Difference between revisions of "Sermon for April 22nd, 2018"

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Today we come to the letter S, which stands for Sacred.  It's also the letter that is right in the very middle of the word worship, and so I want to speak today about how that sacredness is at the very heart of what it means to worship, and everything else -- the welcome, the order, the reformed, the honesty, the intelligence, and the public nature of worship all flow outward from this one aspect:  Our worship is sacred.
 
Today we come to the letter S, which stands for Sacred.  It's also the letter that is right in the very middle of the word worship, and so I want to speak today about how that sacredness is at the very heart of what it means to worship, and everything else -- the welcome, the order, the reformed, the honesty, the intelligence, and the public nature of worship all flow outward from this one aspect:  Our worship is sacred.
  
In a minute, I'll unpack that word, "sacred" some more, but before I do that I need to take one step backward.  When I was putting together this acronym for WORSHIP, most of the letters (and the values they represent) came pretty easily.  But not this one.  Why? Because what I really wanted to place at the heart of our worship, as self-professed Christians...is Christ.  And truly, Jesus Christ IS at the center of all that we do, in worship and in every other aspect of our church.  But as fun as it is to say "Worchip," that didn't quite fit the acronym.  There is a connection between Christ and the Sacred, which I'll get to eventually.
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In a minute, I'll unpack that word, "sacred" some more, but before I do that I need to take one step backward.  When I was putting together this acronym for WORSHIP, most of the letters (and the values they represent) came pretty easily.  But not this one.  Why? Because what I really wanted to place at the heart of our worship, as self-professed Christians...is Christ.  And truly, Jesus Christ IS at the center of all that we do, in worship and in every other aspect of our church.  But as fun as it is to say "Worchip," that didn't quite fit the acronym.  I do think there's a logical connection between Christ and the Sacred, which ultimately makes the acronym work, and which I'll get to...eventually.
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But first, let's start with Jesus Christ, the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end of everything we do.

Revision as of 16:21, 21 April 2018

Luke 24:50-53

50 Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them. 51 While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven. 52 And they worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy; 53 and they were continually in the temple blessing God.

Hebrews 1:1-6

1 Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds. 3 He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word. When he had made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

5 For to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you”? Or again, “I will be his Father, and he will be my Son”? 6 And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all God’s angels worship him.”

FPC Worship is Sacred

For the past few weeks, we've been talking about WORSHIP -- what it is, why we do it, what scripture has to say about it, and how it works here at First Presbyterian Church..

I got to thinking about how our early (9am) service includes a lot of people who are relatively new to our church; they are *finding* faith, or at least finding faith again in a new place.

Our second service (11am) is a traditional service--it includes a lot of folks who are interested in *keeping* or holding onto the faith and the traditions they grew up with.

I've always wanted to start yet another worship service specifically designed for those who grew up in the church but at some point along the way *lost* their faith and have never quite recovered.

And then there's always a need for a worship service that reaches out to those who are experiencing grief or loss in their lives.

That would be a total of four worship services, and just so no one gets confused about which is which, I've already come up with the perfect name for each service: We would call them "Finders, Keepers, Losers, Weepers."

I'm just kidding. Mostly. But we really are talking about worship at First Presbyterian Church, using the acronym WORSHIP, which stands for Welcoming, Orderly, Reformed, Sacred, Honest, Intelligent, and Public.

Today we come to the letter S, which stands for Sacred. It's also the letter that is right in the very middle of the word worship, and so I want to speak today about how that sacredness is at the very heart of what it means to worship, and everything else -- the welcome, the order, the reformed, the honesty, the intelligence, and the public nature of worship all flow outward from this one aspect: Our worship is sacred.

In a minute, I'll unpack that word, "sacred" some more, but before I do that I need to take one step backward. When I was putting together this acronym for WORSHIP, most of the letters (and the values they represent) came pretty easily. But not this one. Why? Because what I really wanted to place at the heart of our worship, as self-professed Christians...is Christ. And truly, Jesus Christ IS at the center of all that we do, in worship and in every other aspect of our church. But as fun as it is to say "Worchip," that didn't quite fit the acronym. I do think there's a logical connection between Christ and the Sacred, which ultimately makes the acronym work, and which I'll get to...eventually.

But first, let's start with Jesus Christ, the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end of everything we do.