Kinderhook Reformed Church, April 22, 2018

 “To Know Christ and to Make Him Known”

Rev. Rudolph Visser, Pastor

Welcome visitors! Please fill out a visitor’s pew card and place it in the offering plate.

8:30 A.M.  CELEBRATION OF WORSHIP

  Announcements, The Lord’s Greeting, and Morning Prayer

*Morning Praise

  Scripture Reading                                                                                                           Acts 4:5-12

  Message                      “When Our Words and Actions Are Augmented by the Holy Spirit”     

  Prayer of Thanks

  Offering and Prayer of Blessing

  Intercessory Prayer

*Closing Hymn and Benediction

10:00 A.M.  CELEBRATION OF WORSHIP

Following worship, all are invited downstairs for refreshment and fellowship.

Thanks to today’s ushers, Jim Baker, Merrill Johnson, and Wayne Van Allen.

Thanks to today’s greeters, Jean and Stacey Hurst.             

Nursery facility available downstairs.

  Prelude

  Welcome and Announcements

  Drawing Near to God

  Call to Worship  (Responsive) 

Today, in the presence of God and each other, let us remind ourselves:

that we have assembled, not to enlighten ourselves,

       but to allow Christ to enlighten us;

that we are here, not because of our goodness,

       but because Christ, in his grace, is our only way to God and to salvation;

that Christ loved us while we were yet sinners,

       and became the Lamb who was slain for us from the creation of the world.;

that we have come, not to be entertained,

       but to worship the risen Christ with our whole heart, soul, mind, and strength.

  Morning Prayer

*Hymn of Affirmation #517                                                                                      The Solid Rock

Allowing God to Shape Us

  Call to Confession

We are the people of God, but Scripture reminds us that we still sin.  So let us draw near to God with sincerity and confidence and confess our failures, knowing that the Lord Jesus intercedes for us with the Father, who freely forgives us through his infinite goodness and mercy.  

Prayer of Confession  (Unison)

Holy Father, you see us as we are, and know our inmost thoughts. We confess that we are unworthy of your gracious care. We forget that all life comes from you and that to you all life returns. We have not sought to do your will with our whole hearts. We have not lived as grateful children, nor loved as Christ loved us. Apart from you, we are nothing. Only your grace can sustain us. Lord, in your mercy, forgive us, heal us, and make us whole. Set us free from our sin, and restore us to the joy of your salvation now and forever. Amen. 

Assurance of Pardon  (Responsive)  Isaiah 57:15

“For this is what the high and lofty One says-- he who lives forever, whose name is holy: ‘I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.’ ” 

Praise be to our high and holy God! Amen.

Coming before God’s Open Word

  Prayer of Blessing upon Our Children (Unison), and Invitation to Sunday School

Lord, lead our children to trust only in Jesus’s sacrifice for their eternal salvation, and assure them that their souls are forever secure in your hands. Amen.

  Prayer for Illumination

  Scripture Reading                                                                                                           Acts 4:5-12

  Message                      “When Our Words and Actions Are Augmented by the Holy Spirit”       

  Prayer of Blessing

Silent Prayer for Those Seeking to Accept Christ as Their Savior:

"Dear Jesus, I confess that I'm a sinner, and not right with you. I repent and ask forgiveness.  I believe that you died on the cross to take my punishment and to pay the price for my sins.  I believe that you rose from death to give me new life. Wash me clean from all sin, shame, and guilt, and come into my heart as my Lord and Savior.  In your name I pray.  Amen."

*Hymn of Exhortation #663                                                            Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus

Celebrating God, His Care, and His Abundance

  Offering and Offertory

*Doxology #809                                                          Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow

*Offertory Prayer  (Unison)

Lord Jesus, you are the only One who can purify us and make us whole. Through your righteousness you restore us. We trust that you are working in our hearts and minds to renew us by the power of your Holy Spirit. As we present our offerings, we ask that our efforts may be pleasing in your sight. By your grace, bring forth a harvest of righteousness in our lives and our communities. Amen. 

