Christmas Eve Candlelight Service

 

Fire Survivor Carol Sing

Outdoors caroling beside a fire and under the canopy at Bonny Doon Church (7065 Bonny Doon Road) Sunday, December 19th from 1:30pm to 4pm.

Come share your stories of recovery, support and holiday cheer. Soup, cookies, hot cocoa and espresso drinks . Holly, greenery, prizes and surprises. Song books will be provided. Bring folding chairs and reading glasses.  

Call Denby for more information:  (831) 252-0446

If you'd like to donate holiday cookies please bring them to Higher Grounds (at Bonny Doon Church) Saturday morning between 9-11am.  

A Beautiful Day in Bonny Doon

In June, our first group of volunteers met to help one of our church families remove invasive plant species and encourage them in their journey of recovery.   This group was a combination of our church family and Convergence Santa Cruz.

Convergence Santa Cruz was encouraged by this special day to partner with Beautiful Day with the vision of helping more families.   On August 14th, near the one year anniversary of the CZU fires, with the help of Convergence and Beautiful Day, we were able to help another nine families.     Thanks to the relationships Convergence has this event was supported by many churches in Santa Cruz County, such as Twin Lakes, as well as Santa Clara County.   

He shall feed His flock

 

by Martin Gaskell

Last Sunday the choir’s virtual choir video was our adaption of “He shall feed His flock from Handel’s Messiah.  By coincidence (not any planning on our part) last Sunday, the second Sunday after Easter, is designated in many churches as “Good Shepherd Sunday” because in some lists of Bible readings it is the Sunday when the gospel passage about Jesus being the Good Shepherd is assigned to be read.

 

Often in the choir we sing songs that have a special meaning to one or more people in the choir.  “He shall feed His flock” is a song that Nancy and Eleanor particularly wanted to do.  Here is what Eleanor says about it:

 

“One thing that is special to me about it is that the words and the melody describe God as gentle and it’s very easy for me to be intimidated by God because he is the Lord of the universe and a king.  It’s hard to visualize God’s power and His gentleness going together.   This song really shows this.  He’s the king of the universe but He’s also caring for His flock tenderly.”

 

Handel’s “He shall feed His flock” featured prominently in a story Eleanor and Nancy had been telling.  It was a story about Lucinda, a woman in a world where they were trying to create a utopian society and to give people everything they needed to flourish, but it was totally naturalistic.  Ultimately, Lucinda was very depressed.  There was all the stuff one supposedly needed, but she felt empty and longing.  One day, Lucinda walked past a house and heard people singing “He shall feed His flock” – something it was illegal to sing.  It sounded to her like the thing that was missing – what she was yearning for – that there was a place to come and find actual rest for her soul.  Even though singing sacred music was forbidden, Lucinda tracked down the music to the song.

 

Eleanor says that what drew her to the song was that it was reminding her that there is a source, there is Jesus, and He is at the center of everything that is fulfillment and rest.

Easter Sunday - Jesus Has Risen. He Has Risen Indeed!

Bonny Doon Choir - Christ ist erstanden

Description of the piece by Martin Gaskell

It is good to be reminded that the church exists around the world and throughout time.  Some of the music the Bonny Doon Church choir sings reflects this.  For Easter this year the choir prepared a “virtual choir” recording of a piece we have sung live at Easter for a number of years now: “Christ is arisen”.  This is a setting in English for unaccompanied choir of the famous German 12^th century Easter song, Christ ist erstanden.  This in turn was derived from a Latin hymn Victimae paschali laudes that was an extension of the Alleluia sung at Easter time before the reading of the gospel in the Eucharist.  Victimae paschali is believed to have been written in Burgundy (now part of France) in the 11^th century.  Our choir piece thus traces to different countries, languages and musical styles over almost a thousand years.

We often put pictures to go with the words of our virtual choir pieces.  I’ve never been happy with depictions of the resurrection, so I’ve opted instead for photos of surviving Middle Eastern tombs from the Roman era.  I was particularly attracted to a photograph taken by retired Florida College Biblical studies professor Ferrell Jenkins from inside one of these tombs.  He writes:

 

“I asked Frank and Norm, two living disciples, to stoop and look into an empty tomb much the way Peter and John did on that first day of the week.”

Pastor Edd Breeden's Easter message: What should I do next?

