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Rev. Eric Anderson Sermons

Sermon: Receive the Holy Spirit

May 24, 2026

Acts 2:1-21
John 20:19-23

There’s a reason why this morning’s story about the house finch guarding his treasure had him guarding… whatever it was. I think we have a similar problem with the Holy Spirit. We know it’s valuable. We know it’s important. We know it’s something to embrace. But…

What is it? When we receive the Holy Spriit, what do we receive?

It doesn’t help that we have two Scriptures offered by the editors of the Revised Common Lectionary for Pentecost with, shall we say, rather different ideas of how the Holy Spirit was given to Jesus’ disciples after his resurrection. The one we probably know better is the Pentecost account from Acts of the Apostles. Jesus had been raised but he had also departed, promising his followers the gift of the Holy Spirit. About a hundred and twenty of them kept close to one another in Jerusalem, and many if not all of them got together to observe the Savuot holiday together. Savuot was one of the three holidays that attracted Jews to Jerusalem in the first century, along with Sukkot in the fall and Passover earlier in the spring. In fact, the Greek name Pentecost stands for the fifty days between Passover and Savuot.

Whatever they’d planned – which was probably Temple worship at some point in the day – the Holy Spirit changed their plans with a rush like a violent wind, the signs of tongues on their heads, then speaking different tongues, and being so successful in proclaiming God’s inviting mercy that their community grew 2,500%.

As Margaret Aymer writes at Working Preacher, “The Holy Spirit proves not to be a quiet, heavenly dove but, rather, a violent force that blows the church into being (Acts 2:41–47). That church consists mainly of immigrants, people of different languages and cultures with different mother tongues (Acts 2:5, 9–12, 14). To these, the message goes forth: a message of the coming of the day of the Lord, full of heavenly portents and prophetic women, slaves, and men. But in the midst of the chaos of Pentecost rests an anchor: Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

In contrast, we have John’s account of the gift of the Holy Spirit. The setting is much different: the evening of Easter Day itself. Just a few of the disciples were gathered in a private, even locked space. As Cody J. Sanders writes at Working Preacher, “John’s scene is an intimate proximity of bodies and breath, fright giving way to peace, signs of death bespeaking new life, and a renewed mission for those whose world had seemingly come to an end.”

On the one hand: Close friends gathered alone. The gentle breeze of a human breath. A promise of forgiveness.

On the other hand: Close friends gathered, then driven out into the crowds. The roar of a mighty wind. And… a promise of forgiveness.

One of my convictions about the Holy Spirit is that the Spirit’s manifestations simply aren’t predictable. I recall Elijah’s journey to the mountain of the Law, where he found that the great events of wind, fire, and earthquake were not full of the Spirit, but the “sound of sheer silence” was. I recall that the Spirit visited Jeremiah when he thought he was too young and Mary when she was not a married adult. I recall that the Spirit came to foreigners, not just foreigners, to a Roman officer’s household, and that the Spirit transformed someone fully convinced that the Jesus movement must be ended.

There are so many others. The Spirit doesn’t do what I expect it to do, or what you expect it to do, or what Elijah, Moses, Jeremiah, Mary, Simon Peter, or the Apostle Paul expected it to do.

So what does mark the Holy Spirit?

I’d have to say that the first sign is probably disruption. There’s that unpredictability again, but it’s also because the Holy Spirit isn’t that interested in changing things that are good and right and true. The Holy Spirit intervenes when things are going badly, wrongly, and falsely – or at least when they could be substantially better. The Pentecost story from Acts is disruptive from start to finish, changing the little Jesus community’s plans not just for the day but for the rest of their lives.

John’s account is gentler, but it’s disruptive, too. This was Jesus’ first appearance to the disciples on Easter, and in John’s gospel it took two more visits to shake them out of the notion that they were going to go on with life as usual. When you hear Jesus say, “Receive the Holy Spirit” here, you should probably also hear what he said in the next chapter: “Feed my sheep.”

What else marks the Holy Spirit?

Jesus’ first words to his friends as he appeared among them was, “Peace be with you.” A mark of the Holy Spirit is peace.

If that seems inconsistent with disruption, Jesus spoke those words in the aftermath of state-authorized violence: his arrest, trial, and crucifixion. He lived, and we live, in an age where wars tragically rage among nations and within nations. By the time John’s Gospel was written, Roman armies had swept over the ground Jesus walked and destroyed the Jerusalem Temple.

I’d argue that the world needs some serious disruption to live in peace. As Angela N. Parker writes at Working Preacher, “Jesus has given us a double portion of peace to breathe again. Let us be Jesus followers that transform society instead of being fearful disciples who are holding our collective breath.”

What else marks the Holy Spirit?

Forgiveness and inclusion.

In John, Jesus’ final words were that his followers had been given the power to forgive. I grant you that’s a power you may not want. It’s too big for most of us. Personally, I’m concerned that if I’m responsible for forgiveness there are some people who definitely need it who aren’t going to get it.

Forgiveness is a simple concept. When somebody does something that brings harm to someone else, which might be another person, or God, or both, then that person is obligated to make things right. In religious terms, they have to repent, they have to make restitution, and they have to reform their future behavior. If they do that, if they apologize and try to correct the harm they did, the person they injured has the opportunity to forgive.

Human beings do that a lot. They do things, and then they say, “I’m sorry,” and they try to fix it, and the person they harmed says, “It’s all right.”

Part of our understanding about sin and forgiveness is that God gets involved. God doesn’t want people harming one another, so injuring another person is also a sin against God. When we apologize to the person we harmed, we also need to apologize to God.

Jesus was clear that apologizing to God alone is not enough. In the Sermon on the Mount, he told his hearers that when bringing an offering to God seeking forgiveness, they needed to first make things right with the people they’d harmed. It’s important to apologize to God, but Jesus made clear that that wouldn’t have any impact if there’d been no apology to the people involved.

The current affection for non-apology apologies, “I’m sorry if I offended anyone,” and the assertion that “God has forgiven me, so I don’t need to make things right with anyone else,” are both bad theology and bad for human relationships.

When Jesus told his disciples that they had the power to forgive, he told them that they had the power to help people through their repentance to others and come to repentance to God.

