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Intersections

Cold Spring Church has been at the crossroads of our community for more than 300 years, and Intersections is our blog of engaging ideas designed to get you connected to what matters to you!

Nov 06
Love4

2020-11-08 Twenty-Third Sunday after Pentecost Worship Online or In-Person Resources

By Intersections, Sermons

2020-11-08 Worship Online

Worship Guide (v1) for November 8, 2020

Readings November 8, 2020

Children’s Worship Ages 4-7 for November 8, 2020

Children’s Worship Ages 8-12 for November 8, 2020

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 New 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!

Welcome Back!

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. Last week about 25 people safely worshipped together. Your safety, health, and wellness are our 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.

Pre-registration is encouraged but not required to attend worship. If you’d like to worship in person, you may contact the office 609-884-4065 or email hello@coldspringchurch.com.
Oct 28
Love4

2020-11-01 Twenty-Second Sunday after Pentecost Worship Online or In-Person Resources

By Intersections, Sermons

2020-11-01 Worship Online

Worship Guide (v1) for November 1, 2020

Readings November 1, 2020

Children’s Worship Ages 4-7 for November 1, 2020

Children’s Worship Ages 8-12 for November 1, 2020

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 New call in number: +1 (929) 205-6099. Enter Meeting ID: 882-3154-2428 Password: 1714.

We are delighted to again welcome to our worship experience the Rev. Dr. Scott Morschauser while Pastor Kevin and Melissa are on vacation. Dr. Morschauser is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church, (USA), and has been a long-time member of West Jersey Presbytery. He was pastor of Bethany Presbyterian Church in Haddon Heights for 11 years. In addition to his preaching ministry, he is a Professor of Ancient and Medieval History at Rowan University. We extend a warm welcome to Dr. Morschauser to our worship and celebration at the Lord’s Table.

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!

Welcome Back!

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. Last week about 25 people safely worshipped together. Your safety, health, and wellness are our 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.

Pre-registration is encouraged but not required to attend worship. If you’d like to worship in person, you may contact the office 609-884-4065 or email hello@coldspringchurch.com.

Gathering at the Lord’s Table: 

Our in-person worshippers will be provided pre-packaged communion cups, which on-line worshippers may request by contacting the office. Or, the bread can be of your choosing. For the cup, you may use grape juice or wine, or use water, remembering that Christ is the Living Water for all.

Oct 21
Love4

2020-10-25 Twenty-First Sunday after Pentecost Worship Online or In-Person Resources

By Intersections, Sermons

2020-10-25 Worship Online

Worship Guide (v1) for October 25, 2020

Readings October 25, 2020

Children’s Worship Ages 4-7 for October 25, 2020

Children’s Worship Ages 8-12 for October 25, 2020

 

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 New call in number: +1 (929) 205-6099. Enter Meeting ID: 875 2479 7260.

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 and Message theme:

Welcome to this week’s Worship Online and Worship In-person experience at Cold Spring Church. Take a look at the graphic to the right. When we say “Please, God” (with a comma), we are typically asking God for something. With a comma, it’s a prayer. But when we delete the comma and say, “Please God,” we are making a statement, describing a task to please God. Our purpose as followers of Jesus is to please God, and this week we will consider how we express our faith to turn prayer into our life’s purpose in how we live. Pleasing God is our worthy purpose!

At the entrance to many harbors, there are two leading lights. One would think that the two signals would confuse the boat pilot. But the fact is, the pilot’s priority is to keep the two lights aligned. As long as the two lights are in line, the boat is safe. Life is complicated, but God had also given us two lights that keep us aligned when Jesus said to love God and love others as ourselves. When we keep them in line, we move forward in our life. But there’s more to life than moving in the right direction. We need the right motivation, too.

In the message, “Please God: Editing Our Faith, Aligning Our Life,” we will connect Jesus’ affirmation of the two greatest commandments (Matthew 22:34-46) with Paul’s admonition to edit our faith’s motivation (1 Thessalonians 2:1-8). While we attempt to love God and neighbor because we are commanded to do so, we must be sure of what motivates our behaviors. Do we expect our neighbor to respond in kind or thank us, or be transformed by our love and efforts? Do we constantly look for ways for God or others to please us? Like the political leaders and religious crowds we will read about in worship, we also try to protect our interests, advance our success, ensure particular outcomes that make us look good, and bolster our security and power. We do this in the church, too. This week let’s edit our faith’s motivation as we align our love for God and neighbor with a newfound motivation to glorify and please God!

