We are Thunder-Blessed to Welcome Urban Promise! Come and Worship! Sunday, May 4, 2025. 10AM!!

            We are EXCITED for our mission-focused Sunday!  It is our joy, pleasure. and privilege to have Urban Promise coming to our Church.  Minister Pamela Foxx-Levi will be sharing the message.  There will be an Urban Promise crew on hand to share with us the faith and practice of one of our biggest Mission Partners.

            “The mission of UrbanPromise International is to prepare emerging leaders to initate, develop, and sustain Christian-based youth development organizations and to seed their new ministries as they serve vulnerable children and teens in our world’s most under-resourced communities.”

            Want to see what the Lord has accomplished in our midst?  Come and see!

Jesus Sends Us...How Does That Lead Us To Our Mission Statement?

 The More You Think About It…

            “As the Father has sent me, so I send you…”  From John 20.  It is what Jesus said to His disciples when he appeared to them on the evening of Easter.  That was our passage from Sunday.  But it needs more, a more focused consideration of going from the command of Jesus to what was (facetiously) entitled "the Mission Margarita" in the previous post.  

            If we look to that command, “so I send you…” a little more seriously, there is a WHOLE lot packed into those four little words. 

            OBJECTION PASTOR: Those words were spoken to the disciples, in the context of the gospel account, to the disciples, not to us.  How do we then know they apply to us?

            I think that is made clear in the last verses of this story.  Jesus says to Thomas, “Have you believed because you have seen me?  Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”  In Sunday’s sermon, we talked about Jesus ‘breaking the fourth wall’, shifting his focus from Thomas (and the other disciples) to us, the believers across church history.  Nothing has changed in the message. 

            “So I send you…”  This is the call to the disciples.  The eleven were the first ‘named’ class, but there have been many, many since, like us.  FPC Merchantville has an historic statement for this, “Touching the Heart of God and the Hearts of People in the Heart of Merchantville”.  The newer one begins “We are a people who encourage one another to celebrate our life in Christ.”

            OBJECTION PASTOR: Should not things begin with the confession of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior?  Should not the mission/vision/values as you flippantly "triple" it be led by our belief that Jesus is our Lord and Savior, by His blood shed for us for our sins?

            I believe it already is, all baked in to being Presbyterian.  The PCUSA has a two-volume Constitution.  The second is the one that gets more day-to-day attention, our Book of Order, because that’s more our book of “how” we do things.  But the first volume is our Book of Confessions (intentional plural), that brings historical depth to our theology (how we express our belief in God).  These confessions comprise declarations of faith, teaching tools of the basics of the Christian faith, responses to crises in the world at moments of high stakes. 

            OBJECTION PASTOR: We are supposed to believe the Bible, not the confessions. 

            Yup, but believing what the the Bible says and saying what the Bible teaches are two different things.  The first one is only satisfied by speaking the entire Bible.  The second, drawing out what the Bible teaches, when I have done that, I have made a “confessional” statement.  I have confessed that from among all the glory that is God's Word, this is one of many pieces that teaches me.

            So 'confessions' are our stock and trade in speaking about the Bible.  We Presbyterians build our understanding of the Bible on the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  When we gather as a Session, as a Congregation, as a Presbytery, up and down the structure of the denomination, in our 'Committees' (for which we take such a ribbing) we are bringing the Holy Spirit out through our assembled voices.  In different times and different places, the wisdom granted by the Holy Spirit has come out in our confessions of how we believe the Word of God is expressed. 

            This, because Jesus is clear in John 11 that he remains with us in the Holy Spirit as surely as he was among the original eleven.

            “So I send you…”, thus sayeth the Lord.  He sends us to teach the Good News of the Gospel to all.  What is that Good News?  Jesus saves (hard to get any more focused than that).  It is...the heart...of what we believe the Bible teaches.  It is expressed in our Book of Confessions gathered from across the History of the Church.  From this foundation, our little neighborhood in the Kingdom of God expresses its Mission, how the Spirit moves among us as we fulfill Jesus' Sending.

Peace

pastor pete

So What Is A Mission Statement?

             Every Presbyterian Church is “supposed” to have one.  It is how things are done ‘decently and in order’.  It is hot blooded ‘run for the Lord’ theological insights like 'decently and in order' which have earned us Presbyterians the moniker of God’s “Frozen Chosen”.

            But what is a Mission Statement?  For our purposes, we shall blend the vocab in the theological mixer so we can create a metaphorical margarita of Mission, Values, and Vision Statements.  Over ice (God's frozen chosen).  With a rim of salt.  What is the alcohol content?  Depends on your Eucharistic theology, “wine or grape juice”.  So, Mission Statement...more Mission Margarita.

            So, a Mission Statement is something every Presbyterian Church is supposed to have and it is a Mission Margarita.

            But what is a Mission Statement?  It is the product of a deliberate season of review and renewal in the life of the church.  Most often, this happens during the interim period between called pastors.  A specially trained "interim" pastor comes in to work with the church in that “between” time.  Ideally, the interim works to place the running of the church-in a healthy and forward-looking manner-into the hands of the congregation.   

