Bread and More Soup Kitchen continues to serve a free to-go meal every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday from 5:30-6:15.
We are an open and affirming member of the United Church of Christ and no matter who you are or where you are in life's journey, you are welcome here. Contact the Pastor, the Rev. Dr. Murray at 631-727-2621 for more i
Church services are held at 10:00 am usually followed by a coffee hour. Please join us.
All are welcome.
Alley Cat Thrift Shop: Donations of adult clothing , shoes and small household items are accepted Tuesday and Thursday from 10-2 and Saturday 9-1 only. No furniture or children's items accepted.
Sunday School: Please call our church office if you would like your child to join. Sunday School is held during church services. No Sunday School during summer.
If you would like to join us on Zoom , please follow the link
Join Zoom Meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86897065711?
pwd=a0FZcDg5MnRqKz-JMQXRLVzIBTGZFQT09 to start or join a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Meeting ID: 850 1493 9172
Passcode: 7272621
Fourth Sunday after Pentecost
Service of Word and Sacrament
July 6, 2025✦ 10am
We open our hearts to the presence of God and worship together.
PRELUDE: Canon Pachelbel
*CHORAL INTROIT:
We are here this day to share God's love.
We have come with burdens and cares,
For within this place, we are bound as one
In this fellowship we share.
*CALL TO WORSHIP:
One: The realm of God has come near.
Enter this time of worship with joyous expectation.
Many: We will extol you, O God, for you have drawn us up.
You rescued us from the pit and restored us to life.
One: Sing praises to God, all faithful ones.
Give thanks to God’s holy name.
Many: We have known your favor, O God, in many ways.
You have healed us and turned our mourning into dancing.
One: Rejoice in the work you are given to do.
Give thanks that your names are known to God.
ALL: We will praise you, O God, and not be silent.
We will give thanks to you forever.
*HYMN: I Sing the Mighty Power of God No. 12
https://youtu.be/eeSoE1Kmmv0
WELCOME
PRAYER OF INVOCATION:
…Gracious God, our helper, we greet you this morning with joy and thanksgiving. We feel your welcome and anticipate your teaching. Speak to our hearts this day and illumined our minds. Let our ears be attentive to your Word, and our hearts be responsive to the opportunities you grant us to bear one another’s burdens in the name of Jesus Christ…
CHILDREN’S TIME
PASSING OF THE PEACE
ANNOUNCEMENTS, CELEBRATIONS & CONCERNS
A TIME OF PRAYER:
❖ Pastoral Prayer
…God of peace, whose challenges to us are not too great for us to fulfill with your help, speak your transforming Word to us now, that we may be empowered for the mission on which you send us. May the hospitality and compassion of Jesus be so much a part of our nature that others will be drawn to worship you and to keep your commands….
❖ Silent Prayer
❖ Lord's Prayer:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive
us our debts as we forgive our debtors. Lead us not
into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, the glory, now and forever. Amen.
OFFERING & OFFERTORY ANTHEM:
Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring Bach
*DOXOLOGY AND BLESSING OF GIFTS:
Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
Praise God, all creatures here below;
Praise God above, you heavenly host:
Creator, Christ, and Holy Ghost.
SCRIPTURE LESSONS:
❖ II Kings 5:1-14 OT Page 311
❖ Psalm 30 Hymnal Page 639
❖ Galatians 6:7-16 NT Page 168
❖ Luke 10:1-11, 16-20 NT Page 61
*GLORIA:
Glory to the Creator, the Christ, the Holy Spirit,
Three -in-one; as it was in the beginning
Is now, and ever shall be, world without end.
Amen. Amen.
SERMON: “The Surprising Power of God”
Gotta’ love the miracle stories. The healing and miraculous feeding accounts, the victory-for-the-underdog reports, the freedom and resurrection stories. They make our Bible and bring the power of God to the fore. Mind you, there’s stories of defeat and loss, and grand laments in there too, but it’s the miracle stories that win out, and it’s those we remember.
