Posts

Posted on

Romans 13: 8-14 and Matthew 18: 15-20     

The scripture reading for Sunday, September 6, 2020, is from Romans 13: 8-14 and Matthew 18: 15-20. 

“If Another Sins Against You” is the title of Pastor Jenny Smith Walz’s sermon. 

“. . . and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”  ~Romans 13:9b

“Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.”  ~Romans 13:8

“For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.’”       ~Matthew 18:20

To follow our worship service on FaceBook, hear the scripture, and listen to Pastor Jenny’s sermon, click here.

To watch interesting videos on YouTube of both scripture passages, click here and here.

On this September Communion Sunday, our Communion Offering this week goes to the Mercer Street Friends Food Bank. Please give this month as you are able for those whose need is so great. 

Written by Isabella Dougan

Posted on

HYMNS: “God Made From One Blood,” “Panis angelicus,” and “When God Restored Our Common Life”

COME SING WITH US

We Want to Worship With You

Thomas H. Troeger is the author of “God Made From One Blood.”  To watch a YouTube video of this hymn, click here

“Panis angelicus” (Latin for “Bread of Angels” or “Angelic Bread”) is the penultimate strophe of the hymn “Sacris solemniis” written by Saint Thomas Aquinas for the feast of Corpus Christi. Most famously, in 1872 César Franck set this strophe for tenor voice, harp, cello, and organ, and incorporated it into his Messe à trois voix. {Wiki}. To watch a YouTube video of this hymn, click here

“When God Restored Our Common Life” was written by Ruth C. Duck. To watch a YouTube video of this hymn, click here

To follow our worship service on FaceBook and sing with us, click here

Written by Isabella Dougan

Posted on

Children’s Book: “Someday is Now”

Pastor Jenny read aloud the children’s picture book “Someday is Now,” written by Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich and Illustrated by Jade Johnson, at Children’s Time, on Sunday, August 30, 2020,

“Someday is Now,” a book on social justice in America, is about Clara Luper, a ‘superhero’ of the Civil Rights movement. It tells how Clara and her students led sit-ins in 1958, at the Katz lunch counters in Oklahoma City, to end racial segregation. The unjust laws at the time did not allow African Americans to eat at lunch counters inside the drugstore. They were forced to take their food outside. And so Clara and these children changed the laws!

Clara challenges young people to do what is right and stand up against something they know is wrong, even at a high cost, but without resorting to violence.

Pastor Jenny states, “Jesus taught us we are to follow him into hard places in this life and that we are to overcome evil with good all the time. In this story, we see real people who overcame evil with good. But it was hard!”

The lesson to be learned from this story is that young people must be prepared to make small sacrifices for justice and make changes in the world. Like speaking out and standing strong.

So, what now?

Says Pastor Jenny: “Carry this story with you into today, into the rest of the week, into the rest of our lives as you follow Jesus as well.”

To follow the worship service and listen to Pastor Jenny read, click here.

 

Written by Isabella Dougan

Posted on

Romans 12:9-21 and
 Matthew 16:21-28

The scripture for Sunday, August 30, 2020, is from Romans 12:9-21 and
 Matthew 16:21-28.          

“Take Up Your Cross” is the title of Pastor Jenny Smith Walz’s sermon. 

“Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.”  ~Romans 12:9-13

“Then Jesus told his disciples, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.’”  ~Matthew 16:24

To watch interesting videos on YouTube of both scripture passages, click here and here.

To follow our worship service, hear the scripture, and listen to Pastor Jenny’s sermon click here.

Written by Isabella Dougan

Posted on

“Joshua Fit de Battle of Jericho” and “Saranam, Saranam” 8/23/2020

COME ENJOY BEAUTIFUL MUSIC!

We Want to Worship With You

“Joshua Fit De Battle of Jericho” OR “Joshua Fought The Battle of Jericho“) is a well-known African American spiritual based on the story of Joshua in the Bible. The song tells how Joshua captured the city of Jericho when he ordered the Israelites to blow trumpets until the walls fell down. 

It is believed that slaves composed this song in the first half of the 19th century. It gave African-American slaves a strong sense of hope that their freedom would soon come – “And the walls came tumblin’ down.”

Later recordings of the song include those by Paul Robeson (1925), Mahalia Jackson (1958), Clara Ward, Laurie London, Hugh Laurie (2011), and Elvis Presley (1960) among many others.

Click here to enjoy the YouTube version of  “Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho.” 

Swirl Design Teal clip art | Clipart Panda - Free Clipart Images

“Saranam, Saranam” is a traditional Asian hymn for all Christians, translated by Daniel Thambyrajah Niles (1908-1970), a native of Sri Lanka. Niles encouraged the use of indigenous musical idioms for Western congregational songs.

“Saranam” a Tamil word for “refuge,” means to surrender oneself fully to the one, true God.  This prayerful song for refuge is rooted in texts like Psalm 61:1-2, “Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer. From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.”

Jesus, Savior, Lord, lo, to thee I fly:

Saranam, Saranam, Saranam;

Thou the Rock, my refuge that’s higher than I;

Saranam, Saranam, Saranam.

Click here to enjoy the American Folk Ensemble version of Pakistani/Indian Christian Hymn “Saranam, Saranam.”