Luke 24: 1 Around dawn on the first day of the week, they gathered up their spices and came to the tomb to prepare Jesus’ body. 2 What they found was an open tomb, somehow the stone had been rolled back. 3 When they entered the tomb, the body of the Lord Jesus was not there. 4 During their shock and amazement, two angels appeared before them in brilliant clothing. 5 The women bowed in honor of the angels, but the men said to them, “What makes you think that the living One would be here in the grave? 6 “He has been raised up from the dead. Don’t you remember He told you about this while you were all in Galilee? 7 He told you to expect the Son of Man to be delivered up to sinful people and He would be crucified, and then come back to life on the third day.” 8 At that moment they remembered that He had said these things to them. 9 They left the tomb and returning to the city they explained all these happenings to the eleven and to the rest of the followers. 10 The group of women included Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and James’ mother, who was also called Mary, and a number of other women from the group of followers. 11 The apostles had real trouble believing what the women had to say. 12 Peter had to find out for himself, so he left the room and ran to the tomb. When he entered the tomb, he found the linen wrappings. As he returned home, he was overwhelmed by the situation.

          Today there are about four different questions that arise for me this Easter out of this passage of Scripture. What would make us believe? What difference has Jesus made in our life? What would we need in order to take the next step in our life? And what is the next thing we might like to do in our spiritual growth? 

          The women come to the tomb to properly prepare the body of Jesus for burial. Some of the work was done on Friday after Jesus was taken down from the cross, but since it was the beginning of the Sabbath, the people were limited in the amount of preparation. The women were coming back in the early morning of Sunday after the Sabbath day was over. 

 

          When they arrive, the stone was no longer blocking the entrance and Jesus’ body was gone. As the women looked around in shock, they saw two men, dressed in brilliant clothing. The men said to them, “Why do you come to the grave to find Jesus? He told you He would not be here. He is the Living One after all.” It crossed their minds that He had told them this would happen, but they had not fully understood what He meant. Now they were beginning to realize, He was alive from the dead; whatever that might mean. 

          How would that make a difference in our lives? If we came to the realization that Jesus was alive from the dead, that He was truly alive, and He was desiring to be intimately involved in our life, would we be different? And what would that difference look like for us? What is one thing we could change to be more of what Jesus wants us to be? And what might be one thing that we would be afraid to change? The real question is this, what would we need to have happen in our life to begin to be different because we now know that Jesus is alive?         

Everyone has an obstacle to complete and undivided belief; something that keep us believing halfway and not allowing us to plunge fully into living for Jesus. Some more than others. What is our switch, that if we flipped it, nothing would stand in our way of serving Jesus 24 hours a day? Now, do not get me wrong, I am not raising this to make us feel guilty and say we are not doing enough. I believe that most of us who follow Jesus are active in our faith and doing things for Him and we might not need to do anything more. But the question is a good one to ask from time to time so that we might find more of what Jesus wants for us. 

Another question that is raised follows along with the first two. What would be in the way of us taking the next step towards a life of service to our Lord? The disciples were just at the beginning of a new life; they were at a crossroads, a turning point. Would they go back to being fishermen or would they actually become fishers of men? As the next few days unfolded, they clearly made the choice to take a new direction in their life and not return to what was comfortable.

 

What would be the next step for us? Those of us who do not yet know Jesus as a personal friend might want to begin making moves in that direction. We might believe because someone else believes but now we want to believe on our own. When Jesus came into the town of Samaria where the woman from the well lived many began to believe in Him. John said, “Others began to believe when they heard Jesus speaking. Some of these said to the woman, "I first believed because of what you said about this Man, but not that I have heard Him, I believe for sure that He is the Savior of the world.” (John 4:40,41 EBV) Their belief changed from accepting what another person believed to what they believed themselves, they had the proof they needed to make a stand for faith in Him.  

Maybe our next step is to make some changes in our spiritual lives, to grow more mature in Christ. There are a few steps of change that take place in our lives as we leave behind the ways of the world and begin to prepare for a life in heaven. After we step out of the world and into a body of believers, we might see some changes taking place in our lives. At some point we begin to study the Bible and look at the words of Jesus and realize that our lives are quite different that the way He lived and wants us to live. Then we might begin to realize that our live with Jesus in not to make our own life happier but in some way so that we can serve others and help them find the joy of life as well. And the pinnacle of life, as Jesus would describe it would be a life of service to others and in that service, we take hold of what God intended for us to begin with.  

