the city at the heart of God's redemption

Good morning sisters and brothers,

This is one of the passages I think about when I think about urban ministry and the great hope of the world. In God's redeemed creation, after evil has been defeated, there is a city where the world lives with God. God is there directly and obviously, so there's no need for a temple or any other structures to remind us of God. The river of life runs right from God's throne through the middle of the streets to renew and encourage everyone. Honesty thrives, the nations are healed and God's love will reign. Come quickly, Lord, and heal our world.

Amen,
Sam

Revelation 21:22-27, 22:1-5

²²I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. ²³And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb. ²⁴The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. ²⁵Its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. ²⁶People will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. ²⁷But nothing unclean will enter it, nor anyone who practices abomination or falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb ²through the middle of the street of the city. On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. ³Nothing accursed will be found there any more. But the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him; ⁴they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. ⁵And there will be no more night; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

a futre with hope, even in exile

Good evening friends,
First, I'd like to remind or let you know about an opportunity to say goodbye to a beloved member of our church, Betty Dennis. Betty died in Florida last month and her memorial service will be at Laurelton tomorrow, October 19 at noon. I'm sure her family would love the support of seeing folks from Laurelton; your prayers are welcome as well whether or not you can be there.

Our reading for today is a reminder that even when God's path is tough, we are not alone. The people of Judah were conquered and exiled from their home because they had turned away from God. God has the Prophet Jeremiah write to them that God is still watching out for them and that God is calling them to make a life full of blessing even in Babylon. Even if we're not where we feel like we should be, even if we are facing detours or tough times, God has not left us alone. There are always opportunities to seek the welfare of the city and be a vessel for God's blessing.

God bless,
Sam

Jeremiah 29:1-14

These are the words of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the remaining elders among the exiles, and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. ²This was after King Jeconiah, and the queen mother, the court officials, the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the artisans, and the smiths had departed from Jerusalem. ³The letter was sent by the hand of Elasah son of Shaphan and Gemariah son of Hilkiah, whom King Zedekiah of Judah sent to Babylon to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. It said: ⁴Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: ⁵Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce. ⁶Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. ⁷But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.

⁸For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let the prophets and the diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams that they dream, ⁹for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name; I did not send them, says the Lord. ¹⁰For thus says the Lord: Only when Babylon’s seventy years are completed will I visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. ¹¹For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. ¹²Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you. ¹³When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart, ¹⁴I will let you find me, says the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.

stronger together

Hi friends,
Often we think about the church, especially a small church like ours, in terms of what we can't do. Fortunately, we aren't alone. We have several local partner churches in the North East Church Cluster (we'll worship together on Tuesday at 7:30 at St. Ambrose to start Holy Week). We also have the broader presbytery and especially Urban Presbyterians Together, so we don't have to do ministry alone. We are much stronger together, as the author of Ecclesiastes (traditionally, King Solomon) reminds us in today's reading.

God bless,
Sam

Ecclesiastes 4:7-12

⁷Again, I saw vanity under the sun: ⁸the case of solitary individuals, without sons or brothers; yet there is no end to all their toil, and their eyes are never satisfied with riches. “For whom am I toiling,” they ask, “and depriving myself of pleasure?” This also is vanity and an unhappy business. ⁹Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. ¹⁰For if they fall, one will lift up the other; but woe to one who is alone and falls and does not have another to help. ¹¹Again, if two lie together, they keep warm; but how can one keep warm alone? ¹²And though one might prevail against another, two will withstand one. A threefold cord is not quickly broken.

Children's Sabbath

Good afternoon brothers and sisters,
Sunday we finished a long series of preaching and daily readings taking us on a tour through the Bible. This week we shift our focus to thinking about children. We know that children are our future. We also know that today's kids face all kinds of challenges and pressures. This coming Sunday we will observe the Children's Sabbath, led by a group called the Children's Agenda. Children's Agenda works to raise awareness of the difficulties facing kids in Rochester. As a major concern in our society, that's a major concern for the church too. The first part of our children's Sabbath will be a prayer vigil in front of the city school district building (131 West Broad Street, downtown between Plymouth and Washington) at 8 am on Sunday morning with other urban Presbyterian churches.

Today's reading shows Jesus healing two women, a girl with a powerful father and a woman who would have been an outcast with nothing. Jesus loves all of us, no matter what.

God bless,
Sam

Matthew 9:18-26

¹⁸While he was saying these things to them, suddenly a leader of the synagogue came in and knelt before him, saying, “My daughter has just died; but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.” ¹⁹And Jesus got up and followed him, with his disciples. ²⁰Then suddenly a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak, ²¹for she said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be made well.” ²²Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And instantly the woman was made well. ²³When Jesus came to the leader’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, ²⁴he said, “Go away; for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. ²⁵But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up. ²⁶And the report of this spread throughout that district.

Christ calls

Good morning friends,
I was truly blessed to be part of an installation service for my friend Cindy Rasmussen as Rector of St. Mark's and St. John's Episcopal Church on Culver Rd on Wednesday evening. It was a great celebration of Christian unity and urban ministry. The Episcopal bishop was there with his ornate robes and shepherds staff. He celebrated communion with Cindy, their Deacon Mike Finn, myself and a Catholic nun, Sr. Marlene Vigna assisting with the serving. A Presbyterian lay woman preached the sermon and shared some powerful experiences of transformation in the city through Christ's love. It was an awesome reminder of why we are in ministry.

Jesus' words to the disciples he sends out in ministry echo some similar themes. He laments for some cities nearby, because, even though he ministered powerfully in them they didn't repent. He also rejoices with his disciples about the way God's power is at work in them. Like us, they were ordinary people, but they made themselves available in trust to God. So the question comes to us: are we going to see God's love and shut our ears or will we be agents of grace-filled transformation through Christ?

God bless,
Sam

Luke 10:13-20

¹³“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the deeds of power done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. ¹⁴But at the judgment it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon than for you. ¹⁵And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? No, you will be brought down to Hades. ¹⁶“Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.”

¹⁷The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!” ¹⁸He said to them, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning. ¹⁹See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you. ²⁰Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

seek the welfare of the city

Good morning friends,
This reading is a classic passage for those of us who love urban ministry. God has sent his people Israel into exile in Babylon, into a big city. It would be tempting for the people to withdraw into their own cocoon, depressed about their defeat and the challenges around them. God calls them to do something different; even though they are far from home, even though they are in the land of a nation that conquered them, God calls them to work to make the city better. We too can be tempted to retreat, but instead God calls us to invest in community, to seek the welfare of our city. In that work God brings about wholeness and blessing for us and for others.

God bless,
Sam

Jeremiah 29: 1-14

These are the words of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the remaining elders among the exiles, and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. ²This was after King Jeconiah, and the queen mother, the court officials, the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the artisans, and the smiths had departed from Jerusalem. ³The letter was sent by the hand of Elasah son of Shaphan and Gemariah son of Hilkiah, whom King Zedekiah of Judah sent to Babylon to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.

It said: ⁴Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: ⁵Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce. ⁶Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. ⁷But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.

⁸For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let the prophets and the diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams that they dream, ⁹for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name; I did not send them, says the Lord. ¹⁰For thus says the Lord: Only when Babylon’s seventy years are completed will I visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place.

¹¹For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. ¹²Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you. ¹³When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart, ¹⁴I will let you find me, says the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.

sanctified

Good morning friends,
I really enjoyed working with Habitat and with other urban Christians yesterday. If you're free and have the inclination, I know there are opportunities to work with Habitat today and tomorrow. There are also opportunities this morning and Saturday morning to serve with Third Presbyterian's dining room ministry and on Saturday there's a chance to do some sprucing up at New Life Presbyterian. Of course, Saturday morning Laurelton is hosting a car wash from 9-11 am and your help would be much appreciated there.

Jesus prays knowing that his disciples will be hated. He doesn't pray that God would remove them from the world that hates them; instead he prays that God would protect them from Satan. And he prayer that God would sanctify them (make them holy) in the truth, which is God's word. God's word sets us apart for holiness, service and sometimes trouble. And God's word gives us eternal life. Where is that word calling you today?

God bless,
Sam

John 17:11-19

11And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. 12While I was with them, I protected them in your name that you have given me. I guarded them, and not one of them was lost except the one destined to be lost, so that the scripture might be fulfilled. 13But now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves.



14I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. 15I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. 16They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. 17Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. 18As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth.

serving and living eternally

Good morning sisters and brothers,
I'll be spending today working on a house with Habitat for Humanities as part of the UPT Boots on the Street week. This is a chance to get out into the city and show that Presbyterians are serious about caring for our neighbors. There are still opportunities available to work with Habitat Friday and probably tomorrow and Saturday as well (contact John Smalt directly: jhsmalt@rochester.rr.com, or call him at: 924-8624). There are other opportunities this week as well including some home repairs for a disabled neighbor near Calvary St. Andrews this afternoon from 4:30-7 pm for those who work during the day. You can check out the possibilities here. I hope you'll join me in serving our neighbors in a visible way this week.

Our reading this morning begins Jesus' prayer to his Father. He prayer that the disciples might be protected in unity and faith. He says that eternal life is knowing God and knowing Jesus. When we know God intimately we are already living the life of God's righteous kingdom. We can take part in that powerful life now through faith, love and service. Today is as good a time as any to put fear aside and start living eternally.

God bless,
Sam

John 17:1-10

After Jesus had spoken these words, he looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, 2since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 4I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. 5So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed.


6”I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; 8for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. 9I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. 10All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them.

seek the welfare of the city

Good morning sisters and brothers,
Our reading from Jeremiah is the scriptural motto for many people involved in urban ministry. At this point in Judah's history the defeat Jeremiah prophesied has come; most of the political, cultural and spiritual leaders of the nation are in exile in Babylon. God has Jeremiah write a letter to these leaders. The letter doesn't say to mourn (though the people are doing that too); it doesn't say to seek rebellion; instead, it tells the leaders to live life fully in exile. Even though they are in a hostile and strange land they are to engage in ministry and life there fully because that's how their lives will get better in the short to medium term. In the long term God will bring them home, but they shouldn't put their lives on whole to wait.

Our reading from Timothy remind Timothy of the gospel to proclaim, which is Christ himself. Paul also advises Timothy to avoid wrangling over words, which is always timely advice for the church. We can and should talk openly about our differences, but we must not let those differences divide us. We have work to do for God's kingdom, and we can work together instead of fighting over our differences. Even when we are chained or tired or confused, the word of God is not chained. If we take that hopeful, loving word into the world God can do amazing things through us.

God bless,
Sam

Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7

1These are the words of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the remaining elders among the exiles, and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.

4Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce. 6Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. 7But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.



*Sunday

2 Timothy 2:8-15

8Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David-that is my gospel, 9for which I suffer hardship, even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But the word of God is not chained. 10Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, so that they may also obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory. 11The saying is sure: If we have died with him, we will also live with him; 12if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he will also deny us; 13if we are faithless, he remains faithful-for he cannot deny himself.

14Remind them of this, and warn them before God that they are to avoid wrangling over words, which does no good but only ruins those who are listening. 15Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved by him, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly explaining the word of truth.