Sunday, November 28, 2004

Advent Devotionals


Presbyterians Today
is offering a free online Advent calendar called The Time Is Near: A Musical Journey through Advent.

The calendar's web site says,

There are lovely Advent hymns that often get pushed aside in the rush to get to the more familiar [Christmas] carols. This Advent Calendar takes four of these Advent hymns (and one Christmas hymn for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day) as a focus for daily devotion and prayer. Readers are invited to read and sing the hymns as part of the daily devotions.

You can visit the web site at http://www.pcusa.org/2004advent/.

Q & A on The Apostles' Creed


Sanctuary Christmas TreeOn Sunday, 28 November 2004, Rev. Hunter shared the floor with Rev. Clark Fisher (retired) to field questions from the congregation on The Apostles’ Creed. Designed as the conclusion to Mr. Hunter’s fall sermon series on The Apostles’ Creed, the session gave the congregation a chance to quiz the two pastors on the creed. Here's what people asked:

Question: Why does the creed include the language "descending into hell"?
CF (Clark Fisher): The phrase refers to Sheol--an afterlife which is a shadowy lack of existence, presumably where people from the Old Testament would wander. When Christ descended into hell, He met these people and gave them the opportunity for salvation.

DH (David Hunter): The descent into hell represents several things. It shows Jesus was really dead; God did not spare Christ the pangs of death. It represents the way Jesus experienced God's judgment on our behalf and paid for our sins by going to hell. It represents the separation from God which is caused by sin. And, finally, it fulfills two mysterious scripture references where Christ breaks down the gates of Hell and releases souls from Sheol.

Question: Why do we say we believe in the "holy catholic church"?
DH: We do not have protestant and Catholic versions of The Apostles' Creed; instead, the creed represents beliefs of Christ's one church here on earth, in all its variations of denominations. "Catholic" means "universal." What we affirm is belief in the "universal church" of Jesus Christ.

CF: Our belief in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior binds all of us Christians into one body that belong to Christ.

Question: How often and when do Presbyterian congregations recite The Apostles' Creed?
DH: Some Presbyterian congregations recite it weekly. At the very least, we all recite The Apostles' Creed when we celebrate the church's sacraments.

CF: From the 2nd to 6th centuries AD, the creed grew and developed in response to theological questions that were posed by society to the young religion. The creed is a condensed version of the essential tenants of our faith.

Question: In the creed, Christ descends into hell, arises, and ascends into heaven; why doesn't the creed mention Christ's time on earth between his resurrection and the Ascension?
DH: The mention of the resurrection shows that Christ spent time on earth. The Apostles' Creed is such a condensed and abbreviated version of our tenets that the writers probably assumed it didn't need any more elaboration.

CF: Our faith places its emphasis on the idea that a resurrected Christ rules in our lives right now. The creed emphasizes the essential, controversial points at the time it was written.

Question: The creed says we believe in "Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord." Why does it includes the word only?
DH: Only points to Christ's uniqueness. While we are all "children of God," only Jesus is part of the godhead--He's different. Since the creed was written, some heresies have arisen which suggest we all have God within us and that Jesus is only one of many.

CF: I read something just recently which is worth musing upon. It suggests that Christ's virgin birth broke the male line of descent (Joseph) by which human sinfulness strains us all.

Question: Jesus was without sin, yet he was fully human. Isn't that a contradiction? Isn't any human prone to sin?
CF: Christ was sinless, which shows there was no separation between Him and God. His divine nature is without sin--that divine nature separates itself from his human nature.

DH: We know Christ was tempted, even as we are, but He was blameless. Christ's life is an example of what can happen if we depend upon God. We always should ask What would Jesus do?

Sunday, November 14, 2004

The Forgiveness of Sins: A Blessing & Challenge


On Sunday, 14 November 2004, Mr. Hunter continued his series on the Apostles' Creed by meditating upon the phrase: "I believe . . . in the forgiveness of sins." He began with this story:
[Author] James Harnish tells the story of a friend who owned a small farm in the hills of Tennessee. At one time his friend developed a problem with his drinking water. Although his well normally provided clean, sweet, fresh water from a mountain spring, he said the water suddenly tasted terrible.

His friend went down to the spring house, dug up all the weeds, cleared away the accumulated dirt and trash, and even painted the outside of the structure. It looked better, but the water still horrible. Finally, his friend called a repairman, who was able to reach all the way down to the bottom of the well where he found the decaying carcass of a huge bullfrog that had fallen into the well and died. The point of his story was that it doesn't matter how much you clean up the spring house until you get the bullfrog out of the well.
Sin, Mr. Hunter said, pollutes our relationships and leaves a foul taste in our mouths. Forgiveness, however, is the cleansing that heals our souls.

[8] If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. [9] If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:8-9 RSV)

The Bible is full of evidence that God wants to forgive us, with the preeminent evidence being the death of Jesus Christ upon the Cross as reparation for our sins. There are three things the Bible teaches us about forgiveness:
  1. We cannot earn forgiveness;
  2. Forgiveness is not for sale; and
  3. If we accept Christ, we already have been forgiven.
Then Mr. Hunter turned to the flip side of being forgiven: the moral and religious duty to forgive others, even as we have been forgiven. Pondering whether God's grace has limits, Mr. Hunter concluded that we must actively forgive those who have wronged us in order to rebuild our broken relationships with them and with God.

"Everyone says forgiveness is a lovely idea until they have something to forgive, as we had during the war [WWII]. And then to mention the subject at all is to be greeted with howls of anger. It is not that people think this too high and difficult a virtue: it is that they think it hateful and contemptible." --C. S. Lewis, The Joyful Christian

As hard as it may be for us to imagine, Mr. Hunter concluded, when we have been grievously wronged, we must forgo striking back, replace our anger and resentment with good will, and take concrete steps to restore good relations with those who have injured us. To do so is to initiate a circle of healing that begins with our confession, results in God forgiving us, continues with us forgiving others in turn, and concludes with the restoration of our brokenness.

Congregational Meeting :: 21 November 2004

The fall Congregational Meeting of Union Presbyterian Church will be held immediately after worship on Sunday, 21 November 2004, in the sanctuary. The purposes of the meeting are to elect Deacons and Elders for the Class of 2007 and to elect a new Nominating Committee for 2005.

The Nominating Committee (2004) places the following names in nomination:

Elders--Sandy Hatch, Buzz Larson, Chime Moore, Karolyn Rood, and Shelby Wetzel.

Deacons--Caiti Barski, Bethany Hunter, Carol Johnston, Polly Orbin, and Anita Robirds.

As usual, the congregation will accept nominations from the floor before the election, but a nominee must have previously indicated his/her willingness to serve.

Pending approval by the Session at it next meeting (18 November 2004), the Congregation may also hear a recommendation to amend its By-Laws at the January 2005 Congregational Meeting to reduce the number of Elders and Deacons elected to each class from five to four, thereby reducing the number of seats on the Session and the Board of Deacons from 15 to 12.

All Saints' Day Pumpkin

All Saints' Day Pumpkin

A Reformed Church, Always Reforming

As an introduction to the Reformation Sunday service on creeds, the Rev. Bill Hassler shared his understanding of what creeds mean to the Presbyterian Church (USA):

The Presbyterian Church in the United States of America is a reformed church always reforming, which differs from creedal churches such as the Episcopalian denomination. We Presbyterians believe that the interpretation of the Bible must be updated to meet certain crisis periods in the history of our country. Creedal churches refer to the Nicene and Apostles' Creed for biblical interpretation. While our Bible is the authoritative Word of God, second to it, and subordinate to it only, are our creeds and confessions.

In 1967, Bill Hassler was at the General Assembly of our church when the Confession of 1967 was adopted. It was adopted after several years of preparation and a detailed judicial process. It deals with racial reconciliation; reconciliation of nations "even at the risk of national security," a phrase debated long and hard.

