First Pres Berkeley September 19, 2021 Worship Service

[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] well siblings in christ good morning and welcome to worship here at first presbyterian church of berkeley if you are a guest with us if you are a recently arrived or returning student if you've simply been away from first press or from church for some time we want to extend a very very special welcome to you our church body is more whole because you are with us and all of us who call this place home your neighbors in the pews members of our welcome team would love to meet and get to know you we invite you to stop by our welcome table out on the pathway after worship where we have a special gift for you where we can answer any questions you may have and where we would love to connect you with one of our many communities for children youth and adults that meet sundays and throughout the week today is kickoff sunday the day that we kick off our ministry year here at first press berkeley and there are opportunities for those in all ages and stages of life and faith to be authentically known and cared for to explore faith and scripture and to radically love our neighbors near and far if you are new to this faith or church thing or if you're just in a season of reorienting we invite you to join us today after worship in common ground where we explore those big questions in life and faith that we turn and return to over the years and whether you have been reading scripture and studying it for years or you are just picking it up for the first time we invite you to join us after worship in one of our three emmaus communities where we are going to be sharing stories and exploring new postures for reading interpreting praying and living out scripture children and youth too there are opportunities for you to learn and explore and be known and today in worship in this global week of student prayer we have the opportunity to hear from one of our own students nathaniel brunjar a student at berkeley high school who will be leading us in our prayer of confession so if you haven't already we invite you to pick up a pathways brochure at our welcome table to explore these and so many more opportunities to journey inward and out with outward with us here at first press berkeley this fall friends this sunday marks not only the beginning of our ministry year but also the start of hispanic latinx heritage month we as a faith community honor and celebrate these observances because we recognize that like the larger society in which we're apart the church has centered stories voices and contributions of some and marginalized others in the songs we sing in the voices we quote from the pulpit in the bodies that we see up front of the room despite the apostle paul's exhortation we have honored some parts of the body and not others and so it divides and wounds us all in the process so this month we want to intentionally honor and celebrate the stories and contributions of hispanic and latinx siblings in our worshiping life together with the intention not to tokenize or appropriate but in order that the church and first presbyterian church of berkeley may more fully live and witness as christ's body healthy and whole in the world and so dear friends let us stand in body or in spirit and respond to god's invitation to us in our call to worship from the dust of the earth the holy one breathed us into life through the breath of god we are all connected shaped in their image god formed us with a purpose to create to serve to tend to protect to love that life may flourish in all its forms may the spirit of the living god be alive in us the uh towards the latter part of our first song today we're going to sing a refrain in spanish so ben o christo then meaning come lord jesus come and santo espiritu ben meaning holy spirit come so let's worship together with our sisters and brothers in our community and around the world [Music] oh [Music] dip your heart in the stream [Music] is [Music] jesus christ holy spirit [Music] all who are thirsty [Music] see as teams [Music] to [Music] again [Music] man [Music] amen we cannot come before god unless we are first honest with ourselves about who we are about the mistakes we make and about how well or poorly we care for others in this honesty and hope let us now confess our sins to god lord you showed us true humility by becoming one of us yet too often we practice pride you cried alongside your friends and for your jerusalem yet too often we rush past the pain of those around us you love those who are weak despised or poor yet too often we hang out with those who are strong respected or popular you pray that we should be united with one another and you yet too often we focus on the differences that separate us from others you were mocked whipped and even killed for us yet too often we deny you you call us to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world yet too often we blend into society or hide from you forgive us lord so that we will shine with your glory hear us now as we bring our individual prayers of confession silently before you friends hear these words of assurance from psalm 118. god's steadfast love endures forever out of my distress i call on the lord the lord answered me and set me free the lord is my strength my song he has become my salvation in christ god answers us and sets us free in christ we are forgiven amen having received the peace of christ we have the opportunity to share it with one another i encourage you today and this week to share the peace with others on this global week of student prayer i especially invite you to find a young person or two and share christ's peace with them the peace of christ be with you you may be seated friends let us pray lord open our hearts and our minds that