1. religion and spirituality
2. christianity

33333
The Weekly + Tuesday, December 23, 2014
We are an Open and Affirming & Just Peace congregation welcoming
all of God’s children into our community of faith.
Cresskill Congregational Church, UCC
85 Union Avenue
Cresskill, NJ 07626
201.568.0608
[email protected]
www.cresskillucc.org
www.facebook.com/cresskillucc
Dear Members and Friends —
I wish you all a Merry Christmas! Or, is that Happy
Holidays? Sure, we're a Christian church and we know the
reason for the season, at least as it relates to Jesus and his
birth. As a Christian, I love wishing other Christians a Merry
Christmas because this is the time of year in which we
celebrate and honor when God came down in human form to
redeem and save the world. That's why we celebrate this
holiday season, holiday being a modern word for "holy day."
As a matter of fact, when we wish someone Happy Holidays,
we are actually wishing them a Happy Holy Day. Well, at
least, that's the epistemological explanation.
For many folks, wishing them a Happy Holidays beckons them to defend the
Christ in Christmas. To say anything other than Merry Christmas feels like the world is
suffocating their faith and taking away their Jesus and they won't have any of that, thank
you very much. Some folks are so ardently against using any recognition of the holidays
other than Christmas as tantamount to very real war on Christmas (or at least, real to
them).
But then, this is also Hanukkah season and more than a few of us have many
Jewish friends. Truth be told, they've been celebrating their holy day for a lot longer than
we have. "But this is a Christian nation," you might say. What the heck is a Christian
nation? Is that like a Christian computer, nightstand, or decorative plate? Can a thing be
a Christian? Unless it can go through Confirmation, I'd say not. But I digress. The point
is that this is a holiday for two major religious groups.
Anyways, therein is the challenge. Who gets to own this holiday season?
Before I give you my opinion on that, I want to share with you the lyrics to one of
my favorite songs. It is performed by Hawk Nelson and it is called, "Words." Here are
two stanzas:
2
Words can build you up
Words can break you down
Start a fire in your heart or
Put it out
Let my words be life
Let my words be truth
I don't wanna say a word
Unless it points the world back to You
You can listen to the song on YouTube here: http://youtu.be/anVweXDcxhA
I mention this song because I believe it is more important to celebrate this holiday
than who we think should own it. How we present our faith to others and the words we
either uplift or condemn them with is actually a greater testimony of God's redeeming
love than to fight over who says Happy Christmas or Merry Holiday--or whatever we
want to call it. Truth be told, you can celebrate any holiday you wish including
Christmas or Hanukkah or, while you're at it Kwanza. To people of faith and the
communities in which they live, they have the freedom to honor and celebrate this
season. And, since we live in an area of the country that has more Jewish folks than the
nation of Israel itself, we should understand how a retailer might not want to offend any
particular religion but include both of them. Happy Holy Day does just that. I think it's a
genius way to honor both days.
And it sounds good too. Please let this year be the time in which you honor and
love one another and resist the temptations to judge or condemn another. Instead of
demanding that others acknowledge your faith tradition, how about learning a little bit
about theirs and then pray for them to experience the fullness of God this Christmas
season.
The words you choose to communicate are very powerful and have long-lasting
staying power in the hearts of others. How you choose to be remembered is your
opportunity to share the love in your heart that God put there. I pray this season gives
you many opportunities to do just that.
I invite you to join us this Christmas Eve as we celebrate and enjoy the love that
God has given us in the birth of God's son, Jesus. We have a heart-warming service in
store for you with plenty of carols, hymns, and anthems. I'll be preaching a short
devotion and we'll end with a candlelight service. All this happens tomorrow night,
December 24 at 8:00 PM. I know we've had some confusing as to the time of the service
but it will be at 8:00 PM.
Jay and I are heading out to Oklahoma on Thursday. We both with you all a
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year. We'll be back at the end of
next week rested and hopefully not one pound heavier.
3
Yours in Christ,
the Rev. Dr. David C. Bocock, Pastor
Community News + Events
The church office hours are Monday through Thursday, 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM. If you
would like to speak with the pastor at a different time, he is available by appointment.
Facebook Church is an online faith study and liturgy. Every Wednesday by 12:00 Noon,
a new liturgy is uploaded for your faith journey. It is a time of spiritual refreshment.
You are encouraged to participate at your leisure.
Choir Rehearsal is held every Tuesday evening at 7:30 PM and Sunday morning at 9:00
AM. If you would like to sing in our choir, please contact Julie Schmidt or Cheryl
Woertz.