The changes we often make have to do with the evidence we see around us as we seek to believe more and more that our faith is not in a way of life but in a deep relationship with the Living God. We become more aware of answers to our prayers, more aware of the way people’s lives are changing because of the influence of Jesus, and we have moments when we realize we have direct encounters with Jesus. All of these experiences draw us to want to live our lives more for His benefit than for our own. It is also important to point out that by God’s design, when we do live for service to others, we become the happiest.  

So, let me ask my fourth question, “What would we like to do next in our spiritual life? Do we desire to have worship be more meaningful? To sing not to sing the words but to sing to give praise to Jesus. Do we seek to read the Bible to find out what it says, what it means, and how does it apply to our life? This way we are choosing to humble ourselves before God and seek after His agenda for our lives rather than our own agenda. Do we want to learn more about the gifts God has given to us, the calling He has for us to fulfill, and even the way we can use our passion for things in this world to serve the plans of our Lord? And maybe we are ready to step out to serve other people; to go into all the world to make disciples. 

My hope for us this Easter is that we all find what Jesus has for us in the next part of our life and we embrace it with open arms, no matter how much in might require us to leave behind the familiar and move into the unknown.

I bless you in the name of Jesus with faith to take the next step. 

Pastor Edd

Palm Sunday - What is your level of expectation? by Pastor Edd Breeden

 

 

A Note about Giving based upon 1 Timothy 6:19

            Paul says “life indeed” is the result of a life being rich in good works. Happiness comes not from acquiring more possessions but in the pursuit of helping and serving others. If my whole life is in the pursuit of riches so that I can acquire things for myself and my friends, I have missed the point of why God has us on this world in the first place. 

            If my life is consumed with a search to find my soul and I end up away from the people of the world in a hermit’s existence, I might find a sense of freedom, I might find some solace, but according to Paul, I will never fully find the meaning of life. 

            I will have missed the fullness of what God meant life to be. I have focused selfishly on my own journey towards the depths of my soul, and I have missed the true joy and meaning of caring for my neighbors, which is “life indeed.”

Palm Sunday Message

I talk often about the name of the LORD. It is the Hebrew word for "I am." The name was first revealed to Moses at the burning bush in the wilderness. Moses received the ten commandments from the LORD, the second one says, "You should not speak the name of Yahweh in an empty way." Hundreds of years later, to avoid using the name wrongly, the Hebrew people, began to pronounce the name in the same way they said the word, "Lord." 

 

On Palm Sunday, as Jesus road into the town of Jerusalem, the people quoted the phrase from the psalmist, "Blessed is the One coming in the name of the LORD." (Psalm 118:26 EBV) The people were seeing Jesus as the one coming as God's messenger to the people of Israel. And we look back on that day and realize that God was present in the flesh with Jesus and as such, He was the King of the Jews. The King of all humankind for that matter.

 

What do we do to prepare for His coming into our lives on a daily basis? Anything? The people did not expect to see God that day. They felt like He had abandoned them years before. They were almost resigned to being under the rule of the Roman Empire forever. And as Jesus approached a spark of hope set a fire within them. Not a big fire, but the seed of faith that was very different from the discouragement so many of them lived with.  

 

They were not prepared for the coming of Jesus on the donkey that day. They were caught off guard.  They were not expecting God to visit His people. They were not hoping that the future could be better. And then when they least expected it, He came, riding on a donkey. Silently He rode into town, listening to the praises of those who still had some hope, listening to the cries of those who still believed that God cared, and listening to the hearts of those who could quickly change directions and believe that salvation had arrived. The King had come.

 

2000 years later, we still celebrate the coming of the King. We want to be included in the crowds of the first Palm Sunday. We desire to remember the glorious moment as He made His triumphant entry. We long to be counted with those who believed then, and those who believe now, that Jesus, God in human flesh, truly is the King of all kings and the Lord of all lords. 

