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2019-06-02 Message- Everybody Out, The Message of Grace and Gratitude
By Communications Team Sermons
The human instinct to survive is our most powerful drive. From our earliest age, we learned to respond instantly to danger. Everyone understands, “Everybody Out!” We practice fire drills at school, regularly change batteries in our smoke detectors, monitor neighbors who need mobility assistance, and do all we can to keep our homes safe and smart. Our Deacons in cooperation with the Session are also learning how to make our campus safer and welcoming. Some of our leaders have attended local security seminars led by the Department of Homeland Security. We will hear more about these initiatives in the months to come.
But there’s a different, hope-filled occasion when we hear the words, Everybody Out! As the Easter season concludes this Sunday, June 2, our Bible reading from Acts 16 tells how the Apostle Paul in Jesus name called people out of whatever held them back. Jesus doesn’t want people to barely survive, but to thrive! To the woman’s dangerous spirit, Paul said, Everybody Out! To those merchants who took unfair advantage over their customers, Paul said, Everybody Out! To those bound in prison, Everybody Out! To those who were emotionally restrained, Paul said, Everybody Out! The Good News about Jesus provides a way out into a future of hope and possibilities. Jesus called that spiritually thriving life, the abundant life! And, its available to all.
If you’re looking for a safe place, a welcoming place, then you’ll want to come by Cold Spring Church on Sunday. Because once the gathered community of faith experiences worship, is equipped by the Spirit, nourished at the Lord’s Table, and then enjoyed the Hospitality Table, all of us will hear Jesus’ encouraging and words, Everybody Out! God sends us out, Everybody, every day, to show the grace and gratitude of God through Christ in all we do. See you Sunday!
2019-05-29 Funeral Service Celebrating the Life of Robert Rhoads
By Communications Team Music, SermonsA Service of Witness to the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and A Celebration of the Life of Robert E. Rhoads, 1949 – 2019
The Rev. Dr. Kevin Yoho, Officiant, Transformation Pastor
Prelude: Ms. Jayne McDonough, organist
Welcome Rev. Dr. Kevin Yoho
Gathering Music: Offered by Damien and Nathan Cwik
The Times They Are a Changing (Bob Dylan)
That’s Just the Way It Is (Bruce Hornsby)
Scripture Readings: Ecclesiastes 3:1-4, Isaiah 40:28-31
Music: Amazing Grace Offered by the Grandchildren
Accompanied by Randy Wehry
Remembrances
The Lord’s Prayer: (debts/debtors)
* Congregational Singing: #341 (blue) Blessed Assurance, Accompanied by Randy Wehry
Scripture Readings: Psalm 23, John 14:1-6
Music: Rock of Ages Randy Wehry
Scripture Readings: Isaiah 64:8, Ephesians 2:8-10
Music: How Great Thou Art Randy Wehry
Meditation- The Singer and the Song, Pastor Kevin
Psalm 98:1, 4, 8; Luke 18:39-41
* Congregational Singing: #223 (red) It Is Well With My Soul, Accompanied by Randy Wehry
Prayer and Benediction
Postlude: Ms. Jayne McDonough, organist
At the conclusion of this service, you are invited to the committal service in Cold Spring Cemetery, and luncheon following at West Cape May Fire Hall, 732 Broadway, Cape May, NJ 08204
Thank you for being a neighbor! The fifteen minutes it takes to enjoy this message may forever change the way you look at our shore visitors! What makes a good neighbor? Are you one!? What kind of neighbor are you? Let’s consider the new neighbors we will welcome to our worship, our streets and neighborhoods, our beaches, this Summer!
Four Summer Conversations:
- Have you always lived here in Cape May? Awesome. If so, you’re a Remainer. How did you decide to stay in this neighborhood? Did you stay because of work? Maybe a family fishing business? Landscaping? Farming? Have you briefly lived in any other places? What keeps you here?
- Were you born somewhere else? Super. You’re a Relocator. Where did you move from? Did you move from an urban area? (Perhaps Philadelphia?) Or, did you move here from a Suburban, or Rural community? Why did you choose to move to this neighborhood?
- Or, maybe, you were born here, but moved away, but moved back later in life. That makes you a Returner. How old were you when you left our neighborhood the first time? Where did you first move to and why? What caused you to move back to this neighborhood? Before coming back, where did you move from? Would you characterize where you moved from as Suburban? Rural? Urban?
- Are you a seasonal visitor? Then you’re a Retreater, someone who is vacationing on a seasonal retreat for a day, weekend, week, or all Summer long. How did you choose Cape May as a place of retreat? Have you vacationed here before, or is this your first time? What are your lasting Cape May memories you take home to share?
Let’s create welcoming conversations at the shore this Summer. Engage people you meet with an open and inquisitive spirit. Have fun by discovering whether those you meet are a Remainer, Relocator, Returner, or Retreater. And this Sunday, find out something really amazing about Lydia, who most mistakenly regarded as the first European believer in Jesus. She wasn’t from Europe! With the Apostle Paul, we can become a strategic neighbor and improve our cultural humility as he did when he had Conversations At the Shore.
Memorial Day reminds us of the women and men who loved this country so much, that they did whatever it took to keep us safe, but sadly for them and their families, gave their lives for our freedoms. One day, Jesus told the people who followed him how to be a good friend: (John 15:13-15 The Message (MSG))
“Put your life on the line for your friends. …I’ve named you friends…”
What does it take to be a best friend? Honesty. Acceptance. Caring. Trustful. Loyal. Right!
What do you look for in a friend? Same qualities. Correct. God is amazing in blessing us with friends. Whether we have one, or ten, God did not put us on the plant to be alone. We have parents, grandparents, great-grand parents. The list goes on and on.
Jesus is our friend. But even cooler, he calls us friends. That means we can be honest with Jesus. Know he accepts us. He cares for us. He can be trusted with anything. And everything! Jesus will never desert us. He is loyal. And remember, Jesus gave his life he loved us so much, so we could live an abundant life following him, and joy now, and in the life to come.
Let’s give God thanks for women and men who protect our freedoms, and for Jesus who gave himself to give us life everlasting, who calls us to be a friend to other’s too.