Our Sunday Scripture, John 17, a Deeper Look

To You Who Are Beloved of our Lord Jesus Christ,                             

Our Scripture for this week is John 17:

After Jesus had spoken these words, he looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, ² since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. ³ And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. ⁴ I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. ⁵ So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed.

⁶ “I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. ⁷ Now they know that everything you have given me is from you, ⁸ for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you, and they have believed that you sent me. ⁹ I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. ¹⁰ All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I have been glorified in them. ¹¹ And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. ¹² While I was with them, I protected them in your name that you have given me. I guarded them, and not one of them was lost except the one destined to be lost, so that the scripture might be fulfilled. ¹³ But now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves. ¹⁴ I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. ¹⁵ I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. ¹⁶ They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. ¹⁷ Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. ¹⁸ As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. ¹⁹ And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth.

²⁰ “I ask not only on behalf of these but also on behalf of those who believe in me through their word, ²¹ that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. ²² The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, ²³ I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. ²⁴ Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.

²⁵ “Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you, and these know that you have sent me. ²⁶ I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them and I in them.”

          This prayer is shared by Jesus just before His arrest.  In each gospel, before Jesus’ arrest, before the events of Good Friday begin to unfold, Jesus prays.  But the prayer in the Gospel of John, our reading today, is far different from the prayerful sentiments Jesus expresses in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. 

          In our attempts to understand just who the unique figure of Jesus Christ is in our life and history, we have come up with descriptions like “fully human and fully God”.  What does that actually mean?  I believe it means that we are not able so much to define Jesus as to describe how He is presented to us. 

          So, in the first three gospels, the Synoptic gospels (all following more or less the same outline), Jesus is broken and on His knees in the Garden of Gethsemane.  It is the human being attempting to bear up under the weight of divine punishment for all of us.  It drives Him to His knees.  Jesus asks if this weight, if this coming death can be passed from His hands.  This is the prayer that we associate with our Tenebrae services during Holy Week.

          In our Gospel reading today, it is also Jesus, but it is written from the Godly side of Jesus. 

          It begins with “Father, the hour has come…”  But then we do not enter the anguish of Jesus, but the accomplishment.  Yes, Jesus is about to die, horribly.  But it is to achieve something larger, it is to achieve God’s plan.  Jesus will be glorified, He will be raised again.  That is the piece that we see in this prayer in John’s Gospel.

          But then Jesus elaborates.  In prayer, He takes us through the Holy History of what He has done in His ministry.  But it is not about Him.  His time is coming to a conclusion, He is passing the baton to the next generation, to the disciples whom He has called.  It is a prayer for them, to carry on the work.

          Jesus identifies their work with His own.  It is here where Jesus speaks of them being ‘in the world’ but not ‘of the world’.  That they will need protection.  That they were granted to Jesus by God in heaven.  That they will continue to do what Jesus was doing.  As workers in Jesus’ Name, the call of our Savior is not to remove them from the world, but to protect them from the Evil One who runs rampant in the world.

          Now, doubters of the Bible will look at these passages and then at us and tell us that the Word of God has a contradiction in it.  We have the tired and terrified Jesus on the one hand and the chill and confident Jesus on the other.  It’s like we are being challenged to pick one over the other. 

          I would like to suggest another possibility.  The gospels are written for us.  God inspired them to speak to us.  God chose writers who stand as unique witnesses to the plan and history of Christ.  I do not believe they even understood they were writing ‘bible’.  God brought them together, maybe especially for moments like these final hours of Jesus’ life.

          For example, the first three gospels include for us the Last Supper, and Jesus’ call and command that we do this in remembrance of Him (as we will this Sunday).  John does not include that, but assumes it, leading in with the story of Jesus washing the feet of the disciples.  Are they mutually exclusive?  Certainly not. They are of the same story, each told to illustrate God’s point.  Because each Gospel was inspired by God for us.

          So, perhaps a way to read this is to begin in John 14, where Jesus begins to speak of what is next, what is coming, “In my Father’s House there are many dwelling places…and I go and prepare a place for you…and I will come back…” through this prayer in John 17, where Jesus speaks to His Father, asking for the blessings and protection of God upon His disciples.

          Then, to begin chapter 18 in John, ‘after Jesus had spoken these words, He went out with His disciples across the Kidron valley to a place where there was a garden…”

          If we were to pick up the account in Luke, Luke 22: 39-46, it is Luke’s account of Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, perhaps the most intense of the first three gospels.  As in verse 44, “in his anguish he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down on the ground.”  Other translations do not assume this is a simile, but that Jesus’ pain was so great, it was physically manifest.  And in verse 43, that God sent an angel to give Jesus strength.

          To begin in bold prayer in the power of God in John to the deeply personal prayers of a man in anguish in Luke, we are given by our Lord a masterclass of what it means to “bring it to the Lord in prayer”.  May we aspire to pray so freely and completely to our God in Heaven.

Pastor Pete

 

Our Scripture for This Coming Sunday, August 2, 2026: John 17: -26

 https://youtu.be/mfAg4xqkIbE

Our Scripture Lesson for this coming Sunday is a prayer offered by Jesus.  He is coming to the end of His ministry here, as He prepared to return to the Father.  In this prayer, this conversation, written for us, we are given the opportunity to see Jesus' expectations, of where He came from, and for those who follow in His Name.  It is not simply the disciples of that first generation, but the generations of disciples that have come down to us today.

