us peace, and make us calm and sure,

That in Thy strength we evermore endure

What is Worship? by Rev. Dr. Michael Van Horn

What is Worship?

By:   ~ The Rev. Michael Van Horn, Ph.D.

Human beings were created for worship. The triune God has invited us to share in His life, and Jesus, our High Priest, leads us into the presence of God by the power of the Holy Spirit. Our celebration of worship is the central way we make ourselves present to what God has done and is doing through Jesus Christ.

Worship should never be a spectator sport. We are invited to engage as whole people in the public service of remembering God's covenants with His people. The liturgy is not our words, but the Church's words, given to us by a gracious, self-revealing God. We need worship, as one writer says, because we need the "weekly practice at not being God" and discovering just who the one true God is. It is only with this vision clarified that we can ever discover who we are, and flourish as human creatures. A service of worship church contains four basic elements: The Gathering, the Word, the Table, and the Sending. Each of these elements intentionally forms us into the people of God, mindful of God's gift of Himself:

1. Gathering as the People of God –

We come together, out of our various and distinct places of service in the world, to be joined together as one people with one purpose; to be re-oriented to God's life and God's world.

Silence - We pause briefly to hush the "noise" of our lives, recalling that, left to ourselves, we have nothing to say to God.

Call to Worship and Invocation - Here we recite our purpose for gathering and are reminded that we come only at God's gracious invitation. For this gift, we can only respond by saying "thank You."

Confession of Sin and Words of Pardon - We do not come before a holy God on our own terms. We have sinned. We have hurt others and ourselves. Confession is honesty about who we are in the light of who God is. We confess our sins together, with the whole Church, because we do not stand alone in our brokenness. Yet, we come to confession not to grovel in anxiety, but to empty our hands of our own "solutions" so that we can receive God's gift of promised forgiveness in Christ.

Peace - As forgiven and reconciled people, we have been called to a ministry of reconciliation in the world. Since God has forgiven us, we can forgive others and live at peace with them. We start with the family of God, speaking words of peace in Christ, and continue by extending that peace in all our relationships and choices.

Praise - Learning again that God has met us in our need, and has abundantly forgiven us, we celebrate in songs of gratitude and joy. Once again, these are not merely our words, but words given to us by God in His Church.

2. Listening to God's Word

The center of our worship is the revealed speech of God. God has spoken to His people "words of eternal life," and we take time to simply, reverently, and humbly listen to what God is saying. The Scriptural story is our story, as the people of God. This is a story of people caught up in God's grace, human faithfulness and failure, and God's constant loving kindness toward us.

Scripture – There can be as many as four passages from Scripture read,  (Old Testament, a Psalm response, New Testament Epistle, and a Gospel reading). These texts, often taken from a three-year lectionary cycle, are shared in common by Christians from many denominations around the world. Here we remember that God is speaking to all of us, the whole people of God, and our response at this Word is one of gratitude: "Thanks be to God!"

Sermon - The sermon is a prayerful attempt to proclaim the Word of God within our lives together as followers of Jesus Christ. God's Spirit continues to speak to us, and we are compelled to hear the daily call to faithful discipleship.

Creed - Biblical worship always includes response. In our affirmation of faith, we are invited to corporately affirm what the Church proclaims. With this confession, we join our voices to the Church around the world and throughout time, saying, "Yes Lord, we believe, and will obey."

3. Gathering at the Lord's Table

Here we begin to act as obedient disciples, through giving of our lives, interceding in prayer for others, and sharing in the meal that identifies us as people of the kingdom - the body of Christ for the world.

Offering - Like the rest of the worship service, the offering is a meaningful symbol. By giving to the ministries of the Church as an act of worship, we are acknowledging a deeper, larger reality: All of life is a gift from God. What we joyfully give in worship should keep us mindful that everything we have is a gift of God and should be used for His glory.

Prayers of the People - God has ordained us to be priests. Part of that priesthood is the work of intercession. In the prayers of the people we begin the lifelong task of bringing before God - through the ministry of Jesus, in the power of the Spirit - the needs of the world, the church, our communities and families, and ourselves.

The Eucharist - Communion is the reality of participating in the life of God through the gift of Jesus Christ to us. Here we give thanks to the Father for His work of creation and redemption; we remember the Son, Jesus, for His life-giving life, death, and resurrection even as we await His coming; and we ask for the presence of the Spirit to join us to the life of Christ and to transform us into kingdom people, who seek to live lives of justice and peace in the world, until the day the Kingdom of God fully arrives.

