Sermon, December 6, 9AM
Scripture References for 12.6.20, Message: Prince of Peace
Isaiah 9:6/Matthew 1:18-25, Isaiah 11:2; 28:29
Mighty God: 1 Corinthians 15:55, Romans 6:14, Genesis 3:15, Matthew 28:1-6, 1 Corinthians 15:20, John 10:28; 1:3, Colossians 1:15
Everlasting Father: Isaiah 40:28, Deuteronomy 33:27, Isaiah 40:28, 2 Corinthians 5:1, Hebrews 5:9; 9:15, Ephesians 3:11-12, Hebrews 9:1-14, 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, 1 Timothy 1:15-17, Ecclesiastes 3:11, Jeremiah 31:3, Romans 8:38-39, Psalm 18:35, Deuteronomy 33:27, 2 Timothy 1:12, John 14:16-18, Luke 12:32, Matthew 6:25-33, Philippians 4:19, 1 John 3:1-2
Prince of Peace: Isaiah 32:17, John 14:27; 16:33, Philippians 4:7
Peace with God: Ephesians 2:16, Romans 5:1
Peace of God: Philippians 4:7, John 14:27, Colossians 3:15
Peace with Others: Romans 12:10, 18
- Published in Worship Service Video
Scripture References, December 6, 2020
Scripture References for 12.6.20
Message: Prince of Peace
Isaiah 9:6/Matthew 1:18-25
Wonderful Counselor: Psalm 37:23, Romans 8:28, John 14:16; 16:12, Isaiah 11:2; 28:29
Mighty God: 1 Corinthians 15:55, Romans 6:14, Genesis 3:15, Matthew 28:1-6, 1 Corinthians 15:20, John 10:28; 1:3, Colossians 1:15
Everlasting Father: Isaiah 40:28, Deuteronomy 33:27, Isaiah 40:28, 2 Corinthians 5:1, Hebrews 5:9; 9:15, Ephesians 3:11-12, , Hebrews 9:1-14, 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, 1 Timothy 1:15-17, Ecclesiastes 3:11, Jeremiah 31:3, Romans 8:38-39, Psalm 18:35, Deuteronomy 33:27, 2 Timothy 1:12, John 14:16-18, Luke 12:32, Matthew 6:25-33, Philippians 4:19, 1 John 3:1-2
Prince of Peace: Isaiah 32:17, John 14:27; 16:33, Philippians 4:7
Peace with God: Ephesians 2:16, Romans 5:1
Peace of God: Philippians 4:7, John 14:27, Colossians 3:15
Peace with Others: Romans 12:10, 18
- Published in Scripture References
Announcements, December 6, 2020
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What’s Brewing, December 6, 2020
3 December 2020
Greetings!
I have been reflecting a great deal on our Advent and message subject of the week, Peace. This morning, when I awoke early to enjoy my first cup of coffee, an Aldi brand Gingerbread brew, I found peace as I looked past our newly decorated Christmas tree into the earliest light of dawn as it began to reveal the silhouettes of trees in our backyard. This is the time of day that I find it easiest to experience “peace.” My mind and thoughts have not yet engaged with the memories of yesterday nor have they started to look forward to what may transpire on this day. The house is dark, except for the lights of the Christmas tree. This morning I took particular notice to the “halo” of light that outlined the angel on the top of the tree as the light in which she is holding created a luminescent glow on her face. Peace.
After a period of time and a half cup of coffee, I decided to turn on the TV to check out the weather and any associated headlines that I need to be aware of that may be a factor in decisions that will be made later on this day. The typical talking heads appeared with the click of the remote and their incessant drone began to break the silence that I had been enjoying. It was only moments until I could feel the tension begin to build in my temples and I realized that I was beginning to grit my teeth a bit. As I looked away from the screen toward the Christmas tree, the peace that it represented only moments ago, seemed to be fading, the light on the angel’s face no longer seemed to reflect the light as it had when all was quiet in my space.
I decided to turn off the TV to see if I could once again enjoy the moments in which my day began. Although the quiet of the house returned, I could no longer clear my mind from what the screen had introduced to it- I had quiet, yet not peace. As I reflected on this turn of events, it became obvious to me that when it was just me and God, I experienced peace. And it wasn’t even a conscious thought-just a wonderful moment of enjoying this space I was in, enjoying the thoughts of my family who only hours ago had laughed and enjoyed the fellowship of decorating the tree, finding a reverent joy in the outline of the trees against the blues of the earliest morning light, and simply seeing a simple elegance in how the face of the tree angel had a distinct glow.
It was only when I introduced “the world” with the enticing draw of the television newsfeed, that this all disappeared. John 16:33 quotes Jesus’s statement, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” My takeaway from these musings of my mind is that I need to ensure that I take this time of peace with God as often as I can. I need to start each day with these types of moments with God, because as soon as the “world” is introduced to my thought process, it is almost impossible to clear out. If you don’t have such a time each day to experience the “peace” of Jesus Christ, I highly recommend it. May have to get up a bit earlier, but trust me, it will be worth it!
Now, a few notes for this week. First of all I just want to acknowledge what a great time we had last Sunday afternoon as we gathered in fellowship to “hang the greens” in the church. Food, family, and fellowship is always the source of great joy, and there was no shortage of that as the tree was constructed, the wreaths were hung by the windows with care, and the tall wooden trees were placed in the Narthex in remembrance of George Snyder, who made each and every one by hand. All of this done with the backdrop of live Christmas music presented in the jazz tradition.
Looking forward–Yorkshire Church will remain open for in-person fellowship for those that seek this form of worship, including children’s Sunday School for all age groups. We will continue to have three classrooms open (202, 204, 206) as well as the fellowship hall where services and adult Sunday School will be live streamed to allow our folks to spread out as much as possible so that the imposed guidelines may be satisfied to allow us to continue to meet in-person. Masks are now required at all times by order of the governor as well as our District Superintendent. Exceptions will be allowed for speakers, worship leaders, and at times when eating and/or drinking. Anyone with a health condition that does not allow for continued wear of a respiratory limiting face covering will also be exempt.
It is imperative that if you have a cold, cough, or any other type of “symptoms,” that you choose to enjoy worship from the live-stream posture. Even the possibility of exposure will require quarantine protocols to be followed which in themselves are quite restrictive- so I ask that this be taken very seriously. It seems like a simple thing, but it is this type of concern that robs me of my “peace!”
A word from Holly…
I asked Dave for a bit of space in his “what’s brewing” so that I could thank you all for your kind expressions of sympathy, flowers sent and meals provided after the passing of my father. The last several months and weeks have been overwhelming for me but knowing I was being lifted in prayer by so many brought me great comfort.
To say that this has been a difficult year for my family and for so many is such an understatement. Thanksgiving looked very different for our family and Christmas will as well. We have 2 empty chairs at our holiday dinner table, those belonging to my dad and brother. I ask that you continue to pray for those who have lost loved ones this year, and stay in touch regularly with the ones you love. Stay well. Many Thanks, Holly
Have a great and blessed day and do all you can to find peace!
– pastor dave.
dkominsky@susumc.org
- Published in Latest News
Sermon, November 29, 2020 9:00AM – Yorkshire Church
Scripture References for 11.29.2020
“Overshadowed” – Luke 1: 26-38
I Peter 1:3, Matthew 25: 31-32, Exodus 40: 34-35
Other Scripture References
Micah 4-5, Luke 24:47, John 1:14, Philippians 2:3-8, Mark 9:14-20
Bible Study: Luke 10 (note verses 25-37), Luke 11, 13, 18
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Announcements, November 29, 2020
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What’s Brewing, November 29, 2020
Happy Thanksgiving to each of you!
It is a good and joyous thing to be thankful. Without looking up what being thankful means in some type of online definition, I have spent some time over the past few hours contemplating what thankful means to me. Is it an emotion? Is it a state of being? Is it a response to an action that is taken? Probably all of them, but as I said, I’m not looking up the real definition. But I have come to the ideal that thankful is a state of internal joy as a result of something received. Sometimes this may be a material object- certainly if someone gifted me a Porsche, I would feel thankful. Of course that would only be a temporary thankfulness until I needed to do some maintenance on it.