The prayer that Jesus lays out is an aspiration, an inspiration for we who are His disciples to follow, to know that we have been given to Jesus by God above.  

https://youtu.be/mfAg4xqkIbE

Pastor Pete

Preparing for Worship: Hearing God's Word for Sunday, July 26, 2026. Mark 1: 32-39

https://youtu.be/jqRMLQKQwH0 

Our passage for this Sunday, our Monthly Healing Service, is Mark 1: 32-39

This is the link to hear our Scripture Lesson for Sunday read in the King James, the Pirate, the New Revised Standard Version, and the Message, a Contemporary version of the Scriptures.  

It seems to surprise people to hear that the passage is read "with funny voices".  Is this somehow unorthodox or, even worse, disorderly?  Maybe.  But they work.  What does that even mean?

I was a lot younger and less foolish than I am now when I stumbled on this.  I was reading the King James Version.  Someone had hooked me with a historic conspiracy that not only does this version come from the time of Shakespeare (and King James), but he-Shakespeare (not King James) actually did the translation.  Which is why the King James Version sounds like Shakespeare... (or the other way around).  

My default "British", more British Isles adjacent, accent comes from Monty Python, the 'pepperpot' accents they would do when they dressed as more mature English ladies of a certain status.  It works way too well to read the King James in that fashion.  I would commend this for you to try.  It brings together two of my favorite things, the Bible and Monty Python.

But we are Presbyterian, so after more than a few really bad attempts at an accent, I won't say that I am any good at it, but I find consistency in attempting a Scottish brogue-adjacent accent.  Thank you Sean Connery and Peter Capaldi for being my vocal inspirations.  Thank you David Tennant for being a spiritual inspiration, being the son of a Scottish clergyman to remind me that the good ones are often Presbyterian.

When I was younger, I was less foolish.  I might 'do an accent' in a moment, but never be the fool to put it up on YouTube forever.  But in our house, you will hear quotes thrown around from our favorite movies and television shows.  And it is not really the line that sticks, it is how it's said.  

I rather enjoy being a fool for Christ.  If doing a 'funny accent' helps one more bit of God's Word to stick with the listener; if simply sharing God's Word for the sake of God's Word brings a little more of the Bible into the heart and mind of the person whose given me their time in watching this bit; if a bit of humor makes God's Word more human, then I have been blessed.

https://youtu.be/jqRMLQKQwH0

Pastor Pete

A First Pass Through Our Passage for Sunday Worship: Mark 12: 28-34

To You Who Are Beloved of our Lord Jesus Christ,                          

Our Scripture for this week is Mark 12: 28-34:

²⁸ One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well he asked him, “Which commandment is the first of all?” ²⁹ Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; ³⁰ you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ ³¹ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” ³² Then the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that ‘he is one, and besides him there is no other’; ³³ and ‘to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength’ and ‘to love one’s neighbor as oneself’—this is much more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” ³⁴ When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” After that no one dared to ask him any question.

One God, two commands.  Our whole faith in a nutshell.  It is fascinating how Jesus cuts off the conversation, isn’t it?  “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”  Why did it shut down the conversation?  Because, in a phrase, Jesus undermined the whole religious-industrial complex of the Law of Moses.  ‘Burnt offerings and sacrifices’, that is the basis of what the Levites-the tribe of priests-do.  It is what the priests do.  It is what the temple’s function is.  It’s what everyone comes to Jerusalem to do. 

And Jesus just told the man who said, “You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that ‘he is one, and besides him there is no other’; ³³ and ‘to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength’ and ‘to love one’s neighbor as oneself’—this is much more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” Soooo…what we believe and NOT what we do…

So, here’s the thing, in the gospels, Jesus declares the Kingdom of God or the Kingdom of Heaven is near.  Then He died and rose again and arose to heaven and sent the Holy Spirit on Pentecost and now the tagline reads, “The Kingdom of God is HERE…”  Not done yet, but begun yet.

And something has shifted from the gospel account to Sunday morning worship…we don’t do much in the way of ‘whole burnt offerings and sacrifices’.  However, we commit ourselves to one God, to loving God and to loving our neighbor.  But we also have one sacrifice we remember…

Here, we remember once a month.  Well, technically, we do this “in remembrance of Jesus”, because He told us to.  It is the sacrament of the Last Supper.  Jesus’ body broken and His blood shed for us.  Put that way, it can sound morbid to the present ear.  But it was Jesus living into ‘all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices’.  He was the final, the full, the complete, the worthy sacrifice. 

Before, the people repeatedly came to God for forgiveness and, with the sacrifice, they were forgiven, till the next time.  But, with Jesus’ sacrifice, we are forgiven.  So, when we confess our sins to the Lord, the forgiveness is taken care of.  We no longer worry about whether things are ‘okay’ with God. 

Rather, we can take everything that stands between us loving God and loving neighbor, lay it down at the cross, and work to make our lives more like that of Jesus.  We are not waiting for the Kingdom, waiting for what Jesus will do next.  We are IN the Kingdom, our Neighborhood is here.  We are free to love God and love neighbor ever more powerfully, in Him.

