Snapshots of Christmas Eve Candlelight Service December 24, 2024

Guest Speaker James Snodgrass focused on the first chapter of the book of Revelation, highlighting lessons to be gleaned from scripture. Revelation 1:3 (NIV) says, "Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near."  The guest speaker expanded on the teachings for churches in following God's Word and guarding against the influences of evil. 

Pastor Steve's sermon for the special Valentine's Service focused on Luke 5: 1-11. Jesus was preparing Peter and the disciples to become fishers of men when he took them out to deeper and had them cast their nets. Peter and the other fishermen told Jesus that they had already tried every trick in the book and come up empty but they took Jesus out in their boat regardless and cast their nets. Pastor Steve advised the congregation to learn from this story and to keep the faith that God walks with us. "No matter how many times our nets come up empty, we must believe and know that God’s hand is always on our shoulder as he walks with us though those times, "said Pastor Steve.

It was Peter who lived along the shores of Galilee and had come from generations of fishermen. Jesus came along and told him to try a different fishing strategy.
“Master we worked all night and have caught nothing.”  Pastor contemplated this encounter between Peter and the disciples, saying, "They were saying they had already tried everything they new. Why, then did they row out into deeper water?
What made the deep impression on Peter?" 
Those disciples dropped their nets and followed him and we should do the same. Pastor noted that we all know ourselves pretty well and it is understandable that we sometimes get sad and discouraged, or feel unloved and frustrated when things don’t work out. "Courage comes from trusting Jesus regardless of what circumstances come from," advised Pastor, "...so how about if we stop looking at our own limitations and look at who’s children we are. Let's look at what we’ve been given through the Power of God." 

This uplifting message reminds us that Jesus told us he came so that we all might have an abundant life. True to his promise, Jesus showed us a love that even conquers death.

Pastor Steve's February 2 sermon focused on Luke 4:21-30 (NIV) and the fact that the people in Jesus' hometown of Nazareth wanted a "show" and  to be shown miracles and signs, more than to learn from the Word of God or to hear Jesus speak.

Luke 4, verses 21 to 30, tells the story of the reception Jesus received when he returned to preach in his hometown:

He began by saying to them,  "Today, this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” they asked.

Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Physician, heal yourself!’ And you will tell me, ‘Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.’”

“Truly I tell you,” he continued, “no prophet is accepted in his hometown. I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon.  And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian.”

All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him off the cliff.  But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.

Pastor Steve drew from the verses in Luke 4, 14-21, and Jesus’ rejection in Nazareth. Pastor encouraged the congregation to learn from the verses the importance of staying  true to Jesus and his teachings. Pastor counseled those in attendance, “When the voice of the Spirit speaks within us,  let us listen and take Jesus' teachings seriously. Listening to Jesus sometimes challenges us: our ideas, our prejudices and our actions. Yet, remember that he not only challenges us, he invites us to live in a better world by following the rules of the Kingdom of God.” Pastor warned against living by the rules of worldly success and happiness.  He said, unlike the people of Nazareth, Christians must live by faith and the Word of God because there, in Scripture, we find the perfect example of God’s Love. The people of Nazareth wanted miracles when Jesus returned to his hometown to preach. His refusal to do miracles, just to appease idle curiosity, angered those asking him to "perform" for them. Thus, they rejected him in frustration and anger. Luke 4, verses 14 to 21, tells the story of this rejection:

Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.
He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”  Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Verses one through five in Matthew 7 (NIV) advise: 

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged.²For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye..."

These verses and this message by Guest Speaker James Snodgrass highlight several questions and observations about Christianity. One question is, "Where would we be today without Christianity?" This is a big question to ponder.

Christians comprise about 31 percent of the world's population. Since there is strength in numbers, the second question follows, "Isn't it better to focus on the big things we have in common as Christians rather than becoming divided over small differences?" 

Jennifer Johnson, Oliver Fox, Jim and Laurel Snodgrass, and Don Hasbrouck led the congregation in singing at the Thanksgiving Service.

Gary Hackbart and Frank Gagliardi opened the special Veterans Day Service on November 10, 2024.

Frank Gagliardi as the "First Veteran" presented colors at the special DCCC Veterans Day Service with Gary Hackbart leading the Pledge of Allegiance and Call to Worship. There was a special reading, songs, and prayer and Pastor Steve gave the sermon listed below.

The DCCC Candlelight Service included special songs, nativity for children, a sermon by Pastor Steve, and closing with all attendees singing Silent Night by candlelight. All guests received gifts of ornaments and cookies upon exiting. The children who helped with the Nativity received gifts as well. It was a beautiful night of honoring and remembering the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. Please listen to Pastor Steve's sermon below.