Sermon by Markus Watson on March 30, 2008

This is the second sermon in the series titled “MythBusters”

Theme – Everybody wants to be happy. And everybody thinks that the way to get happiness is by getting stuff: money, toys, cars, house, spouse, kids, etc. But the Bible paints a very different picture of what brings happiness. The Bible tells us that we don’t find happiness by selfishness, but by selflessness—by serving and by giving.

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About a month ago, we unveiled the brand new logo for Northminster Presbyterian Church. Since that time, there’s been all kinds of feedback. Some of you absolutely love it! Some of you don’t. And that’s ok.

What I’d like to do is walk you briefly through the logo and what is represented in it.

People: The center of focus in the logo is on the people—that is, us! We are Northminster Presbyterian Church. Our church building is conspicuously absent from the logo, and that is intentional, because, as we all learned in Sunday school as children: the church is not a building, the church is the people.

Diversity: As the people of God in this place and at this time, we want to reflect the diversity of our community. Do we reflect that diversity? Not yet. But as we continue to follow Christ, I believe that we will. My hope is that we become a church of all kinds of ethnicities, ages, personalities, etc. In the logo, this diversity is reflected by the many different shapes and sizes of the people.

Going: We are the sent people of God (John 17:21, Matthew 28:19)—sent into the world to love people, to share the good news about Jesus, and to invite them into His kingdom. There is a sense of movement in the logo. These people are not static or still; they are going!

Worshiping: While we are sent out to reach others, as God’s people we are also called to be a people that worships God. This is represented by the raised hands. This doesn’t mean that all our worship must involve raising our hands (though we should be free to do so if we desire). The image of raised hands, however, is a clear symbol of a worshiping people.

Local: We are a specific church (Northminster Presbyterian Church), in a specific place (Clairemont Mesa Blvd.), at a specific time (early 21st century). This doesn’t mean we won’t reach out to other parts of the world (in fact, we should!), but it’s important to recognize that God has put us here and now for a reason. God is at work in our community here and now, and as God’s people we are called to be on mission with Him here and now. The local nature of our church is represented by the hill—the mesa—on which the people are standing.

Some of you have also noticed that the word “Presbyterian” is nowhere to be found in the logo. Why? Have we changed our name? No, we haven’t. We are still Northminster Presbyterian Church. And what about the words, “Christ’s Church on the Mesa”? This is not a name change; it’s a tag line. Simply a descriptive statement (hopefully somewhat catchy!)—that we, the people of God in this location, belong to Christ.

As to the question of why the word, “Presbyterian,” has been left out, this was an evangelistic decision more than anything else. We live in a world that has quickly become “post-denominational.” This doesn’t mean that denominations will cease to exist, but that name-identification will no longer be important as people choose which church to join. In fact, in a world in which institutions are viewed with increasing skepticism, words like “Baptist,” “Lutheran,” “Episcopalian,” “Presbyterian”—these are all increasingly thought of as institutions and, hence, not be trusted (you’ll notice that Saddleback Church in Orange County never advertises the fact that it belongs to the Southern Baptist denomination). In fact, at its March meeting, the Presbytery of San Diego passed a report from a team called The Way Forward Work Group in which the presbytery has committed to “Lead as a Presbytery in a Post-Denominational Setting as we Create a New Way of Being Presbytery.”

We live in a new—and I dare say exciting—world! A world full of new opportunities for reaching people with the love of God. As God’s people, we are striving to follow God wherever he might take us in this new world. Our new logo is a reflection of that desire to follow God!

Congratulations and Thanks to Northminster Preschool for re-painting the preschool! This is truly a blessing for both the preschool and the church. It provides a more beautiful campus and play area for the children and teachers of the preschool. It also improves the appearance of our church and, well, even the value of our property! So, again–THANK YOU!