 

And we look forward with hope to the day He will come again, when we least expect it, to take us home. At that time, He will welcome us into the eternal kingdom, into the mansions of heaven. We will see the streets of gold and the crystal sea and stand in awe before the throne of Almighty God. And there we will see THE KING, high and lifted up.  All the host of heaven, the millions of angels, and the saints who have gone before us, will be singing, "Unto the One on the throne and to His Lamb, we give worship, praise, wonde,r and strength from now and to eternity." (Revelation 5:12,13 EBV)

 

In the meantime, we prepare to meet the Savior. We spend time with Him in prayer, talking over our lives, interceding for others, and listening to the sound of His voice, so that we might respond in obedience when He calls us to serve. We spend time with Him, reading His Word, seeking to understand the God we love. We enjoy singing His praise and by doing so, the Holy Spirit comes upon us and showers us with His love and blessing. We walk with Him, meeting the needs of those around us with the resources that God so freely supplies for us. We share our bounty with others who cross our paths. And we wait for Him, with expectation that He will one day return in glory. Our Savior desires to come to us just as He came to the people of Jerusalem on that first Palm Sunday. 

 

Let’s take a closer look at the whole story from Matthew’s point of view. 1 "They came to Bethphage on their journey into Jerusalem. They stopped at the Mount of Olives, just in sight of the city and Jesus sent two disciples, 2 instructing them to go into the village. There they will find a donkey and her colt tied up to a post. He said, “untie them and bring them here for Me.” 3 He continued His comments, “If someone questions what you are doing, just say to them, ‘The LORD has need of them,’ and he will let you go.” 4  His riding on a donkey fulfilled the words of Zechariah, the prophet; "Raise your voices in triumphant shouting, O daughter of Jerusalem! Your King is on the way to you. He brings with Him justice and salvation, He comes humbly seated on a donkey, even a young donkey." 6 When His disciples arrived in the town, they saw the donkeys 7 and brought them to Jesus. Then they covered them with their coats so Jesus could sit upon them. 8 There were plenty of people in the area and they began to spread their coats on the path in front of Jesus, others were cutting branches off of the palm bushes and laying those in the road along with the clothing.  9 As the people closed in on Jesus they shouted, "Hosanna to David's Son, Blessed is the One coming in the name of Yahweh. Glory beyond measure!" 10 The whole city was stirred up as He entered through the gates and they were saying to one another, "Who are the people praising?" 11 They were told, "This is Jesus, the Galilean, the prophet from Nazareth." (Matthew 21:1-8 EBV) 

 

I remember the coming of a King, well, actually, the President of the United States. Two times I have had the privilege. Once, it all happened so fast, and I was so young. There was little time for preparation and the meeting lasted much longer than I expected. The crowd was small and silent. There was a sense of honor in the air and the memories have lasted for over fifty years in my mind. 

 

My mother had dressed me in nice clothes and reminded me to be on my best behavior. And on the first tee of the golf course on the Air Force Base in Ramey, Puerto Rico, I stood near my father as he prepared to play golf with President Ike Eisenhower and some other men. 

 

The second time, it took days of preparation. The sighting was very short. The crowd was enormous, and they cheered for many minutes before and after the motorcade of John F Kennedy passed in front of us. And then we went into one of the biggest hangers on the base to enjoy a reception, a celebration for the one coming to our town. There was excitement permeating the crowd and I can still remember the moment over fifty years later. 

 

My father-in-law shook hands with President Reagan and his life was never the same. He talked about it for years to come. He pulled out the picture and showed everyone who would listen. He had the honor of escorting Ronald and Nancy to their seats in the Presbyterian Church in Santa Barbara, California. There the President was in the company of a greater King. He was present for the whole hour, worshipping and listening. The crowd stood and applauded as Ronald and Nancy left the church and no one left early that morning. 

 

I also had the privilege of meeting another honorable lady. Her name was Beatrice, a stately lady of about five feet one inch tall with a deeply British accent. Her claim to fame, was to say she had met the Queen, and she was not talking about the present Queen Elizabeth II, but the Queen Mother. Beatrice had made her way from England in the 1920s to marry someone she had not yet met. She arrived and caught a train to the town in the mid-west where her husband lived. The next day she was fitted with her wedding dress and met her husband for the first time at the altar of the small-town church. When I met her in 1988, she was 98, still writing poetry, living on her own, and full of life. She reminded everyone that she had met The Queen. 

 

If we knew ahead of time when Jesus was going to arrive, I would think we would make some preparations. We might gather a crowd as Cornelius did to welcome Peter to his home. Would we respond with silence and honor or cheers and excitement? Would we want to tell the story to everyone we met? And tell it for years to come? Then why don’t we feel that way each Sunday when we gather with two or three others where Jesus is in our midst?

