August 21, 2011

Kinderhook Reformed Church Worship Service

Route 9 & Church Street, Kinderhook, NY

10:00 a.m. August 21, 2011

 “To Know Christ and to Make Him Known”

Rev. Rudy Visser, Pastor

A WARM WELCOME TO VISITORS

You are invited to sign our Guest Book at the church entrance and to fill out a pew card and place it in the offering plate.  We would like to get to know you better, and we invite you to fellowship with us and enjoy refreshments served by Jane Deane at our Lemonade Stand on the front lawn of the church following today’s Worship Service.

Ushers: Jim Dunham, Gary Leggett, Bruce and Matt Moore

Greeter(s): Dawn Tuttle

Preschool Nursery is available downstairs, Laura Rafferty supervising.

Flowers today are from the garden of Barbara Vosburgh.

Order of Worship

  PRELUDE

  WELCOME, SILENT PRAYER, and PREPARATION FOR WORSHIP

  VOTUM and GOD’S GREETING

Boldly Approaching Our God

  CALL TO WORSHIP  (Responsive)  

The Lord is great and greatly to be praised!
We have come together today to worship.
What a gift it is to come together as the people of God.
Whatever worries and distractions we have,

we lay them at the feet of Jesus.
We bring ourselves completely before the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
For our Lord is great and greatly to be praised!

*HYMN OF PRAISE #53     Let All Things Now Living      

  INVOCATION

  CALL TO  CONFESSION

Our God is a good and faithful God, but at times we doubt and question His plans and goals for us. We come, speaking openly to God, and we are not afraid to talk about our sin. We do this because we are sorry, and because we know He loves us.

  PRAYER OF CONFESSION

Merciful Savior God, we say that we are at peace with You and believe in You, but we confess that our lives frequently tell the tale of anger and mistrust. We say that You are good, yet we’re quick to blame You when discomfort, turmoil, or distress arises. We say that You love us, but we act as if Your will for our lives cannot be trusted. We proclaim that we are forgiven, yet we continue to carry the burdensome baggage of our past. We profess that You are a faithful God, yet we’re riddled with anxiety, fear, and impatience.

[Moment of Silence]

Forgive us, Lord.

Give us the courage to look honestly at the disparity between what we say we believe and the truth that our actions and attitudes tell. We pray for the grace to close the gap between the two. Amen.

  ASSURANCE OF PARDON

Friends, the mercy of Jesus Christ covers all your sin and is from everlasting to everlasting. Know that you are forgiven, and be at peace. Amen.

  SOLO, Deborah Spaulding                 “O Rest in the Lord” from Elijah - Mendelssohn

We Come before God’s Opened Word

  PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION

  SCRIPTURE LESSON      Romans 12:1-8 (p. 803)

  MESSAGE   Living Sacrifice

  PRAYER OF BLESSING

Celebrating God

  VIDEO MESSAGE

  PRESENTATION OF OUR TITHES and OFFERINGS/OFFERTORY

*DOXOLOGY and OFFERTORY PRAYER  (Unison)

Father, You have blessed us beyond measure, and You have called us to worship. May our gifts today flow from hearts of worship to the One who provides all we need. May we never forget that all we have is Yours. Take it and use it according to Your will. Amen.

  ANNOUNCEMENTS CONCERNING THE FAMILY OF GOD

  PASTORAL PRAYER and THE LORD’S PRAYER

*HYMN #690      Bind Us Together

*BENEDICTION and BLESSING

*HYMN OF RESPONSE – My Friends, May You Grow in Grace  

My friends, may you grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior.

My friends, may you grow in grace, and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ.

To God be the glory, now and forever, now and forever, amen.

To God be the glory, now and forever, now and forever, amen.

  POSTLUDE 

A few Contribution Statements for 1-1-2011 through 6-30-2011 are still available at the back table.  Please pick yours up today.

TO THOSE IN THE KRC FAMILY CELEBRATING AUGUST BIRTHDAYS:
Jessica Alessi, Alan Dick, James Dunham, Eric Herrmann,
John Herrmann, Erika Johnson, Suzanne Nieman, Dolly Petith

KRC’s VBS begins TOMORROW, August 22, and runs from 9 a.m. to noon each day through next Friday, August 26.  Forms are available on the back table to pre-register your children if you have not yet done so.  If you are willing to lend a helping hand, please contact Patti Varga.

krc’s 300th anniversary celebration
The first steps have been taken by members of the Consistory, Stewardship Ministry, and the congregation toward building a committee for celebrating KRC’s 300th anniversary in 2012, and you are invited to join us as a committee member.  Please pray that God will continue to bless our church family as we move forward into our tricentennial year with great ideas for numerous celebratory events, and that these events will further our mission to know Christ and make Him known.  Everyone’s help is very much needed, and we ask that you prayerfully consider how you might participate in this unique opportunity for ministry to our congregation and community.

