Today's Worship Service - Sunday, February, 1, 2026

 Joint Worship Service this morning at Bethesda United Presbyterian Church of Elizabeth - 11:15am

Worship Service for February 1, 2026

Prelude

Announcements:

Call to Worship

L:      Welcome!  Open your hearts to God’s love this day!

P:      Praise be to God who has called us here!

L:      Let the words wash over you and offer you healing and hope.

P:      Praise be to God who continually blesses us!

L:      Place your hope and trust in God!

P:      With joyful hearts, we come to worship and praise God who continually blesses and provides for us.  AMEN.

 

Opening Hymn –  Great Is Thy Faithfulness          #276/139

 

Prayer of Confession

How can we look at this world and not sing of Your praises, O God?  The beauty and majesty of the world is overpowering!  Yet we have a tendency to take all that You do for us for granted.  We treat the world with callous indifference, using its resources carelessly and with little regard to the future.  We insist on war as solutions for problems rather than peaceful striving.  We turn our backs on people in need, the weak and downtrodden go unnoticed in our midst.  We always believe that someone else will care for those in need.  How foolish we are, O God!  How ignorant we have become!  You have given us all that we need.  You blessed us with the witness of Jesus Christ who came so that we might learn how You would have us live, in honor and peace.  Forgive us.  Heal our hearts and spirits.  Make us fully aware of all our blessings and our responsibilities.  Give us again a spirit of joy in serving You.  Help us be agents of peace and hope to others.  We offer this prayer in Jesus’ name.  (Silent prayers are offered)  AMEN.

Assurance of Pardon

L:      Jesus has come to heal our spirits and our souls.  The demons of arrogance, indifference, and apathy are being cast out.  New life is offered to you in Jesus.

P:      Let us rejoice and be glad for God’s love is poured out to us this day and always.  Thanks be to God!  AMEN

 

Gloria Patri

Affirmation of Faith/Apostles’ Creed

I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth; And in Jesus Christ His only Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into hell; the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Ghost, the holy catholic Church; the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting.  AMEN

 

Pastoral Prayer and Lord’s Prayer

Tragedies abound, O Lord.  Our newspapers, television, newscasts, and media all report the troubled happenings in our world.  War and strife seem to be the order of the day.  And we are caught up in the midst of this chaos.  Calm our spirits, Lord.  Help us focus on the love You have given to us in Jesus Christ.  Remind us again that His healing mercies extend to us this day as surely as they did to the people of long ago.  We have gathered this day to hear Your word, to hear of Your forgiveness, and to be healed, to find ways in which we may serve You in peace.  We have lifted names of those near and dear to us who stand in need of Your healing mercies and compassionate love.  Some names we have spoken aloud; and others we have uttered only in our hearts.  You hear all our prayers this morning. 

We especially pray for ….

You know our needs and concerns before our voices can frame them.  Let us accept the love You give to us.  Empower us to take that love and use it for good in Your world.  Let the message of hope and compassion flow forth from us again to this world which focuses on tragedy and turmoil.   And once again, let us know fully that You are with us.  Hear now our heart-spoken prayers in this moment of silence.

 

Lord, hear all our prayers this day and turn your ear to our cries.  We unite with one voice saying…Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name.  Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread.  Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.  And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.  For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever.  AMEN.

 

Hymn –  God of Grace and God of Glory                        #420/435

Scripture Reading(s): 

First Scripture Reading – Micah 6:1-8

Second Scripture Reading – Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon – What Does the Lord Require?

(based on Micah 6:1–8 and Matthew 5:1–12)

 

This morning I’m going to weave the message back and forth between our Old and New Testament passages.  Our Old Testament reading from Micah 6 opens with an unusual scene.  God is not giving advice or offering comfort; God is filing a lawsuit against God’s own people. “Hear what the Lord says: Rise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice.”  The mountains and the hills, those ancient witnesses to Israel’s history, are called into the courtroom.  God brings this case against God’s own people, not because they failed to worship Him, but because they forgot what faithful living actually looks like.

And our Matthew 5 text opens in a very different setting.  Jesus sits on a hillside, not as a prosecutor but rather as a teacher.  Instead of charges, he offers blessings.  “Blessed are the poor in spirit… Blessed are the meek… Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.” While the settings are different, these two passages are not opposites.  They are deeply connected.  Micah asks, What does God require?  And Jesus shows us what that life looks like when it is lived from the inside out.

Together, these texts confront us with a hard and hopeful truth: God is not impressed by religious performance, but God is deeply invested in who we become when we are living transformed lives.

God begins the case in Micah by reminding Israel of their shared history.  “O my people, what have I done to you?  In what have I wearied you?  Answer me!”  This is not the voice of a distant judge; it’s the voice of a wounded partner.  God recounts acts of liberation: bringing them out of Egypt, redeeming them from slavery, providing leaders like Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.  God even recalls protecting them from King Balak and turning Balaam’s curse into blessing.