as your scriptures are read and your word is proclaimed we may hear with deep joy what you have to say to us this day all this and so much more we pray in the name of our rock and our redeemer amen for those of you who are just joining us in worship either in person or online again welcome we recognize that there is so much about this time that is strange and yet our need to be to be near god and near each other persists thank you for persisting in this sacred community now one of the most critical exercises any community engages in is the ancient practice of storytelling fellow human beings not just exchanging information about who or where or what we are in this very moment but how we got here where we have come from what we have been through but sharing and receiving stories is hard work it not only demands our active participation but it calls upon our imagination our interpretation and most of all our integration allowing the experiences of others to impact us in such a way that we are changed we are transformed we are made new after all stories give us meaning while facts and figures just give us knowledge stories produce understanding while explanations just produce comprehension stories open up our world while information simply explains it especially as people of faith who believe that there is always more than meets the eye we need stories to thrive we need stories to survive so in light of these holy truths this fall in worship we as a community will be journeying through the most epic the most original the most foundational of human stories the book of genesis today's scripture reading comes from genesis chapters five through eight the story of noah and the great flood now before you start panicking let me assure you that i will not be reading the entirety of these four chapters but when you have the time this week i encourage you to do so also today we are not going to be putting the passage on the screen because this story is meant to be heard so settle in friends listen up for the spirit is speaking genesis 5 through 8. when god created humankind he made them in the likeness of god male and female he created them and he blessed them and named them humankind when they were created but the lord saw that the wickedness of humankind was great in the earth and that every inclination of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually and the lord was sorry that he had made humankind on the earth and it grieved him it grieved him to his heart so the lord said i will blot out from the earth the human beings i have created people together with animals and creeping things and birds of the air for i am sorry that i have made them but noah son of lamech father of shem ham and japheth found favor in the sight of the lord and god said to noah i have determined to make an end of all flesh for the earth is filled with violence because of them now i am going to destroy them along with the earth you make yourself an ark of cypress wood make rooms in the ark and cover it inside and out with pitch for my part i am going to bring fl a flood of waters on the earth to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life everything that is on the earth shall die but i will establish my covenant with you and you shall come into the ark you your sons your wife and your son's wives with you and of every living thing of all flesh you shall bring two of every kind into the ark to keep them alive with you they shall be male and female noah did this he did all that god commanded him so in the 600th year of noah's life in the second month on the 17th day of the month on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth and the windows of the heavens were opened the flood continued for 40 days on the earth and the waters increased and bore up the ark and it rose high above the earth the water swelled and increased greatly on the earth and the ark floated on the face of the waters the waters swelled so mightily on the earth that all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered the waters swelled above the mountains covering them 15 cubits deep and all flesh died that moved on the earth birds domestic animals wild animals all swarming creatures that swarm on the earth and all human beings everything on dry land and whose nostrils was the breath of life died in the six hundred and first year in the first month on the first day of the month the waters were dried up from the earth and noah removed the covering of the ark and looked and saw that the face of the ground was drying in the second month on the 27th day of the month the earth was dry so noah went out with his sons and his wife and his son's wives and every animal every creeping thing and every bird everything that moves on the earth went out of the ark by families then noah built an altar to the lord and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar and when the lord smelt the pleasing odor the lord said in his heart i will never again curse the ground because of humankind for the inclination of the human heart is evil from youth nor will i ever again destroy every living creature as i have done as long as the earth endures seed time and harvest cold and heat summer and winter day and night shall not cease friends the word of the lord thanks be to god all right as far as good storytelling goes no story fictional or historical holds a candle to noah and the great flood for those of us who grew up in the church there are very few narratives that lodge themselves into our memory into our theological psyche quite like this one why well first the epic imagery from an all-consuming flood so great it devours even the tallest of mountains to a massive ark designed by god yet built by man to a menagerie of animals marching obediently in pairs even the best cg technology