 

I met Jesus, late one night, in the quiet of my room. And when I awoke the next morning He was still there. I asked Him for some help, and He reached out to guide me along the right path. I had and still have all the proof I need. My response was the same as a kid on Christmas morning or what it was like to meet Ike Eisenhower. 

 

On the first Palm Sunday, the crowd did not leave their houses knowing that they would meet the King of kings that day. But someone saw Jesus riding on a donkey and knew in the power of the Holy Spirit that this was the Messiah. And one by one, people around him began to know what he knew, the Messiah was coming, sitting on a donkey. And they began to grab whatever they could find to lay a royal path, the very first red carpet, before Him as He approached the Great City. 

 

Were you there, at least in spirit? Would your coat have lined the road of the King of kings? How loud would you shout along with the others, "Blessed is the One coming.”? Do you expect to see Him again someday? Do you have hope that He is coming? Are you prepared to meet Him every Sunday when we come together for worship? You know He is present with us when we gather, don't you?

 

Approach this week with a sense of expectation for what Jesus might choose to do for you and through you. 

 

Hosanna, Hosanna, in the highest, Blessed is the One coming in the name of Yahweh. All glory belongs to Him. 

Pastor Edd

We had the pleasure of two choir pieces this Sunday from Bonny Doon's virtual choir.

The first pieces is the "The Palms" by Jean-Baptiste Faure.
Listen on YouTube »

The second piece is "My Song is Love Unknown", a hymn by Samuel Crossman, written in 1664, predominantly used as a hymn for Good Friday. 
Listen on YouTube 

Jesus has Risen! He has Indeed.

 

Daffodils in Sally & Brian Thomas's yard

Sunday's worship service on April 4th celebrating our risen Lord, Jesus Christ.  We will have our traditional Sunrise Service at 6:30am followed by a 10am virtual service over Zoom followed by an 11:30am in-person service outside.  

Larry's sermon: They are just like us

 

Acts 10:34-48. 34 So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, 35 but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. 36 As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all), 37 you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. 39 And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, 40 but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear, 41 not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42 And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. 43 To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

44 While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. 45 And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles. 46 For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared, 47 “Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” 48 And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days.

One of my wife’s favorite sayings is,“Why are we still talking?”  The same thing happened to Peter in this passage. God actually interrupts Peter while he is giving a sermon to some Gentiles and fills them with the Holy Spirit, and they begin to speak in tongues. Peter then gives the command that they should be baptized, saying, “Can any man forbid water to these who have received the Spirit just as we have?” His speech begins with the revelation that he receives from God which gives him this insight, “God does not judge by appearances, but in every nation people who stand in awe of him and do his will, like Cornelius, are acceptable to him.” Remember, Cornelius was a Roman commander and there was great polarization between Jew and Gentile, between military and civilian, and between the early church and Romans. So this story is about a miracle carefully crafted by our Lord in a long, complex and pivotal chapter in Acts. This is the moment when Gentiles are fully accepted both by the Lord’s heavenly baptism, and then by the church’s act of earthly baptism.  

It is a thrilling narrative. Cornelius, a Roman commander in Cesarea who is characterized by a life of constant prayer and multiple acts of charitable giving, is visited by an angel who tells him, “Cornelius, heaven has its eye on you. Your prayers and charities have risen up to God as a pleasing incense”. So the angel accepts him and then gives this command, “Go fetch Simon Peter who is staying with Simon the Tanner by the sea. Bring Simon Peter here and he will tell you what you are to do. Cornelius sends his aid de camp and two other believing soldiers from his household to “go fetch Peter”. 

Meanwhile Peter has a dream. He is going up to the roof to pray and he gets hungry. Then, in a trance or ecstatic state he has a vision. A four cornered knit sheet drops out of heaven full of all kinds of animals. A voice from heaven, says “Arise Peter, kill and eat”.  Peter protests, “Lord I have never ever eaten anything unclean or common”. Peter is meticulous about a Kosher Diet.

God says, “Call nothing unclean which God has made clean.”

This message is repeated three times, which is the Hebrew Triplicate. So while Peter is trying to figure out what this means the envoys from the household of Cornelius show up. They stand before the very large gate of the house of Simon the Tanner. The entourage relays to Peter that he is to go to the Roman Commander, not to hear what to do, but to tell the Roman Commander what he must do. Then Peter and some of the early Jewish disciples and the messengers start out to travel together.

The distance is about 54 kilometers or about 40 miles. So they were together about three to four days. I think that was a really important time for both groups as they got to know each other.

