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2022-02-06 Annual Congregational Meeting Resources

By Intersections, Newsletters, Sermons

The Session has called for our 2022 Annual Congregational Meeting to immediately follow worship in the sanctuary on Sunday, February 6, 2022 (postponed from 1/30). An abbreviated meeting is planned to minimize health risks for those who attend. Look for Printed copies of the Annual Report and proposed new Bylaws in the Narthex.

Download the Annual Report here.

Download the Bylaws here.

Hello, friends.

In the future, when asked to recall the worst year ever, there is no doubt that 2020 would be our #1 choice! But now, with the continuing COVID-19 pandemic with its variants including Delta and Omicron, 2021 will, unfortunately, be a close #2 choice. Thank you for being a part of our community and generously supporting our ministry through it all! It’s been a tough twenty-four months.

2021 In Review

We were saddened by the passing of several members and friends. We thank God for the Rev. Carlene Moyer, John Alves, Martin Bowne, Bess Lapsley, and James McNelly, in addition to other family and friends of our congregation. We celebrate their lives and mourn their passing. Since the pandemic, a few longtime members sadly moved or drifted away from Cold Spring. A good many of us continue to enjoy the comfort and relative safety of worshipping from home by visiting our YouTube channel (www.coldspringworship.com). Finding new ways to stay in touch includes our Facebook page and especially reading the weekly Connections, our emailed newsletter. We pray for each other by posting requests online (www.coldspringchurch.com/prayer). We have generously supported the ministry, with more of us giving online (www.coldspringchurch.com/giving). Thank you!

God has added to our numbers in the most delightful ways in 2021! We welcomed ten (10) new members, many initially connecting to us through Worship Online! These friends completed the Explorers’ Group new member orientation offered by Pastor Kevin via Zoom. A 2022 Members and Friends Directory is being compiled. It will be distributed on January 30 to help us stay in touch.

Great Expectations Ahead

With our collective spiritual arms outstretched and hearts open, we will position ourselves for new blessings God has prepared for us to receive in 2022! Great Expectations is our theme for 2022 that will guide our worship and mission.

God has called Cold Spring Presbyterian Church to expect great things from God and do great things together through Christ. Now is the time as we begin our 308th year of ministry. We are spiritually ready, asking God for the resources we need to serve the community even more.

As you read through the Annual Report, remember that all of us, each in our own way, are fully engaged in God’s year of Great Expectations.

God is for YOU in 2022!

“For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope” (Jeremiah 29:11).

Get Ready for God’s Great Expectations For You in 2022!

“Believe me: I am in my Father and my Father is in me. If you can’t believe that, believe what you see—these works. The person who trusts me will not only do what I’m doing but even greater things, because I, on my way to the Father, am giving you the same work to do that I’ve been doing. You can count on it. From now on, whatever you request along the lines of who I am and what I am doing, I’ll do it. That’s how the Father will be seen for who he is in the Son. I mean it. Whatever you request in this way, I’ll do (John 14:11-14).

God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us. Glory to God in the church! Glory to God in the Messiah, in Jesus! Glory down all the generations! Glory through all millennia! Oh, yes! (Ephesians 3:20-21).

Sincerely,

Pastor Kevin

2022-01-23 Hybrid Worship

By Intersections, Newsletters, Sermons

It’s the season of Light and we are ready for you inside our historic, beautiful Red Brick Church or, join us on YouTube Live!

Please download or view the Worship Guide that includes our worship and music previews, Scripture readings, prayers, community news… Click the link below!

Get Your Worship Guide (click here) with Scripture readings, music, and prayers. See our worship preview, below!

Whatever your religious affiliation, or none at all, we all hear Jesus say, “Come to me all who are overburdened, and find rest for your soul!” Everyone is welcomed at Cold Spring Church. Yes, everyone!

Enjoy sitting with others from greater Cape May as we worship together. We simplified our service and made it even easier to participate, with our Worship Guide and lyric videos displayed on a large screen.

Worship on YouTube Live! (click here)

No internet? No problem!