They still need to take the steps themselves, however. Forgiveness without repentance and restitution isn’t forgiveness. It’s just license. Permission to cause harm.

Simon Peter, in quoting from the prophet Joel, made clear that the gift of the Holy Spirit would lead to salvation. He made it clear that many of the restrictions people usually apply to human societies would not be honored by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit comes to young and old, men and women, rich and poor, respected and discounted.

The Holy Spirit comes even to you and to me, who would probably prefer less disruption in life, who would like peace but aren’t sure what a world at peace looks like, and who are somewhat anxious to hear that God pays attention to whether we forgive someone or not. The Holy Spirit comes so that we get shaken from our complacency, so that we no longer accept the violence and coercion so common in the world. The Holy Spirit comes to give us courage to forgive when people apologize to us, and help them find their way to their further forgiveness by God:

So that all the world might be saved.

Amen.

by Eric Anderson

Watch the Recorded Sermon

Pastor Eric makes changes from his prepared text while preaching, so the sermon as written does not precisely match the sermon as preached.

The image is The Virgin Surrounded Twelve Apostles or The Holy Ghost Appears by the Master of the Crucifix of Pesaro, ca. 1380. Photograph by Rama, Wikimedia Commons, Cc-by-sa-2.0-fr, CC BY-SA 2.0 fr, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11148957.

holycrosshilo Worship Services

Worship for May 24, 2026

Thank you for joining us for this live stream (or recording, as the case may be) of Sunday worship. May it bless you! You may need to click “Play” to launch the stream, which will be live around 9:50 AM.

Welcome to the live stream of worship from Church of the Holy Cross for Sunday, May 24, 2026. You will find the service outline below, and you may download and print the PDF to follow more easily. 

Worship Bulletin for May 24 2026 (PDF)Download
Story Whatever It Was (PDF)Download
Sermon: Receive the Holy Spirit (PDF)Download
Pastoral Prayer (PDF)Download

Service of Worship May 24, 2026
Pentecost Sunday

Rev. Eric S. Anderson, Pastor

WE GATHER TO WORSHIP GOD

Please note that audio and video of this service are being live streamed on the Internet and will be recorded. The right rear section of the sanctuary will not be captured by any cameras. Please be aware that in other sections you may be visible at times.

Prelude: Brother James Air     Kayleen Yuda

Lighting of the Candles

Ringing of the Bell

Welcome:               Rev. Eric S. Anderson

Moment for Mission

* Call to Worship (based on 1 Corinthians 12:3-13)                  Lorraine Davis

Leader:   There are varieties of gifts but the same Spirit,
People:  There are varieties of services but the same God.

Leader:   Each of us receives the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
People:  The Spirit gives us wisdom and knowledge.

Leader:   The spirit gives us faith and healing.
People:  Just as the body is one and has many parts, we all drink from the one Spirit.

All:           Let us worship God!

* Hymn #272: On Pentecost They Gathered (v. 1 – 4)

* Invocation (based on Numbers 11:24-30)                  Lorraine Davis

Moses once said, “Would that all God’s people were prophets!” To be frank, O God, it is a gift that frightens us – yet we do pray for your Holy Spirit to guide us, encourage us, and strengthen us in faith and action. Put your Spirit upon us in this time of worship, and in all the times of our days. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Please be seated

WE SHARE THE WORD OF GOD

Anthem: God Will Open Doors                       Laural Bragg

Time with the Children          Rev. Eric S. Anderson

Scripture:               Lorraine Davis

Acts 2:1-21

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

Now there were devout Jews from every people under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.” All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But others sneered and said, “They are filled with new wine.”

But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, “Fellow Jews[a] and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:

‘In the last days it will be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,
    and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
    and your old men shall dream dreams.
Even upon my slaves, both men and women,
    in those days I will pour out my Spirit,
        and they shall prophesy.
And I will show portents in the heaven above
    and signs on the earth below,
        blood, and fire, and smoky mist.
The sun shall be turned to darkness
    and the moon to blood,
        before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day.
Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

John 20:19-23

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors were locked where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

Sermon: Receive the Holy Spirit                   Rev. Eric S. Anderson

WE RESPOND IN WORD AND DEED

Pastoral Prayer Rev. Eric S. Anderson

Please join me in the Lord’s Prayer         
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.

* Hymn #267: Come, O Spirit, Dwell among Us (v. 1-3)

Call to Offering    Lorraine Davis

God gave us the gifts of the Holy Spirit to share with those around us: peace, forgiveness, life, joy, and understanding. Let us provide gifts that help others receive those blessings. Whether you share your gift here in the church today, through a gift online, or via an envelope in the mail, let the offering now be received.

Offertory: Et Incarnatus           Kayleen Yuda

* Doxology

Praise God from whom all blessings flow,
Praise Him all creatures here below
Praise Him above ye heavenly host
Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost – Amen

* Offertory Prayer                     Lorraine Davis

In Jesus’ resurrection you have promised us life, peace, and forgiveness, O God, and through the gift of the Holy Spirit you have offered those to everyone in the world. May these gifts help us share life, peace, and forgiveness with those far and near. Amen.

* Hymn #270: Like the Murmur of the Dove’s Song (v. 1 – 3)

Please be seated

Announcements Rev. Eric S. Anderson

Benediction          Rev. Eric S. Anderson

Postlude: Rejoice, the Lord Is King              Kayleen Yuda

* Please stand if you are able.

