Rochester Reformed Church, Accord NY

08/30/2026

08/29/2026

Come join us August 30th at 11am
5142 Route 209 Accord, NY
Rev AJ Funk will be leading Worship
Scripture Readings from the Old Testament books of Psalm 124 and Exodus 1:8-2:10
Sermon: “ Finding our Roots: New Beginnings "

Psalm 124 (NRSVue)
Thanksgiving for Israel’s Deliverance
A Song of Ascents. Of David.
1 If it had not been the LORD who was on our side -let Israel now say- 2if it had not been the LORD who was on our side, when our enemies attacked us, 3 then they would have swallowed us up alive, when their anger was kindled against us; 4 then the flood would have swept us away; the torrent would have gone over us; 5then over us would have gone the raging waters. 6 Blessed be the LORD, who has not given us as prey to their teeth. 7 We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the hunters; the snare is broken, and we have escaped. 8 Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth.

Exodus 1:8-2:10 (NRSVue)
The Israelites Are Oppressed
8 Now a new king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph. 9He said to his people, “Look, the Israelite people are more numerous and more powerful than we. 10Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, or they will increase and, in the event of war, join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.” 11Therefore they set taskmasters over them to oppress them with forced labor. They built supply cities, Pithom and Rameses, for Pharaoh. 12But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread, so that the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites. 13The Egyptians subjected the Israelites to hard servitude 14and made their lives bitter with hard servitude in mortar and bricks and in every kind of field labor. They were ruthless in all the tasks that they imposed on them.
15The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, 16“When you act as midwives to the Hebrew women and see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, kill him, but if it is a daughter, she shall live.” 17But the midwives feared God; they did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but they let the boys live. 18So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this and allowed the boys to live?” 19The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.” 20So God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied and became very strong. 21And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families. 22Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, “Every son that is born to the Hebrews you shall throw into the Nile, but you shall let every daughter live.”
Birth and Youth of Moses
1 Now a man from the house of Levi went and married a Levite woman. 2The woman conceived and bore a son, and when she saw that he was a fine baby, she hid him three months. 3When she could hide him no longer she got a papyrus basket for him and plastered it with bitumen and pitch; she put the child in it and placed it among the reeds on the bank of the river. 4His sister stood at a distance, to see what would happen to him.
5The daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her attendants walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her maid to bring it. 6When she opened it, she saw the child. He was crying, and she took pity on him. “This must be one of the Hebrews’ children,” she said. 7Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?” 8Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Yes.” So the girl went and called the child’s mother. 9Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will give you your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed it. 10When the child grew up, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses, “because,” she said, “I drew him out of the water.”

08/23/2026

More photos from the park today

08/23/2026

There was a spark of an idea 💡 then the forecast said thunderstorms. We went anyway, We collected school supplies and backpacks and brought a dish to share. The Rochester Reformed Church, The Community Church of High Falls, The Marbletown Reformed Church, The Methodist Church in Stone Ridge and Christ the King Episcopal Church showed up. The Blessing of the Backpacks. And the clouds parted and the sun came out. Thank you God, Amen! Amen.

08/16/2026

More photos from the Chicken BBQ
If anyone has more pictures, please share

08/16/2026

Thank you to everyone who turned out for Chicken BBQ today!

08/15/2026

Come join us August 16th at 11am
5142 Route 209 Accord, NY
Rev AJ Funk will be leading Worship
Scripture Readings from the Old Testament books of Psalm 133 and Genesis 45:1-15
Sermon: “ Finding our Roots: The Long Shadow ”

Psalm 133 (NRSVue)
The Blessedness of Unity (A Song of Ascents)
1 How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity! 2 It is like the precious oil on the head, running down upon the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down over the collar of his robes. 3 It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion. For there the LORD ordained his blessing, life forevermore.

Genesis 45:1-15 (NRSVue)
Joseph Reveals Himself to His Brothers
1 Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all those who stood by him, and he cried out, “Send everyone away from me.” So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. 2And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it. 3Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?” But his brothers could not answer him, so dismayed were they at his presence.
4 Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come closer to me.” And they came closer. He said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. 5And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. 6For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are five more years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. 7God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to keep alive for you many survivors. 8So it was not you who sent me here but God; he has made me a father to Pharaoh and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt. 9Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, ‘Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me; do not delay. 10You shall settle in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children’s children, as well as your flocks, your herds, and all that you have. 11I will provide for you there, since there are five more years of famine to come, so that you and your household and all that you have will not come to poverty.’ 12And now your eyes and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see that it is my own mouth that speaks to you. 13You must tell my father how greatly I am honored in Egypt and all that you have seen. Hurry and bring my father down here.” 14Then he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, while Benjamin wept upon his neck. 15And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them, and after that his brothers talked with him.

08/08/2026

Come join us August 9th at 11am
5142 Route 209 Accord, NY
Rev AJ Funk will be leading Worship
Scripture Readings from the Old Testament books of Psalm 105:1-6, 16-22, 45b and Genesis 37:1-28
Sermon: “ Finding our Roots: The Dreamer ”

Psalm 105:1-6, 16-22, 45b (NRSVue)
God’s Faithfulness to Israel
1 O give thanks to the LORD; call on his name; make known his deeds among the peoples. 2 Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wonderful works. 3 Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice. 4 Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually. 5 Remember the wonderful works he has done, his miracles and the judgments he has uttered, 6 O offspring of his servant Abraham, children of Jacob, his chosen ones.
16 When he summoned famine against the land and cut off every supply of bread, 17 he had sent a man ahead of them, Joseph, who had been sold as a slave. 18 His feet were hurt with fetters; his neck was put in a collar of iron; 19 until what he had said came to pass, the word of the LORD kept testing him. 20 The king sent and released him; the ruler of the peoples set him free. 21 He made him lord of his house and ruler of all his possessions, 22to instruct his officials at his pleasure and to teach his elders wisdom.
45 Praise the LORD!

Genesis 37:1-28 (NRSVue)
Joseph Dreams of Greatness
1 Jacob settled in the land where his father had lived as an alien, the land of Canaan. 2These are the descendants of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was shepherding the flock with his brothers; he was a helper to the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives, and Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father. 3Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his children because he was the son of his old age, and he made him an ornamented robe. 4But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peaceably to him. 5Once Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more. 6He said to them, “Listen to this dream that I dreamed. 7There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright; then your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf.” 8His brothers said to him, “Are you indeed to reign over us? Are you indeed to have dominion over us?” So they hated him even more because of his dreams and his words.
9He had another dream and told it to his brothers, saying, “Look, I have had another dream: the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” 10But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him and said to him, “What kind of dream is this that you have had? Shall we indeed come, I and your mother and your brothers, and bow to the ground before you?” 11So his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.
Joseph Is Sold by His Brothers
12Now his brothers went to pasture their father’s flock near Shechem. 13And Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers pasturing the flock at Shechem? Come, I will send you to them.” He answered, “Here I am.” 14So he said to him, “Go now, see if it is well with your brothers and with the flock, and bring word back to me.” So he sent him from the valley of Hebron. He came to Shechem, 15and a man found him wandering in the fields; the man asked him, “What are you seeking?” 16“I am seeking my brothers,” he said; “tell me, please, where they are pasturing the flock.” 17The man said, “They have gone away, for I heard them say,
‘Let us go to Dothan.’ ” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan. 18They saw him from a distance, and before he came near to them they conspired to kill him. 19They said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer. 20Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits; then we shall say that a wild animal has devoured him, and we shall see what will become of his dreams.” 21But when Reuben heard it, he delivered him out of their hands, saying, “Let us not take his life.” 22Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood; throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but lay no hand on him”—that he might rescue him out of their hand and restore him to his father. 23So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the ornamented robe that he wore, 24and they took him and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it. 25 Then they sat down to eat, and looking up they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels carrying gum, balm, and resin, on their way to carry it down to Egypt. 26Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? 27Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And his brothers agreed. 28When some Midianite traders passed by, they drew Joseph up, lifting him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt.