First Presbyterian Church, Sterling IL

July 27, 2014 Community Vacation Bible School Worship We gathered for worship with five other churches to celebrate our third community Vacation Bible School. Our VBS program this year was "Workshop of Wonders from Cokesbury. The top attendance day, we had 94 children! The week was wonderful, entertaining and exhausting! Worship was exciting, inspiring, and fun! Sauk Valley Gazette picture: The children led us in singing, we celebrated communion together, and enjoyed the fellowship. The scripture presentation was the story of Esther, led by Nannette Pashon, Director of Christian Education at First Presbyterian Church. I followed up with these brief comments: Did you like that story? Me too. It is a favorite of many. It has all the elements of a good melodrama – a beautiful and smart woman, a good-hearted and wise man, a powerful king, and a totally despicable bad guy. That makes the story fun to hear, fun to read. Something interesting about the boo...

Matthew 12:1-13 July 20, 2014 First Presbyterian Church, Sterling, IL Christina Berry For the last couple of weeks in Bible study we’ve been contemplating the gift of the Sabbath –a time of rest, renewal, refreshment –a time for prayer and worship, for family and relaxation. If you read the July newsletter you’ll remember that in August, we are taking a month of Sabbath, beginning after worship on August 3.We want to encourage each person in the congregation to find time for prayer and blessing, recreation, reflection, rest, and limits to work. For some of us, this will be easy; for others, like me, it will be a challenge. This scripture we are about to read demonstrates that challenge. Jesus has promised that those who follow him will find rest, and will take on a yoke that is easy, a burden that is light. But his opponents challenge him, argue with almost everything he says and does, because he is a threat – he is upsetting the status quo. To them, this story is just one mo...

Matthew 11:25-30 July 6, 2014 First Presbyterian Church, Sterling IL Christina Berry We continue this week in the gospel of Matthew, with some of the most winsome and grace-filled words of Jesus. Countless people have found assurance and peace in these words. But before we begin to read in Matthew, let’s first go back to the book of Exodus, the 32nd and 33rd chapters. You probably remember that the book of Exodus is about exactly that – the exodus of the Israelite people out of Egypt and into the promised land, out of slavery and into freedom. On the journey, God gives the people the law, including the ten commandments, the fourth of which is “Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.” However, there was a bit of time between their exodus from Egypt and their entry into Canaan – forty years, to be exact. During that time, the people are in the wilderness, led by Moses. Moses meets with God, who appears as a pillar of cloud in “the tent of meeting,” where, Exodus 33 says,...

Matthew 10: 40-42 June 29, 2014 First Presbyterian Church, Sterling IL Christina Berry If you read the sermon last week, you may remember the scripture reading was also from the tenth chapter of Matthew. It was a part of Jesus’ speech as he sent the disciples out. He told them they were to take no extra clothes, no money, nothing. They were to go out to bring the good news to the lost sheep. But they couldn’t even take an overnight bag or a traveler’s check. Then he warned them about the dangers and difficulties of their mission. They risked rejection, persecution, even death. Jesus assured them that God’s presence was with them. And he told them not to be afraid –remember those three-word sermons? It ain’t easy; don’t be afraid; you are loved. Now Matthew concludes this section with some words about welcome: 40“Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. 41Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will re...

Here are articles about one of the actions taken by our General Assembly last week. There are many, many articles with differing perspectives on this action. These seem to be the most clear and fair. Items on marriage will be posted next. On divestment -  http://www.rutheverhart.com/ blog/?p=5475 http://www.haaretz.com/mobile/ 1.600148 http:// velveteenrabbi.blogs.com/blog/ 2014/06/caterpillar-et-al.html

Matthew 10:24-39 June 22, 2014 First Presbyterian Church, Sterling IL Christina Berry In our scripture reading today we return to the gospel of Matthew. Jesus has commissioned the disciples and is sending them out to proclaim the kingdom, to heal the sick, to share the good news of God’s love. He has told them to go out, taking nothing – no money, no luggage, no extra tunics. He said, “Whatever town or village you enter, find out who in it is worthy, and stay there until you leave. As you enter the house, greet it. If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that house or town.” But Jesus wants them to be aware of the full scope of their commission, of the possibility of rejection, of persecution, even of death. This scripture is intended for us, as contemporary disciples, but it is important to be aware th...

Genesis 1:1-2:2a June 15, 2014 First Presbyterian Sterling, IL Christina Berry The scripture we are about to read has become one of the standards for those who take the Bible literally and insist on what is now called “creationism” Since we do not read the Bible literally, we may sometimes feel at a loss as to how to answer someone who seems so knowledgeable and vehement about the meaning of this story at the very beginning of the Bible. As we listen to this scripture, it may be helpful to think about it in terms of God’s overall intention for humankind – in other words, since this is obviously NOT a science textbook, what are we as believing people to believe about his story? Hebrew professor Jeffrey Tigay gives a thoughtful explanation of this scripture, some of which I will quote for you. “…it is clear from the Bible as a whole that its compilers were not overly concerned with the details of the creation story in the first chapter of Genesis. They incorporated several acco...