Music Preview:

Our countdown music this week includes a hymn we introduced last week titled the Image of God. After our prelude celebrating the Reformation with Martin Luther’s A Mighty Fortress Is Our God, we read/sing In an Age of Twisted Values, which many might say describes our life and times today though written in 1995. One of the ways followers of Jesus can show alignment with God as a good neighbor is to express care for others. We want to be thoughtfully empathetic and responsive to a broad range of human needs in our community, country, and the world. This hymn is a potent reminder of the Gospel-values that need a fresh expression by the Church. We conclude worship with a virtual choir singing A Mighty Fortress Is Our God with 176 voices from 34 countries led and arranged by David Wesley. Long before Issac Watts began to add music to the Psalms during the Protestant Reformation, Martin Luther had already done so when he created the text and tune for this, his most famous hymn, based on Psalm 46. Chants influenced Luther’s metrical versions and style heard in religious communities and folk and regional music in bars and other social gatherings of his day.

Welcome Back!

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. Last week about 25 people safely worshipped together. Your safety, health, and wellness are our 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.

Pre-registration is encouraged but not required to attend worship. If you’d like to worship in person, you may contact the office 609-884-4065 or email hello@coldspringchurch.com.
Oct 20
Love0

Reformation Sunday, October 25, 2020 — Lord God, Help in this Trouble

By Intersections, Music, Newsletters


Lord God, Help in this Trouble: The Plague Song of Ulrich Zwingli

(From the Presbyterian Historical Society. To discover more about the 16th Century Reformation period that coincided with the bubonic plague that swept through Europe, and for a copy of the Plague Song, please visit www.history.pcusa.org.)

This week commemorates the Protestant Reformation (1517-1648) that transformed Europe as the Good News was proclaimed with renewed spiritual energy: Scripture alone. Grace alone. Faith alone. While the names of reformers such as Martin Luther and John Calvin are more widely recognized, it was Ulrich Zwingli (1484-1531) who left an undeniable impact on the Christian Church. In Switzerland, Zwingli was the newly appointed People’s Priest, or Leutpriestertum, at Zurich’s Groosmünster church. With the Reformation underway, while visiting the Swiss town of Bad Pfäfers in September 1519, Zwingli learned of a new wave of plague devastating Zurich and immediately returned home. The bubonic plague was ravaging Europe. Zwingli ministered to the city’s afflicted and himself fell ill. His brother, Andreas, would perish from the disease, along with an estimated quarter to half of all Zurich’s citizens. Zwingli’s song shows him falling sick, battling the disease, and convalescing. The words speak to his acceptance of divine providence (“Do what Thou wilt; me nothing lacks. Thy vessel am I; to make or break altogether”)and promise a future of faithful acts (“my lips must thy praise and teaching bespeak more than ever before, however it may go”). As a Reformation leader Zwingli went on to oppose longstanding church practices that contradicted his understanding of the Bible, including the veneration of saints and statues, priestly celibacy, and the sale of indulgences. Although he didn’t write the Plague Song to be performed during worship services, the text can be found in many sixteenth and seventeenth century Protestant hymnals. Zwingli’s words remind us 500 years later that a commitment to others and even personal tribulation can lead to a renewed state of grace.

 

Oct 14
Love4

2020-10-18 Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost Worship Online or In-Person Resources

By Intersections, Sermons

2020-10-18 Worship Online

Worship Guide (v1) for October 18, 2020

Readings October 18, 2020

Children’s Worship Ages 4-7 for October 18, 2020

Children’s Worship Ages 8-12 for October 18, 2020

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 New call in number: +1 (929) 205-6099. Enter Meeting ID: 875 2479 7260.

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 and Message theme:

This week, we celebrate the image of God in worship! Images fill our world. From social media memes and Instagram to TikTok videos, images dominate our senses. Our brain interprets images much faster than hearing words and much, much faster than reading text. In the frenzy of our political climate, candidates use images to inform, persuade, and influence our decisions. The image is everything.
We are created in the image of God. Jesus knew how important image was, too, because image is not merely what is observed on the outside of something, or someone. Image represents (literally, re-presents) the core purpose, values, essence and essential content of what is described. The apostle Paul spoke of Christ as the image-bearer of God when he wrote, “…Look at the Son and see the God who cannot be seen… Look at the Son and see God’s original purpose in everything created” (Col. 1:15-16). When Jesus’ followers asked to see God Jesus replied, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:5).
In Pastor Kevin’s message, “Image IS Everything,” we will explore Jesus’ response to his political and religious climate when he is asked about paying taxes. As we will see, it is all about image. Whose image do you reveal? How is your core purpose displayed? How do you prove God’s presence in your life? The power of image can inspire an authentic ministry. “Preach the Gospel at all times, and if necessary use words.”

