We want to combat social distancing with social media community. Pastor Sam will be in the sanctuary at the pulpit at 9:30am with our worship team, the tech crew and some others with some cameras and computers. Most of you will be at home.
We'd love to not just have you join us online watching, but also have you be part of the conversation - we'll be taking prayer requests for the congregational prayer, and will be reading from whatever comments you leave on the various platforms. It's not the same as being in person, but we want to do as much as we can to encourage community while being a part of keeping people safe.
We're going to be reading your comments live, and praying for each other as best we can. You can also help spread some hope by sharing our media on social platforms - I think the service we have planned could help some folks who are struggling through all of this.
Order of Worship
Prelude/Countdown
Welcome - Pastor Samuel Sutter
God is Our Refuge and Our Strength
Welcome and Open Prayer Time
Call to Worship - Psalm 144: 1-4, 9
Your Love Defends Me
Sovereign Over Us
Announcements from Pastor Sam
Prayer Time Taking Request (email, or comment)
Always
Message- Reorientation - Finding God in Crisis - Psalm 46
This is My Father’s World
Open Prayer Time
Benediction
This is My Father’s World
Sermon Notes
Today we're asking a big question. In CRISIS.... Where do you go? What do you do?
We're looking at Psalm 46.
Psalm 46:title–11 (NIV)
For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. According to alamoth. A song. 1 God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, 3 though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. 4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. 5 God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day. 6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts. 7 The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. 8 Come and see what the Lord has done, the desolations he has brought on the earth. 9 He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth. He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the shields with fire. 10 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” 11 The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.
THIS IS A psalm of radical trust in the face of overwhelming threat. While the specific cause of threat is never clarified, it does seem to have to do with the uproar of pagan nations (46:6) and wars that Yahweh brings to an end (46:9). The psalm has a more universal tone, beginning with the cosmic, mythic turmoil of chaotic waters before creation (46:2–3) and continuing to Yahweh’s ending of wars “to the ends of the earth” (46:9). Throughout all this threat and upheaval, God is—as the psalm insists from the opening lines—“our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.”... THE OPENING SECTION affirms a radical trust in the protective strength of God in terms that hark back to the theme of “refuge” especially characteristic of psalms in Book 1 of the Psalter, but also found throughout the Psalter. The ideas of God’s providing “strength” (ʿoz) and being a “fortress” (miśgab) are related in the earlier appearance of this theme as well as in this psalm (“strength,” 46:1; “fortress,” 46:7, 11). He is described as an “ever-present help,” which in Hebrew (nimṣaʾ meʾod) means something like a help that “can be found when you need it.” The radical confidence of the psalmist is exhibited in an ability to stand without fear in the face of what constitutes a threat of uncreation. In the ancient Israelite cosmology (cf. Gen. 1 and elsewhere in the Old Testament), Yahweh established the stable environment for human existence—the earth—at creation by an act of sovereign control and limitation of chaotic waters. He established an orderly universe by creating and enforcing boundaries for these waters so that dry land appeared as a place where humans and land animals could live. --Gerald Wilson
KIDS Programming
We'll be sending out some more information in the next couple days. But for today, download The Parent Que app - it fits with our 252 program - you can watch the this weeks video, engage in discussion questions, etc. They also have a special guide for talking to kids about Crisis (might just come in handy - parents - check it out)
Announcements:
Read and pray for our faith promise partners - check out March 2020 Update.
The Deacons are happy to be able to respond to the many requests for online giving. You can give at this link, or you can mail in a check to the church at (GoshenCRC: Deacons 2440 State Route 17A Goshen, NY 10924)
Join this Facebook Group as an easy way to share prayer requests, concerns - to have a conversation with church folks online.
If you're stuck at home, I'd encourage you to reach out to another church member esp some of our elderly folks who might need some extra conversations or help during this season. If you are part of Goshen Church, and don't have a pictorial directory, contact us to see how to get one.
We've updated www.Goshen.Church to reflect our new online world - please make sure you're aware of all of the ways we're leading folks to stay together and hope and grow in faith during these times.
We posted some amazing resources for kids, adults and parents. Make sure check out RightNowMedia if you haven't already. We also posted the weekly Kids Church (252) videos, and some ways for parents to teach kids at home.
VIRTUAL SMALL GROUPS ARE A GO!!! This is going to be awesome - see more information and sign up at https://Goshen.Church/VirtualGroups (seriously, this is going to be fun)
Hope to see you on Sunday Morning at 9:30am at www.Goshen.Church/LIVE - nothing is like being with you in person, but we're tweaking things each week to make it a little better.
One more thing - Austin & Tara, our Young Life Missionaries (living in the principle's house), are holding daily zoom prayer meetings with students. If you or one of your kids would like to be a part of this important ministry, hit reply and I'll make the connection.
You can view past messages here.