They arrive at the house of Cornelius. Cornelius bows before Peter, and Peter says, “We are both guys here, so let’s talk”. 

Cornelius replies, “I am listening”. 

Peter declares, “God has shown me that God does not judge by appearance or race or class, but accepts everyone who follows him.” That is the meaning of his vision. But then Peter does what preachers do. He transitions into his favorite sermon. He speaks of Jesus doing good, dying and rising and what that good news means. But while he is speaking, the Holy Spirit falls on the Gentiles and they begin to speak in tongues,  astounding the Jews who say, “They are just like us." Now there were steps in the process. Peter had been staying with a Tanner which some consider unclean. Then both Peter and Cornelius have heavenly visions. Then the whole group spends hours, perhaps days walking together from Cesarea to Joppa, chatting, breaking the ice. Then Peter declares that God accepts everyone who does good, and gives Jesus as the ultimate example of doing good.  When the Spirit falls and interrupts, Peter says, “Who can deny water to those who have the Spirit”. Here is what I get out of this. When the Spirit tells us what we need to know, it is no time to lay low. Peter let the Gentiles right in, and affirmed it with baptism. He was criticized for this, and he said, “Hey, this was God’s idea, and I acted on it”. When the Spirit tells you what you need to know it is no time to lay low. This theme repeats throughout Luke and Acts. When Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, is told to call his son John, he does it. When Mary is told she will give birth to the Messiah, she says, “Let it be done unto me”. When Jesus sends out the seventy disciples, they come back saying we did what you said and even demons obeyed.  When Paul is told in a dream to go to Macedonia he goes. When Phillip is transported beside the chariot of an Ethiopian he hitches a ride, and shares the gospel. I realize that sometimes it is not clear what God wants. Sometimes in prayer we wonder if we will ever get a clear answer. Martin Luther says that is the time God is preparing you for, when you are able to respond to his call. So let me encourage you by saying God is working with all of us.  

We need to be ready for when we catch the heavenly vision, because that will change the world. Amen.

The Light of the World

by Martin Gaskell
 
At Bonny Doon Church before the COVID-19 pandemic, when we were meeting inside in person, a pair of candles was always lit at the front of the sanctuary at the start of Sunday morning services.  In fact, if you go into almost any church around the world, there is a good chance that candles, or perhaps oil lamps, will be lit during the service.  Why do churches do this?   The answer is that the lighting of candles and oil lamps has long been symbolic.  Jesus said “I am the Light of the world; the one who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” [John 8:12, NASB].  The lighting candles thus reminds us of the One who is the light of the world.
 
This week’s virtual choir piece is about Jesus being the light of the world.  The text goes back to what is considered to be the first Christian hymn in the modern sense of the word, the ancient Greek hymn Phos Hilaron.  It is the earliest known Christian hymn text still in use that comes from outside of the Bible.  We don’t know who wrote Phos Hilaron or when, but it was already an old hymn by 300 AD.  One of the three other companion hymns collected with Phos Hilaron is thought to date back to 150 AD.  These four hymns were for use in worship at different times of day.  Phos Hilaron was sung at the lighting of candles at the end of each day.  Phos means “light” (a root of our English word phosphorescence) and hilaron means “glad”, “joyful” or “propitious” (benevolent).  We don’t know what the original tune was, but we are singing a setting by the contemporary American composer, Gregory Norbet.  His wife, Kathryn Carrington, made an English adaption from the Greek words. 
 
The images in the video are of the candles at the front of Bonny Doon Church.

Recording of the Bruckner

by Martin Gaskell

       Psalm 84, a psalm of the sons of Korah, is about longing to be in God's temple, a special place where God was worshipped in Bible times.   With COVID-19 we've been longing for our modern special places where people worship together.  Different places are special for different Christians, so this week, to illustrate our choir piece, I alternated between some pictures of St. Mary's cathedral in Linz, the largest church in Austria -- specifically, the east end chapel where the Bruckner motet was first performed -- and  our Bonny Doon Church (the largest church in Bonny Doon!)   

       A parallel I've made in the first few images is that the first picture of the chapel in Linz cathedral zooms up to a stained glass window depicting the Holy Spirit descending in the form of a dove.  I made this image transition into a photo of the stained glass depicting the same thing in Boon Doon Church.