If you don’t have internet access, just use our call-in number from your phone: +1 (929) 205-6099. Enter Meeting ID: 882-3154-2428 Password: 1714.

 

Worship Preview

Are you ready to fly?! Well, you’ll need to break a few eggs first. Just ask Jesus about the time he went to a hometown reunion of sorts. It didn’t go well. Not at all. In this week’s Gospel reading, we will discover why it’s O.K. to break a few eggs if it means breaking free. The religious leaders became angry when Jesus said he fulfilled the Messianic promise and proclaimed freedom not only to the religious locals but to everyone, outsiders, too. What a mess. Impossible!, Prohibited!, they cried. Madness! Jesus was all in! You might say that Jesus wants to break a few of your eggs, too, setting you free! Find out how to fly with Jesus this week at Cold Spring Church!

Music Preview

Our music video is Chris Tomlinson’s Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone). After a chance encounter on a plane, a producer asked Chris to write music for his upcoming Amazing Grace movie. The movie is about William Wilberforce’s work to abolish slavery in Europe. He wrote a chorus, My Chains Are Gone, to the well-loved traditional hymn. Chris says he never thought his version would be so popular in churches worldwide. We close today with Shine, Jesus Shine, echoing today’s Gospel, “This is God’s time to shine!”

“…That you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God” (Eph. 3:18).

Due to the alarming increase in cases of COVID-19 in Cape May County, masks are again required, even for fully vaccinated worshippers.

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 for worship at home, share the picture with us by posting to Facebook #ColdSpringChurch or Instagram #coldspringchurchnj. If you’re in the sanctuary, feel free to share photos or text friends about what you are learning! Subscribe to our weekly Connections email newsletter. Sign up here!

Energize your life and discover the amazing love of Jesus! This week is the perfect time to join us in person for worship. Enjoy live music and solo, lyric videos, and a message of hope from God’s word.

We are excited to welcome to worship all who are able and comfortable in-person in our historic Red Brick Church on Sundays at 10:30 AM. Your safety, health, and wellness are our top priority. Following the guidance from the CDC and health officials, we have implemented safety protocols and designed an approximately forty-minute worship experience that will be spiritually energizing and safe for you, your family, and other worshippers.

2022-01-16 Hybrid Worship

By Intersections, Newsletters, Sermons

It’s the season of Light and we are ready for you inside our historic, beautiful Red Brick Church or, join us on YouTube Live!

Please download or view the Worship Guide that includes our worship and music previews, Scripture readings, prayers, community news… Click the link below!

Get Your Worship Guide (click here) with Scripture readings, music, and prayers. See our worship preview, below!

Whatever your religious affiliation, or none at all, we all hear Jesus say, “Come to me all who are overburdened, and find rest for your soul!” Everyone is welcomed at Cold Spring Church. Yes, everyone!

Enjoy sitting with others from greater Cape May as we worship together. We simplified our service and made it even easier to participate, with our Worship Guide and lyric videos displayed on a large screen.

Worship on YouTube Live! (click here)

No internet? No problem!

If you don’t have internet access, just use our call-in number from your phone: +1 (929) 205-6099. Enter Meeting ID: 882-3154-2428 Password: 1714.

 

Worship Preview

As we celebrate the Light of Christ, are you looking for something extraordinary? Seeking a miracle? Maybe you’ve been searching for a bright sign of hope. Sure, we all have from time to time, and these uncertain times in which we live are the right times for a spiritual indicator! This week, we will meet Jesus at a wedding where Jesus amazes everyone with an unexpected sign. Jesus transforms ordinary water into fantastic wine! Wow! Jesus offers a sign of blessing and hope for you! Find out how you can live an amazing life in Christ! Signs of hope ahead!

Music Preview

We begin worship with the stirring, All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name. This 18th-century text celebrating the sovereignty of Christ has been through several expansions and contractions before reaching its present form. It is set here to the oldest American hymn tune in continuous use since first published in 1793, which was written for it. We will enjoy beautiful music during the several prayerful reflections times. We will be sent out to serve our community by singing Speak O Lord. Echoing the wisdom of Mary who instructed the disciples to “do what Jesus says,” we will listen as Christ renew our minds and spirits for the hopeful year ahead!