Music Preview:

Our music this week will celebrate God’s true image of grace and love. While our Worship Online community can sing freely as they wish, we realize its a challenge to fully enjoy music in-person with our masks on. We appreciate the ways our growing number of in-person worshippers have been experimenting and learning new ways to worship within the safety constraints of the pandemic. As we display the lyrics on the monitor, some hum the tune. Others tap their feet or quietly sing with their inner voice. However you enjoy our songs, hymns, and spiritual songs, we make music to the Lord together (Ephesians 5:19).

We begin worship with an inspiring song by We Are Messengers, titled “Image of God” reflecting on how seven billion people across the planet share common experiences like COVID-19, and even more importantly, are all equally made in the image of God. Our first hymn is When I Survey the Wondrous Cross, which was hymn writer Issac Watts’ favorite. Our last hymn is also titled, “Image of God”, by S.E. Cassidy, challenging us to see the image of God in everyone we meet.

Welcome Back!

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. Last week about 25 people safely worshipped together. Your safety, health, and wellness are our 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.

Pre-registration is encouraged but not required to attend worship. If you’d like to worship in person, you may contact the office 609-884-4065 or email hello@coldspringchurch.com.
Oct 07
Love4

2020-10-11 Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost Worship Online or In-Person Resources

By Intersections, Sermons

2020-10-11 Worship Online

Worship Guide (v1) for October 11, 2020

Readings October 11, 2020

Children’s Worship Ages 4-7 for October 11, 2020

Children’s Worship Ages 8-12 for October 11, 2020

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 New call in number: +1 (929) 205-6099. Enter Meeting ID: 875 2479 7260.

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 and Message theme:

This week, we will explore the amazing dimensions of God’s love that empowers us to live more like Christ, and be more like Christ towards others.

While Pastor Kevin and Melissa are on vacation this weekend, Norris Clark, a ruling elder, will be preaching. Norris is a former educator who served at the New Jersey Department of Education, and a marketing communications professional serving as managing partner of Princeton Strategic Communications. He formerly served as Deputy Mayor of Lower Township and currently serves as the Clerk of Session for the Cold Spring Presbyterian Church. Norris graduated from Covenant College and attended Faith Theological Seminary for three years before earning a Master’s Degree in Religious Studies from the University of Pennsylvania.

Welcome Back!

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. Last week about 25 people safely worshipped together. Your safety, health, and wellness are our 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.

Pre-registration is encouraged but not required to attend worship. If you’d like to worship in person, you may contact the office 609-884-4065 or email hello@coldspringchurch.com.
Sep 30
Love4

2020-10-04 Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost Worship Online or In-Person Resources

By Intersections, Sermons

2020-10-04 Worship Online

Worship Guide (v1) for October 04, 2020

Readings October 04, 2020

Children’s Worship Ages 4-7 for October 04, 2020

Children’s Worship Ages 8-12 for October 04, 2020

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 New call in number: +1 (929) 205-6099. Enter Meeting ID: 875 2479 7260.

Communion:

If you’d like to participate, ready yourself with the elements. The bread can be of your choosing. For the cup, you may use grape juice or wine, or use water as a most acceptable substitute, remembering that Christ is the Living Water for all.

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 and Message theme:

Our worship theme this week is about responding to God’s investment in us. That’s right, God has invested in you! Do you feel like a recipient of God’s mercy? Each day we have the privilege and responsibility to respond proportionally to the gifts we have received. What kind of responder are you? We know about “first responders.” Especially in our pandemic world, we are dependent upon those who respond first with appropriate resources they have been given that includes their training, equipment, and most of all, their commitment to service, kindness and mercy. We are all “responders” to God’s gifts of love and mercy in Christ. Worship is one way to respond. But when we lack energy to respond its time to remember what we have already received. Let’s not take God’s gifts for granted! Or worse, mistakenly think that what we have has resulted from our own efforts alone. Jesus said, “Freely you have received; freely give!” (Matthew 10:8). In our message this week from Matthew 21, Jesus tells a story about a tenant vinedressers who refused to respond proportionally to the owner of the vineyard. How can we respond more generously to God’s blessings? Do you think of yourself as a tenant in God’s creation?

Welcome Back!

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. Last week about 25 people safely worshipped together. Your safety, health, and wellness are our 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.

Pre-registration is encouraged but not required to attend worship. If you’d like to worship in person, you may contact the office 609-884-4065 or email hello@coldspringchurch.com.

