Get Your Worship Guide for April 25, 2021
The Resurrection Revolution continues on this Fourth Sunday of Easter!
This week is the perfect time to join in our worship online or in person. We simplified our online service and made it even easier to participate, and viewing does not require a Facebook account! Join the video stream on Facebook Live (www.facebook.com/coldspringchurch. Or, if you don’t have internet access, use our call-in number: +1 (929) 205-6099. Enter Meeting ID: 882-3154-2428 Password: 1714.
Share Your Experience!
You have found a place to encounter God and people who care about you – just as you are, right where you are, anytime. Once you and your family are ready, share the picture with us by posting to Facebook #ColdSpringChurch or Instagram #coldspringchurchnj. You may want to subscribe to our weekly Connections email newsletter. Sign up here!
Worship Preview
Do you have a pet? If you do, you know it is a big responsibility. You must be willing to take care of it. You have to feed it and make sure it has plenty of water. You must keep it clean and take it to the veterinarian when it is sick. You have to make sure your pet is kept safe and, if it wanders off and gets lost, you go and look for it and bring it back home.
Our pandemic restricted stay-at-home lifestyle this past year has provided an extraordinary bonding time with our pets and companion animals. Interactions and positive physical contact with pets not only provide physiological and psychological benefits. Science tells us that our time with trusted pets releases biochemicals that can boost our immune system and enhance health and well-being. Wow!
Jesus loved animals and used experiences with common animals like dogs, donkeys, and sheep as metaphors in his teaching. Sheep were valued not only as a source of nutrition on their menu, or a source of warm wool clothing. Almost every family loved sheep and kept sheep as pets, too.
But sheep don’t take care of themselves very well. They need someone to watch over them and deliver care. They need someone to protect them from harm. That’s why the shepherd role was highly regarded in Jesus’ time. Like front-line workers today, shepherds often risked their lives to protect sheep and sacrificed their personal safety to keep their flock from threats.
Family and friends provide comfort, and we manage to take care of ourselves most of the time. But we are created to thrive in mind, body, and spirit, as spiritual beings, we need spiritual resources. Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd.” Jesus knows his sheep, that’s you and me. Jesus wants his sheep to experience abundant life. Jesus said, like a good shepherd, he was even willing to lay down his life for his sheep. Which he did.
Are you looking for a shepherd? Search over. Find out more at Cold Spring Church, this week and every week.
“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me–just as the Father knows me and I know the Father–and I lay down my life for the sheep.” John 10:14-15 (NIV)
Please join us this Sunday at 10:30 in person or online and enjoy music, videos, Scripture readings, and an inspiring message to help you take a step forward with the Author of Life (a title given to Jesus in our Scripture reading this week from 1 John.) If you see something that inspires you, reminds you of God’s presence, or makes you smile, snap a pic or video, share your Easter season story on Instagram #ColdSpringChurch, or email hello@coldspringchurch.com. Come as you are and discover the spiritual resources you need to live in Christ’s revolutionary, resurrection power!
Birthday blessings to Elaine Jordan on May 4th!
Thank you for connecting to our worshipping community and its mission to bless greater Cape May with the Good News of Jesus Christ! We pray that you’re staying safe wherever you are and wherever you go. May God bless you and those you love now and always.
Worship Your Way! In-Person, or Online
While we continue to worship online every week, we are excited to welcome all who are able and comfortable to worship in person in our historic Red Brick Church on Sundays at 10:30 AM. Your safety, health, and wellness are our top priority. West Jersey Presbytery approved our session’s re-opening plan and our pastor, staff, and teams have worked hard to prepare for your arrival. Following the guidance from the CDC and health officials, we have implemented safety protocols and designed an approximately thirty-minute worship experience that will be spiritually energizing and safe for you, your family, and other worshippers.
Dear online worshipping friends: We apologize in advance should our live stream be interrupted by Facebook. We are working with Facebook and the music publishers to honor our music licenses and resolve these disconnect issues. Any interrupted live stream will be re-launched within a minute or two. Please rejoin as soon as we are back! Thank you for your patience. Pre-registration for in-person worship is encouraged but not required to attend worship. If you’d like to worship in person, you may contact the office at 609-884-4065 or email hello@coldspringchurch.com.