To follow our worship service and sing with us, click here

Written by Isabella Dougan

Posted on

Study Together to End Racism

  • Sign up to participate in the PUMC small group “Vital Conversations on Christians and Racial Justice”. Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. starting September 24.  Sign up with the link.
  • Read How to Be An Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi with me. You can join a zoom discussion about it in August.  (You can go to Labyrinth Books in Princeton, to acquire your copy. Or use your local library’s electronic offerings. Or use bookshop.org to order books, including e-books and audiobooks, online from independent booksellers.)
Posted on

Books on the Steps

Many of us look forward to hearing the Children’s Time book that will preview the ensuing sermon. Books from past weeks are arrayed on the steps and are also featured on our website. How to find them: Go to PrincetonUmc.org and click on “blog,” on the top line at the right. Here are of the blog posts: 

Images of God for Young Children by Marie-Helene Delval  

The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander (8/16(

When God Made You by Matthew Paul Turner (8/9)

The Marvelous Mustard Seed by Amy Jill Levine and Sandy Eissenberg Sasso (7/26)

How Stars Fell into the Sky by Jerri Oughten (7/19)

The Curious Garden by Peter Brown (7/12)

Mr. Tiger Goes Wild, by Peter Brown (7.5)

I am Human (and) I Am Love by Susan Verde (6/7)

The Day When God Made Church  by Rebekah McCleod Hutto (5/31)

A Tale of Two Beasts by Fiona Roberton (5/24)

Carl and the Meaning of Life by Deborah Freedman (5/17)

Many of these posts on the blog include a “read aloud” version of the book. And Evangeline Burgers, director of children’s ministry, offers her own read aloud of  “The Other Side” for Father’s Day.  Tip: These books make great presents for grandchildren!  Do YOU have a favorite to suggest? Would YOU like to be filmed reading a book aloud? Tell Evangeline@PrincetonUMC.org

 

Posted on

Sermon Response: August 23

On August 23, in her sermon “Who Do You Say That I Am?,” Pastor Jenny Smith Walz quoted this poem by Steve Garnaas-Holmes, posted on August 19, 2020 in his online collection Unfolding Light.

How does the poem resonate with you? Or — what do you NOT understand, NOT like about how the poet describes Jesus?

Jesus,
trickster, teacher, beggar,
on no church wall,
in no good book,
but on sad streets
and in my blood,
you are my unseen neighbor,
my secret self.

You are my divine possibility,
God-in-this-world,
becoming me, so close
I can almost touch myself.
Ruler of my heartbeat,
fountain of my blood,
Jesus, you are my Pacific,
my wind, my sun, my gravity.
You are my victim.

My wound, and my healing.
My death, and my undying.
You are my exceeding of myself,
my becoming of the universe.
You are the heart of all of us,
the One of us, the holy Little One.
You are so tiny in this world,
so dim, I must become you to see you,
yet can’t not see you everywhere,
everywhen, every who.
Jesus, you are the me I hope to be,
the giving of God to me,
the giving of me to all the world.
Jesus, you, whom I cannot have,
yet who are so deeply mine,
how greatly I praise, I thank, I gaze,
I follow, and I join you.

Pastor Jenny urges us to answer the question “Who do you think Jesus is” in conscious ways. “Maybe a few words. A song. A journal entry. A sermon…”

Posted on

Children’s Book: Images of God for Young Children

Here are some descriptions  of God from this book:  breath, light, night, the word, silence, secret, our tears, joy, fortress, promise, mystery, beauty, justice, peace, mercy, and love. Or — spring, rock, stream, root, wind, and fire.

What is YOUR experience of  God?

On August 23 during Children’s Time, Pastor Jenny Smith Walz read Images of God for Young Children.  

Hanna Schock agrees  that this book should not be completed in one sitting. Each entry should be savored. The 40 themes are so rich you could create a whole series of conversations or even lessons based on the variety of images for God given here.  

Comments from the service (without names, unless you’d like to have your name included)

Jesus has been my protector while we were stranded in Covid locked down India for 5 months and bringing us back us safely to NJ

my confidant, mentor, leader an example of peace, joy & love.

my friend.

The one who saved my life. The one who WILL save my child

Jesus tears down systems and lifts up the oppressed. Jesus heals.

love, an advocate for the “other” and an example of how to live

I see Jesus when others help me learn and grow from my mistakes.

Posted on

“O For A Thousand Tongues To Sing:” Worship Music 8/23/2020

COME ENJOY BEAUTIFUL MUSIC!

We Want to Worship With You

Click here to enjoy “O For A Thousand Tongues To Sing My Great Redeemer’s Praise.” 

“O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing” is a Christian hymn written by Charles Wesley. While studying under Peter Boehler in London, Wesley suffered a bout of pleurisy, which led to the renewal of his faith on May 21, 1738.

Charles Wesley was concerned by extreme doubts about his faith during his sickness. On May 21, a gathering of Christians visited him and offered him testimony and health assistance, which strongly influenced him. He read from his Bible and found himself profoundly encouraged by the words, and at peace with God. Shortly his strength began to return. 

One year after this renewal, he decided to write a hymn to commemorate this event. This hymn praises God’s glory, as many of Wesley’s hymns did, and calls for worshippers of the Lord to come together in rejoiceful singing.

To follow our worship service and sing with us, click here

Written by Isabella Dougan