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.

Meditation Music Deborah Farrand

Welcome and Announcements

Call to Worship
(In unison) We gather as Easter people. As believers we are of one heart and one mind; our Holy Savior is Love Immortal. We read in Psalms how good and pleasant it is when people live in unity. We come together now, uniting our voices, hearts, and minds to give praise for the Risen Lord, to offer our prayers, and to hear the Word. We come to worship Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

The Apostles’ Creed
(In unison) I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth. And in Jesus Christ his only Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried. He descended into hell; the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy catholic Church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting. Amen.

Hymn of Praise #233 The Day of Resurrection

Prayer of Confession
Leader: The Prayer of Confession comes from 1 John 5-10.
(In unison) This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us. Please hear or silent confessions….

(In unison) In the name of Jesus Christ, the Righteous One, we pray. 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: John 21:1-19

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

Sermon: Beach Party Rev. Eugenia Gamble

Hymn of Response #702 Christ Be Beside Me

The Prayers

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

Prayers of the People
The Lord’s Prayer

Response to Prayer # 710 We Are an Offering

Prayer of Dedication

The Sending

† Hymn of Parting: # 240 Alleluia, Alleluia! Give Thanks
† 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.

After the service, please join Pastor Eugenia for her weekly “check-in” time.

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! 

 And One More Thing……John 21:1-14…..April 11, 2021

John 21:1 After these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias; and he showed himself in this way. 2Gathered there together were Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples. 3Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. 4Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5Jesus said to them, “Children, you have no fish, have you?” They answered him, “No.” 6He said to them, “Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish. 7That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on some clothes, for he was naked, and jumped into the sea. 8But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, only about a hundred yards off. 9When they had gone ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish on it, and bread. 10Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” 11So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred fifty-three of them; and though there were so many, the net was not torn. 12Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” because they knew it was the Lord. 13Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. 14This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead. 15. When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.” 16. A second time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Tend my sheep.” 17. He said to him a third time, “Do you love me?” Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” And he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him. “Feed my sheep.” 18. Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, an someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.” 19. (He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, “Follow me.”

Chapter 21: The last chapter of John’s gospel was almost certainly added by a later editor of the book. Chapter 20 ends with a perfect summary. (vs. 30-31 “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.”) In chapter 21 the vocabulary changes. The style of writing changes. Many early
church writers believed that this chapter was added to settle a dispute that quickly arose about who was to be in charge of the movement now that Jesus was not with them in bodily form. Some believed that Peter was to be the leader. Others thought that he had forfeited that right by his triple denial of Jesus before the crucifixion. They believed Jesus’ special relationship with ‘the beloved disciple’ showed that that he should be in charge. Rumors spread that Jesus had promised this disciple that he would not die until Jesus could come back for him. Many scholars now believe that this chapter was written after both Peter and ‘the beloved disciple’ died.

Who was Peter? Peter was one of Jesus’ original 12 disciples. He often functioned in a leadership role within the group closest to Jesus. He seemed to ask the questions that others were thinking. He was often brash and frequently obtuse, but he was always passionate about Jesus and the new life he brought. The early church saw him as the disciple who embodied ‘active discipleship.’

Who was the Beloved Disciple? We don’t know for sure. There are a number of opinions. Some say he was John of the original Twelve. Others say he was Lazarus. Others say that we was the main author of John’s Gospel (John the Evangelist.) Some say that John of the Twelve and John the Evangelist were the same person. Some say he was an unknown or ideal disciple. Some say ‘he’ was Mary Magdalene. Whoever ‘he’ was, the early church saw him as embodying prayerful or contemplative discipleship.

Word Study
Vs. 1 – Sea of Tiberias – This is another name for the Sea of Galilee. This signals that the disciples are back in Galilee.
Vs. 2 – Nathanael of Cana – He is only mentioned in John.
Vs. 5 – children (Gk. Paida) – This phrase is used only here in John. It could be translated something like ‘lads.’
       Fish – Many of Jesus’ first followers were fishermen. In the early church fish held a deep symbolic significance. Jesus was even called The Fish to indicate that he was the one that all sought and who could sustain their lives. There are many examples in early Christian art of the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper depicted with bread and fish. Fish stood for people. Fish stood for Jesus. Fish represented nourishment, sufficiency and prosperity.
Vs. 6 – nets – Peter and the others decided that they better go back to work. The events of the last days were just too confusing. The only thing to do was to get back to normal. Most often they fished with large nets, often at night.
Vs. 7 – it is the Lord – The Beloved disciple recognizes Jesus first.
naked – This is an interesting little detail to the story. We don’t know if Peter was stark naked, as this word indicates, or if he had just stripped down to his loin cloth so that his clothes would not interfere with the hard work of casting nets.
Vs. 8 – 100 yards off – they were near enough to shore to recognize Jesus. Still they did not immediately do so.
Vs 11 – hauled – this is usually a word for drawing people to oneself.
       a hundred fifty-three fish – a great deal of scholarship has been done over the centuries to try to determine why this exact number of fish. Numbers were very important in the Bible and many had symbolic meanings. Still we don’t know the answer to this one. Regardless of whether there was a significance to this exact
number or not, it was understood from early times to be a very large number of fish. Many quickly understood this great number to represent the universal nature of the gospel. The net was understood to represent the church, able to hold all people who may hear and respond to the gospel with faith in Jesus Christ.
       Net – the early church understood the net to refer to the church.
Vs. 15 – do you love me – In the first two of these questions, Jesus uses the Greek word agape and Peter uses the word phileo. Many scholars believe that the words, both of which are translated into English as ‘love’ are used synonymously and interchangeably. They suggest that nothing need be made of the differences here. I disagree. The word agape, used by Jesus, refers to a deeper or maybe a higher kind of love that is marked by ethical choices and self-giving as an act of will that is independent of circumstances or momentary emotions. Phileo, used by Peter (and in the last instance by Jesus) refers to the kind of warm familial love that is marked by feelings of closeness and intimacy. It is inextricable from the emotions that give rise to it. It does not seem unreasonable to me that Jesus’ word choice had purpose and meaning. Perhaps he was calling on Peter to examine the depth and durability of his love and whether it he could transcend feelings and follow under any circumstances. After all he had proved already on the night of betrayal that his fear could overcome his loyalty.
       Sheep and lambs – We don’t know if these word choices have a deeper meaning or if they are just diversity of vocabulary.
       More than these – This could mean, “Do you love me more than you love these others?” Or, “Do you love me more than you love your fishing equipment (i.e. your habit and comfort zone.) Or “Do you love me more than your friends love me?”
Vs. 17 – third time – in Hebrew the number three stood for completion and wholeness.
       Hurt – grieved, emotionally wounded.
Vs. 18 – you will stretch out your hand – usually a technical phrase used to describe the act of stretching ones arms out on the cross for crucifixion.
       Fasten a belt – the story in the early church was that Peter was strapped to the cross for his execution.
       Take you where you don’t want to go – lead off as a criminal.
Vs. 19 – The early church believed that to die obediently was to give glory to God.
Questions for Personal Reflection
1. During times of confusion and distress, what are the ordinary activities of life that help you get back to normal? How do you experience God in these ordinary things?
2. Have you ever felt that you worked ‘all night’ and didn’t get anywhere? How might you listen to Jesus inviting you to try something different?
3. If you think of the church as a net, where might Jesus be asking us to cast our net right now? What might we do to get ready for a large haul?
4. How does the interplay of the words agape and phileo strike you? In what ways is your faith emotion dependent? In what ways do you see yourself ‘acting in love’ even when you don’t feel like it?