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so welcome to the service of worship as part of the ministry of chapel in the pines presbyterian church my name is andrew and it is a blessing to serve as pastor of this congregation and a true gift that you have taken the time to join us wherever you are may god's grace meet you there i was distracted just now by a beautiful red cardinal who came right to the window just behind the camera god's grace is all around us you know it's hard to believe that we're coming up on a whole year in this pandemic i was reflecting on that through a poem that was written at the start of the outbreak of the coronavirus a poem by amanda gorman it's called the miracle of the morning i'd like to share it with you as a way to begin our worship it's our grief that gives our gratitude shows us how to find hope even if we lose it so ensure that this ache wasn't endured in vain do not ignore the pain give it purpose use it read children's books dance alone to dj music know that this distance will make our hearts grow fonder from a wave of woes our world will emerge stronger we'll observe how the burdens braved by humankind are also the moments that make us humans kind let every dawn find us courageous brought closer heeding the light before the fight is over and when this ends we'll smile sweetly finally seeing in testing times we became the best of beings i'm glad that you have joined us this time and may this service bring you comfort and strength for this is the day the lord has made let us rejoice and be glad in it so and after that beautiful musical introduction let us join in our opening prayer which is actually taken from a stanza of a hymn let us pray the lord is never far away but through all grief distressing and ever-present help and stay our peace and joy and blessing as with a mother's tender hand god gently leads the chosen band to god all praise and glory you know i think those words were meant to be sung so now let us sing the faith the first and second stanzas of the hymn sing praise to god who reigns above having sung our praise to god let us now take a moment to consider ourselves surely we have much to share and much to give for we are all uniquely and wonderfully created in the image of god and when we look honestly at ourselves we realize that we miss the mark not only do we make mistakes we do not always do the good that we are called to do and so in our service we make time for a prayer of confession never to shame for shame has no place in anything that is life-giving including the church no there should be no shame instead freedom that by giving to god what is weighing on us we can claim god's forgiveness therefore let us pray god of grace your son came to earth teaching with authority commanding us to care for those in need comfort those who grieve and ease the burdens of all we meet though we may lift our voices in praise our actions do not always bring you glory in fact we sometimes pass by on the opposite side of the road when we see suffering we sometimes excuse our inaction for pious falsehoods like we were called to obey the sabbath rather than love our neighbor we participate in the powers and principalities that harm creation including our fellow human beings forgive us we pray by christ's great authority heal us in body soul and mind of our sins restore us into healing and wholeness amen friends believe the good news that god's mercy is from everlasting to everlasting that god's love is steadfast and there is nothing we can do to be separated from that love and so therefore believe the gospel to be good news that in christ we are forgiven thanks be to god may the peace of christ be with you may the peace of christ be with you patrick may the peace of christ be with you and i'll show you may the peace of christ be with you may the peace of christ be with you do hello friends today i'm joining you from an unusual setting inside my house because it's snowing outside so i can't record outside but it kind of fits because i'm going to talk to you about an unusual story the story that we hear from the gospel of mark today is quite unusual by today's standards it talks about a man coming into a synagogue that's a jewish space of worship where jesus is teaching or preaching and it says this man has an unclean spirit which is kind of unusual wording and the man yells at jesus and asks if jesus is trying to destroy them and then jesus pushes this unclean spirit out of him and everyone's amazed it's kind of an unusual story isn't it well this really isn't a story about demons or unusual or unclean spirits it's really a story about what happens when people come together in worship and when they welcome someone into worship especially someone who disagrees with them or maybe distrust them you see this man comes into the church with some strong feelings about jesus he does not like or trust what jesus has to say now lots of people distrust or maybe don't even like someone because of things that they believe about that person they might not like that person because of what they believe or they might not like that person because of his or her gender or race or they may not like that person simply because they look or act different we're not sure exactly what made this man not like jesus but we know that he didn't but jesus doesn't allow this man's feelings to keep him from connecting with what jesus has to teach and from the other people who are here there to hear the teaching you see what jesus does is he pushes out that thing that is making the man distrust and dislike jesus he shows that when people come together in this space of worship something special happens those things that divided them no longer divide them they can come together in the teachings of jesus they can come together by worshiping and this we see in the story is amazing the people are amazed and we're amazed when this happens too now even though we're not all together right now in the worship space we are worshiping together in fact churches all around the world are joining together in different ways some of them in person some of them online like us or some of them in their cars or or wearing mass outside and when people come together even though they might be different and they might not even trust or believe in each other by joining together and hearing the words of love and care that jesus offers they can be united those barriers that divide them aren't really so much of an issue anymore will you say a prayer with me dear god people divide themselves we look at what's different we focus on our disagreements unite us in your love and care amen now let's hear this unusual story presented in the gospel of mark and read by our middle school youth group capernaum when the sabbath came