Pastor pete

Life at Church: Midweek Edition

            Tis the season of holidays.  People slipping in and out for vacation, for visits, for enjoying/beating the heat.  It has been my privilege to come back from ten days in Maine.  It is nice to be a place where 85 degrees constitutes a ‘heatwave’.

            The summer season has also turned into the season of training and prepping.  We have a few things coming down the pike.

            We praise the Lord for our coming confirmation class.  We have the net stretched wide and for the next four Sundays, we will be gathered each Sunday afternoon and evening to prepare our up and coming generation, apparently Gen Zish according to the culture that likes to name these things (I am speaking with the natural skepticism of a Gen X).  The summer season provides the time away from the overloaded schedule of a school year to gather. 

            We praise the Lord for our first Officer Training.  We are offering THE SAME training twice this summer, set for the third Mondays of July and August (July 20 and Aug. 17) running from 6:30 to 8pm.  It is for all Elders and Deacons, newly minted, currently serving, renewing their presence.  It is a very basic overview of our presence and plans for the coming year. 

            We praise the Lord for the coming Sermon Series.  The foundational text for our Sending Statement is a challenge made to Jesus to name the most important commandment.  This Sunday is Mark’s accounting of this.  It is that God is one, which calls for the response of loving God with Heart, Soul, Mind, and Strength and loving our neighbors as ourselves. 

            So…how do we actually do that in life?  Well, that’s what we intend to explore.

            As I reread this post, I find myself questioning my choice to begin each bit of church business by praising the Lord.  We want to praise the Lord for classes and training and sermons?  There is a voice that sneaks in that whispers boring…. at such possibilities.  That’s a personal bit of spiritual warfare that is endemic for me.  The consistent voice that whispers that the church and the world find me and the work of Jesus to be empty and boring.

            However, the reality is that this summer is all about bringing our faith to life in the real and actual practice of our phenomenal faith in Christ Jesus. 

            So, here we go!

Pastor pete

Preparing for Worship: Hearing God's Word from Mark 12: 28-34 in Preparation for the Lord's Day, July 19, 2026.

 https://youtu.be/11xTl1c517E

Our Scripture Lesson for this coming Lord's Day is the question posed to Jesus, "What is the greatest commandment?"  In the following conversation, Jesus stumped them all into silence, taking the practice of the Law of Moses, and setting it aside for something far more important: To recognize God is one, to love God, and to love Neighbor.

Pastor pete

https://youtu.be/11xTl1c517E

The Reading of Our Scripture Lesson, Revelations 21:22-22-6 from our YouTube Channel

https://youtu.be/lhgWpyRb5aI 

We share our Scripture Lesson, Rev. 21:22-22-6, from the King James, the Pirate, the New Revised Standard Version, and the Message, the Bible in Contemporary English in preparation for our Worship Service on Sunday, June 28, 2026.

You are invited to join us at 10am at FPC Merchantville in person or you can tune in on YouTube @FPCMerchantville.

https://youtu.be/lhgWpyRb5aI

Some Thoughts on Rev. 21:22-22:6, Our Scripture Passage for Worship on Sunday, June 28, 2026

 To You Who Are Beloved of our Lord Jesus Christ,                             

 This Sunday, our Scripture passage is from the Book of Revelations, verses from Chapter 21 and 22:

 ²² I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. ²³ And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb. ²⁴ The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. ²⁵ Its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. ²⁶ People will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. ²⁷ But nothing unclean will enter it, nor anyone who practices abomination or falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

22 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb ² through the middle of the street of the city. On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month, and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. ³ Nothing accursed will be found there any more. But the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him; ⁴ they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. ⁵ And there will be no more night; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

⁶ And he said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true, for the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place.”

   In the leadup to our passage, the New Jerusalem is described as a cube, with each length some 12,000 stadia.  That means, according to a rough estimate on my GPS, that one edge of the New Jerusalem would run from our church to Dallas, Texas. 

The angels are showing this to John.  It is beyond creation itself.  No day or night, because God’s glory is the light, and the Lamb (Jesus) is the lamp that bears that light.  No temple or church or anything because God is there.  The one connection point to the creation story is the Tree of Life to be found in the City.

The Tree of Life was planted in the Garden of Eden, and to take of its fruit was to live forever.  When humanity fell into sin, we were separated from the Tree.  But now, it is not just a Tree, but twelve, with 12 different types of fruit, one for each month, bordering the river that runs down the main drag in the New Jerusalem.

That’s the final Neighborhood that is the Kingdom of God.  The descriptions are angel-driven, but its place is firmly established.  Humanity and God are brought together.  As it says in Chapter 21:4, a verse I remember in the King James, “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things have passed away.”

This Neighborhood, the New Jerusalem, it stands before us as the latter things, that which comes after Jesus returns to us.  We continue to live in the time of ‘former things’.  But within these former things, we share our service of healing, a foreshadowing of that which is to come in Jesus, as described here in the book of Revelations.

It is the model, it is the blueprint, it is the revelation by the angels to John of what is to come.  It is what we are working for as we seek to build our Neighborhood in the Kingdom of God.  Here, John tells us that it is going to work, “These words are trustworthy and true, for the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place.”

Our place, our work, our church, these all serve to bring forward God’s love as a bridge from where we are to what is to come.  We have the beginnings, a taste of God’s healing now.  Then, we shall live in it completely and eternally.