  Pastoral Prayer and The Lord’s Prayer

*Prayer Hymn #227                                                                               Rock of Ages, Cleft for Me

*Blessing, Benediction, and Response Hymn                                   By the Gift of God’s Grace

By the gift of God’s grace may your burdens be light and your heart with his love be aglow. May your spirit be glad, may your soul be at rest,

and may Christ grant you peace as you go.  Amen.

  Postlude

We’re all searching.  Sometimes the search is easy: simply type a question and the answer pops up.  But sometimes our questions are complicated, and the answers are difficult to see and harder to articulate.  How do we discover and examine the truths that give meaning and purpose to life?  Adam Hamilton believes that some powerful answers are contained in the Apostles’ Creed, an early statement of foundational Christian beliefs.  Let’s break the Apostles’ Creed down and together make sense as it pertains to our daily questions!  *The Wednesday evening Bible Study on the Book of Acts will meet immediately following the Apostles’ Creed*

Thanks to all who came last week to have their photos taken for the new KRC Church Family Directory.  We hope to have the new booklets in June! 

*If you did not have a photo taken with Lifetouch, but have a current photo we can use, please email a digital copy (in a high quality format) to the church office at: krc@fairpoint.net.  This process will incur an additional cost by Lifetouch, so we are requesting a $10 donation to support this fee* The deadline is next Sunday, 4/29

Non-perishable foods always popular at the Pantry are evaporated milk; coffee; sugar; boxed cereals; pancake mix; syrup; jelly; canned meats, fruits, and vegetables; spaghetti/spaghetti sauce; mac & cheese; dinner helpers; apple sauce; juice; cake and brownie mixes. Donations may be placed in the collection containers available in the entryways of the church. Although we have collected empty egg cartons in the past, the Pantry is no longer in need of these items.

HAPPY APRIL BIRTHDAY!

     The Stuyvesant Reformed Church “Stitchers” will be meeting the third Saturday of every month from 10 am to 12 pm.  They will be prepared to do any light mending -buttons, hems, torn seams, patching, etc. - that members of the community may need done.  Free-will donations will be accepted in lieu of payment.

     On the fourth Saturday of every month, from 11 am - 1 pm (please note time change), SRC will offer a soup-and-sandwich lunch consisting of a limited number of soups and a limited number of sandwiches.  Free-will donations will also be accepted. 

Tens of thousands of CROP Hunger Walkers are committed each year to building a hunger-free world.  For nearly half a century.  CROP Hunger Walks have ensured that more people worldwide have access to nutritious, sustainable food sources.  From combatting droughts in Nicaragua to providing agricultural training in Indonesia to stocking shelves in hundreds of food pantries across the US, CROP Hunger Walks help end hunger by raising funds to support local food programs and the international anti-hunger work of Church World Service.  This year's walk is on Sunday, May 6, and will step off at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Kinderhook.  The walk will still wind around the village of Kinderhook, but it will be a little shorter, making it more do-able for more people.  Kinderhook Reformed Church is once again invited to stand with its neighbors in our community who rely on food-assistance programs, and to partner with and support families worldwide struggling in the face of grinding poverty. CROP WALK committee chair this year is Beegee Ropollo (biroppolo@gmail.com, 518-320-6232).   KRC's contact person, Patrice Lyons, is prepared to pass along all necessary CROP WALK 2018 information to the KRC family and friends, and encourages our participation in this year's effort. 

Each member’s share of this year’s classis assessment has been set at $94.68 (Up $6.18 
from last year).  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 
$2.49 per week for the remaining weeks (38) in this year. Please clearly designate all 
contributions, “Classis Assessment.”  

