Sunday School, September 13, 2015 16 Pentecost, B proper 19

Sunday School, September 13, 2015       16 Pentecost, B proper 19

Sunday School Themes

The reading from Proverbs calls Wisdom the way in which we can discover that God is everywhere.  The Psalm states that the heavens declare the glory of God.  People who look in the sky and also observe the way in which things are made are fascinated and so they confess the presence and existence of something greater and anything that we can do or make as human beings.  But since we see this greatness and if greatness is greater than us as persons, then the greatness of God must also have a Great Personality and so we come to believe that we have a personal relationship with the Wise Great Being og God whose works we can observe everywhere.

The Epistle of James is about the small muscle of the tongue and how destructive can be.  Everyone needs a lesson in learning self control in what we say.  The things we say can harm and do hurt to each other.  But the nice and kind things which we say can also do some lovely and wonderful things to build relationships.

Since September 14 is Holy Cross Day, the Gospel lesson gives us a lesson on the cross.  Peter did not want to accept the fact that Jesus would suffer and die.  He wanted Jesus to be just a Messiah superhero.  Jesus told Peter that he was wrong in his thinking about who the messiah was.  The messiah would suffer and die and know fully all of the hardships of human suffering.  Jesus as the suffering messiah was proof that God has and is and will suffer with us.

You can instruct about the notions of life in the riddle of Jesus about losing and gaining our lives.  The life that Jesus told us to lose is psueche or soul life which is the life of our minds, emotions and choosing power.  Education means that we lose the ignorant states of mind and we gain wisdom and education.  This is how we lose and gain our lives.    In the church, taking up the cross and following Jesus means that we learn to give up our selfish selves as we make room to help others through love and kindness.

Gospel Puppet Show: What kind of Messiah Is Jesus?

Puppet dialogue between Roary the Lion and Interviewer

Roary the Lion (holding a soccer ball and sobbing): Wah…Wah….Wah….Wah….

Interviewer: What’s wrong Roary, why are you crying?  Have you been playing soccer?

Roary the Lion:  Wah, Wah, Wah, Wah, Wah, Wah…

Interviewer:  Roary, I think you need a hug… Calm down now and talk to me.  Can you tell me what’s wrong?  Did you have soccer game?

Roary the Lion: Wah, Wah, Wah, Wah……

Interviewer: Roary,  I’m here to help you.   Let try to help you.  May be I can help you get your happy roar back.  Will you let me try?

Roary the Lion:  Wah…Wah….okay but I’m not too happy.

Interviewer:  What happened to make you so sad?  I’ve never heard a lion cry so loudly?

Roary the Lion:  Well, I played soccer today and our team lost the game, 4 to zero.  And I was the leading scorer.

Interviewer: Well that’s good isn’t it?

Roary the Lion: No..no…no…I scored two goals for the other team.   Wah…Wah And I’m so embarrassed.  Why did that happen to me?  And why did my team lose?

Interviewer:  Well, let’s see if we can learn something from you and your soccer game?  All of us will be winners if we can learn from you and your soccer game?  Will you help us all?

Roary the Lion:  Okay but I don’t know how my losing a soccer game can help others.

Interviewer: Was anyone happy after your soccer game ended?

Roary the Lion:  The winning team were happy, of course.

Interviewer:  When it rains really hard the farmer is happy to get rain for his corn and his wheat.  But if the same rain comes in the middle of the baseball game, the teams are sad because they have to stop playing baseball.  You see the same rain made some people happy and made some people sad.

Roary the Lion:  So that’s like every soccer game; if one team wins the other team loses.

Interviewer:  Yes and life is like that some times there are things that make us happy and there are things that make us sad.

Roary the Lion: I don’t like to be sad.  What good is sadness?

Interviewer:  It is not fun to be sad but being sad can turn out to be good?

Roary the Lion: How can being sad turn out to be good?

Interviewer:  Well, let us remember the Gospel story today.  Peter was upset at Jesus.  Peter only wanted Jesus to be a strong King.  Peter did not want Jesus to ever suffer.  He did not want Jesus to ever feel sad.

Roary the Lion:  That’s right!  Jesus told Peter that some very sad things were going to happen to Jesus.  He told Peter that he was going to suffer and even die.

Interviewer:  And Jesus said that Peter had to understand life better.  He said that Peter needed to understand that life is made up of wins and losses.  Life is made up of sickness and health.  Life is made up of happiness and sadness.