PERMISSIONS

Brother James’ Air #05319
James L. MacBeth Bain
© 2004, Oxford University Press
Streamed by permission ONELICENSE A-735890

On Pentecost They Gathered
Text by Jane Parker Huber, 1981, rev. 1993
© 1981 Jane Parker Huber
(admin. Westminster John Knox Press)
Tune MUNICH first pub. 1693
Public Domain
Streamed by permission ONELICENSE A-735890

God Will Open Doors
Written by Laural Bragg
Used with Permission of Laural Bragg

Come, O Spirit, Dwell among Us
Text by Janie Alford, 1979
© 1979 Hope Publishing Company
Tune EBENEZAR by Thomas J. Williams, 1890
Public Domain
Streamed by permission ONELICENSE A-735890

Et Incarnatus #1054660
Franz Joseph Hayden, Martha C. Hopkins
© 1980 Lorenz Publishing Company,
a division of The Lorenz Corporation

Like the Murmur of the Dove’s Song
Text by Carl P. Daw, Jr., 1982
© 1982 Hope Publishing Company
Tune BRIDEGROOM by Peter Cutts, 1969
© 1969 Hope Publishing Company
Streamed by permission ONELICENSE A-735890

Rejoice, The Lord is King
John Darwall, Arranged by Albin Witworth
© 1982 Glory Sound a division of Shawnee Press, Inc

IMPORTANT DATES

Sundays, 8:30 a.m. – Holy Cross Singers Rehearsal in the Lounge
Wednesdays, 11:00 a.m. – One Song from Church of the Holy Cross streamed live
Wednesdays, 5:00 p.m. – Bible Study in person, in Pastor’s Study or via Zoom
Fridays, 9:00 a.m. – Bell Choir Rehearsal in the Building of Faith Meeting Room
Interested in pickleball? Contact Connie at 808-936-7534 or Ruth at rnduponte07@gmail.com

Other Faith Groups that meet at Church of the Holy Cross

The United Church of Christ, Pohnpei – Sanctuary, 12 noon
            Rev. Bensis Henry
Congregational Christian Church of American Samoa – Sanctuary, 2:00 p.m.
            Rev. Sitau Ofoia, Jr.
The Bedesta Church – Sanctuary, 4 p.m.   
Rev.  Edmes Edwin

Pastor          Rev. Eric S. Anderson
Moderator             Lorraine Davis
Vice Moderator Elwood Kita
Lay Reader       Lorraine Davis
Chapel Decorations   Laura Ota, in memory of Eileen Shiraishi
Organist / Pianist     Kayleen Yuda   
Guest Musician & Vocalist Laural Bragg
Music Director-Accompanist Bob Grove
Hand Bell Director        Anna Kennedy 
IYAA Choir Director Stuart Mori  
Projected Imagery        Sue Smith
Live Stream Director         Ruth Niino-DuPonte. Bob Smith 
Videographers    Eric Tanouye, Bob Smith, Woody Kita,
            Mace Peng, Cindy Debus
Sound Engineer Ben Yamaki
Sunday School Teacher          Gloria Kobayashi
Sunday School Aide      Johanna Narruhn
Office Manager Kahealani Mahone-Brooks

We welcome you to worship this day. Church of the Holy Cross seeks to help its members, friends, and visitors follow the guidance of God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit, encouraging all people to love one another according to the teachings of Jesus. We live and teach the faith, speak good news, minister to people near and far, and work with other households of faith and helping agencies to improve our community and our world. To support our ministries, please visit our Donate Page.

Rev. Eric Anderson What I'm Thinking

What I’m Thinking: Pentecost Power

The power given us by the Holy Spirit is purposeful: it helps us promote peace, extend forgiveness, and renew life.

Here’s a transcript:

I’m thinking about the second chapter of Acts of the Apostles (Acts 2:1-21), because this coming Sunday is Pentecost Sunday.

Pentecost is an older holiday than Christianity. It was celebrated in Judaism for millennia before Jesus’ followers gathered in some place in Jerusalem to observe the day. We know that they began in some place together. Perhaps later in the day they planned to go worship in the temple. We don’t know. What we do know was that whatever their plans were, they were disrupted.

There was the sound of a rush of a mighty wind. There was something that played above their heads that others later described as looking like tongues of fire. They came outside and began to speak to people about God’s deeds of power in Jesus. And when they did so, they spoke in languages that were not native to them, languages that until that day they had not spoken.

Pentecost became, for Christians, the holiday which celebrates the gift of the Holy Spirit. And indeed it’s paired in the lectionary with the twentieth chapter of John (John 20:19-23), in which on the day of his resurrection, Jesus said to his followers, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

There is a lot that can be said and has been said and will be said about the gift of the Holy Spirit to the followers of Jesus. The Holy Spirit is literally the foundation of the church. We exist because the Holy Spirit gathers us and we continue to serve from the power that the Holy Spirit gives to us. But let’s be careful about what that power is.

When Jesus spoke to his disciples, he said to them, “Peace be with you.” So first of all, the power of the Holy Spirit is the power of peace.

Jesus also said, and later Peter would say in that sermon on Pentecost, the the power was the forgiveness of sins: not the power of condemnation, the power of restoration and belonging.

And it is the power of life and of resurrected life. The power of the Holy Spirit is what lifts us up when we are cast down, what gives us strength to continue doing what is good and right and true when we think we have run out. The power of the Holy Spirit is the power to take our bodies when we have laid them down at the end of our lives, pick them back up again in a grand resurrection, and restore us to one another and to God in the realm that is to come.

That’s what I’m thinking. I’m curious to hear what you’re thinking. Leave me your thoughts in the comment section below. I’d love to hear from you.

Rev. Eric Anderson Sermons, Uncategorized

Sermon: Suffering and Rejoicing

May 17, 2026

1 Peter 4:12-14, 5:6-11
John 17:1-11

Suffering is one of the great questions confronting religion – any religion. Christianity, it must be said, doesn’t have as close a focus on it as other faiths. Christianity has much clearer answers to the questions of sin – we are forgiven through Jesus Christ – and death – we are promised resurrection in Jesus Christ. Buddhism, in contrast, concentrates on suffering and offers a pathway out of Samsara, the loop of lives in which people suffer.

It isn’t our prioritized concern, but Christians experience suffering and they think about it. “Suffering is a major theme in 1 Peter,” writes Jennifer Kaalund at Working Preacher. “The word is mentioned twelve times in this short letter. This repetition makes it clear that the audience is experiencing difficult circumstances. And yet the writer wants to remind them that they are not alone in their suffering.”

Nobody is alone in suffering, you know. Suffering is one of the shared experiences of the human condition. We don’t suffer all the time, thank God. But we all know what it is from experiences of hunger and thirst, injury and illness, failure and disappointment, pain and fear, loss and grief.

The easiest way to understand suffering is that if you’re suffering, you’ve done something to bring it on. It’s easiest because, let’s face it, it’s so often true. My parents used to tell a story about a camping trip we took when I was quite young, maybe two or three years old. My mother had been cooking on a camp stove in a cast iron frying pan, and little me walked over and grasped the hot handle. I don’t remember anything about this, but apparently they had to get me to a doctor, which was awkward because we were on an island without one.