4. Going out into God's World

Worship makes "sense" of the world, inviting us to see and do the world God's way. The end of the service is really a beginning: the beginning of a life of worship in which we love God and neighbor, seeking to "do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God."

Sending - Having heard God speak, having learned the Good News, having been nourished at the Lord's Table, we have been commissioned for the work of Jesus in our homes, places of work and play, in the whole creation. The "sending" offers words of direction - marching orders - for the people of God: "Go in peace to love and serve God and neighbor." We have work to do.

Listen to sermons by Rev Dr Michael Van Horn

For Better Immigration Policy

 “The Lord watches over the sojourner and sustains the fatherless and the widow.” — Psalm 146:9

the Bible has much to say about our responsibility to the immigrant. As Presbyterians, we belong to a tradition that believes in the sovereignty of God over all people.  We are bound together and share an identity rooted in the Imago Dei- the image of God.  Our ancestors in the faith from Abraham to Jesus, and even those Presbyterians that first came to the America's were displaced people, often seeking a new land to worship freely or to be free from want. 

The MPI (Migration Policy Institute) has released a report "The Deportation Dilemma: Reconciling Tough and Humane Enforcement" on the Obama Administration's immigration enforcement record. The report analyzed the US deportation system over the last two decades.  It specifically examined the tension between strict government enforcement (a record level of removals under President Obama) and a push for more humane treatment of unauthorized people that have lived in our country for a long time.  The report some concerning issues, not only have over 4.5 million people been removed, but over 75% of deportations were handled via summary removal, that is by enforcement officers and not by judges. The report recommends that the US creates clearer more consistent guidelines for those that don't have criminal ties and have roots in the US, expand judicial oversight, and improve ICE and CBP officer training. 

This is not just a humanity issue, it is a faith issue.  As Christians with a history of immigration support in our denomination, write congress and the White House today to ask that immigration policy of the United States reflect our faith's call for justice and equity, not just speedy removal.  

Deportation Dilemma Report 

PCUSA study on immigration 

Letter from Glady's Parson on Immigration Reform

Take a virtual tour of the archeological site of Dura-Europos

click below to enter the Yale Archeology Site for Dura Europos:

Dura Europos Virtual Tour Yale Archeology Site

The archeological site of Dura-Europos in modern day Syria is an important site because it gives us insight into the cultural diversity of the ancient world.  Three important religious sites, a synagogue covered with biblical scenes painted on the walls, an early Christian house church with a baptistry and what may be the earliest artistic depiction of Jesus, and a shrine to the god Mithras.   Enter the site to take a virtual tour and learn more about this important archeological city.

Check out the ARDA: Association for Religious Data Archives

The ARDA Association for Religious Data Archives website provides an excellent opportunity to see the different branches of Christianity that has resulted in the many Christian denominations in a graph form of a "family tree."

Check out the category on the home page titled "Family Tree for World Religions" under the heading "Christian" for a "Christian" family tree.  Select from the top category Family Tree for Christian Denominations to see any one of the various different Christian denominations.

Presbyterianism has its roots in the reformation in Europe.  In the United States, Rev Francis Makemie an Irish immigrant helped to organize the first American Presbytery in Philadelphia in 1706.  English Presbyterians are recorded in colonial America as early as 1531. As Presbyterianism grew, many theological controversies caused splinter groups.  The below link to the  Presbyterian family tree shows the various groups that have branched off to form new denominations.  Its worth a look.

Click here to access the ARDA web site

Click here to access Christian family tree

Click here to access Christian family Tree via ARDA

I Have a Dream

On this day, fifty one years ago, what is perhaps the most quoted address by Rev Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was delivered before the Lincoln Memorial on 28 August 1963 as the keynote address of the March on Washington DC., for Civil Rights.  As Mrs. Coretta King commented, "At that moment it seemed as if the Kingdom of God appeared.  But it only lasted for a moment." A portion is reprinted here in honor of this significant speech.  The full content is available in the book "A Testament of Hope" from Harper One publishing.

"Go back to Mississippi; go back to Alabama; go back to South Carolina; go back to Georgia; go back to Louisiana; go back to the slums and ghettos of the northern cities, knowing that somehow this nation can, and will be changed.  Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.