“…That you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God” (Eph. 3:18).

Due to the alarming increase in cases of COVID-19 in Cape May County, masks are again required, even for fully vaccinated worshippers.

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 for worship at home, share the picture with us by posting to Facebook #ColdSpringChurch or Instagram #coldspringchurchnj. If you’re in the sanctuary, feel free to share photos or text friends about what you are learning! Subscribe to our weekly Connections email newsletter. Sign up here!

Energize your life and discover the amazing love of Jesus! This week is the perfect time to join us in person for worship. Enjoy live music and solo, lyric videos, and a message of hope from God’s word.

We are excited to welcome to worship all who are able and comfortable in-person in our historic Red Brick Church on Sundays at 10:30 AM. Your safety, health, and wellness are our top priority. Following the guidance from the CDC and health officials, we have implemented safety protocols and designed an approximately forty-minute worship experience that will be spiritually energizing and safe for you, your family, and other worshippers.

2022-01-09 Hybrid Worship

By Intersections, Newsletters, Sermons

Happy new year! We are ready for you inside our historic, beautiful Red Brick Church or, join us on YouTube Live!

Please download or view the Worship Guide that includes our worship and music previews, Scripture readings, prayers, community news… Click the link below!

Get Your Worship Guide (click here) with Scripture readings, music, and prayers. See our worship preview, below!

Whatever your religious affiliation, or none at all, we all hear Jesus say, “Come to me all who are overburdened, and find rest for your soul!” Everyone is welcomed at Cold Spring Church. Yes, everyone!

Enjoy sitting with others from greater Cape May as we worship together. We simplified our service and made it even easier to participate, with our Worship Guide and lyric videos displayed on a large screen.

Worship on YouTube Live! (click here)

No internet? No problem!

If you don’t have internet access, just use our call-in number from your phone: +1 (929) 205-6099. Enter Meeting ID: 882-3154-2428 Password: 1714.

 

Three Kings Sunday Worship Preview

We are a star-struck culture. Those that dominate social media and dictate popular styles and attitudes are called stars. Entertainers, scientists, YouTubers, athletes, tech giants, and even everyday heroes inspire us to be our best. Since the pandemic began, more and more people have also sought comfort and guidance from the cosmic stars as we consult birth charts, astrologers, and psychics. We seek light to lead us out of the coronavirus chaos and the isolation and daily constraints, the fear and uncertainty, and COVID-19’s sickness and death. This week, we focus on the Star, the Bright and Morning Star, the Light of the World, which brings real hope and a future.

Christmastide concludes with the last day of the Twelve Days of Christmas. In the season of Light, we call Epiphany, and we travel with the stargazing Magi who followed the Jesus Star. It was a very bright moving star that came to a rest just above the spot where Jesus lay. Their long journey, likely from modern-day Iraq, led to a house in Nazareth, not a manger in Bethlehem as is often depicted on Christmas cards. And when they saw Jesus, they were overjoyed!

What star shines brightest for you on this new year’s horizon? Where does that star lead you? What gifts will you bring into the year? Follow the Jesus star. It is the only one that will take you home in God’s emerging future of hope. It is the only one that will make you a rising star and not a shooting star. Find out how to follow the Jesus Star this week at Cold Spring Church.

Music Preview

We will sing the traditional carol, We Three Kings, which will stir our spirits this week. as our worship begins and after the message.  stir our spirits this week, inviting us to join them on their stargazing journey. Despite the well-loved title, the Scripture identifies the gift-bearing visitors as “magi” meaning scholars, not kings. And there were three gifts, but the actual number of scholars is unspecified. Yet, this carol remains our favorite!