KRC CEMETERY and BROOKS BAR-B-QUE
The Kinderhook Reformed Church Cemetery is sponsoring a BROOKE’S BAR-B-QUE, Wednesday, October 5, on the front and side lawns of the church.  Tickets at $10 each will be available for sale beginning next week, and all proceeds from the event will go toward operation and maintenance of the cemetery grounds, which has become an increasingly costly ministry to our community over the years.  Brooks requires a minimum pre-sale of 250 tickets before they will commit to our scheduled date, and the Cemetery Committee is counting on your help in meeting this quota and insuring the success of this important fundraising effort. A sign-up sheet is now on the back table for you to indicate your interest in purchasing or selling tickets or both.  

AANNUAL KRC PICNICC

Plan to enjoy the good food and fellowship at KRC’s Church Family Picnic starting at noon SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, at the home of Dawn and Ted Tuttle. BEVERAGES WILL BE PROVIDED, BUT FOOD ITEMS ARE NEEDED TO ROUND OUT THE MENU.  PLEASE SIGN UP AT THE BACK TABLE.

                       
Many thanks to all who donated toward the purchase of the new refrigerator which was installed recently in the church kitchen and is working well!

A huge thanks from the youth group to all who brought in school supplies for the Capital City Rescue Mission. We were able to support CCRM’s back-to-school backpack project for needy kids by contributing 194 pens, 298 pencils, 12 pocket folders, 25 notebooks, 2 binders, 13 packs of loose leaf paper, 15 boxes of crayons, 10 boxes of colored pencils, 8 boxes of markers, 6 pencil sharpeners, 6 highlighters, 105 erasers, 6 rulers, 13 pairs of scissors, 6 calculators, 6 tubes of glues & 12 glue sticks!

Note of Appreciation from Capital City Rescue Mission
     Thank you so much for your generosity and partnership in caring for the homeless and needy.  You are making a difference one soul at a time.
                                       God bless you,
                                       Sue Jones, Director of Development, CCRM

~YOUTH GROUP ASSISTANT NEEDED~

Youth Group will be in recess for the remainder of the summer, but Christian Ed is in need of an assistant youth leader, or multiple rotating assistants, for KRC’s youth meetings beginning in the fall.  The group will meet every Tuesday evening from 7 - 8:30, and Loren Speer, who has been assisting, will no longer be available  due to scheduling conflicts.   You are encouraged to pray about being a part of this truly rewarding outreach ministry!  If you feel led to assist, please speak to Patti Varga. 

FROM THE PASTOR’S DESK
Don’t Drop In
.
    