Roary the Lion:  So to learn how to live is to learn how to live with both.  But I prefer to win.  I would rather be happy.  I don’t ever want to be sick.

Interviewer:  I know Roary,  but what good can come from sadness, loss and sickness?

Roary the Lion:  I don’t know Interviewer.  It would take a great magician to turn sickness into health, happiness into sadness and losing into winning.

Interviewer:  Well, Jesus is better than the greatest magician.  And he showed us how to do one of his greatest tricks.

Roary the Lion:  I like magic.  What is the greatest trick?

Interviewer:  Roary, the next time you play a soccer game and when you win the game, what are you going to say to the little boy who lost the game to your team?

Roary the Lion:  Well, I’m going try to make him feel better.  I’m going to tell him that I lost a game too and it was very sad.  I going to tell him that he played a good game.   And I’m going to tell him that is more important that we have fun playing the game than if we win.

Interviewer:  Why would you say those nice things to him Roary?

Roary the Lion:  Well, because I know what it is to lose and be sad.  So I want to help someone else when they are sad.

Interviewer:  And Roary, that is the magic of Jesus.  Because you were sad, you knew how to help a boy who also was sad.  And that was the message that Jesus was trying to teach Peter.

Roary the Lion:  So God can help us better because God gave his Son Jesus to suffer too.  And so we can know that God is with us when we are sad.

Interviewer:  Bingo!  Now do you see how your loss and your sadness can turn out to be winning.  You always win when you are able to help others.

Roary the Lion:  Interviewer do you think that the boys and girls can learn this too.  I’m shy, could you ask them?

Interviewer:  Boys and Girls, do you see how Jesus taught us the meaning of suffering and sadness?  We can turn our sadness into happiness and winning because what really makes us happy in life is to be able to help someone else.  Have you learned the lesson from the Gospel today.  Can you say, Amen?  Amen.  Can you say bye, bye to Roary?

A Sermon for Children about the Cross of Christ

What is the most important sign of the Christian religion?  When you look around the church, you see this sign.  Some people wear a necklace and they have this Christian sign done in gold or silver.

  The sign I am talking about is the cross. 

  Why is the cross the sign of Christianity?  Was it a pleasant or happy sign?  It was not a happy sign, because it was used to put Jesus to death.  The only reason that it is a happy sign for us today, because Jesus came back to life and showed us how we can have hope and happiness in our world that has sadness and death.

  So the cross is an important sign for our Christian faith.  And we use this sign in many ways.  We use it as our Christian brand.  Do you know what a brand is for cows?  The cowboys will burn a mark on a cow, with the sign of their ranch, so that if the cow wanders away, they will be able to tell who the lost cow belongs to.

  Did you know that the cross is like our Christian brand?  Do you know what happens after we are baptized?  The priest dips his thumb into some special oil called chrism and then draws a cross on the forehead of the person who has been baptized and the priest says: You are sealed by the Holy Spirit in baptized and marked as Christ own forever.  Can you trace that sign on your forehead now and remember that you belong to Christ.

  We make the sign of the cross on our selves and over things, to remember that we belong to Christ and that we dedicate our lives and the things of our lives to God.  We make the sign of the cross in our worship as a way of punctuating the words that we say: like before the Gospel or before receiving communion.

  Today is the Sunday before a special feast day, the feast of the Holy Cross.  This was a day that celebrates the building of a famous church in Jerusalem when they believed a piece of cross of Jesus was found, many years after he had died.

  Jesus said something in a riddle.  He said that we had to take up our cross.  He said that we had to lose our lives in order to gain our lives.  What does that mean?  The life that we have to lose is not our physical life where our heart stops beating.  It is the life of our soul, our psychological life that we must lose in order to gain it.  When we learn something at school we are losing our old life of ignorance and gaining a life of knowledge.  Whenever we want to change our lives and make them better, we have to lose something of our former lives in order to make them better. 

  And we are asked to take up our cross, not because Jesus wants us to die.  The cross of Jesus is a sign of sacrifice.  Sacrifice is the most important principle in life.  Sacrifice is needed for family and community to survive.  If people only did selfish things for themselves, then we would not be able to survive.  The Cross of Christ is a most important sign to us, because it is a reminder that we need to say no to our selfishness in order to learn and in order to help other people. 

  So today we celebrate the cross of Christ as an important sign of our lives.  Repeat after me: I am seal with the Holy Spirit, and I am marked as Christ’s own forever.  Amen.