The scholars did indeed bring three gifts – gold, frankincense, and myrrh. These gifts are traditionally interpreted to acknowledge Jesus as the King, God, and a foreshadowing of Jesus’ sacrifice, respectively, as depicted in the hymn. Herod slaughtered two-year-olds and younger boys suggesting that Jesus could have been up to two years of age when the gifts were presented to him. Jesus’ family would’ve living in a house by the time the magi arrived. The magi offered their best to Jesus, and we can be inspired to do the same, today.

“…That you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God” (Eph. 3:18).

Due to the alarming increase in cases of COVID-19 in Cape May County, masks are again required, even for fully vaccinated worshippers.

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 for worship at home, share the picture with us by posting to Facebook #ColdSpringChurch or Instagram #coldspringchurchnj. If you’re in the sanctuary, feel free to share photos or text friends about what you are learning! Subscribe to our weekly Connections email newsletter. Sign up here!

Energize your life and discover the amazing love of Jesus! This week is the perfect time to join us in person for worship. Enjoy live music and solo, lyric videos, and a message of hope from God’s word.

We are excited to welcome to worship all who are able and comfortable in-person in our historic Red Brick Church on Sundays at 10:30 AM. Your safety, health, and wellness are our top priority. Following the guidance from the CDC and health officials, we have implemented safety protocols and designed an approximately forty-minute worship experience that will be spiritually energizing and safe for you, your family, and other worshippers.

2022-01-02 Hybrid Worship

By Intersections, Newsletters, Sermons

Happy new year! We are ready for you inside our historic, beautiful Red Brick Church or, join us on YouTube Live!

Please download or view the Worship Guide that includes our worship and music previews, Scripture readings, prayers, community news… Click the link below!

Get Your Worship Guide (click here) with Scripture readings, music, and prayers. See our worship preview, below!

Whatever your religious affiliation, or none at all, we all hear Jesus say, “Come to me all who are overburdened, and find rest for your soul!” Everyone is welcomed at Cold Spring Church. Yes, everyone!

Enjoy sitting with others from greater Cape May as we worship together. We simplified our service and made it even easier to participate, with our Worship Guide and lyric videos displayed on a large screen.

Worship on YouTube Live! (click here)

No internet? No problem!

If you don’t have internet access, just use our call-in number from your phone: +1 (929) 205-6099. Enter Meeting ID: 882-3154-2428 Password: 1714.

 

Worship Preview

We gather together At the Lord’s Table this Sunday. Start the new year by seizing your future as God invites us forward! 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 water, remembering that Christ is the Living Water for all.

What will you be focusing on in the new year? This week, we gather around the Lord’s Table and consider how Jesus is not just the Light of THE World, but the Light of OUR FUTURE, illuminating our journey ahead. Let’s focus on Jesus and the light he brings to us!

Music Preview

John Wesley Work, Jr., may not have originated the spiritual “Go, Tell It on the Mountain,” but he can take credit for the fact that we still sing it every Christmas. As the son of a church choir director, Work grew up in Nashville loving music. Even though he earned his Master’s in Latin and went on to teach ancient Latin and Greek, his first love continued to be music, and he went on to become the first African-American collector of spirituals rooted in the Black experience. This proved to be a daunting task for Work because they were passed down orally and very few were written down. But Work proved up to the challenge, publishing his first song book six years later. It was in this second volume that “Go, Tell It on the Mountain” first appeared. The original singers of the song fulfilled the same important task the angels gave the shepherds that first Christmas night outside of Bethlehem, proclaiming, “that Jesus Christ is born!”  And thanks to John Wesley Work, so can we. We end our service with our communion favorite, “The Blessing.”

“…That you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God” (Eph. 3:18).

Due to the alarming increase in cases of COVID-19 in Cape May County, masks are again required, even for fully vaccinated worshippers.

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 for worship at home, share the picture with us by posting to Facebook #ColdSpringChurch or Instagram #coldspringchurchnj. If you’re in the sanctuary, feel free to share photos or text friends about what you are learning! Subscribe to our weekly Connections email newsletter. Sign up here!

