​First Presbyterian Church of Blackwood                          
21 E. Church Street
Blackwood, NJ 08012                                                                              
Sermon Notes (Sunday ~ September 17 2023)
Rev. Robert Reader 

​The First Presbyterian Church of Blackwood
21 E. Church Street
Blackwood, NJ 08012
Sermon Notes (Sunday, September 10, 2023)
Rev. Dwayne M. Doyle, Guest Preacher
 
 
The Ultimate Goal
Psalm 119:33-40; Matthew 18:15-20; Romans 13:8-14; I John 4:7-8
 
How do you deal with people?  Are you good at confrontation?  I’m not.  In fact when taking a test on confrontation I found that I am not good at it.  This isn’t a good quality for someone in ministry I would say after working in churches for over 16 years.  But the bible does give us some tools to help us when needing to confront someone.  Matthew 18:15-20 is a basic way to confront a fellow Christian in love when we believe they have done something to knowingly or unknowingly hurt us or someone else.
 
“If another believer sins against you, go privately and point out the offense.  If the other person listens and confesses it, you have won that person back.  But if you are unsuccessful, take one or two others with you and go back again, so that everything you say may be confirmed by two or three witnesses.  If the person still refuses to listen, take your case to the church. Then if he or she won’t accept the church’s decision, treat that person as a pagan or a corrupt tax collector.” Matthew 18:15-20.
 
“First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye.” Matthew 7:5
 
“Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church.  He makes the whole body fit together perfectly.  As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.” Ephesians 4:15-16
 
“And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live.  Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption.
 
Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior.  Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.
 
Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children.  Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ.  He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.” Ephesians 4:30-5:2
 
“Carefully determine what pleases the Lord.  Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them.  It is shameful even to talk about the things that ungodly people do in secret.  But their evil intentions will be exposed when the light shines on them, for the light makes everything visible.  . . .” Ephesians 5:10-14a
 
“So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise.  Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days.  Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do. Don’t be drunk with wine because that will ruin your life.  Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts and give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ”.  Ephesians 5:15-20
 
“Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path.  And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself.” Galatians 6:1
 
When I was studying missions I found out that there was a high percentage of attrition among missionaries.  It was determined at that time in the 1990’s, that most missionaries returned from the field of service due to their inability to not get along with other fellow missionaries.
 
Rick Love, the CEO of Frontiers, a mission organization with over 1,000 employees going to the tough places, wrote a book and taught a course on Peacemaking. His purpose was to help missionaries learn how to confront other missionaries in love so that they could deal with their problems and differences. I believe, the same is true for the church today. We need tools to know how to confront one another in Christian love.  Too many people get hurt in a church and leave. No one knows why. 
 
When I was studying church growth we were taught that often people who are enjoying church will sit in the front pews.  As they are having difficulty at the church they will tend to move farther and farther to the back of the church until one day, they no longer show up at church.  We should be looking for the signs that something is wrong as we see such behavior patterns.  Even after the fact, we should speak to people who have left the church and ask them why they left. Was it something the pastor said? Was it something that they never expressed to anyone else? Is there any hope of reconciliation?  Always bless the person who has made the decision to go to another church.  The important thing is that they are going to some church.
 
Relationships take work. I believe that it is important for people to be in fellowship groups within a church body. It isn’t enough to just come to church on a Sunday morning.  You need to be in fellowship with other believers during the week as well.  In such fellowship groups you should be sharing your burdens with one another and praying for one another.  No one should be a lone Christian.  Amen?
 
Living in Christian community is a way that we can practice our Christianity.  Learning to live with each other’s differences may be uncomfortable, but it will help to shape the church into becoming what it needs to be.
So what is the Ultimate Goal?  It is to live in harmony with God and with other people and enjoy God’s creation.  Well, at least that is my ultimate goal.  What about for you? What is your ultimate goal in life?
 
Being the best person you can be.  Being the best spouse, or mother or father.  Following God’s commands to love God and love our neighbor as ourselves. Being the best you you can be.
 
For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved.  John 3:16-17
 
Jesus came and told his disciples, “All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me, Jesus said. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations.  Baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Teaching them to remember all things that I commanded you.  And lo, I am with you always, to the end of the age. Matthew 28:18-20
 
            And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in every nation, and the end will come.
 
And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations* will hear it; and then the end will come  New Living Translation  Matthew 24:14 *(nations can be translated ‘all peoples’). Every Man’s Bible  New Living Translation: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. Carol Stream, Illinois, 2004, p. 1291 footnotes.
 
I studied the movement of Israel from Canaan to Egypt into bondage for 430 years and then to the wilderness for another forty years.  After all of that time of waiting, Moses said this to the people as he was about to die:
 
Take to heart all the words of warning I have given you today.  Pass them on as a command to your children so they will obey every word of these instructions.  These instructions are not empty words—they are your life?  By obeying them you will enjoy a long life in the land you will occupy when you cross the Jordan River.” Deuteronomy 32:45b.
 
Solomon concluded after a lifetime of living the good life.  All is vanity.  Ecclesiastes 1:2
 
We look forward to heaven where there will be no more sin, no more crying or pain.
 
“He (God) will live with them and they will be his people . . . He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain.  All things are gone forever. Revelation 21:3b-4
 
The Death of Moses
“So Moses, the servant of the LORD, died there in the land of Moab, just as the LORD had said.  The LORD buried him in a valley near Beth-peor in Moab, but to this day no one knows the exact place.  Moses was 120 years old when he died, yet his eyesight was clear, and he was as strong as ever.  The people of Israel mourned for Moses on the plains of Moab for thirty days, until the customary period of mourning was over.”  Deuteronomy 34:5-8
 
Louis Zamperini also lived a good long life. Jan. 26, 1917 to July 2, 2014,  97 years old.  Perhaps the Ultimate Goal is to have lived a good life pleasing to the Lord so that at the end of it we will hear from the Lord, “well done good and faithful servant.”
 
A Call to Love and Obedience
“And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you?  He requires only that you fear the LORD your God, and live in a way that pleases him, and love him and serve him with all your heart and soul  And you must always obey the LORD’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good.
 
Look the highest heavens and the earth and everything in it all belong to the LORD and your God. Yet the LORD chose your ancestors as the objects of his love. And he chose you, their descendants, before all other nations as if evident today. Therefore, change your hearts and stop being stubborn.  Deuteronomy 10:12-16
 
The Israelites didn’t have victory over the people of the land of Canaan because of their righteousness.  It was because of the wickedness of the nations living there that the LORD conquered them.  He did this to “fulfill the oath he swore to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  You mut recognize that the LORD your God is not giving you this good land because you are good, for you are not—you are a stubborn people.” Deuteronomy 9:4-6
 
“The LORD God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it.  But the LORD God warned him, “You may feely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden—except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.   If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.”
 