St. John the Divine Episcopal Church

17740 Peak Avenue, Morgan Hill, CA 95037

Family Service with Holy Eucharist

September 13, 2015: The Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Gathering Songs:  There Is a Redeemer;   Lord, Be Glorified; Lift High the Cross;

Song: There Is a Redeemer  (Renew! # 232)

There is a Redeemer, Jesus, God own Son, precious Lamb of God, Messiah, Holy One.

Refrain:  Thank you, O my Father, for giving us your Son; and leaving your Spirit ‘til the work on earth is done.

Jesus, my Redeemer, name above all names, precious Lamb of God, Messiah, hope for sinners slain. Refrain

Liturgist: Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

People: And blessed be God’s kingdom, now and for ever.  Amen.

Liturgist:  Oh God, Our hearts are open to you.

And you know us and we can hide nothing from you.

Prepare our hearts and our minds to love you and worship you.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.

People: And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

O God, because without you we are not able to please you, mercifully grant that your Holy Spirit may in all things direct and rule our hearts; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Litany Phrase: Alleluia (chanted)

O God, you are Great!  Alleluia

O God, you have made us! Alleluia

O God, you have made yourself known to us!  Alleluia

O God, you have provided us with us a Savior!  Alleluia

O God, you have given us a Christian family!  Alleluia

O God, you have forgiven our sins!  Alleluia

O God, you brought your Son Jesus back from the dead!  Alleluia

A reading from the letter of James

For all of us make many mistakes. Anyone who makes no mistakes in speaking is perfect, able to keep the whole body in check with a bridle. If we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we guide their whole bodies. Or look at ships: though they are so large that it takes strong winds to drive them, yet they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits.

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

 

Liturgist: Let us read together from Psalm 116

Then I called upon the Name of the LORD: * "O LORD, I pray you, save my life."

Gracious is the LORD and righteous; * our God is full of compassion.

The LORD watches over the innocent; * I was brought very low, and he helped me.

Litany Phrase: Thanks be to God! (chanted)

Litanist:

For the good earth, for our food and clothing. Thanks be to God!

For our families and friends. Thanks be to God!

For the talents and gifts that you have given to us. Thanks be to God!

For this day of worship. Thanks be to God!

For health and for a good night’s sleep. Thanks be to God!

For work and for play. Thanks be to God!

For teaching and for learning. Thanks be to God!

For the happy events of our lives. Thanks be to God!

For the celebration of the birthdays and anniversaries of our friends and parish family.

Thanks be to God!

Liturgist:         The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Mark

People: Glory to you, Lord Christ.

Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that I am?" And they answered him, "John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets." He asked them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered him, "You are the Messiah." And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him.  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. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 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." 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. 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. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? 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."

Liturgist:         The Gospel of the Lord.

People: Praise to you, Lord Christ.

Sermon:  Fr. Phil

Children’s Creed

We did not make ourselves, so we believe that God the Father is the maker of the world.

Since God is so great and we are so small,

We believe God came into our world and was born as Jesus, son of the Virgin Mary.

We need God’s help and we believe that God saved us by the life, death and

     resurrection of Jesus Christ.

We believe that God is present with us now as the Holy Spirit.

We believe that we are baptized into God’s family the Church where everyone is

     welcome.

We believe that Christ is kind and fair.

We believe that we have a future in knowing Jesus Christ.

And since we all must die, we believe that God will preserve us forever.  Amen.

Litany Phrase: Christ, have mercy. (chanted)

For fighting and war to cease in our world. Christ, have mercy.

For peace on earth and good will towards all. Christ, have mercy.

For the safety of all who travel. Christ, have mercy.

For jobs for all who need them. Christ, have mercy.

For care of those who are growing old. Christ, have mercy.

For the safety, health and nutrition of all the children in our world. Christ, have mercy.

For the well-being of our families and friends. Christ, have mercy.

For the good health of those we know to be ill. Christ, have mercy.

For the remembrance of those who have died. Christ, have mercy.

For the forgiveness of all of our sins. Christ, have mercy.

Liturgist:         The Peace of the Lord be always with you.

People:            And also with you.

Song during the preparation of the Altar and the receiving of an offering.

Song:   Lord I Lift Your Name on High,   Renew! #4

Lord, I lift your name on high; Lord, I love to sing Your praises.  I’m so glad you’re in my life.  I’m so glad you came to save us.  You came from heaven to earth to show the way, from the earth to the cross, my debt to pay.  From the cross to the grave, from the grave to the sky; Lord, I lift your name on high!

