(716)741-3481 | Worship every Sunday @ 10:30 AM
(716)741-3481 | Worship every Sunday @ 10:30 AM
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You never know which goodbye is the last ordinary one. So
treat every goodbye like it deserves your full attention.
Jeremiah 29:4–7; Matthew 5:1-12
As this 250th anniversary celebration echoes across the land, what should Christians do? We can pray with hope.
We can celebrate with gratitude. We can reflect with honesty. We can engage with humility. We can remember that our deepest identity is not American, or British, or anything else—our deepest identity is beloved children of God, citizens of a kingdom that cannot be shaken.
The United States is 250 years old. The Church is 2,000 years old. The kingdom of God is eternal. So, we stand in this moment with perspective. We honor the good. We lament the harm. We commit ourselves to the work of peace. And we trust that Christ, the Prince of Peace, is still guiding His people to be salt and light in the land where we live.
May God bless this nation—not with triumph, but with wisdom. Not with pride, but with humility. Not with comfort, but with courage. Not with nostalgia, but with justice. Not with self‑interest, but with compassion. And may God bless us, the Church, with the grace to be peacemakers in a world that desperately needs peace.
O Christ, whose kingdom does not rise by war,
You call us from the noise of nations’ pride;
You teach us how to see our land once more
With grateful hearts, yet truth we cannot hide.
For every blessing woven through these years,
For freedoms cherished, voices lifted high—
We offer thanks. Yet still we name with tears
The wounds of history we cannot deny.
So, shape our love with mercy’s steady hand;
And guide us in the way our feet should move.
Make us Your peace within this restless land,
A people marked by grace, not fear, but love.
And as we come to share Your feast anew,
Bind us as one—our hope, our peace, in You.
Ned Holderby July 5, 2026 communion
As we gather on this turning of the year, the summer solstice,
we stand in awe that time itself moves at God the Father’s command,
and we are privileged to witness once again the faithful rhythms of His creation.”
Summer Solstice Sonnet
When sunlight lingers long upon the land,
we feel the quiet strength of God’s design—
the turning earth held gently in His hand,
the seasons moving to His faithful line.
The longest day leans wide into the light,
a witness to the One who never fades;
whose mercy rises fresh with every night,
whose love outshines the shadows we have made.
So let this day remind us as we stand:
our lives are kept within His changeless hand.
Ned Holderby June 21, 2026 Solstice Sunday
Galatians 4:4-7
“Abba” is intimate, yes — but it is also reverent, steady, and strong. It is the language of relationship, not dependency; of trust, not naïveté. And on Father’s Day, that reminds us that God is not a sentimental “Daddy” but a faithful Father who will not fail us.
The Father Who Delights
We chase the roles the world tells men to claim—
To stand as strong protectors, never weak;
To bear the weight of worth in work and name,
And hide the tender truths we dare not speak.
Yet Christ reveals a different kind of might:
A love that guards with mercy, not with fear;
A strength that provides presence more than height,
A leading born of listening hearts that hear.
So shape us, Abba, in Your wiser ways—
Where men find joy in love, not in control.
Make us Your sons who live to give You praise,
And learn delight is what makes fathers whole.
For in Your love, our truest manhood stands—
The Father who delights in His own hands.
Ned Holderby Father’s Day June 21, 2026
In the love of Christ,
Ned
May 17, 2026
Yahweh Sabaoth – The LORD of Hosts
Psalm 46:1-7, 10,11; Acts 1:9-11; Revelation 19:11-16
Matthew 26:23
When Psalm 46:10 commands us to “Be still, and know that I am God,”
it is not a call to casual relaxation.
In the original Hebrew, “Be still” means to “let our hands drop.”
It means surrender. It means to stop frantic, anxious striving.
Why can we let our hands drop today?
Why can we stop worrying?
Because the Christ who died for us has ascended to the throne.
Because He is currently ruling as the LORD of hosts.
Because He is returning in absolute power to set all things right.