Today, we were treated to the account of Naaman’s healing brought about by word of the prophet Elisha, and the account of the 70 who went about the land to bring healing and the good news of our God. As the truly extraordinary is a little tempered in those accounts, we readily receive them. There’s healing that following a good cleansing and then just a report of the power of prayer to even chase away demons. Yet many of the grandest accounts of victory by God call us to suspend our disbelief. And the issue that many have today is that of identifying hand of God in our time, for all too often it’s seemingly absent. In today’s world, we aren’t often treated to grand accounts of God’s power that brings about the needed change -- the healing, the food, or assistance that shines light on the surprising power of our God. Instead, many of the news accounts that come our way are those of tragedy, violence, and war. We can wonder, where is the mighty Moses or miracle-working prophets, or the holy healers of our days? Where is our God of power and majesty?
It likely that you, as even I, have witnessed the sorrow of our days and have been left to wonder, “Why, God?” For as mighty as our God is there are, seemingly too often, times when no miracle or divine assistance comes forth. Yes, we do get the wonderful survival stories of courageous rescue, but for every one of those, there is the account of many who are lost. We can rejoice and thank God for the rescues after the horrific flood in Texas, but at the same time, our hearts break for the even more numerous families who lost loved ones. And such deaths are hard to understand. That news brings heartbreak and tear fall. What’s surprising about the power of God there seems to us to be that there was so very little of it.
When tragedy and faith collide, our faith can take a serious hit. And yet I know my read of “That’s not right, Lord; You should have acted” is about me assuming the mind of God. I judge things based on my limited understanding and vision. The challenge is to remember that just because we don’t readily see, or can’t possibly see, any good and holy action of God in a situation, doesn’t mean it’s not there. The power of God can very well be there, but just in ways we don’t comprehend.
Floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, fires and disease, all take their toll on humanity. The news that comes our way is that of the first impact, of the devastating toll that such has caused. When Notre Dame in Paris burnt in April of 2019, the news was filled with the tragic imagery. And that, despite the years that have gone by, we remember well. What we didn’t get much of were the accounts of the aftermath. The accounts of thousands of people working together from a host of different countries, who brought about the restoration, of millions of dollars from across the world that were raised, and then hours of coverage on the outcome was nothing short of miraculous as the mighty splendor was restored. There wasn’t so much of that.
I know, too, that with the death of loved ones comes a legacy of blessing but only long after the fact. The safety features we have in place today: seatbelts, airbags, fire alarms, sprinkler systems, tornado warnings, and the like, have only come our way through tragedy. The same is true for vaccinations and for many foundations of hope and healing. It’s there that we find the power of our God: power to restore, create, unite, and foster change for the good of many. God brings healing, but healing comes after the sickness and disease. God brings nourishment, but the miracle comes after dire need.
Today, as we continue our celebration of the strengths of our nation, we do well to count the healers, the relief workers, the rebuilders and hope-bringers in our prayers. They hold for us the stories of our day of the surprising power of our God. May we always, through all of life’s sorrows, be long remain mindful that God is still active, and blessings still abound.
OUR ORDER OF COMMUNION
The Invitation and Time of Confession:
❖ Call to Confession
❖ Silent Confession
❖ Unison Prayer of Confession:
Gentle and gracious God, we know we have let you down in
many ways. We have not lived up to your high intentions
for us. You send us out as ambassadors of peace, and instead
we pick fights with our sisters and brothers. You commission
us to travel light, and we become bogged down with our
possessions. You ask us to help ease the burdens others carry,
but we add to them. You call us to joy in your inclusive realm,
but instead we create our own ghettos. Patient God, forgive us
afresh that we may be transformed and renewed. Amen.
❖ Words of Assurance
Thanksgiving:
Pastor: The Lord be with you.
People: And also with you.
Pastor: Lift up your hearts.
People: We lift them up to the Lord.
Pastor: Let us give thanks to God Most High.
People: It is right to give God thanks and praise.
