Tonight come see what Rev. Katelin Warren is up to! "Finding God on the Journey" Midweek Lenten Worship Service 6:30 p.m. - FCC Assembly Room

Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013

This Sunday's Service

As we journey through Lent, we are constantly surprised at the many and varied ways that we find God. This Sunday's sermon will be one of those experiences, because I am going to be as surprised as all of you. At this point I have no idea what it is going to be about! Maybe that in itself is what we should be considering during this Lenten journey: allowing the unplanned discoveries of God to take the place of our carefully controlled way of organizing things. After all, most of the things we think we have control over are really just illusions that we create in our own minds. It's probably no different with sermons. Where will we discover God this Sunday morning during that 15-minute window of time called "Sermon"? Come and find out. It will be a surprise for all of us!

The Meeting House Choir will sing Jerusalem by Thomas Roseingrave and Be Thou My Vision arranged by Kinley Lange. The Decibells will play Jesus Walked This Lonesome Valley arranged by Anna Laura Page. Organist Gavin D. Craig will play Recit de Chromhorne by François Couperin for the Prelude* and Fugue sur la Trompette also by François Couperin. The congregational hymns will be God of Abraham and Sarah (CONSTANTINE), Fairest Lord Jesus (SCHÖNSTER HERR JESU), and God is My Strong Salvation (MEIN LEBEN).

Sunday Feb. 3, 2013

How many weddings have you been to where the familiar passage from Paul's first letter to the Corinthians is read? After a while, we can get a little tired of "love is patient, love is kind, . . . ." Sometimes familiarity can breed contempt! While the words that spoke to the church in Corinth are useful for a couple starting out in marriage, they have a much deeper meaning for us in all aspects of our lives. In fact, they reflect the foundation of who we are as individuals created in God's image, but we have to take those words to heart. Love, love, love . . . and the greatest of these is love.

The Meeting House Choir will sing Jesus, Savior, Lord, Lo, to Thee I Fly arranged by Shanti Rasanayagam and Jesus! Name of Wondrous Love by Dale Grotenhuis. Organist Gavin D. Craig will play Prelude in G Major by Dietrich Buxtehude, Wie lieblich schoen, Herr Zebaoth by Jean Langlais, and Fugue in G Major by Dietrich Buxtehude. Our congregational hymns will be I Come With Joy (Dove of Peace), Though I May Speak (Gift of Love), and In Christ There is No East or West (McKee).

COUNSELING MINISTER’S MUSINGS:

What Language Shall I Borrow?

When I was in grad school forty-something years ago, I was troubled that psychology was defined

as “The Study of Human Behavior,” but nothing was considered true unless it could be measured.

Psychology was working zealously at being a hard science, and nothing was relevant except that

which could be empirically tested. Well, I thought, what about the Mysterium Tremendum: love,

spirit, eye contact across a crowded room, laughter so deep it makes you cry? Some will tell you

those things can be measured, but give me a break, not without forcing them into some kind of

mold that leeches the juice out of them.

Thankfully, over the years science has evolved and now, especially in the field of physics, there is

acknowledgement of the mysterious nature of the universe. They use language like “Zero Point

Field,” “Implicate Order,” and “Source of mind and matter,” but it’s fairly easy to translate. Physicist,

F.David Peat asks,”If this [unknown] source is truly the creative origin of all reality, then how is it

possible to speak of it, or for that matter think of it?”

My immediate response was: That’s why we have myths and stories – to explain the mystery to

ourselves. When we read a parable or good story we can often nod in recognition of some truth

we have experienced. When we study the great stories which have historical significance, we find

much truth that helps us to understand life. The trouble is that some people have to argue about

which is best, so we have wars about what is “right.” There are surely gaps in all of them because

they have been in human hands.

So I keep reaffirming and valuing my story, the story of Jesus and his teachings of love and

compassion. Also, I want to be open to other stories that help me to learn and experience something

new, for example, the stillness of Zen and the sweet innocence of the Bush people of the

Kalahari Desert.

