Survival of the Fittest Versus Good Shepherding

4 Easter A   April 30, 2023
Acts 6:1-9, 7:2a 51-60 Ps. 23

1 Peter 2:19-25 John 10:1-10

Lectionary Link

Sometimes in our world today, we extol freedom as a virtue, but what we actually do in practice is to allow the strong, the wealthy, and the intelligent to have the freedom to dominant and exploit those who are weak, poor, and ignorant.

We say the market is free but it is really dominated and controlled by the people with the most wealth.  How free is that for the poor?

We say that all are created equal but we often standby and let nature prove the prowess of the strong over the weak.  We can believe in theoretical equality but not in equal justice.  Equal justice means a wise tailoring of rights to the capacities of each member in society.

We promote universal education and knowledge even while we let the more learned exploit the ignorance of those who don't have the education or the capacity for advanced reasoning.

We may agree with Darwinian theory that in non-human Nature, the fittest survive mainly by exploiting the weak for their own well-being and longevity.  We may presume with human culture and civilization that we have risen above the predator-prey relationships and the dog eat dog world but we often disguise these same tendency under acceptable practices of class superiority.  We can practice the virtues as only transactional, meaning we are selectively kind when we can get an equal or better return on our kindness.  We can't make a sale unless we've learned to practice art of making friends and influencing people.  So, we in fact make virtues selfish behaviors to get better outcomes for ourselves.

The community of the Gospel of John needed to survive.  They were a minority community living within the cities of the Roman Empire.  The Gospel was written in part to provide insights for surviving behaviors for a minority community.

What survival message did the community of the Gospel of John need?

They needed the message about a good shepherd?  Why?  Because they needed to stay together.

The Roman authorities seemed to be those who were fittest to survive and thrive within the Roman Empire.  How could these small Christ-communities survive with such inequity in power relationship?

They needed unifying leadership to stay together and to help each other.  Therefore Jesus is put before the community as the model of what good leadership means.  He is the model for the right relationship to power, wealth, and knowledge.

What is good shepherding?

It is non-exploitive, it is protective of the vulnerable, it is teaching, and it is sacrificial.

Members of the Gospel of John community could not be those with leaders who were competing with each other for followers.  This meant that leadership had to have a calling for the well-being the community and not for their own position, wealth or influence.  Those who were new to the faith community could not be made pawns in power struggles among leaders.  The motive of a good shepherd is for the benefit of the flock and not for self-promotion.

A good shepherd is one who has the wisdom and the desire to protect the vulnerable.  The Christ-communities in the Roman Empire were already under threat.  Their very existence could be seen as a challenge to the existing religions of the Empire, especially the cult of the Emperor.  For those who were finding new spiritual awakening within the Christ-communities there was a need for protection and nurture and for teaching.

A good shepherd is also a teacher, or one who freely gives one's mature wisdom to those who are growing in their faith.  A good shepherd needs to be one who is good in the art of living, and one who shares that art of good living to disciples, pupils and learners.  A good shepherd is an exemplary teacher, one who can say both, "do as I say, and do as I do."

Finally, a good shepherd is sacrificial.  In the survival of the fittest theory, the weak are sacrificed to the strong.  In good shepherd practice, it is the strong who are so strong that they use their power on behalf of others.  The ancient shepherd was also a living door or gate to the sheepfold.  The shepherd slept in the door way to the fold so that any predator  had to go through the shepherd to get to the sheep.  A good shepherd practices the greater love, which lays down one's life for one's friend.  Laying down one's selfish ego life is a requirement in good shepherding.

Today, more than ever, we need good shepherding in this world which reduces virtues to transactional behaviors for class privilege.  "I'll scratch your back, if you scratch mine."  We need good shepherding in the free market world where a very few wealthy people can control a disproportionate amount of the world's resources to  the lack of a vast majority.  Good shepherd understand stewardship being beneficial to all and to our environments as well.  And in a world which claims endless knowledge and information, we need wise shepherds who can teach the art of good and kind living.  Having lots of knowledge and information does not mean that we have learn to live well.  Shepherding wisdom is about using wisdom for the good care of the people of this world and the places where we live.