Energize your life and discover the amazing love of Jesus! This week is the perfect time to join us in person for worship. Enjoy live music and solo, lyric videos, and a message of hope from God’s word.

We are excited to welcome to worship all who are able and comfortable in-person in our historic Red Brick Church on Sundays at 10:30 AM. Your safety, health, and wellness are our top priority. Following the guidance from the CDC and health officials, we have implemented safety protocols and designed an approximately forty-minute worship experience that will be spiritually energizing and safe for you, your family, and other worshippers.

2021-12-27 Hybrid Worship

By Intersections, Newsletters, Sermons

Merry Christmas! We are ready for you inside our historic, beautiful Red Brick Church or, join us on YouTube Live!

Please download or view the Worship Guide that includes our worship and music previews, Scripture readings, prayers, community news… Click the link below!

Get Your Worship Guide (click here) with Advent devotional readings, music, and prayers. See our worship preview, below!

Whatever your religious affiliation, or none at all, we all hear Jesus say, “Come to me all who are overburdened, and find rest for your soul!” Everyone is welcomed at Cold Spring Church. Yes, everyone!

Enjoy sitting with others from greater Cape May as we worship together. We simplified our service and made it even easier to participate, with our Worship Guide and lyric videos displayed on a large screen.

Worship on YouTube Live! (click here)

No internet? No problem!

If you don’t have internet access, just use our call-in number from your phone: +1 (929) 205-6099. Enter Meeting ID: 882-3154-2428 Password: 1714.

 

Worship Preview

 

This is the first Sunday after Christmas, and the last worship service of 2021. In these still uncertain pandemic times, we join with all of creation to sing praises to God. Why, you might ask? Good question. Maybe we don’t feel like singing! Do we feel a bit lost? Sure. That’s understandable. But God is not lost! We sing praises to God because God is here and will never leave us alone. God with us, Emmanuel. God’s grace is greater than any pandemic, any problem, and God’s abundant forgiveness is greater than all our sin. Sure, we can feel a bit lost from time to time. It’s O.K., though…we’re in good company.

This week’s Gospel tells about frantic parents looking for their child! What could be more terrifying than loosing a child? But in this story, it was Jesus who was feared lost! Jesus, lost! What would Joseph and Mary do? Find out in Pastor Kevin’s message, “Finding What Is Not Lost,” from Luke 2:41-52. Like Joseph and Mary, we will find Jesus in (un)expected places.

Music Preview

We begin worship with O Come, All Ye Faithful. The origins of this 18th century hymn has spread worldwide and is used by many denominations in every language imaginable in both Latin and other versions. We conclude our worship singing Good Christian Friends, Rejoice. Carols using two languages, like this one dating from at least the 14th century, belong to a special group called “macaronic,” the original languages here being German and Latin. Though the present version is only in English, it is sung to the traditional German folk melody. Let’s rejoice! Come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord!

“…That you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God” (Eph. 3:18).

Due to the alarming increase in cases of COVID-19 in Cape May County, masks are again required, even for fully vaccinated worshippers.

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 for worship at home, share the picture with us by posting to Facebook #ColdSpringChurch or Instagram #coldspringchurchnj. If you’re in the sanctuary, feel free to share photos or text friends about what you are learning! Subscribe to our weekly Connections email newsletter. Sign up here!

Energize your life and discover the amazing love of Jesus! This week is the perfect time to join us in person for worship. Enjoy live music and solo, lyric videos, and a message of hope from God’s word.

We are excited to welcome to worship all who are able and comfortable in-person in our historic Red Brick Church on Sundays at 10:30 AM. Your safety, health, and wellness are our top priority. Following the guidance from the CDC and health officials, we have implemented safety protocols and designed an approximately forty-minute worship experience that will be spiritually energizing and safe for you, your family, and other worshippers.

2021-12-24 Hybrid Worship

By Intersections, Newsletters, Sermons

We are ready for you inside our historic, beautiful Red Brick Church or, join us on YouTube Live!

Please download or view the Worship Guide that includes our worship and music previews, Scripture readings, prayers, community news… Click the link below!