The Pastor will be away on vacation from December 25 - January 2. If you need
pastoral assistance, please contact the church office or Glenn Woertz directly.
There will be no eNewsletter for the week of December 29. It will return the week of
January 5.
We are pleased to have Dr. Herbert Van Den Houten preaching on Sunday, December
28. Herb is a member of our congregation and the Ecumenical Living Gospel UCC,
which also meets in our church.
4
This year the Board of Outreach is sponsoring our annual Coat Drive. We will be
collecting clean and gently used coats to be donated to various charities around the
community. We will be collecting them through January 31. We will donate them
several times between now and the end of January. Look for the coat bin in the Social
Hall.
If you are interested in promoting your Church event or project to the community
through local newspapers, feel free to contact Carole Lotito, using our new online PR
Request Form. The link is also posted on our website. http://bit.ly/CresskillUCCPR.
Carole will create a flyer (and send you the file), register your event on MyBergen.com
and NorthJersey.com (and other sites where appropriate), and/or create and distribute a
press release based on your request.
Please continue to submit your internal promotion requests (CUCC website,
newsletter, bulletin, Facebook) to Theresa Muti. More comfortable with a pen and paper?
Hard copies of the PR Request Form are available in the church office. Please complete
and mail to Carole Lotito, 67 Pierce Avenue, Cresskill, NJ, 07626. To speak with Carole
directly, please call (201) 294-7309.
One ministry we provide is to offer you the opportunity to bring one can of food per
person every Sunday to be donated to the Cresskill Food Pantry, which benefits nearly
50 families in our borough of Cresskill who are in need of assistance. You can bring in
your donations to the church during the week or on Sunday. John and Dot Pontician take
the donations to the pantry at the beginning of every week.
THIS COMING SUNDAY
You are invited to join us for worship on December 28, 2014 at 10:00 AM. The
Scriptures are Psalm 48 and Luke 2:22-38. The title of the sermon is, "Giving Praise to
the Lord." The Lay Leaders for the service are Carolyn Schinkel and Gil Panganiban.
COFFEE HOUR
Following our morning service, you are invited to get acquainted and catch up with new
and old friends alike during our Coffee Hour. If you would like to help serve and provide
light refreshments during our time of fellowship, please locate the signup sheet in the
Social Hall.
Joys + Concerns of the Congregation
5
Starting your day with a prayerful devotion can provide added
spiritual strength for what lies ahead. We recommend
the daily devotions found online at the UCC's Daily devotional
webpage.
Every Sunday morning, we collect prayer requests and lift
them up during the service. We also post those requests here
including their name, for you to pray for them.
If you would like to submit a prayer request now, you may send an email to Pastor Bo at
[email protected] and it will be posted shortly.
These prayers are posted as of December 22, 2014.
Please pray for:
General prayers of faith and well-being
Praising God for Larry Bischoff being cancer free!
For the safety of all police officers
God bless our country
For the family and friends of Kathleen Lewendowski's mother, who passed away.
The family and friends of Bari Moscitti, who passed away
The family and friends of Ralph Werner who passed away
Peace for Kathleen Lewendowski as her life's end draws near
Margaret Brenneiser who is moving to a new home.
Judy Russell
Nellie Hutchinson
Charmaine, whose husband recently passed away
Marcia and Alicia Hartkopp-Ross
Thanks for Joel Rosenkrantz on his new job!
John Russell
The folks in Ferguson, MO that they may find peace & justice
The family and friends of Christine Donovan who passed away
The family and friends of Faye Viner who passed away
The family and friends of James Blasi, Sr. who passed away
Jeff, Donna, Morgan, Allie, and Harper
Safe travels for Cory's cousin Joni
An easy transition for Joni back into life
The family and friends of Andy, who passed away
For Sam who is personally morning Andy's loss
Safe Travels for Anita and Bob Zimmerman
Beverly Noble who is mourning the loss of her son, Tad
Don Crabtree to let go of his fears
Philip McLendon
Bless our country and our leaders.