 

Pastor pete

Following the Lead of Jesus in the Neighborhood of God.

 To You Who Are Beloved of our Lord Jesus Christ,                              June 16, 2026

 This Sunday, our Scripture passage is from the Gospel of Matthew,  Matthew 9: 35-10: 8.   

³⁵ Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness. ³⁶ When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. ³⁷ Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; ³⁸ therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

10 Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness. ² These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon, also known as Peter, and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee and his brother John; ³ Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus and Thaddaeus; ⁴ Simon the Cananaean and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed him.

⁵ These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not take a road leading to gentiles, and do not enter a Samaritan town, ⁶ but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. ⁷ As you go, proclaim the good news, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ ⁸ Cure the sick; raise the dead; cleanse those with a skin disease; cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment. 

Jesus taught, He proclaimed, He healed and cured, He did all this in company with His disciples who He was training up to take up His mantle when He returned to heaven.

 When we read about what Jesus has done, when we absorb it into our church community, our souls and psyche, our hearts and minds, when we seek actively to live into Jesus’ statement, “As My Father sent me, so I send you”, what do we see God doing?

We see that God changes ordinary life into abundant living.  But not in the abstract for ‘somebody’ out there, but for us.  And we recognize how Jesus accomplishes it.  These are the ‘how-to’s’, participating in worship, Christian Education, fellowship and service. 

We recognize that the means by which God changes ordinary living into abundant life comes in the creation of communities within our Neighborhood, communities of worship, of learning, of fellowship, and of service.  This pillars, these investments of our Time into the work and worship of the church, these are the ways in which Jesus acted and led His first batch of disciples.

He sent them out to proclaim the Kingdom of Heaven (of which we are a Neighborhood), the proclamation which is at the heart of our services of worship to this day.  He was teaching in the synagogues, while also teaching the disciples in all He did.  He set them up to serve, giving them power to cure all diseases and illnesses (we have healing in our midst, but not usually to THAT scale).  All that was then bound together with the ‘simple’ act of fellowship, simply being with His disciples, being with us, that we may know Him and trust Him and call Him friend (how simple, yet how completing).

As we are Jesus’ disciples in this, our Neighborhood in the Kingdom of Heaven, these ‘how-to’s’ serve us coming and going.  They serve us coming into God’s presence, that we may know our God, in our Lord Jesus Christ, ever more personally and deeply.  They serve us going as well when we dare to be Christ’s witnesses to the world in need.

I always have a hard time believing a famous person who is being employed to be a spokesman for some commercial product or other.  But when someone shares the reality of what has changed their life for the better, when I can see it and experience the change it has made, that’s the hook that draws me in. 

Jesus does not want disciples to ‘sell’ the faith.  He wants disciples to live it, that others will know the blessings we have received, that there is True Love in creation, that there is the Way, the Truth, and the Life to be found in Christ Jesus.

 

Pastor Pete

For the Lord's Day: The Reading of God's Holy Word for Sunday, June 21, 2026

https://youtu.be/a7jDfW0Q2L0 

Our Scripture for this Sunday is Matthew 9:35-10:8.  Jesus is sending out his disciples for their first foray into carrying forth the Word of the Lord in their turn.

This Sunday is our Family Service and we shall be sharing this lesson for our Young People and families to hear together, to know what we too are called to do in the Name of Jesus.

Peace,
Pastor Pete

https://youtu.be/a7jDfW0Q2L0

Some Hints of What Our Neighborhood in the Kingdom of God Could Be

Our Neighborhood in the Kingdom of God is an earthly beginning to the perfect Kingdom completed at Jesus' return.  But what does it look like in earthly terms? 

Because attempts to portray the 'ideal' Neighborhood are made in the popular culture and media.  It is all over Children's programming.  The one that set the pattern for me growing us was Sesame Street. I will confess that I am not of the "Elmo" generation and never really got the popularity of "Elmo's World" (but for some reason, I love the extended "Noodle" family).

I grew up when Mr. Hooper was the shopkeeper.  And it still brings a hollowness of heart to me in remembering how they had to share the news of Mr. Hooper's death with Big Bird.  But that was what the Neighborhood was about, people caring for one another in community.  It was done in a way that sought to protect kids growing up in a dangerous world.  Monsters weren't bad, people cooperated with each other.  Cookie Monster was my favorite.  Grover was my voice.

Not all children's programming is this way.  Most "children's" programming is not for children except to turn them into consumers.  How many shows are just there to sell the merchandise?  Even Sesame Street has its share of that.  "Tickle Me Elmo" comes to mind (and not as a fond recollection).  

It is even proper to be looking into the world for hints of the Kingdom of God?  I think it is more than proper, it is necessary.  But with discernment.  God is the Creator of all.  The good things of faith, love and grace and caring, they continue to exist in the world, all tangled up with sin and evil and greed.  

Our Neighborhood in the Kingdom of God also exists in the World.  We are not called upon to withdraw to a mountain stronghold and defend Jesus against all comers.  It is just the opposite, in the Name of Jesus, we are called to invite the world in.  It is a line that we, as a church, have sought to discern since the first disciples of Jesus, how do we live "in" the world while seeking not to be "of" the sinfulness of the world?  

