State of the Union II 9/6/15
Genesis 32:22-32, John 2:1-11
Jesus: His power
blessed others
Last week, for our State of the Union sermon, we looked at
two believers from Scripture, Jacob, and his dream of the angels ascending and
descending from heaven, and Nathanael and his call to follow Jesus Christ.
In the stories of Jacob, we see an element of guile, but
Jesus Christ says that Nathanael has no guile.
Jacob vows to follow the God of his fathers, depending on God’s
fulfillment of his conditions.
Nathanael’s response to Jesus is simply “You are the Son of God, you are
the King of Israel”. We then unpacked
the idea of the Lord’s presence and promise, as well as our responses to these
certainties.
Today, we return to Jacob, whose dream last week occurred
early in his separation from his family after his conflict with his brother
Esau. In today’s reading, Jacob is
prepared to meet with his brother.
Messengers came to Jacob to say that Esau and his 400 hundred men were
coming to see Jacob. This causes Jacob
great anxiety, wondering if his family will be destroyed. He prepares a series of gifts to present to
Esau, so that by the time the brothers see each other, the path might be clear
for reunion.
Jacob sends the last of his family across the river: because, if Esau can’t find it in his heart
to welcome his 11 nephews, and niece, then what chance does Jacob have? After sending them across the River Jabbock,
Jacob quickly sees that his night is just beginning.
The Scripture simply says that Jacob then wrestled with a
man all night. It seems that this man
could be Jesus Christ. This idea is
called a theophany: an appearance of God
in human form. The Scripture says that
Jacob saw the face of God, and yet his life was spared. Elsewhere in Scripture, the LORD says that no
one will see his face and live (Exodus 33:20)
The New Testament says that it is Jesus Christ who, fully human, is sent
as the face of God so that humanity might one day look upon the face of God the
Father, On that day, we can look because we are redeemed, forgiven and made
holy through Jesus Christ.
It is important that Jacob wrestled. He wrestled all night, with a pause for short
conversation part way through the match.
He was tired and exhausted. This
mysterious man did not win his match against Jacob In fact, at one point, the man touches the
socket of Jacob’s hip so that he might have an advantage. Yet Jacob continues his wrestling.
He wrestled, before an anxious meeting with a brother in
conflict, with whom there was a long, dysfunctional, messy past. He wrestled as he worried about his future,
having sent his family on to meet Esau.
Out of this wrestling match, Jacob desires to know who it is with whom he
wrestles. And he wants a blessing from
this man. He gets the blessing, along
with a name change. “You shall be called
Israel
Out of this wrestling, Jacob comes away with the limp. He is blessed, but this blessing is not
perfection. He struggles on as a blessed
man, ready to reconcile with his brother Esau.
Challenged, changed, blessed, transformed.
Today’s gospel story follows last week’s story of
Nathanael. It is the first miracle
performed by Jesus in his public ministry, turning the water into wine. We learn that His power blessed others. And he saved his best for others.
Jesus: His power blessed others
Like Jacob, we might have a limp, we are never going to be a
perfect church. Like Jesus, we should
be thinking about others, and how to bless them. “Do unto others, as you would them do unto
you”.
I’d like to share with you an overview of the traditions and
events that have emerged in a common calendar year (this list is not all we do,
for the record). As we unpack the state
of our union, this document lists some of our seasonal activities, the broad
range of people’s that use this space for good, and a brief review of how we
structure ourselves, and some potential work that could take place. Today, the potential is offered simply so
that we can pray more intelligently towards our future.
Jacob wrestled. Stockton
Jacob walked away with a blessing. Stockton
Jesus blessed others.
We too should bless others.
STATE OF THE UNION, 9/6/15
1. SEASONAL
BASED EXPERIENCES
ORDINARY TIME (FALL) Already
Scheduled for 2015
--Sermon Series
(Sept. 13-November 8)
--Leaving the
Building (Oct. 24/25): Each of the
Shared Staffing partners will
host one
opportunity (at least): Titusville
Sunday evening combined worship: Hopewell
Return of Bible Study
(9/11), Choir Rehearsal (9/15) and Sunday School (Sept. 27)
In the works: 10/4 World Communion Sunday Evening Pot Luck
and Sacrament with churches from Dilts Easter Sunrise service. TBD.
10/17 An Evening of Dinner and Opera: Italian Dinner 6:00-7:30, Opera Project
Concert, 7:30-8:30, Dessert, 8:30
Tickets $20
Excellent
event to get word out
Benefits mission
projects of congregation
11/16-23 Operation Christmas Child Host Site
Other: Nominating Committee
Find Leaders
for Session/Deacons
Fill
officers (financial secretary, treasurer, etc)
ADVENT
11/29 Hanging of the Greens 9:30am
Christmas Eve, ?8pm?
ORDINARY TIME
(WINTER)
Annual Meeting
LENT
2/9/16 Shrove Tuesday: Stockton (in
the past, organized by deacons), benefits Mission
2/10/16 Ash Wednesday
Worship
Next five Wednesday evenings, Wednesday Worships during Lent
Holy Week: --Maundy
Thursday (3/24)
--Good
Friday (3/25\)
--Easter
Sunrise
ORDINARY TIME (SPRING/SUMMER)
Picnic Worship 7/3/16
worshipping together at least a second time during summer,
possibly more???
Summer Institute
Art Camp
2. FRIENDS and
PARTNERS
River Churches---currently
Kirkpatrick, Lambertville, Mt. Airy , Titusville
Stockton, informal partners
Offering combined experiences of
Worship: Wednesdays in Lent, Holy Week
Summer Picnic, 2nd gathering
Learning: Summer Institute
Serving: Church Has Left Building
Esperanza----
Thursday Prayer meeting
Sunday
worship
Suppers Program: Third Tuesday of each month
Local
chapters located throughout nation, teaching healthy eating
and the
importance of social element of eating.
music class Monday am
back up gym class during inclement
weather, tues/Thursday
special events (winter and spring
concert, guitar concert, occasional assembly)
Opera Project: rehearsal space, few times a year
Book Club: 1st Saturday of each month
3. TEAMS and
BOARDS
Elders: leadership board, governing and decision
making body for the congregation
Establish direction and watch over
membership
ask strategic questions
create budget
-- exciting
opportunity before them: food cards, and
distribution of funds that
come
from food cards.
Smaller
group of learners which allows emphasis on group interests, such as plays
and performances.
Possible emerging
teams?
Not yet created, not yet in
planning stage
Would ultimately succeed by
broadening their work base to include members,
Friends, partners, and the community at large.
--Side Playground Area Work
Team:
--Youth Room in Basement
For example, a team could include: Youth from Stockton Presbyterian, Youth
from Stockton Community, Grace
church
--150th Birthday Party
Planning Team for 2017
Alternative Worship Time, such as Saturday Night,
accompanied by social event
following worship
Church photographer
Church Historian;
chronicle records, members stories and memories
501 c3 for Jason
School
How do we do Administration?
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