Kinderhook Reformed Church

Kinderhook Reformed Church Worship Service
Route 9 & Church Street, Kinderhook, NY
10:00 a.m. May 8, 2011
“To Know Christ and to Make Him Known”

Rev. Rudy Visser, Pastor

A WARM WELCOME TO VISITORS
You are invited to sign our Guest Book at the church entrance and to fill out a pew card and place it in the offering plate. We would like to get to know you better, and invite you to enjoy fellowship and refreshments with us downstairs in the Fellowship Room immediately following Worship.

Ushers: Jim Dunham, Gary Leggett, Bruce and Matt Moore
Greeter(s): Maureen Mooney
Preschool Nursery facility is available for parental use downstairs.

Our appreciation to those whose donations provided the Easter lilies decorating our pulpit area:

Mid Glass, in memory of Helen Cullings
Virginia Rothermel,
in Loving Memory of Ed, Billy & Paul Rothermel, and Justin Lynch
Nancy Swinyard,
in loving memory of Reginald and Edna Swinyard
and Linda Swinyard Morehouse
Cricket Warren, in memory of her mother, Ann Van Benschoten
Jane Deane Noreen and Alan Dick Maureen Mooney
Sue Patterson Florence Rivera

Order of Worship
PRELUDE
WELCOME, SILENT PRAYER, and PREPARATION FOR WORSHIP
VOTUM and GOD’S GREETING

Boldly Approaching Our God

CALL TO WORSHIP
Rejoice in the Lord always! Again, I say rejoice!
Thank you, God, for so many wondrous gifts. For our mothers and grandmothers, for the homes and families they create, for our church and friendship, for food and fellowship.
Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, we say rejoice.
      Thank you, God, for new life in Jesus Christ, for love, for belonging, and for this time of thanks and praise.
Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, we say rejoice.
Thank you that we know that you are in this place, and we rejoice and feast in the gifts and grace of Jesus Christ our Savior.
*PRAISE SONGS
CALL TO CONFESSION
We are commanded to love the Lord our God, walk in his ways, and observe his commandments, decrees, and ordinances. Although we continually fail, God never ceases to long for us to turn away from our sin and toward him. Knowing the richness of God’s mercy, let us confess our sins before God and one another.

PRAYER OF CONFESSION (Unison)
Most holy and Triune God, you know what families are like. Even on days like today, when we honor our mothers, we so easily take them for granted. We have whined to get our own way and ignored the needs of the people we live with. Our mothers have made sacrifices for us, and we have not recognized it. Reconcile us to all our loved ones, O God, and forgive us the ways we have contributed to family tension, at home or here at church. Help us accept our family members as precious in your sight, for in the name of our elder brother, Jesus, we pray. Amen.
ASSURANCE OF PARDON (Responsive)
God’s mercy is sure and everlasting. Receive the Lord’s grace; let your heart be cleansed and restored; and having been made whole by His grace, be sanctified! In Jesus Christ we are forgiven! Hallelujah, Amen.
MOTHER’S DAY LITANY and VIDEO
We are grateful today for families of all types:
     For single parents juggling jobs and after-school activities;
For dads and moms working and parenting their children together
     For nuclear families and extended families
For grandparents raising their children’s children;
     For aunts and uncles, and the way they enrich our lives;
      For stepchildren and step-siblings and step-parents;
     For families-in-law and for adoptive and foster families;
For our church family;
     Thank you, Lord, for the gift of family.

Sunday School students are now invited to join their teachers.

We Come before God’s Open Word
PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION
SCRIPTURE TEXT Luke 24:13-35 (p. 749)
MESSAGE “We’re at Our Best when Walking with Jesus.”
PRAYER OF BLESSING
Celebrating God

PRESENTATION OF OUR TITHES and OFFERINGS/OFFERTORY
*DOXOLOGY and OFFERTORY PRAYER (Unison)
Holy God, we thank you for the gifts and blessings that you lavish on your creation. It is as your children, heirs of your grace and filled with your Spirit, that we bring our tithes and offerings to you. Multiply and use them, we pray, to spread the gospel, feed the hungry, heal the sick, and bring grace, compassion, and wholeness where there is fear, loneliness, violence, and despair. Amen.
ANNOUNCEMENTS CONCERNING THE FAMILY OF GOD
PASTORAL PRAYER and THE LORD’S PRAYER
*HYMN #561 Just a Close Walk with Thee
*BENEDICTION and RESPONSE - 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.
To God be the glory, now and forever, now and forever, amen.

