Calendar and Newsletters June 2009

Stay informed of events and opportunities within the NBRC community.

• Event Calendar
• The Messenger Newsletter
• The Shepherd’s Kids and Young Adult News

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Service 05-31-2009

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In the audio podcast of this service…
The Scripture Reading starts at 27 min 05 secs:
Ephesians 4:1-16

The Sermon starts at 29 min 40 secs:
“Our Mission: Evangelism in a Pluralistic Society” by Michael Goetjen

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Audio Recordings:
Learn how you can listen to the audio files streamed over the Internet, download files to your computer or download files to your portable media player. Visit our Podcast page for complete details.

DVD recordings of the Sunday services are also available. Please contact Bruce Taggart at (908) 685-3165 with questions.

Service 05-24-2009

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[Note: The was a problem with the audio quality of this week's service.]

In the audio podcast of this service…

The Scripture Reading starts at 21 min 55 secs:
Luke 20:27-40

The Sermon starts at 24 min 35 secs:
“The Easter War” by Pastor Todd Buurstra

On the seventh Memorial Day since the Iraq War began, just shy of Easter 2003, I hope we’re far enough removed to begin a conversation about war—not a war about war. So I will encourage you to have roast rev for lunch today, or Buurstra bar-b-q tomorrow with your family. I only ask that it be a dialogue that seeks God’s truth, as opposed to a diatribe that polarizes the issue. And, I would love to carry on the conversation by phone, visit, or email together. I will try to start this conversation in the way I preach today.

So, what can we learn from God’s Easter justice about war?

Well, how does this passage talk about war? For years I’ve read this passage and thought that the Sadducees just had a theological problem with the resurrection. And they did. But what our theological companion for this Easter series, Bishop N. T. Wright has helped me to see is that they also had a moral problem with the resurrection. Why? The Sadducees were Palestine’s princes. They were, like us, the superpower in their region. But the belief in a resurrection meant that there was an afterlife, which meant there was a Judgment Day, which requires superpowers to use our power for justice in this life.

That’s Easter Justice. So Jesus, in effect, tells superpowers like Sadducees and US:

When God told Moses at the burning bush, I am the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, God wasn’t just saying, Hey, there’s life after death for these saints. God was saying, Hey, the God of your forefathers hears the cries of slaves, so help me free them!

So Easter justice moves from Resurrection=Afterlife=Judgment Day=Justice for Daily Life

But that still doesn’t apply to war. As Jesus refers to the liberation of the Hebrew slaves in this passage, it’s just a little step to ask: and how did those slaves get the Promised Land? Joshua fit de battle of Jericho… Conquest. Holy War. The first jihad.

How do you balance Invasion of the Promised Land with Jesus’ call to be Peacemakers in the Sermon on the Mount? Those who more heavily weigh Jesus’ words tend to be pacifists. Those who tend to weigh more heavily the Promised Land conquest tend to be holy warriors. Those who seek a balance tend to be Just War folk. I’ve been all three. I was raised in a family who taught me I had to fight the commies at all costs. In college I met Jesus of the Sermon on the Mount and became a Viet Nam War opposing pacifist. Now, I see the Just War position as the mature middle. What about you?

And, what does the Christian Just War theory state? Two things relating to Iraq:

War is just in God’s eyes when its fought 1) in self defense, and 2) as a last resort.

7 Memorial Days ago we were told, in direct contrast to the UN Weapons Inspectors, that there were definitely WMDs, so that we were fighting in self-defense, and that we had given Saddam every chance to comply, so that it was a last resort, even though the UN Weapons Inspectors asked for more time to complete their work. This Memorial Day we know there were no WMDs, and that listening to the inspectors might have saved a $700B.