Pastor: We give you thanks, God of majesty and mercy,
for calling forth the creation and raising us from dust
by the breath of your being.
We bless you for the beauty and bounty of the earth and for the vision of the day when sharing by all will mean scarcity for none.
We remember the covenant you made with your people Israel, and we give you thanks for all our ancestors in faith.
We rejoice that you call us to reconciliation with you and all people everywhere and that you remain faithful to your covenant even when we are faithless.
We rejoice that you call the entire human family to this table of sacrifice and victory.
We come in remembrance and celebration of the gift of Jesus Christ, whom you sent, in the fullness of time, to be the good news.
Born of Mary, our sister in faith, Christ lived among us to reveal the mystery of your Word, to suffer and die on the cross for us, to be raised from death on the third day, and then to live in glory.
We bless you, gracious God, for the presence of your Holy Spirit in the church you have gathered. With your sons and daughters of faith in all places and times, we praise you with joy as we say together:
All: Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts,
Heaven and earth are full of Thy glory,
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.
Words of Institution and Communal Proclamation:
Pastor: We remember that on the night of betrayal and desertion,
and on the eve of death, Jesus gathered the disciples for a shared meal of preparation.
Jesus took bread, and after giving thanks to God, broke it, and gave it to the disciples, saying:
“This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
In the same way, he took the cup after supper.
Again he gave God thanks and praise and said:
“This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as
often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
Therefore, we proclaim the mystery of our faith:
All: Christ’s death, O God we proclaim.
Christ’s resurrection we declare.
Christ’s coming, we await.
Glory be to you, O God.
Prayers of Consecration:
Pastor: Eternal God, we unite in this covenant of faith, recalling Christ’s suffering and death, rejoicing in Christ’s resurrection, and awaiting Christ’s return in victory. We spread your table with these gifts of the earth and of our labor. We present to you our very lives, committed to your service on behalf of all people. We ask you to send your Holy Spirit upon this bread and wine, upon our gifts, and upon us. Strengthen your universal church that it may be the champion of peace and justice in all the world. Restore the earth with your grace that is able to make all things new.
All: Be present with us as we share this meal,
and throughout all our lives, that we may know you as
the Holy One, who with Christ and the Holy Spirit,
lives forever. Amen.
Sharing the Bread and Cup:
Pastor: Alleluia! Christ our Passover is offered for us.
People: Therefore, let us keep the feast.
Pastor: The gifts of God for the people of God.
We celebrate the grace of God in our midst.
(Please wait until all have been served and we’ll ingest together)
unison Prayer of Thanksgiving:
We give you thanks, Almighty God, that you have refreshed us at your table through the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Continue to heal us, we pray, and strengthen our faith. Increase our love for one another, and send us forth into the world in courage and peace, rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit; we ask these things in the Name of Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
*HYMN: Let Us Talents and Tongues Employ No. 347
https://youtu.be/nYnF86ZzHH8
*PASTORAL BENEDICTION
CHORAL BENEDICTION:
May the light of God shine on us today.
May the light of God shine on us today.
May it show us where to travel,
Lead us back if we should stray,
May the light of God shine on us today.
POSTLUDE: Abundant Life Hayes
(please remain seated for the postlude)
Second Sunday after Pentecost
A Service of the Word
June 22, 2025 ✦ 10am
OPENING WORDS:
We open our hearts to the presence of God and worship together.
PRELUDE: Andante Welsh
(Once the music begins we ask that you would please maintain respectful silence)
*CHORAL INTROIT:
We are here this day to share God's love;
We have come with burdens and cares,
For within this place, we are bound as one
In this fellowship, we share.
*CALL TO WORSHIP:
One: God is ready for us to seek what is eternal.
God wants us to find the truth beyond ourselves.
Many: Our spirits long for God, as a deer longs for water.
We cry out for some evidence of God’s presence.
One: God seldom comes as earthquake, wind, or fire.
Rather, in moments of sheer silence, God is revealed.
Many: We come in quiet expectation to this holy place.