Before God ever talks about obedience, God talks about grace.  When we forget who God is and what God has done, religion turns into either fear or transaction.  We start asking; “What do I need to give God so God will, basically, leave me alone?” instead of “How do I live in response to grace that God has already given?”

Jesus does the same thing in Matthew 5, though a bit more subtly. He begins by calling people “blessed” before they have done anything at all.  Poor in spirit.  Those who mourn.  The meek.  These are not spiritual achievements.  They are honest descriptions of human emotions.  Here also, grace comes first.

After God’s reminder comes the people’s anxious response.  “With what shall I come before the Lord?  Shall I come with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?  Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil?  Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression?”

Notice how quickly things escalate.  One sacrifice becomes thousands.  Oil turns into rivers.  Devotion turns extreme, even horrifyingly so.  This is what happens when faith becomes disconnected from trust. When we are unsure of God’s character, we try to buy certainty. 

But God never asked for extravagance.  God instead asks for faithfulness.

Jesus addresses the same temptation in the Beatitudes.  He blesses those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, not those who claim to possess it.  He blesses the merciful, not the impressive.  He blesses the pure in heart, not the publicly pious.  God is not moved by religious spectacle; God is moved instead by hearts that are aligned with love.

Then comes one of the most famous verses in Scripture: “He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”

This is not new information for the Israelites, God has told them repeatedly. “He has told you,” Micah says.  The problem isn’t ignorance; it’s resistance.

To do justice means more than liking the idea of fairness.  It means acting in ways that restore dignity, especially for those who have been denied it.  Justice is public and concrete.

To love kindness or steadfast love means to delight in mercy, not treat it as an obligation.  This is covenant love between us and God, but also between one another: loyal, patient, forgiving.

To walk humbly with God means recognizing that we are not the center of the story. Humility is not self-hatred; it is being God-centered.

And these three things are not separate virtues.  They belong together. Justice without kindness becomes cruelty.  Kindness without justice becomes sentimentality.  And both collapse without humility before God.

Jesus does not contradict Micah; in fact, he takes the heart of Micah and incarnates them.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit”—those who walk humbly with God.

“Blessed are those who mourn”—those who refuse to ignore the pain of the world, a necessary beginning for justice.

“Blessed are the meek”—those who use power without domination.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness”—those who long for justice as desperately as food and water.

“Blessed are the merciful”—those who love kindness.

“Blessed are the pure in heart”—those whose inner life matches their outer actions.

“Blessed are the peacemakers”—those who actively heal what is broken.

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake”—because justice, mercy, and humility will always challenge the status quo.

The most important aspect here is that Jesus is not describing how to get into heaven.  He is describing what life looks like here on earth when God’s reign takes hold here and now.

Micah’s call to “do justice” and Jesus’ blessing on those who hunger and thirst for righteousness are not abstract ideals.  They press directly into the world we are living in.

In recent days, the city of Minneapolis has once again been shaken by violent killings.  Names, faces, families, and neighborhoods are caught in cycles of grief that feel tragically familiar.  Candles are lit.  Vigils are held. Questions are asked, again, about safety, policing, race, poverty, mental health, and the value of human life.  We’ve been here before.  Different day, different targets, but it’s the same, nonetheless.  We, as Christians, if we stand by our values need to hold our government accountable, too.

Micah, however, will not allow us to spiritualize this moment.  To do justice means we refuse to look away or reduce these deaths to statistics or talking points.  Justice begins by telling the truth: that violence, whether on the streets or through systems that neglect and devalue lives, is not God’s will for any community.  I don’t think it matters what side of the political aisle you stand on.  There are governmental laws, but then there are also God’s laws and what God wants.

Jesus says, “Blessed are those who mourn,” and that blessing matters now.  Mourning is not weakness; it is faithful attention.  It is the refusal to rush past grief in order to feel comfortable.  The church is called to mourn with those who mourn, especially when the pain belongs to communities that have carried it for generations.

To love kindness means more than offering thoughts and prayers.  It means showing up with compassion that costs us something: listening before arguing, serving before judging, standing with those who are afraid or exhausted by a system that does not protect them equally.  Kindness is not passive.  It is courageous solidarity.

And to walk humbly with God means that we admit we do not have easy answers.  Humility resists the temptation to explain away suffering or to assume we already know what justice requires.  Instead, humility keeps us learning, repenting, and asking how our own lives, assumptions, and institutions might need to change.

Jesus blesses the peacemakers, not the peacekeepers, not the conflict-avoiders, but those who actively work to repair what is broken. Peacemaking is slow, relational, and often invisible.  It involves advocating for accountability, investing in communities, addressing root causes, and believing that transformation is possible even when the evidence feels thin.