couldn't capture the scene we imagine in our minds whenever we but close our eyes and picture this text then there are the unforgettable cast of characters first we have our humble hero noah who along with his family is asked to build a boat in the midst of a dry season then there is humanity wreaking havoc across god's creation everywhere they turn and again don't forget our animal friends in the ark not to mention the dove and the raven god's holy scout team sent out on a mission to find signs of life but perhaps what makes this story so timeless are the emotions and the reactions and the questions it evokes in us the listener questions as logical as how were just noah and his family able to build a boat the length of a football field how did he get two of every kind of animal on said boat how did they all fit what were the sleeping arrangements what was the bathroom situation how did they have enough to eat what did the mountain lions eat oh my gosh is that what happened to the unicorns then there are those questions that reveal our hearts more than our minds questions like how could god create destroy creation why did god destroy creation what kind of god would destroy creation says it right there in the text the entire earth was corrupt the world was filled with violence humanity's every inclination was evil think of it this way if god didn't destroy the earth the earth would have surely destroyed itself things were so bad that the god who lovingly created the universe the god who gave adam a garden to till and a partner to love was grieved to his heart now a lesser quality of storytelling would have ended the story right there the reigns would have fallen evil would have been eradicated and creation would have gotten the ultimate do-over but as we all know the story doesn't end there creation doesn't end there and sin doesn't end there which means the real question of this story isn't why did god cause a flood but rather why did god provide an ark by way of reminder today's passage and sermon is the second part of a 10-week series entitled deep roots tracing our sacred story through genesis deep roots not certain answers not perfect explanations and not ideal assurances now why did we go with this particular title well because as much as we might think we want those other things we don't actually live in a world where certain answers perfect explanations or ideal assurances exist no we live in a world much like the one portrayed from the outset of genesis a world where violence abounds sin infects and the flood waters rise overwhelming the mountains our communities our very sense of self and in the midst of these raging storms there are so many ways that we as created beings can get swept up in the madness of violence and sin or washed away by the reigns of fear and doubt which is why we need deep roots that tether us to something that is strong and good something bigger than ourselves yet close enough to touch something mighty enough to conquer yet gracious enough to save as a brilliant member of this community wrote to me in an email just this past week if god were just powerful he is to be feared if god is merely good without power he is to be pitied but god is both yes god is both the god of the gospels and the god of genesis is both you see while noah gets his name on the headline of most retellings of this story he is hardly the main character goddess and contrary to the aspects of the divine identity that we like to emphasize in our worship and our praise the god of today's story has anything but certain answers or perfect explanations or ideal assurances the god of today's story is full of regret and sorrow and grief in her commentary on this passage rabbi mary brett koplin notes as the curtains close on the first word of the torah we find god steeped in sadness god is heartbroken the people whom god formed with such care the people and to whom god exhaled god's own divine spark the people god loved had chosen a path of corruption and crime god sees this corruption and is filled with regret over having ever created humans in the first place and god is overcome by grief the creator of the universe grieves and then from that place of heartbreak responds not as some angry dictator exacting judgment or revenge but as a heartbroken caregiver resigning himself to destruction and loss and that right there is the most astonishing part of this outlandish story not the massive arc or the overwhelming flood or even the total depravity of humanity but the divine grief the acknowledgment that the god powerful enough to breathe life into creation and powerful enough to take it all away is impacted by us heartbroken by us made vulnerable to us as author c s lewis notes to love at all is to be vulnerable love anything and your heart will be wrong and possibly broken but again as we are well aware today's story doesn't end with heartbreak because instead of giving up on humanity god extends a lifeline to noah instead of just clearing the deck god commissions the building of an ark and instead of demanding that creation make a promise to god god makes a promise to creation one where god commits to being present in our midst not because we love god but because god loves us now it is not lost on me that we are discussing the story of a major natural disaster in a season of unprecedented natural disasters from droughts to floods wildfires to earthquakes you cannot say the bible is not relevant and in the face of devastation natural or otherwise we often ask ourselves where is god in the midst of this and one possible answer is that god is punishing us after all there is enough sin and evil in this world to warrant such judgment but according to genesis that answer would be wrong as we learned last week god fashioned creation to be an ecosystem and if today's passage is clear on one thing is that creation is inclined to turn its back on creation from the way we have neglected our planet to the way we have neglected each other there is no denying that our sins have great consequences we are dealing with those consequences every single day but according to genesis we also learn that even when the storms of our own making ravage and rage we are not alone god is with us grieving with us the divine heart breaking with us vulnerable exposed and suffering right alongside humanity and yes we see that in the gospels when we see that in the gospels when jesus gave his life for us on the cross but we also see it in genesis when god gave up god's self for creation the deepest roots of our faith start from the beginning at the beginning now for christians there is this temptation to focus on and only read the new testament and up until seminary that is exactly what i did because a it's not as violent as the old testament and b it bears witness to the ultimate of happy endings it's like a movie where the beginning is really dense and confusing but the ending is so good you just fast forward for all the parts you don't like to watch and you just watch the parts you do over and over and over again i remember the first instruction i received in my old testament 101 class in seminary was do not read the new testament into the old testament in other words do not assume the ending do not rush to jesus do not jump to easter let the story speak for itself i also remember being really annoyed when i heard that because we do know the ending who wouldn't want to rush to jesus or jump to easter that is the only story that matters right not necessarily if we were to neglect the witness of the old testament if we were just to watch the second half of the movie if we were only to focus on jesus as savior we would miss the holy truth that god's intention god's inclination god's impulse has always been to save after all what makes the story of our faith so good is that deep in our hearts we know where it's going which means we also know how it all ends because god has been moving in the direction of salvation from the moment of creation until now and so my friends if the whole of scripture teaches us one thing and one thing alone it is this god loves us god's heart beats for us god's heart breaks with us in that regard the new testament part of our story isn't really new because the same god that was with us in the beginning will be with us until the end and that is good news indeed amen all this earth could all that is [Music] all around life is springing up from this old ground out of chaos life is being [Music] found things you make beautiful things out of the dust you make beautiful things you [Music] you make beautiful things out of the dust [Music] you make beautiful things [Music] [Music] that let's pray together god of beautiful things god of small things and good things god persistent and present tenacious and tender deliver us that we may prayer pray for others with the freedom that hope brings so deliver us from paralyzing doubts that trap our hearts and hopelessness deliver us from fatalistic thoughts from assuming the worst from failing to recognize the spiritual power you have given to us to help and to heal deliver us from the shame of past failures that keep us from risking vulnerability in doing your will deliver us from cynicism that keeps us from embracing each new day as a new opportunity as a precious gift another chance to do justice love kindness and walk humbly with you by the gift of your holy spirit embolden us to cross borders of our own making borders in worship borders in reading scripture cultural borders gender borders all of those may be that your spirit may enable us to overcome the bias seek justice and offer a radical welcome in the name of jesus christ crater god in the midst of hurricanes floods earthquakes and devastating fires we are mindful of families who are dealing with the loss of loved ones in these fires and floods and other forms of creation empower us with your wisdom to commit each day to care for our earth and one another may we as a people be an ark of compassion and salvation in the middle of the turmoil to help others find the peace on the face of the waters and to be that peace ourselves we think of so many in our world in the news we think of some of these haitian immigrants we see this country that has been devastated and pray for those who are working there for the afghan refugees the families that are coming to the bay area and have probably already arrived that we may be a part show us ways enable us to see and to do in response to the things that have happened to them we pray that you would steer the leaders of our country our community and our world away from monetary and market solutions towards smart and sustainable actions that will care for creation and communities and not cause further harm this beautiful creation which we have learned today in our text in what is one given to us and for us to bless it is not ours to curse finally god we pray for those who are sick in need of healing friends family members neighbors loved ones suffering from covet or other diseases we are mindful that those who care for them bear a pain bearer of suffering and bear a cost and so we lift them up as well sit with those who are waiting for a diagnosis comfort those living with pain sustain those filled with worry and restore those living without hope to hope become for them o god life and its fullness even if it experienced in great and limitedness almighty god we praise you for your grace that sustains your discipline that corrects your endless patience that bears with us and your love that brings us through the storm and flood to dry land and new beginnings