“But—When God our Savior revealed his kindness and love, he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.  He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit.  He generously poured out the Spirit upon us thorough Jesus Christ our Savior.  Because of his grace he declared us righteous and gave us confidence that we will inherit eternal life.” Titus 3:4-7
 
“Owe nothing to anyone but to love one another.”
 
“Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul, strength and mind.  And love your neighbor as yourself.”  Luke 10:27; Mark 12:28-31; Matthew 22:36-40;
“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”  And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your mind.  38 This is the great and first commandment.  39 And a second is like it: you shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the law and prophets.”
 
Deuteronomy 6:5
“You shall love the LORD your God with all of your heart, with all of your soul, and with all of your strength.”
 
12 Day Retreat in the white mountains with fellow seminarians.  The teacher did not tell us the purpose of the trip, but that we would have to determine that ourselves.  For me it was learning how to confront someone that I was having a hard time with.  She was gracious when I confronted her.
 
Hear O Israel; the lord our God, the Lord is one.
 
Learning to work things out/ willing to confront.
Willing to take the risk and maybe be rejected by the other person so that you can live in harmony.
 
Maybe your idea of what someone is doing or saying wrong wasn’t what they really meant.
 
How are you at receiving criticism?
 
It is a two-way street. 
 
I am not good at receiving criticism.  That is probably why I am not a good pastor.  We all should be open to hear what others are saying to us. 
 
A man or woman’s pride brings them low.  And Pride commeth before the fall. Proverbs 29:23;16:18
 
Moses was open to the advice of his father-in-law, Jethro, about appointing other leaders to help him so that he wouldn’t burn out. Exodus 18:1-27
 
Conclusion
The Ultimate Goal is to know God.  By loving our neighbor we will also be showing that we love God.
 
The two commandments are in a sense in separable according to I John. If you don’t love your neighbor who you can see, how can you say that you love God who you can’t see.
 
Moses was one example of a person who really go to know God.  God said of Moses that he was not like any other prophet who he gave visions to.  Instead, God spoke to Moses as a person speaks to another person, ‘face to face’.
 
Jesus also spoke of his disciples as those who were his friends.
 
The Ultimate Goal is to get to know God. We have our whole lives to do it. 
 
Each of us has been able to get to know God in our own way.  He has been evident in my life through the love of my parents, through many people who have taught and modeled what it means to follow God.
 
I have learned about God in church, Sunday school and in my Christian studies.  I have tried to listen to God and hear his still small voice.  He has spoken to me through his word, the Holy Bible. God has gifted the Church with many talented people.  I have listened to many sermons from many godly men and women. 
 
The closest experiences that I have had with God were while wrestling when I felt God’s presence with me.  The other day I went body surfing in Ocean City, NJ.  I must have ridden in about 50 waves.  I truly was enjoying God’s creation and felt like a child playing in God’s Ocean. 
 
Sometimes I think that it is just the little things in life that make it what it is.
 
I spoke to a retired police/fire person the other day after over fifty years of service.  He said that he is ready to go home to be with his maker.
 
Being at peace with the creator of the universe is an important thing.  Taking care of unfinished business.  Asking for forgiveness to those who have hurt us.  Reconciling with those who we may have hurt.  These are all a part of being right before people and God.
 
Jesus came to say that we will never be good enough to earn God’s approval.  Jesus had to come to the earth to do that by dying for our sins on the cross.  But through God’s sacrificial offering, we are indeed made right with God.  If you have never done that, been made right with God.  Today is the day to do it.
 
But, if you have begun that new relationship with God, it is time to start growing in that relationship. 
 
God desires that all people might be saved.  I believe that God also desires to have a relationship with you.  Like a father who we have never gotten to know.  Start getting to know your heavenly Father.  He is always there for you 24/7.  Amen.

​The First Presbyterian Church of Blackwood
21 E. Church Street
Blackwood, NJ 08012
Sermon Notes (Sunday, September 3, 2023)
Rev. Dr. Cliff Jones
 
 
 “The Question of Why”
Acts 8:1 - 4
 
You know, some questions are trivial - they’re just not important.
I was rummaging around our cabinet, looking for a game to take to a picnic.  I thought it might be fun to play at some point.  I pulled out Monopoly, Checkers, Trivial Pursuit - where you have to answer questions in 6 categories as you move around the board: history, entertainment, sports, science and nature, art and literature, and geography.  When that craze died down, they came out with “Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?”, another game where you have to answer unimportant questions.  We bought that game, too.
 
So… I brought a few questions with me from that game; unimportant questions, just to see if we are smarter than a 5th grader.  Ready?  If you know the answer, just shout it out:
 
            The Tropic of Capricorn lies in which hemisphere?
            What is the longest river in the United States?
            What was the name of the first satellite pulled into orbit by the United States? (Ex)
            Which Civil War battle took place the farthest north? (St. Albans Raid, V)
 
Well, now we can go home, resting in the assurance that none of us is smarter than a 5th grader! Fortunately, those questions are not important.
 
But, some questions are important - important to us!
Questions like “We’re without a pastor; how long will it take to get someone?
“What are we going to do?” “What’s going to happen to us?”
And, then, of course, the main question: ‘Why?’
“Why is this happening to us?”  “Why now?”
 
Every congregation asks these questions when a pastor leaves.  And, these are the same kind of questions we often ask ourselves when we hit tough times personally.  When the rent rises, when the divorce is finalized, when we’re worried our money won’t last through retirement, when our grandchild develops a serious condition, when we come down with - you name it - AFib, cancer, COPD, diabetes, long-term COVID, pain that won’t quit…, we ask the questions:  “What will happen to me?”  “How will I cope?”  And the big one: “Why?”  “Why me?”
 
What answers have you come up with to the question of why?  Maybe friends have tried to answer it for you.  They’ll say, “I’m sure it will be okay.”  Or, “I had the same problem…” and then they start talking about their problem.  Or, this: “God has something better in mind for you.” Really?  You’re telling me, who is going through this pain, that it will all be worth it for something better?  Maybe, in the future, but we don’t know, not now.
 
When tough times come, how do we answer the question, ‘why?’  Let’s take a look at what Scripture says about it. Let’s look at Acts 8:1 - 4.
 (Read Acts 8:1 - 4)
 
Stephen, elected to the first class of Church Deacons, is killed, martyred for his faith.  Any deacons here?  His death triggers a general persecution of Christians in Jerusalem.  That pressure, that devastation with Saul, who we know later as Paul, dragging Christians off to jail, forces believers to leave Jerusalem.  Not just leave, but flee for their lives!  It’s described as a ‘great’ persecution.  The word, ‘great’, here is ‘mega,’ from which we get the word ‘mega.’  We’ve had a couple of mega block-buster movies this summer.  There was a mega storm in Florida this week, and Canada is experiencing mega fires with over 400 of them this summer, just to name a few.  Mega - not just persecution, but a "great persecution arose against the church.”
 