Neither Micah nor Jesus promises that this way of life will be easy.  In fact, Jesus is very honest: those who live this way may be misunderstood, resisted, or even criticized, even by those who consider themselves to be faithful followers of Christ.  They will be criticized from the right and the left. But Jesus also promises joy.  “Rejoice and be glad,” he says—not because suffering is good, but because faithfulness means you are not alone.  You are standing in a long line of prophets and saints.

Micah speaks to a people tempted to substitute religion for righteousness.  Jesus speaks to disciples tempted to seek comfort instead of courage.  Let me repeat that.  Micah speaks to a people tempted to substitute religion for righteousness.  Jesus speaks to disciples tempted to seek comfort instead of courage.  Both insist that God’s way is not about excess, escape, or applause, but about faithfulness in ordinary, costly love.

Micah ends the courtroom drama not with condemnation, but with clarity.  Jesus ends the sermon’s opening not with commands, but with blessing. 

God is still asking the question: What does the Lord require of you? And God is still offering the same invitation: to live a life shaped by justice, soaked in mercy, and grounded in humble trust.

May we hear the case honestly.  May we receive the blessing gratefully.  And may own our lives become the answer.  

Thanks be to God.  Amen.

Offertory –

Doxology –

Prayer of Dedication –

  We thank You, Gracious God for our of the blessings you bestow upon us and we give back a portion of those gifts for You to use.  Take them, O Lord, and multiply their usefulness in the world that others might be blessed through our giving.  Amen.

Holy Communion

Closing Hymn –  Amazing Grace                  #280/343

Benediction –

         Friends, we are being sent into a world in need of healing.  We have been given all that we need to be God’s messengers of peace.  Go now into the world, rejoicing in God’s presence with You.  Bring the news of peace and hope to all you meet.  AMEN.

Postlude

Today's Worship Service - January 11, 2026

 We are at both churches today - Olivet Presbyterian Church at 9:45am and Bethesda United Presbyterian Church - 11:15 am.  Next Sunday, January 18, is Youth Sunday at Olivet where we will jointly worship at 9:45am.

Worship Service for January 11, 2026

Prelude

Announcements:

Call to Worship

L:      Your love, O God, reaches to the heavens, Your faithfulness to the skies.

P:      Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, Your justice like the great deep.

L:      Earth’s children, high and low, take refuge in the shadow of Your wings.

P:      We feast on the abundance of Your house; You give us drink from Your river of delights.

L:      For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light we see light.

 

Opening Hymn –  For the Beauty of the Earth         #473/793

 

Prayer of Confession

Lord, we cannot help but wonder why we want to keep the good news of the gospel a secret.  We profess that Christianity is for everybody, but neglect to pass on Your good news to those we see every day.  We have become reservoirs of Your goodness and grace, and not channels through which others can experience what we have heard.  We like to spread gossip, but seldom tell anyone else about the gospel.  We want to be better witnesses.  Give us the strength, courage, and motivation to do better.  (Silent prayers are offered)  AMEN.

Assurance of Pardon

L:      This is the good news in Jesus Christ:  God loves us more than we love ourselves.  God forgives us, encourages us, and frees us to love others.

P:      In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.  Thanks be to God!

 

Gloria Patri

Affirmation of Faith/Apostles’ Creed

I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth; And in Jesus Christ His only Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into hell; the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Ghost, the holy catholic Church; the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting.  AMEN

 

Pastoral Prayer and Lord’s Prayer

Emmanuel, God with us, You are our help and home.  Like Mary and Joseph circumstances beyond our imagining, beyond our control take us far from home.  Like King Herod our desires for security, pleasure, and power lead us down destructive paths and take us far from home.  Jesus,  you are with us.  You are our help and home.  Like the Magi, quests for wisdom and direction, a truth we can trust, sometimes take us far from home.  Holy Child of Bethlehem, you are with us.  You are our help and home.  No matter where we find ourselves there is a future, with hope.  Shelter us in the wings of Your love.  Gather us in the strength of Your compassion.  Free us from the bonds of evil when we find ourselves far from home.  Because Jesus, you are with us.  You are our help and home.  When we find ourselves alone and frightened, in a landscape that is unfamiliar, keep us safe.  

We pray this day fervently for the needs of world, especially those living in Venezuela and the unrest that is there.  We pray for those living under corrupt rulers that they may find peace and a new way forward.  We pray for the people of Ukraine, besieged by bombs now going on for years from foreign invaders.  We continually pray for those in war-torn areas of the world who find themselves displaced and far from home. 

Our hearts are heavy this morning, Lord, with constant news of war and devastation, but we also pray for loved ones here at home.  We pray for…

In this time of silence hear the groanings of our hearts…

 

Hear us O Lord, as we pray with one voice saying, Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name.  Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread.  Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.  And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.  For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever.  AMEN.