We approach the altar of God, hungering to be fed.
One: All are welcome here as brothers and sisters in Christ.
Here is a place to find healing and promise.
ALL: Our hope is in God, who gives us life and identity.
Our help is from God, who is in covenant with us.
HYMN: O God, Our Help in Ages Past No. 25
https://youtu.be/N-hN740J6qA
WELCOME
PRAYER OF INVOCATION
…God, our refuge and our hope, come among us today to give us energy and purpose. Move us beyond the discipline of the law to the discipleship of faith. Free us from the shackles of fear and a sense of failure that keep us from stepping bravely into your future. Grant us the sense that we are not alone but are part of a great company of your faithful people of every nation and tongue….
CHILDREN’S TIME
ANNOUNCEMENTS, CELEBRATIONS & CONCERNS
Celebrating the 4th: On Sunday, July 6th, be sure to join us after
worship for hot dogs and hamburgers as we extend the 4th of July
celebrations.
A TIME OF PRAYER:
❖ Pastoral Prayer
…Holy God, whose healing presence gathers together our brokenness and restores our integrity, move us once more to proclaim to one another how much you have done for us, that no one will question, “Where is your God?” but will sense your reality among us. May we be attentive listeners and faithful followers….
❖ Silent Prayer
❖ Lord's Prayer:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name,
thy kingdom come, thy will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, the power, the glory,
now and forever. Amen.
OFFERING & OFFERTORY: Pavanne Fauve
*DOXOLOGY AND BLESSING OF GIFTS:
Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
Praise God, all creatures here below;
Praise God above, you heavenly host:
Creator, Christ, and Holy Ghost.
SCRIPTURE LESSONS:
❖ I Kings 19:1-15a
❖ Psalm 42 and Psalm 43
❖ Galatians 3:23-29
❖ Luke 8:26-39
SERMON: “To the Rescue”
Today, with the help of our first lesson from I Kings, we get some fun with theology.
It seems that many of the heroes of our Biblical accounts -- from Noah and family, to Abraham and Moses, David, Jonathan, Job, Jonah, all of the major prophets, Jesus and the apostles -- find themselves in a world of trouble. Paul, particularly, was regularly in hard spots. When writing to the Corinthians, he provides the list of the many ways his faith was tested as he suffered "through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger."
But with these trouble spots, we always get fervent prayer (as our prayer game is always upped in times of trouble) and God comes to the rescue, providing exactly what’s needed, whether it’s instructions on building an ark to weather the storm, water from a rock or quail in the wilderness, or mighty power to calm storms or escape a violent crowd.
Today, it’s Elijah in trouble with Jezebel because he had killed the prophets of Baal, and God provides the needed nourishment, courage and instruction, even in the silence, to get him through it.
To the rescue. As it was just Father’s day and as today is my dad’s 97th birthday, my father has been on my mind. He, too, fits well in the picture of to the rescue. In my childhood home, my father worked as manufacturers' representative and was often on the road. My mom stayed at home to look after my twin sister and me, tend to the affairs of the house and home, and serve as dad's administrative assistant in the home office. Mom was always around, feeding and tending, but when it came to the larger, fix-it issues, they would wait for dad. It was dad who'd fix the plumbing when floods hit the basement or the bathroom. Dad fidgeted with the breakers when the electric would go. It was dad's job to deal with the gutters, the downspouts, the garage doors, the snowstorms, or hurricane debris, basically anything outside. Mom was always around, but for the serious stuff, it was dad to the rescue.
I was one of the fortunate ones. For there are many who grow up with the absent, missing, or non-existent dad. For them, the notion of "Father God" isn't particularly helpful or endearing. For them, "Father God" is just God somewhere out-there who may or may not show up. Yet even with my regularly returning father, the notion of one who isn’t always there remains. Today we are reminded that our God not only sweeps in like superman to come to the rescue, but also remains with us, for some of the rescue that God gives to us is the gift of holy presence in all our days. And that’s what this new season of Pentecost is all about.
