In baptism, God promises to forgive, to adopt, to renew, and to resurrect. This Sunday we’ll be sharing in God’s promises to Betty Sue Drew.

Come join the celebration!

This week we’ll be taking a look at Romans 1:1-17. You can read it below. Here’s a little reading plan for you:

1.) Read Romans 1:1-17. What does it mean to you?

2.) Read Habakkuk 1:1-2:4. What is the prophet concerned about? (Notice the connection between Romans 1:17 and Habakkuk 2:4.)

3.) Read Romans 1:1-17 again. How has the meaning of the words changed for you?

Romans 1:1-17

Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures, the gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for the sake of his name, including yourselves who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,

 To all God’s beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 

 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed throughout the world. For God, whom I serve with my spirit by announcing the gospel of his Son, is my witness that without ceasing I remember you always in my prayers, asking that by God’s will I may somehow at last succeed in coming to you. For I am longing to see you so that I may share with you some spiritual gift to strengthen you—or rather so that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine. I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as I have among the rest of the Gentiles. I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish — hence my eagerness to proclaim the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

 For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written, ‘The one who is righteous will live by faith.’

We’ll be singing a couple of songs out of our contemporary song book this week. We’ve learned a number of them recently, so here are a few links to refresh your memory.

What the Lord Has Done In Me

Knowing You

Give Us Clean Hands. We’re just introducing this one this week.

Enjoy!

This Saturday, beginning at 9am, we’ll gather at the church for a deep clean of all the nooks and crannies at St. Croix Reformed Church. We’re preparing for the arrival of Inner Changes for Girls & Boys Club and the educational programming. Letting go of some of the old so that we can make room for something new is what this is all about. We can use your help!

Here is a recording of the sermon that Pastor Peter gave this Sunday. It’s not quite like the real thing (recorded in his office, since it didn’t work on Sunday). He called it “Easter Vulnerability”.

April 20, 2019
By Kate Meyer

Psalm 147
Praise for God’s Care for Jerusalem
1 Praise the Lord!
How good it is to sing praises to our God;
for he is gracious, and a song of praise is fitting.
2 The Lord builds up Jerusalem;
he gathers the outcasts of Israel.
3 He heals the brokenhearted,
and binds up their wounds.
4 He determines the number of the stars;
he gives to all of them their names.
5 Great is our Lord, and abundant in power;
his understanding is beyond measure.
6 The Lord lifts up the downtrodden;
he casts the wicked to the ground.

7 Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving;
make melody to our God on the lyre.
8 He covers the heavens with clouds,
prepares rain for the earth,
makes grass grow on the hills.
9 He gives to the animals their food,
and to the young ravens when they cry.
10 His delight is not in the strength of the horse,
nor his pleasure in the speed of a runner;[a]
11 but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him,
in those who hope in his steadfast love.

12 Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem!
Praise your God, O Zion!
13 For he strengthens the bars of your gates;
he blesses your children within you.
14 He grants peace[b] within your borders;
he fills you with the finest of wheat.
15 He sends out his command to the earth;
his word runs swiftly.
16 He gives snow like wool;
he scatters frost like ashes.
17 He hurls down hail like crumbs—
who can stand before his cold?
18 He sends out his word, and melts them;
he makes his wind blow, and the waters flow.
19 He declares his word to Jacob,
his statutes and ordinances to Israel.
20 He has not dealt thus with any other nation;
they do not know his ordinances.
Praise the Lord!

The tattoo on my wrist is a dumbbell with the word abide written on the bar. The word, written in Greek, is also the only part of the tattoo comprised of color: purple and green.

There is no shortage of scriptural images for finding our strength in God, so I won’t take space here to elaborate on the layers of that part of the tattoo. The word abide is also commonplace in the New Testament, but, for the purposes of my tattoo, the full meaning of it cannot be understood without also looking at the color choice.

In the liturgical calendar, purple occurs during Advent and Lent. The color is tied to words such as mourning, waiting, and reflecting. Green, alternatively, is liturgically used to represent ordinary time, as well as renewal and new life.

