Psalm 92 on February 2nd, 2025
Above is audio of the sermon pulled from the video and amplified.
Below is transcript pulled from the video and formatted by artificial intelligence. There may be inconsistencies or errors.
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Well, this is it. This is the last Sunday that we are worshiping in this sanctuary. And as you just heard in the children's message, this is the last time that I will be standing here and this is the last time that you will be sitting there. From now on, we will all be in new spots. And I wondered what I would say this morning. And so I figured maybe a little history wouldn't be so bad.
Compared to some places where the earliest Europeans settled, we're not that old of a congregation. However, St. Philip is the oldest Lutheran church on the Grand Strand. The first services in this building were held on December 21, 1958. The original congregation built this sanctuary, the offices, the bathrooms, and two classrooms for a total cost of $103,000. And when it was initially built, this room was a multi-use space. It held everything. Worship, fellowship events, even some Sunday school classes, folding chairs where it were set up and moved, depending on what was happening on that day and at that moment. The windows were just plain glass, no stain or color to them. There was a tile floor instead of carpet.
Until 1975. That was when the congregation decided to build a fellowship hall and as part of the process to renovate this room to become a sanctuary. It was only then that they installed pews, the light fixtures, new liturgical furniture of the altar, the lectern, and the pulpit, and then the stained glass windows, or more accurately faceted glass windows. Building the fellowship hall and doing all of the renovations in this phase cost $185,000. The sanctuary was dedicated on May 22, 1977. And then the last major addition to the sanctuary was the Rogers Oxford 925 Electronic Hype Organ installed in 1989 at a cost of $130,000.
And all of this has served as well. It was a gift from previous generations so that we could gather for worship, for fellowship, for service, for learning. But anyone, anyone who sang the old timey Sunday school songs, no, the church is not a building. The church is not a steeple. The church is not a resting place. The church is good. Better than 830. I don't tell you. I mean, surely this place is a community, not because of bricks and wood, of glass and carpet. It's a community because of the people.
Through the decades, many people have shaped St. Philip into the place that it is today. There were gifts. There were blunders. There was faith. There was hope. There was the love of God. And many of us have memories here, whether we worship here a thousand times or are just a handful. There are memories of people gathered for baptisms, for weddings, for funerals, of community and celebrations and in heartache, of splendid worship, where only a few were gathered of overflowing candle-like Christmas Eve services. And of someone else sitting in your pew. The events were special, but the people made them even more so. And I hope that you can think of someone from church, whether here or elsewhere, who left their fingerprints on your faith.
But even more than just people. The church is a people with a purpose. And that purpose is to gather around God's word and sacrament to be fed and nourished, forgiven and sent weak in and weak out. We come to hear the good news of what God has done for us in Jesus Christ. What God is doing now through the Spirit. And what God promises yet to do in the fullness of time. We come to share in the Lord's Supper and be fed by Christ Himself. We come to be reminded of our identity in baptism as beloved children of God. We come to hear the proclamation of the entire forgiveness of all your sins. We come to be given yet again the grace, the mercy, the love of God in ways that our world most certainly does not.
And this is where our gospel lesson for today fits in with all of this. The Pharisees were very concerned with how something was done or not done, particularly on the Sabbath. There were ways to obey God, celebrate God, acknowledge God. This is how we do it. But Jesus doesn't do things their way. He doesn't do them how they do it. Instead, Jesus is much more concerned about why. Why we do or don't do something. He asks, is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath to save life or destroy it? Essentially, which is more important, how something is done or why something is done. A poll the law, but let people suffer or do what is right, loving and life-giving, even if it goes against what the law says. Jesus says, shows that it is better to give life to alleviate hunger, to heal, to help, to love. He is pointing to God's why. God wants life. God wants people to feel love instead of law. God wants people to see the links that the God will go to show that love. That is why God came to us in the first place.
With this upcoming renovation, there are a ton of how questions. How will we do this? How is that going to work? I'm not sure. Those are important to think through, but let's not forget the why. How are we going to do communion? Well, we have some ideas, but we will figure it out together because it is central to our worship and a tangible sign of God's grace that is given and shed for you. How are we going to hear during worship? How are we going to stream? How will it feel like church? Well, we have a couple of ideas about that, but we will figure it out together because all of those things are important for sharing the Word of God. And the how will probably change several times over the next months, but the why continues to be that these things are important for us, the people of God who gather with a purpose.
And in the midst of all of our how, questions, let's not forget the big why question. Why are we moving in the first place? We are moving so that we can be better at worship and welcome. So that in the end, we have space where more can gather, where barriers for participation are removed, where all can fully participate. So that beauty and all support worship in new ways with radiant light splashing in with colors and floor to rafter is filled with music and praise. So that fellowship happens easily, effortlessly, almost like spirit blowing through us. So that we all can point to God's why of an unconditional and everlasting love. Because here in this community of people with the purpose who are going to be gathering in a fellowship hall for a while, here among us are gifts. Here are blunders, but also here is faith. Here is hope. Here is the love of God. Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath, the Lord of the Church, the Lord of the world, the Lord of God's why, which is seen in life, death, and resurrection, and a love that never fails.
To end, this past week I dug through some of the old church directories. And in most of them, the pastor wrote a letter at the beginning. So I'd like to share with you the final paragraph of the letter in the oldest director we have. It is written by St. Philip's first pastor, Bill Wingard, who was here for about 30 years. With only minor edits he wrote. And yet the most important, unfinished part of the story is the worship, study, service, and witness which we at St. Philip will offer to God in our community, now and in the years ahead. We are still quite young and growing in years as well as in faith and service. As we stand at this point in our life together, we are most grateful for Almighty God, for what God has accomplished in and through us. And we look forward with eager anticipation to being God's co-workers and doing God's will and fulfilling God's purposes for us in the years ahead. And to that I say, amen.