Can you imagine leaving everything:  house, furniture, possessions, friends…?  Can you imagine going into your child’s bedroom at dawn:”Honey, get up, hurry, put a shirt, pants, jacket, and your snuggly in your back pack; we’re leaving in 5 minutes.”  And, out the door you go.
Why?  Why is this happening to them?  Remember, these are the first Christians.  They have chosen to follow Jesus as Messiah.  They are the righteous ones.  Wouldn’t God protect them?  And, if God didn’t protect them, what about us?
 
What about our congregation, our church, our budget, our building, our people?
What about me and what I’m going through? Why is all this happening - to me?
 
I remember having a meal at a restaurant.  I knew the owner, nice guy; I could see how hard he was working - and he was making a success of it.  His life was working.  He bought a great house and put a lot of money into restoring it.  Then, the Pandemic struck and his restaurant dried up, no customers.  He had to close it, sell the house he had bought.  What do he and his family do?  Why is this happening to him, at a time with a new mortgage and business pressures?
 
I was talking to a friend last month, a good man, with a beautiful family, who told me that he started a new job this May, and was fired 6 weeks later because of what a co-worker said about his management.   Six weeks and suddenly no job.  Why?  Why him?  Then, there’s my neighbor’s grandchild who continues to have multiple surgeries to try to correct what isn’t right in her body.  How much more can this child take?  Why is this happening to her? She’s innocent.  Why?
 
Would you look with me again at verse 3: “Now the Christians who were scattered went about preaching the word.”
 
Up until this point, Christianity has been a leader-led religious movement centered in Jerusalem.  Remember Peter, preaching, standing up on the day of Pentecost, and 5,000 people turn to Jesus.   People continue to do so, all in Jerusalem.  Then persecution comes and Christians, except the apostles, are forced to flee, and like pea pods that explode scattering their seed, Christians scatter here and there, scattering the seed of the Word of God.  They just include talking about Jesus in normal conversations and for the first time, the Jesus movement becomes lay-led.
 
Ordinary, normal Christian people telling others about Jesus, like two farmers talking.  One says,
 “Jesus taught that we should be innocent as doves and wise as snakes.  Before you try raising a different crop, have you checked with other farmers?”  Or, “Jesus said to forgive, or it will eat at your insides, so I forgave someone this week, but boy was it hard.”  Or, “I’m learning about Jesus and it’s changing me.  Do you want to come with me Sunday and learn, too?”  Normal people including Jesus in conversations and the movement multiples!  When it was led by the apostles, the Jesus movement grows by addition.  Now it grows by multiplication.  Because of persecution, Christianity fundamentally changes.  We call this a hinge point in history.
 
Does this answer their question, ‘why’ for them?  I’m not sure.  What do you think?  I mean, they wouldn’t have recognized the significance in that moment of Christianity becoming lay-led.  But, rather than remain stuck on the ‘why’ question, they went ahead and had faith.  That means they trusted what was happening in their lives to the purposes of God.  In essence, they said, “God, I don’t understand what’s going on or why, but I’ve committed myself to You and your will, rather than mine, so I will continue to trust that You are leading me, and will do my best to follow.
 
John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, asked Methodists at the beginning of each year to pray together a Covenant Prayer. This prayer is worth hearing:
 
Lord,
I am no longer my own, but yours.  Put me to what you will, place me with whom you will.  Put me to doing, put me to suffering.  Let me be put to work for you or set aside for you, praised for you or criticized for you.  Let me be full, let me be empty.  Let me have all things, let me have nothing.  I freely and fully surrender all things to your glory and service.
 
How long must we wait for a new pastor?  I don’t know.  What’s going to happen to us?  I don’t know.  Why is this happening to us right now?  Why am I personally experiencing tough times?  Don’t know.  The Bible spends little time answering the ‘why’ questions.  Instead, it concentrates on the ‘what’ question:  “Lord, what do You want me to do to fulfill your will?”
 
What do we know?  We can trust that God is using this time, and our own tough times, for his purposes, whatever they are.  Yes, we have confident hope that good will come from our trials, but it is God’s good we seek, not our own.  We don’t know the whys but we can figure out what God wants each of us to do, as we ask him; - tell me, Lord  - and, as we set aside time to listen.
 
Who knows, maybe this is a hinge point for this congregation, stepping out in faith, trying new things as you use your gifts and abilities.  Maybe this is a hinge point for you personally, as you pursue God’s will for you, trusting that God has the bigger picture in mind, and you can contribute to that bigger picture.
 
What is required of us is sturdy faith, confident trust, no matter what we face.  In tough times, we are not passive by-standers, but active participants with God in fulfilling his will.  Or, maybe we can put it more simply:  we seek to carry out the prayer that we pray each Sunday:  “Thy will be done on earth as it is done in heaven.”
 
What does God want?  Ask him!
What is God’s word?  Explore it!
What is God’s lesson?  Learn it!
What is God’s intent?  Discover it!
What is God’s will?  Find it! 
What is God’s purpose?  Follow it!
 
“And the covenant which I have made on earth, Let it also be made in heaven. Amen.”

​First Presbyterian Church of Blackwood                          
21 E. Church Street
Blackwood, NJ 08012                                                                              
Sermon Notes (Sunday ~ August 27 2023)
Rev. Wanda Sevey 

​First Presbyterian Church of Blackwood                          
21 E. Church Street
Blackwood, NJ 08012                                                                              
Sermon Notes (Sunday ~ August 20 2023)
Rev. Dwayne Doyle 

First Presbyterian Church of Blackwood                          
21 E. Church Street
Blackwood, NJ 08012                                                                              
Sermon Notes (Sunday ~ August 13 2023)
Elder Russell Long 