POSTLUDE

Please pick up your family’s May edition of FOCUS ON THE FAMILY from the back table today. This easy-to-read publication features Bible-based articles of good counsel and practical advice especially relevant to families raising children or grandchildren, along with other features of general interest. A new edition will be available to you each month.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR FOR 4 P.M. NEXT SUNDAY, MAY 15!
KRC Concerts in the Village: SPLENDOR IN THE SPRING
Music for Voices, Brass and Organ
Purcell, Handel, Karg-Elert, Smith, Baksa, and Vaughan Williams
Choral Ensemble and Soloists
Guest Trumpeters Eric Latini & Peter Bellino
David Smith, Music Director
Suggested contribution - $15 Reception following at 5:30 p.m.

FROM THE PASTOR’S DESK
May the Joy of Easter Linger in Your Heart!

     Acts 1:3 tells us that after the resurrection there was a period of forty days in which Jesus appeared to His disciples. We see three things that Jesus did during that time.

1) Jesus restored His disciples’ faith & gave them hope.
     Jesus’ crucifixion devastated His followers. In Matthew 19:27 Peter said to Jesus, “We have left everything to follow you.” And in John 6:68 he said, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” In John 20:9 we also learn that they “did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.”
     From the perspective of His followers, while Jesus was being crucified, everything they had hoped in and believed in was dying before their eyes.   So after His resurrection Jesus set out to restore their hope.
     We see Him appear to a sobbing Mary Magdalene in John 20:15-18. With one simple word, “Mary”, Jesus restored her faith and gave her hope. Then in John 20:19-30 Jesus appeared to the apostles and “showed them his hands and side”, which had been pierced for their sin. Then we’re told the apostles were “overjoyed when they saw the Lord.” They had misunderstood. What the world had meant for evil, God meant for good.

2) Jesus taught His disciples how the scriptures pointed towards Him.
     As we saw earlier, Jesus’ followers did not understand what the Scripture said about Him. That’s why, once their faith was restored, Jesus moved to ground their faith through Scripture.
     We see this in Acts 1:2-3 where we find Jesus giving the apostles commandments and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. Again in Luke 24:27 we see Jesus, beginning with Moses and all the prophets, explaining to His disciples what was said in the Scriptures concerning himself.
And again in Luke 24:32, the disciples’ “hearts burned” as Jesus “opened the Scripture” to them. They once were blind to the truth of the Bible, but Jesus gave them spiritual sight.

3) Jesus sent His followers out to share the good news.
     With their faith restored and strengthened, Jesus’ final instruction to the apostles in Matthew 28:19 was to “go and make disciples of all nations” by sharing with the world the great things that Jesus has done.

Scripture texts for sermons in May include the following:
Today, May 8, Luke 24:13-35
Sunday, May 15, John 10:1-10
Sunday, May 22, Rev. Tom McCrossan, Guest Preacher
Sunday, May 29, John 14:15-21
It is my hope and prayer that the scripture texts we are going to be working with during the month of May will help us to grow closer to Him and to live lives of victory because of His resurrection. May the joy of Easter and the resurrection linger in your heart as you grow stronger in Christ!
Pastor Rudy

~WE NEED YOUR RECIPES!~
Dear Church Family,
       As you may know we are going to publish a KRC Cookbook to celebrate our church's 300th birthday. To do so, we need you to share with us your most delicious and favorite recipes, those that friends and family have been begging for. Could we charm you enough to give at least 2 of those cherished recipes, more if you just can't decide which ones might be best? (Should we have too many "apple pies" we can always select, after much tasting of course.)
     FINAL DEADLINE FOR SUBMITTING RECIPES HAS BEEN EXTENDED TO NEXT SUNDAY, MAY 15. PLEASE, PLEASE DO NOT FORGET TO SEND YOUR FAVORITES ALONG. You can email them to isafleurisa@aol.com, the easier for us, or send them to: KRC Cookbook, c/o Isabelle, PO Box 22, Stuyvesant, NY 12173.
     Should you be in need of writing a recipe from scratch, guidelines are available on the back table to help you write it like a professional.
      We hope you will all share with us your treasures. We are counting on you - go and get those measuring spoons! For those of you who may still have questions, you are welcome to call Isabelle at 917-815-3351.
                                     In the name of our Lord,
                                     Isabelle Bosquet-Morra, Bonnie Dunham, and Suzy Nieman

EVENTS COMING IN JUNE:

KRC’S ANNUAL ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT PANCAKE BREAKFAST
All are welcome to come and to invite family and friends to a delicious pancake breakfast Saturday, June 4, 8 – 11 am, in the Fellowship Room. No reservations needed – free-will donations accepted. Watch for additional details in future bulletins, and ASK A MEMBER OF THE MISSIONS MINISTRY HOW YOU CAN HELP WITH THIS EVENT.

GARDEN WORKSHOP
Kerry Mendez of Perennially Yours will be the leader of this workshop hosted by Evangelism Ministry on Tuesday, June 7, 6:30 - 8 pm. Please pick up a flyer from the back table for more details, and plan to participate in this informative presentation.