We in the church have a great mission to exemplify and teach the essence of the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ in our world today.  Amen.

Aphorism of the Day, April 2023

Aphorism of the Day, April 30, 2023

A shepherd was a symbol of leadership in ancient Israel since leaders had more resources to "manipulate" the more dependent masses.  If leaders today have more money and resources to "manipulate" the masses who are deprived of the same, good shepherd leadership does not exploit those who are weaker, less informed, and poorer.

Aphorism of the Day, April 29, 2023

Taking advantage of one's strengths and assets to exploit for personal gain is the exact counter to what being a good shepherd means.

Aphorism of the Day, April 28, 2023

If Jesus spoke in "figures of speech," then the Gospel writers want the readers to appreciate the differences in discursive practices, meaning the words are not an exact mirror reflection of the realities to which words are referring.  Understanding meaningful signification of a text is always an issue.

Aphorism of the Day, April 27, 2023

The message of the metaphor of the Good Shepherd is to be a shepherd for the vulnerable.  If one is given ownership, power, wealth, and knowledge then those should be used to care for those who need it.

Aphorism of the Day, April 26, 2023

Every metaphor has its signifying limitation and may deconstruct when expansive literalness is applied.  For example, the Lord is my shepherd, or Jesus as the Good Shepherd.  What is a shepherd's relationship to his sheep?  He owns the sheep and feeds and cares for the sheep in order to get food, wool, and milk products.  The ownership of sheep is essentially exploitive, with a sheep being a commodified animal.  Our view of God or Jesus would not want to tap the exploitive aspect of what shepherding means, so we limit the metaphor to God and Jesus caring for us like a favorite pet.

Aphorism of the Day, April 25, 2023

Writings are made in specific times and places in language that is best known and interpreted within the specific times and places.  What happens when language contexts are no longer accessible to later readers of ancient words?  Can anyone claim to understand the meanings of ancient text as though meanings were "self-evidential" over time?

Aphorism of the Day, April 24, 2023

The presentation of Jesus as the good shepherd is chiefly supported by the confessing words, "I lay down my life for the sheep."  Is any farm commodity worth the life of a worker, if threatened?  As a figure of speech, it refers to human leadership sacrificing life for followers.  This is counter to the norm of the people sacrificing their lives for the leader.  What CEO says, "I will give up my privileges and bonuses for the employees?"

Aphorism of the Day, April 23, 2023

Resurrection is a poetry of the future.

Aphorism of the Day, April 22, 2023

Faith is hoping the assessments of the future will make sense of the bafflements of the present.

Aphorism of the Day, April 21, 2023

Present disappoint might be expressed in the phrase, "we had hoped that..."  Outcomes often reveal that we have had the wrong vision of what we hoped for or the wrong timing for when they might happen, or the wrong notions about how they might happen.  We live by the insight, "The future will give clarity to the past and to what is happening now."

Aphorism of the Day, April 20, 2023

Serendipity is when something "random" gets experienced as favorable and blessed timing of something good happening to us.  Serendipity and surprise go together because one can't plan one's own serendipity.  What is often called a theophany is serendipitous.  If we can't plan theophanies, what does that tell us about the apparentness of God to each human being?  Most of life involves having faith while living with the general apparentness of God without all the thunderbolts and light shows.

Aphorism of the Day, April 19, 2023

Like a light switch the Risen Christ could turn on or turn off his appearance.  He turned on his appearance suddenly in the breaking of the bread with the Emmaus road walkers.  Could this be a metaphorical story about Eucharistic presence?  The Gospel invites us to read with "inner eyes," poetic eyes.

Aphorism of the Day, April 18, 2023

The resurrection is the explanation for the many reappearances of Christ after the death of Jesus.  Jesus became a rhetorical and poetic expansive feeling phrase of "Christ as all and in all."  Such a phrase is meant to proclaim divine personal omnipresence or divine immanence.