The good things of God continue to exist in the world, even in the presence of sin that, if it cannot undermine them, will twist and tweak them.  We know this is the same for the Church.  The good things of God exist in the church, but even here, the presence of sin seeks to undermine and to tweak and to twist what is good.

This is God's world.  We know God is here for us.  We know God is here for the world, despite sin.  So, all around us there are hints and clues of what our Neighborhood could be, should be in our world.

Pastor Pete          

 

For the Lord's Day: Sunday, June 14, 2026 The Reading of God's Word.

https://youtu.be/mpeCLRrJrjE 

Our passages for this Sunday include Joshua 20 and Romans 6: 1-11.  As always, we share them in the KJV, the Pirate's Bible, the NRSV, and the Message.

May the hearing of God's Word provide guidance and clarity in the week ahead.

Pastor Pete

https://youtu.be/mpeCLRrJrjE

A Lord's Day Preview: Our Scriptures and Some Thoughts for Sunday, June 7, 2026

To You Who Are Beloved of our Lord Jesus Christ,                              

 Our passages for this Sunday come from Genesis 12: 1-3 and Matthew 9: 9-13.  The first is the promise God made to Abram and the second is that call that Jesus extended to Matthew:

 Genesis 12:  ¹Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. ² I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. ³ I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Matthew 9: ⁹ As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax-collection station, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him.

¹⁰ And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting with Jesus and his disciples. ¹¹ When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” ¹² But when he heard this, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. ¹³ Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous but sinners.”

          The promise in Genesis is made to Abram (even before God changed his name to Abraham).  The piece we hang our presence on is at the conclusion of verse 3, “…in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”  That is us, among others.

          Our passage in Matthew shows Jesus doing that work.  His work began among His people, God’s Chosen.  It is something that the leadership in Jerusalem is watching.  And then Jesus makes a point.

          “Tax collectors and sinners”, Bible-speak for ‘riff-raff’, for the unwelcome, those who have made bad life decisions, the people on the other side of the tracks, those people who, in the eyes of the Pharisees, are unworthy.

          Apparently, theirs was an early version of “See Something, Say Something”, because these are not the sort of people that Jesus ‘ought’ to be caught having dinner with.  They are sinners.  And tax collectors (a special brand of treacherous in occupied Israel).

          Jesus’ response is cutting, to say the least.  “Those who are well have no need of a physician…”  In other words, “I am not here for YOU.”  Jesus is here for those who are not well, who, in the eyes of God, are “ill” with sin.

          But Jesus is not done.  The Pharisees, the teachers of the Bible of Jesus (alongside Jesus), they would recognize Jesus’ work in fulfillment of the promise to Abram.  So they’d recognize Jesus’ second cut, one that runs deeper. “Go and learn what this means, “I desire mercy and not sacrifice.”

          It is from Hosea, the prophet who calls “BS” on the practices of ancient Israel when they turned away from God for their own benefit.  The second part of the verse in Hosea goes, “(For I desire)…the knowledge of God rather than burnt sacrifices.”

          Israel, blessed by God and in a good economic situation in the time of Hosea, has gotten very good at following the letter of the law for their own desire and benefit.  Because they forgot they needed God, the Giver of all. They’d forgotten the spirit of that law, the knowledge of God.  What is the knowledge of God?  Most basically, that God is love.

          Jesus has not come to call the righteous, but the sinner.  In speaking to the Pharisees, Jesus is not telling them something new, but reminding them.  They are the ‘righteous’ and they should know better.  More than knowing better, as leaders of the people, as those who claim to be scholars of the bible they share with Jesus, they should be doing this work.  Most especially INSTEAD of critiquing Jesus for it.

          While this will not endear Jesus to the leadership of the people, it is the people, not their leadership, that Jesus has come to serve.

 

Pastor Pete      

Our Scripture Lessons Read in Anticipation of Sunday, June 7, 2026

https://youtu.be/mH4LMWQA0nQ

 This week, we share Genesis 12: 1-3 and Matthew 9: 9-13 in the KJV, the Pirate Bible, the NRSV, and the Message.  

We begin at the promise made to Abram and how Jesus took that promise and made it real.

Pastor Pete

https://youtu.be/mH4LMWQA0nQ

Can We Still Doubt in the Face of The Great Commission?

 To You Who Are Beloved of our Lord Jesus Christ, 

 This Sunday is Trinity Sunday, and our passage is Matthew 28: 16-20, the Great Commission.  It is here where the language of the Trinity is drawn together most clearly:

 ¹⁶ Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. ¹⁷ When they saw him, they worshiped him, but some doubted. ¹⁸ And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

             For all the depth of purpose included in the Great Commission, three little words always pop at me, from verse 17, “but some doubted”.  The simplest explanation (to me) is that this is a nod to the Gospel of John, where the story of the Doubter, Thomas, is related. 

So why insert this little hiccup in the grand finale of the Gospel of Matthew?  Is it simply a nod, an homage, or is it something else?

Is it a reminder?  Is it a reminder that, as the grand sweeping vision is laid out by Jesus in these few verses, that we are still human?  And it is a grand, sweeping vision. 

 Go and make disciples of ALL nations.

Baptize them in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit!!

          Teach them to obey everything I have commanded you!!