Then I looked at the lectionary to see what the scriptures for this week was. Matthew 14:22-33 was listed. As I read it, it struck me how we can all relate in some way to this story.
22 Immediately Jesus [a]made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away. 23 And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. Now when evening came, He was alone there. 24 But the boat was now [b]in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary. (Mark’s gospel says they were straining at rowing.)
25 Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. 26 And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out for fear. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.” 28 And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” 29 So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. 30 But when he saw [e]that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” 31 And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 33 Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, “Truly You are the Son of God.”
Prayer before the sermon
The first thing I want to say is that storms are inevitable. As we consider what has been happening around our world over the last several months and years – with so many weather events causing so much devastation and damage – this seems more true than usual. And it is true that as we go through life there will be storms: hard times, tragedies, difficulties, trials, troubles, and loss. We will find ourselves in places and circumstances we never anticipated. We will experience pain and heartache we never believed would come our way.
Christian faith is secure only when we recognize and live daily with the assurance that God is always with us, even in the storms of life. And perhaps, especially in the storms of life.
Most of us are familiar with the story recorded in Matthew’s gospel where Jesus walked upon the water and came to His disciples in the midst of a raging storm. We have heard the facts of the story since childhood. But there are further truths I want us to think about.
let’s look at the background and the setting for this story.
Our Lord was approaching the high point of His ministry. It was at this time that He performed many miracles, including the feeding of a multitude with but a few loaves of bread and two fish. He was becoming popular with the people and a source of concern to religious authorities. Persecution was abroad in the land. King Herod had just put John the Baptist to death.
Matthew notes the significance of this cruel death with a twofold statement. He tells us in the first verses of chapter 14 that Herod heard of the fame of Jesus and reacted with, "It Is John the Baptist come to life again." He also tells us in verse 13 that, when Jesus heard the news of John’s death, He departed into a desert place to pray, to meditate, and to be alone with His thoughts. we see in the gospels a number of times that the Lord would go away to a quiet please to pray. We can take this example and take time to find a quiet place to be before the Lord in prayer.
I imagine this was a moment of personal pain in our Lord’s own heart. Jesus loved John the Baptist. They were first cousins, boyhood companions who, quite likely, had spent many hours together growing up.
Looking at our passage from the Gospel of Matthew we see something very interesting. We see that Jesus made his disciples get into the boat. In the previous verses Jesus had fed the 5000 in Bethsaida and now he sends the disciples across to Gennesaret. It was an action he directed them to take. Well, no sooner did the disciples begin sailing on ahead to the other side of Lake Galilee, than a storm began. Caught in the middle of Lake Galilee, known for storms that could start without warning, Jesus’ disciples found themselves far from the safety of shore being battered by wind and waves. John’s gospel says they had rowed about 3 or 4 miles. Verse 25 tells us he came to them in the fourth watch, that’s between 3 and 6 am. It is dark and they cannot see anything.
Proverbs 16: 9 says, “In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.” This is true even of the storms of life. There are no accidents, no coincidences. According to the Bible, all of life is directed by God. And sometimes He places us in or allows us to be in difficult and trying circumstances to get our attention. It could be to get us to change direction or perhaps he wants us to learn something. In fact, no matter what direction our lives have gone and where we find ourselves, God wants us to turn to Him and trust in Him.
The second thing I want to say is that storms can seem insurmountable. They’re too much to handle. We’re surrounded by black clouds, blinding rain, raging wind. The disciples couldn’t make it to the shore. They probably couldn’t even see the shore, much less get there. Their boat couldn’t move. There was no way they could steer it in those weather conditions.
Sometimes we go through difficult times. Things you thought were dependable no longer so. As I have said other times, I am talking to myself here.
Know that the Lord knows this. He knows what we are going through. He knows perfectly well what our circumstances are. He knows the pain we feel and the grief we are experiencing. He understands, and more than that He cares. In our passage the Lord Jesus walks on the water toward the disciples in the midst of the storm. Jesus wants to come to us as we go through the storms of life, to be our strength and our guide to shore. Do we trust in Jesus to be our strength in the midst of life’s storms? He is there for us to trust, and he says the same thing to us as he did to the disciples, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.”
The third thing I want to say is that storms can be faced only when we face Jesus. The disciple Peter was often the boldest, most impulsive of the disciples, and when he saw Jesus coming towards them, walking on the water, he asked Jesus if he could come to him on the water. So Jesus invites Peter to walk toward him on the water. Peter responds by getting out of the boat. But what happens? As he was approaching Jesus, he noticed the waves and the wind. Suddenly, he was terrified. Taking his eyes off Jesus, he began to sink beneath the waves. Peter took his eyes off Jesus. Only then did he begin to sink. Only when he began to pay more attention to his surroundings, his circumstances, did he begin to sink. Only when he noticed the storm more than Jesus, did he begin to sink.
But then Peter cried out, “Lord, save me!”. We too, when caught in the storms of life, can cry out to God in the same way: “Lord, save me!” More honest words can never be spoken by anyone. For only the Lord can come to us when in the midst of the storms of life and actually save us. With him next to us we need not be afraid. Yet it is true, sometimes we have little faith. But Jesus calls us to fix our eyes on him, to look toward him. Whether we face the loss of a loved one, or the loss of a job, or any other difficult circumstance, Christ calls us, invites us, to turn to him. Only through him can any of life have meaning and only through Jesus can we have hope that there will not always be a storm raging, that some day we will be with Him.
When Peter cried out verse 31 tells us “And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”. He had great faith to start out but took his eyes off Jesus and focused on his surroundings.  Jesus is right now waiting to do this for each one of us. When we call out to Jesus, whether in good times or in bad, he always responds immediately and he always catches us. When we trust in Christ for our lives and as our hope, we can be assured, that when he has us in his hands his grip is certain and strong and that, just as it did for the disciples, the wind will cease, maybe not now, maybe not next week, next month but it will.  We can go out today with that blessed hope that He is with us and cares for us.
Rev. Scott said this last week when he preached on Romans 8:28 that struck me.
“God works for good” is a way of expressing “God fulfills his covenantal plan” “in everything”:  not “through everything,” but “in spite of anything,” no matter what.  In everything we experience, that we face, God fulfills his eternal will for us.  Jesus Christ is God’s “good”- - - His saving work and purpose in, and through, and as Jesus Christ, is always in effect.
 
Let us pray

​The First Presbyterian Church of Blackwood
21 E. Church Street
Blackwood, NJ 08012
Sermon Notes (Sunday, August 6, 2023)
Rev. Dr. Scott Morschauser
 
 
“What Shall We Say to This?”
Romans 8:26-39
 
 
Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord.”
 
These verses from Paul’s Letter to the Romans are among the most magnificent in all of Scripture and are among my personal favorites.  They have provided me with encouragement and hope throughout my life.  Thankfully, the Holy Spirit has brought them back to me and shone God’s light in Christ on me even in the darkest times.
 
I really became aware of these passages watching a TV series from forty years ago called A.D.  It was based on a novel by the British author, Anthony Burgess, in which he dramatized the spread of the gospel in a world and to a world, that the writer called “the kingdom of the wicked.”   Not surprisingly, the apostle Paul was a focal point of the series.
 
In one of the closing scenes, Paul is facing his execution.  As he is awaiting the fall of the executioner’s blade, he is kneeling and praying the words I just read to you.  That image on the TV screen became seared into my memory- - -but it wasn’t the ferocity of Caesar’s vengeance that impressed me, but the fervor of Paul’s faith, his trust in the promise of Christ, even as the “kingdom of the wicked” seemed to be triumphant over the kingdom of God.
 
