A Christian Church, A Family of Faith

The Bass River Pastoral Charge

The Presbyterian Church in Canada

St. Mark’s, Bass River; St. James, Beersville; St. Andrew’s, Clairville & Zion, West Branch

Organists: Heather Morton, Marly Sutherland, Rodney Girvan, Dolly MacDonald, Shanece Wilson

Minister: Rev. Alexander [Sandy] D. Sutherland; B.A., B.Th. M.Div

Manse #: 506-785-4383 Cell #: 506-521-0705 Email: thebrpc@gmail.com Twitter: thebrpc

Bulletin Announcements:  Cathy Little @ Fillmore Trucking #785-1083

www.pccweb.ca/brpc

ORDER OF SERVICE

3^rd Sunday of Pentecost

June 26^th 2011

Welcome & Announcements

 

Call to Worship Refiner’s Fire

Prayer of Approach & Confession & The Lord’s Prayer (NBoP 831; BoP 605)

 

Opening Praise: NBoP 670 Amazing Grace

BoP 258

 

Responsive Reading  – Psalm 15 [BoP 620]

¹ LORD, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill?

² He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart.

³ He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbour, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour.

⁴ In whose eyes a vile person is contemned; but he honoureth them that fear the LORD. He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not.

⁵ He that putteth not out his money to usury, nor taketh reward against the innocent. He that doeth these things shall never be moved.

KJV

 

Children’s story – A cool drink of water [Matthew 10:42]

Children’s Hymn: songs 119 Higher Ground

 

Scripture Readings:

NT – Jeremiah 28:5-9

⁵Then the prophet Jeremiah said unto the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests, and in the presence of all the people that stood in the house of the LORD, ⁶Even the prophet Jeremiah said, Amen: the LORD do so: the LORD perform thy words which thou hast prophesied, to bring again the vessels of the LORD’S house, and all that is carried away captive, from Babylon into this place. ⁷Nevertheless hear thou now this word that I speak in thine ears, and in the ears of all the people; ⁸The prophets that have been before me and before thee of old prophesied both against many countries, and against great kingdoms, of war, and of evil, and of pestilence. ⁹The prophet which prophesieth of peace, when the word of the prophet shall come to pass, then shall the prophet be known, that the LORD hath truly sent him. KJV

P____

⁵Then the prophet Jeremiah replied to the prophet Hananiah before the priests and all the people who were standing in the house of the LORD. ⁶He said, “Amen! May the LORD do so! May the LORD fulfill the words you have prophesied by bringing the articles of the LORD’S house and all the exiles back to this place from Babylon. ⁷Nevertheless, listen to what I have to say in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people: ⁸From early times the prophets who preceded you and me have prophesied war, disaster and plague against many countries and great kingdoms. ⁹But the prophet who prophesies peace will be recognized as one truly sent by the LORD only if his prediction comes true.”

NIV

Epistle – Romans 6:12-23

¹²Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. ¹³Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. ¹⁴For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. ¹⁵What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. ¹⁶Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? ¹⁷But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. ¹⁸Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. ¹⁹I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. ²⁰For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness. ²¹What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death. ²²But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. ²³For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. KJV

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¹²Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. ¹³Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. ¹⁴For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.

¹⁵What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! ¹⁶Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? ¹⁷But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. ¹⁸You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.

¹⁹I put this in human terms because you are weak in your natural selves. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness. ²⁰When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. ²¹What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! ²²But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. ²³For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

NIV

 

Hymn of Illumination: NBoP 381 Holy Spirit, hear us

BoP 263

Scripture Readings:

Gospel – Matthew 10:40-42

⁴⁰He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me. ⁴¹He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward. ⁴²And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward. KJV

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⁴⁰“He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives the one who sent me. ⁴¹Anyone who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and anyone who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man’s reward. ⁴²And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.”

NIV

 

Sermon: Who gets in?

It’s easy at the movies and sports events. You pay the fee, you get the ticket, you get in; and there you get be part of the event for a set period of time. It is not all that different for clubs and social groups; you pay the dues and fees, you go through a ceremony perhaps and you are in for as long as that fee entitles you to membership.

Now, churches have been accused of being like social groups, and some churches function more like theatres or sporting events including having the donation basket at the door; not all that different from the stadiums they are modeled after.

The rather flip wit of Groucho Marx frustrated any group that was in any way conservative throughout the mid 20^th century. In a rather poignant critique of attitude and life of the religious life, he said “I don’t want to belong to any club that will accept me as a member” And to those who view the church in this way I am very glad to say that in our case this is absolutely NOT true.

