Sunday Service

Content Note

Parents of Grades 3-5: We wanted to give you advance notice that this Sunday’s sermon passage deals with a sensitive subject, namely the beheading of John the Baptist (Mark 6:14-29 ESV). As usual, younger children aged 4 years to Grade 2 will be dismissed prior to the Scripture reading and so will not be present. For children in Grades 3-5 who might find this account unsettling or disturbing, parents are encouraged to talk with them about the passage in advance. For guidance, you might refer to the passage in the ICB translation (International Children’s Bible) with language targeted to the Grade 3 level.

New Hotline Number

If you need to get ahold of staff on a Sunday morning (i.e., if you are scheduled to volunteer on a Sunday and have to cancel at the last minute, or if you’re watching the livestream and are having an issue, or need to cancel your registration for the service), you can now text the church at 617-864-5464. This is the same number to call the church office and is listed on our webpage. The old “CTK Hotline” number is no longer active.

Resurrection Eggs

Resurrection Egg Kits available: Homemade Resurrection Egg Kits are egg cartons with plastic Easter eggs filled with 12 different objects and scripture verses to help explain the story of the Passover feast through Jesus's death on the cross leading up to the empty tomb on Easter morning. We have enough for one per family and if you have not received one, completed kits will be available this Sunday for families to pick up after the service. Please contact lara@ctkcambridge.org if you have any questions.

Generous Justice

In the Adult education class, we have been pursuing the themes of Micah 6:8 - act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly. During the summer, we went through Michael Card's wonderful study on Hesed. (mercy) Morgan Crago has led us through an insightful study of racism in the Presbyterian Church. In our current Adult Ed class, we are using Tim Keller's book Generous Justice to pursue what it means to act justly. In preparation, Pastor Clyde recommends this video from the Bible Project on the meaning of justice in the scriptures as well as this article on critical theory from Tim Keller.

Adult Ed (Pic)

Please note, there is no Adult Education this Sunday (9/5).

Adult Education will resume on Zoom on 9/12 with a new class: In continuation of our study of hesed, or God’s lovingkindness, and in preparation for our subsequent study on the theme of God’s justice, the Adult Ed class will be going through a 2-week study of US Presbyterian history, focusing on the history of our tradition’s response to issues of justice, particularly in the area of race and ethnicity. The class will look at teachings about race in the 20th century southern Presbyterian church, the role of African Americans in these churches, the cultural forces at play in the formation of the PCA in the 1970s, and more recent 21st-century denominational statements about race and corporate repentance.

Children's Worship

Children’s Worship is starting soon for children 4 and 5 years! Parents and children are invited to join us after the service on Sunday, September 12 for an Open House. Come tour the classroom in our newly renovated basement, preview our curriculum and familiarize yourself with the class schedule and procedures. Class will then open on Sunday, September 19 for up to 10 registered students (with a waitlist available). Kids will be dismissed from the service prior to the sermon and parents must escort children to class in order to check them in. Please contact Dana Russell with any questions.

Note from the Elders

A Note from the Elders for Young Families:

We want to express how happy we are that families are increasingly making the decision to join us in person at 99 Prospect Street. We realize that it is a complex decision for all of you. If it helps, we are all delighted to hear the sound of children again, joyful or otherwise. Please feel fully supported if you choose to worship as families. Grace is a wonderful gift when shared freely.

But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant, and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read: ‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise’?” - Matthew 21