Aphorism of the Day, April 17, 2023

The Bible as any text is "re-written" every time it is read because it becomes variation of meaning according to the version of the reader who have unique linguistic programming.

Aphorism of the Day, April 16, 2023

Doubting is a good exercise to help us continual pan interpretative framework to find what is appropriate for the textual situation.

Aphorism of the Day, April 15, 2023

The mysteries expressed by religious discourse thwart science proving that religion and science employ different discourses with different truth purposes.  The problem happens when religionists assert that the events of their poetry could have been empirically verified.  The scientists rightly say, "Stick to your mysticism."

Aphorism of the Day, April 14, 2023

The so called "Doubting Thomas" story is really a wisdom parable to shed light on the blessedness, the validity, equality, and the affirmation of a wide variety of experiences of the Risen Christ.

Aphorism of the Day, April 13, 2023

Empirical verification or sensorial experience is the standard for to indicating something is really real.  And stories about such in the Gospels are a way of establishing the really "realness" of inward experience.  Just as Thomas saw and touched, so too those who did not see and touch had a really real encounter with the Risen Christ.  One's inward life is as true as one's outward life but in substantially different ways.  People of faith can be honest scientists.

Aphorism of the Day, April 12, 2023

One of the subtle results of institutional religion is to assume that the presences of Christ can be limited to the administrative prerogatives of the leadership.

Aphorism of the Day, April 11, 2023

In the "doubting Thomas" story, the writer of John's Gospel is claiming that modes of knowing the Risen Christ are blessed and equal in faith and truth status to eyewitness encounters with Jesus.  The post-death of Jesus encounters with the Risen Christ in various modes are the new norms.

Aphorism of the Day, April 10, 2023

What role did grief play in bringing the apparitional appearances of Christ to his disciples?  Can extraordinary grief command extraordinary appearances?

Aphorism of the Day, April 9, 2023

On Easter we ponder personal continuity beyond death.  Does the "software" of our inside stuff of self consciousness continue to function without the "hardware" of our bodies?

Aphorism of the Day, April 8, 2023

The Sabbath rest of Jesus in Holy Week is the time that his body resided in the tomb and there is speculation about where the spirit of Jesus went when "separated" from his body.  The bringing to language of what really is unknowable and mysterious is the creative use of words to produce hope and the undeniability of the future.

Aphorism of the Day, April 7, 2023

God's greatest attribute may be also how divine weakness manifests itself locally.  God is omnipresent Freedom and Great Freedom shares lesser freedom everywhere and does not interfere with it locally.  Why? True moral worth happens because of when occasions are not coerced.  Great freedom is weak when shared with local freedom as in an individual not wanting to choose to manifest the lure of love which rides upon Great Freedom.

Aphorism of the Day, April 6, 2023

Rituals can lose their anthropological soundness when they become religious acts to simply follow rules.  The Maundy Thursday ritual highlights two crucial aspect for the survival of community: Eating and service.  We should not isolate Jesus as living bread from actual bread which gives people physical survival and eating together is a way of guaranteeing that each has enough to eat.

Aphorism of the Day, April 5, 2023

Holy Week and Easter are the communal ways to deal with the reality of death and after-death.  Death is the brute reality of life.  Post-death resurrection is a discourse of hope for the unknown not yet.  Death is the failure to preserve the quality of life as we have known it.  We project an afterlife Preserver of the continuity of personal identity, not because we egotistically think that any of us deserves everlasting existence, but because any becoming is an absolute becoming in having happened, and having been absolute in having happened, such absoluteness can never be erased.  People can never be said to not having happened.

Aphorism of the Day, April 4, 2023

In Holy Week we grapple with what Continuity means.  We get mixed signals; we're supposed to love life but not to the point of not being able to adjust when life is lost.  Continuity remains in life and death but we don't have the contemporaneous witness of the dead to have their views of the role of being dead within Continuity.  Death experienced as not have familiar access to someone has given birth the creative imaginations of the afterlife.  At death a person leaves the discourse of science and empirical verification regarding their "not in their body" becoming; about the afterlife one can only use artistic discourses of creative imagination.  When we speak about the afterlife, it is always translated into "this life" language and experience.