     Dropping in for a visit used to be common practice, but today we don’t expect it — in fact, we don’t want it. How differently a particular story would have ended if the Samaritan hadn’t been willing to drop by and lend a hand.
     A farm boy accidentally overturned his wagonload of wheat on the road. The farmer who lived nearby came to investigate.
     “Hey, Willis,” he called out, “forget your troubles for a while and come and have dinner with us. Then I’ll help you set your wagon upright again.”
     “That’s very nice of you,” Willis answered, “but I don't think Dad would like me to.”
     “Aw, come on, son!” the farmer insisted.
     “Well, okay,” the boy finally agreed, “but Dad won’t like it.”
     After a hearty dinner, Willis thanked the host. “I feel a lot better now, but I know Dad’s going to be real upset.”
     “Don’t be silly!” said the neighbor. “By the way, where is he?”
     “Under the wagon,” replied Willis.
     Willis and the Good Samaritan farmer lived in a different era than we do today. While we all want to be good neighbors, it surely seems that the meaning of “neighborliness” for the most part has changed. People don’t drop by or drop in like they used to — and, what’s more, we don’t want them to! 
     This reminds me of the Bible telling us about three people who “dropped in” on a robbed and wounded man. (Luke 10:25-37) Their misunderstanding of what is important, of what matters, actually gets in the way of their compassion, their humanity and their faith.  We know that the robbed and wounded man was Jewish. So was the priest; likewise, the Levite. This means they were of the same community. It’s as if an American traveling in exotic Kazakhstan meets another American in trouble, refuses to offer help because of a hateful, irrational prejudice, and later learns that a Shiite Muslim, discovering the plight of the one in trouble, opened his heart and his wallet to take care of the emergency.
     God’s response to someone in desperate need reaching out for His help does not depend on whether they are a Republican from Montana or a Democrat from Missouri, Reformed or Baptist, friend or stranger, American or Mid-Eastern.  What matters to God, what’s really important to Him is, simply, one of his needy creatures is reaching out to Him; and because He is a God of infinite love, mercy, and compassion, He never turns away. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus carries us, whoever we are, just as we are, to safety - not to an inn, but to the Community of Saints, the Holy Christian Church.  It is here, among the saints, that the Holy Spirit applies the comforting message of the Gospel.  It is here, among other victims rescued by our Good Samaritan, that we continue to recover and become enabled through the gifts of the Spirit to aid in the lives of others.   And just as the Good Samaritan told the innkeeper, "Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back,"  so also Jesus Christ tells us, "Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."  Jesus Christ has given us a blank check signed in His blood.      
     The Samaritan represents the most unexpected source of mercy.  After all, Luke places this story immediately after the one about Jesus and His disciples being cast out of a Samaritan village.  It's the story where hotheaded James and John, "Sons of Thunder," want to call down fire from heaven and consume all the people who had not shown hospitality to them.  And then Jesus turns right around and makes a Samaritan the hero of his story!  There's a time for talking and there's a time for doing, especially when it comes to love.  Don't talk about when it needs to be done; or offer irrational excuses for not doing it; just do it.  The last words Jesus spoke to the lawyer were, "Go and do likewise."  "Go and do."  And then, that's exactly what Jesus did.  That's exactly what He did... all the way to Golgotha.
      Dare to drop in! Have a great, “just-do-it” August!
                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                         Pastor Rudy

Remember to Pray for
• Those who do not know Christ, have turned their back on God, or are struggling in their faith
• KRC’s Consistory members and administrative ministries
• KRC programs & projects and those implementing and administering them: Natural Church Development; church restoration; KRC’s 300th birthday celebration
• Leaders and those attending KRC’s Vacation Bible School, Youth Group, Adult Bible Study; Community Prayer Group; small group ministry
• Our state and national leaders, that God will grant them the leadership skills, wisdom, and the personal protection needed to govern effectively and safely
• A speedy end to the violence and unrest in the Middle East
• Our missionaries and our children sponsored through Compassion or other agencies
• Families and friends grieving the loss of loved ones, especially the Hogan Family grieving the recent death of Ben Hogan
• Those, especially children in the Horn of Africa, victimized by famine and other natural disasters, abuses of war and violence, exploitation, neglect, family hostility
• Cousins of Noreen Dick in Northern Ireland: Gordon Parker, who has suffered another crisis in his ten-year fight with an inoperable brain tumor, and Jennie Nash undergoing tests for an abnormal growth on her leg.
• Morgan Hickman, diagnosed with a painful but treatable kidney ailment; pray for speedy healing for Morgan who may be facing additional testing
• Emese, Patti Varga's sister-in-law, as she consults with doctors about her lung cancer – because of her Lupus, PET scans cannot be used to determine her cancer's progress; please pray for an appropriate assessment, effective treatment, and healing for Emese
• Others dealing with cancer: Donna Scalera; Ginger; Joann Marvin; Rick; Matt; Tom Saulpaugh
• Those awaiting test results or surgery; recovering from surgery, injury, or illness; chronically ill; or in hospice care:  Ryan; Tammy; Florence Kern; Doris Schmieder; Clare; Al Austin; Angie Rivera Maycole; Paul Zietsman, Sr; Mark VanBuren; Gordie VanBuren; Betty, sister of Sally Heimroth; Twin babies of Ashley and Mike; Dawn VanBuren; Florence Rivera; Ron Stockhoff; Ken Smith; Merrill & Erika Johnson; George Clowe; Kathy Schneider’s father in Barnwell; Paul Varga 
• Those facing challenges, conflicts, difficult decisions: caregivers of children with health/developmental issues; those with employment/economic troubles; those suffering discouragement, depression, despair, or other mental health issues; those struggling with substance abuse, especially Greg L, Rachael, and Martin; those dealing with family relationships; young people challenged by the demands of schooling, looking for jobs, dealing with the many temptations confronting young adults
• God’s blessing on those recently engaged/married, expecting babies, new/first-time parents: Derick Latorre and Heather Donahue, recently engaged; Gary and Sarah (Hubel) March, recently married; first-time parents, Brad and Kelly Ennis Babic, expecting a baby girl in early September, Nicole (Baby Arianna), and Ryan & Jennifer (Deane) Anderson (Baby Grace); new parents, Leré & Anina Visagie (Baby Luke), and
• Those caring for the elderly, displaced, disabled, or ill, especially Diane Morgan
• Those who are traveling, especially John and Isabelle Bosquet-Morra, traveling in Spain for a month; and Nancy Baker and daughter, Stacey, returning home from France this coming Thursday
• Our residence-bound members:  Murray Leonardson, Mike Rivera
• Our military men and women, especially Courtney Hemmert; Will Ryan; Matt Plescia; and Spencer Moore - that they may know God’s presence and protection
• Families and friends of our military troops, and victims of warfare & violence worldwide  -  that they may be blessed with God’s peace and reassurance;
• The power of the peace & love of Christ to subdue everywhere the spirits of hatred, hostility, unforgiveness, cruelty, vengeance, and warfare