 

Hymn –  Now Thank We All Our God                             #555/788

Scripture Reading(s): 

First Scripture Reading – Psalm 36:5-9

Second Scripture Reading – Matthew 2:13-23

Sermon –  “Angels and Repeated Visits”

Angels and Repeated Visits

(based on Matthew 2:13-23)

 

         As we’ve discovered during our retelling of the entire Christmas story this year through both Matthew and Luke, there were a large number of angel visits; more so than in any other part of Scripture.  Why, do you think?  Well, it was an extraordinary event, was it not?  Both heaven and earth were full of God’s glory at this event.  It needed an anticipatory preparation by a faithful priest and his wife, as an angel came to visit Zechariah in the temple, allowing his wife – even in her advanced years – to conceive and bear a child whose name would be John, who would prepare the nation for the Messiah.  It needed to be experienced by a humble couple from David’s lineage, as an angel came to both Mary and Joseph, in different ways to engage them in God’s plan.  The event needed to be witnessed by shepherds and wisemen, again who encountered angels in different ways – the shepherds who witnessed perhaps the full regalia of the heavenly hosts praising God and saying together, “Glory to God in the Highest and on earth peace to all.”  And to the wisemen, whose scientific research, led them to a star, and angels who came in dreams to protect God’s plan for the birth of the Christ Child.  And lastly, this extraordinary event needed a protagonist in King Herod who was not visited by angels nor found angels in his nightmarish schemes, but instead devised a plan to be rid of the hateful infant usurper.  

         So many pieces needed to be put into place, so many characters needed to be drawn into the story that it took angels to herald the news and share messages to those involved.  Each character in the story received the angels in a way that made sense to them.  Zechariah in the temple, Mary in her garden, Joseph in his sleep, the shepherds out in the field, and the Wisemen through dreams and a star.

         As we come near to the end of telling the story, we have two more visitations to the one character whose story is often peripheral and least known, Joseph.  And yet, within the story itself, he’s the one in whom the angels visit the most.  They come to him in dreams.  First, when he was contemplating setting Mary aside and divorcing her.  In today’s reading we learn that Joseph was warned in his dreams by an angel to flee Bethlehem and take the child and his mother to Egypt for Herod sought to end Jesus’ life.  And finally, Joseph’s last dream-angel-visit came to tell him that their time in Egypt was over and he could take them all back to Israel.

Last year, I spent some time talking about that flight and what their time in Egypt may have been like.  I’m not going to spend a lot of time on this today, but these passages in scripture are an important part of the Christmas story.  Jesus and his family became refugees who must flee for their lives from a political tyrant.  As mentioned in Scripture, Herod was so angry that the Wisemen had deceived him, that he sent his army into the neighboring towns of Bethlehem and had all the baby/infant boys killed.

         Although I’m aware that everything gets politicized today, it’s important to be aware that the association between God’s Son and displaced persons is so strong that when the United Nations launched a yearlong world-wide campaign back in 1959 to raise awareness of the plight of refugees, several countries commemorated the event with postage stamps depicting Joseph leading a donkey on which Mary and the baby Jesus ride. 

Three years ago, author Susan Robb, writing about this very story in Matthew says, “As I write about Joseph and Mary fleeing from Herod, snow is gently falling outside.  The boughs of the spruce and fir trees that surround the house our family loves to visit hang heavy with two days of fresh frosting.  Although it is March, the scene through my window is how we all like to imagine the perfect Christmas.  While the world outside looks peaceful and perfect in this Currier and Ives snapshot of the moment, in reality it is not.  Currently, more than 5 million people have fled Ukraine, becoming refugees overnight because of their very existence is being threatened by Russia’s Putin, who, like Herod, is hungry for power, afraid that the growth of others’ freedom and governments threaten his own “kingdom”.”

         During World War II there were a fair number of German priests and pastors who were imprisoned for speaking out against Hitler.  One of them was Alfred Delp.  From his cell, Delp wrote of how he experienced the Advent of 1944 with more intensity and anticipation than ever before.  He described an angel figurine that was given to him that bore the inscription upon it, “Rejoice, the Lord is near.”  But how do you rejoice when you are in prison for the crime of speaking out against evil, against policy, against governmental controls and overreach?  The figurine reminded him of the importance of remembering the promises of God, regardless of the current situation.  He wrote encouraging words to his congregations, smuggled out from the prison, imploring them to “walk through these gray days as an announcing messenger,” for “so many need their courage strengthened, so many are in despair and in need of consolation.”  Amis so much darkness in the world, Delp clung to the promise of what he described as “the radiant fulfillment to come,” saying, “It is…only just announced and foretold.  But it is happening.  This is today.  And tomorrow the angels will tell what has happened with loud rejoicing voices, and we shall know it and be glad, if we have believed and trusted in Advent.”