6
Robert Smith
The Kassing family as they deal with familial mental illness
Those who struggle with addictions that they won't give up
Health & Healing
Axa Duran's medical issues
Ed Minkler for peace during cancer treatment
Barbara Laidlaw
Vic and Michelle who are very ill
Ed Cassidy, looking for answers and healing
Kristen Stanzak as she rests
Robert O'Dell, father of Sarah, for healing
William and Lynn Roettger recovering from their surgeries
Michael Miller for insightful decision-making
The Franco family
John, Nicole, and Will Marshall for healing and peace
Comfort and recovery for Robert O'Dell
Ed Walsh, suffering from a stroke
Healing for Pastor Bo's atrial flutter
Luke, a 3-year old fighting cancer
Opal Horvat
April
Shane Lee Rivera
Marti Conklin
Baby Gregory, who is having surgery this week
Gloria and her nephew, both diagnosed with cancer
Jonathan for healing from many illnesses
Walter Halden, with kidney stones
Tom O'Brien, with health concerns
John Pontician
Joanne Maneri who is having surgery
Tatiana Logan
Samantha Zimmerman, healing from hip surgery
Lisa Pontician, healing from thyroid surgery
Gloria Hermo, healing from a herniated disc
Devotion + News + Tidbits
UCC Daily Devotion
from http://www.ucc.org/feed-your-spirit/daily-devotional/
7
Family Sing-Along
December 23, 2014
Written by Quinn Caldwell
"And Mary said, ‘My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my
savior…'" - Luke 1:46-55
I remember my mother teaching me to sing "Silent Night." I remember my sister teaching
me "O Come, All Ye Faithful." I remember how much my grandmother loved "The Little
Drummer Boy," and so I love it, too.
As soon as Mary gets together with her relative Elizabeth, she starts to sing a Christmas
song. We don't know where she learned it, or who taught it to her, or if Elizabeth knew it
too, or if they had ever sung it together before. But I bet neither of them ever forgot that
moment.
Who taught you the songs of this season? At whose knee, or on whose breast, did you
first breath them in? Whose face appears before you whenever you hear them? Today,
sing a carol or two for all the Elizabeths out there, the family members—whether by
blood or otherwise—with whom you've given voice to the faith of this season. Sing for
Jesus, of course, but sing for what we learned in him: the nurture of a fathering God, the
strength of a mothering God, the delight of a wacky aunt or zany uncle God, the love of
an adopting God.
If you're lucky enough to be able to do it, go find the person that taught you a song, or
call him, and ask him to sing with you. If you can't reach her anymore, sing with her
anyway, and praise God's holy name.
Prayer
God, thank you for the family that taught my soul to magnify you. Hear me as I sing your
praises with them today. Amen.
About the Author
Quinn G. Caldwell is the Pastor of Plymouth Congregational Church, Syracuse, New
York. His most recent book is a series of daily reflections for Advent and Christmas
called All I Really Want: Readings for a Modern Christmas. Learn more about it and find
him on Facebook at Quinn G. Caldwell.
8
5 Things I Wish Christians Would Admit About the Bible
We do God and His Word a disservice when we turn Scripture into something it's not.
By John Pavlovitz
December 23, 2014
John Pavlovitz is a pastor/blogger from Wake Forest, North Carolina. An 18-year
veteran of local church ministry, he currently writes a blog called Stuff That Needs To Be
Said, and in 2015 is launching an online Christian community called The Table. John has
been married for 17 years to Jennifer, and has two children; Noah (9) and Selah (5).
The Bible.
Christians talk about it all the time, though what they mean by "The Bible" isn't always
clear. That is to say, other than the catch phrase “God’s Word” I’m not sure what the
Bible is to many who claim it as the sacred text that guides their life. I’m positive we’re
not all on the same page, so to speak.
Some Christians want to make the Bible something it isn’t, and it makes for some
disastrous conversations and dangerous assumptions, especially in interactions with other
Christians.
Here are 5 things about the Bible I wish more believers would consider:
1. The Bible Isn’t a Magic Book.
The Bible isn’t The Good Book. It isn’t really a book at all. It's a lot of books. It’s a
library.
9
Its 66 individual books run the diverse gamut of writing styles, (poetry, history,
biography, church teachings, letters), and those books have dozens of authors; from
shepherds, to prophets, to doctors, to fishermen, to kings. These diverse writers each had
very different target audiences, disparate life circumstances and specific agendas
for their work; so we don’t approach each book the same way—for the same reason you
wouldn’t read a poem about leaves the same way you read a botany textbook. Some are
for inspiration and some for information; we receive and see them differently.
If we can see the Scriptures this way; as many diverse works telling one story in one
collection, Christians can free themselves from the confusion about what they mean when
they say "literal." We don't have to equate history with allegory with poetry, or read them
in the same way. We can also see the Bible as a record not just of God, but of God’s
people, and we can find ourselves within it.
2. The Bible Isn't as Clear as We'd Like It To Be.
Often, (especially when arguing), Christians like to begin with the phrase, “The Bible
clearly says…” followed by their Scripture soundbite of choice.
Those people aren't always taking the entire Bible into account.
