Kinderhook Reformed Church

“To Know Christ and to Make Him Known”

Palm Sunday Worship Service, April 13, 2014

Rev. Rudy Visser, Pastor

A warm welcome to visitors.  We would like to get to know you better

and invite you to sign our Guest Book in the entranceway and fill out a pew card and place it in the offering plate.

8:30 A.M.  CELEBRATION OF WORSHIP

  Welcome/Announcements 

  Morning Prayer

*Morning Praise                                                                       All Glory, Laud, and Honor

  Scripture Lesson                                                                      Matthew 21:1-11 (p. 697)

  Message                                                           “Beyond the Periphery - Who Is This?”

  Prayer of Blessing

  Offering

  Intercessory Prayer

*Song of Praise & Worship                                                                                     Majesty

*Benediction    

10 A.M. CELEBRATION OF WORSHIP

All are invited to enjoy refreshments and fellowship at the baptismal reception

downstairs in the Fellowship Room following today’s Worship service.

Ushers:  Ted Call, Jerry Flansburg, Glenn Warren, Chip Wood

Greeter(s): Bob and Jean Wildermuth              Preschool Nursery available downstairs.

Flowers are given today by Deborah Drebitko and Geoffrey Gross

in loving memory of their mother, Glenda Gross.

  Prelude

Inviting God’s Presence

  Announcements and God’s Greeting

  Call to Worship (Responsive)   Psalm 47:1-2, 5-6

Clap your hands, all you peoples; shout to God with loud songs of joy.

       For the LORD, the Most High, is awesome, a great king over all the earth.

God has gone up with a shout, the LORD with the sound of a trumpet.

              Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises.

*Hymn of Praise #204        (Children distribute palms.)         All Glory, Laud, and Honor

Seeking God’s Renewal

Prayer of Confession and Assurance of Pardon (Unison)  Based on Psalm 32:1-5

When I kept silent in my sin, I wasted away through my groaning all day long.  For day and night, O Lord, your hand was heavy upon me, and my strength was sapped.  Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity.  I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” - and you forgave the guilt of my sin.

[Silent Prayer of Confession and Praise for Forgiveness]

Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven,

whose sins are covered.  Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit.

  Sacrament of Baptism

       Being baptized today are  Lucy Noelle Jo duTiot and Catherine Alliene Reyome.

  Children’s Blessing  (Unison)

Help us, Heavenly Father, as earthly parents and spiritual guardians, to lead righteous and blameless lives before our children. Enable us to bring them up in accordance with your Holy Word, and to counsel and discipline them with love and grace after your own example.  Amen.

Encountering God’s Word

  Prayer for Illumination and Scripture Lesson                    Matthew 21:1-11 (p. 697)

  Message                                                           “Beyond the Periphery - Who Is This?”

  Prayer of Blessing

Celebrating God’s Blessings

  Presentation of Our Tithes and Offerings

  Offertory Duet                                  Be Still and Know That I Am God -  Diane Tuiofu

Deborah Spaulding, Soprano; Ron Moore, Tenor

*Doxology and Offertory Prayer (Unison)

Gracious Father, you first loved us, that we might know how to love; you first blessed us, that we might know how to bless; you first gave to us, that we might know how to give.  In humble gratitude, we present these offerings to you.  Sanctify them, we pray, for the purpose of upholding and furthering the Gospel of Grace through Jesus Christ, your Son.  Amen.  

  Pastoral Prayer and The Lord’s Prayer

*Song of Praise & Worship #98                                                                             Majesty                                                    

*Benediction, Blessing, and Response Hymn    My Friends May You Grow in Grace

  My friends, may you grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior.

My friends, may you grow in grace, and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ.

To God be the glory, now and forever, now and forever, amen. (2x)

  Postlude

 Donations for Easter lilies to decorate our pulpit area are now being  accepted, and are greatly appreciated.  Contributions may be placed directly in the offering plate clearly marked for this purpose.

MAUNDY THURSDAY SUPPER AND COMMUNION WORSHIP

This year’s Ecumenical Easter Sunrise Service will be held at 6:30 a.m. on the former Martin Van Buren sports field right next door to the church. The former school parking lot may be used for parking, and a light breakfast will be served in the church's fellowship hall afterward. 

Please Note:  Following the Easter Sunrise Service,

~VALATIE ECUMENICAL FOOD PANTRY EASTER BASKETS~

Easter Food Baskets will be given to families who use the Valatie Ecumenical Food Pantry and request one. In November, 128 families received Thanksgiving baskets, and we anticipate about the same number of families for Easter. The baskets include food for Easter dinner: ham, potatoes, yams, corn, green beans, pineapple, and brownies. The Pantry buys all food items for the baskets in bulk, and if you would like to help financially with these purchases, checks may be made payable to Kinderhook Reformed Church, with Easter Baskets on the memo line, and dropped in the offering plate.  If you prefer, you may make checks out directly to Valatie Ecumenical Food Pantry, Inc., with Easter Baskets on the memo line, and mail them to:  Jean Norton, 35 Harris Drive, Valatie, NY 12184 .