Music Preview:

We begin our worship with praise, Shine, Jesus, Shine. It is a prayer for renewal of congregations and communities. The spiritual themes include the light “shining in the midst of the darkness” and Christ as the “Light of the World” (John 8:12). This Light “set[s] us free by the truth…” (John 8:32). The final stanza focuses on how Christ’s brightness can be reflected in our lives as “our faces display your likeness.” Worship Online communion service concludes with the priestly blessing found in Numbers 6:23-27 put to music in The Blessing. This song has been sung online simultaneously with the aim of spreading hope and encouragement during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sep 27
Love4

2020-09-27 Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost Worship Online or In-Person Resources

By Intersections, Sermons

2020-09-27 Worship Online

Worship Guide (v1) for September 27, 2020

Readings September 27, 2020

Children’s Worship Ages 4-7 for September 27, 2020

Children’s Worship Ages 8-12 for September 27, 2020

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 New call in number: +1 (929) 205-6099. Enter Meeting ID: 875 2479 7260.

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 and Message theme:

Our worship theme this week is all about action. Doing our faith instead of just talking about it. (We do love to talk about faith!) As we worship in-person, online, and in our daily meditations, remember that God wants us to put our experience with Christ into practice. It’s not easy. We struggle and stumble. But putting faith into practice is simple. Well done is better than well said. Our message this week from Matthew 21 is the first in a series of three stories Jesus told about the kingdom: the two sons, the rented vineyard, and the banquet.

This week, we learn about a dad who asked his kids to work in the vineyard. The first said “No. I don’t want to.” The second said, “Yes.” But as the day went on, neither did what they said they would do. The first who said “No!” did the work, while the second, who initially said “Yes!”, never showed up. So Jesus asked the crowd, “Which child responded to their dad’s request?” What do you think?

Which child are we most like in this parable? The one who says, “I will go” and does not, or the one who says, “I will not go” but has a change of heart and does? This week, let’s keep it simple but visible. Act justly. Love mercy. Walk humbly. Well done is better than well said.

Welcome Back!

Welcome Back! While we continue to worship online every week, we are excited to welcome whose who are able and comfortable to worship in-person in our historic Red Brick Church Sunday’s at 10:30 AM. Your safety, health, and wellness are our 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.
Pre-registration is encouraged but not required to attend worship. If you’d like to worship in person, you may contact the office 609-884-4065 or email hello@coldspringchurch.com.

Music Preview:

We begin our worship about putting our faith into practice with Chris Tomlin’s stirring worship hymn, “God of this City.” This song has been offered as a prayer for cities around the world including Dallas, Boston, L.A., and Chicago, and now Cape May, too! Our sending hymn, “Hope of the Nations,” is worship leader Brian Doerksen’s expressions of God’s love for the world and offer of hope found in Jesus Christ. Music that stirs our spirits can help equip us for loving, merciful, and humble acts of kindness we can do this week.

Sep 17
Love4

2020-09-20 Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost Worship Online or In-Person Resources

By Intersections, Sermons

2020-09-20 Worship Online

Worship Guide (v1) for September 20, 2020

Readings September 20, 2020

Children’s Worship Ages 4-7 for September 20, 2020

Children’s Worship Ages 8-12 for September 20, 2020

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 New call in number: +1 (929) 205-6099. Enter Meeting ID: 875 2479 7260.

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 and Message theme:

In the future, when we’re asked to recall the worst year ever, there is no doubt that 2020 will be the #1 choice! In January, our annual meeting was filled with expressions of gratitude for God’s blessings as we launched our “Brave New Year!” mission theme. Little did we know that as we were enjoying food and conversation in Price Hall, 7,570 miles away, the coronavirus was spreading. In our hyper-connected world, everything spreads. Within eight months, almost one million people around the world, including 200,000 in the United States, are dead. Besides COVID-19, hurricanes, fires, and everyday stressors and hardships have taken a tragic toll. Our Brave New Year has not turned out the way we had imagined. We say Life isn’t fair. God isn’t fair. This week, God is inviting us to embrace and lean into these truths as good news. Yes, that’s right. We will explore how God’s unfairness, life’s unfairness, is good news because if we all received what we deserved, we’d be in big trouble! Instead of expecting or demanding fairness, we can expect God’s grace and mercy. (Much better!)

Our response to Life’s Not Fair! is this week’s worship theme: Living at the Corner of Grace and Mercy. Our first in-person and online hybrid worship experience is September 20. In the new and improved Worship Guide you can read about Jonah. He shockingly responded to personal success by sulking and complaining that God wasn’t fair when showing grace to people Jonah felt undeserving of mercy. Then consider Jesus’ story in Matthew 20:1-16 about employees’ angrily complaining about unfairness. As they picked up their paychecks at the end of the day, they compared theirs to others. Even though they worked more hours, everyone got the same amount. “Wait,” they cried, “That’s not fair!” Well, it isn’t fair. It’s not about fair, its about grace and mercy.