With all the trouble of our Biblical heroes, one of the recurring issues of Biblical literature and scholarship is that of the transcendent versus the immanent presence of God. Transcendent presence points to our God who is wholly other, who dwells outside our realm and who breaks into our existence from the beyond. Immanent presence points to our God among us, who dwells within and around us.
A couple of years ago, seminary professor George Stroup wrote an article for The Journal of Preachers entitled with the rather self-evident question "Does God Intervene?" There Stroup speaks of the ways that we, as Christians, understand God's coming to the rescue like superman even in light of our understanding of an ever-present God. As the author points out, the case for the transcendence of God is easy to make. The Bible regularly shows us God who breaks through the boundaries of heaven and frees the people from bondage in Egypt, feeds them with manna in the wilderness, leads them by a pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night. It is our God who sends prophets to chastise, and when the people ignore the prophets sends foreign armies to conquer and send them into exile. This is the God who pops in and performs miracles in our midst but then retreats and leaves the world to run its normal and natural course. Although clear, this conceptualizing of God leads us, to paraphrase Bonhoeffer, to push God out of our world that has come of age, and relegate God to a realm beyond the world of experience. This is the God of the gaps who flies in like superman, beats down the bad guys and saves the people.
The problem, of course, is that the superhero disappears, flies off again into the distance. And such understanding can lead the Christian to perceive of God as one who is only occasionally present and not involved in the ordinary events of our day to day lives.
Another theologian, Karl Rahner, seeks to correct such thinking. Unfortunately, he does so with language that can be hard to understand. God's intervention, he poses, can only be understood as "the historical concreteness of the transcendental self-communication of God which is already intrinsic to the concrete world." If one can battle through such phraseology which doesn't really get much clearer, we can come a little closer to understand God who is not only revealed as the distant creator who reaches out and breaks through with the magic hand, but God the Holy Spirit who dwells within us and around us all of the time. This is our God of the here and now. This is our God of our daily experience.
Although considered opposites, we must think of God as both transcendent and imminent, remaining always mindful that God is closer than we can even imagine. Such will be Elijah’s challenge and ultimately, his strength. Although treated to God powerfully pops by in wind, earthquake and fire, Elijah must come to understand that God remains with him as he journeys on. So, too, we must open the doors of our hearts and minds to God's presence regardless of the currents of conflict or of jubilation. For God is wholly other but wholly present and is willing to work in tandem with us in each day. To use Paul's language, we are called to open wide our hearts and receive God's power to prevail, and understand that God is always poised to come to the rescue if we invite God in and that God always remains to nourish us and lead us on.
*HYMN: I’m So Glad, Jesus Lifted Me No. 474
https://youtu.be/uHb8waPQOPs
*BENEDICTION
CHORAL BENEDICTION:
May the light of God shine on us today.
May the light of God shine on us today.
May it show us where to travel.
Lead us back if we should stray.
May the light of God shine on us today.
POSTLUDE: Prelude in F Bach
Second Sunday after Pentecost
A Service of the Word
June 22, 2025 ✦ 10am
OPENING WORDS:
We open our hearts to the presence of God and worship together.
PRELUDE: Andante Welsh
(Once the music begins we ask that you would please maintain respectful silence)
*CHORAL INTROIT:
We are here this day to share God's love;
We have come with burdens and cares,
For within this place, we are bound as one
In this fellowship, we share.
*CALL TO WORSHIP:
One: God is ready for us to seek what is eternal.
God wants us to find the truth beyond ourselves.
Many: Our spirits long for God, as a deer longs for water.
We cry out for some evidence of God’s presence.
One: God seldom comes as earthquake, wind, or fire.
Rather, in moments of sheer silence, God is revealed.
Many: We come in quiet expectation to this holy place.
We approach the altar of God, hungering to be fed.
One: All are welcome here as brothers and sisters in Christ.
Here is a place to find healing and promise.
ALL: Our hope is in God, who gives us life and identity.
