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Dec 23
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2018-12-23 Message- People Of Blessing, People Of Song

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Part 4: People of Blessing, People of Song In Advent LightLuke 1:39-55. Dr. Kevin Yoho

Let Mary and Elizabeth be our guide to being a people of blessing and song. Here’s the good news: God‘s plan always included us to be adopted into God‘s family (Ephesians 1:5). Our purpose is to be involved in God‘s family. Some of us may have an awesome amazing human family, or others may have a different experience. Perhaps because of our stage in life, or because of the circumstances and choices we have made our family is differently configured. But in the community of faith, like here at Cold Spring Presbyterian Church, everybody is family, everybody belong and has a place. We hope you feel this way today. Here’s why:

God cannot love you any more than he did when Jesus rose again from the dead for you. And, God cannot love you more than he loves you now, and into the future, no matter how unclear, unsettling, that future is. We, like Mary, can have an open heart and when we accept the blessings God has for us, we start singing! What’s amazing is that our future is can be awesome because its in God’s hands. “To as many as received him, who believed on his name, shall be called the children of God.”

Dec 09
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2018-12-09 Message- The Ox and Preparing in Advent Light

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Did you know that earliest followers of Jesus didn’t celebrate what we call Christmas? That’s right. In fact, it took them 300 years to set the date! Why? The focus of the early believers was on the life and work of Jesus as the promised Messiah, the Christ, and the birth narratives were not thought to be central to the Jesus-stories. The focus was on the atoning work of the cross, death, burial, resurrection, ascension and Jesus’ promised return. A few centuries later, however, it became important to introduce a more complete story of the Savior to show his full humanity and full divinity. The scholar and pastor, Jerome (347-420 AD), helped early believers learn the four gospels using familiar creatures, each representing a diffferent animal. Mark (the Lion), John (the Eagle), Matthew (humans) and Luke (the Ox).

This year’s Advent Message Series is titled The All-Inclusive Story featuring the animals of Christmas. Animals, you ask? Yes!

On the second Sunday of Advent, this week we will consider the ox and the donkey as images to help tell the Christmas story. The Gospel of Luke features the important role John the Baptist as a messenger to level the playing fields of life. The Good News is for everyone! God is in the business of smoothing out the rough edges, the ups and downs, the obstacles that impede our learning and growth as followers of Jesus. Listen to the an all-inclusive adventure toward Christmas hope this message.

Dec 02
Love1

2012-12-02 Message- The Lion and the Lamb in Advent Light

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Stretching for the limits? Is our faith experience a collection or facts, or a collection of connections? Life connections. When Jesus calls you and says, Follow me, are you ready to passionately just get up and follow, or do most of us just hold back a little because thats how we were taught. The Lion of Judah is leading into a future of hope. Let’s invest in that journey! Let’s try an experiment. Stretch your right arm up as far as you can. Now, reach further. Wow. Thanks. Did you notice that almost everyone reached further when asked. Why didn’t you reach at that far at the beginning? You can blame the inventor of the #2 pencil. We are not standardized, interchangeable parts on an assembly line of living. Do you know why the earliest teacher’s colleges were called Normal Schools? Because that’s all they expected!  They wanted everyone to be normal. But look around you this morning. Do you see normal? Of course not! Each one of us has that same inner light of Christ that shines in its own uniquely faceted beauty.

Who are you looking for this morning? A Lion or a Lamb? The Lion of Judah has your back. In fact, he’s leading you forward and you can be confident that Jesus the Lion of Judah will protect you into the future, though the future is uncertain and the sun and moon above may fall from the sky!

Jesus is also the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world. Maybe you need to meet the Lion. Or, the Lamb. Either way, let’s not hold back with that what we have been taught in school since the early 1900’s. Following Jesus is not done with a standard #2 pencil, as we answer standardized multiple-choice questions, so we can be the next interchangeable part for an assembly line called church. No! Church is not for normal people. You are not “standard!”

The Lion roars its invitation to a future of hope despite the sky falling and the uncertainties that abound! The Lamb has forgiven you of your past and freed you to live your very best self right now, and into the future. So let’s get up and go this Advent season. The light of Hope shines brightly and I can’t wait for what’s next!

Nov 18
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2018-11-18 Message- Ropes Of Living Hope

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Have you ever felt at the End of your rope?! Sure, we all have. The rope is a familiar metaphor for many of life’s experiences and activities. Sometimes we can feel like we’re getting all Tied Up, or walking a Tightrope just to get through our day, or wistfully longing for the simple joy of Jumping Rope as a child in the neighborhood. Remember playing Tug-of-war on the field? It may have Ben a while since you enjoyed the Rope Swing in your backyard. Ropes can also keep us on the path and guide us in the best direction. 

Our energizing message this week is from Mark 13 and Hebrews 4 and you are invited to consider Jesus’ promise to be with us in our present and our future. While visions of the “end times” may result in some anxieties, the end times is not at the end of our rope. Rather, Jesus promises to be faithful to us… “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful” (Hebrews 10:23). Even when Jesus envisioned the future destruction of Herod’s Great Temple, do not fear. Even the uncertainties ahead can result in normal fears, God promises to stand with us in our fear, to tie us as with a safe and secure rope, not only to himself, but to one another. Sure, we may not immediately correlate encouragement and safety to former church experiences, but at Cold Spring Church, we not only stand on the promises of God, we stand on the promises of God together.

Did you know that the The Latin root of the word “religion” is re-ligare, which means to be tied to a yoke? Many monastic orders still require the monk to tie a rope around his waist. It’s not a rope that keeps the cassock from falling. It was a symbol of God’s promises. The rope symbolized that we are all bound together in ropes of hope and faith and love.

Find Ropes of Living Hope this week at Cold Spring Presbyterian Church.

Nov 11
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2011-11-11 Message- Why the Widow Only Had Two Coins (and what we can do about it)

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It’s veteran’s day. Did you know that there is an historic high in veteran suicides? It’s time to pay better attention to all sectors of our society; to take another look at the social services and technology that can help address this important issue. Our veterans are at risk.

Veterans today are like the widows in Jesus’ day. They give sacrificially, and we want to celebrate their sacrifice and even model it in our own lives. But their sacrifice is needed because of the untenable, unacceptable, situation they are in due to injustice, inattention, because we as a community, as a state, or nation, have not adequately provided for them.

Historic voter turnout in this week’s midterm elections is a positive sign of civic engagement. Along with the political analysts and pundits, in the coming months the nation will realize the hope of Election Day outcomes. But as citizens, we “vote” and make “decisions” every day on what matters most to us and what we care about. In a way, Election Day is every day, especially for followers of Jesus Christ. Throughout Scripture, the litmus test for loyalty as faithful disciples of Jesus Christ is this: How do we treat the poor and vulnerable? How do we care for the least of these? On Sunday we will meet a widow described in our Gospel text from Mark 12 who dropped two small coins in the offering box. Jesus said she gave more than the larger amounts from more affluent worshippers. We will discover WHY this woman was poor and vulnerable how God calls us to make decisions rooted in grace and gratitude as engaged people of faith.

 

Nov 04
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2018-11-04 Message- Embracing An Olive Tree Faith

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This week we are departing from the lectionary readings to talk about the roots of faith and how our faith can be rebooted for the future as we build on the promises of God. The theme is the Olive Tree. From Genesis to Revelation and everywhere in between, the olive tree is a metaphor for our faith. From the olive branch returned by the dove to Noah to the great olive tree in the new heaven and earth of Revelation, anointing oil inaugurated kings, blessed believers, and it was on the Mt. of Olives that Jesus wept over Jerusalem. You will never look at the olive the same way again!

Oct 28
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2018-10-28 Message- UnCloaking the Masks Towards Transformation

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People don’t usually ask, “What costume are you going to wear for halloween?” No, instead we ask, “Who are you going to BE this year?” Halloween isn’t just about putting together a clever “costume.” It is about creating a personal “image.”

Mask wearing is always associated with this time of year for more than two millennia, and ironically, on October 31, 1517, Martin Luther pulled the “mask” off of the Church when he posted his 95 complaints on the neighborhood billboard. He saw the Church hiding and pretending to be something very unlike Christ. Along with John Knox in Scotland, John Calvin in Switzerland, and other reformers, he fanned the flames of the Great Reformation across Europe.

We all wear masks, and some masks are authentic and appropriate ways for us to interact in the world. But some masks we wear mey help us hid or pretend to be something we are not and not be part of a costume, at all. In this week’s text from Mark 10:46-52, we meet a man named Bartimaeus who becomes “uncloaked.” He shows us that when we come “face-to-face” with Jesus, any mask or pretense must fall away and our most basic needs and desires are revealed to the Son of David who has the power to heal us and heal the world, transforming us to be our real selves.

Romans 8:29-30 The Message (MSG)

“God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son. The Son stands first in the line of humanity he restored. We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in him. After God made that decision of what his children should be like, he followed it up by calling people by name. After he called them by name, he set them on a solid basis with himself. And then, after getting them established, he stayed with them to the end, gloriously completing what he had begun.”