And, you are not alone, for I am with you always, to the end…

          But, what if it gets hard?  What if I don’t know what I am doing?  I got love and I got faithfulness but…  What if the going gets tough?  Because it does.  Here’s an excerpt from Paul’s Resume of Suffering from 2 Corinthians 11:24-25: “Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods.  Once I was stoned...”  (I have never heard this called a Resume of Suffering but it powerfully fits).

          So, maybe these three little words are included as more than a nod or an homage.  Maybe they are included as an “Easter egg”, like in the movies.  In the movies, an ‘Easter egg’ is a reference to another movie or scene or something that the director is honoring.  One of my favorites is in Raiders of the Lost Ark, where R2D2 and C3PO from Star Wars are hieroglyphics in the underground temple in Egypt.

          So, maybe, when someone is living into the Great Commission and things have gotten tough, when there are serious bumps in the road, nothing seems to be going right, disappointment and doubt have settled in…  Remember this Easter egg.  It takes us to the Supreme Doubter.  And it walks us through how Jesus worked with him.

          It is a visual of Easter.  Jesus’ resurrection body, wounds healed BUT present.  Jesus present and transformed.  Jesus up from the grave, in fulfillment of all the promises made about grace and salvation and forgiveness and eternity.  But, more profoundly, THE reminder that even death was overcome by our Lord.  All to remind poor Thomas to believe. 

          The work is getting hard?  The Great Commission feels more like a Great Weight around the neck?  Go back to the Doubter, who had to see and touch to confess, “My Lord and My God!”

          Read again what Jesus said to Thomas, “Have you believed because you have seen Me?  Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”

          That’s us.  Reminded of where the blessings truly come from.  Where the strength truly comes from.  Where the renewal truly comes from.  In the Triune God.

          God the Father and Creator, who is not just THE power in the Universe, but THE Maker of the Universe.  In Jesus Christ who did the work we are not able to, in perfect obedience, dying and rising again to fulfill the promise of a gift given to us all.  In the Holy Spirit, who is Jesus in our hearts.  As Jesus says to conclude the Commission, “and I am with you, till the end of the age.”

 

Pastor Pete

May 31, 2026 Scripture Lesson: Matthew 28: 16-20

https://youtu.be/IHcYC2VMdqA 

May 31, 2026 is Trinity Sunday on the Church Calendar and is our monthly Healing Service at First Presbyterian Church of Merchantville.  Our Scripture Lesson is the Great Commission from the very end of Matthew.  It is the command of Jesus to go out into the world and, by making disciples of all peoples, they bring God's healing to all peoples.

Pastor Pete

https://youtu.be/IHcYC2VMdqA

A Parable of Change Via Fusion Cuisine (and Pizza)

             I am not opposed to Fusion Cuisine (the bringing together of flavors of different cooking traditions or styles) but neither am I what one might call a “devotee”.  At the risk of appearing a snob, Fusion that is especially underwhelming brings with it the appearance of Confusion Cuisine (I suppose, re-reading that, there is no risk of appearing like a snob; I have fully embraced the Snob). 

I do not entirely reject Fusion Cuisine.  At the risk of losing my readers (who is the snob now?), I confess that I actually like pineapple and ham on a pizza.  It has a summer vibe.

            And, having moved to South Jersey, in the local environs of Philadelphia, I have begun to penetrate the fog of Confusion that is…Cheesesteak Pizza.  Still not in the Kitchen of my flavor preferences, but I am moving from the Confusion to the Fusion.  Sorry, cannot promise more at this point.

So, Fusion Cuisine and Confusion Cuisine, but also there is something further out in the fog of foodie-ism, the Thoroughly Confusing Cuisine.  In this instance, it is the “fusing”, no, the mash-up of Pizza and General Tso’s Chicken.  Let me be clear, Pizza is a primary go-to for my family when it comes to Italian takeout.  General Tso’s Chicken is my personal Chinese takeout preference-especially with the spiced broccoli, but…General Tso’s Chicken Pizza.  No.  Well…No.  I do not even know how one actually cooks the component elements in the same kitchen. 

Don’t get it, I just don’t.  Not even going to give it a chance.  No, nope, nuh uh.  This mashup is not Confusion Cuisine but a clear example of Thoroughly Confusing Cuisine.  It is a shock to my culinary sensibilities.  There are culinary traditions that are sacrosanct and to be preserved of both the Chinese Restaurant and the Italian Restaurant.

I was in the midst of adding this being “an affront” as well as a shock to my culinary sensibilities when a little voice went off in my head, replaying a moment when I confessed appreciation of ham and pineapple pizza.  It goes something like, “just because you don’t like it…”  Which triggered another internal reaction, continuing morality work on my part to identify when I don’t like something and when that is confused with when I won’t like something. 

While I might never be accused of being a sensitive, New Age guy, I certainly DO NOT want to be a knuckle-walking socio-Cro-Magnon throwback, grunting “me no like” as though I were pronouncing eternal damnation on General Tso’s Chicken Pizza.  Rule of life and love, it is okay not to like things, it is unloving to demand others not like them too. 

For example, Poutine, the sub-national Provincial artery hardening, heart clogging, deliciously joyful Dish, a combination of French fries (Quebec, thus French…ish?  But NOT Freedom fries) and gravy and cheese curds.  YES, curds of cheese!!  Sacrosanct…well, till one sins.

