Welcome to Safe Harbor Presbyterian Church 

Where the love of Christ builds a harbor of acceptance, inspiration, 

Fellowship, service and joy. 

You enrich our worship with your presence. 

"When we say welcome we mean it!"

Sound Recording only - Podcast

It is not possible to pass the collection plate at our live home church.

  We do need your contributions.  Please sent your check, made out to Safe Harbor Presbyterian Church to:

Safe Harbor Presbyterian Church

c/o Monty Rice

1298 Warren Rd.

Cambria, CA 93428

 If this is your first time here, WELCOME. 

If you have a prayer request, please send to:  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. 

Safe Harbor Presbyterian Church-PCUSA 

2700 Eton Rd. • Cambria, CA 93428 

Call or text 805.395.1521 

Info: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. website: www.safeharborcambria.org 

 The Gathering
At the tolling of the bell, please quietly prepare your heart for worship.

Welcome and Announcements
Meditation Music Deborah Farrand

† Call to Worship (In unison)
It is the Lord’s day and we come into his presence. Here, in this hour, we come into his light. Here, we are fed, in mind and spirit. The Lord gathers us in and puts song on our lips. Here, we lay down our burden. Here, we come to spark lives that are holy and hearts that are true. Here we are to worship our Divine, the Lord of this life and the God who holds us forever.

Prayer of the Day
Leader: Our prayer is from the lectionary Psalm (22)
All: You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, honor him… All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him, for dominion belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nations…Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord. They will proclaim his righteousness, declaring to a people yet unborn. We praise the Lord. Amen.

†Hymn of Praise # 401 Gather Us In

Prayer of Confession
(In unison) Merciful God, we come from a week of journey with the Savior, in the wilderness, trying to discern who we are, how we can show the world a bit of who You are, trying to understand what it is that blocks us, and robs us of joy. Lord we seek to live without fear. Please hear these confessions and petitions of our heart, offered to you as a sign of our faith. (silent prayer)

(In unison) Please open our eyes to see you in others and in all of life and to have the courage to step into a faith that leads our journey and strengthens our hearts. Amen.

Assurance of Pardon New Creations in Christ
†The Sharing of the Peace

The Word

Hymn of Preparation #452 Open the Eyes of My Heart

Leader: Listen for the Word of God.
People: Our ears are open and our hearts are ready to receive.

Scripture: Mark 8: 31-38

Leader: The Word of the Lord.
People: Thanks be to God.

Sermon: Pogo Was Right Rev. Eugenia Gamble

Hymn of Response #450 Be Thou My Vision

The Prayers

Call to Prayer: Hymn #466 Come and Fill Our Hearts

Prayers of the People
The Lord’s Prayer

Response to Prayer Hymn # 710 We Are An Offering

Prayer of Dedication

The Parting

† Hymn of Parting # 726 Will You Come and Follow Me

† Charge and Benediction

Musical Response Go With Us Lord

Go with us, Lord, and guide the way, through this and every coming day;

That in your Spirit strong and true, our lives may be our gift to you.

-Today is Presbyterian Media Sunday. After worship we will share
how to access inspiring and reliable news coverage and commentary.-

CURRENT PRAYER LIST 

Members of our community that are lonely, hungry and sick.

If you would like to support the work of Safe Harbor Church financially: 

Tax deductible checks may be made to Safe Harbor Presbyterian Church. 

During our period of isolation, please mail checks to: 

Monty Rice 1298 Warren Road Cambria CA 93428 

WHEN WE SAY “ WELCOME! ”, WE MEAN IT! 

 The Enemy is Us…….Mark 8:31-38………February 28, 2021

Mark 8: 31) Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32) He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33) But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.” 34) He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35) For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. 36) For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? 37) Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? 38) Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

Background: Today’s passage follows immediately on a discussion of Jesus’ Messiahship. He has healed a blind man and his disciples are trying to understand just who this new rabbi is. As we pick up the story, Peter has just declared that Jesus is the Messiah. The whole passage must be understood in that context.