Given its enduring impact on me, it came as a shock when I discovered that not everybody reacts to the apostle’s words the same way I did.  One day, a woman came up to me after my preaching a sermon, and told me that her college-age son had been reading the eighth chapter of Romans and was peppering her with questions. 
 
“What do you mean that in everything God works for good with those who love him?  What about all the tragedies that happen?  And what about this stuff about being called and justified and glorified?  That doesn’t seem fair:  that God chooses some and not others.”  Finally, the young man showed his disdain for the declaration, “We are more than conquerors.”  It smacked, he said, of conceit.  That Christians think of themselves as better than everybody else and regard the rest of the world as losers.  “What arrogance!”  he pronounced.
 
The mother, who was very religious, was distressed, because she had viewed Paul’s words much in the same positive and uplifting way that I did- - - and still do. “What about that?”  she asked in frustration and sadness.  Or to paraphrase Paul himself, “What shall we say to this?”
 
Sadly, I have to tell you that that young man’s cynicism is sometimes borne out.  Some time ago, my wife and I went on a trip to the Sight and Sound Theater in Lancaster, Pa. to watch a dramatization of the life of Christ.  The conclusion of the performance was a portrayal of the Last Judgment.  It was sobering, to be sure, but what was disturbing was that as different parties were being cast into perdition, with their specific sins announced, members of the audience were cheering and shouting and hooting, as if they were at a football game.  It was obvious that they did think of themselves as “the winners,”  and those transgressors as losers, and to them, deservedly so.
 
I suppose this attitude might even be fostered by a popular paraphrase of the Bible, which translates our verses as:  “With God on our side like this, how can we lose?.. . . Who would dare tangle with God by messing with one of his chosen?”
 
What then shall we say to this?
 
Perhaps the very first thing to be said is that, despite how some people might take these verses, Paul’s brothers and sisters in Christ were not privileged in any material way.  They were not powerful in terms of their political clout.  On the contrary, they were regarded as outcasts, subject to scorn by the elites, derided and rejected by the movers and shakers of the age.
 
Importantly, the apostle’s words about “tribulation, distress, and persecution,” as well as the whole gamut of misfortunes that he lists, are really prophetic.  He’s preparing the church in Rome for the not-so-distant future, when the most terrible of storms will break over this little band.  When the full fury of sin against God will be unleashed, upon them- - - and upon Paul himself.  This is what well might happen, and well did happen.  They will be privileged, indeed, to bear witness to Christ in the most fearful of times.
 
This was not an easy thing to hear- - - even as it is the greatest assurance that no human hell can nullify God’s claim upon us.  Nor can anything- - - no matter how monstrously inconceivable in the imagination of man- - - rip us away from the grasp of Christ. 
 
Though we seemingly be powerless, the power of the Cross and Resurrection is more powerful still.  Though we may be rejected by the kingdom of the wicked, God reigns over us and for us.  Though we be without allies and friends in the high reaches of society, we have the Most Steadfast of Allies and the Greatest Friend in the highest of places, as God has pledged that he is with us, through his dear Son, and remains so, ever, and always.
 
This Truth undergirds everything that Paul writes, and it is the key to understanding what he is saying.  Even as he will say it over and over again; in different ways, with different nuances, but it is the same Truth, which God says to us- - - in Christ.
 
So, when Paul declares that “we know that in everything God works for good with those who love him,” this is not to be understood as it is sometimes taken- - - that devastating and destructive things are really events sent by God as instruments of his divine benevolence.  Of God’s slamming the door by toppling a house on top of us, in order to open a window.  Of our being led to make lemonade out of shattered dreams and broken hearts. 
 
No.  It is clear that Paul’s roster of horrors- - - “nakedness, peril, sword”- - - humiliation, threat, violence from the hands of man- - - are horrible.  Signs of the kingdom of the wicked’s rebellion against God by trying to be God and venting its frustration upon the people of God.
 
Nor is he providing an easy answer for those misfortunes of the so-called natural world- -- which theologians have called the “shadow side of Providence”- - - and for which any explanation often takes on the misguided counsel of Job’s supposed, but false friends.  While the reason for such tragedies will be revealed to us in eternity, the apostle is speaking about something else here; he is using Scriptural language.
 
“God works for good” is a way of expressing “God fulfills his covenantal plan” “in everything”:  not “through everything,” but “in spite of anything,” no matter what.  In everything we experience, that we face, God fulfills his eternal will for us.  Jesus Christ is God’s “good”- - - His saving work and purpose in, and through, and as Jesus Christ, is always in effect.
 
Paul then proclaims the same thing when he reveals, “that nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord.”  The “love of God” is much more than just an expression of lofty emotion- - - though it is certainly that, it is intensely personal!  But this is once more part of the biblical vocabulary of covenant.  God’s binding himself to us.  God’s working out of that bond is expressed as “love”:  unswerving loyalty, unshakeable allegiance.  God’s faithfulness to us in Christ is firm, despite the wavering of our own faith; it is steadfast, notwithstanding how much our spirits are shaken and circumstances around us change.
 
God works for good in the love of Christ from which we cannot be separated, not even by death.
 
Some of you well know that Romans 8 is often read at funerals- - - and rightly so!  But God’s word is for the church for its life- -- for living amidst the kingdom of the wicked and its pursuit of death-dealing idols.  And it is to this present reality that Paul alludes when he writes:  “Those whom God predestined, he also justified; and those whom he justified, he also glorified.”
 
And yes, that skeptical young man I mentioned might view this verse through the prism of material favor.  Of seeing Paul’s words as expressions of revenge, that the shoe will be on the other foot, and we shall be in charge, and we shall be the winners.
 
But this is about commission, vocation, purpose.  This is the language of discipleship.  Of God’s choosing for us in Christ before all things, notwithstanding our choosing against him.  Of being called by Jesus Christ.   Of being justified, that to follow Christ is the right way, amidst all the lures that would lead us off a cliff, despite all the other voices that would browbeat us into submission. 
 
Of being glorified.  For the Rome of Paul’s time and for much of the world’s history, to be “glorified,” was to achieve fame, be granted power, to be elevated by and above the adoring crowds. 
 
In the Scriptures, “to be glorified,” was linked to a term that meant “to bear a weight”:  of being given great responsibility.  The apostle is referring to receiving God’s commission to be his people; the community of disciples.  Of living life as intended by God and revealed in and through Jesus Christ, whose glory will be shown in his assuming the role, the weight, the merciful burden as the Servant who suffers.  The light sent right into the darkness; and declaring “his kingdom come,” smack in the midst of the false boasting of the kingdom of the wicked.
 