And if one is going to sin, one ought to sin boldly.  So, brisket in the poutine…  Wow…  Now, its not a mashup like that other one mentioned above  (it is emotionally painful to type).  There is Canadian commonality.  Poutine from Quebec, beef from the Prairies…Canadian, divided by language, but there is hope…  And its more of an add-on than a mashup.  There is the additional commonality of gravy… (To be completely honest, this is a very clear example of the process called ‘rationalization’, coming up with reasons why something is right).

And Canada, like our United States, has fusion built into the very melting pot of multiculturalism that makes us great.

So…add-ons work.  A swap can work as well.  Because of an extended period of my life with a diet that involved too much poutine and poutine adjacent choices and too much brisket and red meat in general, I now cook in the realm of the Mediterranean diet to counteract those other life and culinary choices.  Doing so now means I can still enjoy the Poutine lifestyle, selectively and in moderation.

Back to add-ons…  I was working up a recipe of a Mediterranean inspired bean salad, one that calls for balsamic vinegar to provide a sweet tang to the process.  It was in this process that I came upon two levels of self-awareness that I was not previously conscious of.  The first is that I have flavor preferences in regards to vinegar (Yes, I am as surprised as you are!).  The second is that I have enough taste-knowledge to successfully introduce rice vinegar as a swap in the recipe that made it so much better.  It tasted better, and I am not sure I have ever described it this way, it was a refreshing bean salad.

You may have noticed that this began as a rant, maybe even a ‘tear’ (as in tearing paper in half, not a crying jag; oh I love English).  I have many of those, amusing in my own mind.  They usually run their course and I move on.  But notice that this is in the Church blog of a pastor.  Somewhere along the way, the still small voice of the Holy Spirit, whose coming we celebrated this past Pentecost Sunday, God be praised for the gift of the Holy Spirit, this still, small voice whispered at me.

With a very, very daring offer.  "Pastor", said the still, small voice, "Maybe this is not a rant about food so much as a (…and I have never thought of my writing in this way…) a parable in the “Jesus-style”."

A parable in the Jesus-style is one that takes common themes of the popular and generally understood culture to make a greater point of faith and love. It DOES NOT presume some particular insight into the wisdom and love of Jesus Christ beyond that of a faithful human.

For this ‘parable’, use what I know and love, what our culture knows, food choices and takeout options, consider these in the life of where the church is.  Because we know our church has to change.  Not Jesus, because Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever, but the ways we’ve shared His message, those ways are always open to new possibilities.  So…mash things up?  

The Industry exists.  Its called the Church Growth Industry, a whole economic culture of books and programs and mentors and consultants and ‘proven ways’ and ‘guaranteed results’ that are advertised in ways that are practically indistinguishable from how the rest of the capitalist economy advertises things to sell, improve, change, and perfect us.  These will outline ingredients and recipes and formulas and what to do and what not to do.  There is a near infinite diversity in infinite combination of ‘what works’ today to make the church grow.

 It feels like the soft drink industry.  Gotta have the right recipe (Coke learned that the hard way) to sell that sugary, caffeinated tooth-rotting stuff.  Get the right formula, and you too can have a tasty church…

And these Church Growth strategies are so often mash-ups of what has come before.  Fusion Theology, well, more Confusion Theology, even Thoroughly Confused Theology, like jamming together General Tso’s Chicken and Pizza.  Trash tradition and start again…

Then there is our beloved First Presbyterian Church of Merchantville.  We have not adopted a ‘proven Church Growth’ strategy.  We have not mashed up that which we do into something else.  Here is a specific example.  We’ve done one very deliberate add-on, that of our Family Service on Third Sundays.  We’ve swapped some ingredients, changing the sermon style and presentation for a younger audience.  But it is still recognizable as worship, a tastier worship in my opinion. 

We did not just take a couple of completely distinct traditions and jam them together and call it pizza…er…worship. 

And who knows, maybe along the way we will make choices that will trigger a response of “I don’t get it.”  One of the great blessings of this congregation is your openness to things of the faith.  I see such a reaction as “I don’t get it, but I will seek to understand what went into the decision, what makes it work, potentially.”  There is the risk of love in that reaction.  And it is not “I won’t get it, because I ‘know’ this is how it ought (or ought not) to be done”.

This is the Pentecost thing again.  God indwells us as the Holy Spirit.  The Spirit does not simply speak ‘authoritatively’ through one of us (CERTAINLY not the minister), but speaks lovingly through all of us.  There’s a Pizza that God wants us to be.  There is a Church that God wants us to be.  We are in an amazing church for our congregation right now.  Imagine how God will make this an amazing church for everyone?

            Yes, this from the Pastor who owns his enjoyment of pineapple and ham on pizza.  And poutine with brisket (OMG that was so good!).  Despite that, in John 1, Philip invites Nathanael to “Come and see” Jesus.  So...Come and eat, here in this Church of Jesus.  
  
 Pastor Pete

Some Interesting Bits About Pentecost!

To You Who Are Beloved of our Lord Jesus Christ,                              May 19, 2026

This Sunday is Pentecost Sunday, and our passage is Acts 2: 1-21, that part of our Story where Jesus prays for us.