Pastor Markus Watson

Sermon by Markus Watson on March 23, 2008

This is the first sermon in the series titled “MythBusters”

Theme – Everyone longs for a life of significance. A life with purpose. A life worth living. We want to be part of something that’s bigger than ourselves. And we try so many things to make ourselves significant—earn money, get fame, get power, a good career, etc., etc. etc. But these things will never satisfy us. The only one who can truly give us a life of significance is Jesus—because he died for us and he rose again. With Jesus, we can truly be a part of something bigger than ourselves

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This week is an incredibly special week for people who are followers of Jesus! This is the week that we remember Jesus’ suffering and crucifixion, and celebrate Jesus’ victorious resurrection! And as I mentioned in my meditation on Sunday, you can’t get from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday without going through Good Friday.

As followers of Jesus, I believe we’re called to journey with Jesus from Palm Sunday through the pain and suffering of Maundy Thursday and Good Friday to the joyous celebration of Easter Sunday. To help us take that journey, we’re offering special services on Thursday and Friday this week, both at 7:00 p.m.

On Maundy Thursday–the night of the Last Supper–we will be having a special service in which we will have stations set up throughout the sanctuary for meditation. And on Good Friday, we will remember the final hours of Jesus life with a “Tenebrae” service–a service “Into Darkness,” gradually bringing the sanctuary into darkness, symbolically journeying with Jesus into the darkness of his death.

So here are the days and times to remember:

Maundy Thursday, March 20, 7:00 p.m.
Good Friday, March 21, 7:00 p.m.

Finally on Easter Sunday, we’ll have worship services at our normal times:

Contemporary Service, 9:00 a.m.
Traditional “Heritage” Service, 10:45 a.m.

See you there!

Markus

Sermon by Markus Watson on Palm Sunday, March 16, 2008

Theme - Palm Sunday is often a time of excitement and joyful worshiping! But for Jesus, his entry into Jerusalem marked the beginning of his journey to the cross. We, too, are invited to journey with Jesus to the cross, and then, ultimately, to the resurrection!

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The video, also titled “From Palms to the Cross”, was used during the sermon.

Sermon by Markus Watson on March 9, 2008

This Sunday, we were joined by our preschool families in a service designed to thank them for their involvement with the church.

This is the fourth sermon in the series titled “An Alternate Reality”

Theme – Matthew 7:12 says, “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” In order to live a life that “sums up the Law and the Prophets” I have to become a certain kind of person—a person whose life is transformed by the Kingdom of Heaven, and this is played out in the way that I treat others. In this passage, Jesus talks about “doing unto others” in three ways: first, don’t judge others unless you want to be judged in return (vv. 1-5); second, don’t try to push the things of God onto those who don’t want it; and third, the correct way to live in relationship with others is in a posture of asking (as opposed to demanding).

The two commercials below were used as illustrations at the beginning of the sermon

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For those of you who would like to go the extra distance in demonstrating Christ’s love for those less fortunate than you, here is yet another opportunity! Good Samaritan Episcopal Church in the UTC area is needing to keep Interfaith Shelter guests at their church for an extra week that they didn’t plan for. They are in great need of volunteers to prepare dinners, spend the night, and possibly do other tasks too. The week they need the help for is March 29 through April 6. If you can possibly help, please, please contact Jim and Jill Lawrence, coordinators at Good Samaritan. The email is jlaw1998@earthlink.net.

Between services last Sunday, the families and friends of Northminster got together in celebration of our Grand Re-opening of our Nursery Shower Party! It proved to be a great opportunity to enjoy fellowship, cake and punch as we received new toys, bedding and baby items that were gifted to our nursery in honor of all of the youngest congregants at Northminster.

Our new nursery is being set up just outside of our Sanctuary, so new mothers and dads can be most comfortable in knowing that their babies are safe and well cared for during service. Thank you all for helping us celebrate with your loving contributions.

Just a reminder that this Sunday, March 9th, we will be having one combined church service at 9:30 a.m., where we will be joined by the preschool families in honor of the beautiful new lawn that has been installed in our preschool playground area.

Our 9:30 service will be followed by a brief dedication of our new playground turf and a delicious pancake brunch! Please join us for this special occasion.

… and remember to turn your clocks ahead one hour this coming Saturday night or you may arrive at church a bit late…