You know and I know that we’ve done comparable things with rather more knowledge of the consequences than little Eric not understanding about hot frying pans. We’ve known something was hot. We’ve known it was going to hurt – sometimes hurt more people than us – and for whatever reasons we came up with at the time, we reached out and grasped the handle.

We saw lots of examples of this during the pandemic, people disregarding precautions, avoiding vaccines, even courting illness with dreadful consequences. A number of folks noted, aghast, that we are going to have to retire the phrase “avoid it like the plague” because, it seems, fewer people than you’d think actively avoid the plague.

Often enough, however, the easy explanation that somebody suffers because they did something to deserve it is plain wrong. Illness, including pandemic-borne illness, happens. It just happens. It doesn’t need any human intervention, knowing or unknowing, to make people sick. I see a dermatologist twice a year because my skin is vulnerable to sunlight. What did I do to create that condition? I was born. That’s it. No further intervention was necessary. I’m not going to change it with exercise, diet, or medication. I can decrease the risk of skin illness, but I can’t change the basic vulnerability.

Random suffering isn’t satisfying. It can’t be. People like life to have meaning, and when suffering becomes part of life, it should be meaningful. The simple truth is that sometimes it isn’t. It’s just suffering.

Early Christianity had to deal with a further example of suffering, and that was the crucifixion of Jesus himself. It could not be explained that he had deserved it – that wouldn’t work. And it could not be called simply random. Jesus himself had said it was meaningful, even necessary to his work. As time went on, other early Christian leaders also began suffering, frequently, as Jesus had, at the hands of the authorities. That wasn’t how things were supposed to work in a properly ordered world.

The world, clearly, was not properly ordered.

Dr. Kaalund writes, “[Jesus’] crucifixion was the result of an attempt to transform oppressive systems, to assert the importance of the lives of marginalized people, indeed, to challenge a worldview that suffering of the many was necessary for the pleasure of a few… We share in Christ’s suffering when justice is denied, when righteousness is not realized, and when the conditions for peace are elusive. So the author of the letter reminds the audience that they should not be surprised when they are standing for righteousness, fighting for justice, and are pursuing peace that they are met with obstacles and challenges. Jesus, too, was challenged in this pursuit.”

Dr. Kaalund illustrates two more sources of suffering. The first comes from the deliberate actions of other people. Some of these people harm others from outside the law – we call them criminals, and we have an entire structure of codes, enforcement officers, and processes to determine responsibility and to deal with their actions. Their actions bring a lot of suffering.

Some of the people bringing suffering, however, operate inside the law. Those were the people inflicting the “fiery trial” on the original readers of this letter. They were magistrates, city councilors, governors, possibly even the Emperor himself if First Peter was written during the reign of Domitian. Undeserved suffering has been inflicted by governments countless times over the centuries, and it has probably done vastly more harm than the operations of criminals, because they’ve got a lot more resources to do it with. Remember that Jesus’ crucifixion was legal. Peter and Paul’s executions were legal. Martyr after martyr died with the full assent of the law.

Slavery was legal. Keeping women from voting was legal. The death penalty for gay and lesbian people is legal in seven UN member nations. The Holocaust was legal. The family separations of the first Trump administration were, as far as the courts have weighed in, legal. And the chaotic sweeps that have brought so much suffering to American cities have been, with some contested exceptions, legal. Legal, and by inflicting so much suffering, horribly wrong.

First Peter raises a further source of suffering: suffering as the result of doing what is good, and right, and true. That was the experience of those enduring the “fiery trial.” They were trying to follow the ways of Jesus, and like Jesus, they were suffering. As Valerie Nicolet writes at Working Preacher, “1 Peter reminds us that what is at stake in the sufferings of Christ-believers is not so much what they believed but what they did. Because they believed that Christ was Lord, and not Caesar, they strived to establish communities marked by love and solidarity rather than by hierarchy and a system of patronage and debt.”

First Peter invites us to rejoice in our sufferings, some of the most bizarre advice given us in religious literature. He could do this because so much of the suffering his readers experienced was of that last kind, related not to their mistakes or random chance or prejudice but to their own diligence in following Christ. Suffering can be an affirmation that one is doing the right thing, and that is a source of rejoicing.

But as Jimmy Hoke writes at Working Preacher, “Exceptionalized suffering lacks solidarity with all who suffer… A critical approach to this passage in light of Christianity’s power to inflict systemic suffering demands rethinking whose suffering counts. Instead of moralizing what and whose suffering counts, this requires asking what it means to roar with solidarity for all who suffer.”

Can we come to aid those who suffer randomly, or worse yet, for their own actions? Of course we can. My parents swooped me off to a doctor when I grasped that hot pan. It’s what we do for children. There’s no reason not to do it for adults.

But what about rejoicing? Do we rejoice within our sufferings if they’re random, or self-inflicted, or more related to something we can’t control about ourselves than actual virtue?

We can, I think, rejoice within our suffering if not because of our suffering, because we are never alone in our suffering. We are all beneath the mighty hand of God, or as the old song puts it, God’s got the whole world in his hand.

We don’t rejoice because it hurts. We rejoice because we have God with us. We rejoice because we have more strength, more confidence, more commitment, than we would have otherwise.

And we rejoice because we know that though our road has led to suffering, it leads beyond it to a better and brighter day. “…The God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you.”

It’s a hope and a promise in which to rejoice.

Amen.

by Eric Anderson

Watch the Recorded Sermon

Pastor Eric prepares a full text for his sermons, but he does make changes while preaching. The sermon as written and the sermon as presented are not identical.

The image is a carving of the mask of tragedy by Carl Milles in Stockholm, Sweden. Photo by Holger.Ellgaard – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4326478.

holycrosshilo Worship Services

Worship for May 17, 2026

Thank you for joining us for this live stream (or recording, as the case may be) of Sunday worship. May it bless you! You may need to click “Play” to launch the stream, which will be live around 9:50 AM.

Welcome to the live stream of worship from Church of the Holy Cross for Sunday, May 17, 2026. You will find the service outline below, and you may download and print the PDF to follow more easily. 