Now, that’s transformation!

 

Oct 21
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2018-10-21 Message- What do you want me to do for you

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Remember growing up with the Sears Christmas Wish Book? I do. Flipping through pages filled with toys and gift ideas delighted kids of all ages as they marked their favorite items, hoping mom and dad noticed in time for Christmas. What did you wish for?

Beginning in 1886, 22-year-olds Richard Sears and Alveh Roebuck did more than wish for a brighter future when they started a retail business that sold, well, anything. Whatever you wanted, watches, clothes, furniture, chances were that Sears, Roebuck, and Co., could deliver it to your door. In fact, they could deliver the door, too, attached to the pre-fabricated house you purchased out of the catalogue! The business seemed to peak in 1969, ironically as it built what was then the “largest skyscraper in the world” in Chicago.

Diversifying into other product lines from brokerage, insurance, and pre-internet services failed to improve the company’s health, and by the 1990’s, Walmart, and later internet companies like Amazon, made the Sears and the Christmas Wish Book obsolete. Desperate attempts to stay afloat couldn’t save the struggling retailer, which listed $6.9 billion in assets and $11.3 billion in liabilities. An economist explained the retailer’s demise: “Sears and Kmart simply trudged along and thought that was good enough.” Good enough is rarely good enough, and on October 15, the Sears Holdings Corp. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after 132 years in business. While sad, there’s more for us to learn from the wish book story.

What do you want? Jesus asked this question of his good friends, James and John, and you wouldn’t have guessed what was on their wish list! This Sunday, let’s get our wish lists out for Jesus to examine. We will also take a look at Job’s wish list, too, and we’ll discover that God delivered more than Job bargained for!

Oct 07
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2018-10-07 Message- How to Live the Ultimate Life, The Spirit of the Game

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Jesus said, “I have come that you might have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:10). The word abundantly could also be translated ultimately. Jesus sails our life can be an ultimate life, a life experience beyond our greatest hopes or soaring imaginations! This week, we will find out how to live an ultimate life as we consider three related Bible texts about integrity, living our lives with a coherent sense of truth, respect, and character (Job 1:1ff; Hebrews 1:1-2ff; and Mark 10:2-16.) We will also learns few lessons from the Frisbee!

More than sixty years ago, the Frisbee flying disk was created by Walter Morrison and Warren Franscioni, in part inspired by the Roswell flying saucer sensation and originally called the Pluto Platter. Frisbee’s now famous name is a spin-off from a defunct Connecticut bakery, Frisbie Pie Company. New England college students often tossed empty pie tins around for fun, a habit that led them to refer to the Pluto Platter as a “frisbie.” Recently, the Frisbee is earning an even greater recognition than being one of the most well-known and well-loved flying toys of all time. The International Olympic Committee is considering adding competitive Ultimate Frisbee to the official sports line-up. (Ultimate will be the only sport not to have one of these _____. Can you guess? Listen for the correct answer!) This week at Cold Spring Church, find out how Jesus’ words and Ultimate Frisbee can inspire you to lead the Ultimate Life!

Sep 30
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2018-09-30 Message- Time for Living

By Sermons

Do you know what time it is? Just now, you likely paused to check. You may have looked to the clock on the wall, or the phone in your pocket. Maybe you raised your arm to glance at the watch on your wrist. Or called out, “Hey, Siri, what time is it?” You have your answer but what time is it, really? You’ve heard it said, “We have all the time in the world!” But have also been cautioned, “Time’s a’wasting.” How do we really know what time it is?

There’s an absolute atomic clock reference point that nations have agreed to recognize which essentially never varies. Our device’s time derives from this atomic standard. But Jesus wanted his followers to reconcile their life’s mission to a different clock: eternity. It includes everyone. It extends everywhere. Jesus wanted them to make time for living.

Our Bible journey continues in Mark 9:37-50, just after last week’s account when Jesus shockingly lifted a child to his lap and reminded his disciples that if greatness is one’s goal, serving others, especially children, must be the focus of one’s practice. Not skipping a beat, the disciples then smugly report that they condemned some outsiders for using Jesus’ name to heal people. How dare “outsiders” presume to do what “insiders” did! “What!?,” Jesus exclaimed as he scolded them, “Stop giving others a hard time!”

This week we’ll learn how to reset our clock to God’s time. Making time for living invites us to remove distractions, false reference points, and criticism of those who serve differently. What time is it? Its time to bless others and preserve the peace.