If we’re honest, the Bible contains a great deal of tension and a whole lot of gray on all
types of subjects. For example, we can read the clear Old Testament commandment from
God not to murder, and later see Jesus telling His disciples that violence isn’t the path His
people are to take.
But we also see God telling the Israelites to destroy every living thing in enemy villages,
(women and children included), and we read of Moses murdering an Egyptian soldier
without recourse from God.
That’s why some Christians believe all violence is sinful, while others think shooting
someone in self-defense is OK. Some find war justifiable in some cases, while some
believe all war is inherently immoral.
Same Bible. One subject. Several perspectives.
That's not to say that truth is relative, that God doesn't have an opinion on violence or that
He hasn't given us His opinion in the Bible. It's just that the answer may not be as clear
and straightforward as we like to pretend it is.
Many times, when Christians say the phrase “The Bible clearly says…”, what they really
mean is, “The way I interpret this one verse allows me to feel justified in having this
perspective.”
When you read and study this library in its totality, there are certainly themes and
continuities and things that connect exquisitely, but if we’re honest we can also admit
10
there are ambiguities. It doesn’t diminish the Scriptures to admit that they are complex.
On the contrary, most great works throughout history are.
3. The Bible Was Inspired by God, Not Dictated by God.
Christians will often rightly say that the Bible was “inspired by God,” and I completely
agree. However, that idea often gets twisted in translation.
The Bible is “God’s Word,” but we need to be careful about what we mean when we say
it was "written" by God. These are the words of men who were compelled by God to tell,
not only what they claim to have heard God say, but things happening in and around
them—their struggles, personal reasons for writing and specific experience of God. Of
course they were inspired by God, but they remained inspired human beings, not Godmanipulated puppets who checked their free will at the door and transcribed God’s
monologues like zombies.
The book of Timothy says the Scriptures are “God-breathed," that they originate from
God, but it doesn’t claim they are God-dictated.
4. We All Pick and Choose the Bible We Believe, Preach and Defend.
Christians often accuse believers with differing opinions of “cherry picking” from the
Bible; holding tightly to verses they agree with, while conveniently jettisoning ones they
are uncomfortable with.
The only problem is, each time this assertion is made, the one making the accusation
conveniently claims objectivity; as if they somehow have a firm, dispassionate
understanding of the entirety of Scripture, without bias or prejudice, and that the other is
violating that.
As we mature in our faith, some of us may be able to shake off some of our personal
biases and get closer to the true meaning of Scripture. But until then, most of us have our
own Bible, made somewhat in our image. There are as many specific individual
interpretations of Scripture in history as there have been readers of it. Our understanding
and belief about the Bible is a product of our upbringing, the amount of study we’ve had,
the friends we’ve lived alongside, the area of the world we live in, the experiences we
have and much more.
Is it really fair to accuse someone else of selectively using Scripture, unless we’re
prepared to admit to the same crime in the process?
5. God Is Bigger Than the Bible.
This past week, I took a walk along the beach, taking in the ocean. For those who’ve ever
done so, you understand the vastness; the staggering beauty and power; the relentless
11
force of the tides. You know the smallness you feel; the overwhelming scale of creation
you find yourself face-to-face with.
Billions of words have been written about the ocean. I could gather up every single one
of them; the most beautiful, vivid, accurate descriptions from fisherman, marine
biologists and poets. I could read every last word about the ocean to someone who has
never been there—and it would never do it justice.
There’s simply no way to adequately describe the ocean in words. You have to
experience it.
I wish more Christians would admit that the Bible, at its most perfect and inspired, is a
collection of words about the ocean. They are not the ocean itself.
God is the ocean.
The words in the Bible point to someone for whom words simply fail. The words are
filled with good and lovely things that give us some frame of reference, but ultimately,
God is far too big to be contained in those words.
The Bible is not God. The Bible is a library filled with inspired words about God. We can
discover and explore and find comfort there. We can seek the character of God, and the
message of Christ and the path we’re to walk in its pages.
We can even love the Bible. I certainly do.
But we should worship the God who inspired the Bible.
Don't Be Proud of Your Busyness
We wear worry as a badge of honor, but it actually just hurts us.
12
By Amy Simpson
December 15, 2014
Amy Simpson is author of Anxious: Choosing Faith in a World of Worry. She also serves
as editor of Gifted for Leadership, Senior Editor of Leadership Journal, a speaker, and a
Co-Active personal and professional coach. You can find her at AmySimpsonOnline.com
and on Twitter @aresimpson.
Picture this. You walk into a corporate office, a maze of cubicles and conference rooms.