Worship Bulletin for May 17 2026 (PDF)Download
Story: Bully’s Progress (PDF)Download
Sermon: Suffering and Rejoicing (PDF)Download
Pastoral Prayer (PDF)Download

Service of Worship May 17 2026
Seventh Sunday of Easter

Rev. Eric S. Anderson, Pastor

WE GATHER TO WORSHIP GOD

Please note that audio and video of this service are being live streamed on the Internet and will be recorded. The right rear section of the sanctuary will not be captured by any cameras. Please be aware that in other sections you may be visible at times.

Prelude: Allegretto                     Kayleen Yuda

Lighting of the Candles

Ringing of the Bell

Welcome:                Rev. Eric S. Anderson

*Call to Worship (based on Psalm 68:1-10, 32-35)                   Anna Kennedy

Leader:   Let the righteous be joyful, let them be jubilant with joy.
People:   We will sing a song to the One who rides upon the clouds and exult before our Maker.

Leader:   God adopts the orphans and protects the widows.
People:   God gives the desolate a home to live in and leads the prisoners to prosperity.

Leader:   Ascribe power to God, whose majesty climbs from the earth to the skies.
People:   May our wondrous God bring power and strength to all people.

All:           Let us worship God!

Hymn #403: My Hope is Built on Nothing Less (v. 1-4)

Invocation (based on Acts 1:6-14)            Anna Kennedy

We stand with Christ’s disciples centuries ago, who wondered but did not learn when the world would change. May we do as they did, and bear witness to your love and grace in Jesus, and contribute to a new and better world. Bless us as we gather today in prayer, and tomorrow as we devote ourselves to serving your realm. Amen.

Please be seated

WE SHARE THE WORD OF GOD

Anthem: The Apple Tree Holy Cross Singers

Time with the Children Rev. Eric S. Anderson

Scripture: Anna Kennedy

1 Peter 4:12-14, 5:6-11

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that is taking place among you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you are sharing Christ’s sufferings, so that you may also be glad and shout for joy when his glory is revealed. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the spirit of glory, which is the Spirit of God, is resting on you. 

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you. Discipline yourselves; keep alert. Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour. Resist him, steadfast in your faith, for you know that your brothers and sisters in all the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering. And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the power forever and ever. Amen.

John 17:1-11

After Jesus had spoken these words, he looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed.

“I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you have given me is from you,for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you, and they have believed that you sent me. I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I have been glorified in them. And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.

Sermon: Suffering and Rejoicing                   Rev. Eric S. Anderson

WE RESPOND IN WORD AND DEED

Pastoral Prayer  Rev. Eric S. Anderson

                      Please join me in the Lord’s Prayer                 

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.

Hymn #413: By Gracious Powers (v. 1-4)

Call to Offering    Anna Kennedy

Jesus has claimed us, adopted us, and empowered us with grace and with the Holy Spirit. Let us pass that love to those around us and to those on the far side of the world. Whether you share your gift here in the church today, through a gift online, or via an envelope in the mail, let the offering now be received.

Offertory: Oh had I Jubal’s Lyre                      Kayleen Yuda

Doxology:

Praise God from whom all blessings flow,
Praise Him all creatures here below
Praise Him above ye heavenly host
Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost – Amen

*Offertory Prayer                      Anna Kennedy

You have promised us eternal life, O God, and in anticipation of that gift you have given us Jesus’ presence through the days of this life. Accept the gifts we offer today as our celebration of your grace, and bless them so that others may also rejoice in your love. Amen.

Hymn #439: A Mighty Fortress is Our God v. 1-4)

Please be seated

Announcements                                                                  Rev. Eric S. Anderson

Benediction                                                                           Rev. Eric S. Anderson

Postlude: Allegro Maestoso                                                   Kayleen Yuda

* Please stand if you are able.

PERMISSIONS

Allegretto #1000841
Contributors: George Frideric Handel, Hal H Hopson
Tune: © 1981 Lorenz Publishing Company, 
Streamed by permission ONELICENSE A-735890
 
My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less
Text by Edward More, c. 1834
Tune SOLID ROCK by William B. Bradbury, 1863
Public Domain
 
The Apple Tree
Text: Anonymous author, first pub. 1784
Tune: Scottish folk song
Arr. by K. Lee Scott, 1983 © 1983 by Hinshaw Music, Inc.
Streamed by permission ONELICENSE A-735890
 
By Gracious Powers
Text by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, 1944 Trans. by Fred Pratt Green, 1972
© 1974 Hope Publishing Co.
Tune BONHOEFFER by Herbert G. Hobbs, 1976
Harm. by Jan Helmut Wubbena, 1976
© 1976 Herbert G. Hobbs
Streamed by permission ONELICENSE A-735890
 
O Had I Jubal’s Lyre #FBC-A004915
Music by G.F. Handel; edited by Diane Bish
1980 Gentry Publications (administered worldwide
by the Fred Bock Publishing Group)
All rights reserved. Used by Permission

A Mighty Fortress Is Our God
Text by Martin Luther, c. 1529
Trans. by Frederick H. Hedge, 1853
Adapt. by Ruth Duck, 1981
Tune EIN’ FESTE BURG by Martin Luther, 1529
Streamed by permission of the Pilgrim Press
 
Allegro Maestoso #FBC-A004921
Music by G.F. Handel; edited by Diane Bish
© Copyright 1980 Gentry Publications
(administered worldwide by the Fred Bock Publishing Group)
All rights reserved.
Used by Permission.
Streamed by permission ONELICENSE A-735890

IMPORTANT DATES

Today, May 17 – Board of Deacons meeting after Worship Service in the Lounge
Sunday, May 24 – Recognition of Graduates during Worship Service.
If you know of a graduate, please let Gloria Kobayashi know as soon as possible.