he entered the synagogue and taught they were astounded at his teaching for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes then there was in their synagogue and man with an unclean spirit and he cried out what have you to do with us jesus of nazareth have you come to destroy us i know who you are holy one of god but jesus rebuked him saying be silent and come out and the unclean spear convulsing him and crying with a lot of face came out of him and they were all amazed and they kept on asking one another what is this a new teaching with authority he commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him at once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region we've just heard the opening scene in the gospel of mark where jesus makes his public appearance by getting in a fight a fight with the demonic forces of evil you gotta admit that is a good opening hook for any story including mark's gospel whether we're watching a action movie a drama even a romance we like to see good triumphing over evil mark knew what he was doing so pay attention to the specific setting of this fight scene jesus gets in a screaming match with a demon but not in some shady galilean brothel not at midnight in some back alley but on the sabbath in a house of worship among good pious people who had gathered to praise god i imagine that those people had gathered in that synagogue many times before what did they think of this unexpected new thing well our translation says that they were quote all amazed and that is one translation possibility the greek word does have to do with a sense of wonder it could also be translated as astonished meaning a level of confusion and get this the very same greek word could also mean terrified i think that's true that many extraordinary experiences have elements of wonder awe and fear for their unexpected they break our routine this can both thrill and frighten us now thinking again about how this fight scene took place in a house of worship many of us are presbyterian because we come to expect a certain order in our worship sure the scriptures change every week but the same basic parts are there even with our recorded videos we've maintained what's expected at least for me that's comforting i like my routines part of our mission here at chapel in the pines is that worship will be welcoming and this sense of expectation is part of our welcome people know what to expect and so they can feel at home this is incredibly important we want our church to be a safe space and we want our church to be about the business of the good triumphing over the evil that's why mark sets this opening scene of jesus's ministry in a house of worship the message is that sometimes we need to be willing to shake things up a little bit in our church our mission statement is not only about welcome and worship but about witness and by witness we mean our public ministry what we're known for outside of these walls after this video is over what we do in our larger community now i'm excited that in the coming weeks we are going to be exploring opportunities to open our church up as a place where people can receive the covid19 vaccine we'll be partnering with the north carolina department of health and the north carolina council of churches to see if we can make this a reality right here in the coming weeks you'll also hear about a new food pantry we hope to establish with our partners at the farm at penny lane not only will this provide food to those in need but it's envisioned there will be a special emphasis on nutrition and on sustainable local agriculture this is exciting these opportunities are new at times we may seem a bit bewildered we might even be a little fearful anytime you try something new you have to be willing to step out of your comfort zones and those who are faithfully witnessing in the community also have to be willing to encounter new people new ways of doing things different ideas perhaps even things that are unsettling this is how we change change can be wonderful change can be awesome change can also be scary we move forward in faith believing that jesus goes before us jesus who as mark says has the authority jesus is the one in control we can rest in that and jesus calls us to follow we can live into that again we want our church to be a safe place let's also try and make our church a place that pushes us a little you know unexpected things do not always have to be scary c.s lewis said that the unexpected can surprise us surprise us with joy may it be so my friends join me in bringing our burdens to god come bring your burdens to god come bring your burdens to god come bring your burdens to god for jesus will never say no come bring your burdens to the comments bring your burdens to god bring your beloved bring your burdens to come for jesus will never say no chapel in the pines recently received word from the salem presbytery of which we are a part of that they are recommending churches refrain from meeting indoors until at least may 1st currently we are meeting on sunday mornings through a drive-in worship service that is broadcast over our fm transmitter you can find information about registering for this service on our website but we will continue to offer these sunday videos and we now offer two other opportunities to worship over zoom video conferences the first is on sunday afternoon at 4 pm with our brothers and sisters that are a part of mount zion missionary baptist church the second opportunity is on wednesday evenings at 6 30 pm where we share communion please know that you are welcome at both of these events in fact you're encouraged to attend perhaps you're a little uncomfortable with zoom reach out to me i'd be glad to help i'd love to see you there and now i'd love to invite you to join me in prayer the great prayer our lord taught us to pray our father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven and give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever amen do in mark's gospel the crowd declared about jesus that he gave a new teaching what is new what is unexpected can amaze us it can astonish us can even frighten us all that is true and so remember the faith that we carry with us beyond this video and into our larger community jesus has the authority and so we are equipped and empowered to bring healing to not only cure what ails our society but healing as wholeness as unity in faith hope and love now that is a witness may god empower our church to not only proclaim but live into that witness and may the lord bless you and keep you the lord's face shine upon you and be gracious to you the lord's presence be lifted upon you and give you peace the peace that surpasses all understanding guarding your heart and mind in christ jesus amen so do you