Yes, we are claimed by Christ and we not only live this Truth, but are to live by this Truth.  Yes, we are in his eternal presence and will be so for eternity.  But the bond of Christ, the covenant of Christ, the love of Christ embraces us, holds us fast now, protects us now, amidst the temptation that we, too, are to employ tribulation; that we too, are to bring distress; that we, too, are to persecute; that we too, are shame; that we, too are threaten; that we, too, are to employ violence, and so become the very thing we are to hate.  That we, too, forget the True Shepherd and instead, follow wolves in the sheep’s clothing, and be conquerors in their stead.
 
What then shall we say to this?  To this our time, which is no different from that of Paul’s.  To this world, which is still in bondage to the corruption of sin, and enslavement to its idols.  To this present culture, that deigns itself God, and so reveals its woeful identity as “the kingdom of the wicked.”
 
What then shall we say to this?
 
“If God is for us, who is against us?  In all these things, I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
 
That is what we say, have to save, must save, and thanks be to God, can save.  And because of this, yes, we are “more than conquerors through him who loved us”- - - we are better, through Christ, than the kingdom of the wicked.  And nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.  Of that we are sure, because He is Lord, he is Savior, no matter what, and still, and always.
 

​The First Presbyterian Church of Blackwood
21 E. Church Street
Blackwood, NJ 08012
Sermon Notes (Sunday, July 2, 2023)
Rev. Dwayne M. Doyle, Guest Preacher
 
 “The Pearl of Great Price”
1 Kings 3:3-15, Matthew 13:24-52
If you could have anything you wanted in the world, what would you ask for?  And you can’t ask for a million other wishes either.  Would you ask for a long life? Good health? Riches? Wisdom?  To be famous?  Solomon was asked that very question by God after becoming the King of Israel.  He didn’t ask for the things that most people ask for, instead he asked to be able to have good judgment to rule the kingdom that was handed down to him by his father, King David.  God was so impressed with Solomon’s answer that he blessed him with great riches and a long life (with the condition that he followed God’s Commandments), as well as good judgment or wisdom (discernment).  We know that Solomon had great wisdom by those that reported visiting him like the Queen of Sheba.  He also demonstrated his good judgement by how he dealt with difficult situations, like the two mothers who claimed that each one of the other killed their baby in the night, or switched their dead baby for the live baby.  In the morning one of the babies was dead and the other alive.  They brought their case before Solomon who said the answer is, “I will cut the baby in half and give each of you your half”.  The true mother said, “Don’t kill my baby, give my baby to the other woman”.  Solomon reasoned that that was the true mother.  And all Israel marveled at his judgement.  Solomon wrote many of the Proverbs, the Book of Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon.  He was known as the wisest, richest kings in all of the world!
Yet Jesus said that in His coming to the world there was something greater than Solomon here.  Matthew 12:42 The Queen of Sheba will also stand up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, for she came from a distant land to hear the wisdom of Solomon.  Now someone greater than Solomon is here-but you refuse to listen.
The Book of Proverbs speaks about seeking after Wisdom, Sophia, as you would seek after hidden treasure.  Our scripture in the New Testament today is about the Pearl of Great Price.  A man went out to seek for a pearl of great price, when he had found it, he sold all that he had to get it. What would you be willing to do to get wisdom? 
When I was in college, I determined I was going to be like Albert Schweitzer, a great missionary doctor in the deepest parts of Africa.  That plan didn’t work out.  Instead, I began studying the Bible and eventually ended up as a minister.  While in college I determined that if I could spend the rest of my life studying the Bible, and make a living at it, I would be the happiest person in the world.  What is it that you would be willing to sell or give up to have the most important thing in the world?  Some people would say that love is the most important thing to have in the world.  The Apostle Paul said in 1Corinthians 13:1-3 that you might have everything, but if you have not love, you have nothing.
He said, “If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.  If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing.  If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.”  How true, how true. 
Love conquers a multitude of sins. And perfect love casts out all fear.  Where would we be without love?  And Paul concludes, three things will last forever: faith, hope, and love--and the greatest of these is love.  1 Cor. 13:13.
Maybe we should ask what or who is Wisdom.  If we are talking about knowledge, or intellect, or common sense, we may not be looking for what we should really be looking for. 
Proverbs 2:1-12:  “My child, listen to what I say, and treasure my commands. Tune your ears to wisdom, and concentrate on understanding.  Cry out for insight, and ask for understanding.  Search for them as you would for hidden treasures.  For the LORD grants wisdom!  From his mouth come knowledge and understanding.  He grants a treasure of common sense to the honest.  He is a shield to those who walk with integrity.  He guards the paths of the just and protects those who are faithful to him.  Then you will understand what is right, just, and fair, and you will find the right way to go.  For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will fill you with joy.  Wise choices will watch over you.  Understanding will keep you safe.  Wisdom will save you from evil people, from those whose words are twisted.”
Matthew 6:33:  “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.”
James 3:17:  “But the wisdom from above is first of all pure.  It is also peace-loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others.  It is full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds.  It shows no favoritism and is always sincere.”
1 Corinthians 1:17-30:  “The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction!  But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God.  As the Scriptures say; I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and discard the intelligence of the intelligent.” (Isaiah 29:14)
So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world’s brilliant debaters?  God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish.  Since God in His wisdom saw to it that the world would never know Him through human wisdom, He has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe.  It is foolish to the Jews, who ask for signs from heaven.  And it is foolish to the Greeks, who seek human wisdom.  So when we preach that Christ was crucified, the Jews are offended and the Gentiles say it’s all nonsense.   But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.  This foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God’s weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength. 
Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you.  Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise.  And He chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful.  God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important.  As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God. 
God has united you with Christ Jesus.  For our benefit, God made Him to be wisdom itself.  Christ made us right with God; He made us pure and holy, and He freed us from sin.  Therefore, as the Scriptures say, “if you want to boast, boast only about the LORD.” (Jeremiah 9:24)
Point #1 Seeking after wisdom
Point #2 Acquiring Wisdom
Point #3 Practicing lessons learned from wisdom
Point #4 Sharing the wisdom we have learned with others
The kind of wisdom God has revealed to the children of God is not of this world.  Jesus Christ is the Son of God.  The human race was in a state of separation from God the Creator, and the only way that the relationship could be fixed was for God himself to fix it.  The way He fixed it was to come Himself as one of us.  He lived the perfect sinless life.  He was punished for the sins of the world.  Jesus died for us and on the third day rose from the dead.  All who put their faith in Him, whether Jew or Gentile, will be saved!
This is the gospel or ‘good news’.  To understand this truth is true wisdom. 
We must first understand that we live in an imperfect world.  It was created to be perfect, but it became flawed.  God was upset with the human race and destroyed almost everyone but Noah and his family.  He started over with Noah and then selected one man, Abraham, and his wife Sarah to begin his mission to redeem the human race.  Through the faith of Abraham, He would one day produce a Savior, Jesus of Nazareth.  Although Jesus came specifically to His own race, His mission was much broader.  Anyone who put their faith in Him would be saved.  This kind of wisdom does not come from the world, but is from above.
I went to a liberal arts college and received a good education.  I studied philosophy, politics, economics, science, math, art, music.  I have been fortunate to have traveled to see different places where people practiced other religions like Buddhism, Islam and different forms of Christianity.  I have studied world religions and have studied Christianity.  I studied about Community Development and how to help people in places where they are not so well off as we are in the United States.  I am thankful for the education that I have and would encourage anyone to get an education and continue to learn all that you can to be helpful to people, animals, and our creation.  Knowledge is amazing.  I thank God for doctors, dentists, psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, nurses, engineers, lawyers, politicians, astronomers, physicists, musicians, actors, dancers, artists, etc.  We need you all.  But the most important thing that I have learned about is to know Jesus and to make him known.  With this knowledge I know where I will be spending all of eternity.  This knowledge to too precious to keep to ourselves.  There is a world dying to know it. 
Some of our famous Presidents also knew that they needed to ask God for wisdom when they took office.  Two such historic figures were President George Washington and President Abraham Lincoln.
 