At Christmas time, I think we are more vulnerable to the mystery – to the birth of love in the world,

and how it threatens those who would be powerful over others. We experience the joy as we sing,

and pray for peace. And it inspires us to be better persons as we move into the new year.

Physicist Peat states that everything in the universe, from the mechanical to the sublime emerges

out of a source he refers to as the “Implicate Order.” He says, “The complexity and subtlety of the

universe lie beyond all attempts to capture it in language. The spectrum of orders out of which

mind and matter emerge is extremely subtle and fast-moving…always involved in a constant

creative renewal, emerging out of the underlying Implicate Order.”

Translation: “God is still speaking!”

Sylvia Richards

Sunday, January 27

This Sunday is the Annual Meeting of First Congregational Church of Houston. Churches can get all caught up in programs and budgets and forget that the reason we are here is because God calls us together, and for a purpose. Churches get very involved in writing mission and purpose statements, but often forget the reason why they are there in the first place. In our scripture for this Sunday, Nehemiah 8:1-10, the people return to Jerusalem after the Babylonian captivity and gather together to here the Law (Torah) read, from morning till sunset! It is a way of reconnecting them with who they are and why they are there. As we prepare to gather for our annual meeting, perhaps it's something we can all stand to meditate on beforehand: who are we and why are we here?

The Meeting House Choir will sing Worship Him as One by C. O. Beck and Ev'ry Time I Feel the Spirit arranged by Howard Helvey. Gavin D. Craig, our organist, will play selected music. Our congregational hymns will be Here in This Place (GATHER US IN),

We Are One in the Spirit (ST. BRENDAN'S), and O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing (AZMON).

Sunday, January 20

Our scripture selection for this second Sunday after Epiphany is from Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, the twelfth chapter, verses 1-11. Paul is writing to the church in Corinth, exhorting the members to come together as a cohesive, loving unit in order to share the spiritual hope that Jesus Christ has given to them. When one becomes a follower of the Risen Christ, one becomes a new person, Paul says. Is this still the case today, some 2000 years later? Or do we come together in the church simply because we enjoy the group of people we worship with? Are we still changed, as Paul describes it, or do we become part of a church without really making any adjustments in our lives? Interesting questions that have real meaning for Christianity in the 21st century.

The Meeting House Choir will sing All Things Bright and Beautiful by Paul deLespinasse and Many Gifts, One Spirit by Allen Pote. Gavin D. Craig, our organist, will play Plain Jeu by Fraincois Couperin, Cana of Gallilee by Robert E. Kreutz, and ST. GERTRUDE arr. by Raymond H. Haan. Our congregational hymns will be Forward Through the Ages (ST. GERTRUDE), Not for Tongues of Heaven's Angels (BRIDEGROOM), and High in the Heavens, Eternal God (TRURO).

This Sunday is celebrated as the baptism of Jesus. It sure doesn't take long for Jesus to be born and grow to adulthood! His baptism in the Jordan river signifies the beginning of his ministry in the world. Our own baptism has symbolic meaning, but also very real meaning for our lives. It is a beginning of life based on God's hope rather than the world's despair. But, it requires each one of us to intentionally consider where God is calling us to. For Jesus, it was to a cross. Along the way, Jesus was able to show what God's kingdom was like and to invite each of us to join in that journey. How will we begin the journey? Where will it take us? Those are the questions a loving God helps us to ask, for in the asking, we find the answers.

The Meeting House Choir will sing Jubilate Deo by Benjamin Britten and The Baptism of Jesus (Traditional Irish tune) arranged by Austin C. Lovelace. During the Offertory, Tracy Jacob Shirk, tenor, along with the Meeting House Choir, will sing Ain't got time to die by Hall Johnson. Gavin D. Craig, our organist, will play Allein Gott in der Höh sei Her by Samuel Scheidt andVI. Final from Symphony in F Minor, op. 13, no. 4 byCharles-Marie Widor. Our congregational hymns will be Praise to the Lord, the Almighty (LOBE DEN HERREN), Wild and lone the prophet's voice (LA GRANGE) and I was there to hear your borning cry (WATERLIFE).