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!
Who are you on Halloween? You look costume looks great, by the way! What does your very cool image say about you? Bright colors? Character-like qualities? Stylizing for attention? Sure. All these things. If Jesus were to dress up for Halloween, who would he be? Well, he’d be who he was all the other days of his life, too. Jesus was authentic. He presented himself as he was. He treated everyone with dignity and respect. He showed amazing love for everyone, all the time, and in every context of life. The Bible says he is the true image of the invisible God. If we have seen Jesus, we have seen God! So this Halloween, be creative with your cloaks and masks. It’s good fun. But who we are for Halloween, and every other day of our year ahead, can also be who we are for real! A child of God who looks like Jesus. Be uniquely Christ for Halloween, and every other day!
Celebrate 304 Years of Ministry at our Friends & Family Dinner
Prime Rib Dinner
We invite you to help celebrate 304 years of mission and ministry at Cold Spring Presbyterian Church. Our Anniversary Family & Friends Christmas Dinner is Saturday, December 8, at 5 p.m. in our newly renovated Price Hall, at the corner of Seashore and Academy Roads. As a result of recent year’s enthusiastic, sold-out response, we suggest that you purchase your tickets soon. Limited seating!
Menu: You may choose either our main entrée, Prime Rib, or the alternate, Roasted Chicken.
Tickets are $20.00 each. Purchase online, following worship, or at the church office. Consider purchasing a few extra tickets for unexpected guests. Invite neighbors to join you! Anniversary Dinner tickets make a perfect gift, too!
You will enjoy bringing your favorite beverage, if you like (wine glasses provided).
To join the event team or for more information, contact Chef Kevin Beare: campus@coldspringchurch.com.
304 years, and we’re just getting started!
304 years is a long time. Cold Spring Church is just getting started! Check out our events including our interactive worship experience Sunday mornings in the Worship Center (red brick church building). Our holiday activities for the entire family will energize your spirits and transform lives! Thank you for your support.
RSVP for our no-cost annual Gingerbread House interactive Christmas holiday community event for children!
Build Your Own
“GINGERBREAD HOUSE”
Saturday, December 1, 2017
11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Cold Spring Presbyterian Church, Price Hall
780 Seashore Road, at the corner of Academy Road
Your neighbors at Cold Spring Church are delighted to welcome you and your children to our annual Gingerbread House Building Event! For more than 300 years, we have shown God’s love through worship and special events like this one, giving you and your family a place to experience joy-filled energy and hope!
There is no charge for this event. Registration RSVP is encouraged as seating is limited to forty children. Please provide the information below to better serve you.
Children ages 4 to 12 are invited to come and build their own “Gingerbread House.” Refreshments will be provided by the Deacons at Cold Spring Church in addition to a surprise visit and gift from Santa!
An adult must accompany child! RSVP below because seating limited to the first 40 children.
Register online below. Call 609-884-4065 for more information.
Cold Spring Church offers holiday events for the entire family. Join us Christmas Eve at 5:00 p.m. for our Annual Candlelight Christmas Eve service in our Worship Center. More information at www.coldspringchurch.com
Sunday, 11/4, after worship, let’s gather at the Back Bay Bistro!
Hungry for some great conversation? Are you looking for another way to get to know others you meet at Cold Spring Church? Sunday, November 4, after worship, stop by the Back Bay Bistro, 1891 Bayshore Rd, Villas. Purchase the beverage or meal of you choice and share in the lunchtime conversation!
Let’s build a sense of community, in the community!
Lenore Bowne will be available after church today to take your reservation. You may also contact her 609-898-6159 or at lenorec2@comcast.net. Deadline for reservations is Friday, November 2nd. Thank you.
See you at Back Bay Bistro!
The Nominating Committee will be meeting in the Taylor Room at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday November 30, 2018.
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!
What do you need when you go trick or treating? Candy, right? What’s you favorite? Sure. Twist. Snickers. Skittles! But, what do you need? Not candy! How about faith? Jesus said that if you have faith even a small as this mustard seed, you can move mountains! Here is a mustard seed. Can you even see it? It’s super small. It’s one of the very smallest of the seeds, yet it grows and produces a great plant. You probably don’t need more candy, and guess what? You don’t need more faith, either. All you need to do is trust in God and know that God loves you more than you could possibly know, and wants your very best and has given you all you truly need in Jesus Christ. So this Halloween, as you fill your bag with candy, fill your life with faith and see what God will do!
What do you want for halloween? Candy?
What do you need for Halloween? Faith!