Aphorism of the Day, April 3, 2023

Holy Week is the strategy of calendar time in the annual Christian curriculum used to build community identity with Christ through the corporate remembering of the root events of the Jesus Movement.

Aphorism of the Day, April 2, 2023

The liturgical juxtaposition of the Palm Procession and the Passion Gospel highlights the crowds that one might belong to when viewing Jesus.  A Jerusalem crowd might be threatened by Jesus because the Romans building projects where providing employment in the city.  The outsiders from Galilee could come to town and put their hero on a donkey in a parade and threaten the tenuous relationship between the city's religious leaders and the Roman occupiers.

Aphorism of the Day, April 1, 2023

St. Paul wrote about "glorying in the cross of Christ," and one can wonder if this is like trying to put lipstick on an ugly pig.  How could death become a necessary absence of Jesus in order for endless number of people to have experiences of the presences of the Risen Christ?  A "functional" resurrection seems to have happened only for Jesus and his followers; for us we don't have immediate post-resurrection experiences with our faithful departed loved ones, not unless we have our imaginations on apparitional overload.  In Christian lore, the death of Jesus is one-of-a-kind and the deaths of our loved ones are also unique but don't seem to have the same redemptive meanings as we inconsolably miss them even with gratitude for them having been in our lives.

Quiz of the Day, April 2023

Quiz of the Day, April 30, 2023

The shepherd's staff of a bishop is also called a

a. ciborium

b. mace

c. crozier

d. miter

Quiz of the Day, April 29, 2023

Which Epistle was written to a woman?

a. Philippians

b. Colossians

c. 2 John

d. 3 John

Quiz of the Day, April 28, 2023

Which king threw Daniel into the lion's den?

a. Cyrus

b. Xerxes

c. Artaxerxes

d. Darius

Quiz of the Day, April 27, 2023

Which writing in the Bible refers to mortal sin?

a. Luke

b. 1 Corinthian

c. Revelations

d. 1 John

Quiz of the Day, April 26, 2023

The common phrase, "the handwriting is upon the wall," derives from which biblical book?

a. Psalms

b. Genesis

c. Isaiah

d. Daniel

Quiz of the Day, April 25, 2023

What was St. Mark's other name?

a. Thaddeus

b. Nathaniel

c. John

d. Bartholomew

Quiz of the Day, April 24, 2023

From which book of the Bible did Jesus establish the meaning of his life as gospel or good news?

a. Psalms

b. Isaiah

c. Lamentations

d. Jeremiah

Quiz of the Day, April 23, 2023

What biblical king had a dream about going mad, did so and recovered?

a. Ahab

b. Saul

c. Darius

d. Nebuchadnezzar

Quiz of the Day, April 22, 2023

In the traditions of the church, what days might be called "Earth Day?"

a. Ember 

b. Pentecost

c. Rogation

d. The Presentation

Quiz of the Day, April 21, 2023 

Who is regarded to be the originator of the ontological argument for the existence of God?

a. Thomas Aquinas

b. the Psalmist

c. Anselm of Canterbury

d. Augustine of Hippo

Quiz of the Day, April 20, 2023

The metaphor of weakness as having "clay feet" derives from what book of the Bible?

a. Revelations

b. Psalms

c. Daniel

d. Proverbs

Quiz of the Day, April 19, 2023

St. John of the Cross did not write

a. The Ascent of Mount Carmel

b. The Seven Story Mountain

c. The Dark Night (of the Soul)

d. The Living Flame of Love

e. Spiritual Canticles

Quiz of the Day, April 18, 2023

Whose dream did Daniel interpret?

a. Cyrus

b. Darius

c. Xerxes

d. Nebuchadnezzar

Quiz of the Day, April 17, 2023

The village of Emmaus is mentioned in which Gospel?