The Pantry thanks you in advance for any help you are able to give. All monies or food items left over after the Easter baskets are distributed will be put into the Pantry account or onto the Pantry shelves.

     On October 17, 1969, a thousand people in Bismarck, ND, walked in what may have been the first-ever CROP Hunger Walk – and raised $25,000 to help stop hunger. Several other CROP Hunger Walks occurred soon thereafter, and before long there were hundreds of Walks each year in communities nationwide. Currently, well over 2,000 communities across the U.S. join in more than 1,600 CROP Hunger Walks each year. More than five million CROP Hunger Walkers have participated in more than 36,000 CROP Hunger Walks in the last two decades alone.

     CROP Hunger Walks help children and families worldwide -- and right here in the U.S. -- to have food for today while building for a better tomorrow. Each year, some two million CROP Hunger Walkers, volunteers, and sponsors worldwide put their hearts and “soles” in motion, and in the last 20 years have raised nearly $300 million to help end hunger and poverty around the world and in our own communities.  Hungry people in developing countries typically walk as many as six miles a day to get food, water, and fuel, and to take their goods to market. CROP Hunger walkers walk to be in solidarity with their struggle for existence.  They walk because they want to end hunger – one step at a time.

      WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES A CROP HUNGER WALK MAKE?

     $24 can provide a 1-year supply of nutrition packets for 20 children.

     $50 can provide seeds and tools to help a family grow their own food to eat and sell.

   $110 can provide emergency food for the needs of a family of five.

   $140 can give a struggling farm family a new source of income: a pair of pigs. A piglet

             from each litter is then given to another family in need.

   $300 can pay for 10 meters of a shallow borehole well for a community desperate for

             clean, safe water and sustainable food.

$1,000 can provide pump and maintenance training, allowing women and girls to grow food and attend school instead of carrying water long distances daily.

     It is expected that some $3.5 million of CROP Hunger Walk funds raised this year will be shared with food banks, pantries, community gardens, and other local efforts across the U.S., with 25% of the funds raised by the Kinderhook walk going to hunger-fighting agencies in Northern Columbia County.  Our local efforts are making a huge difference, and you can be a part of it! Last year’s CROP walk against worldwide hunger and in support of local food pantries was a great success! 120 walkers participated, and over $14,000 was raised.  More than $3,500 was returned for use by local food distribution agencies.  YOU DON’T HAVE TO WALK TO CONTRIBUTE!  Checks made out to “CWS/CROP” are welcome and are tax-deductable.

HAPPY APRIL BIRTHDAY!

Deborah Spaulding (1^st), Annake Visser (6^th), Beth Anne Rippel (11^th),

Anne-Marie Zietsman (11^th), Angela Rivera (12^th), Diane Morgan (14^th),

Anna Hart (15^th), Sophia Hart (15^th), Bill Nieman (16^th), Arnie March (17^th),

Leo Dolan (18^th), Cydney Rippel (22^nd), Paul Zietsman (29^th)

                     ~2014 QUARTER 1 FINANCIAL REPORT~

If anyone would like more detail or to discuss additional items in depth, please contact Derick LaTorre, KRC treasurer. QUARTERLY CONTRIBUTION STATEMENTS ARE AVAILABLE IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER ON THE BACK TABLE.  PLEASE PICK YOURS UP TODAY. 

KRC’s share of support this year is $5,728.14 for services and resources to be provided for us by the 
Reformed Church in America  at the local, regional, and national levels. EACH MEMBER’S SHARE OF
 THIS YEAR’S CLASSIS ASSESSMENT HAS BEEN SET AT $86.79.  All who are able to do so are encouraged
 to offer, over and above regular giving, their share of this support.  The full share does not have 
to be given at one time, but may be given in as many increments as are convenient. If offered weekly, 
that’s just over $2 per week. All contributions made for this purpose should be designated, “Classis 
Assessment.”  

~THANK-YOU FROM LIVING GOSPEL MINISTRY~

Dear Pastor Rudy and KRC Family,

     Thank you so much for the donation to help our ministry in our time of need.  It’s wonderful to know that we are cared for.  We love what we do, and we always want to continue that.