KRC’S PLANT SWAP/SALE AND BAKE SALE
Contributions from your garden and kitchen would be most welcome for this annual event sponsored by Evangelism Ministry, Saturday, June 11, 9 am to Noon. See Maureen or Lori for more information.

SUNDAY SCHOOL YOUTH CELEBRATION AND
CONGREGATIONAL MEETING
Sunday, June 12, we will be celebrating our Sunday School youth and staff during Worship. Immediately after Worship, a potluck brunch will be served followed by a congregational meeting. Please plan to attend and be a part of these events.

Remember To Thank & Praise God for
• All who serve KRC Ministries by meeting regularly, setting goals, preparing recommendations, & working together to complete projects and responsibilities
• His blessing of a wonderful, caring, Spirit-filled pastor of vision such as Pastor Rudy
• The substantial improvement in Gordie VanBuren’s condition
• The rental home found by Patti and Paul Varga; they would like to thank all of you for your prayers and concern in this matter - the Lord has truly blessed them with the perfect place to call home, located just a few miles from their current house, on route 66 in Valatie, on the second floor of a converted barn set way back from the road
• Praise God for the new job that Nancy Baker started recently - Nancy is still with the county, but is much happier in her new situation
• The wonderful ways God shows his love to us, especially during difficult times
• 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 whose families and friends are praying for their salvation or other spiritual needs
• KRC’s Consistory members and administrative ministries
• New KRC programs & projects and those implementing and administering them: Natural Church Development; church restoration; KRC’s 300th birthday celebration
• Leaders and those attending KRC’s Sunday School, Youth Group, Adult Bible Study, and Prayer Group
• Our state and national leaders, that God will grant them the leadership skills, wisdom, and the personal protection needed to govern effectively and safely
• A speedy end to the violence and unrest in the Middle East
• Our missionaries; children sponsored through Compassion or other agencies
• Those in the South who have lost loved ones, suffered personal injury, and lost homes and businesses in the recent tornado devastation
• Other families and friends grieving the loss of loved ones
• Those, especially children, suffering natural disaster, abuses of war and violence, exploitation, neglect, family hostility
• Priscilla Frisbee, now at Heritage House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Troy – cards and notes of encouragement may be sent to Priscilla, c/o Connie and Frank Houde, 22 Elm Street, Albany, NY 12202
• Gordie VanBuren, much improved and now recovering his strength in rehab at Barnwell
• Marge Johnson, wife of Earl Johnson, now in hospice care in Florida - please keep Earl, and son, Kevin, in your prayers as well during this difficult time; Marge and Earl were active KRC members for many years, during which time Earl was KRC’s choir director
• Ken Scofield, Patti Varga’s uncle, undergoing chemo for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma
• Joann Marvin, co-worker of Nancy Baker, undergoing chemo for bone cancer
• Others dealing with cancer: Linda Martinez; Rick; Matt; Tom Saulpaugh; Walt; Joe; Jennifer Kline; Julie’s aunt; Dave’s wife; Connie; Carin; Kara Ennis Mobley
• A.J. Reyome, Judy Krumpus, and Sue, all recovering from recent surgeries
• Others awaiting test results or surgery; recovering from surgery, injury, or illness; chronically ill; or in hospice care: Faity Tuttle; Elizabeth; Aaron; Doris Schmieder; John; Christophe; Bob Ringen; John Steneck; Caitlyn; Tanya; Romona Den Besten; Noreen Dick's cousin, Judy; Meg Herrmann; Florence Rivera; Ron Stockhoff; Jonah Meldrim; Donna Scalera; Dawn VanBuren; Ken Smith; Merrill & Erika Johnson; George Clowe; Kathy Schneider’s father in Barnwell; Paul Varga
• Those facing challenges, conflicts, difficult decisions: Libby Little; churches closing their doors; caregivers of children with health/developmental issues, especially Ashley & Mike, expecting twins in June who may be born with possible medical problems; those with employment/economic troubles; those suffering discouragement, depression, despair, or other mental health issues; those struggling with substance abuse, especially Greg L, Rachael, and Martin; those dealing with family relationships; young people challenged by the demands of schooling, looking for jobs, dealing with the many temptations confronting young adults
• Those caring for the elderly, displaced, disabled, or ill, especially Diane Morgan and John and Sara Schubert
• Our residence-bound members: Murray Leonardson, Mike Rivera
• God’s blessing on those recently engaged/married, expecting babies, new/first-time parents: Derick Latorre and Heather Donahue, recently engaged; Gary and Sarah (Hubel) March, and Andrew & Melissa (Call) Welcome, recently married; first-time parents, Nicole (Baby Arianna), and Ryan & Jennifer (Deane) Anderson (Baby Grace); new parents, Leré & Anina Visagie (Baby Luke); Luke & Ryan (Hacker) Morris (Baby Jocelyn); Kate (Little) & Chris Stevens (Baby Vivian Elise)
• Those who are traveling, especially Michael and Deborah Spaulding, Harriet Simpkins, and Adam Spaulding and friend, Tanya
• Our military men and women, especially Courtney Hemmert; Will Ryan; Matt Plescia; Carrington Hessell; and Spencer Moore - that they may know God’s presence and protection
• Families and friends of our military troops, and victims of warfare & violence worldwide - that they may be blessed with God’s peace and reassurance;
• The power of the peace & love of Christ to subdue everywhere the spirits of hatred, hostility, unforgiveness, cruelty, vengeance, and warfare

