This Sunday’s Worship: May 9
(Sunday, May 9 At 11 AM, Live-Streamed On Zoom)
Scripture:
Jeremiah 31:31-34; John 15:9-17
Hymns:
New Songs of Celebration Render
We Rejoice to Be God's Chosen
For the Healing of the Nations
Service Preview (Online):
Sermon: “Chosen” by Rev. Jim Reisner
Our text from the Gospel of John includes the most Presbyterian thing Jesus ever said: “You did not choose me but I chose you” (John 15:16). We Presbyterians are sometimes referred to as the "Frozen Chosen." Our belief is that we come into relationship with God not out of anything we can do, or out of any sense of our own goodness, but only through God’s grace. The Christian life is not about doing what we can do to get to heaven; the essence of the Christian life is responding to God’s grace with a gratitude that expresses itself (to paraphrase the prophet, Micah) in acts of justice, kindness, and humility.
“The most intriguing thing about John Calvin’s doctrine of predestination ... is not his belief that some are gratuitously predestined by God to eternal salvation and some to damnation but that no one but God knows who is who. There, among the heroin addicts, is one destined for eternal joy. There, among the faithful widows of an ordinary church, is one destined for damnation. It strikes me that only a French lawyer could have come up with so complex, if not bizarre, a justification for treating all people as if they could be among the elect, the chosen of God.”
--Kathleen Norris, Amazing Grace, p. 168
One Great Hour of Sharing
Palm Sunday went past without TPPC participating in the One Great Hour of Sharing Offering. TPPC Session has decided to collect this offering on Sunday, May 23rd, Pentecost Sunday. In a world of disaster, hunger, and oppression, millions of people lack access to sustainable food sources, clean water, sanitation, education, and opportunity.
The three programs supported by One Great Hour of Sharing - Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, the Presbyterian Hunger Program, and Self-Development of People - all work in different ways to serve individuals and communities in need. From initial disaster response to ongoing community development, their work fits together to provide people with safety, sustenance, and hope. We encourage your support of the One Great Hour of Sharing.
About Online Worship
We will gather by ZOOM (feed available starting about 10:45 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.