                                                                                                      God bless,   Matt and Tina Zawisza

REMEMBER TO THANK & PRAISE GOD FOR

• Pastor Rudy Visser, a Spirit-filled minister and leader of vision.
• all who serve KRC Ministries by meeting regularly, setting goals, preparing recommendations, and working together to complete their callings.
• KRC's Consistory, whose dedication to their calling is an inspiration to all.
• all His provisions for our basic life needs, and the wonderful ways God shows his love to us, especially during difficult times.
• the KRC family and beyond who are always ready to offer whatever help and support they can to those in need.
• the blessing of times in which families fellowship, grow, and bond together
• those men and women who have served or are now serving our country, & those who have sacrificed their well-being and lives for the peace & liberties we enjoy.

REMEMBER TO PRAY FOR

• those who do not know Christ, or who are struggling in their faith, especially Craig.
• KRC programs & projects and those planning & administering them: adult and children’s Sunday School; KRC’s youth; VBS; small group ministries; adult Bible studies; Community Prayer Group; outreach programs. 
• KRC’s 2013 Consistory members; KRC’s administrative ministries, chairpersons, and supporting members.
• the missions and missionaries supported by KRC: Dave and Char Alexander, RCA missionaries, Taiwan; Alight Pregnancy Center, Hudson;  Perry Jones and Capital City Rescue Mission; Alex and Fran Knauss,  Trans-World Radio; Maureen Menard, Youth with a Mission; Dick and Carolyn Otterness, RCA missionaries, Hungary; Brian and Bea Post, Wycliffe Bible Translators; Seth and Melissa Rogati, Young Life Ministry, St. Thomas; Betty Ann Stedwell, Christar International Mission.   
• our children sponsored through Compassion or other agencies.
• our military men & women, their families, and friends, that they may know God’s presence, protection, and peace. Remember especially Jason, serving in Afghanistan, as well as another unspoken military-related need.
• victims of warfare, terrorism, and  violence worldwide,  that they may be blessed with God’s peace and the reassuring knowledge that he is in control.
• our state and national leaders, that God will grant them the leadership skills, wisdom, and the personal protection needed to govern effectively and safely.
• those, especially children, suffering violence; exploitation; neglect; family hostility.
• families and friends grieving the recent death of Helen Drumm; those grieving the loss of John Bryant.
• Dawn Van Buren, recovering from recent surgery on her right eye. Dawn is feeling better each day, healing is coming along, and she is very appreciative of your prayers. Please continue to pray for her comfort and peace, and for much-improved vision when healing is complete.
• Jen Weiland, former ICC High School teacher and colleague of a number of KRC family members, struggling with brain cancer.
• others battling or recovering from cancer: Harold; Sharon; Sal Alessi; Kevin; Theresa Van Warner; Rosemary Whitmore & Mrs. Martinez, mothers of Paul Varga's best friends; Steven Blun; Mary, Jessica Farley's mom; Jen, Dawn Tuttle's daughter-in-law; Leonard, Susan Lamont's cousin; Kim Lyle's grandma; Charlie Roppolo; Luci & sister, Guinda (LaHaie) Derrico; Donna Scalera.
• Joe Harden, now at home recovering from recent successful heart bypass surgery. Pray also for Joe’s wife, Donna, as she assists in Joe’s recovery.
• others awaiting test results or surgery; recovering from surgery, injury, or illness;  chronically ill; or in hospice care: John Deane, Sr.; Isabelle Bosquet-Morra; John; Paula Mueller; Dawn Van Buren; Sara Schubert; Bev Van Alstyne;  Maureen Mooney;  Jane Smith; Liz Carroll; Jane Zanchelli; Dawn Tuttle; Ruth Edge; Laurie (Dunham) Maul; Paul Varga; Blanche Rogers; Florence Rivera.
• those who are traveling, especially the Schuberts.
• Those facing challenges and difficult decisions: Greg and Lisa, fighting addictions; Alex and his family; the Laraway/Lamont family; the mom and child of one of our long-time VBS families, who had to leave their home recently due to family violence; Christians suffering persecution, especially the Christian community in Afghanistan and other places in the Middle East; Libby Little.
• reassurance and peace for our loved ones who are nearing the close of this life.
• those caring for the elderly, displaced, disabled, or ill.
• our residence-bound members, Doris Schmeider, Claudia March's mom; Gordie Van Buren; and Murray Leonardson.

Regular updates are needed on the progress or condition of all individuals on our prayer and praise lists, especially those whose names are in bold type.  Please forward this information, as well as new praise and prayer requests, to krc@fairpoint.net or call Paul at 859-4158. 

~A THANK–YOU FROM OUTREACH MINISTRY~

The outreach dinner at St. Luke's on April 1 was a great success as we served 134 people.  Many thanks to all who were involved with the preparation, serving, and cleanup. Everyone enjoyed the ecumenical fellowship while serving our Lord.  We are already looking forward to next year’s outreach dinners. 

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