Potluck Picnic in the Park Sunday, July 22

Following the 10:30 service, all are invited to a potluck picnic at Caledonia Lakeside Park (370 Lake St., Caledonia) at 12:30pm. Please bring a hot dish and a salad or dessert as well as your own table service and a lawn chair. Beverages will be provided.

In place of our evening service that day, we will have an outdoor worship service at the park.

Mark your calendar and plan now to attend!

Have you ever seen a frightened puppy brought into a new home or a new setting for the first time? Often the puppy will tremble and shake, bewildered by the new surroundings and people. Most of us, most of the time, are nothing like such a puppy. We are people of self-control and self-composure. We have been raised and socialized to be calm, cool and collected— or at least we know how to act calm, cool and collected when necessary. But there are times when we are so over-whelmed by a new situation that we lose all composure. We become like little over-whelmed puppies.

Perhaps there are times when you have felt like such a little puppy. Perhaps illness or medication made you feel like you were walking through a fuzzy, out of focus dream. There may have been times when fear has kept you from thinking straight. Perhaps you have gone through periods when you have felt “out of it” even though everyone around you seemed to be conversing, laughing and enjoying one another’s company. Or maybe, like the women leaving the empty tomb on that first Easter Sunday, a mixture of amazement, uncertainty and fear leaves you trembling and bewildered, fleeing which you can not fully believe or understand.

Gospel of Mark leaves all of us. The earliest and most reliable manuscripts of Mark’s Gospel end at verse eight of the 16th chapter. The last verb of this Gospel is afraid. Odd, don’t you think? Yet, look around the church today. Are we not an odd people and even an uncertain people? In the midst of congenial conversation and coffee in the foyer, we are beset by difficulties, lack of faith, fear and apathy. Yes, yes, but we are also a people full of faith, courage and passion. But that’s the point! We are a mixture of human weakness filled with divine strength. To paraphrase the Apostle, “We have the rich, full-bodied taste of the resurrected Christ, in cheap styrofoam cups” (see 2 Corinthians 4:7).

Mark leaves us with a dramatic statement about human weakness and fear in the midst of the divine power of the resurrection. The true story of the Gospel is not about our power, faith and courage, but about our weakness, doubt and fear overcome by the resurrection. This leaves us knowing that we need our God. So the next time you are trembling and bewildered, know that you are in good company. Then look to God’s goodness and grace and he will fill you up with his forgiveness, strength and treasure!

—Pastor Paul DeVries

As we move toward Easter we continue on our journey with Mark’s account of Jesus’ death and resurrection. With Christ’s death the church is left broken from the inside out. With the resurrection of Christ new life comes from the outside in.

March 4—Everyone Deserted & Fled, Mark 14:43-51
All the disciples (and probably Mark himself) fled… Christ is abandoned by confused disciples just when he is most in need. Likewise today, confused disciples too often abandon the church.

March 11—Christ’s Broken Body, Mark 14:66-73
Yes, Jesus is beaten by the temple guards, but his physical body is never broken. The broken body that I am talking about is the body of His people—the false witnesses, the corrupt High Priest, the Dishonorable Elders and the disingenuous teachers. All these people are supposed to be a part of God’s covenant community, but they are broken … and so God’s own son is rejected, beaten and crucified.

March 18—Denying, Breaking Down and Weeping, Mark 14:66-73
When Peter denies Christ, we see a picture of what happens over andover again to the true people of God. That is, people let them down. But, ironically, it is when Peter himself breaks down and cries that the beginning
of healing and wholeness begins.

March 25—Leadership Following the Crowd, Mark 15:1-15
The famous justice of Rome failed Jesus because the appointed leadership would not (or could not) stand up to the crowd. Unfortunately, the church too often fails to lead its members; instead, it capitulates to the misinformed and malformed desires and wants of the crowd.

April 1—Palm Sunday, Scandalous Inability, Mark 15:16-32

The scandal of the cross is not only the difficulty in believing that the Messiah can die, in fact, for us today the idea of dying for a good cause is well known and celebrated. The larger scandal for us today (and for the people of Jesus’ day) is the apparent failure or inability of Christ to save himself let alone anyone else. Christ doesn’t appear to fix anything. Likewise, the church seems to fail as often as or even more than it succeeds. It is easier to mock and persecute Christ and His Church’s failures than to believe.

April 8—Easter, A Strange Ending Provides a Rich Beginning, Mark 16:1-8

Mark’s Gospel has an unusual ending. It appears that in its original form the Gospel ended at Chapter 16, verse 8, which says, “Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.” But from this odd ending of uncertainty and silence bursts forth the certain faith of Disciples that come to know, embrace, and proclaim the truth of the Resurrected Christ.

This Lenten season during our morning worship we simply follow the passion narrative as given to us in Mark’s Gospel. We will note how the persecution of Christ foreshadows the persecution of the church. In fact, we will especially focus on the fact that it is insiders, members of the covenant— those who should know better—who are most violent in their opposition to Christ.

The true church is always attacked, mocked, denied, betrayed and beaten by those in her own midst who do not grasp (or refuse to accept) the full grace and power of the Gospel.

March 4—Everyone Deserted & Fled, Mark 14:43-51
All the disciples (and probably Mark himself) fled… Christ is abandoned by
confused disciples just when he is most in need. Likewise today, confused
disciples too often abandon the church.

March 11—Christ’s Broken Body, Mark 14:66-73
Yes, Jesus is beaten by the temple guards, but his physical body is never
broken. The broken body that I am talking about is the body of His people—the false witnesses, the corrupt High Priest, the Dishonorable Elders and the disingenuous teachers. All these people are supposed to be a part of God’s covenant community, but they are broken … and so God’s own son is rejected, beaten and crucified.

March 18—Denying, Breaking Down and Weeping, Mark 14:66-73
When Peter denies Christ, we see a picture of what happens over andover again to the true people of God. That is, people let them down. But,
ironically, it is when Peter himself breaks down and cries that the beginning
of healing and wholeness begins.

March 25—Leadership Following the Crowd, Mark 15:1-15
The famous justice of Rome failed Jesus because the appointed leadership
would not (or could not) stand up to the crowd. Unfortunately, the church
too often fails to lead its members; instead, it capitulates to the misinformed and malformed desires and wants of the crowd.

Pastor Paul and Pastor Brian will continue and conclude their preaching series on the Beatitudes during the month of February. In the first four Beatitudes Jesus calls for us to recognize and acknowledge our need. Now He also challenges us to give to others out of our need. During this month the texts will challenge us to give to others what we have received from God. We are blessed when we are willing to be poor and needy, receiving pure grace from God, and then, in turn, giving that grace to others.

On February 25 we will celebrate the Lord’s Supper and transition into a time of Lent.

February 4—Blessed are the Merciful

The morning sermon will use Matthew 5:6 and 7:15-23 to flesh out Jesus’ concept of living with and in mercy. The evening sermon will use Amos 5:1-15 to paint a picture of what a people without mercy look like.

February 11—Blessed are the Pure in Heart

The morning service will use David’s actions and words in I Samuel 17:20-32 to remind us of what a pure heart can do. The evening service will again focus on the Beatitude of being pure in heart from Matthew 5:8; 6:1-18.

February 18—Blessed are the Peacemakers

The morning sermon will develop Jesus’ idea of wholeness and shalom from Matthew 5:9; 43-48. Peacemakers are those who live at shalom with God and neighbors. The evening service will use God’s Word from Judges 3:7-11 and Jeremiah 6:13-15 to remind us of the serious nature of our brokenness and desperate need for peace and wholeness with God and neighbor.