But hindsight is 20-20, right? Except that 8 Memorial Days ago, before the March 2003 “Shock and Awe” invasion of Iraq, mainline Protestant leaders and the US Catholic Bishops, in consultation with our churches in the Middle East, told us not to pull the trigger. Based on believers on the ground they declared that an Iraq War would not be in self-defense or a last resort, and therefore not just. I taught that in a class and spoke that at the December 2002 Ecumenical Steak and Egger. Maybe had we known our Bible and theology better up to $1T could have been saved and countless lives. But here we are.

So what have we learned? Before that, have you heard the one about the little boy who was looking at all of those plaques with names of soldiers who died in the various wars in his church’s history? So he asked his pastor, Who are all of these people? The pastor replied, Those are the names of boys who died in the service. To which the boy replied, Which one? The 9 or 10:15 service? I guess their length had almost killed him.

So what might God teach America about war in light of resurrection justice and the Iraq War? One more time I’ll say, two things that I hope most of us can agree with:

1. America will not support a morally ambiguous war over the long haul.

The best question that I remember from our summer 2003 class in the Youth Lounge where we debated Just War theory and the Iraq was, Why is it that in WWII the whole country rallied around, but in the Iraq War we still have 30% opposed? My answer was that after Pearl Harbor WWII was clearly in self-defense and a last resort, the Iraq War, in my opinion, was not. America needs moral clarity, like WMDs, to support a long war.

2. Unlike Viet Nam, we must always support our troops.

Here’s my Memorial Day 2009 climax. Next week we hope to have a veteran’s testimony that couldn’t happen today. I hope that whatever our view of this war we remain fervent in support of our troops. May we never again spit on returning vets, but always thank them for their service to our country. Agree with this war or not, our troops have made all the difference!

Got enough to talk about yet? Is this what you believe our God of Easter justice teaches America about war in light of Iraq? Or is it something else? Let’s talk.

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Audio Recordings:
Learn how you can listen to the audio files streamed over the Internet, download files to your computer or download files to your portable media player. Visit our Podcast page for complete details.

DVD recordings of the Sunday services are also available. Please contact Bruce Taggart at (908) 685-3165 with questions.

Service 05-17-2009

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In the audio podcast of this service…
The Scripture Reading starts at 25 min 35 secs:
John 15:12-17

The Sermon starts at 26 min 45 secs:
“Our Task” by Pastor Mark Swart

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Audio Recordings:
Learn how you can listen to the audio files streamed over the Internet, download files to your computer or download files to your portable media player. Visit our Podcast page for complete details.

DVD recordings of the Sunday services are also available. Please contact Bruce Taggart at (908) 685-3165 with questions.

Job Search Courage Workshop

Looking Inside and Out for Hope and Help

This two-hour workshop will bring together some creative ideas on resume, networking, personal branding and job seeking along with opportunities to find new momentum in your transition.

Format will include presentation, discussion, as well as time for personal reflection and planning. Participants are encouraged to bring their resumes and written elevator speech. There will be opportunities to schedule individual meetings in the afternoon.

Date: Saturday, June 6, 2009

Time: 9:00-11:30 AM

Place: Center for Life Transitions, Hope House, 191 Church Road Bridgewater, New Jersey
(across from North Branch Reformed Church)
View map / Get driving directions

Investment: $50.00
Please make checks payable to: The Center for Life Transitions, Inc.

Mail to:
The Center for Life Transitions, Hope House
191 Church Road
Bridgewater, New Jersey 08807

Deadline for registration: June 1, 2009

Questions? Interested participants should contact Tom Bachhuber for more information.

Tell a Friend: Please download and give this flier to a friend.

Workshop Leader: Tom Bachhuber is Director of the Career Development Center at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee where he also started the UWM Career Transitions Center for adults facing career change and job loss. Dr. Bachhuber is president of the Board of Directors for The Center for Life Transitions, Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to helping people in transition. His work with both universities and corporations has been extensive, providing training, research and recruitment strategies to fortune 500 companies and consultation to over 100 major university career centers throughout the country. Tom has served as elder and adult education leader at North Branch Reformed Church in Bridgewater, New Jersey before moving to Milwaukee.