So, when I look at my wrist, I am reminded to abide with God in times of mourning and in ordinary times. When things are great, neutral, or terrible. But, it is also a reminder that the ordinary times will come again; though the times of mourning and waiting appear to far outweigh the rest, we have strength to endure if we but abide.

Abide with God always. Even on this Holy Saturday, this in-between time, trust in God’s steadfast love that does not end in mourning. Rather, God’s steadfast love always, yes always, carries us through to new life. Abide with God and see.
Prayer: In all of my in-between times, God, I pray you strengthen me to but abide in trust of your steadfast love. May I honor you by holding fast and resting in the assured hope of redemption. Amen.

Kate Meyer is the counseling services manager of Hospice of Holland in Holland, Michigan. She is writer, speaker, and minister. You can read more about her work at http://www.katejmeyer.com.

Today is Good Friday. It’s a day when the Christian church remembers the death of Jesus. But, what’s good about it?

Most of Christendom will say that Friday is good because Jesus’ death absorbed God’s wrath toward our sin and satisfied God’s justice according to the law. The problem with this view is that the resurrection becomes a perk or, worse, an after thought rather than a turning point and the beginning of something new.

Here’s another way to look at Good Friday and the death of Jesus. I think it’s much better:

“Why did Jesus die? (Part 1)” by Peter TeWinkle https://link.medium.com/NEy3ouVj1V

“Why did Jesus die? — (Part 2)” by Peter TeWinkle https://link.medium.com/jmiNTwgk1V

“Why Did Jesus HAVE to Die? — (Part 1)” by Peter TeWinkle https://link.medium.com/RzuEmtZj1V

“Why Did Jesus HAVE to die? — (Part 2)” by Peter TeWinkle https://link.medium.com/mjV4eiik1V

April 19, 2019
By Melody Meeter

Psalm 130 (NKJV):
1 Out of the depths I have cried to you, O Lord;
2 Lord, hear my voice!
Let Your ears be attentive
to the voice of my supplications. …
6 My soul waits for the Lord
more than those who watch for the morning—
yes, more than those who watch for the morning.
7 O Israel, hope in the Lord;
for with the Lord there is mercy,
and with him is abundant redemption.

Read the full psalm.

When I think of this psalm, I hear the organ playing in a minor key. It’s a hymn by Martin Luther from 1524. Luther’s lyrics are a paraphrase of Psalm 130. Aus tiefer Noth is the name of that hymn tune—out of the depths. You can Google Aus tiefer Noth if you want to hear it. The first note is high C, the second note dips down to F, getting down there with the speaker, calling out to God from the pit. The tune climbs and falls again, up and down, hoping and then losing hope, returning at last to that F, the lowest note in the hymn. It’s not a happy clappy hymn or a happy clappy psalm. Rather, it’s slow and solemn; it’s a “waiting for redemption” song.

Down there in the pit, the psalmist is in despair, not only about her own iniquities, her weaknesses, her sins of omission and commission, but also about the iniquities of her people Israel. The individual sins are entwined with the sins of the nation. But it is also down there in the pit the psalmist remembers something else: “ … there is forgiveness with you,” and “with the Lord there is steadfast love,” and “with him is great power to redeem.” There is hope in the waiting for God’s redemption. Twice the psalmist repeats the phrase “my soul waits” and twice repeats the image of the soul waiting for the Lord “more than those who watch for the morning.”

As a chaplain, I get to wait for a little while with souls that are waiting for God to show up. It’s really dark down there. But in the very act of crying out, sometimes a light surprises—a healing, a surrender, a peace, a hope. The song rises.
Prayer: Dear God, grant us to see your light though we may be in the depths. Grant us to feel your steadfast love though we may feel unlovable. And grant us companions to wait for you in hope. Amen.

Melody MeeterRev. Melody Meeter is the director of the spiritual care department at NYU Langone Hospital—Brooklyn. She is a member of Brooklyn Classis and belongs to the congregation of Old First Reformed Church in Park Slope, Brooklyn, where her husband, Rev. Dr. Daniel Meeter, is the pastor. With that congregation, she waits in hope for God’s redemption.