united as a family of faith and as the body of christ we lift up these prayers to you hear us now as we pray the prayer that christ taught us by saying our father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us of our debts as we forgive our debtors and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever amen amen dear friends all that we have although we are we are reminded of this time in the service is a gift from god from our life to our breath our friendships our financial resources we can truly say when we sit down and seriously consider it god has blessed us and we give not as though we can pay god back we never try to do that but seek to give out of holy gratitude one of the ways in which this church uses your gifts is to support our youth ministries in our ministry to youth building they are building joyful relationships and this is the foundation of everything that we are doing our youth are safely gathering in person after not being together for so long and they're committed to providing opportunities for deepening relationships with god loving adults and peers this fall our youth ministries is focusing on fellowship discipleship and togetherness after the the weariness of covid that they might be the hands and feet of jesus for each other and for this world and this is just one of the ways that your faithful giving your faithful giving sustains the ministries of this church you'll see on the screen that there are several easy ways to give take note of them use them as is appropriate for you thank you thank you thank you for your faithful financial support to this community alongside your giving i encourage you to serve to use your time and talents in any intangible way that you can in this congregation i want to welcome dave carranza our director for youth and family ministries as he shares how we can serve our youth together and today what's up first press fam my name is dave carranza and i'm your new director of youth and families it has been a pleasure getting to know you all in the season especially getting to know our young people we kicked off our thursday youth nights in august and man we've been having a great time we have a little problem though i'm outnumbered our attendance on thursdays is growing and i need support i need you yes you especially if you raised a teenager already or if you taught or led teens in the past we need your wisdom and experience for those of you who have kids but they aren't teenagers yet this may be a great opportunity to prepare for when your kids cross that bridge so i sincerely ask pray about serving in our youth and families ministry i need the support but more than me the youth need the support our teens are faced with so much these days there's so many things in this world that are willing to step up and influence our youth so let's not be passive and allow everything and everyone else to raise and influence our teenagers so step up church and do your part do your part in helping form our youth thursday nights are just one opportunity to serve there are so many ways to get involved from behind the scenes things to upfront and personal ministry and discipleship the harvest is plentifully here and the workers are you and there are a lot of you but please please do not wait for someone else to step up and fill in the gap you are the gap filler you are the missing piece to our ministry so if you want to join our team or if you have questions and just want to chat about possibilities please hit me up stop me in the plaza find me let's talk today peace [Applause] let's stand together and may we grieve with what grieves our god let's be healed with god's love let's respond together [Music] hide me [Music] me [Music] see that again [Music] me [Music] and know you [Music] crystal [Music] is [Music] the father you are [Music] my soul [Music] is [Music] i [Music] i will be [Music] is [Music] i will be [Music] so i was confessing to andy just before the service that i'm a little tired but it's a really good kind of tired there's a lot of amazing things happening at the church right now we are definitely living into our both and identity meeting both in person and online engaging both the mind and the spirits we are celebrating both new life with dave carranza's new baby and ralph anderson's pending new baby and we are also remembering the lives lost today as we remember claire jill and john st john and all of this is sacred space this is good church so this is a weird thing to add to that but one of my biggest pet peeves about church is when someone says that children and youth are the future of our church they are not they are the now of our church they are the church and i have continued to be inspired and challenged by the ways our youth and our children are leading and guiding us to be more faithful and honest and selfless they are leading us in worship they are serving on our tech team they are serving with our children's ministries they are the church and so in light of that today's benediction comes to us from our director of youth dave carranza and our middle and high school youth groups marked and rooted if it sounds familiar good hear now these holy words friends we are marked and set apart by god shaped by grace strengthened in numbers confident that christ is making all things new so go love hard even when it is uncomfortable serve generously whoever has need and chase god's restoring justice now and forevermore amen [Music] so [Music] you

Channel: First Presbyterian Church of Berkeley

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Keywords: First Presbyterian Church of Berkeley, First Pres Berkeley, First Pres, Online Worship

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Length: 58min 10sec (3490 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 19 2021