A PRAYER BY GEORGE WASHINGTON:
Almighty God:  We make our earnest prayer that Thou wilt keep the United States in Thy holy protection; that Thou wilt incline the hearts of the citizens to cultivate a spirit of subordination and obedience to government, and entertain a brotherly affection and love for one another and for their fellow-citizens of the United States at large.  And finally that Thou wilt most graciously be pleased to dispose us all to do justice, to love mercy and to demean ourselves with that charity, humility and pacific temper of mind which were the characteristics of the Divine Author of our blessed religion without a humble imitation of whose example in these things we can never hope to be a happy nation.  Grant our supplication, we beseech Thee, through Jesus Christ, our Lord.  Amen.
https://www.loc.gov/resource/rbpe.20803000/?st=text Library of Congress 07/30/2023
 
Abraham Lincoln once expressed the importance of seeking God in prayer for wisdom.  He said, “I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had no where else to go.  My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient for that day.”  Abraham Lincoln
https://awaa.org/blog/national-day-of-prayer-abraham-lincolns-prayer-for-our-nation/  7/30/2023
 
A PRAYER BY ABRAHAM LINCOLN
Almighty God, Who has given us this good land for our heritage; We humbly beseech Thee that we may always prove ourselves a people mindful of Thy favor and glad to do Thy will. Bless our land with honorable ministry, sound learning, and pure manners. Save us from violence, discord, and confusion, from pride and arrogance, and from every evil way. Defend our liberties, and fashion into one united people, the multitude brought hither out of many kindreds and tongues. Endow with Thy spirit of wisdom those whom in Thy name we entrust the authority of government, that there may be justice and peace at home, and that through obedience to Thy law, we may show forth Thy praise among the nations of the earth. In time of prosperity fill our hearts with thankfulness, and in the day of trouble, suffer not our trust in Thee to fail; all of which we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
https://awaa.org/blog/national-day-of-prayer-abraham-lincolns-prayer-for-our-nation/  7/30/2023
What is your ‘Pearl of Great Price’?  What are you willing to give up to get wisdom?  Sometimes God does call us to give up everything like St. Francis of Assisi.  What are you willing to give up to get to know Jesus better?  Remember our task is ‘Seek after Wisdom’, ‘Acquire Wisdom’, ‘Practice the principles learned from Wisdom’, and to ‘Share that Wisdom’ with those around us’.  Knowing Jesus was never meant to be just a personal thing or for our church.  There is a world out there just waiting to hear about the hope that we have found in Jesus Christ.  Think about it.
I hope that you all have a wonderful week.  Pray that you will meet someone this week that you can share your faith with.  I will be looking forward to seeing you when I come back next time.  God Bless. 

The First Presbyterian Church of Blackwood
21 E. Church Street
Blackwood, NJ 08012
Sermon Notes (Sunday, July 16, 2023)
Rev. Dr. Scott Morschauser, Guest Preacher
  
“RADICAL FAITH-RADICAL CHURCH”
Acts 2: 37-47
  “The Chapel bells were ringing/In the little valley town/And the song they were singing/Was for baby Jimmy Brown. . . And the little congregation/Prayed for guidance from above/‘Lord lead us not into temptation/May his soul find the salvation/Of thy great eternal love.’”
       Perhaps some of you remember that song.  It’s still sung occasionally by religious groups, but it was a popular hit in the 1950s in America.  It spoke of the church with the deepest affection and without the least bit of cynicism.  The lyrics celebrate the importance of faith throughout life’s journey - from birth to marriage, through death; each step accompanied by the hope of salvation “of thy great eternal love.”
 
      I recently heard this tune on Sirius Satellite Radio’s Fifties Station.  It stuck out like a sore thumb against the rock-and-roll culture that was emerging, but especially to our present time.
 