Get Your Worship Guide (click here) with Advent devotional readings, music, and prayers. See our worship preview, below!

Whatever your religious affiliation, or none at all, we all hear Jesus say, “Come to me all who are overburdened, and find rest for your soul!” Everyone is welcomed at Cold Spring Church. Yes, everyone!

Enjoy sitting with others from greater Cape May as we worship together. We simplified our service and made it even easier to participate, with our Worship Guide and lyric videos displayed on a large screen.

Worship on YouTube Live! (click here)

No internet? No problem!

If you don’t have internet access, just use our call-in number from your phone: +1 (929) 205-6099. Enter Meeting ID: 882-3154-2428 Password: 1714.

 

Worship Preview

Create new memories at Cold Spring Church, making this Christmas, and every Christmas to come, vitally different, better. How? Unwrap God’s gift! Can you imagine a thriving Christmas, not merely surviving it?! This year, let’s take all the best of Christmas’ past and open our arms and spirits to new ways to receive God’s gift of Christmas now? And what is that Gift ready to be opened this year? Jesus. Jesus is the Gift. The Gift that keeps on giving. It’s Jesus moving into our neighborhood, now. Today. Sure, he was born in the past to Mary and Joseph among the animals in crowded Bethlehem. But it’s (also) today that God is with us. Today, God can blossom afresh into our lives.

Music Preview

We will enjoy several Christmas carols that will lift your spirit! We begin with, Joy to the World, a forward looking carol, unlike all the others because it is about the second coming of Jesus. The poem was written in 1719 by Isaac Watts and discovered a century later by Boston music teacher Lowell Mason. It has become the most published Christmas Carol in America. 

French shepherds had a Christmas Eve tradition of shouting “Gloria in excelsis Deo” to each other as they watched over their sheep flocks on their respective hills in France. That phrase is the chorus of Angels We Have Heard on High, possibly written as early as 129 AD and known as “The Angel’s Hymn” it became the first Christmas hymn of the Christian church. 

Away in a Manger is an American written carol that originated among German Lutherans in Pennsylvaniá about 1885. 

Composer Sally DeFord says she wrote “When Mary Sang Her Lullaby” because she loved the symbolism in using Mary’s lullaby as a symbol for the coming of Christ as the Babe of Bethlehem, who would indeed “comfort all the world”. 

The lyrics to “O Little Town of Bethlehem” were written by Phillips Brooks in 1868 after visiting the town of Bethlehem on his trip to the Holy Land two years earlier. Since that time, this song has become a favorite for many people as they celebrate the Christmas season.

Our candlelighting will include singing of “Silent Night” first performed in German in 1818, with the young priest & lyric writer, Joseph Mohr on guitar and singing with Franz Gruber, the choir director who wrote the melody.

Come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord!

“…That you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God” (Eph. 3:18).

Due to the alarming increase in cases of COVID-19 in Cape May County, masks are again required, even for fully vaccinated worshippers.

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 for worship at home, share the picture with us by posting to Facebook #ColdSpringChurch or Instagram #coldspringchurchnj. If you’re in the sanctuary, feel free to share photos or text friends about what you are learning! Subscribe to our weekly Connections email newsletter. Sign up here!

Energize your life and discover the amazing love of Jesus! This week is the perfect time to join us in person for worship. Enjoy live music and solo, lyric videos, and a message of hope from God’s word.

We are excited to welcome to worship all who are able and comfortable in-person in our historic Red Brick Church on Sundays at 10:30 AM. Your safety, health, and wellness are our top priority. Following the guidance from the CDC and health officials, we have implemented safety protocols and designed an approximately forty-minute worship experience that will be spiritually energizing and safe for you, your family, and other worshippers.

2021-12-19 Hybrid Worship

By Intersections, Newsletters, Sermons

We are ready for you inside our historic, beautiful Red Brick Church or, join us on YouTube Live!

Please download or view the Worship Guide. It’s your guide to our fantastic community worship service including readings, prayers, community news, and the last two pages include this week’s Advent devotional for each day next week… Click the link below!