       Verse 3 of the psalm has the beautiful imagery of sparrows and swallows nesting in the temple.  God allowed even the birds into His temple.  The swallow family in the second bird picture was nesting in our garage in Nebraska.

       Some weeks we've included pictures or video of us singing or playing the choir music.  This week I've included a couple of pictures of the composer instead, Anton Bruckner, the most famously devout of 19th century composers.  The first one is a painting showing Bruckner as a model for one of the 12 disciples at the Last Supper in a painting by the famous German artist, Fritz von Uhde.  Von Uhde was a Christian who was famous for depicting Jesus as a real person with ordinary people, especially poor and humble people.  When von Uhde met Bruckner at a concert, he asked the composer if he could paint him into the Last Supper.  Bruckner was horrified at the thought and declined because he felt he was not worthy to be used as a model.  Von Uhde went ahead anyhow from memory and painted a disciple looking like Bruckner, the one at the head of the table on the left.  The other picture of Bruckner I have included is from a stained glass window in Linz Cathedral.

      One thing I notice every time I put together one of our virtual choir recordings is how much the different voices contribute.   I think there is a mini-sermon in this.  Sometimes, as I'm putting tracks together I've listened to parts with someone missing.  When I add the missing person into the mix it always sounds better.  What is interesting is that it's not just a matter of numbers; it's a matter of diversity.  Occasionally we are a bit thin in some section and if I add in multiple recordings of the same person it's just not as good as having multiple people singing the part.  The difference is quite striking.  It would be easy for me to prepare some demonstrations of this.  I could say, "here is the whole choir; now here is the choir without X."  Interestingly, the inevitable small mistakes we make in singing our parts end up being a plus.  The obvious parallel here is the Christian life.  God gives believers different spiritual gifts.  If one person is missing then his or her exercise of that spiritual gift is missing.  Having another person do twice as much in a church just isn't as effective.  Also, while we try to go out best, we don't need to be perfect.

Quilts from Alaska for our Kids

Patty King reached out to our church to see if she could distribute these children's quilts on March 13th between 9am to noon. We of course said YES!!! Here is what Patty posted on Facebook about the quilts.

"It's a quilt Iditarod!!!!!!! When we were evacuated and the inferno was rendering so many of our children and youth homeless, I contacted my Alaskan quilt-queen sister to ask for quilts for our kids. My quilt-queen sister asked her Alaskan quilting and sewing group buddies for quilts for our kids. This delightful bunch of people, living on the Kenai Peninsula,, Alaska, met that challenge in a big way - they donated 66 quilts. My family in Alaska crated them and shipped them to Seattle, where my daughter retrieved them. With the help of Barbara Lockwood, Tim Hoff picked them up from my daughter in Seattle and brought them to my husband's office in Santa Cruz. I now have the quilts here in Bonny Doon!!!!

My next job will be to create a system for distributing them to your kids.

Your job, if you would like to have a quilt for your children, is to contact me through Facebook Messenger or by email (pking964@hotmail.com) to request them. Tell me their name(s), age and the best way to contact you.

If we get more than 66 requests, we'll draw names from a hat and the first 66 children/youth will get to choose their favorite.

If we get fewer than 66 requests, I'll open the requests to the SLV area.

Please - if you have already received a quilt from the CZU Lightning Quilt group, please leave these for others.

I'll be working on a place to spread them out and show them, and I'll figure out days for distributing.

I'll post good-quality photos of all of them as soon as I can.

I'm so grateful to my quilt-queen sister, her quilting buddies, and my family members for getting these quilts from Soldotna-Kenai, Alaska to us."

- Patty King

 

The Family of God, Blended, extended and never upended

Sermon by Pastor Larry Vilardo 

Several years ago Feherty, the golf channel host, interviewed Bill Russel, the Boston Celtics Basketball icon. Mr. Russell said this when asked about his life’s philosophy. “There are no other people’s children, that’s it”.  Luke holds that same view in Acts.

In Peter’s Pentecost Sermon he wraps it up by saying “The promises are to you and your children who are far off.”

In the two of Lukes’ conversion stories, one with the unnamed Philippian Jailor and one with Lydia the seller of purple their whole households are baptized. This would indicate every generation in the household, including children. There are also two places: Acts 2 and in Acts 4 where it mentions that folks had everything in common and no one was in need. Families and their children were provided for.  And here in Acts six it talks about the daily distribution for widows. Many widows were elderly but some were younger with young children. So whole families, Jew and Greek were baptized and taken in and cared for.  Luke paints a picture of the early church as a blended, extended, family, that by God’s grace is never upended. But there is a hiccup, a little bit of a conflict like there can be in any  blended families. The Hellenists complain that their widows are getting neglected in the daily distribution.

