Welcome to Riverside!

This morning we welcome Mr. Jody Mask, the Administrative  Assistant to Dan Williams, Executive Presbyter and Stated Clerk of Central Florida Presbytery.

He is certified ready for examination for ordination, pending a call. Jody received his M.Div. degree from the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary in 2013.  He and his wife, Ellen are members of Park Lake Presbyterian Church.

Jody will share with us an examination of 1 Chronicles 21 in his sermon, “Statistically Speaking.”

(From 30SecondsorLess.net)  First Chronicles is just that: a chronicle, or a timeline, of the people of Israel, particularly the genealogy of David. Though it often reads as dry lists of people, you will find occasional nuggets of surprise. God acts infrequently but decisively, and often harshly. And David obeys God-most of the time. Ultimately, the book witnesses through David that faithfulness to God leads to fruitfulness as surely as disobedience to God leads to disaster.  It concludes with a challenging picture of human faithfulness to God that contemporary sensibilities find hard to replicate.

 The good news of First Chronicles is David’s intimate relationship with God. David trusts God, has the freedom to be angry at God, and knows when he has ticked off God.  Though the consequences of disobedience often seem harsh, the conditions of obedience were neither arbitrary nor unclear. When David obeys God’s laws, he prospers. When he neglects to do so, disaster strikes. But God listens to David, and even changes God’s mind, sparing lives. This Old Testament God is not as unreasonable as some might think…

Welcome to worship,

Riverside Presbyterian Church