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Sunday, September 13, 2020 at Pender

Sunday, September 13, 2020

 

Rev. Will White will begin a new Worship Series
“Through the Wilderness”

A tweet is floating around that simply says, “I miss precedented times.” How often do you hear that these are unprecedented times?

Of course, like all broad statements of that kind, this is both true and untrue. It is true that most of us haven’t lived with a pandemic. The natural disasters and the political and racial unrest all roll together to create a miasma of despair unlike anything we’ve ever experienced. Except we have. Maybe not exactly this, but we know the experience.

We’ve been here before. We call it wilderness. It is a regular occurrence in the lives of followers of Jesus. One might say it is standard operating procedure. But familiarity doesn’t mean ease. Wandering through the wilderness is a difficult journey at the best of times. Other times, it can seem impossible.

Our task in this series is to help us find our way through the wilderness of this time by allowing the first of God-wanderers in the book of Exodus to speak to us. The stories of the people of God, along with the hymns of the faith in the Psalms, become our guides through the wilderness today.

 


The first Message will be “Into the Sea”

 

The Scriptures for Sunday are
Exodus 14:19-31 and Exodus 15:1-4

 

There is an irony in the selection of texts for this week. We are two days past 9/11, a date when we mourn the loss of life in such large numbers in the terrorist attack on New York and Washington DC and Pennsylvania. And we read a story of a miraculous rescue through an impossible barrier and the subsequent loss of lives of the pursuing nation, while a song is sung in praise of the victory. We remember the false reports of Muslims in this country singing and dancing with joy at the devastation on 9/11. We were outraged that such a celebration should occur. Those lies were exposed, but some still cling to that image. So, how do we as the people of God celebrate the destruction of the Egyptian enemy in the sea with dancing and singing and feel good about ourselves? There is a rabbinic teaching that says that when the Israelites crossed the sea and were safe, a cheer broke out in heaven. Then when the sea crashed down on the pursuing Egyptian army, another cheer went up in heaven. But God turned to the angels and said, “Why do you rejoice when my children have drowned in the sea?”

 

We cannot resolve all these issues in one act of worship this month, any more than we can “explain” how the sea parted and the people were set free. But we can be aware of the implications of our celebrations and our praise. We can be aware that praying for freedom is threatening to the status quo and unsettling for many; some will be hurt in the struggle for liberation; blood will be shed. It is happening around us all the time. We cannot ask for an easy road; we cannot ask for painless transformation.

 

But we can, and we should, indeed we must, ask for God to go with us. That is the focus of our worship today—not a celebration over enemies, but a recognition that in the difficult times, and in the comfortable ones, God is with us. God goes before and God follows behind. So, like the people of God on the shores of the Sea of Reeds, let us rejoice that God is with us; when there seemed to be no way, God makes a way. When there seems to be no hope, God is our hope. And God continues to be our hope, the hope we live out in our moving forward, even when lying down and giving up seems like the logical thing to do.

 

Remember, we are in the wilderness. The people standing on the shore, amazed at what God had accomplished, were not done with their journey. They had only just begun. We are on a journey too, making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. And we have only just begun. We are still wandering, no matter how focused our mission and our goals might be, we are still wandering in the wilderness.

 

 

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JLU (Jesus Loves You)

octoberfest-jlu

 

Pender’s Junior Youth Group for Grades 4 – 6

We will meet this Sunday, October 11th, for our Octoberfest (Cornerstone Room – Rm. 215). Please bring a friend for apple bobbing, doughnut-eating fun. We will continue our theme of Bible stories and verses in Christian Rock songs.

Please contact Theresa O’Brien, if you have any questions.

 

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JLU (Jesus Loves You) Youth Group for 4th-6th Graders

gifts

Jesus Loves You ~ Pender’s Junior Youth Group

Sunday, December 8th, 5:00-7:00 pm in the Cornerstone Room (Rm. 215)

We will be making Christmas Cookies for the women’s club and having our own $5 Below Gift Exchange.

(Don’t forget to memorize the 12 Disciples!)

 

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Jesus Loves You Youth Group for 4th-6th Graders

gifts

 

 

Jesus Loves You ~ Pender’s Junior Youth Group

Sunday, December 8th, 5:00-7:00 pm in the Cornerstone Room (Rm. 215)

We will be making Christmas Cookies for the women’s club and having our own $5 Below Gift Exchange.

(Don’t forget to memorize the 12 Disciples!)

 

 

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Events This Week!

calendar

 

 

 

  • September 28:  Pender UMC Calendar Events
  • September 28: Items of the week needed for Western Fairfax Christian Ministries to distribute to the needy in our area:
    • Canned meat
    • 46 oz. bottles of oil, fruit juices, plastic bags and egg cartons are always needed and welcome too!

    Donations can be left in the blue grocery cart in the coat rack section.

  • September 28: The Pender Podcast is available in the iTunes Podcast series.  There is no charge to subscribe or listen to past sermons.  There are currently 103 sermons available.  More information
  • September 28: Register for Choir – Children’s Choirs; Register for Adult Choirs
  • September 28: Are you interested in singing with our choir for our Christmas Cantata? If you are interested please contact Theresa Carpenter or Nicole Parrish.
  • September 29: Sunday School – New Classes Beginning.  Read the brochure
  • September 29:  New Sunday School Class beginning at 9:30 am in the Cornerstone Room (Rm. 215) Christianity, Cults & Religions
  • September 29:  Time Out for Parents.  9:15-10:30
  • September 29: Disciple II Bible Study (34 weeks), 4:00PM
  • September 29: Youth Choir and Handbells  Register for these choirs.
  • September 29: Turning Point Youth Group, 7:00PM
  • September 29: Book Lovers Club, 7:00PM
  • September 30:  Youth After-School Program.  2:30-5:30PM Mondays through Thursdays
  • September 30:  American Heritage Girls.  6:30-8:00PM
  • September 30: College/20-Something Bible study 7:30-8:30PM
  • October 1: Pastor Kenny’s Tuesday Bible Study.The study will be based on the book of Jeremiah. 2:00PM and 7:00PM
  • October 1:  Youth Bible Study.  7:30-8:30PM
  • October 1: Disciple II Bible Study (34 weeks)
  • October 1: Revelation Ringers Register for this choir.
  • October 1: Carillon and Joy Ringers rehearsals. Register for these choirs.
  • October 1: Tuesday evening small group 6:30-8:30PM
  • October 2: Women’s Bible study 7:30-9:30PM
  • October 3: Children’s Handbells and Choir Register for these choirs.
  • October 3: Lectio Divina small group. 6:15-7:00PM More information
  • October 3: Casting God’s Love 6:30-7:30PM
  • October 3: ReGift Thrift Executive Board biweekly meeting, 6:30-8:00PM
  • October 4: Fun with music, playing, and fellowship, weekly for 8 more weeks.  more information
  • October 4-6: Local Short Term Mission Trip, one-on-one buddy to a special needs child, Camp Highroad

 

 
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Posted by on September 28, 2013 in Bible Study, Get Involved!, Missions, Music, Pender UMC

 

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