         In our first week discussing angels, I mentioned that angels can also come in the form of human beings as they did to Abraham and Sarah in the Old Testament.  I don’t speak about this much, very rarely in fact as it is an extremely personal story, but let me tell you about a time when I was visited by an angel years ago.

         I was 19 years old.  My world, as I knew it, was unravelling rather quickly.  I’d faced adversity and hardship before, but this was something on a completely different level for me.  For background information, I’d grown up with a silver spoon in my mouth.  My family was well-off financially.  We belonged to the country club, went out to dinner most evenings, went on vacations multiple times a year travelling throughout most of the United States and Canada.  We installed in an inground pool when we moved to our new house when I was six, having been outvoted by my sister and mom.  I’d wanted a barn to raise a horse and my dad had wanted a boat.  My sister and I grew up with a nanny.  And over the years we took in various relatives that lived with us for months at a time, who were down on their luck, providing them safe harbor, and helping them get back on their feet.  All that changed when my father decided to quit his job when I was in junior high school.  During those years, to continue the ruse that we were still well-off financially, we often went without food during the week so that my parents could hold their fancy weekend party for friends and neighbors.  In the winter we’d huddle in our family room around the fireplace and sleep there, as the rest of the house had no heat.  My only hot shower was on gym days when I could get one at school.  At sixteen years old I went to work to help pay for the ever growing past due bills.  My mom also went back to work, whose excuse to family and friends was because she was bored being home all the time.  And my dad started his own business.  Although he'd been a great manager and boss for the owners of an electrical supply company, he wasn’t so great on his own, installing fire and burglar alarms.  While trying to attend high school, getting an outside job after school, I then also stepped in to help dad build and run his own company; calling on customers, keeping the books, paying the company bills, and keeping my dad on schedule for each job.

         At graduation, I thought I could finally escape, running off to college.  After a month at school, mom called and pleaded for me to come back and help dad just a few hours each week.  So, during my freshman year, I went home several hours two or three days a week to do what I’d been doing. 

I’d grown up with the dream of being a music teacher.  It was my one and only goal in life.  And thankfully, I’d received a four-year fully paid scholarship for music education to West Chester State College, now West Chester University.  I was 19 years old.  And that’s when everything unraveled for me.  I hated school, not college itself, I loved that part.  But, the one thing that had always brought me comfort, an escape from the world’s problems and my own, had been music.  And now, for the first time in my life, it was my enemy.  I hated the long hours of practice it required.  I’d been a natural, but now I needed to work, and I just couldn’t.  I was always able to pick up nearly any instrument and learn it within days, but I struggled at piano.  As a music education major at West Chester you needed to have a high proficiency at the piano.  I learned to play the saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet, flute, oboe, trumpet, trombone, violin and even drums.  But I just couldn’t get my two hands to coordinate together to play the piano.

I had no clue what I was going to do with my life if being a music teacher wasn’t in my future.  And to change majors meant giving up my scholarship and figuring out how to pay for college.  Then mom and dad told me they were getting a divorce, mom moved out and got an apartment, dad began drinking again and I tried to protect my sister as best I could making sure she got what she needed, taking her places, spending time with her in long drives in the car, attending all her functions, like a parent would since neither of them were doing any of that, all while trying to bang out notes on an instrument that I couldn’t master and failing miserably.  I thought about dropping out of school.  On top of all that, I was struggling with my own identity.  Even as a late teenager, that’s a lot of angst to be dealing with all at once.

And that was when she came – my own visitation by an angel.  I was sitting alone in the cafeteria, it was late morning, all of my friends had already eaten and gone off to classes.  I was at my lowest of lows, but I’d learned well from my parents to bottle things up and not let anything show on the outside (I’ve overcome that – maybe a bit too much), but my friends knew none of what was going on with me.  

A woman came and asked if she could sit down at my table.  There were dozens of empty tables nearby, but I said, “Sure.”  She seemed too old to be a student in one of the dorms, but maybe she was one of the older commuters that West Chester had lots of.  She introduced herself, but frankly I wasn’t paying much attention.  I told her my name and her response was strange.  It wasn’t, “nice to me you” or anything like that.  It was just a simple, “yes”, as if I was confirming my name to someone who already knew me.  We sat in silence for a few moments.  Then she said, “You seem sad, what’s going on?”  My response was quick. I put on a smile that I didn’t feel and said, “No, everything’s great.  How about you?”  She put down her spoon and looked directly into my eyes.  “You know, one of the things I’ve learned is that God is always there in all of our struggles, no matter what.  Everything will be okay.  It will all work out, just let Him guide you.”  I said thanks and before I could burst into tears, I got up and walked to the juice bar that was right behind our table to get another drink. 