Sundays, 8:30 a.m. – Holy Cross Singers Rehearsal in the Lounge
Wednesdays, 11:00 a.m. – One Song from Church of the Holy Cross streamed live
Wednesdays, 5:00 p.m. – Bible Study in person, in Pastor’s Study or via Zoom
Fridays, 10:00 a.m. – Bell Choir Rehearsal in the Building of Faith Meeting Room
Interested in pickleball? Contact Connie at 808-936-7534 or Ruth at rnduponte07@gmail.com

Other Faith Groups that meet at Church of the Holy Cross

The United Church of Christ, Pohnpei – Sanctuary, 12 noon
            Rev. Bensis Henry
Congregational Christian Church of American Samoa – Sanctuary, 2:00 p.m.
            Rev. Sitau Ofoia, Jr.
The Bedesta Church – Sanctuary, 4 p.m.   
Rev.  Edmes Edwin

Pastor          Rev. Eric S. Anderson
Moderator             Lorraine Davis
Vice Moderator Elwood Kita
Lay Reader       Anna Kennedy
Chapel Decorations   Ann Kanahele
Organist / Pianist     Kayleen Yuda   
Music Director-Accompanist Bob Grove
Hand Bell Director        Anna Kennedy 
IYAA Choir Director Stuart Mori  
Projected Imagery        Sue Smith
Live Stream Director         Ruth Niino-DuPonte. Bob Smith 
Videographers    Eric Tanouye, Bob Smith, Woody Kita,
            Mace Peng, Cindy Debus
Sound Engineer Ben Yamaki
Sunday School Teacher          Gloria Kobayashi
Sunday School Aide      Johanna Narruhn
Office Manager Kahealani Mahone-Brooks

We welcome you to worship this day. Church of the Holy Cross seeks to help its members, friends, and visitors follow the guidance of God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit, encouraging all people to love one another according to the teachings of Jesus. We live and teach the faith, speak good news, minister to people near and far, and work with other households of faith and helping agencies to improve our community and our world. To support our ministries, please visit our Donate Page.

Rev. Eric Anderson What I'm Thinking

What I’m Thinking: Suffering

The first readers of First Peter were experiencing suffering – some kind of official persecution. They were told not to be surprised, because the ways of Christ (generosity, humility, and compassion) threaten people with means, power, and self-righteousness.

Here’s a transcript:

I’m thinking about portions of chapter 4 and chapter 5 of First Peter (1 Peter 4:12-14, 5:6-11). Our section begins with the author telling his readers not to wonder at the “fiery trial” that is taking place among them. Apparently the recipients were experiencing a wave of persecution.

Persecution for early Christians was intermittent. It was fairly rare for the entire Roman Empire to engage in persecution of Christians. But in any given province, the governor might institute some kind of program against this growing faith that the Romans neither understood nor trusted. In the earliest days of the Church, people could be in one place and be perfectly safe while in another place they might be openly pursued.

The question of suffering is one raised in a number of faiths and Christianity is not the only one. First Peter says that the explanation for at least some suffering is in doing what is right, in believing what is true, in following the one who is trustworthy. That isn’t always true. There is plenty of suffering that is, and I’m quite familiar with this from personal experience, self-inflicted. There is other suffering that is simply random. Things happen. And if there is a reason for it, we will not discern that in his lifetime.

But our author was concerned with suffering that was the result of following the ways of Jesus. The simple truth is that when we follow the ways of Jesus, there are some who will be threatened by it. Because the ways of Jesus call for generosity, and there are more than a few people of means that resist generosity with all they are being. And the way of Jesus calls for a setting aside pride and power, and there are people who are proud of their power and have no wish to let it go. The ways of Jesus call for compassion, and there are so many people in the world who vastly prefer to judge.

 Is it any wonder that those who follow Jesus may find themselves suffering for it?

I can only echo these ancient words. Do the best you can to follow Jesus. Do the best you can to be generous and to be kind. Do the best you can to set aside your power. Do the best you can to face the consequences. Hopefully you will not be brought up in front of judges and tribunals as happened to all too many Christians over the centuries.

Hopefully, the only judge that you will stand before is the one who gave you the directions to do what you’ve done: Jesus, our Lord, our judge, and especially our Redeemer.

That’s what I’m thinking. I’m curious to hear what you’re thinking. Leave me your thoughts in the comment section below. I’d love to hear from you.

Rev. Eric Anderson Sermons

Sermon: Connections

May 10, 2026

Acts 17:22-31
John 14:15-21

In Acts 17, Paul and Silas had been traveling hard for a while. They’d made a few friends in Thessalonica, which is toward the north of the Greek peninsula, but they’d also found a good few enemies who had stirred up the authorities against them. They’d gone to a nearby community, Berea, and made some more friends. Unfortunately those same enemies decided they hadn’t made enough trouble, with the result that their friends put Paul on a boat and sent him south along the coast to the great ancient city of Athens.

According to Luke, the likely author of Acts of the Apostles, Paul didn’t think much of Athens. “He was deeply distressed to see that the city was full of idols.” That doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. Paul was from Tarsus, a city at a number of cultural crossroads. The Jewish community he grew up in would have been minority amidst worshipers of Greek, Roman, Persian, Mesopotamian, and Egyptian deities. He’d been surrounded by idols all his life.

Well, he didn’t have to like it. He didn’t. He started to speak and argue, first in the synagogue (where folks would have shared at least some of his distress) and then in the public areas where the local philosophers liked to debate. They brought him to the Areopagus, the great square of news and discussion, and prepared to listen – and, I’m sure, to dispute.

Jeremy L. Williams doesn’t believe that Paul’s opening was all that conciliatory. He writes at Working Preacher, “Paul’s statement about the Athenians’ worship practices is certainly pejorative. It would not be unfair to translate his statement as saying that the Athenians are very superstitious (hōs deisidaimonesterous) in an unflattering way (Acts 17:22). They are so bad, to him, that they even worship what they do not know. He uses this as an entry point to launch his message.”

This is the same sort of behavior that led to Timothy insulting his judges beyond their tolerance in last week’s reading from Acts.

Most commentators read this opening differently from Dr. Wiliams, and Dr. Williams himself notes that however inauspicious the beginning, Paul’s sermon grew increasingly effective from there, even though he’d set a challenging task. He had set out to persuade them that a single Creator deity was concerned with human life and behavior, and had demonstrated that concern with resurrection from the dead. I’m not sure I can communicate just how strange that would have sounded to them. Matt Skinner writes at Working Preacher, “By referring to Jesus’ resurrection and implying that all people will likewise be raised from the dead, Paul steers the Athenians toward a notion of communing with the Divine that does not square with their presuppositions. To a crowd interested in the immortality of the soul (and an accompanying contempt for bodies and the limitations they impose), Paul preaches about a God who resurrects bodies. It’s a difficult thing for the Athenians to hear as good news. Why would people want to keep their bodies? It strikes them as icky.”