“What does God require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8). We are to love mercy, not justice. We are to love mercy, not fairness. Get ready to explore why we don’t seek a future of fairness, but a future of hope, depending on God’s grace and mercy through Jesus Christ. Good news!

Welcome Back!

Welcome Back! While we continue to worship online every week, we are excited to welcome whose who are able and comfortable to worship in-person in our historic Red Brick Church on Sunday, September 20, 2020, at 10:30 AM. Your safety, health, and wellness are our 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.
Pre-registration is encouraged but not required to attend worship. If you’d like to worship in person, you may contact the office 609-884-4065 or email hello@coldspringchurch.com.

Music Preview:

Today’s theme of God’s grace and mercy are featured in our two musical selections. We begin with Great Is Thy Faithfulness. The popular song refers to Lamentations 3:22-23 but especially fits today’s readings. Our sending hymn is Grace Greater Than All Our Sin. We are recipients of God’s grace and also extenders of that same grace to others. The lyrics, “marvelous, infinite, matchless grace, freely bestowed on all who believe,” finds a scriptural basis in Paul’s teaching about faith in Romans 5:1-2: “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”

Sep 13
Love4

2020-09-13 Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost Worship Online Resources

By Intersections, Sermons

2020-09-13 Worship Online

Worship Guide (v1) for September 13, 2020

Readings September 13, 2020

Children’s Worship Ages 4-7 for September 13, 2020

Children’s Worship Ages 8-12 for September 13, 2020

This week is the perfect time to join in our worship online. 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 New call in number: +1 (929) 205-6099. Enter Meeting ID: 875 2479 7260.

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 and Message theme:

Our worship theme this week is courage. Fires, hurricanes, social unrest, injustice, the contentious election season, the pandemic and regular obstacles we face stress all of us differently. Living in a community requires courage. We need the courage to be present for others. We need the courage to be humble. Courage to be patient. Courage to serve others and take steps in a new direction. We need courage to forgive others. That’s really a challenge.

Our scripture readings this week are about courage as we meet Moses at the Red Sea when a vanguard of courageous Israelites walk into the sea on dry ground, and we will hear Jesus’ story of the merciful King and his cowardly unforgiving manager.

When we authentically sacrifice for others, doing the right thing in the right way, we are acting courageous. As Paul instructed his student Timothy, “make full use of the gift that God gave you…use it well. God’s Spirit doesn’t make cowards out of us. The Spirit gives us power, love, and self-control” (2 Tim. 1:6-7). Jesus said, “Freely you have received. Freely give” (Matthew 10:8). How do you love your neighbor as yourself? How are you experiencing that love yourself? When do you ask God for courage? When should you ask God for courage?

It takes courage to believe God, to forgive as we have been forgiven. Whatever seas and obstacles you are facing, God’s abundant grace will give you abundant courage so the Spirit can empower you to mirror God’s love, forgiveness, and grace to others.

In Two Weeks—September 20th—Welcome Back!

While we continue to worship online every week, we are excited to welcome whose who are able and comfortable to worship in-person in our historic Red Brick Church on Sunday, September 20, 2020, at 10:30 AM. Your safety, health, and wellness are our 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.
A New Worship Experience. The COVID-19 pandemic has changed everyone’s life in drastic ways, both negatively and positively. The State of New Jersey has restricted places of worship to 25% of their building’s capacity (but not more than 150 people). That means we can safely accommodate about 50 individuals in the building who will maintain safe distancing, wear facial masks or coverings, and refrain from congregational singing. Other safety practices will be posted to ensure a safe environment.
Pre-registration is encouraged but not required to attend worship. If you’d like to worship in person, you may contact the office 609-884-4065 or email hello@coldspringchurch.com.

Music Preview:

We begin worship prayerfully asking that Christ “Help Us Accept Each Other,” a musical and visual offering of the United Japanese Christian Church in California. The scriptural basis for this song is Romans 15:7. Living as people who have been accepted by Christ inspire us to accept others, too. The solo, “Got Any Rivers” is offered by the Rev. Larry Moyer. Written by pastor Oscar Carl Eliason in 1942, he based the chorus on the Panama Canal Gang’s lyrics about uncrossable rivers and cutting through mountains! He added scripture references about Joshua, who like Moses in today’s message, crossed a mighty body of water with courage. We conclude with is “Build Your Kingdom Here,” with Jesus’ teaching and parables about the 

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