October 13 Worship

We enjoyed another beautiful autumn morning together this past Sunday.  The Eastgate Bell Choir rang in worship, which was wonderful.  We also continued our Month of Ministry celebration by honoring the work of three groups: the women's groups, the youth, and the bell choir.  We also celebrated many of the people who serve behind the scenes, in an abundance of unofficial ways, that enrich our lives and the lives of so many others.

The sermon continued our look at the theme of "Come and See" in the Gospel of John.  Building on the previous week, we raised the threshold issue of how much seeing Jesus expects from us.  We considered some of the Pharisees, who Jesus explicitly says 'do not see' him for who he is.  I suggested that our challenge, learning from how Jesus tries to teach them, is to understand that Jesus' life on earth presents God to humanity in unexpected ways.  This is most telling in the well-known story of Jesus facing down a crowd of men who threaten to stone a woman caught in infidelity, which is sandwiched between the two similar interactions with the Pharisees in John 7-8.

Unfortunately, there were technical problems and the sermon audio is almost completely inaudible so it cannot be posted here.  I apologize for this -- it happens once every couple of years.  I'll double-check all of the equipment and have it ready to go next week.