Get Your Worship Guide (click here) with Advent devotional readings, music, and prayers. See our worship preview, below!

Whatever your religious affiliation, or none at all, we all hear Jesus say, “Come to me all who are overburdened, and find rest for your soul!” Everyone is welcomed at Cold Spring Church. Yes, everyone!

Enjoy sitting with others from greater Cape May as we worship together. We simplified our service and made it even easier to participate, with our Worship Guide and lyric videos displayed on a large screen.

Worship on YouTube Live! (click here)

No internet? No problem!

If you don’t have internet access, just use our call-in number from your phone: +1 (929) 205-6099. Enter Meeting ID: 882-3154-2428 Password: 1714.

 

Worship Preview

This fourth week of Advent is moving us closer to Christmas! We have planned a beautiful 4th Sunday of Advent, Christmas Eve, and Christmas Sunday worship experience ahead! All the signs point to the unwrapping of God’s present to the world! Once you open God’s Christmas gift, nothing remains the same. The message today is titled, ”How God Wraps Your Christmas Present.”

This Christmas, God can empower us to live our very best selves. Or, sure, we can remain stuck in Christmas’ past, repeating fine traditions but not learning and overhearing the Greatest Story Ever Told, but not letting the radical Good News transform our life. God Is With Us, Emanuel (Matthew 1:23), as God’s emerging future unfolds with our every step.

What kind of gifts do you give? Memories of Christmas’ past can help you unpack Christmas’ meaning. In these pandemic times, we must creatively refashion and reset these essential activities. New ways to gather safely with family and friends are a must. Seasonal food favorites. Unique ornaments and events. Christmas movies and holiday music. Christmas Eve candlelight worship. The traditions go on and on. Sometimes the past familiar traditions can overwhelm us as we miss loved ones, reminisce about by-gone days, or feel a bit lonely during Christmas. Now is a great time to remember that from that First Noel, Christmas was always about God’s wrapping Christmas gifts. All things become new…again. Once you open God’s Christmas gift, nothing remains the same. Invite others to join you this Christmas week!

Get ready as we proclaim God’s story that a Jew from Nazareth who lived briefly, died violently, rose unexpectedly, and was God in the flesh, calls us to follow, transformed in mind, body, and spirit!

Music Preview

We will enjoy a beautiful solo by the Rev. Larry Moyer with Jayne McDonough on the grand piano titled, “Will You Come to the Manger?” After the message, the congregation can sing along with the video lyrics on the screen, “O Come All Ye Faithful.” From its Roman Catholic origins, this 18th-century hymn has spread worldwide by many denominations in both Latin and local language versions. Once popular with a wide range of hymn texts, this tune is now firmly associated with this Christmas text from which it is named.

Our sending hymn, “It Came Upon A Midnight Clear,” will be played on the organ. The “it” of the first line of this text by a Unitarian minister does not refer to the birth of Jesus, but to “that glorious song of old,” the angelic tidings of peace on earth. The restored third stanza laments how often the noise of human strife has obscured that message.

Come and worship!

“…That you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God” (Eph. 3:18).

Due to the spike in cases of COVID-19 in Cape May County, masks are again required, even for fully vaccinated worshippers.

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 for worship at home, share the picture with us by posting to Facebook #ColdSpringChurch or Instagram #coldspringchurchnj. If you’re in the sanctuary, feel free to share photos or text friends about what you are learning! Subscribe to our weekly Connections email newsletter. Sign up here!

Energize your life and discover the amazing love of Jesus! This week is the perfect time to join us in person for worship. Enjoy live music and solo, lyric videos, and a message of hope from God’s word.

We are excited to welcome to worship all who are able and comfortable in-person in our historic Red Brick Church on Sundays at 10:30 AM. Your safety, health, and wellness are our top priority. Following the guidance from the CDC and health officials, we have implemented safety protocols and designed an approximately forty-minute worship experience that will be spiritually energizing and safe for you, your family, and other worshippers.

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.