 2 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. ² And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. ³ Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. ⁴ All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

⁵ Now there were devout Jews from every people under heaven living in Jerusalem. ⁶ And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. ⁷ Amazed and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? ⁸ And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? ⁹ Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, ¹⁰ Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, ¹¹ Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.” ¹² All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” ¹³ But others sneered and said, “They are filled with new wine.”

¹⁴ But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, “Fellow Jews and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. ¹⁵ Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. ¹⁶ No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:

¹⁷ ‘In the last days it will be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,
    and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
    and your old men shall dream dreams.
¹⁸ Even upon my slaves, both men and women,
    in those days I will pour out my Spirit,
        and they shall prophesy.
¹⁹ And I will show portents in the heaven above
    and signs on the earth below,
        blood, and fire, and smoky mist.
²⁰ The sun shall be turned to darkness
    and the moon to blood,
        before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day.
²¹ Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’

 

‘Tis a long passage, but one of great significance.  There are a few items of interest to note here.

The first is that while the disciples all spoke different languages, it is apparent they all did so with Galilean accents-because that is how the crowd identified them.  And they were shocked Galileans could speak all their mother tongues. 

The second is the implication that the disciples were not tee-tootlers, that they might like a night over at the Blue Monkey (or whatever their local watering hole might be).  Note how they are accused by the crowd of being drunk.  The Apostle Peter does not issue a denial, but insists they are not drunk because it is only 9am, too early to get snockered.  Hmmm, should we even say ‘snockered’ in reference to the disciples of Jesus?  (yes) 

The third is the nasty end-times stuff Peter pulls out of Joel, ‘blood, fire, and smokey mist’ and the like.  The way Peter talks here in Chapter 2, you think this would come to pass by Chapter 20 at the very least.  Hasn’t shown up yet, even though it is expounded on in the Book of Revelations.  We live in ‘the between times’.  So, in between now and the End, the Holy Spirit, the presence of Jesus, is within us to build the church, our Neighborhoods in the Kingdom of God.  Jesus will take care of the End, right now, let us take care of our neighbors.       

 

Pastor Pete

 

Scripture Lesson for Pentecost Sunday, the Day of the Lord, May 24, 2026: Acts 2: 1-21

https://youtu.be/PaOW37z4Di0 

As we do each week, we are sharing the Scripture for this coming Sunday in the KJV, the Pirate, the NRSV, and the Message versions of the Bible.  If you have watched before, you may detect a slightly different...inflection... for the King James Version, being English and Shakespearean and all.

Blessings,

Pastor Pete

https://youtu.be/PaOW37z4Di0

In Preparing for Ascension Sunday

To You Who Are Beloved of our Lord Jesus Christ,       May 12, 2026

 This Sunday, our passages are Luke 24: 50-53 and Acts 1: 6-11, the story of the Ascension of our Lord Jesus.  And part of Our Story, that Jesus ascended For Us. 

 Luke 24: 50-53  ⁵⁰ Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them. ⁵¹ While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven. ⁵² And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, ⁵³ and they were continually in the temple blessing God.

Acts 1: 6-11 ⁶ So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” ⁷ He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. ⁸ But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” ⁹ When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. ¹⁰ While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. ¹¹ They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

 The only two-parter in the Bible are the Gospel of Luke (Luke) and the Book of the Acts of the Apostle (Acts).  Written by the person history remembers as Luke (he didn’t sign his work), we know they are conjoined because of their dedication.  Each is dedicated to someone named Theophilus, and each is to tell the truth of the story of Jesus, His time on earth in the Gospel, and His legacy in the establishment of the church.

In British television, I am told that instead of always having the same show that is simply renewed year to year, they can actually change the name slightly so that the ‘same’ show will be a different series each year.  I actually don’t know if that’s a real thing, but it fits what happens in Luke and Acts.  Same show, like ‘The Jesus Show’, but two different series.

 

The first is Jesus with us in person.  The second is Jesus with us in Spirit (literally).  And the crossover event is the Ascension.  So just a couple of verses to lay it down to conclude Luke, following Luke’s version of the Great Commission we know more famously from the Gospel of Matthew.  It’s like a cliffhanger.  Jesus is leaving…now what?  Is this it?  Who shot JR?  (THE greatest cliffhanger in television history so far as I am concerned…hint: “Dallas”).

 

In Acts, we get more context.  The disciples ask our Lord, is He staying among them?  He rose from the dead, been around for over a month.  Good times, but what’s next?  To paraphrase Jesus, He’s passing the torch to them.  They are going from being disciples (followers) to apostles (servants).  And Jesus is going but Jesus is not going.

 

The world will not see Jesus anymore.  The Ascension is real.  The disciples will be standing there, mouth’s open like they are catching flies or something.  The Men in White let them know that as Jesus arose, so He will return, physically.

 

But things have already been set into motion.  Jesus, God in human form will ascend and the Holy Spirit, God in Spirit form will descend.  Jesus is still with us, not a friend we have in Him, but, rather, Him in us, Jesus in our hearts.  It kind of redefines prayer.  Instead of aiming it up into the transcendent, we can speak to God inwardly, in our hearts.

 

Jesus is coming again (physically).  But in the meantime, the apostles are laying out the Neighborhoods in God’s Kingdom (like ours) that will be finished at Jesus’ physical return.  But Jesus will be here the whole time, spiritually.  Yah, I am still working at that one too…

 

Pastor Pete