You in yourself, and I in myself for that matter, do not have all that it takes to be the Christian that God wants us to be in what we bring to that door. As far as deserving goes, you cannot fill this offering plate enough, to earn your way into this fellowship let alone into heaven. Neither can I for that matter. As far as deserving goes, and being worthy of member ship, this should be a very, very empty building. Our congregational roll should be so small that there would be no one to take it. Church, and church membership is not something you earn based on your contributions, or time in Sunday school or bible studies. It is not something you are qualified for based on your smarts, or your strength or your singing ability. But there are some people that think that is all churches are looking for these days.

But not just these days; because as soon as we start looking back through the legacy of the church we discover the constant struggle of our faith to define itself against the sin in people’s lives, knowing that the people in the pews and pulpits are sinners too. What is the difference between the good people who are outside those doors, and the good people who are on the inside of those doors? More to the point, what’s the difference between the people who no one would imagine deserves heaven on the outside of the church and the sin laden sorry souls that are on the inside of those doors?

This is one of the major problems the church has with God’s forgiveness and the appearance of goodness in the world, and especially in the church; God’s forgiveness makes all those good works something secondary. It does not make them unimportant or unappreciated, but God’s glory is in God’s forgiveness and God’s love. To say, well I can make it on my own thank you God, is to say your own righteousness, and your own understanding, and your own strength will be enough. Your own abilities by themselves are not enough to give you a happy life in this life, now how are they supposed to propel you into a joyous everlasting life?

The church in Rome had sent Paul a whole list of problems, and the problems they did not send letters to Paul to get some advice on Paul had heard about from some of the others who had visited. Their main problem was this one about sin and forgiveness. If they were forgiven, and God would always forgive them, then why should they worry about sinning?

I want you to consciously try something. First, list those things in your life that your are convinced are sins. And everyone has them, so this is something everyone can try. You can write the list down, and I suggest you do that, but if you cannot write the list down then I suggest you keep an honest mental hold on that list of your sins. Now, take that list to God in prayer, and really ask for forgiveness.

Now, when you sin one of those sins again I want  you to ask for forgiveness; and not just one of those hunch your shoulders kind of prayers either: “Oops. Sorry God. Be a pal and forgive me, eh?” Try using a real prayer, and end with something like ‘In Jesus name’.

Then, and you might stumble with the sinning a couple of times, and these are sins that you have identified, not some judgment I breathing down from the pulpit. But you will likely stumble a couple of times, but you know what, you keep asking God honestly for forgiveness, and sinning becomes a much harder thing to do.

How does this happen? Well it is because you are not letting sin be your Lord, you are asking God to be your Lord and God will free you from the bondage of sin so you don’t feel that compulsion to sin any more. And God’s forgiveness is more than I can offer you for whatever offences you may have committed against me or grace you can dish out for the debts you’ve got against or from your neighbour.

Who gets in? Anyone can come through those doors and sit down. They can come and sit beside you, it does not make them church. But by crossing that threshold they are saying that they are willing to take the chance and the risk of finding forgiveness in their lives for the sins that have weighed them down; and then they start to become members of the church, they start gathering with the church ands stop being a church to themselves.

There are people who spend their whole lives going into church buildings, and have never once come to be a part of the church. There are people who have never darkened the door who are desperately searching for a way to take the weight of sin and guilt of their spirits who need the fellowship and have never been offered it. We are called to be a fellowship with a beginning in this place that reaches out to offer hope to w world that so desperately needs grace and lives waiting in the weakness of trying to live lives outside of the union we have in God’s Holy Spirit        . Reach out with the strength we share as Christ’s Church today, to offer the refreshing cup of God’s grace, just as it has been given to you in the new Covenant, the gospel promise, we have in Christ Jesus, Our Saviour and Lord.

Prayer of Thanksgiving and Intercession

God’s Tithes and our gifts

Doxology (NBoP 830; BoP 603)

Offertory Prayer

The Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper (NBoP 539; BoP 616)

[St. James’ Only}

Commissioning Hymn: NBoP 665 Lord Jesus you shall be my song

Benediction

Dismissal: Holy Spirit, on us fall (see back of bulletin)

Holy Spirit, on us fall,

As we go fulfill our call,

Serving God by loving all,

Alleluia! Christ our Saviour.

 

Holy Spirit, with us stay,

Teach us what we ought to say,

Guard and keep us in the Way.

As we follow, Christ our Saviour.