It was a challenge. He did not entirely succeed. “Some scoffed,” it reads in the very next verse, but also “others said, ‘We will hear you again about this.’” Some even joined Paul, founding the Christian community in Athens.

Paul had helped them make connections.

The first connection was within themselves. They had very different notions about the roles of gods and goddesses, about the nature of good and evil, about the relationship between different groups of people. Dr. Williams observes, “Paul’s message about the Unknown God does not deny the Athenians’ wisdom nor does it call for a destruction of their ways of knowing. It acknowledges that from one, God made every family (ethnos) of humans to inhabit the face of the whole earth (Acts 17:26).“

Paul helped them make connections between the things they already knew and the things he was offering to them as new insight. They didn’t have to give up all they knew. They didn’t have to give up the tools with which they learned. They were invited to use those ways of thinking to re-examine what they’d concluded in light of new information.

As you may have noted when trying to teach someone something new, that’s frequently a difficult leap to make. But if you harangue someone with “You’re wrong, you’re wrong, you’re wrong!” that almost never goes better.

With Paul’s help, they made new connections.

Then they made new connections with Paul, and with one another. Luke even provides us with the names of two of them – Dionysius the Areopagite and Damaris – probably because that man and woman were known in Christian circles. Dionysius and Damaris developed new relationships with this wandering preacher, with those who eventually rejoined him from Berea, with one another, and with those who later made a circle of friends into a growing community of faith.

They made connections within. They made connections with one another. I can only assume – but it’s a pretty good assumption – that they made new connections with God.

We are Paul’s heirs. We are the guides to connection for our generations. We are the ones who will help – or hinder – those who seek to learn, to connect, and to experience God.

“Our world, like theirs,” writes C. Clifton Black at Working Preacher, “is variously if sometimes stupidly religious. Now as then, Christianity faces attackers of all stripes: the sophisticated, the unthinking, and the powerful who are easily threatened. Anyone who considers idolatry dead in contemporary culture has not been paying attention to Wall Street and Madison Avenue, to Hollywood or Washington or Beijing.”

Or, I’d add, to those proclaiming various strains of Christianity, including but not limited to Christian nationalism and the prosperity gospel. As Dan Clendenin writes at JourneyWithJesus.net, “At our worst, we Christians have isolated and insulated ourselves from our culture’s mainstream. We can be inward-looking, self-absorbed, self-important, and cloistered, instead of engaging people at our contemporary synagogue, agora or Areopagus… But at our best, Christians have followed Paul’s example of living, learning and sharing the gospel in the marketplace of ideas, in bars and board rooms as well as in basilicas, in university lecture halls as well as in church fellowship halls. In an outward, centrifugal movement modeled after Paul at the Areopagus, believers have engaged real people where they really live, work, and think, in order to gain a hearing for their ‘strange ideas’ about repentance, rebirth, and the resurrection.”

Should you find a spot near the Mo’oheau Bandstand and start preaching? I mean, if that’s where you’re called to, go ahead, but you may have noticed I don’t do that. Nor to Liliu’okalani Garden or Lincoln Park – though I have been known to join a march or demonstration downtown.

Where are you called to make connections?

For many of us, the first setting for relationships is our family – our siblings, cousins, and the extended ‘ohana of both kupuna and keiki. How do we help the people we love make a connection between something we both share as true, and something new that they, so far, haven’t accepted as true? How do we build the love between us into something that helps them find new understandings and act upon them?

Who can you help make a new connection?

Who can you help to a new relationship, one which involves them in a community? The obvious community to invite them into is this one – I mean, Jesus encouraged us to do just that two thousand years ago – but there are other communities that engage and support human beings as they find their full humanity. A service club? Go for it. An organization that relies on volunteers to do good things, like the Food Basket, Habitat for Humanity, HOPE Services, the Ku’ikahi Mediation Center, the Human Society. They’ll find work for you, and they’ll find connections for you, or for the person who needs connecting.

Join a musical ensemble. Audition for a play.

Who do you know who would benefit from those connections?

That’s probably a long list. Who are the first five? That’s more manageable. You can help five people make connections with other people, can’t you?

The goal, in the end, is to help people build their relationship with God – but you can’t skip directly there. It’s built on the connections we make in our brains, hearts, and souls. It’s built out of the connections we make with other human beings who affirm us in these understandings. It’s deepened when each of us take further steps toward the One in whom, as Paul quoted from a pagan Greek poet, “we live and move and have our being.”

Amen.

by Eric Anderson

Watch the Recorded Sermon

Pastor Eric makes changes while preaching from his prepared text. The sermon as preached differs from the sermon as prepared.

The image is St Paul Preaching at Athens by Raphael (1515) – Royal Collection of the United Kingdom, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1718078.

holycrosshilo Worship Services

Worship for May 10, 2026

Thank you for joining us for this live stream (or recording, as the case may be) of Sunday worship. May it bless you! You may need to click “Play” to launch the stream, which will be live around 9:50 AM.

Welcome to the live stream of worship from Church of the Holy Cross for Sunday, May 10, 2026. You will find the service outline below, and you may download and print the PDF to follow more easily. 

Worship Bulletin for May 10 2026 (PDF)Download
Story: One Might Know (PDF)Download
Sermon: Connections (PDF)Download
Pastoral Prayer (PDF)Download

Service of Worship May 10 2026
Sixth Sunday of Easter

Rev. Eric S. Anderson, Pastor

WE GATHER TO WORSHIP GOD

Please note that audio and video of this service are being live streamed on the Internet and will be recorded. The right rear section of the sanctuary will not be captured by any cameras. Please be aware that in other sections you may be visible at times.

Prelude: Under His Wings       Kayleen Yuda

Lighting of the Candles

Ringing of the Bell

Welcome               Rev. Eric S. Anderson

*Call to Worship (based on 1 Peter 3:13-22)                  Mace Peng

Leader:   Now who will harm you if you are eager to do what is good?
People:  Though it seems wrong, some will bring harm to those who do right.

