This Week at Clyde Park

A Note from Pastor Ryan

“We live in a highly sophisticated culture that conspires in many ways, maybe not to kill Christians, but to kill faith, to make faith in Jesus Christ seem puny, unrealistic. So maybe we, too, can be helped by the vision John offers his congregation, to strengthen them against the seductions and coercions of a powerful, impressive, and faith killing culture”

These are words from Rev. Dr. Ellen Davis in her sermon “Worship the Lamb.” She’s commenting on Rev. 5 11-14- a scene of heavenly worship. It’s an excellent sermon and I can make copies for anyone who would like to read the whole thing.

She contrasts worshipping Jesus with worshipping the beat- and how rational it could seem to 1st century Christians to worship the beast. “The Beast” is a reference to Roman power and the temptation people had to worship in Rome. But it also refers to other earthly powers. “The Beast seems for a while to be worthy of all the adulation it demands. Because the Beast seems to guarantee our wellbeing, it is worthy also of the sacrifices it requires from its countless worshippers.”

The early church had a choice- worship “The Beast”- the false gods of the Roman Empire which served to empower the emperor, or to worship Jesus- the lamb who had been slain.

As I preached on Sunday- Jesus is Lord of all. But we ought to make sure that our image of the ascended Christ is not a reflection of earthly powers, but rather we are worshipping the one who was slain. And Gods glory is not one apart from what seems like defeat. Jesus defeated death by dying. He suffered incredibly in large part because Jesus wouldn’t worship the Beast.

As those who worship the crucified, risen, and ascended God, we should recognize that the lamb of God who looks like it had been slain is always lamb of God who looks like it had been slain. And much like Jesus we shouldn’t be surprised if worshipping the true God becomes costly. It will require us to identify with “the least of these” instead of those who are in powerful places.  But this is true and good worship.

As Dr. Davis says, “the church survives because in every age and throughout the Christian world, there have been some who made that gospel truth plain, proclaimed it joyfully and with full voice, and then, willingly paid the price the Beast extracted from them.”

May we worship King Jesus knowing that it is not all victory- at times the powers and principalities will conspire against us. Still, we must worship the true God with joy knowing that in the end we will most past the temporal earthly glory to Gods eternal glory.

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Community dinner this week we are having red beans and rice. See you there!!

May 27th-Spaghetti dinner

 Upcoming youth fundraisers

5/27 spaghetti dinner

VBS – 6/15/26 – 6/19/26

Winter Wonderland theme

 Make sure to let Pastor Chrissy know where you can help out!