The Presbyterian Church at Woodbury
Sixth Sunday after Epiphany
February 13, 2022
Worship Notes
WELCOME
OPENING PRAYER
Compassionate God, we recognize that our world is a broken place, hurt by poverty, famine and disease. We admit that sometimes we make the world a broken place, tolerating prejudice, conflict and self-interest. We confess that our hearts also suffer with anger, resentment and jealousy. Renew us in Your love, O God, and heal us with the comfort of Your abundant love. Awaken us to the role we can play in healing Your creation. Strengthen us through the power of the Holy Spirit to hear Your word and move forward in faith. Amen.
PRELUDE “Contemplation” Johannes Brahms
CALL TO WORSHIP
Like trees planted by streams of water
Let us trust in the Lord
and meditate on God’s Word
so, we can yield good and bountiful fruit.
*HYMN No. 634 “To God Be the Glory”
1 To God be the glory;
great things he has done!
So loved he the world
that he gave us his Son,
who yielded his life
an atonement for sin,
and opened the life-gate
that all may go in.
Refrain:
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord;
let the earth hear his voice!
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord;
let the people rejoice!
O come to the Father
through Jesus the Son,
and give him the glory:
great things he has done!
2 Great things he has taught us;
great things he has done,
and great our rejoicing
through Jesus the Son;
but purer and higher
and greater will be
our wonder, our transport,
when Jesus we see. (Refrain)
*CALL TO CONFESSION
Who can understand the heart? Only God. Let us confess the ways we have turned from the One who knows us and saves us.
*CONFESSION OF SIN
Sustaining God, you lead us through parched wilderness places to streams of living water, but we do not root ourselves in health and wholeness. We ignore your rich provisions, choosing the world’s latest fad and shallow self-help. We sentimentalize the spiritual and ignore the needs of our soul. Merciful God, forgive our arrogance and our ignorance. Remind us of our spiritual needs and the many ways you are here to provide. Amen.
*SILENT PRAYER
*DECLARATION OF FORGIVENESS
Blessed are those who trust the Lord. When heat comes, our leaves will stay green. In a year of drought, we will not cease to bear fruit. Know that you are forgiven and be at peace. Amen.
*RESPONSE No. 606 “Gloria Patri”
Praise God, from whom all blessing flow, Praise God, all creatures here below. Alleluia, Alleluia Praise God in Jesus fully known; Creator, Word and Spirit one. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia.
*PASSING OF THE PEACE
Our peace comes from knowing how much God loves us in Jesus Christ. With God’s help, we try to love and forgive one another as Christ loves and forgives us.
“The peace of Christ be with you,”
“And also with you.”
ANTHEM “We Sing the Mighty Power of God” John Leavitt
CHILDREN’S SERMON
PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION
The Lord tests the mind and searches the heart. In this moment of proclamation, O God, may our hearts and minds be receptive to you and your way. Amen.
SCRIPTURE 1 Corinthians 15:12-20
12Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead? 13If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; 14and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation has been in vain and your faith has been in vain. 15We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified of God that he raised Christ—whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. 16For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised. 17If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18Then those also who have died in Christ have perished. 19If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. 20But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died.
SERMON “Six Words” Rev. Dr. Philip W. Oehler, Sr.
There is a wonderful website, that is a collection of six-word memoirs — people both famous and ordinary trying to distill their lives down to six words about what is most important or distinguished or interesting about them. Everyone is invited to participate, and there is an ongoing gallery of the most recent offerings.
The site has also spawned several books, which collect the best of the stories; the first was called “Not Quite What I Was Planning,” and the most recent is titled “It All Changed in an Instant.” I find it fascinating, both how popular the site is and also what a challenge it is to try to fit something about our essence into such a narrow form.
Some six-word stories are poignant: “I still make coffee for two,” writes someone recovering from a breakup. Some are clever: “Well, I thought it was funny,” is the offering of comedian Stephen Colbert.
Some are tragic: the inspiration for the project was an old tale about Ernest Hemingway, who, challenged to write a story in six words, is said to have come up with this: “For Sale: baby shoes, never worn.”