            That means a few things.  It means that the "cong" takes the wheel the pastor used to steer by.  But thankfully, the church is like the car I learned to drive in.  There are two steering wheels and the Lord NEVER takes His hands off the one.

            Yes, Jesus has the wheel but the congregation is still driving.  Mystery of the Lord.  Above my blessing level.  

            It falls to the congregation to make provision to take up the pieces that the pastor did.  The interim works alongside to keep things like preaching and pastoral care and moderating session going, but there is a renewal of congregational involvement, evaluation, aid, and leadership in all roles of the church.  The congregation takes over the ‘doing’ of church.  “What does Pastor think?” is a question that is moved back into the faith and purview of the congregation.

            There is also a pastoral care component of the interim period.  The emotions of the end of the called relationship are placed in context of life, whether grief or celebration, some combination of those, or something else entirely.  Emotions are disconnected from memory so that the memories remain, but the way is opened to continue living life in the present, with an eye to the future; rather than in a past that never was truly like we remember it.

            There are also tasks in the process.  There is a review of what the church does.  Are there programs or positions or things done that need to be retired?  Promoted?  Celebrated?  What is the actual body of membership as opposed to what is listed in the membership roll?  Or the directory?  How has the community around the church changed in the time since the last ‘look see’?  What connections and priorities are identified?  Who is the church and what do they stand for in Christ Jesus? 

            In the end, the congregation is empowered to say “this is who we are in Jesus and we are looking for a pastor to walk with us in this self-identity."  That self-identity is codified in the Mission Margarita.  Most often, this work takes place in an interim time, but not always.  Pastors will feel the Spirit leading them to take congregations through this kind of work during their tenure from time to time.

            So what is a Mission Statement?  It is something every church is ‘supposed’ to have.  It is a “Mission Margarita” of terminology.  It is the conclusion of a deliberate time of reflection and renewal, most often associated with an interim period in the ministerial leadership of the church, included in a declaration or a statement.

            What should it say?  In part, to quote Thomas Jefferson from the movie "1776", "To place before (everyone) the common sense of the subject, in terms so plain and firm as to command their assent."

            Yes, he was talking about the Declaration of Independence, so the bar is set rather high.

            Lovely, isn't all of this?  However, this blog is supposed to address the Scripture for Sunday, what is going on?  

            Almost there.  We are looking at the story of Thomas the Doubter as our Scripture passage for Sunday.  One might call it Doubting Resolved Sunday (but that is rather long), as Thomas' doubt from the week before is the subject of a blessed run-in with the Savior a week after His resurrection.  So Easter in the middle, Palm Sunday one week before, Tom Sunday one week after…  

            Irrespective, that doubt is embedded in something far more reaching.  Jesus is passing the torch of leadership to the disciples.  And he tells them, in John 20:21: “Peace be with you.  As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” 

            There is my connection.  What is a Mission Statement?  It is something every church should have.  It is something (however it is named) that draws in the elements of Mission, Vision, and Values.  It is something to be done in times of reflection and renewal in the life of the church.  And Jesus commands it.  It is first and foremost the response that each church gives to our Lord when He says, “As my Father has sent me, so I send you.”  Our mission statement responds, “And this is how WE, in this congregation, shall be sent.”

Peace

Pastor Pete

Flipping A Cliche

            “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book.  But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in His Name.”

            Thus endeth the Gospel of John. 

And here we have the thesis of the Gospel.  And this thesis spins the Doubting Thomas story.  In a nutshell, he wasn’t there when Jesus appeared to the disciples and he rejected their truths outright.  Would not even consider belief unless he was able to invest in a physical examination of the resurrected body.

It never struck me before, but in his brief denial, Thomas doubles down on NOT believing what his colleagues told him.  Thomas will not even, pardon the pun, give them the benefit of the doubt.  Won’t even consider the miracle in what they say.  For Easter, we looked to Luke, where the disciples called the witness of the women coming back from the tomb an “idle tale”.  Thomas will not let that go.  

Many have speculated on why Thomas is so close-minded about what he is told.  I am not qualified to speculate on what his issues were.  However, as an observer of sinful, human nature, I have seen that almost creepy desperation to cling to "his" reality.  He will not only deny any possibility of truth in what he is being told, but he is going to have to ‘see the body’ to believe it.  And not only see the body but do some weird forensic examination of Jesus’ “resurrectedness”. 

To which Jesus, on his next appearance, says, "Well, okay then."  It is ALWAYS dangerous to call Jesus out.  If Jesus was of a certain attitude, he might have called out Thomas as a blowhard for his doubling down.  Rather, the truth that Jesus speaks is far more cutting.  “You have believed because you have seen me?  Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”

And that is the hook into the thesis of the entire gospel.  “…these are written so that you may come to believe…”  You, the plural "you", we, who are reading God's holy word.  

Pastor Pete 

How Far Did God Forsake Jesus?