So the disciples address this. They call the whole community of disciples together, which would have been a very large group by this time, probably between five and ten thousand people. They propose a solution. Select men from among you who have are full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, and let them take this task on.

Now because of the names of the folks they chose, which have a Greek or Hellenistic shade to them, many commentators thought they were pulled only from the Greek side of the church. But the Cambridge commentary writer thinks that there were three Greek speakers, three Hebrew speakers and one convert, (the proselyte) who did not grow up in the Jewish faith as either a Greek or Jew. So there was a perfect balance with a tie breaker. They then laid hands on them and trusted them with real leadership. Waiting on tables can also refer to money management, like the “tables” where money was exchanged in theTemple. One of the seven, Stephen, does great signs and wonders, and another, Philip, became an evangelist preaching and baptizing the Ethiopian Eunuch. This group shared pastoral leadership along with the early Jerusalem disciples.  The early church is a blended family, an extended family but never an upended family. At the end of this chapter Steven begins his long speech. At the end of it he is murdered for his faith. The disciples who had been centered in and around the  Temple in Jerusalem now spread everywhere, showing the next step in extending the early church family even farther. Chapter six, like almost all of Acts, shared all these elements, a familial group blended and extended but never upended when faced with some controversy or challenge from within or from without. That in a nutshell is the story of acts. It is also our story. 

This pattern is very true here at Bonny Doon both in the town and in this church. When I first came up to Higher Grounds, I was impressed with how many different types of folks interacted, and how many social, economic and national locations were represented. It was a family blended and extended. Since I have been attending Zoom church, I have been struck with how strong the family of God is here.  There are folks from all walks of life and from many nations and nationalities, all working together. I was really impressed when I first got involved in Higher Grounds that this church began that wonderful ministry in one of the toughest economic times in the history of the US, the 2008 economic crisis. You can read about those early days in “Faith on the Mountain”. 

For a while I lost touch with the folks here as I served as a fill in pastor at Trinity Presbyterian Church. When I returned I learned of the incredible, heroic and faithful efforts of this community after the truly devastating fires. Higher grounds was open six days a week, and food, clothing, and spiritual care was provided. The church worked with other churches, the Presbytery and the denomination. Clearly everyone here felt, like Bill Russel, “that there are no other people’s children”. I could hardly believe how resilient everyone was here, even in the face of their own losses, and I am sure I don’t know even a small percentage of the  story.  I know this, that at the end of every sermon Edd pronounces a blessing on this community of faith. I have to end by saying how much I have been blessed by the family of God at this place which is like the one in the book of Acts, blended, extended and never upended.God bless you and thank you, for being such faithful Christians, and welcoming Lorraine and me. 

Beauty for Ashes

Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, lasting forty days.  Ash Wednesday has special significance this year for Bonny Doon following the recent wildfires in our community.  

and provide for those who grieve ... 

 a crown of beauty instead of ashes,

the oil of joy instead of mourning,

and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.

They will be called oaks of righteousness,

    a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor. 

- Isaiah 61:3

Ashes are a symbol of turning away from regrets from mistakes, a time to ask for forgiveness and let go of regrets.  It is an opportunity to embrace our human frailty as we turn away from habits and behaviors that aren't working and realign our life with God's perfect will.

During this time, you may consider walking through and circling the area around our church, tuning into what you see and experience.  Notice the feeling of the soles of your feet as you walk, step by step. Experience your breath filling your lungs and the beating of your heart. Observe the impact of the fire, the early signs of Spring approaching, the dampness of the soil, the color of the sky, the stirring of the breeze, and the feeling of the sun. Listen for insights, write your thoughts in the form of a prayer, ask Jesus for help where you need help, consider placing your prayer in our prayer box by the Kirk house (the building adjacent to the church). 

World of Encouragement from Afar

This week for Valentines Day, we sent a letter to people we knew lost their homes with a link pointing them to this blog post with handwritten notes of encouragement from New Jersey.

Just before Christmas, a packaged arrived to our church from New Jersey with the notes.  The students of the Christian Drama School of New Jersey sent these handwritten notes