NORTH CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH UCC
JANUARY 19, 2023
We hope you enjoy this week's News for the Pews!
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OUR SUNDAY WORSHIP SOJOURN CONTINUES!
This coming Sunday, January 22, we will continue our Sunday Worship Sojourn, bringing the gift of our Love of Worship to Harwinton Congregational Church UCC,1 Litchfield Road, Harwinton, CT. Worship begins at 10:00 AM.
Rev. Lisa Gustafson and the Harwinton folks are excited to have us join them! I will send a survey around on Friday afternoon, so please complete and let me know if you are on board! Many thanks for your faithful commitment to this wonderful experience we have as a congregation walking with Jesus! Peace, Pastor Kristie
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"Therefore if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation; old things have passed away, and look, new things have come"
(2 Corinthians 5:17, HCSB).
Real change starts with new life, not just a new leaf! The very heart of the Christian faith revolves around change, but it is not turning over a new leaf - it is living out a new life. And just as it is throughout creation, it is true of our churches.
In the Old Testament, we see how this cycle played out in the life of Solomon. He tried to change through human ingenuity when he needed divine intervention. And he was the smartest person - ever. (see, Ecclesiastes 1:12-18) And after Solomon's death, when the people of Israel failed to heed the signs of the fall of their earthly kingdom, the fall came anyway. The once thriving kingdom was scattered to far-away lands and the most magnificent temple built to God in all the world was to torn down and its foundation stones carted away.
And from this heartbreaking disaster, God created something new! Generations passed. People made a new life in their new home, yearning to return, yet finding joy where they were. Babies were born and grew. The old died and were mourned. And more babies were born and grew, and the cycle repeated itself until the one day, the people were released from their bond in exile and returned to Israel. Although this was the home of their ancestors, very few returning had known this land first hand. Yet they knew the stories and rebuilt a temple where the Temple of Solomon had stood. And this Second Temple was grander and more glorious than the one Solomon had built.
Generations upon generations worshiped there, preserving the old traditions, until in 70CE, the Romans tore the Second Temple down. No one - not the priests of Israel nor the people - was prepared for it -- indeed, no one could imagine a world without the Temple. That is, no one, except perhaps the followers of Jesus.
Jesus never built a church. We know this because the Bible teaches us that he spent his whole ministry walking from village to village across Galilee and the road to Jerusalem. Instead he taught his followers not to rely on buildings even of the most impressive stone, even if the building was magnificent and dedicated to God. When leaving the Temple after worship one day, the disciples marveled at the Temple's construction and all the history -- the history of the Jewish people -- that the Temple represented. They remarked to Jesus:
“Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!” And Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”
(Mark 13: 1-2)
When Jesus does go to synagogue, it is just a place where he might have stopped to pray or teach. No significant importance is ever given to it. But all of the Gospels are careful to point out where Jesus spent time with the people -- on the roads and paths through the fields, in people's homes, in their places of work. The Gospels are careful to point out where he prayed -- on mountainsides and in gardens. He prayed over people he was healing and he prayed in people's homes.
Jesus changed the what it meant to worship God -- not mere ritual and tradition in a fortress of stone. Rather to worship God in every thought, word, and deed, walking and living among the people whose needs were the greatest.
Change is something we all need. It is an ongoing part of life. With its constant flux, life demands adjustments for our schedules and plans.Communities change, demographics change, circumstances change, not to mention the needs of people change. And we, too change - as we move through different stages of our lives, our priorities change. As we pass lifetime milestones, our needs change. Even as we grow, blossoming into adulthood, new life comes into the world. Eventually, as we mature, our elders, once so full of life, slow down and shed aged earthly bodies for eternal life.
Jesus taught us that all our lives are in need of transformation. He tells us we need to seek new life in new ways. This is what he means when he tells the Pharisees, the long-established self-appointed keeper of how to keep God's laws and practice Judaism: "No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse. Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved” (Matthew 9:14-17 also Mark 2:18-22).
If we believe, as his followers, Christ is calling us to see the world through his eyes and his heart, and to live in a new way, might he also be challenging us to think about how this lesson applies to us -- do we, as a faith community insist upon asking Jesus to put new life into our old wineskin. Or do we trust in him and prepare ourselves for the harvest of grapes and making of new wine to come?
As always, I welcome your thoughts and questions, and encourage you to send them to me at pastorkristie.northcc@gmail.com.
Keeping you all in prayer and wishing you a full measure of
Peace and Blessings
This day and always,
Pastor Kristie
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