The Nicene Creed was hammered out in the mid-fourth century at the demand of the first Christian Emperor. This creed deals with such issues as the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, and resurrection of the dead. It was necessary because early Christianity was not united. There were all kinds of sects, many of whom believed in the necessity of a second baptism, depending on gnosis or special knowledge after the first baptism.

For many of us, the latest Brief Statement of Faith is the most meaningful and beautifully expressed description for our present day world. It too was hammered out after much discussion. It must be noted that none of the above were handed down from on high. Rather, our creeds and confessions come from our brothers and sisters in the faith. We Presbyterians are governed by a representative democracy. There is no "we" versus "they" in any of our policy decisions.

New Banner :: Reformation Sunday

Tom Bibbey, trumpetOn 1 November 2004, Union Presbyterian celebrated Reformation Sunday with a special service featuring music, creeds, and banners.

Tom Bibbey (right) provided trumpet music to accompany a procession of banners, each of which represents one of the Presbyterian Church (USA)'s creeds (click on each creed's name to see the banner): Nicene Creed, Apostles' Creed, Scots Confession, Heidelberg Catechism, Second Helvetic Confession, Westminster Confession, Theological Declaration of Barmen, Confession of 1967, and Brief Statement of Faith.

The Brief Statement of Faith (1983) was accepted as part of The Book of Confessions in 1991, long after a couple of church members had designed the previous eight banners which the church has widely accepted. In celebration of this Reformation Sunday, Mary Liz Beaver--with help from Barb Fagerberg and theological suggestions from Bill & Claudia Hassler--created a new banner to symbolize the Brief Statement of Faith.

Brief Statement of FaithShirley Smith explains the symbolism of the banner this way: "This banner does not stand alone or apart from all the other confessional banners or creeds. It is not complete alone. It celebrates our rediscovery that although diverse, we are bound by our common faith and common task.

"The sun rising over our familiar mountain is symbolic of the resurrection and our liberation from sin.

"The white triangle at the center of the banner stands for the trinity, and the symbols of the dove, the hand reaching down, and the Greek symbol for Christ emphasizes the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Again, these symbols are repeated from the Nicene Creed.

"The black flames and the red burning cross are repeated from the Barmen Confession and symbolizes sin.

"The double white swirl represents both the omnipotence of omnipresence of God.

"The familiar church building symbolizes the church universal while the multitude of small crosses represents the fellowship of believers."

The full text of the Brief Statement of Faith is available online from the Presbyterian Church (USA).

PC (USA) Threatened with Arson

The Presbyterian Church (USA) office in Louisville recently received an anonymous, hand-written letter postmarked from Queens, NY, which threatens arson against individual Presbyterian Churches for "your anti-Israel and anti-Jewish attitudes."

In a 12 November 2004 news release, officials at the Presbyterian Center say the letter twice mentions a November 15 deadline for the church to "reverse" its Middle East policies "or else."

The church is taking the threat seriously, although General Assembly Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick says, "The overwhelming majority of these kinds of threats never come to fruition." Kirkpatrick immediately notified PC(USA) governing bodies in New York and later expanded the message to all denominational offices. His letter includes a number of extra safety precautions churches and other offices can take.

The threatening letter appears to be in reaction to a position the Presbyterian Church (USA) took in July 2004 at the 216th General Assembly, which directed the Mission Responsibility Through Investment Committee (MRTI) "to initiate a process of phased selective divestment in multinational corporations operating in Israel, in accordance to General Assembly policy on social investing, and to make appropriate recommendations to the General Assembly Council for action."

Online resources for this issue:


The world says,"Hate your enemies."
Jesus says, "Love those who hate you."
The world says, "Get even."
Jesus says, "Forgive, just as you have been forgiven."
The world says, "Look out for yourself."
Jesus says, "Look out for those who can't look out for themselves."
In this time of worship open youselves that God may equip you to love, to forgive, and to give.
We seek to respond to God through worship and by loving as we wish to be loved.