      “The chapel bells were ringing. . . ”
       There’s a church about half a mile away from my house, and every noon it would ring its bells to hymn tunes, until one of my neighbors complained.  It offended him, he said.  Predictably, those chapel bells aren’t ringing any longer for little Jimmy Brown or anybody else in my town.
       We might ask what has happened?  Why is it that the church which was so present in the lives of so many Americans, now absent, avoided, verbally attacked by some, and sadly enough, physically assaulted by others?  Sociologists look at this issue all the time, but it is central to our Scripture reading for today which addresses what the church is to be in the world and to the world.
       Some preachers hold up our verses as providing the model of the church, and they even call it, “the Acts 2 church”.  They will challenge congregations to compare themselves to what Luke shows us asking, “Are you an Acts 2 church?”
       This episode itself can be divided into two parts.  The first section presents the impact of Peter’s sermon at Pentecost.  The second part shows its application:  how the proclamation of the Gospel was put into practice.  How the church of the Word is also the church of action - the church of Acts if you like.
       Notably, the apostle concludes his address with the counsel, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation,” which would have rung bells among his listeners.  It evokes the story of Noah and the Ark, when God instructed the patriarch to build a ship to preserve his family from the moral anarchy, which would unleash a flood upon the world. 
       The apostle is making the equation that the community of the baptized is, in effect, an ark.  Not surprisingly, in the earliest Christian art, the ark is a prominent motif.  The church was to be an ark. The church is an ark.
       There are some modern theologians who object to this imagery.  “No!  The church is not to shut itself off from the world!”
       Yet Peter’s reference is not to condemn the world, but to save God’s beloved creatures from “this crooked generation.”  Again, this is another Scriptural allusion.  “Crooked generation” refers to the age that has turned away from God’s covenant and has chosen to embrace the beliefs and practices of the surrounding culture.
       But let us make no mistake, this “crooked generation” is not anti-religious, at all.  On the contrary, it is as religious as it can get.  Everywhere one looks there are monuments to its deities.  It extols any god, and all gods, except The Saving God.  Disregarding God’s commandments, it holds firm to its tenets, enforcing them with vigor.  Rejecting that it is under the gracious lordship of God, this “crooked generation” would declare itself God and seek to shape the world according to its image.
       Later on, the apostle Paul will unveil what results from exalting the deities of “the crooked generation.”  It is not a pretty sight:  immorality, discord, envy, violence, exploitation, greed, and naked ambition.  That was their creed, that was their song.
       “Save yourself!”  Peter and others will counsel.  It’s not to lock out those suffering, but the invitation to enter the door opened to everybody, drowning, floundering, sinking, who cries out “What shall we do?”  And then, hearing that Christ provides refuge, an ark for those drowning in the chaos of the “crooked generation,” an anchor for those who would be swallowed up in its whirlpool.  Hearing what Christ has done amidst the roaring and ranting of the age.
       Acts then relates the impact of Peter’s message:  “and there were added about 3,000 souls.”  Which is matched by the changed conduct of their lives:  “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching . . . and all who believed were directed toward the same goal, all held everything the same; and they sold their goods and possessions and distributed them to all, as any had need.  Day by day, they persevered together in the Temple, and breaking bread at home . . . in exaltation and with singular hearts.”
       It's hardly unexpected, that many people today view this passage through a purely economic lens.  In fact, Karl Marx took one of its verses, “each according to his ability, each according to his need,” to create a system without God, but would elevate the all-powerful state to the status of deity.
       Yet, that sort of entity was in existence as Peter was speaking.  It assured people that it would take care of you from birth to death.  It would provide you with welfare, food, offer diversions to keep you entertained.  That was the promise of Rome - “bread and circuses.”  All you had to do was to give this state -ever present, all powerful - your allegiance, your loyalty, your soul.  Everything.
       But if you read these passages carefully, you’ll discover this isn’t the language of business; it’s about covenant.  About being bound together in Communion with Christ, and through Him, and because of Him, with one another.  Christ is the center of the covenant community, and the first law of its economics is “to love your neighbor as yourself”; that person in need is your neighbor. 
       However, the whole purpose is for the church - the Acts 2 church - to disentangle, disenthrall, distance itself from the powers and principalities that would claim everybody and everything as their possessions, to be bartered and sold as objects.
       The community that has been freed by Christ is the community that is freed from and free of the idols of the state, and free for each other.  The community dependent upon Christ and which follows his Way is the community independent of “this crooked generation.”
       I just read an article about a letter written by the ancient author, Pliny the Younger.  Dated to the early second century, Pliny was a Roman governor in what is now modern day Turkey.  He had been asked to investigate a strange group that was called, “Christians.”
       Pliny discovered that at their meetings held on Sundays, these Christians read the Ten Commandments, recited an early form of the Apostles’ Creed, sang hymns, and they swore to be honest - not to get into debt, and to pay all debts owed - followed by a meal taken together in the name of this Christ, whom they worshipped.
       Apparently, this was an Acts 2 church, in its form and in its function; in its preaching of the faith, and in its faithfulness to its preaching.
       Pliny’s letter has been known for centuries, but a scholar recently pointed out that the reason why Pliny had to look into the Christians, was that the temples in his jurisdiction had complained that people had stopped sacrificing to their deities; stopped following the dictates and customs of their cults.  They were leaving behind “this crooked generation,” and heading towards the church - to get on the ark which is Jesus Christ.
 
      Despite the fact that these Christians treated one another with simple dignity, that they were honest, and that their behavior demonstrated their belief in their Christ - for Pliny, that was a little too much.  The governor was instructed that upon arresting a suspected Christian, he was to offer them the choice of pledging their allegiance to Caesar - to entrust their body, soul, heart, and mind to the ruler of the age.  The emperor noted, “A true Christian would not do this.”  The choice was simple:  rejoin “this crooked generation” and save your life - for a while.  Or refuse to abandon the Ark and lose your life - but save your soul.
       Pliny was astonished that not many would jump ship.
         The theologian and preacher, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, having been arrested by Hitler, wrote a series of letters from prison.  In one of them, he posed the question, how does one preach the gospel, to “a world come of age.”  That phrase has been debated endlessly, but it should have rung some bells.  It comes from a writer of the 18th century Enlightenment, and it referred to a generation that had now asserted its total independence from God.  The “world come of age” was the mature world, that had cast aside all the wisdom and learning of the past.
       The world come of age, took its own path, charted its own course, decided its own destiny.  This is the modern world - it is also the “crooked generation.”
       How can the church get through to this world, that would close its ears to Scripture; a world to whom God’s Word was more and more unfamiliar and unknown?  A world that would seek to silence any and all chapel bells and sing its own songs.
       Bonhoeffer concluded two things:  one is that to even such a world - this world come of age - this generation wandering a road crooked and lost - even to these Jesus Christ comes.
       The second thing is that if the spoken Word has no effect, then the Word lived out, does.  That the church - the Acts 2 church - the church whose members hold Christ as their center; the Church that declares its common faith in Christ; the Church that “perseveres in the temple and breaking bread at home” - that in public and private it shows its integrity - that it is integrated into Christ, and that it lives wholly from his claim …
       That while the present generation may no longer comprehend the Word of God in Christ, it can see that we do.  It can see that we take the Word seriously.  And that might get them to think, and begin to listen, and go through the door to the Ark.
 One day, some of my students were speaking and yearning about being “revolutionaries,” that they wanted to change the world.  I listened quietly and began to smile.  One of them asked me why I was reacting in the way that I did.  I replied, “You want to be a revolutionary?  The greatest act of revolution - the most counter-cultural gesture you can make nowadays - is to go to church.”
       When you answer the summons of the chapel bells when they are ringing, when you pray “for guidance from above, ‘Lord lead us not into temptation,’” and rejoice and live by “the salvation of Christ’s eternal love.”  You are an Acts 2 church.  You are the real radicals; you are true revolutionaries. 

​First Presbyterian Church of Blackwood                          
21 E. Church Street
Blackwood, NJ 08012                                                                              
Sermon Notes (Sunday ~ July 9 2023)
MATTHEW 11:25-30
Rev. Dr. Debby Brincivalli