            Jesus says it on the cross.  "My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?"  These words join Luke 2 and Psalm 23, verses I will always hear in the words of the Bible of Shakespeare.  These words are from Mark, the story we tell tonight in our Maundy Thursday/Tenebrae service.  They include the original language:

            Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?

            In the majority of the Christian tradition, we do not often tie those words to what happens next.  Jesus dies, they pull him off the cross, and they hustle him into a rock cut tomb.  They are on a deadline.  We measure our days midnight to midnight.  In the Gospel, the day is measured sundown to sundown.  Our Lord’s Day is Sunday.  In the Gospel, the Sabbath is Saturday.  And this Sabbath carries the weight of our Easter Sunday.  It is the Passover Sabbath, when the angel of death passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt. (It is also our Passover, but that is another post).  No work, on pain of death.  Get him in the tomb before sundown.  That's why the women return on Sunday morning to finish the burial rituals.

            The Sabbath dates back to the Creation.  Genesis 2:1-3: “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude. And on the 7th day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the 7th day from all the work that he had done. So God blessed the 7th day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation.”

            It is a Top Ten Commandment of the Lord, Exodus 20:8, “Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy”.  It is a point of contention repeatedly between Jesus and the leadership of the people, because he did “horrible” things like healing people on the Sabbath.  In the Law of Moses, Sabbath is SO sacred, that to break Sabbath became a stoning offense.  (Numbers 15).

            So consider...

            Jesus was three days in the tomb.  Not 36 hours, that is our reckoning of days.  But Friday, Saturday (Sabbath), and Sunday (First Day of the Week) in the Biblical reckoning.  But the one “full” day (24 hours) was the Sabbath, was the day that God hallowed.  That Jesus was separated, forsaken, by the Father as he cried out on the cross, it is even more poignantly emphasized that Jesus was dead through God's hallowed Day.  Even more so as this is the Passover Sabbath.  

            Died for us.  It is easy to miss because the Sabbath, whether Saturday or Sunday, has been SO invaded by the world with demands for our time and attention, that it is a struggle to make any time for Jesus.  Jesus did not simply die, but He was "forsaken by God" dead (His words).  There is a reason the Apostle’s Creed uses the phrase “descended into hell”.

            In the tomb, the one full day that our Lord Jesus was not present for was the Day devoted to His Father, our Father, who art in heaven.  Maybe put it this way: On the day God hallowed, Jesus was cursed, for us.

            Ultimately, is this piece of the story central to our salvation?  No.  But it shows us just how total the story of Jesus' death; He who was cut off as the bearer of our sins; actually is.  To use language of today, it is "an immersive experience" of what it means that Jesus died for us.   

            Which, I hope, makes the wonder and the joy of Easter morning, of Jesus' resurrection so much more immersive for us.    

Peace,

Pastor Pete

An Echo of the Fall at the Resurrection?

 A beauty of Scripture is in the details.  Little things mean so much.  The connections…I have one to suggest today.

What caught my attention in Luke’s Easter account is the “idleness” of the disciples when the women bring the news of the angels.  Vs. 11, “But these words (of the women) seemed to them (the disciples minus Peter) an idle tale, and they did not believe them.”

The echo of this episode is from Genesis 3.  In that story, Satan approaches Eve with the First Temptation of Humanity, which she then shares with Adam.  There is a unity in their action which Adam then fractures when he lays the blame for eating the pomegranate (Apple? Banana? Biblical mystery).

In Luke 24, the angels appear to Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women.  Instead of a deception, it is about redemption.  What Satan had torn asunder in deceiving Eve and Adam has been repaired and renewed.

But unlike Satan, the angels are not speaking their own words, but repeating what the women already know.  “Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again?”  Then they remembered.

With the gentlemen, it took a moment.  I get that.  Not that men are thick or anything...but that a crucified, broken, bloody body was back?  

 I love the details.  I will fully admit, I may be completely off with this, regardless, God’s inspiration of Scripture is beautiful.  Thanks for taking the moment to think about this with me.

Peace

pastor pete

Recruiting for a Bible Study

     You are invited to join us on Wednesday, April 23, 2025 at 6:30pm to bring together a Bible Study at the church.  We plan to meet for about an hour to consider timing and resources for this study.  We will spend some of the time in a smaller study of Genesis 1 (starting at the beginning!) as a 'sample' of one possible direction for the study.

    Based on the feedback I have received from church folks, a weekday evening has been a fairly common theme.  Stay tuned as we consider a weekday time as well for a Bible study at the church.  Interest in Sundays after church has also been expressed, but there are a few other things that fall into that time slot, so we are going to talk more about that, like perhaps meeting biweekly.

    Thank you to those who have responded to the Opportunities Page in the Newsletter and who have spoken to me about the possibilities.

    Possibilities for the Study times include a Bible survey class (66 books and who knows what treasures lie within?) or a class focused on a book of the Bible (John is presently being covered in the Saturday Women's Bible Study).  However, the possibility of a book study has also been raised.  We can discuss topics on the 23rd.

    If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to me at pastor.pete.13@gmail.com or you can call me at the church.

Peace,

pastor pete