Our help is from God, who is in covenant with us.
HYMN: O God, Our Help in Ages Past No. 25
https://youtu.be/N-hN740J6qA
WELCOME
PRAYER OF INVOCATION
…God, our refuge and our hope, come among us today to give us energy and purpose. Move us beyond the discipline of the law to the discipleship of faith. Free us from the shackles of fear and a sense of failure that keep us from stepping bravely into your future. Grant us the sense that we are not alone but are part of a great company of your faithful people of every nation and tongue….
CHILDREN’S TIME
ANNOUNCEMENTS, CELEBRATIONS & CONCERNS
Celebrating the 4th: On Sunday, July 6th, be sure to join us after
worship for hot dogs and hamburgers as we extend the 4th of July
celebrations.
A TIME OF PRAYER:
❖ Pastoral Prayer
…Holy God, whose healing presence gathers together our brokenness and restores our integrity, move us once more to proclaim to one another how much you have done for us, that no one will question, “Where is your God?” but will sense your reality among us. May we be attentive listeners and faithful followers….
❖ Silent Prayer
❖ Lord's Prayer:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name,
thy kingdom come, thy will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, the power, the glory,
now and forever. Amen.
OFFERING & OFFERTORY: Pavanne Fauve
*DOXOLOGY AND BLESSING OF GIFTS:
Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
Praise God, all creatures here below;
Praise God above, you heavenly host:
Creator, Christ, and Holy Ghost.
SCRIPTURE LESSONS:
❖ I Kings 19:1-15a
❖ Psalm 42 and Psalm 43
❖ Galatians 3:23-29
❖ Luke 8:26-39
SERMON: “To the Rescue”
Today, with the help of our first lesson from I Kings, we get some fun with theology.
It seems that many of the heroes of our Biblical accounts -- from Noah and family, to Abraham and Moses, David, Jonathan, Job, Jonah, all of the major prophets, Jesus and the apostles -- find themselves in a world of trouble. Paul, particularly, was regularly in hard spots. When writing to the Corinthians, he provides the list of the many ways his faith was tested as he suffered "through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger."
But with these trouble spots, we always get fervent prayer (as our prayer game is always upped in times of trouble) and God comes to the rescue, providing exactly what’s needed, whether it’s instructions on building an ark to weather the storm, water from a rock or quail in the wilderness, or mighty power to calm storms or escape a violent crowd.
Today, it’s Elijah in trouble with Jezebel because he had killed the prophets of Baal, and God provides the needed nourishment, courage and instruction, even in the silence, to get him through it.
To the rescue. As it was just Father’s day and as today is my dad’s 97th birthday, my father has been on my mind. He, too, fits well in the picture of to the rescue. In my childhood home, my father worked as manufacturers' representative and was often on the road. My mom stayed at home to look after my twin sister and me, tend to the affairs of the house and home, and serve as dad's administrative assistant in the home office. Mom was always around, feeding and tending, but when it came to the larger, fix-it issues, they would wait for dad. It was dad who'd fix the plumbing when floods hit the basement or the bathroom. Dad fidgeted with the breakers when the electric would go. It was dad's job to deal with the gutters, the downspouts, the garage doors, the snowstorms, or hurricane debris, basically anything outside. Mom was always around, but for the serious stuff, it was dad to the rescue.
I was one of the fortunate ones. For there are many who grow up with the absent, missing, or non-existent dad. For them, the notion of "Father God" isn't particularly helpful or endearing. For them, "Father God" is just God somewhere out-there who may or may not show up. Yet even with my regularly returning father, the notion of one who isn’t always there remains. Today we are reminded that our God not only sweeps in like superman to come to the rescue, but also remains with us, for some of the rescue that God gives to us is the gift of holy presence in all our days. And that’s what this new season of Pentecost is all about.
With all the trouble of our Biblical heroes, one of the recurring issues of Biblical literature and scholarship is that of the transcendent versus the immanent presence of God. Transcendent presence points to our God who is wholly other, who dwells outside our realm and who breaks into our existence from the beyond. Immanent presence points to our God among us, who dwells within and around us.