Regular reports are needed on the progress or condition of all individuals on our prayer and praise lists.  If you have updated information, especially regarding individuals whose names appear in bold print, please call the church office.

Remember To Thank & Praise God for
• All who serve KRC Ministries by meeting regularly, setting goals, preparing recommendations, & working together to complete projects and responsibilities
• His blessing of a wonderful, caring, Spirit-filled pastor of vision such as Pastor Rudy
• Haley Hickman’s great European tour and safe return home – many thanks for prayers
• The success and enjoyment that Jake Mooney, son of Maureen Mooney, is experiencing in his internship at McEnroe Organic Farm, Millerton, NY, and at Union Square Market in Manhattan where he serves up samples of and sells McEnroe vegetable products each Friday  
• The good news that Clinton Neal has miraculously recovered from a near-fatal heart attack and is now back to work – many thanks for your prayer support
• A good report from Gordie Van Buren’s doctors that he is healing well from his broken hip and other previous surgeries
• The good news that Mark Van Buren is recovering slowly but surely following recent major surgery
• The good report that Mike and Ashley's twin daughters, Sophia and Lily, born prematurely with congenital heart problems, are at home and steadily improving
• The good report that Angie Maycole continues to improve daily following a serious infection and two hospitalizations
• The wonderful ways God shows his love to us, especially during difficult times

• Those men and women who have served or are now serving our country, & those who have sacrificed their well-being and lives for the peace & liberties we enjoy

CLOTHING BARN

The North Chatham United Methodist Church’s Clothing Barn, offering good, used clothing at reasonable prices, is open the second and fourth Saturday of each month through September. It will close with the Lord’s Acre Auction on October 15.  Donations of good used clothing are always welcome – call 766-3925 for information.

 KRC OFFICE, EMAIL,WEBSITE,  AND FAX INFORMATION 

Email Address – krc@fairpoint.net

Website Address kinderhookreformedchurch.com

Rev. Rudy is scheduled to be in his church office

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings.

If you wish to meet with Pastor during these times,

please call ahead for an appointment.

Evenings have been set aside for meetings, pastoral visitations,

and counseling.

For assistance on Fridays, please call or 859-4158

Church Phone  758-6401                Church Fax   758-6402

Phone messages are picked up several times daily.

If you need immediate assistance anytime, please call 859-4158.

KRC 2011-2012 CONSISTORY

Pastor Rev. Rudy Visser, President of Consistory, Classis Delegate

Deacons

Margaret Herrmann, Stewardship – ’12     758-6175

Laura Rafferty, Property ’12   828-7189

Dawn Tuttle, Church Family, Clerk of Consistory, Cemetery ’11   758-6031

Barbara Vosburgh, Missions, Church Treasurer ’11    758-6512

Elders
Dave Ennis ’12  784-9656
Maureen Mooney, Evangelism – ’12    210-6079

Dawn VanBuren, Consistory Vice-President, Worship,

                               Pastoral Relations, Personnel’11  758-7564

Patti Varga, Christian Education – ‘12     392-4771