Grace and Peace

"The true test of both calling and character," writes Carol Bechtel, "is whether we can trust God and act faithfully in times of uncertainty." Guest preacher Susan Frost explores how such trust causes our lives to blossom with gifts for one another, just as the roadside lilies open to the sun.

Susan Frost is a 2020 graduate of Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School, has served two congregations as a Commissioned Ruling Elder (lay pastor), and is a candidate for ministry under care of the presbytery of Geneva. She preached "The True Test" on July 12, 2020.

Scripture readings: Psalm 119:105-112 & Luke 12:22-31.

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Love is the gift that makes all other gifts possible. Yet this gift is also work, requiring us to stretch ourselves and nurture growth in one another. Lest we worry we're not up to the task, the cross reminds us that God has already extended God's very self to us in Jesus Christ.

Pastor Ben Masters preached "Love Is as Love Does" on July 5, 2020, at Hector Presbyterian Church.

Scripture readings: Exodus 34:1-10 & 1 Corinthians 13:1-13.

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One body, many members: this is Paul's enduring image of the church. Easy to say, hard to live. Five women from the Book of Numbers—Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah, the daughters of Zelophehad—tell their story about taking their place in the covenant community, a body defined and redefined by God.

Pastor Ben Masters preached "Being (Re)Defined by God" on June 28, 2020, at Hector Presbyterian Church.

Scripture readings: Numbers 27:1-11 & 1 Corinthians 12:12-27

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Can Christians eat meat consecrated to other gods? Paul asks a different question: How do I, free in Christ, glorify God? As it turns out, caring for the neighbor is inseparably part of the answer. For us living through a pandemic, the Corinthians' debate about eating meat can help us approach the matter of wearing masks.

Pastor Ben Masters preached "Meat, Masks, and the Glory of God" on June 21, 2020, at Hector Presbyterian Church.

Scripture readings: Exodus 34:11-17 & 1 Corinthians 10:17-11:1

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In the Book of Numbers, no less than in our newsfeeds, we glimpse how sin co-opts good people into coldness of heart. When Paul writes to the church in Corinth, he shatters their frozen factions with the message of the cross: God's challenge and God's love.

Pastor Ben Masters preached "God Hearts and the Crucified God" on June 14, 2020, at Hector Presbyterian Church.

Scripture readings: Numbers 16:1-15 & 1 Corinthians 1:10-18, 3:1-9

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At the table of the Lord—where there is enough bread, enough love, and enough dignity for all—we hear God's "YES." But we also hear God's "NO" to anything that harms members of the covenant community, even if that harm is based on accepted, conventional wisdom. God's wisdom, foolish as its sounds to human ears, extends a promise of a better world and a wider table.

Pastor Ben Masters preached "No and Yes at the Table of the Lord" on June 7, 2020, at Hector Presbyterian Church.

Scripture readings: Exodus 23:1-11 and 24:4-11 & 1 Corinthians 11:17-34

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On Pentecost Sunday we rejoice in the gift of the Holy Spirit. Now more than ever, in the wake of George Floyd's murder, with riots against racist violence rippling across the country, we stand in need of the Spirit's power to forge relationships. The good news is that God does not withhold the Spirit, but pours out wisdom and grace on us all.

Pastor Ben Masters preached "The Miracle We Need" on May 31, 2020, Pentecost Sunday, at Hector Presbyterian Church.

Scripture readings: Numbers 11:10-17, 24-30 & 1 Corinthians 2:1-16.

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Thumbnail art: Logan Weaver.

Standing on our shorelines, terrible waves of pain and death crashing over us, we can feel alone in our suffering. But God cares about us, stands with us, and weaves our lives with those around us. At the conclusion of our sermon series on the first letter bearing Peter's name, we marvel at the God of all grace who is active in our lives.

Pastor Ben Masters preached "God Cares About You" on May 24, 2020, the seventh and final Sunday in the Easter Season, at Hector Presbyterian Church.

Scripture readings: Psalm 31:1-16 & 1 Peter 5:6-14.

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"The end of everything has come." (1 Peter 4:7) Now what? How do we take the next step into God's new beginning? Our sermon series on the first letter bearing Peter's name continues, giving glory to God for the grace that makes us fully alive.

Pastor Ben Masters preached "The Next Step after the End" on May 17, 2020, the sixth Sunday in the Easter Season, at Hector Presbyterian Church.

Watch a video of Megan, our youngest liturgist, read the story of the fiery furnace from Daniel from the Spark Story Bible (Sparkhouse, 2009).

Scripture readings: Daniel 3:1-30 & 1 Peter 4:1-16.

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"Whenever anyone asks you to speak of your hope, be ready to defend it." (1 Peter 3:15). These days, when hope is in short supply, we need to stay in that space where a heart comes close to cracking; that is where God will meet us. Our sermon series on the first letter bearing Peter's name continues, grounding us in God's love.

Pastor Ben Masters preached "Hope for Hearts Close to Cracking" on May 10, 2020, the fifth Sunday in the Easter Season, at Hector Presbyterian Church.

Thanks to Rev. Susan Lynch for composing and sharing the song "Another World Is Not Only Possible." Words: Arundhati Roy, War Talk, 2003. Music: Susan P. Lynch, 2019.

Scripture readings: Psalm 34 & 1 Peter 3:8-22.

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