In the middle of a Tuesday afternoon, the cubicles are full of gravely serious employees,
staring at balance sheets and engaged in low-toned telephone conversations. Their
shoulders slump under a burden of worry, the weight of a company’s performance resting
on them.
In the corner offices, meanwhile, carefree executives chat about evening plans while they
take their afternoon break. After all, the workday ends in a few hours and it will be time
to leave the office at the office. After a few minutes, they glance at their watches and
head back to their desks. Along the way, the COO chuckles and shakes her head when the
president lobs a foam ball into the CFO’s office.
What’s wrong with this picture?
It’s upside-down! The carefree employees, with a little space for friendly office banter,
are supposed to be the ones sitting in the cubicles. Corner offices come with a price: an
endless workday and a load of busyness and worry.
In nearly any corporate setting, one way to know who the “important” employees are is to
look for their deep seriousness and apparent worry. C-level executives, at least when
others are around, are serious and harried. They’re expected to look as if they carry heavy
burdens. This is appropriate behavior for someone with such tremendous responsibility.
Rank-and-file employees, on the other hand, are expected to leave their problems at home
and to “worry about” only the work they’re given. The less responsibility, the less an
appearance of worry is expected. No one raises an eyebrow when entry-level employees
and interns occasionally have a good laugh over their cubicle walls. But for the ones who
have achieved a certain level of importance, a furrowed brow and an occasional sigh are
more appropriate.
In our harried society, we tend to think a certain amount of worry is acceptable or even
good. We expect worry as a normal part of the decorum for important people. People
expect responsible citizens and informed people to worry. If you aren’t worried, people
wonder if you just don’t care or you don’t have enough to do. They feel you’re not
pulling your weight, as if worry is a communal burden we’re all obligated to shoulder.
13
Most people consider it normal and acceptable to be busy and worried, as long as it
doesn’t become “excessive.” But since all worry is nonproductive and harmful, we have
no good definition for when worry is and is not excessive.
Fear and anxiety are different. As I establish in my book Anxious: Choosing Faith in a
World of Worry, they are God-given gifts that help us react to danger, avoid it, protect
ourselves and others, and learn from our mistakes. They can turn against us when we live
in them long-term or when they show up at times when we don’t need them—as when
panic attacks and other symptoms of anxiety disorders appear. But even then, they are
merely beneficial processes that are working overtime. Worry, on the other hand, never
helps us. It always drags us down, holds us back, distracts us from the opportunities and
gifts of the moment.
Worry hurts us physically, spiritually, mentally and relationally. But despite its heavy
toll, it remains an effective way to signal to others that our lives and callings are
important and weighty. So we don it like a uniform to show we’re engaged in something
that matters.
But ironically, worry actually makes us less engaged in what really matters, less effective
in living meaningful and purpose-focused lives. Worry makes us desperate to soothe
ourselves, frantically focused on making urgent problems go away and on squinting at the
future, trying to see what we never can in our desperation to answer some of those “What
if”s. And while our eyes are elsewhere, a moment slips by, unmarked by the impression
we were meant to leave.
Perhaps this is one of the reasons God has told His people throughout history and
throughout Scripture to reject worry and replace it with assertions of faith. Perhaps Paul’s
words in Philippians 4:6-7 come to mind for you, along with Jesus’ famous words about
worry in His Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:24-34). These are important passages, but
they are not isolated. From the Bible’s beginning to its end, God frequently tells His
people not to worry—not because there’s nothing to worry about, but because of who
God is.
Many people—especially leaders—commonly wear worry as a way to show their
importance. But worry is not a badge of honor, importance, or value. It’s a
counterproductive choice that inhibits our influence. Christians should have a different
attitude, rejecting worry in response to faith. And as a result, we can actually become
more valuable to the world around us.
What’s smarter: to lie awake at night, consumed with worry, or to sleep peacefully,
relinquishing our imaginary hold on what we don’t own and can’t change?
What’s more admirable: to be consumed with worry over our own affairs or to live our
lives with emotional margin, ready to help others bear their burdens?
14
Who’s more valuable to the world: people who are straining with worry under the load
they carry, or people who can handle their responsibilities with grace because they
recognize and accept their limitations and live by faith and trust in God, who sets their
priorities?
Worried people aren’t really more valuable than others. Think about it: who do you want
on your team? Worried people tend to take everyone else down with them. People who
are at peace have more to offer the world. If we choose faith and trust and accept God’s
peace (including the peace to let go of what has not been given to us), we may not look as
impressive to the world, but we will have the capacity to make a great positive impact on
everyone, whether they’re impressed or not.