And this made me think that, for all the joy and fanfare of the Resurrection, for all the complexity and mystery of our whole religious life together, and for all the billions and billions of words we use to try and explain it all, that Christianity itself has a six-word autobiography, and it is this: Jesus is risen from the dead.
There are 775,000 words, more or less, in the Bible, and not one of them makes sense without these six words. There are roughly 2 billion Christians in the world, and not one of us has a thing to say without these six words.
These are the words that the breathless women carried from the empty tomb back to the other disciples. These are the words that the Apostle Paul shared with the church in Corinth and other communities. These are the words that have been passed from person to person, from community to community, every day since then — in secret, in triumph, in darkness, in celebration.
It is these six words that have taken us from scattered, broken people who are lost to the largest religion in the world. It is these six words that have found countless individuals whose lives were already dead — broken by pain and suffering, by sin and darkness — and given them new life.
These are the words that are whispered at bedsides and shouted from rooftops and shared at dinner tables and workplaces and in neighborhoods. These are the words that have been forbidden by governments both ancient and modern, and yet somehow, they have still been spoken, still been shared.
Jesus is risen from the dead.
These are the words that the martyrs sang as they were being burned at the stake, fed to the lions. These are the words that Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German martyr who opposed the Nazis and was forced into seclusion, taught his students in the secret seminary he managed to hold.
These are the words that Oscar Romero was speaking as he was gunned down while celebrating the Eucharist in El Salvador. These are the words that Martin Luther King Jr. held fast to as he opposed the violent racism of our culture, the words that inspire Desmond Tutu’s work in South Africa; these are even the words that Mother Teresa admitted had lost meaning for her, at the end of her ministry. And yet she so believed in their meaning for the world that she did not abandon her work with the poor.
Jesus is risen from the dead.
Are these words true? If they are not, Paul says to the Corinthians, “we are of all people most to be pitied.”
If they are not, then millions — maybe billions — of people have gone to their graves unnecessarily. And millions — maybe billions — more continue to live in the tombs of whatever darkness and despair overshadows them. If they are not, then we are doomed to very short and pointless lives, and to be defeated by the suffering that we continue to see all around us. To be defeated by death itself.
But this is not our story, and not just because I say so or the church says so.
Of course, we hear all the time that Jesus’ resurrection cannot be proven, because nobody saw it; that it cannot be true, because people still suffer, they still die; that we cannot believe it, because it seems so utterly unbelievable.
To which we say: Jesus is risen from the dead.
How many lives have been transformed, starting with Mary Magdalene and her companions, falling to the ground in utter shock, upon hearing these six words? How could we possibly count the ways that billions of hearts have been “strangely warmed,” in the words of John Wesley, upon the understanding of these six words?
What could we possibly use to measure the impact that these six words have had upon the world — the ways in which forgiveness, joy, reconciliation, self-giving love and charity have wrought miracles and abundance on the face of this earth in the time since we have first heard that Jesus is risen from the dead?
Is it true? Listen to the stories.
C.S. Lewis once said, “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the Sun has risen, not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”
This is the story of our lives, the story of the life of the world, the story of life itself. It is the story of how life is stronger than death, how God’s love for us is stronger than death. It is, in the end, the only story that there is.
And so, as Easter People – as people of the Resurrection: we hear these six words again: Jesus is risen from the dead.
How will these words change your story? Where in the essence of who you are do you hear the call to new life — to come out of the tomb you’ve been sealed in, the tomb of fear or the tomb of hopelessness or the tomb of dreams that have been lost or delayed? Where are you looking for the living among the dead? How will you receive this news that has been handed from life to life, from heart to heart, from age to age, that is now handed again to you?
And how will these words change the world? What does our story still have to say to a world at war, a culture at odds, a people in pain? How will we be sure that they will hear our story of hope?
Every day we write our story again, and we say that it is no less true today than it was on the first day; it is no less miraculous today than it was on the first day — no less shocking, no less joyful, no less important, no less life-changing and meaningful.
Jesus is risen from the dead.
Commentary and Liturgy provided by Teri McDowell Ott, Louise E. Lotz, John C. Lentz, Robert S. Rayburn, Carla Works, Jim Erwin, Mark Achtemeier, and Catherine A. Caimano.
*AFFIRMATION OF FAITH The 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.
*HYMN No. 734 “Hope of the World”
1 Hope of the world, thou Christ of great compassion:
speak to our fearful hearts by conflict rent;
save us, thy people, from consuming passion,
who by our own false hopes and aims are spent.
2 Hope of the world, God’s gift from highest heaven,
bringing to hungry souls the bread of life:
still let thy Spirit unto us be given
to heal earth’s wounds and end our bitter strife.
3 Hope of the world, afoot on dusty highways,
showing to wandering souls the path of light:
walk thou beside us lest the tempting byways
lure us away from thee to endless night.
4 Hope of the world, who by thy cross didst save us
from death and deep despair, from sin and guilt:
we render back the love thy mercy gave us;
take thou our lives and use them as thou wilt.
5 Hope of the world, O Christ, o’er death victorious,
who by this sign didst conquer grief and pain:
we would be faithful to thy gospel glorious;
thou art our Lord! Thou dost forever reign!
THE PASTORAL PRAYER & THE LORD’S PRAYER
Trusted God, in this parched pandemic landscape where we have all been exiled into uncertainty and constant change, it’s difficult to send our roots into streams of your living water. We are distracted and overwhelmed, flitting from one undone task, one fraught decision, one fresh worry to the next. We are like the deer panting for water; our soul longs for you. Be our divining rod, O God, leading us to the spiritual streams of support that you so graciously provide.
Fountain of Life, in your perfect world no sword is drawn except for the sword of righteousness. Be with those who live in fear of war and violence. Bless those whose borders are threatened by a powerful enemy military. Gather all your people under the banner of peace, so we might come to know each other and love each other as we have been called. May all rumors of war be dispelled in favor of your path of truth, justice and peace.
She who Provides, heal those who are hostage to violence and threats of violence. Calm the traumatized, the victimized, the oppressed. Ground those who are helpless and spinning. Renew those who are weary and overwhelmed. Heal those who are suffering and sick.
Love and comfort those who are grieving. And gather us together, Nurturing One, so we can learn to be tender and merciful with one another and with ourselves.
United as the Body of Christ we lift these prayers to you, Savior God. Hear us now, as we pray the prayer Christ taught us by saying together, “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; and 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.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
TITHES & OFFERINGS
God has led us to prosperity. Let us return to God a portion of all that we have been given.
OFFERTORY
*RESPONSE
Praise God, from whom all blessing flow, Praise God, all creatures here below. Alleluia, Alleluia Praise God in Jesus fully known; Creator, Word and Spirit one. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia.
*PRAYER OF DEDICATION
God, you have sustained us in lean times and led us to sources of living water. Take these gifts and multiply their blessings for those who are hungry, hurting and in need of your strength. Amen.
*HYMN No. 838 “Standing on the Promises”
1 Standing on the promises of Christ my king,
through eternal ages let his praises ring;
glory in the highest, I will shout and sing,
standing on the promises of God.
Refrain:
Standing, standing,
standing on the promises of God my Savior;
standing, standing,
I’m standing on the promises of God.
2 Standing on the promises that cannot fail,
when the howling storms of doubt and fear assail,
by the living Word of God I shall prevail,
standing on the promises of God. (Refrain)
3 Standing on the promises of Christ the Lord,
bound to him eternally by love’s strong cord,
overcoming daily with the Spirit’s sword,
standing on the promises of God. (Refrain)
4 Standing on the promises I cannot fall,
listening every moment to the Spirit’s call,
resting in my Savior as my all in all,
standing on the promises of God. (Refrain)
*BENEDICTION
Plant yourselves by the streams of God’s living water so that you can prosper and bear good fruit.
May the grace, hope, peace and love of God the Creator, God the Redeemer, and God the Sustainer be with you now and forevermore. Amen.
The Presbyterian Church at Woodbury
67 S. Broad Street
Woodbury, NJ 08096
856-845-1244
www.pcwoodbury.com