A couple of years ago, seminary professor George Stroup wrote an article for The Journal of Preachers entitled with the rather self-evident question "Does God Intervene?" There Stroup speaks of the ways that we, as Christians, understand God's coming to the rescue like superman even in light of our understanding of an ever-present God. As the author points out, the case for the transcendence of God is easy to make. The Bible regularly shows us God who breaks through the boundaries of heaven and frees the people from bondage in Egypt, feeds them with manna in the wilderness, leads them by a pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night. It is our God who sends prophets to chastise, and when the people ignore the prophets sends foreign armies to conquer and send them into exile. This is the God who pops in and performs miracles in our midst but then retreats and leaves the world to run its normal and natural course. Although clear, this conceptualizing of God leads us, to paraphrase Bonhoeffer, to push God out of our world that has come of age, and relegate God to a realm beyond the world of experience. This is the God of the gaps who flies in like superman, beats down the bad guys and saves the people.
The problem, of course, is that the superhero disappears, flies off again into the distance. And such understanding can lead the Christian to perceive of God as one who is only occasionally present and not involved in the ordinary events of our day to day lives.
Another theologian, Karl Rahner, seeks to correct such thinking. Unfortunately, he does so with language that can be hard to understand. God's intervention, he poses, can only be understood as "the historical concreteness of the transcendental self-communication of God which is already intrinsic to the concrete world." If one can battle through such phraseology which doesn't really get much clearer, we can come a little closer to understand God who is not only revealed as the distant creator who reaches out and breaks through with the magic hand, but God the Holy Spirit who dwells within us and around us all of the time. This is our God of the here and now. This is our God of our daily experience.
Although considered opposites, we must think of God as both transcendent and imminent, remaining always mindful that God is closer than we can even imagine. Such will be Elijah’s challenge and ultimately, his strength. Although treated to God powerfully pops by in wind, earthquake and fire, Elijah must come to understand that God remains with him as he journeys on. So, too, we must open the doors of our hearts and minds to God's presence regardless of the currents of conflict or of jubilation. For God is wholly other but wholly present and is willing to work in tandem with us in each day. To use Paul's language, we are called to open wide our hearts and receive God's power to prevail, and understand that God is always poised to come to the rescue if we invite God in and that God always remains to nourish us and lead us on.
*HYMN: I’m So Glad, Jesus Lifted Me No. 474
https://youtu.be/uHb8waPQOPs
*BENEDICTION
CHORAL BENEDICTION:
May the light of God shine on us today.
May the light of God shine on us today.
May it show us where to travel.
Lead us back if we should stray.
May the light of God shine on us today.
POSTLUDE: Prelude in F Bach
We're biblical, traditional, yet progressive.
We honor and take pride in our
Congregational roots.
We covenant with one another and with God,
as revealed
in Jesus Christ through the illumination of
the Holy Spirit.
We endeavor to walk humbly with God and
strive for justice and peace.
My house shall be called a house of prayer for all people.
Isaiah 56.7
We are an open and affirming congregation in which all persons regardless of race, ethnic background, economic status, gender, age, or personal ability, are equally affirmed into membership, leadership and employment
and joyfully welcomed.
Our church office is open for phone calls at 631-727-2621. Pastor Sean will return your calls. Our secretary is in the office Wednesday and Thursday mornings.
Our church office is open for phone calls at 631-727-2621. Pastor Sean will return your calls. Our secretary is in the office Wednesday and Thursday mornings.
Worship on Sundays at 10:00am.
No matter who you are or where you are in life's journey, you are welcome here.
103 1st Street, Riverhead, New York 11901, United States
Open today | 09:00 am – 12:00 pm |
Our church office is open Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 9:00am-12:00. Church services are held on Sunday at 10:00am, and coffee hour in the fellowship hall following the worship service. Sunday School will be held at 10:00 am. (To run concurrent with our worship service)
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