So I say to you, my friends, that even though we must face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream.  It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed–we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, sons of former slaves and sons of former slave-owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day, even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by content of their character.  I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, that one day, right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.  I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places shall be made plain, and the crooked places shall be made straight and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope.  This is the faith that I go back to the South with.  With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope.  With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discord of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood.

With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free on day…

So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.
Let freedom ring from the might mountain of New York.
Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.
Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.
Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.
But not only that.
Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.
Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.
Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi,
from every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and hamlet, from every state and city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children–black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Catholics and Protestants–will be able to join hands and to sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last, free at last; thank God Almighty, we are free at last."

"A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King Jr." ed. James Melvin Washington.  New York: Harper One, 1986.

A Testament of Hope available on Amazon.com and other online sellers

Association for Reformed & Liturgical Worship

The Association for Reformed and Liturgical Worship, (AR&LW) is a voluntary association of congregations and individuals who have covenanted with God's help, dedicated to cultivate and promote worship that is Trinitarian, ecumenical, incarnational and sacramental.  On the web site there are liturgical resources available, as well as newsletters, contact information and a conference calendar.  If you are interested in growing in your knowledge of worship, liturgy, justice, evangelism and the sacraments, this is an important group to check out and support. A nominal annual membership is required.   The second resource is the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship which has numerous resources on worship, liturgy and music, and the Calvin Center for Excellence in Preaching also associated with Calvin Seminary.

Click to access the ARLW home page

Calvin Institute of Christian Worship

Center for Excellence in Preaching Calvin Seminary

Sermon Proper 15 Matt 15: 21-28

Drouais, Jean-Germain, 1763-1788 "Christ and the Canaanite Woman"
Jean and Alexander Heard Vanderbilt Divinity Library

click on this link to listen to the sermon "Lord, Have Mercy!"

Text for 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time is Matt 15: (10-20), 21-28.  Jesus and his disciples are confronted by a woman from the region of Syrio-Phoenicia, a "Canaanite" pleading for mercy and the healing of her daughter tormented by a demon.  In this gripping account, Jesus initially ignores the woman, than refuses her offer for help, while the disciples ask Jesus to send her away, but her persistence and faith in a God who offers mercy to all removes all barriers of resistance.  This lesson from the Gospel not only challenges us because of Jesus' unusual response, but because it is also born out of the church's early experience with the challenge of the inclusion of Gentiles into the faith community.  Today, can this lesson possibly speak to the social tensions faced in our contemporary society?

Changing the Culture of Gun Violence and Racism

The Michael Brown Shooting and Trayvon Martin Case

We are living with an epidemic of gun violence.  It is estimated that in the United States, one in five U.S. teenagers report having witnessed a shooting, and firearm homicide is the second-leading cause of death for youth ages 1-18 in the U.S.  We are also living in a country where racism continues to be a pressing problem.  The events last week of the shooting of unarmed Michael Brown after an altercation with a white police officer, refueled the debate about both gun violence and racism.  It is reminiscent of the killing of Trayvon Martin, another unarmed youth that was killed by a self-appointed neighborhood watch volunteer.  The killing of Michael Brown has raised tension and anger in the African American community that has clearly expressed their anger and frustration of being treated with suspicion, excessive force, and violence at the hands of law enforcement.  People of color are often treated differently or disproportionally pulled over as motorists or questioned pedestrians because of the color of their skin.  There has also been a number of deaths to unarmed people of color reported that has caused an angry response by many Americans. 

As we as a society debate gun laws, gun rights, racial profiling, racism, policing methods, security and freedom, it is time we demand change.  It is very important that people listen to the voices of those in these communities that are frustrated and angry.   The church has an important role to play.  Some of these issues are not political at all, but are human rights issues dealing with the right to protest peacefully, or a community angry about policing methods.  In the document "Gun Violence and Gospel Values, Mobilizing a Response to God's Call" the Presbyterian church has put together an important resource for churches and pastors in response to the current situation that we face.  The link below is to the Presbyterian Church mission agency that has provided a number of other important resources for churches and Christians as we seek to be salt and light in our society and help to bring healing to the many that have lost loved ones to needless gun violence.  Much can and must be done if we are to change the current culture of gun violence, what is for certain, is that as Christians who seek to be faithful to the gospel of Jesus Christ, the current situation is just unacceptable.

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God" Matt 5:9


The link below is to the PCUSA Finding resources for responding to gun violence

click here to access finding resources for responding to gun violence

Facing Racism a Vision of the Beloved Community

click here to listen to Melissa Harris-Perry Report

Washington Post Increase Homicides Report