This Sunday’s Worship: August 30
(Sunday, August 30 at 10 AM, Live-Streamed on Zoom)
Scripture:
Exodus 3:1-15; Colossians 1:15-20
Hymns:
God You Spin the Whirling Planets
O God, in a Mysterious Way
God of the Ages, Whose Almighty Hand
Service Preview (Online):
Sermon: “A Riddle Wrapped in a Mystery inside an Enigma” by Rev. James Reisner
Shortly after the end of World War II, Winston Churchill referred to Russia as “a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.” That phrase can easily be applied to what experienced in the hills of Midian when Moses came upon a bush that was on fire yet not being consumed by the flames. When Moses attempts to familiarize himself with the One speaking to him, he says, in effect, what do I call you? God’s response is: “I AM WHO I AM. Tell the Israelites ‘I AM’ has sent you to them.”
The theologian Paul Tillich wrote: “The name of this infinite and inexhaustible depth and ground of all being is God. That depth is what the word God means.”
The burning bush is a symbol held in high regard by our Reformed tradition in part because of our theological emphasis on the sovereignty and transcendence of God –a God who is otherly other.
A transcendent God resists and confounds every effort to be formed in an image that familiarizes God to humanity. When we attribute to God testosterone, white skin, or wrap God in a country’s flag –we are committing idolatry. Anne Lamott wrote, “You can safely assume that you've created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do.”
About Online Worship
We will gather by ZOOM (feed available starting about 9:45 AM). At the moment, Pastor Reisner and a few others broadcast from the church sanctuary while worshipers will be invited to sign on ZOOM.
Directions on how to connect and participate in virtual worship will be sent via a group.io e-mail. If you are unfamiliar with ZOOM we recommend you read up a little before the service. We will set an informal and experimental mood, ask forgiveness as we stumble along our way in a new medium. It will be fun.
We will set an informal and experimental mood, ask forgiveness as we stumble along our way in a new medium. It will be fun.
For more information on TPPC's coronavirus response, access the TPCC Coronavirus Update page.