West Chester isn’t a Christian College.  Nor is it known for being a place where a bunch of Christians hang out and talk about God.  It was definitely a strange encounter already in that space from a stranger who’d I’d never met.  But it gets stranger.  When I turned around, she was gone.  There was no trace of her.  No bowl at the table.  No spoon where she’d placed it.  No cup, no napkin.  The chair was neatly tucked in.  I looked around.  No trace of her at all, not at another table, not at the racks for dirty dishes, not at the exit.  She was just gone.

I will never know who she was, where she came from, or what other purpose she came to serve, but to reassure me of God’s presence in my life.  She was my angel that brought me a message I’ve kept my entire life.   That no matter what I might be struggling with, no matter how bad things might get, God is there and will always guide us. 

Someone you know, like those living in Delp’s day or in our own, someone facing a dark time in his or her life, or simply struggling against the darkness in our world, may be waiting on you to be a living reminder that the Lord is near, that God is always with us.  Someone may be depending on you to provide the presence of God’s angels.  For someone, you may be a sustaining light.

         Delp’s works, and particularly those in Matthew’s gospel, want us to see that, long after the Herods of the world are dead, God will still be present, speaking, guiding, providing assurance and protection through the Son and through his messengers, celestial or human.

Thanks be to God.  AMEN.

Offertory –

Doxology –

Prayer of Dedication –

With these gifts, O God, we offer up our sacrifices of time, talent, and material tithes.  Bless them for use in Your Holy Kingdom.  In Christ’s Name we pray.  Amen

Closing Hymn –  Have Thine Own Way, Lord        #591  Brown Hymnal

Benediction –

As Mary and Joseph set out for safety in a new land to find hope, may we too set out on a journey of discovery for God’s light, truth, hope, and love.  Go from this place of refuge and bring God’s light of illumination with you.  Go and serve the Lord.  AMEN.

Postlude

Today's Worship Service - January 4, 2025

 We are joining together for worship this morning at Olivet Presbyterian Church in West Elizabeth at 9:45am.

Worship Service for January 4, 2026

Prelude

Announcements:

Call to Worship

L:      May the Lord give strength to His people!

P:      May the Lord grant us peace.

L:      May God be gracious and merciful to us.

P:      And may God’s face shine upon us.

L:      May God continue to bless us.  Let us worship God.

 

Opening Hymn –  What Star Is This With Beams So Bright        #68/290

 

Prayer of Confession

Forgiving God, we are guilty of failing to make our blessings count.  We are ungrateful children who never seem to have enough or to be satisfied with what we have.  We want more, and yet we have not done everything we can with what we already have.  Worst of all, we have not shared what we have with others so that they, too, might be as blessed as we are.  We confess that we have not always been aware of our spiritual blessings.  Too often we only ask You for material things and temporal blessings, forgetting that what we really need is for You to nurture our spirits and souls.  Forgive us, and give us another chance, just as You have given us another year and another day.  Heal, restore, and bless us, we pray, for the sake of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.  (Silent prayers are offered)  AMEN.

Assurance of Pardon

L:      Friend, may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ free us from all of our sins and may we be made new persons in the power of the Holy Spirit.

P:      This is the Good News made known to us by the Christmas Angels.  Thanks be to God!

 

Gloria Patri

Affirmation of Faith/Apostles’ Creed

I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth; And in Jesus Christ His only Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into hell; the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Ghost, the holy catholic Church; the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting.  AMEN

 

Pastoral Prayer and Lord’s Prayer

Almighty God, we gather as your people, and we gather as those who live in hope.  Our lives provide us many opportunities to speak words of peace and reconciliation, but often we don’t have the courage.  Draw us together in our Lord Jesus Christ, that we may proclaim the good news of hope and salvation to our communities and world.  Make us bold not only to speak the word, but also to live it. 

O Great God of Light, we give you thanks that all creation is blessed by your faithful and forgiving love – always overcoming our sins of pride, blindness, and despair.  In times of abundance give us grateful hearts, that we may rejoice in your great kindness.  In times of suffering give us eyes to see your light shining, that we may live in hope and faithful service.

By your Spirit empower us to reach out to all of your children who are suffering in physical, emotional, or spiritual pain, injustice, living in poverty, or those without hope.  May we work and pray together in the light of your grace.  Hear our prayer requests this morning…

 

And also the desires of our hearts that we lift up to you today in silence….

 

O Lord, you are faithful and true, full of compassion and abounding in steadfast love.  We acknowledge your shining star as it guides our own way to the Christ child and we pray together saying, “Our Father…”Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name.  Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread.  Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.  And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.  For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever.  AMEN.

 

Hymn –  What Star is This With Beams so Bright          #68  Blue

Scripture Reading(s): 

First Scripture Reading – Isaiah 60:1-6

Second Scripture Reading – Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon –  “Christmas Angels and the Magi”

 

         For this Advent and Christmas season we’ve been reading through the full account of Jesus’ birth through the stories told by both Luke and Matthew and talking about all the angel encounters in these two stories.  First, we had Zechariah encountering the archangel Gabriel in the Temple to whom was given the message that the Messiah would be born and that the sign or proof that God could do such a thing as bring about the coming of this Messiah, this Savior was that even Elizabeth, in her old age, would conceive a special child, whose name would be John, and whose sole mission was to proclaim this Messiah and turn the people back to God.  Then we had Mary’s visitation by Gabriel at her home, giving her the privilege of birthing this Messiah into the world and that although she was a virgin, would miraculously be overshadowed by the Holy Spirit and that she and her betrothed were to name him Jesus, for he would save his people from their sins.  Shortly after this, Joseph, Mary’s betrothed learns of her pregnancy and vows to quietly divorce her, but before he could do that, a different angel visited him in his dreams and told him the same story that Mary had told him and that he was to keep his promise and take Mary as his wife, raise the child and name him Jesus.  On Christmas Eve, we find shepherds out in the field who were not only visited by an angel to proclaim this Savior’s birth, but a whole host of angels glorifying God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to all.”  They then rush to see this newborn baby and told others about all they had seen, heard, and witnessed that night.

Chapter 2 of Matthew’s gospel opens with “In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea…”  Unlike Luke’s gospel, Matthew doesn’t tell us how Mary and Jospeh get to Bethlehem.  There is no mention of a census.  And if you were to read Matthew’s account in isolation from Luke’s, you might conclude that Mary and Joseph are actually from Bethlehem, not Nazareth.  But Luke and Matthew both emphasize that Jesus is born in Bethlehem in the time of King Herod the Great. 

To the east of Israel lay empires who were often in conflict with the Roman Empire such as the Mesopotamia kingdom, or the Nabataean kingdom, with its capital in Petra.  And then there were Arabian kingdoms farther east such as Persia and Saba where the wisemen in our story from Matthew may have come from.  These wise men, as described in our scriptures, have noticed something extraordinary in the skies.  Advanced in studying the stars and in Mathematics, they were adept astrologers.  But not only that, they were very learned men, who knew about and perhaps had read the ancient texts from Israel, knew about the prophecies declaring that a king would be born to the family of David.  They had probably been studying the stars for years, waiting for alignments that would, in their estimation, foretell the birth of this king.  When they finally identified a powerful set of astronomical events, perhaps a confluence of planets, or what seemed to be the reappearance of Jupiter in the night sky, they determined it was time for them to set out and find this new king.  They were not Jews, they were outside the realm of Jewish culture, which I find extremely significant and telling that Matthew of all writers would be the one to tell their story.  Remember he is writing to a Jewish audience and now he is bringing in the story of non-Jews or Gentiles into the most important story in all Judaism.  Perhaps these wisemen are to represent Jesus’ reach to all the nations of the world.  And in them, Matthew is anticipating those Gentile Christians in his own community who will come to worship this new king.

In any case, these magi, are excited at the prospect of finding this king.   Upon reaching Jerusalem, they presume that its leaders would be excited too.  The puppet ruler Herod understandably feels threatened by the news that a new king has been born.  So, he calls together the chief priests and scribes to find out where the Messiah was to be born.  And they come back to him with news that it is in Bethlehem that this new king would be born, as told by the prophets.

As I’ve mentioned, Bethlehem is a tiny town – not unlike our own West Elizabeth.  It has no more than maybe 400-500 residents.  However, what is different?  It was the time of the census when all those in the Roman Empire needed to be enrolled.  Which means that all the people who had grown up in Bethlehem needed to return there – all the ancestors and their relatives that were still living needed to return to their hometown.  So, imagine how many people would have poured into Bethlehem during this year of enrollment.  The numbers would have swollen considerably.  Over the course of a year or so, all these people would have needed to be housed, they needed to be fed, they needed to be taken care of if they were sick, and perhaps wheels on their carts mended, horses looked after, sheep temporarily pastured somewhere.  Logistically, it might have been a nightmare.  And into that chaos, in a cold dark barn or cave that served as an animal shelter, a baby boy was born.  I wonder how many other babies might have been born at this time.

Herod didn’t want to enter into that chaos.  Herod didn’t want to get his hands dirty, walking among the “least of these.”  No, instead, he had a brilliant plan; let these Wisemen do it.  Herod was a brutal and ruthless ruler.  While he was responsible for numerous building projects in Israel, he also had many of his citizens killed out of paranoia that they were plotting against him.  He murdered his wife along and their two sons, her brother, her grandfather, and her mother.  He would do anything to protect his power.  Though he was actually just a nominal king, as he ruled solely at the discretion of the Roman Emperor, he was also not a descendant of David.  Reports of the birth of the Messiah – who, as he knows, is to come from David’s line – lead him to plot to find and destroy this child.