The Commander of heaven’s armies has filled our refuge,
secured our future, and He is standing with us
right now in the midst of the storm.
The Throne of Sabaoth
The pillars of the world may shake and slide,
The raging oceans roar against the shore,
Yet in the high tower shall His church abide,
Secure within the fortress evermore.
The LORD of Hosts, who numbers every star,
Who rules the angel armies with a breath,
Has broken through our dark and earthly war,
To strip the crown from sin and vanquish death.
Behold Him now, ascended to the height,
Enthroned in glory, Captain of our peace;
He soon shall split the clouds in blinding light,
With heavenly hosts, whose triumphs never cease.
So drop our hands, be still, and fear no cost:
Our refuge stands—the King of kings is Host.
Ned Holderby May 17, 2026 Yahweh Sabaoth -The LORD of Hosts
In the love of Christ,
Ned
It has been said that the imitation of Christ is the mark of the true Christian. Join us in our seeking to imitate Christ in all aspects of our daily lives. Our lives are as varied as people are varied, yet our lives are bound together as one seeking to imitate Christ and to love as he has and does love us. We know that because of the Cross, death is in fact life eternal.
Imitate Christ — be a true Christian!
Even in a season of reflection, joy has a way of finding us. It slips in through a kind word, a remembered promise, or a moment of unexpected peace. This Sunday reminds us that joy is not the opposite of Lent — it is one of God’s gifts along the way.
Prayer: Giver of joy, open our hearts to the quiet gladness You place in our path. Let joy strengthen us for the journey. Amen.
Jesus Christ said, “Do this in remembrance of me.” He did not say, “Do this to prove something about yourselves to me.” He entered
a covenant of body and blood willingly so that we, in spite of ourselves, may have life. He proved that death is life eternal with him.
Prayer: God of love, lead us gently and faithfully. Help us walk in Your compassion and share it with others. Amen.
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Thank you for your faithful support.
Prayer: Holy One, walk with us as we enter the sacred days ahead. Keep hope alive within us. Amen.
Easter morning breaks open with a hope that cannot be contained. The stone is rolled away, not only from a tomb, but from every place where fear has tried to close us in. Resurrection reminds us that God’s love is stronger than death, stronger than despair, stronger than anything that tries to dim the light within us. Today we rise with Christ into new life.
Prayer: Risen Christ, lift our spirits with Your joy. Fill us with the hope of resurrection and guide us into the newness You offer. Amen.
Luke 22:14-20; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
At the Lord’s Table we do not renew a contract with God—we receive again His covenant mercy in Christ. In eating and drinking together, we quietly proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes, trusting His finished work and offering ourselves anew to His cross‑shaped love. So, when you next hear those familiar words—
“This is my body, given for you… This cup is the new covenant in my blood…
Do this in remembrance of me”—
hear them as a gracious command from your Savior: “Come back again to My cross. Stand again in My covenant. Let My finished work be the heart of your worship and the shape of your life—
until I come.”
Each time we eat this bread and drink this cup,
We stand once more beneath the wounding tree,
And let the story of His love rise up
To hush our fears and set our doubting free.
We do not boast in ardor we have shown,
Nor in a heart that never goes astray;
We simply tell what Christ has done,
And let His cross be all we have to say.
Each time we eat this bread and drink this cup,
We hear Him whisper, “This is My new vow.”
Though we have stumbled, He still lifts us up
And seals His covenant upon us now.
Not like a contract, fragile, cold, and small,
But like a bridegroom’s promise, fierce and true,
His blood declares, once for always, once for all,
“I give Myself, and I will not leave you.”
Each time we eat this bread and drink this cup,
We learn again the shape our lives must take:
Poured out in love, in mercy lifted up,
In quiet losses only heaven will wake.
So let this feast our hidden wills re‑bend,
Till every path we walk, and word we speak,
Bears His cross‑patterned beauty to the end—
His dying love in lives made low and meek.
Ned Holderby May 3, 2026 Communion Sunday