Leader:   Do not fear what they fear, and do not let them intimidate you.
People:  In our hearts we sanctify Christ as our leader and ruler.

Leader:   Be ready to defend your faith and account for the hope that is in you.
People:  It is better to suffer for doing good than to rejoice in doing evil.

All:           Let us worship God!

* Hymn #473: Blessed Assurance (v. 1 – 3)

*Invocation (based on Psalm 66:8-20)       Mace Peng

You have tested us, O God, as silver is tried, with heat and stress. We went through fire and through water, and you have brought us to this place of space and safety. Now we come to your house with celebration and song, and we thank you that you have heard the words of our prayer and preserved us in your steadfast love. Amen.

Please be seated

WE SHARE THE WORD OF GOD

Anthem: I Know That My Redeemer Liveth                  Ramona Witt, Soprano                                                                                    Muftiah Martin, Violin
Bob Grove, Continuo

Time with the Children          Rev. Eric S. Anderson

Scripture:               Mace Peng

Acts 17:22-31
Then Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, “Athenians, I see how extremely spiritual you are in every way. For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, ‘To an unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things. From one ancestor he made all peoples to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, so that they would search for God and perhaps fumble about for him and find him—though indeed he is not far from each one of us. For ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we, too, are his offspring.’

“Since we are God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the deity is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of mortals. While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

John 14:15-21
“If you love me, you will keepmy commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him because he abides with you, and he will be in you.

“I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me, and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.”

Sermon: Connections                Rev. Eric S. Anderson

WE RESPOND IN WORD AND DEED

Pastoral Prayer Rev. Eric S. Anderson

Please join me in the Lord’s Prayer         
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.

* Hymn #454: Lord, I Want to Be a Christian (v. 1-4)

Call to Offering    Mace Peng

Where do you connect with God? In prayer? In Bible reading? In worship? We invite you now to connect with God is sharing, for God’s grace has been poured out to us without limit. In the same way we can give as well. Whether you share your gift here in the church today, through a gift online, or via an envelope in the mail, let the offering now be received.

Offertory: Simple Gifts              Kayleen Yuda

* Doxology

Praise God from whom all blessings flow,
Praise Him all creatures here below
Praise Him above ye heavenly host
Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost – Amen

*Offertory Prayer                      Mace Peng

God, you have given us life. You have given us beauty. You have given us love. You have given us forgiveness. You promise us eternal life. We cannot give so much, but what we have given, please receive in Jesus’ name. Amen.

* Hymn #531: God, Speak to Me, That I May Speak (v. 1 – 4)

Please be seated

Announcements Rev. Eric S. Anderson

Benediction          Rev. Eric S. Anderson

Postlude: All Hail the Power   Kayleen Yuda

* Please stand if you are able.

PERMISSIONS

Under His Wings #1030747
Ira David Sankey, Robert J Hughes
Tune: © 1970 Lorenz Publishing Company
Streamed by permission ONELICENSE A-735890

Blessed Assurance
Text by Fanny Crosby, 1873
Tune ASSURANCE by Phoebe P. Knapp, 1873
Public Domain

I Know that My Redeemer Liveth
Text by Jessie Brown Pounds
Public Domain

Lord, I Want To Be a Christian
Text: African-American spiritual
Public Domain
Tune I WANT TO BE A CHRISTIAN, African-American spiritual
Arr. by Joyce Finch Johnson, 1992
© The Pilgrim Press
Streamed by permission ONELICENSE A-735890

Simple Gifts
Contributors: Gregg Sewell

God, Speak to Me, That I May Speak
Text by Frances Ridley Havergal, 1872
Tune CANONBURY by Robert Schumann, 1872
Public Domain

All Hail the Power #64228
Type: Words and Music
Language: English
Contributors: Lani Smith
Text: © 1978, Lorenz Publishing Streamed by permission ONELICENSE A-735890

IMPORTANT DATES

Today, May 10 – Council meeting after Worship Service in the Lounge
Saturday, May 16, 8:30 a.m. – Service Day
Sunday, May 24 – Recognition of Graduates during Worship Service.
If you know of a graduate, please let Gloria Kobayashi know as soon as possible.

Sundays, 8:30 a.m. – Holy Cross Singers Rehearsal in the Lounge
Wednesdays, 11:00 a.m. – One Song from Church of the Holy Cross streamed live
Wednesdays, 5:00 p.m. – Bible Study in person, in Pastor’s Study or via Zoom
Fridays, 10:00 a.m. – Bell Choir Rehearsal in the Building of Faith Meeting Room
Interested in pickleball? Contact Connie at 808-936-7534 or Ruth at rnduponte07@gmail.com

Other Faith Groups that meet at Church of the Holy Cross

The United Church of Christ, Pohnpei – Sanctuary, 12 noon
            Rev. Bensis Henry
Congregational Christian Church of American Samoa – Sanctuary, 2:00 p.m.
            Rev. Sitau Ofoia, Jr.
The Bedesta Church – Sanctuary, 4 p.m.   
Rev.  Edmes Edwin

Pastor          Rev. Eric S. Anderson
Moderator             Lorraine Davis
Vice Moderator Elwood Kita
Lay Reader       Mace Peng
Chapel Decorations   Chris and Jeribie Tanouye
Organist / Pianist     Kayleen Yuda   
Music Director-Accompanist Bob Grove
Guest Musicians Ramona Witt, Soprano
            Muftiah Martin, Violin
Hand Bell Director        Anna Kennedy 
IYAA Choir Director Stuart Mori  
Projected Imagery        Sue Smith
Live Stream Director         Ruth Niino-DuPonte. Bob Smith 
Videographers    Eric Tanouye, Bob Smith, Woody Kita,
            Mace Peng, Cindy Debus
Sound Engineer Ben Yamaki
Sunday School Teacher          Gloria Kobayashi
Sunday School Aide      Johanna Narruhn
Office Manager Kahealani Mahone-Brooks

We welcome you to worship this day. Church of the Holy Cross seeks to help its members, friends, and visitors follow the guidance of God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit, encouraging all people to love one another according to the teachings of Jesus. We live and teach the faith, speak good news, minister to people near and far, and work with other households of faith and helping agencies to improve our community and our world. To support our ministries, please visit our Donate Page.