Recently, our family has experienced some difficult situations. But even in each of them, I found the ability to be thankful. Thankful for times shared, thankful for family bonding, thankful for recovery, and especially, thankful that we had a God to lean on for comfort and support. As I reflected more on this sense of “thankful” that I had, I came to the conclusion that this thankful sense that I was experiencing was much larger than the situations of our lives, and was also larger than the sum total of the things that I recognized as good that came as a result of them. A very familiar verse came to mind,
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus”. Philippians 4:6-7 (New International Version)
With all that is going on around us and often even in the midst of the outward frustration that I feel in much of it, thankfulness for so much still resonates in my being. There is no way to explain this rationally- as I sometimes would really like to vent irrationally. But thankful wins the day every time.
So, my conclusion to my mental ramblings is that this is the peace of God. That even in the midst of difficulty and challenge, this peace that God provides, is bigger than anything that we are dealing with. Unfortunately, it doesn’t mean that we won’t deal with our human emotions as we navigate the circumstances in which we find ourselves. So, I am thankful, because I have a relationship with my Father in heaven made possible by his Son, Jesus Christ. I am thankful for the gift of peace that I received from Him when I accepted Him as my Lord and Savior. I am thankful for this protection on my heart and mind, because God knows, that such protection is greatly needed…Thanks!
I am looking forward to the events of this upcoming Sunday, the first Sunday of Advent. It is my hope that our worship traditions of lighting the first candle of Advent and the Hanging of the Greens will add to the inner peace of thanksgiving that you are experiencing. Maybe our combined Sunday School study, The Christmas Experience, may stimulate feelings of joy and thanksgiving as we experience the lives of those that God used in the revealing of his Son Jesus in the small town of Bethlehem. Whether you join us for in-person fellowship, worship with your small group in one of three classrooms, the fellowship hall where the services are being live streamed on large screen televisions, or simply join us on-line, the idea that we are in worship together will be something that we can all be thankful for. Even though the situations aren’t ideal, or what we would like, it will be through this thanksgiving that we can enjoy the peace of God.
This week will be a busy one. We will have our contemporary worship at 9AM, The Christmas Experience Sunday School Study (live streamed as well) at 10AM, traditional worship at 11AM and then a time of fellowship as we “Hang the Greens” with a Pizza lunch available. We will have featured sets of music led by Matt Monticchio, our Worship Leader for the 9AM service and a special guest throughout our time of decorating. If you can’t make it, but would like to enjoy the music from home, we will live stream three various sets of music between 12:30PM and 2PM!
At 2PM, we will hold our annual Church Charge Conference with our District Superintendent, Rev. Catherine Boileau (Cathy) which should last about a half an hour. All great stuff!
Yorkshire Church will remain open for in-person fellowship for those that seek this form of worship, including children’s Sunday School for all age groups. As stated last week and inferred above, we will also have three classrooms open (202, 204, 206) as well as the fellowship hall where services and adult Sunday School will be live streamed to allow our folks to spread out as much as possible so that the imposed guidelines may be satisfied to allow us to continue to meet in-person. Through the order of the governor as well as a mandate by the Susquehanna Conference leadership, the guidance is that masks must now be worn at all times when inside the church facility. Exceptions will be allowed for speakers, worship leaders, and at times when a mask cannot be worn such as eating. Anyone with a health condition that does not allow for continued wear of a respiratory limiting face covering will also be exempt.
Yes, I find it difficult to find joy in many of these mandated guidelines that are being imposed on us, but, I do have great thankfulness in my heart that we still have the opportunity to gather as God’s Church, called to fellowship with one another, through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Yes, I am very thankful for that and for everyone that makes Yorkshire Church the Church that it is for a time such as this!
Have a great and blessed day and weekend!
- pastor dave. dkominsky@susumc.org
125 Edgewood Road, York, PA 17402 • (717)755-4952 • www.yorkshirechurch.org
- Published in Latest News
Sermon, November 22, 2020 11:00AM – Yorkshire Church
“Believing vs. Understanding” Sermon Series: “Believers or Disciples?”
Scripture Reference: John 20: 1-18
- Published in Worship Service Video
Sermon, November 22, 2020, 9:00AM – Yorkshire Church
“Believing vs. Understanding” Sermon Series: “Believers or Disciples?”
Bible Reference: John 20: 1-18
- Published in Worship Service Video
Announcements, November 22, 2020
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