The video above will be available to stream live at 11:00 AM HAST on May 8, 2024. You may watch the recording here at any time afterward. You will need to click the Play button to view the live video.
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Sermon: Love. Again.
May 5, 2024
Acts 10:44-48
John 15:9-17
Last week it should have been simple. Believe in Jesus. Love like Jesus. Right?
This week… It’s Love. Again.
I sympathize if you’re thinking, “Seriously, preacher. You’ve made your point.”
But here I am, here we are, with love. Again.
Why?
I suppose I could be wrong, but I don’t think the inhabitants of the world are loving one another as Jesus loved. Or as Jesus loves (present tense). After just a week, the human family seems like it could use a reminder.
Love. Again.
It’s hardly a new message. Rabbi Hillel and Rabbi Shammai lived about a hundred years before Jesus. They were both great teachers but also theological rivals. The Talmud and the Mishnah, the great compendiums of rabbinic thought from the centuries just before and just after Jesus, contain a number of saying and stories about them. This one, for example, from the Talmud:
“It happened again that a certain stranger came before Shammai and said to him: ‘I will become a proselyte providing you teach me the whole Torah while I’m standing on one foot.’ (Shammai) knocked him down with the builder’s rule in his hand.
“(The stranger) came before Hillel, who made him a proselyte. He told him: ‘What is hateful to you do not do to your neighbor. That is the whole Torah. The rest is commentary. Go, learn (it)!’”
Jesus’ teaching sounds like he’d learned from followers of Hillel.
Speaking of love again I could emphasize its importance – God asked us to do it – or reflect on the things that make it difficult – like how annoying people can be – but what I can’t do is simply make it easy. It’s not. It never has been. Jesus showed us just how difficult loving other people can be.
But what, I wonder, can make it easier? Not easy – easier?
The first step, I think, is to realize that when Jesus spoke of love, he did not speak of feelings. We are not in the business of persuading ourselves – or others – to feel in certain ways. I won’t say that’s an impossible task, but it’s an extraordinarily difficult task. A lot of people go to mental health therapists because they feel in ways that they don’t want to feel. They spend a lot of time and effort to change that. Jesus didn’t do it in three years of near-daily conversation with his closest followers; I’m not going to do it in a sermon.
The first step is to set feelings to one side as you do the things that you know are loving to someone else.
Reflecting on a scene in the series Queen Charlotte, Cheryl Lindsay writes at ucc.org, “The scene is set. An obedient son waits for his bride. His nervousness emerges as he approaches his mother, the queen, who has orchestrated the match. She thinks he comes to her with an objection or scheme to avoid his impending nuptials. Yet, he surprises her. He has reconciled himself to his fate. Rather than advocating for a reprieve, he seeks her counsel. He does not approach his ruler, he comes for his parent. He confesses his fear that he will not be able to love his wife. The queen visibly shifts from monarch to mother and reassures him that, ‘Love is not a thing one is able or not able to do based on some magic, some chemistry. That is for plays. Love is determination. Love is a choice one makes.’”
Love is a choice, a choice one decides to make, a choice one makes, a choice one follows through on after making. You and I don’t have to feel good about it. It’s love when we do it.
Second, I think there’s a lot to be said for practice. Habit. Reflex. Some of you know that I trained as a challenge course facilitator for a summer camp. When people were moving along high rope bridges strung between two trees, I was on the ground at the other end of a long rope that kept them safe. One of the tasks we did as facilitators was… to tie knots. A knot that won’t pull out, a knot that won’t overtighten, a knot that won’t speed the wear on the rope.
I got some rope like what we used and I tied those knots and tied those knots and tied those knots until my fingers remembered what my brain didn’t always.
Practice is how people tie knots reliably. Practice is how a noio learns to feed itself. Practice is how we steer a car. Practice is how we make the choices to love.
Practice doing loving things over and over again and you’ll find that it’s easier – not easy – to do the loving things the next time.
Decide. Practice. Prepare. Look around for people who might need support from your love. And please, people – don’t mix this up with romance or sex. Who needs to learn something you can teach? Who needs to be comforted because they’re sad? Who needs a hand up, or a leg up, or an advocate, or a silent supporter? Who needs your aid?
Prepare the words you might say – and prepare to change them when they don’t work as well as you hoped.
Prepare your courage, because some of the people who need you are in risky places. You may need courage to accompany them through their challenges.
Do not forget that Jesus went all the way to the cross, and if that isn’t all that common in these days, plenty of Jesus’ friends have loved all the way to the end of their lives. Prepare your words and resources. Prepare your courage.
Augustine of Hippo wrote, “And so, where there is love, what can be wanting? and where it is not, what is there that can possibly be profitable? The devil believes, but does not love.”
If it makes it easier to know that when you love, you are setting yourself apart from the devil, then remember that.
Or you might follow the advice of Kent M. Keith, author of the Paradoxical Commandments, the first of which is: “People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered. Love them anyway.”
I also think that besides decision, practice, and preparation, there’s nutrition in love. That’s one of the things that church is supposed to be about. We feed ourselves on the Word; and we feed ourselves at the Table. I hope you’ve been fed in the Word this morning. Let us bring ourselves in a few minutes to the Table, where God’s love is poured out for us in bread and cup, and refresh ourselves so that we may go forth and Love. Again.
Amen.
by Eric Anderson
Watch the Recorded Sermon
Sermons change in the delivery, so what Pastor Eric read does not precisely match what he wrote.
The image is Christ Washing the Feet of the Apostles, (11th cent.) among the mosaics in the monastery of Hosios Loukas, Distomo, Greece. Photo by Ed88, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2543263.
Worship for May 5, 2024
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 5, 2024. You will find the service outline below, and you may download and print the PDF to follow more easily. We will celebrate Holy Communion today, so please prepare some bread or other staple food and juice or other beverage and have it ready for that portion of the service.
Service of Worship, May 5, 2024
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: With a Voice of Singing Rick Mazurowski
Lighting of the Candles
Ringing of the Bell
Welcome Rev. Eric S. Anderson
* Call to Worship: (based on Psalm 98) Cindy Debus
Leader: Sing to the LORD a new song, for God has done marvelous things.
People: The LORD has remembered steadfast love before the eyes of the world.
Leader: Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the Earth.
People: Break forth in songs of praise and joy!
Leader: Let the sea roar, and all that is in it.
People: Let the rivers and the hills sing together for joy.
All: In company with all Creation, let us worship God!
* Hymn #540: We Plant a Grain of Mustard Seed (v. 1-2, 5-6)
* Invocation (based on 1 John 5:1-6) Cindy Debus
How do we know that we are your children, O God? We know when we love you, and when we love one another. Let your love take charge of the world, conquering the pride, the folly, and the greed of this age. May we live in the light and testify to the light; let the light of Christ illuminate the truth. Amen.
Please be seated
WE SHARE THE WORD OF GOD
Anthem: Gentle Breeze IYAA
Time with the Children Rev. Eric S. Anderson
Scripture: Acts 10:44-48 Cindy Debus
While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard the word. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles, for they heard them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter said, ‘Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?’ So he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they invited him to stay for several days.
John 15:9-17
As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.
‘This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servantsany longer, because the servantdoes not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.
Sermon: Love. Again. 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 and ever. Amen.
Call to Offering Cindy Debus
Jesus said, “Love one another.” Let us follow his direction. Let us live and act as his friends. 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: Easter Proclamation Rick Mazurowski
* 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 Cindy Debus
Here are some of our gifts, O God, love offered to you so that people near and far might be blessed. Bless these gifts, and bless the gifts we offer tomorrow in different ways, so that all people might know your love. Amen.
* Hymn #332: As We Gather at Your Table (v. 1-3)
Sacrament of Holy Communion
Invitation
Consecrating the Bread and Cup
Sharing the Bread and Cup
Prayer of Thanksgiving
* Hymn #388: Help Us Accept Each Other (v. 1-4)
Please be seated
Announcements Rev. Eric S. Anderson
Benediction Rev. Eric S. Anderson
Postlude: Trumpet Tune in D Rick Mazurowski
* Please stand if you are able.
Permissions:
With a Voice of Singing
Martin Shaw, Copyright 1923 G. Schirmer
Streamed by permission ONELICENSE A-735890
We Plant a Grain of Mustard Seed
Text by Mary Bryan Matney, 1990
© 1998, GIA Publications, Inc.
Tune NEW BEGINNINGS by Sally Ann Morris, 1990
© 1998, GIA Publications, inc.
Streamed by permission ONELICENSE A-735890
Gentle Breeze
Streamed by permission of the author
Easter Proclamation
Paul Rick Mazurowski,
Used with permission, Copyright 1979
As We Gather at Your Table
Text by Carl P. Daw, 1989
© 1989 Hope Publishing Company
Tune BEACH SPRING first pub. 1844
Harm. © 1992 The Pilgrim Press
Streamed by permission ONELICENSE A-735890
Help Us Accept Each Other
Text by Fred Kaan, 1974
© 1975 Hope Publishing Company
Tune AURELIA by Samuel S. Wesley, 1864
Public Domain
Streamed by permission ONELICENSE A-735890
Bread for the World
Bernadette Farrell and Christopher Walker
Copyright 1990, 2000, OCP
Streamed by permission ONELICENSE A-735890
Trumpet Tune in D
David N Johnson
Streamed by permission ONELICENSE A-735890
Dates to Remember
Today—May 5: Trustees Meeting after worship
Pastor Rev. Eric S. Anderson
Moderator Stefan Tanouye
Lay Reader Cindy Debus
Choir Accompanist Kanako Okita
Choir Director Doug Albertson
Organist Kayleen Yuda
Guest Organist Rick Mazurowski
Hand Bell Director Anna Kennedy
Chapel Decorations Chris & Jeribie Tanouye
Projected Imagery Sue Smith
Web Master Ruth Niino-DuPonte
Videographers Eric Tanouye, Eli Yamaki
Ruth Niino-DuPonte, Bob Smith
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.
Pastor’s Corner: Lei Day
May 1, 2024
It’s May Day, and as the song says, it’s Lei Day in Hawai’i!
I am no expert in the craft of creating these exquisite floral adornments. I’ve learned a bit about the birds of Hawai’i, but there are far more plants on this island than birds. I can identify only a few of the more common leaves and blossoms that appear in a lei: maile, ti, plumeria, orchid, and kukui. I am pleased to report that eight years ago I didn’t know what a dendrobium was, and now I can spell it.
So many things go together to create this profusion of lei, a delight not just to the eyes but also to skin and scent. The perfume of a fresh lei is like very little else I know. It says, instantly, “You are welcome and cared for here.”
So many ingredients, and so many combinations, make up the wonder of the lei.
I hope we can take inspiration from those colorful, beautifully perfumed works of art as we live our lives of faith. Too often we imagine faith without color, without delight, without joy. We imagine it with austerity, deprivation, and even hardship.
It’s a strange way to worship the God who filled the sky with stars, and the trees with blossoms, and the ocean waves with pearly spray.
I hope you get to proudly wear a lei today. More than that, I hope you get to faithfully wear a lei today. Proclaim the goodness of One who created in color, and texture, and scent. Proclaim the goodness of One who created as well in flavor and melody.
Tomorrow, let the lei be your guide, as you assemble the blessings of your life into a blessing to share.
In peace,
Pastor Eric
Self-portrait by Eric Anderson.
What I’m Thinking: Jesus’ Friends Love
Jesus told his followers to love one another as he had loved them. That’s not an easy thing to do.
Here’s a transcript:
I’m thinking about the fifteenth chapter of John’s Gospel (John 15:9-17), part of Jesus’ “Farewell Address” to his disciples at the Last Supper. We find a familiar theme. Last week’s reading in the First Letter of John in chapter 5 (1 John 4:7-21; oops!), the theme was love. Here in the fifteetnh chapter of John’s Gospel, the theme is love.
“Love one another as I have loved you,” said Jesus. “You are my friends if you do as I command you. I have called you friends because the servant does not know what the master is doing.”
Love here is not romantic love. First century Greek, which John used to write the gospel, had different words for different kinds of love, and this is not the romance word. No, the love that is described here is a love that involves costs and sacrifice. When one loves in this fashion, one does so despite what it may cost the person who is doing the loving. So this is the kind of love that gives money to someone who needs it. This is the kind of love that will incline one to take a risk. This is the kind of love that took Jesus to the cross.
“Love one another as I have loved you.”
It is not a light and easy commandment.
What it is, is the standard for Christian life. When we act unlovingly, we are not behaving as one of Jesus’ friends. When we do love, then we show what Jesus’ friends are, can be, should be.
So go love someone today. love as many people as you can. Help someone who needs something. Comfort someone who’s in distress. Give somebody the skills and the confidence that they need in order to succeed. Lift someone up who has suffered a failure.
Love someone. Love lots of someones. Be a friend of Jesus.
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.
A Song from Church of the Holy Cross: May 1, 2024
The video above will be available to stream live at 11:00 AM HAST on May 1, 2024. You may watch the recording here at any time afterward. You will need to click the Play button to view the live video.
Sermon: Shouldn’t It Be Simple
April 28, 2024
Acts 8:26-40
1 John 4:7-21
Shouldn’t it be simple?
In this sermon we call the First Letter of John – at least, we think it’s a sermon, because it doesn’t open or close like a first century letter – in this sermon we call the First Letter of John, the preacher really only urges two things: Believe in Jesus. Love like Jesus.
That’s it.
Believe in Jesus. Love like Jesus.
Isn’t that simple?
John took a few more words to say that, of course. According to bible.allanhortle.com, there are 2,511 words in First John – that’s a little less than double the word count of one of my sermons, if you’re curious. The most frequently used word, with 61 appearances, is “God.” John used “love” 35 times, more often than “Jesus.”
Believe in Jesus. Love like Jesus.
Why take so much effort, why use so many words to say something I just put into six words? Shouldn’t it be simple? Why, with a title like “Shouldn’t It Be Simple,” am I going to use about 1300 more words to say the same thing?
Believe in Jesus. Love like Jesus.
Because John knew, and I know, and you know, that what’s simple is not always easy.
Janette H. Ok writes at Working Preacher, “Love is not God, but God is love, meaning that believers are to understand love on God’s terms and according to God’s character. The author intertwines theology and ethics in such a way that he describes Christian confession as inextricable from Christian conduct. Those who know God show God through their love for others.”
Christian confession is inextricable from Christian conduct.
I should point out here that when John spoke of love, he did not speak of feelings. The love he wrote about is the love that takes care of someone else regardless of how you feel about them. John – and God – know that human beings don’t fully control how they feel. We have a lot more ability to control what we do.
Love comes first from God – John was clear about that. “In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us…” God’s love is one of the easiest things to experience in the world. You don’t even have to live here on Hawai’i Island to appreciate the extravagant beauty of Creation. We are surrounded by delights for the senses: colors to see, perfumes to smell, surfaces to touch, songs to hear, foods to taste. Rainbows stretch across the sky in stunning contrast to deep grays of clouds. One moment we breathe in the stunning scent of tuberose, the next the aroma of sea spray. Our fingers delight both in the smooth surfaces of polished stone and in the soft fur of a pet cat. The rumble of ocean waves sets the beat for birdsong. Our mouths delight as much in the savory flavors of meats and vegetables as in the sweet tanginess of fruit and chocolate.
God could have created a dim and austere world. God didn’t. Extravagant beauty is a clear sign of God’s extravagant love.
Believe in Jesus. Love like Jesus.
John wrote, “God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him.” God wasn’t content to leave us to enjoy Creation – or to ignore it, as too many do to their loss. God sent Jesus as an expression of love, a love so deep that it went beyond rejection, beyond death. This is a love that goes beyond deserving or worth. This is a love that simply says, “I love you now and always.”
This is a love that is brighter than a rainbow.
And it’s simple. God is love. God so loved us.
Believe in Jesus. Love like Jesus.
Judith Jones writes at Working Preacher, “In case we haven’t understood the seriousness of this command, 1 John expresses it in a way that leaves no room for doubt: ‘just as God is, so are we in this world’ (1 John 4:17 b). In context, it’s clear that 1 John is not saying that Christians are omnipotent or omniscient or morally pure. No, 1 John is saying that because God lives in us, we embody God’s love for the world. We are not gods, but we are God’s. God’s love is incarnate in us.”
On a similar line of thought, David Bartlett writes at Working Preacher, “It is not ‘we ought to love because he first loved us’ as if God’s love were the ground for a new imperative. It is ‘we can love because he first loved us.’ God’s love is the ground for a new possibility.”
God’s love, incarnate in us, makes for new possibilities of love among us, from us, around us.
Believe in Jesus. Love like Jesus.
John was not naïve. The occasion for this sermon – which may have been written elsewhere to be read to a distant congregation – seems to have been a split in the congregation that first heard this text. As I mentioned the other week, John had some harsh things to say about those who left, calling them “children of the devil,” which gives you a pretty good idea of how deep the conflict and the divisions went. With hurt, recriminations, and anger still reverberating, John urged a return to the standard of love.
Given that he struggled with it himself – I just can’t forget those words “children of the devil” – I suspect it was a long process within that church, within its leadership, within the author himself. I also suspect that later Christians failed to keep the standard, and had to repeat the process over and over again.
Why do I suspect this? Because I know something about history, and about the history of the Church. Christianity has not made human beings immune from the temptations of power, self-righteousness, and selfishness. If we were immune from temptation, there would be only one Church. We might have different congregations worshiping in different styles because different people approach God best in different ways, but we would be one Church, and nobody would be concerned about it. We would also be living at peace with Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and adherents of hundreds of different faiths, because darn it, war contradicts love as thoroughly as may be.
Brian Peterson writes at Working Preacher, “Much of the anger that erupts within the church under the banner of loving God and defending God’s truth often seems to grow instead from love of self and of the power that comes from winning the argument, even at the expense of the church’s unity in love.”
Believe in Jesus. Love like Jesus. Simple, but not easy.
John wrote that perfect love casts out fear, and that conversely, fear is the barrier to love. Well, it’s a barrier to love. Personally, I think greed is more serious obstacle. But David Bartlett tells this story about love and fear, and it may even have something to say about selfishness:
“A small child received a jack-in-the box for Christmas and, to the parents’ surprise, was not delighted by the puppet’s popping out but terrified. Not entirely daunted though, the child turned the handle once again until the puppet jumped out again. This time the child kissed the puppet he had feared.
The child was far from fearless. But by loving, he sought to put fear in its proper place.”
By loving, the child transformed the object of fright into an object of affection. By loving, you and I can transform the person we fear into the person we appreciate. When loving, we have to reach beyond our sense of safety. When loving, we use our courage. When loving, we have to give of ourselves. When loving, we set selfishness aside.
It’s so much simpler than hiding our hearts away. It’s so much simpler than hiding our resources away. It’s so much simpler than hiding our deep commitments away. It’s so much simpler than hiding our faith away.
Believe in Jesus. Love like Jesus.
Shouldn’t it be simple?
Amen.
by Eric Anderson
Watch the Recorded Sermon
Pastor Eric does make changes to his prepared text as he delivers the sermon. Sometimes he adds things, sometimes he leaves things out.
Photo by Eric Anderson
Worship for April 28, 2024
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, April 28, 2024. You will find the service outline below, and you may download and print the PDF to follow more easily.
Service of Worship, April 28, 2024
Fifth 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: A New Song Rick Mazurowski
Lighting of the Candles
Ringing of the Bell
Welcome Rev. Eric S. Anderson
* Please stand and join me in the Call to Worship: (based on Psalm 22:25-31) Anne Sadayasu
Leader: Let our praise echo that of the Great Congregation.
People: We sing with all who revere the LORD.
Leader: The poor shall eat and be satisfied, the homeless find their place.
People: May the mercy of the LORD live forever!
Leader: May all the ends of the Earth remember and turn to the LORD.
People: Let us proclaim God’s grace to a people yet unborn.
All: Let us worship God!
* Hymn #43: Love Divine, All Loves Excelling (v. 1-4)
* Invocation (based on John 15:1-8) Anne Sadayasu
Jesus, True Vine, hear the prayers we raise today. As grape vines raise their leafy crowns so that the vineyard tender may help them bear more fruit, we invite your care for us today. May we abide in your love, and show by our love that we are your disciples. Apart from you we can do very little; with you all things are possible. Amen.
Please be seated
WE SHARE THE WORD OF GOD
Anthem: Silent Woods Kanako Okita, piano
Kelly Stuart, cello
Time with the Children Rev. Eric S. Anderson
Scripture: Acts 8:26-40 Anne Sadayasu
Then an angel of the Lord said to Philip, ‘Get up and go towards the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.’ (This is a wilderness road.) So he got up and went. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of her entire treasury. He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning home; seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. Then the Spirit said to Philip, ‘Go over to this chariot and join it.’ So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked, ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’ He replied, ‘How can I, unless someone guides me?’ And he invited Philip to get in and sit beside him. Now the passage of the scripture that he was reading was this:
‘Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter,
and like a lamb silent before its shearer,
so he does not open his mouth.
In his humiliation justice was denied him.
Who can describe his generation?
For his life is taken away from the earth.’
The eunuch asked Philip, ‘About whom, may I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?’ Then Philip began to speak, and starting with this scripture, he proclaimed to him the good news about Jesus. As they were going along the road, they came to some water; and the eunuch said, ‘Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized?’He commanded the chariot to stop, and both of them, Philip and the eunuch, went down into the water, and Philipbaptized him. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he was passing through the region, he proclaimed the good news to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.
1 John 4:7-21
Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us.
By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world. God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God. So we have known and believe the love that God has for us.
God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. We lovebecause he first loved us. Those who say, ‘I love God’, and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.
Sermon: Shouldn’t It Be Simple 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 and ever. Amen
* Hymn #163: Many Are the Lightbeams (v. 1-3, 5)
Call to Offering Anne Sadayasu
God is love, and because God loves us, we love one another. We love one another in words of comfort and deeds of hope, and we love one another by sharing what we have with another who has needs. 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: Be Still, for the presence of the Lord Rick Mazurowski
* 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 Anne Sadayasu
You love us, O God, and we are grateful. You love us, O God, and we are your beloved children. You love us, O God, and so we love one another in these gifts and every day of our lives. Amen.
* Hymn #402: De colores (Sing of Colors) (v. 1 Spanish, 1-2)
Please be seated
Announcements Rev. Eric S. Anderson
Benediction Rev. Eric S. Anderson
Postlude: Sing of the Lord’s Goodness Rick Mazurowski
* Please stand if you are able.
Permissions
A New Song
James E. Moore Jr.
Streamed by permission ONELICENSE A-735890
Love Divine, All Loves Excelling
Text by Charles Wesley, 1747
Tune BEECHER by John Zundel, 1855
Public Domain
Silent Woods
Dvořák
Public Domain
Many Are the Lightbeams
Text by Cyprian of Carthage, 252
Swedish para. By Anders Frostenson
Trans. by David Lewis, 1983
© 1972 by Anders Frostenson
Tune LIGHTBEAMS by Olle Widestrand
© 1974 by Olle Widestrand
Streamed by permission ONELICENSE A-735890
Be Still, for the presence of the Lord
Words and music by David J. Evans
Arr. by Richard Shephard
(c) 1986 ThankYou Music
Streamed by permission CCLI License #1595965
De colores (Sing of Colors)
Mexican folk song, trans. New Century Hymnal, 1995
Tune DE COLORES, Mexican folk song
Arr. by Alfredo Morales, 1987
© 1987 World Library Publications,
a division of GIA Publications, Inc.
Streamed by permission ONELICENSE A-735890
Sing of the Lord’s Goodness
Ernest Sands
© 1981, Ernest Sands, Published by OCP
Streamed by permission ONELICENSE A-735890
Dates to Remember
Today—April 28: J’s Mini Mart
Pastor Rev. Eric S. Anderson
Moderator Stefan Tanouye
Lay Reader Anne Sadayasu
Choir Accompanist Kanako Okita
Cellist Kelly Stuart
Choir Director Doug Albertson
Organist Kayleen Yuda
Guest Organist Rick Mazurowski
Hand Bell Director Anna Kennedy
Chapel Decorations Cindy Debus
Projected Imagery Sue Smith
Web Master Ruth Niino-DuPonte
Videographers Eric Tanouye, Eli Yamaki
Ruth Niino-DuPonte, Bob Smith
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.
Pastor’s Corner: Why I Came to Hawai’i
April 24, 2024
People ask me why I came to Hawai’i fairly frequently, even after eight years as your pastor. I sometimes tell them this story:
When I came out to interview with the Search Committee, I was given the loan of a car and a fair amount of time to explore for myself. During that time I drove completely around Mauna Loa, but clouds obscured the summit throughout my visit. I saw Mauna Kea, but not Mauna Loa. I had to come back to see if the mountain was really there.
Most of the people who hear that story don’t think it’s as funny as I do.
In these last eight years we’ve labored together in extraordinary conditions. We’ve provided assistance to neighbors displaced by volcanic eruption and labored to hold our community together through significant controversy. We’ve worked on the ongoing concerns of homelessness, domestic violence, prejudice, poverty, and stress. We’ve adapted to the necessities of a global pandemic and adapted once more to a society both changed and unchanged by its demands. We’ve welcomed new people to our congregation, bid sad farewells to some who have left us, and grieved for far too many faithful friends who have gone from our care to God’s.
We’ve tried things that have worked. We’ve tried things that haven’t worked. We’ve kept doing things that, if we think about it, we could let go of. We’ve dropped some things that we’ve painfully learned need picking up again.
The answer to the question, “Why did God bring us together?” is found in what we’ve done, what we’ve learned, and how we’ve grown in the last eight years.
Thanks be to God!
In peace,
Pastor Eric
What I’m Thinking: God is Love
Transcript 4/23/2024
God is love, said John, and that means Jesus’ followers should love. Would that it were so.
Here’s a transcript:
I’m thinking about the fourth chapter of First John (1 John 4:7-21). If you’re familiar with this particular book of the Bible, this is also probably the section that you have been waiting for.
This is the place in the Scriptures where it says that God is love. Jesus didn’t say it. Moses didn’t say it. None of the prophets wrote it. The apostle Paul didn’t write it. Here it is in the First Letter of John.
John wrote that God is love to say that God loved us first, and because God loved us we also ought to love one another.
Loving one another is one of the two great themes in First John, the other being the importance of faith in Jesus. Jesus himself did have something to say about loving one another: He told his disciples to do precisely that. “That is how people will know you are my disciples,” he said, “if you love one another.”
How I wish that that were true in our present day.
All too often, however, people identify Christians not by their love, but by their hate, by their self-righteousness, by their judgment. All too often Christians are identified by what would make Jesus weep.
If you can do anything in this life to help at least one person realize that Christianity’s commitments are to love and compassion and care, then you will have done a great thing, partially because yes, it would be good for people to know that these are the Christian commitments — to love one another, to love the world — but also, of course, because you will have followed Jesus’ commandment. You will have loved someone else as Jesus loved you.
God loved us first. Let us love one another.
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.