Regular reports are needed on the progress or condition of all individuals on our prayer and praise lists. If you have updated information, especially regarding individuals whose names appear in bold print, please call the church office.

MANY THANKS AND BLESSINGS TO THE KRC FAMILY FOR THEIR GENEROSITY IN SUPPORT OF THE VALATIE FOOD PANTRY. Foods that are always popular and needed are evaporated milk; coffee; sugar; boxed cereals; pancake mix; syrup; jelly; canned meats, fruits, and vegetables; spaghetti sauce; pasta; mac & cheese; dinner helpers; apple sauce; juice; cake & brownie mixes. Donations may be placed in the collection containers available in the front and side entryways of the church.

Our church’s 300th birthday in 2012 is getting closer.
You are again invited to share with Consistory your ideas on
“How to Celebrate 300 Years of KRC History”.

KRC OFFICE, EMAIL,WEBSITE, AND FAX INFORMATION
Email Address – krc@fairpoint.net
Website Address – kinderhookreformedchurch.com
Rev. Rudy is scheduled to be in his church office
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings.
If you wish to meet with Pastor during these times,
please call ahead for an appointment.
Evenings have been set aside for meetings, pastoral visitations,
and counseling.
For assistance on Fridays, please call or 859-4158
Church Phone 758-6401 Church Fax 758-6402
Phone messages are picked up several times daily.
If you need immediate assistance anytime, please call 859-4158.

KRC 2011-2012 CONSISTORY

Pastor Rev. Rudy Visser, President of Consistory, Classis Delegate
Deacons
Margaret Herrmann, Stewardship – ’12 758-6175
Laura Rafferty, Property – ’12    828-7189
Dawn Tuttle, Church Family, Clerk of Consistory, Cemetery – ’11 758-6031
Barbara Vosburgh, Missions, Church Treasurer – ’11   758-6512
Elders
Maureen Mooney, Evangelism – ’12    210-6079
Dawn VanBuren, Consistory Vice-President, Worship,
                               Pastoral Relations, Personnel – ’11  758-7564
Patti Varga, Christian Education – ‘12    758-1266

KRC STAFF
KRC Secretary Cemetery Supervisor/KRC Sexton
Paul Clause – 859-4158 Greg Clause – 369-8472, 758-1338

COMING EVENTS

Sun., May 8
    10:00 am Worship and Sunday School
    11:00 am Fellowship and Refreshments, Fellowship Room
    11:15 am Adult Bible Study, main floor conference room
Mon.   May 9
      7:00 pm Consistory meets
Tues., May 10
      7:00 pm KRC Youth Group meets
Thur., May 12
    10:00 am Community Prayer Group meets @KRC
Sun.,          May 15 - RCA Cookbook recipes due.
    10:00 am Worship and Sunday School
    11:00 am Fellowship and Refreshments, Fellowship Room
    11:15 am Adult Bible Study, main floor conference room
      4:00 pm Concerts in the Village: SPLEDOR IN THE SPRING
Sun.,   May 22
    10:00 am Worship & Sunday School, Rev. Tom McCrossan preaching
    11:00 am Fellowship and Refreshments, Fellowship Room
    11:15 am Adult Bible Study, main floor conference room
Mon.   May 23
      7:00 pm Consistory meets
Tues., June 7
      6:30 pm Garden Workshop with Kerry Mendez of Perennially Yours
Sat.,     June 4
      8:00 – 11:00 am KRC’s Annual Pancake Breakfast
Sun.,  June 5
    10:00 am Worship and last session of regular Sunday School Classes
    11:00 am Fellowship and Refreshments, Fellowship Room
    11:15 am Adult Bible Study, main floor conference room
Sat.,     June 11
      9:00 am – Noon KRC Plant Swap/Sale and Bake Sale
Sun.,    June 12
    10:00 am Worship and celebration of Sunday School youth and staff
Please Note: Sunday School will be in summer recess after June 12.
    11:00 am Potluck Brunch and Congregational Meeting
     Please Note: Adult Bible Study will not meet June 12.

Servers Next Sunday, May 15, 2011
Ushers: Jim Dunham, Gary Leggett, Bruce and Matt Moore
Greeter(s): Jim and Bonnie Dunham
Nursery: