What’s New at Oneonta Church?

Worship schedule change this Sunday, January 29, 2012:

• 9:30am COMBINED worship service in the Sanctuary- We will be blending our traditional and contemporary services together.
• 10:30am Annual Congregational Meeting- This is a time for the 2011 leadership reports, discussion and voting on the 2012 budget, and a chance for members to share any concerns. I hope you can attend!
• 11:30am ONE Worship service is CANCELED this week only

More upcoming events!

• “Oneonta 101: New Members Class” on Sunday, Feb 12 @ 1pm in the Forum. RSVP to lincoln@oneonta.org
• Big Game Party on Feb 5 @ 3pm in the Whitmore Youth Room. Email haps@oneonta.org to bring a dish.
• SPECIAL PRAISE WORSHIP SERVICE at ONE Worship on Feb 19 @ 11:30am. Full band. Recorded and videotaped for a live album! Associate Minister, Lincoln Skinner, will be preaching a short message about Love and Community (Galatians 5).

Join us for a COMBINED 9:30am worship service followed by 10:30am Congregational Meeting this Sunday, Jan 29! No “ONE Worship” this week.

Big Game Party on Feb 5 @ 3:00pm

Promise

For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on a promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise. (Gal 3:18 NIV)

 

What do you think of when you hear the word “promise?”  Is it a word you can rely on?  One time I was on a committee that was adjudicating a conflict between a pastor and his congregation.  He had only been serving the church for a few months.  When one of his detractors was asked: “Why can’t you give your minister more time?”, her quick response was, “You know this pastorate has lasted longer than many marriages in California.  It’s time for a change!”

 

I thought to myself, hmmm, the word promise doesn’t have much meaning, at least in California.  Perhaps this is true across America.  Maybe the broken promises of politicians and the inability to keep relational vows has caused us to think of the word “promise” as one of those weak words.  It is a word of pure potential with little, if any, fulfilling power. But Paul declares in Galatians that “promise” is a strong and eternal word because God guarantees its fulfillment!  The verse cited at the beginning of this article implies – God keeps his promises, no matter how old they are!

 

One of the great love stories of Christianity is the relationship between Katharina von Bora and Martin Luther.  It was a love story of promises fulfilled.  Luther said this about Galatians:  “The Epistle to the Galatians is my epistle.  To it, I am as it were, in wedlock.  It is my Katharina.”  Why would he say that?  Because he found the promises of God were more solid than anything in life!

 

Keith Hartsell, of Wheaton, Illinois wrote:

 

I was with a friend a few years ago in California, and as we were driving around the busy streets of L.A., I noticed that his cell phone was locked with an unusual password—pro nobis. I asked him what pro nobis meant and why he chose that for a password. He told me it was Latin and it meant “For Us” and then he suddenly started choking up. I thought, Why would those two Latin words cause so much emotion?

 

He composed himself and then explained that after walking through deep personal pain, true healing came when he learned that God is “for us”— or the Latin phrase, pro nobis. My friend said that after his parents’ divorce, a season when he assumed that God didn’t care or that God had given up on him, he finally found hope through those two simple words. When he decided to believe that God was pro nobis, that God had even sent Christ to die for him, he could then decide to lay down his life for others.

 

The promises of God are more sure than any human pledge.  That’s one thing we can learn from Galatians chapter 3 this week.

Your Pastor & Friend, Doug Brandt

 

Messenger Article – Week of January 15

I hope you are reading through Galatians and that this letter is blessing your week! Galatians is one of those portions of the New Testament that can be read over and over. The way to do that is to read it in a different translation every week. That sometimes helps to better understand Biblical texts. I would recommend the J.B. Phillips translation which can be found about anywhere now. It is even online at www.biblegateway.com.

 

As you read it, bear in mind this simple outline:

• In the first chapter and a half, Paul defends the supernatural origin of the Gospel
• In chapters 2-4, Paul lays out the content and message of the Gospel
• In chapters 5-6, Paul shows us how the Gospel plays out in relationships

 

In my opinion the impact of the ideas expressed by Paul in this book is second only to the impact of the Book of Romans on the Protestant Reformation! Its style is approachable and its message is understandable.

 

You might even say that Galatians is a Congregational book! One of the pillars of congregationalism is the reformation concept of the right to private judgment. It means several things. First of all, the Scriptures, when it comes to our salvation, are clear enough to understand. Secondly, God has given each Christian a mind and the ability to read and understand the Bible for themselves. Thirdly, the state doesn’t have the right to dictate to any individual the meaning of Scripture. Each individual is perfectly able to decide such matters for themselves. We can see the influence of the Reformation on the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

 

The Galatians were being told by a group of teachers that the true Gospel was not what Paul preached to them. Therefore, in this letter Paul appeals to the reason of the Galatians through several different venues of argument: Apostolic acceptance, conflict among Apostles, and the witness of Scripture.  All of these things pointed to the fact that one can only be made right with God through Jesus Christ.  This was Paul’s foundation pillar for the church.

 

The implication for Congregationalism (and every congregation) is that we all have a responsibility to judge the content of the teaching we hear. Experts are fine and necessary, but the Christian message is of such a nature that we can understand its basic premise without the aid of “experts.” Paul’s letter to the Galatians gives us the standard we use to judge the essentials of any message.

 

Read Galatians and be blessed!

 

Your Pastor & Friend, Doug Brandt

 

Messenger Article for January 8

“As long as we live, there is never enough singing.”  — Martin Luther in a 1527 lecture on Isaiah 6:13

 

When I look back on my childhood, I am thankful for the many places where singing was a part of my daily life: in the Cherub and Choristers choirs here at Oneonta, in worship services in the Sanctuary and Redwood Chapel, in Sunday school in the Founder’s House, in my classroom at school and with my Girl Scout troop.  My family sang in the car when we children started bickering, we sang on the trail to let the bears know we were there, and we sang when fishing got boring.  Singing was and is the primary way I express praise and adoration to God, and I am an advocate for every child learning to use their singing voice.  It is their God-given birthright, and if they learn the basics when they are young, they will have this as their primary instrument for a lifetime of worshiping. The attendant benefits of fellowship, interdependence, scripture memorization, and discipline are icing on the already delicious cake of singing.

 

Sadly, my childhood experiences of singing are not typical today for children today.  The role of singing in the current generation of children is largely one of passive viewing and listening, not participation.  As our culture deemphasizes the importance of working together in community and exalts the individual, we have become more oriented to being either a “performer” or member of the “audience.” This encourages children to aspire to individual fame, rather than to be a part of group of voices.

 

Additionally, we are a culture that puts increasing pressure on children to excel in specific areas at young ages.  Instead of providing everyday opportunities for all children to sing, there is a tendency to view only a certain few as being “gifted.”  But scripture instructs us differently.  We are all to “make a joyful noise,” “come into His presence with singing,” “lift up your voice,” “sing praise to Him, tell of His wonderful acts,” “sing the glory of His name,” and so on.  Coupled with the emphasis on specialization for young children, children are much less likely to sing in their classrooms because of cuts in arts programs and pressure to achieve higher standardized test scores.

 

But, thanks be to God!  Oneonta has had the foresight to look outward and provide a community choir for children.  The Oneonta Choral Music Academy, now entering its 5^th month, is offering a foundation in singing to all children in the community.  We started with a small group of 9 singers in the fall and hope to expand in the New Year.  We would so appreciate your prayer for the following:

• that families in the area would see the Academy as a gift to their children;
• that the children who come would experience of sense of welcome and joy in singing;
• that we would grow in the way God wants us to grow.

 

Joan Reeve Owens

Director of Oneonta Choral Music Academy

 

 

Adultery

I thought I would juice up The Messenger front page at least once.  Certainly the “A” word is one that can still get our attention.  Charles Copenhaver, a former Oneonta minister, once wrote a biting movie review as the front page in The Messenger.  As I read the article I could see the slow burn of righteous indignation below the surface.  He considered the film so morally repugnant that he didn’t mention its name!  The year he wrote the article was 1959 and I believe the film he was referring to was “An Anatomy of a Murder,” directed by Otto Preminger, and starring Jimmy Stewart.  Both men were nominated for an academy award.  But Dr. Copenhaver stated flatly, “This movie is immoral!”  It is an example of outright “vulgarity.”  He asked a question, “What has happened to the moral sensitivity of our people?”  Then he complained about the cycle of “sex” and “sadism” in entertainment!

 

When I read that article, I couldn’t help but be startled. I could not help but wonder how a black and white Jimmy Stewart movie could be so “immoral.”  Dr. Copenhaver seemed at first to be quaintly anachronistic.  Then fast forward to a Los Angeles Times article dated today, December 28, 2011, entitled: “Prime-time TV gets in bed — and other places — with adulterers.”  T.L. Stanley, the author, makes the following observations about the television industry’s choice of fare:

 

• … the proliferation of adultery on TV — seemingly occurring far more frequently than in real life — could be the result of a perfect storm of cultural and sociological factors, industry veterans and sociologists say.
• Cynicism about marriage is rampant … [m]arriage has never been less popular.
• Tim Winter, president of the Parents Television Council, an outspoken group that monitors TV for content it finds objectionable. “Sexual conduct outside the scope of a committed relationship is ubiquitous as a plot line on TV. It’s everywhere.”
• The PTC released a study in 2008 titled “Happily Never After: How Hollywood Favors Adultery and Promiscuity Over Marital Intimacy on Primetime Broadcast TV.” 
• The study said that marriage is “regularly mocked and denigrated,” while affairs are “treated sympathetically.”

 

My, we have come a long way culturally since “The Anatomy of a Murder.”  Maybe even Jimmy Stewart would blush at how marriage is portrayed on television today.  Copenhaver’s Messenger front page might have been prophetic. Certainly, if you believe in marriage, the Los Angeles Times article is discouraging, because it doesn’t just reflect the attitude of the culture at large, but perhaps real desires of American Christians, and complicity of the Church.  The entertainment industry is primarily profit driven – in the end, it produces what sells.

 

Christian!  What do you buy?  What do you watch?  What do you desire?

Your Pastor & Friend, Doug Brandt

 

Large fallen tree removed today

The large pine tree that fell during our Dec 1st windstorm was removed today. Here are some pics I took with my camera phone. -Lincoln

Christ is born! Join us for our annual candlelight Christmas Eve celebration service. December 24 @ 6:00pm. www.oneonta.org

Special Holiday Worship Schedule for Oneonta Church

Special Holiday Worship Schedule (Our regular 9:30am & 11:30am services will be canceled on these dates only):

• Christmas Eve Candlelight Service – 6:00pm in the Sanctuary
• Christmas Day Worship Service – 10:30am in the Sanctuary
• New Years Day Worship Service – 10:30am in Gray Hall

Regular Sunday Worship Schedule:

•   9:30am Traditional Worship Service
• 10:30am Sunday School & Fellowship Hour
• 11:30am Contemporary Worship (“ONE Worship”)

Childcare (infant-3rd grade) is available during all of our services.

Messenger Article for December 25th

“When eating bamboo sprouts, remember the man who planted them.” — Chinese Proverb

 

I noticed this Christmas season that the culture wars were once again in full swing.  People were taking other people to court over a manger scene or some other observance of Christmas.  But so far Christmas has not been exiled from our national psyche!  That’s good!  It is the responsibility of the Church to keep Christ front and center no matter which way the world swings!

 

In spite of the strong pull of commercialism and opposition, it is hard to separate a spirit of generosity from Christmas.  It is an unmistakable part of the season.  There is a sense of gratitude and relief that God would send a Savior into our dark world.

 

The angels appeared to the shepherds on Christmas night.  The news they heard made these shepherds very happy.  It has been said that happiness is an expression of gratitude.  That should be our attitude at Christmas because of what God has done for us!  The old Chinese proverb points us back to the source of our blessing.  Christians can look beyond the man who planted to the One who gave the seed, the rain and the increase.  It is a good thing to give thanks to the Lord!

 

Gratitude brings with it contentment, and contentment brings happiness!  This is a powerful force to be reckoned with.  As I write this article the world is watching the drama of succession in the closed country of North Korea.  What pictures are conjured up in my mind as I think of the bleak circumstances of those poor people!  Yet I know there are Christians there, and it is hope in Christ that sets people free.  No doubt one day we will see yet another dark dictatorship fall to the hope and light of Christ because there are those who dare to live in the gratitude of Christmas.

 

I believe Christmas is good for the world, and the church is the instrument of that goodness.  The church is worth our gifts and gratitude.  Charles Leonard Copenhaver wrote:

 

Above all else there is the Gift of God that alone justifies the act of giving at this time of year.  We give to others to celebrate what He first gave to us, even Jesus Christ.  Can we ever cease being thankful for Him?  In dark days, He is a light.  In hours of sorrow, He is comfort.  In a time of madness, He sounds the note of sanity.  In a moment of fear, He gives to us a faith.  In the harshness of hatred, He speaks of love.  I need Jesus Christ.  God must have known this.  How can my heart contain anything less than thankfulness now that the day of His birth comes again?

 

When you feel the gratitude of Christmas come over you, share with the Church. Merry Christmas!      

Your Pastor & Friend, Doug Brandt

 

Keeping Christ in Christmas

I chuckle when my friends lament the steady advance of Christmas music onto the turf of the “regular” year.  I chuckle because my feathers get ruffled during the holidays too, but it isn’t the sounds of carols in November that grate on my ears; it’s the inevitable tune played by an institution I like to call the WCC, “The Wholly Complaining Church.”

 

I received an email forward from this Church last year.  It sung the classic WCC Christmas-tree dirge, “These are not Holiday Trees, they are not Winter Festival Trees, they are not Hanukkah Bushes, they are not Allah plants!  They are Christmas Trees! Say it… Christmas, Christmas, Christmas! NOT Holiday!” 

 

Shouting “Christmas, Not Holiday,” “Keep Christ In Christmas,” and other slogans at a degrading American society is usual fair for the WCC.  Anything that seemingly questions the status or entitlement of American Christianity is likely to receive its rather creative criticism.

 

Now, I would never suggest that we replace Jesus with a jolly ol’ man known for breaking-and-entering, but demanding that society respect Christian tradition simply isn’t the way to Keep Christ in Christmas.

 

In the middle of his letter to the Philippian Church, Paul breaks out into a Christmas song, echoing what many believe to be an earlier Christian hymn:

 

Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.  Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself to the point of death, even death on a cross.

[Philippians 2:4-8]

 

Christmas has always been about the humility of Christ.  It can serve, therefore, only as an ironic platform for Christian complaint.  How can we complain that our holiday isn’t receiving respect when the holiday itself showcases the humiliation of our only ruler?

 

Identifying with this humility, however, doesn’t mean that the “Wholly Complaining Church” becomes the “Wholly Compliant Church.” Baby Jesus in the manger is an unexpected and powerful symbol which stands as a critique of every worldly power; the man who existed in the form of God, through whom the cosmos were created, the Messiah, the Lord of Lords, at whose name every knee shall bow… this man possessed no sense of entitlement.   He made himself nothing; the King took on the form of the servant.

 

Christmas makes demands, but these demands include the consideration of others as more important than the self, the pursuit of their interests, and demonstrations of Christian humility.  Our society isn’t tasked with keeping Christ in Christmas, we are.  Let’s follow Christ’s example, refusing the temptation to complain and resisting the allure of entitlement.  Instead of demand or lament, let’s win outsiders over with demonstrations of power that resonate with the manger; with the love of a Lord willing to forfeit his status.

 

This year, let’s keep Christ in Christmas.    

Your Brother,

Allen O’Brien

 

Advent Music during Dec. 11, 2011 worship service

Click on the links below to listen to a recording of the wonderful advent music provided at our December 11, 2011 9:30am traditional worship service:

O Come, O Come Emmanuel (Traditional Hymn)

Faithful Shepherd (featuring the Los Angeles Children’s Orchestra)

The Call (featuring the Los Angeles Children’s Orchestra & Oneonta Chancel Choir)

Come, Thou Long-expected Jesus (Traditional Hymn)

(Thanks to Dr. Robert Parker for providing these resources!)

Ladies, you’re invited to our Women’s Christmas Tea on Sat, Dec. 17 @ 2pm. Guys, sign up to butler! Please RSVP to ChristmasTea@oneonta.org

Messenger Article about the Wind Storms

Early last Thursday, December 1, 2011, the Santa Ana winds came blowing into Alhambra, South Pasadena, Pasadena and other neighboring cities, wreaking havoc upon our community. Some reports estimate that the winds in the residential areas reached 60-70 M.P.H. and also surpassed 100 M.P.H. in the mountains. Many of our church members suffered property damages as well as the loss of power to their homes. Oneonta Congregational Church suffered the following damages:

• The top portion of the cross above the Sanctuary was knocked down by falling tree branches.

• A tree facing Oak St., which was recently memorialized as one that was planted by Dr. Sun Yat-sen, suffered the loss of many large branches.

• The poles holding our curbside church banner were pulled from the ground.

• Our church campus, including the Pastor’s Manse and church office, was without power and telephone/internet/email service from Thursday, December 1 at 1:30am through Monday, December 5 at 3:00pm.

• Worst of all, the large pine tree (estimated at over 100’ tall) adjacent to Redwood Chapel fell completely across Oak Street, knocking down 2 telephone poles, damaging a third pole, crushing a telephone box and a parked car, damaging part of the basketball court fence, and blocking traffic for days.

By the grace of God, no one was seriously injured during this catastrophe. Our church staff and lay leadership worked throughout the weekend to clean up debris, keep people informed, and organize a special candlelit 9:30am worship service on Sunday, December 4 in Gray Hall.

The worship service was especially memorable for us all, as we gathered together in our warmest winter clothes and sang hymns, prayed, and listened to an advent sermon by Pastor Doug. In spite of the chill, we all experienced the warmth and unity brought about by the Holy Spirit.

Praise the Lord, who transforms the trials of our lives into moments for love and togetherness!

Your friend,

-Lincoln Skinner, Associate Minister