Service 05-10-2009

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In the audio podcast of this service…
The Scripture Reading starts at 35 min 45 secs:
I Peter 3:1-7

The Sermon starts at 21 min 15 secs:
“Beauty” by Pastor Todd Buurstra

In a beauty-obsessed culture, do we feel more ugly? Just look at these statistics researched by kids from Princeton High School and published in their school paper:

90% of females are dissatisfied with their bodies;

Between the ages of 11 and 13 50% of girls see themselves as overweight;

The average American woman is 5’ 4” and 140 lbs.

The average American model is 5’11” and 117 pounds.

And lastly, 25% of the anorexic cases in the US involve boys—manorexia, its dubbed.

Many feel more ugly today. So, what is beautiful in God’s eyes?
I believe God is calling me to begin with a general theology of beauty and then make a narrower Mother’s Day application to body image and physical beauty.

What is beauty in God’s eyes? First off, we don’t know if Jesus, the God-man, was handsome or ugly. Generally speaking ancient art portrayed him as ugly, because of the cross, and modern art has gussied him up a bit. Really? We don’t know. But this is what we know, if Jesus arose from the dead with a new body and he promised to renew the physical world at his return, then how things look matters. Indeed, God loves beauty.

Why? Because beauty reflects God. Rembrandt’s beautiful paintings and Tyra Bank’s beautiful body are the moon to God’s sun. In the end, God will remake the whole creation to be beautiful like God. So that John’s heavenly vision paints this picture… (Rev. 21:2) a beautiful bride. Paul described the coming new creation…

Wright helps me arrive at this statement: Art in both human bodies and life is to reflect God’s beauty in a way that does not just idolize what is, but includes what will be. Let’s take that theology apart. Idol—why are most Protestant sanctuaries whitewashed and bare? Because the Reformation threw out the art, the statues, in many cases the stained glass windows, so that worshipers wouldn’t substitute art for God. God is calling us to bring art back in. Idolize what is—Some art only glorifies the ugliness of present evil. I think of that controversial art piece of some years ago where this crucifix was doused in urine. It was called piss on Christ. That only glorifies the worst, and most disrespectful part of reality. But includes what will be—Exclusive focus on this is where art can get syrupy, but I love art that balances present reality with future hope. The Peaceable Kingdom is good art because Penn is doing the hard work for peace with the Indians, reality, as a foretaste of the lion lying down with the lamb in God’s future.

So, Holy Spirit, apply this to Mother’s Day. Now I’m asking the lector to read this beautiful, but controversial, passage…. To get to the beauty of God we have to go through the ugliness of man. In Roman culture a husband had absolute authority over his wife, even to the point of killing her without penalty. So women were coming to Christ because they found freedom as equals in the church, as God wants. But how then should they relate to their pagan domineering hubbies? Very carefully, Paul advises. Keep submitting to win them over, thereby showing a beauty beyond hairstyle and clothes. Redefine beauty.

While God’s Spirit has achieved the intended equality between husband and wife, we still need to redefine beauty. Take this letter to Mom that defines beauty the old way…

Proverbs says, Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord shall be praised. We need to redefine beauty to acceptance of our body type, be it tall and skinny, short and stout, big boned, petite. We are beautiful the way God made us. Tell your neighbor: You are beautiful just the way you are… For accepting the way God made us allows us to cultivate an inner beauty of a Christlike character—submission, albeit of hubbie to wife just as much as wife to hubbie, a gentle and quiet spirit, patience, assertive confidence, faithfulness, etc. In short to quote Jessie McCartney, a beautiful soul.
Does anyone, but me, remember the Sesame Street puppet story of the little boy looking for the most bee-uuu-tiful mother in the world? The boy puppet went from Ernie to Bert to Oscar asking, Have you seen the most be-uuu-tiful mother in the world? No, no, no, they said. Until finally she showed up, but she was hardly beautiful. She looked more like a grandmother than a model. Sesame Street was redefining beauty, as God calls us. How can you—father, son, mother, daughter—help the folks around you redefine it today?

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Audio Recordings:
Learn how you can listen to the audio files streamed over the Internet, download files to your computer or download files to your portable media player. Visit our Podcast page for complete details.

DVD recordings of the Sunday services are also available. Please contact Bruce Taggart at (908) 685-3165 with questions.

Service 05-03-2009

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In the audio podcast of this service, the Reading starts at 19 min 15 secs:
Matthew 7:13-23

The Sermon starts at 21 min 15 secs:
Hell: Beyond Hope, Beyond Pity

Pastor Todd Buurstra

Since Easter is all about Jesus coming back from the dead, there is a direct link to life after death. Last week we touched on Jesus’ ascension to heaven, this week, hell.

Hell is a controversial topic because of the ancient image of a place of torture. Even long before Dante’s Inferno and Jonathon Edward’s Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, is a 2nd or 3rd century book that almost made it into the Bible. Its called: The Apocalypse of Peter. In it Jesus gives Peter a tour of hell by showing him the appropriate punishment with which each sinner is tormented. Liars are hanged by their tongues over the eternal flames. Women who seduced men by braiding their hair, were hanged over the fiery pit by those very braids. Men who gave in to the seductions are hanged over the fire, ah,…by a different body part. If that book made the Bible, you couldn’t illustrate it!

Is eternal damnation just a relic of the grim past? Today many mainline Protes-tants do not believe in Hell, only Heaven. After almost 100 funerals in my ministry, 51 of which have been here, I have never had anyone stand next to the casket and say, Yup, that old coon is probably roasting right now. All believe Grampa is fireproofed in God’s arms

So, is eternal damnation a relic of the grim past?

But I get the impression that sometimes Jesus thinks otherwise when he commands … That word “few” is sobering. And when I read Jesus words, I remember a story from Marble Collegiate’s new preacher, Michael Brown. A family surrounded Grandma on her deathbed. As she struggled for her last breath, her eyes widened and she spoke her last words to the empty foot of her bed, What! You don’t know me? as she drifted into eternity.

Honestly, Jesus was often talking more about an earthly hell than a heavenly hell. The image of the fiery pit comes from the constantly smoldering garbage dump outside of Jerusalem. Though Jesus did refer to an eternal hell, N.T. Wright explains Jesus’ usual earthly hell message this way: (p. 176)… There is an earthly hell for whose sufferers we will pray during confidential healing prayers in the Chancel area at Communion time.

But what do we make of Jesus’ other hell statements? Is there eternal damnation? My theology says YES for two reasons: First, if God is just then there must be a final judgment. For, if you agree, like I do, with our good bishop that … then Judgment Day is heaven’s remedy to right earth’s wrongs. The CEO of the filthy pig farm that may have incubated the swine flu may never be indicted in this life, but misused free will demands consequences. In the end God must say to those who chose to turn their backs on Right, It’s your choice. And they will get an eternal leave from God and all that’s good.

Secondly, we see the beginnings of God’s judgment on earth. Those who choose to follow our culture and worship, not Christ, but money, sex and power dehumanize themselves. Just note a money worshiper like Bernie Madoff, a sex worshiper like Hugh Hefner, and power worshipers like the Taliban. All are less human than God intended.

So this brings us to N. T. Wright’s fascinating concept of hell. Maybe its not a place of raging fire and the hangman’s rope; i.e., torment. But maybe hell is the natural consequence of dehumanizing behaviors where beings once named Bernie, Hugh and Omar, created in God’s image, no longer bear any resemblance to their Maker’s dignity. Sub-human, they are, in the bishop’s words of today’s title, beyond hope and beyond pity.

The good news is that at this table we celebrate Jesus’ invitation for all to be His forever. Come gladly this morning rejoicing that Jesus welcomes and saves you forever!

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Audio Recordings:
Learn how you can listen to the audio files streamed over the Internet, download files to your computer or download files to your portable media player. Visit our Podcast page for complete details.