Expectations of Messiah: The people of Israel had yearned for centuries for the One promised of God who would come into their lives and nation and rescue them. Over time, very specific ideas about Messiah grew up, drawing largely on the words of the prophets and especially of Daniel. Several things about Messiah were assumed. 1. Messiah would be a human being and nothing more. The radical monotheism of Israel could not conceive of what we call “incarnation, that is God becoming human and remaining God. 2. Messiah would be chosen by God for God’s purpose of restoring Israel to right relationship with God and ensuring the bounty of God’s promises. 3. Messiah would be a military hero. Foreign domination was understood as a major reason for Israel’s troubles. Messiah would end that domination. 4. Messiah’s coming would produce undeniable and lasting results. There would be no doubt about who he was and what he had accomplished. 5. Messiah’s dominion would result in peace, unity, justice and blessing for all of God’s chosen people.

What was Peter’s problem? Peter expected Messiah to be what I just described. In light of that, Jesus’ words about suffering and rejection (failure) were incomprehensible. That was not how he thought God got things done. He thought that if he could just work with Jesus a little more that he could straighten him out!

The Role of Suffering: Today’s lesson is one of the strongest pronouncements about the necessity of Jesus’ suffering and the inevitability of the suffering of those who follow him. Why is this necessary? The text does not explain God’s thinking to Peter or to us. We are simply told that the suffering of Jesus would be necessary. It is interesting that he does not say that the suffering was specifically ‘willed’ by God.
Rather, it is a part of the divine plan, permitted and dealt with. If suffering, according to the divine plan of God, was somehow necessary for Jesus, what is the role of suffering for his disciples? It is inevitable in an unbelieving world. Suffering is not called for except for the sake of the gospel or bearing witness to the gospel. Even then, the faithfulness that may result in suffering is the path to true life.

Word Study

Vs. 31 – Son of Man – this term in complex. It is how Jesus most often referred to himself and it is a title used of Messiah.
       Must – important word. It means “necessary” and implies divine plan.
       Be killed – This is Jesus’ first prediction of his death in Mark’s Gospel.
Vs. 32 – quite openly – this does not mean publicly. It means plainly, understandably.
       Rebuked – this is the word used for silencing a demon in an exorcism! This is astounding and reflects Peter’s fear of what others will think and do. This fear is the quality that will lead him later to deny Jesus.
Vs. 33 – rebuked – a different word. It is a harsh word, almost a curse.
       Satan – Jesus was using the name of Satan to symbolize the power of evil. He is saying to Peter that he (Peter) is functioning as an instrument of evil.
       Divine things – God’s ways.
       Human things – human beings’ partial and selfish priorities.
Vs. 34 – deny – say no to false self, exercise self-control, put the demands of the gospel above personal feelings and ego’s fears.
      Take up cross – the disciples would have had no trouble grasping the meaning of this even before Jesus’ crucifixion. The landscape was littered with crosses. It was the most common form of execution. He is saying that to follow Jesus, a disciple must be willing and ready to die for him. This verse is a very clear job description for Christian living.
       Follow me – it is important to remember that we are never called to go it alone. We are only called to go where Jesus has already gone.
Vs. 35 – life – refers to more than physical life. It also refers to spiritual life.
Vs. 36 – forfeit – waste, give up, give over, give away.
Vs. 38 – ashamed – literally, half-hearted, apologetic attitude.

Questions for Personal Reflection

1. What expectations do you have about Jesus? How has he proved to be different from those expectations?
2. Have you ever had an experience that you would call ‘redemptive’ suffering, that is suffering that has brought you to a new and better place by going through it? What does it mean to you to know that Jesus has gone before you in painful times?
3. What aspects of your personality have you had to lay aside over the years in order to be your most authentic self? What fears or old wounds have had to die for you to live fully?