It is a bit curious that the priests and scribes who were summoned by Herod, people who know their scriptures and have been waiting expectantly for the birth of the Messiah, aren’t transformed by what they have heard.  There is no hint from Matthew that they react with a sense of awe and wonder that would lead any of them to go and pay homage to this miraculous news.  And we don’t read that they said or did anything to deter Herod’s sinister plan to let the unsuspecting wise men lead him to the newborn infant.  So, apparently, as learned men as they no doubt were, they failed to either comprehend what was going on or to respond to it.  

Simply knowing scripture doesn’t necessarily guarantee that we will experience God’s presence and voice.  I think we have to have open mind, heart, soul, and spirit; coming to the Word of God with fresh eyes, expectantly hoping for God’s message to reveal itself, open to what God has to say, laying aside our own agendas.  By the same token, even as the wise men searched for the newborn king, they needed someone to open their eyes to the scriptures to help them understand their experience as a holy one.  I truly believe that a communal aspect of reading scripture together and studying it together, helps us recognize the mysterious, holy moments in our lives and in the world.  It often brings confirmation of the holy to our experiences.

Now, after the magi, these knowledgeable and seeking astrologers, or wise men from the east, find Jesus and have laid their gifts before him, something interesting happens.  They, like Joseph, have a dream.  While Matthew doesn’t mention the involvement of angels, I can’t help but believe that it is the very same that enter into their dreams, speaking to them and warning them not to return to Herod.  As we’ve discussed from the beginning of our Advent journey, angels in the Bible often announce significant births and offer messages of warning.  God only knows what would have happened had the wise men traveled back to Jerusalem.  So, in order for that plan of Herod’s to be thwarted, I believe God speaks to these men in their dreams, incorporating them into the new history of Israel, the story of Christ’s birth.  Like Joseph, they respond obediently.  They’ve learned to listen to dreams, to be interpreters of dreams.  Heeding that voice of God, they go home by a route that bypasses Herod.  And in so doing they follow God’s path for them and God’s purpose for them.

Have you ever felt God’s Spirit calling you to take a certain direction, perhaps with prompting from a human messenger, that represented a detour or a different direction from your intended path?  Often times they come when we are earnestly seeking an answer, when we want God to send us a sign.  Sometimes, we only recognize them as God sent, when they legitimize our quest, when they only come to us more like a second opinion that affirms what we already know or believe.  But, what if they come to us unexpectantly, telling us to go in a different direction?  Do we notice them as God’s signs?  How often do we wait for another, expecting God to affirm what we believe?  However, if they are completely unexpected and telling us to go in a different direction, perhaps those are the very signs that they are holy, from a holy messenger, an angel, in human form or directly from heaven.

Thanks be to God.  AMEN.

Offertory –

Doxology –

Prayer of Dedication –

God of the nations, long ago the magi brought gifts to Christ, rich and costly gifts, each one a unique expression of the giver.  Help us to bring gifts today that will express our love and dedication, not only gifts of gold, but gifts of talent, time, and energy.  We lay these gifts at your feet, trusting that you will find a use for all that is given in Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Holy Communion

Invitation

In coming to the Lord’s Table, we intentionally take our place in the story. We come not on our own, or only as this congregation, but with the Body of Christ throughout the world and the saints in heaven.  We come as real people, loved for all our real or perceived faults.  We come as those who are an essential part of the story, because there is room for everyone in this story.  We also come to the Lord’s Table as those invited.  Our welcome does not depend on how good we are.  It does not depend on whether we feel like we are worthy or not.  It is an open invitation to all, as a gift of great joy for all people.

The Lord Jesus on the night of his arrest, took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you.  Do this in remembrance of me.”

Christ’s body was broken that we might be made whole.  Take and eat.

In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, “This is the cup of the new covenant in my blood.  Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”  For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, we proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes again. 

Christ’s blood was shed that we might be healed.  Take and drink.

Prayer After Communion

Holy God, from generation to generation, we are nurtured at Your banquet feast.  As we once again tell Your story of forgiveness and love, we proclaim our adoption into Your family tree of kings, carpenters, foreigners, disregarded women, and second sons.  May our lives testify that there is a place for everyone in Your story of salvation.   Amen.

 

Closing Hymn –  We Three Kings         #66/288

Benediction –

         Arise, people of God, go forth to shine like the Star of Bethlehem for all the world to see.  And as the Magi of old, go forth in trust and excitement transformed by the angels and the presence of the child of light.  May God’s blessings be upon you.  AMEN.

Postlude