REMEMBER TO PRAY FOR

• those who do not know Christ or who are struggling in their faith journey. Pray also that God will provide opportunities for us to witness for Jesus, and give us the courage and winsome words needed to make the most of these opportunities.
• Pastor Rudy, as he fulfills his ministerial duties.
• KRC ministries, programs & projects, and those planning & administering them as they seek new directions and God’s wisdom and blessing in moving our church toward a greater and more effective impact on our surrounding communities: KRC’s Consistory, especially newly installed officers, Jane Deane, Jean Hacker; Susan Patterson, and Deborah Spaulding; KRC’s administrative ministries; KRC’s Youth Group; Sunday School; KRC’s small group ministries and Bible studies; Community Prayer Group; 1st Friday Free Community Dinner; and other outreach programs.
• our state, national, and world leaders, especially President Donald Trump and all of the government officials now in office, that God will grant them the leadership skills, wisdom, and the personal protection needed to govern effectively and safely.
• our military men & women, their families, and friends, that they may know God’s presence, protection, and peace, especially Jason Lansing serving in South Korea.
• victims world-wide suffering natural and other hardships and tragedies; those suffering economic instability; poverty, hunger, and poor health; political oppression, unrest, war, displacement and terrorism.
• those who, even after many years, still hurt from the void left by loved ones who have passed on from this world.
• reassurance, peace, and dignity for those nearing the close of this life.
• Judy Krumpus, former teaching colleague of several of those in the KRC family, struggling with a number of life-threatening health issues.
• Scott Reichert, close friend of the Dick family, who has suffered a massive heart attack and is in Intensive Care at a hospital near Port Jervis.  Scott has had a stent implanted, and faces a long road ahead to full recovery.  Please keep his wife, Nancy, and his three children
  in your prayers as well.
• Ben, long time close friend of the Clause Family, diagnosed with a rare and deadly form of cancer which does not respond to radiation or chemotherapy and may be eradicated through surgery only.  Praise God, initial tests indicate that Ben’s is the least-aggressive of this type of cancer, that it has not metastacized, and is completely localized in his lower right leg.  Ben will undergo surgery Tuesday, April 24, and would appreciate your prayers for a complete recovery.
• others battling or recovering from cancer or in hospice care: Jean Hacker; Carol, future daughter-in-law of Erika & Merrill Johnson; Freya, Patti Varga’s aunt; Friend of Erika Johnson; Judy Alvarez; Charles Roppolo; Terri; Michael, brother of Mary Jane Haywood; Connie Witkowski; Michael; Don Morse; Jill; J.B.; Jen; Bill, Janet Smith's brother; Ronny; Carol Nel; Jeff Peter; Mark; Ann; Steve.
• those awaiting test results or surgery; recovering from surgery, injury, or illness; or chronically ill: nephew of Jane Deane; Bill Lansing, father of Carol Zincio; Phil Sherman; Morgan Hickman; Friend of Erika Johnson; Ted Call; Fred Borrelli, Merrill Johnson; Virginia Rothermel.
• those facing challenges, stressful circumstances, and difficult decisions: Jim Baker's mother, in nursing care in Livingston following; Vickie Metzger, 98, Nancy Baker's mother; a young woman who has just found out she is pregnant and is worried; Brianna; Merrill Johnson, dealing with unspoken issues; our students as they deal with challenges of higher levels of education in this school year, career choices, and job searches; Greg Clause Jr.; the epidemic of addiction to life-threatening drugs. Libby Little-Saxton, working with Afghan refugees.
• residence-bound KRC family, George Clowe, and those caring for the elderly, displaced, disabled, or ill, especially Nancy and Jim Baker caring for Nancy’s mother, Vickie Metzger.

REMEMBER TO THANK & PRAISE GOD FOR

• Pastor Rudy Visser, our Spirit-filled minister and leader of vision, and for the Christ-centered messages God gives to Pastor each and every Sunday for the spiritual nourishment and growth of our church family. 
• the inspirational ministries of our guest preachers, Perry Jones, Tom McCrossan, John Bowen, Derek DeJager, and others who lead KRC worship from time to time.
• those men and women who have served or are now serving our country, and those who have sacrificed their wellbeing and lives for the peace & liberty we enjoy.
• the exciting news of the healthy April 3^rd birth of baby girl, Addison Welcome, to Melissa and Andrew Welcome, and to Big Sister, Madeline.  Congratulations!
• all those of KRC's family and friends who volunteer their time, talent, and energy so generously and so selflessly to the various ministries and programs of our church, and who often do this quietly behind-the-scenes with little notice or recognition.