Doxology

Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him, all creatures here below.

Praise Him above, ye heavenly host. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Prologue to the Eucharist

Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, for to them belong the kingdom of heaven.”

All become members of a family by birth or adoption.

Baptism is a celebration of birth into the family of God.

A family meal gathers and sustains each human family.

The Holy Eucharist is the special meal that Jesus gave to his friends to keep us together as the family of Christ.

The Lord be with you

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts

We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to God.

It is right to give God thanks and praise.

It is very good and right to give thanks, because God made us, Jesus redeemed us and the Holy Spirit dwells in our hearts.  Therefore with Angels and Archangels and all of the world that we see and don’t see, we forever sing this hymn of praise:

Holy, Holy, Holy (Intoned)

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, God of Power and Might.  Heav’n and earth are full of your glory.

Hosanna in the highest.  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. 

Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the Highest.

All  may gather around the altar

Our grateful praise we offer to you God, our Creator;

You have made us in your image

And you gave us many men and women of faith to help us to live by faith:

Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Rachael.

And then you gave us your Son, Jesus, born of Mary, nurtured by Joseph

And he called us to be sons and daughters of God.

Your Son called us to live better lives and he gave us this Holy Meal so that when we eat

  the bread and drink the wine, we can  know that the Presence of Christ is as near to us as  

  this food and drink  that becomes a part of us.

The Prayer continues with these words

And so, Father, we bring you these gifts of bread and wine. Bless and sanctify them by your Holy Spirit to be for your people the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ our Lord.  Bless and sanctify us by your Holy Spirit so that we may love God and our neighbor.

On the night when Jesus was betrayed he took bread, said the blessing, broke the bread, and gave it to his friends, and said, "Take, eat: This is my Body, which is given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me."

After supper, Jesus took the cup of wine, gave thanks, and said, "Drink this, all of you. This is my Blood of the new Covenant, which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink it, do this for the remembrance of me."

Father, we now celebrate the memorial of your Son. When we eat this holy Meal of Bread and Wine, we are telling the entire world about the life, death and resurrection of Christ and that his presence will be with us in our future.

Let this holy meal keep us together as friends who share a special relationship because of your Son Jesus Christ.  May we forever live with praise to God to whom we belong as sons and daughters.

By Christ, and with Christ, and in Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit all honor and glory

 is yours, Almighty Father, now and for ever. Amen.

And now as our Savior Christ has taught us, we now sing,

(Children rejoin their parents and take up their instruments)

Our Father: (Renew # 180, West Indian Lord’s Prayer)

Our Father who art in heaven:  Hallowed be thy name.

Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done: Hallowed be thy name.

Done on earth as it is in heaven: Hallowed be thy name.

Give us this day our daily bread: Hallowed be thy name.

And forgive us all our debts: Hallowed be thy name.

As we forgive our debtors: Hallowed be thy name.

Lead us not into temptation: Hallowed be thy name.

But deliver us from evil: Hallowed be thy name.

Thine is the kingdom, power, and glory: Hallowed be thy name.

Forever and ever: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

Breaking of the Bread

Celebrant:        Alleluia! Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.

People:            Therefore let us keep the feast.  Alleluia!

Words of Administration

Communion Song:  Lord, Be Glorified (Renew!  # 172)

In our hearts, Lord, be glorified, be glorified.  In our hearts, Lord, be glorified today.

In our homes, Lord, be glorified, be glorified, in our homes, Lord, be glorified today.

In your church, Lord, be glorified, be glorified, in your church, Lord, be glorified today.

In your world, Lord, be glorified, be glorified, in your world, Lord, be glorified today.

Post-Communion Prayer

Everlasting God, we have gathered for the meal that Jesus asked us to keep;

We have remembered his words of blessing on the bread and the wine.

And His Presence has been known to us.

We have remembered that we are sons and daughters of God and brothers

    and sisters in Christ.

Send us forth now into our everyday lives remembering that the blessing in the

     bread and wine spreads into each time, place and person in our lives,

As we are ever blessed by you, O Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Closing Song: Song: Lift High the Cross  (blue hymnal  # 473)

Refrain: Lift high the cross, the love of Christ proclaim till all the world adore his sacred name.

Led on their way by this triumphant sign, the hosts of God in conquering ranks combine.  Refrain

Each newborn servant of the crucified bears on the brow the seal of him who died. Refrain

Dismissal:   

Liturgist: Let us go forth in the Name of Christ. 

People: Thanks be to God!