a. Matthew

b. Mark

c. Luke

d. John

Quiz of the day, April 16, 2023

The "Doubting Thomas" story is found in how many Gospels?

a. one

b. two

c. three

d. four

Quiz of the Day, April 15, 2023

What might be called the Palm Sunday Psalm?

a. 23

b. 118

c. 51

d. 38

Quiz of the Day, April 14, 2023

In which Gospel does Jesus refer to God as Father the most?

a. Matthew

b. Mark

c. Luke

d. John

Quiz of the Day, April 13, 2023

"Dem dry bones" is a spiritual inspired by writings from which book of the Bible?

a. Psalms

b. Jeremiah

c. Ezekiel

d. Isaiah

Quiz of the Day, April 12, 2023

"I will not leave you as orphans," is found in which book of the Bible?

a. Romans

b. Galatians

c. John

d. Matthew

e. Revelations

Quiz of the Day, April 11, 2023

"I am the way, the truth and the life," is found in which Gospel?

a. Matthew

b. Mark

c. Luke

d. John

Quiz of the Day, April 10, 2023

The Pascha Nostrum  is used in which church season?

a. Advent

b. Christmas

c. Epiphany

d. Lent

e. Easter

f. Pentecost

Quiz of the Day, April 9, 2023

Who was the first apostle of the resurrection?

a. Peter

b. John

c. Mary, Mother of Jesus

d. Mary Magdalene

Quiz of the Day, April 8, 2023

Who is the patron saint of undertakers?

a. Lazarus

b. Mary Magdalene

c. Joseph of Arimathea

d. Stephen

Quiz of the Day, April 7, 2023

Which animal is associated with Simon Peter's failure?

a. ass

b. sheep

c. rooster

d. crow

Quiz of the Day, April 6, 2023

In which Gospel does the "Last Supper" take place on the day before Passover?

a. Matthew

b. Mark

c. Luke

d. John

Quiz of the Day, April 5, 2023

Maundy of Maundy Thursday derives from what language?

a. English

b. Latin

c. Greek

d. Hebrew

Quiz of the Day, April 4, 2023

What does the word Tenebrae mean?

a. darkness

b. shadows

c. gloom

d. mourning

e. sadness

f. c and d

g. a and b

Quiz of the Day, April 3, 2023

When does Holy Week begin?

a. Palm Sunday

b. Monday before Easter

c. Maundy Thursday

d. Holy Wednesday

Quiz of the Day, April 2, 2023

From what Psalm does Jesus quote from the cross?

a. Psalm 51

b. Psalm 22

c. Psalm 23

d. Psalm 129

Quiz of the Day, April 1, 2023

What prophets spoke about God writing the laws upon our hearts?

a. Isaiah and Jeremiah
b. Isaiah and Ezekiel
c. Jeremiah and Micah
d. Jeremiah and Ezekiel

Sunday School, April 30, 2023 4 Easter A

 Sunday School, April 30, 2023   4 Easter A

Themes:

Discuss the role of shepherd as it is presented in the Bible

The most famous chapter in the Bible is Psalm 23.  It begins, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.”

This poem was believed to be written by the famous King of Israel, King David.  Before David was a king, he was the youngest boy in the family and his family job was being a shepherd.  He would take the flock of sheep out into the wilderness and on the hills.  He would look for places that had grass to eat.  He would take the sheep to rivers, brooks and streams so they could drink water.  He would protect them from being attacked by wild animals.  If they got hurt or cut, he would tend to their wounds.

David knew that he was a good shepherd.  And he believed that God was like a good shepherd because he believed that God loved him and cared for him.

David became the model king for what we call “Messiah.”  Messiah means that to “anoint” with oil.  Anointing with oil was the ritual that was used to make a person a king in ancient Israel.  In the Greek language, messiah is translated as “Christos” or in English Christ.

Christians believe that Jesus is a God Chosen Messiah.  Jesus was a Good Shepherd because of his care for people in need.

A shepherd is someone who takes care of people in need.

Sheep represent people who have needs.

Some people who are not good shepherd do not care for people in need.  They run away from taking care of people in need.

We all are sheep at times because we need help from others.  But when we have ability, wealth and knowledge to help others, we need to be good shepherds too.  We need to help others, because that is what we want when we have needs.

Sermon

Today we have read about the Good Shepherd and we have learn that Jesus is like a Good Shepherd.

  A Good Shepherd takes good care of his sheep.  How does he do that?  He finds them a pasture with grass to eat.  He finds them water to drink.  He keeps them safe from wolves and coyotes.  He takes care of them when they are injured or sick?  Why?  Because the sheep need care.

  Do you know that we are both like shepherd and sheep?  A shepherd is one who gives care to someone who needs it.  A sheep is someone who needs care.

  I’m going to play a quiz game with you?  You tell me who is the shepherd and who is the sheep.

  When a person is really, really sick, she goes to the doctor and the doctor helps by giving her some medicine.  Who is the shepherd and who is the sheep.

  A father and mother go to work and they provide money for their children to have food and clothing.  Who is the shepherd and who is the sheep?

  A boy has a dog and the boy feeds the dog every day and brushes the dog furry coat.  Who is the shepherd and who is the sheep?

  An older sister is with her baby brother, and mom leaves the room.  And the baby brother drops his bottle and starts to cry.  So the older sister picks up the bottle and gives it to her little baby brother.  Who is the shepherd and who is the sheep?

  So any of us can be a shepherd or a sheep.  Why?  Because sometimes we need things and sometimes we need care.

  But most of the time we have the ability to provide care for someone else.  So when someone needs care, we need to be like a good shepherd.

  Jesus is the good shepherd because he cared for people who needed his care.

  So, we too need to be good shepherds too.  Why?  Because people need us, and we need people too.

  Just as you and I often need help and care for ourselves.  We should learn to give care to others when we can.

  Jesus as the good shepherd has taught to care for people in need. 

How many of you are going to try to be good shepherds this week?  I know that you can be a big help to your family and friends and to other people who need your care

Intergenerational Family Service with Holy Eucharist

April 30, 2023: The Fourth Sunday of Easter 

Gathering Songs: The Lord is Present, What Wondrous Love, Soon and Very Soon

Liturgist: Alleluia, Christ is Risen.

People: The Lord is Risen Indeed.  Alleluia.

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.

Song: The Lord is Present (Renew! # 55)

1-The Lord is present in his sanctuary, let us praise the Lord.  The Lord is present in his people gathered here, let us praise the Lord.  Praise him, praise him, let us praise the Lord!  Praise him, praise him, let us praise Jesus!

4-The Lord is present in his sanctuary, let us love the Lord.  The Lord is present in his people gathered here, let us love the Lord.  Love him, love him, let us love the Lord!  Love him, love him, let us love Jesus!

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.

People:            And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

O God, whose Son Jesus is the good shepherd of your people: Grant that when we hear his voice we may know him who calls us each by name, and follow where he leads; who, with you and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

First Litany of Praise: Chant: Alleluia

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 First Letter of Peter

For you were going astray like sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

Liturgist: Let us read together from Psalm 23

The LORD is my shepherd; * I shall not be in want

Surely your goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, * 

and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

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 John

People:            Glory to you, Lord Christ.

Jesus said, "Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheep yard by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers." Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. So again Jesus said to them, "Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them.  I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture.  The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly." 

Liturgist:         The Gospel of the Lord.

People:            Praise to you, Lord Christ.

Sermon – Father 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. 

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.

Youth 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

Offertory Song:  All Things Bright and Beautiful,     (# 405, blue hymnal)

1-All things bright and beautiful, All creatures great and small, All things wise and wonderful,

The Lord God made them all. 

2-Each little flower that opens,Each little bird that sings,He made their glowing colors,

He made their tiny wings.

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 our 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.

(Children may gather around the altar)

The Celebrant now praises God for the salvation of the world through Jesus Christ our Lord.

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.

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: He Leadeth Me, 

                               

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: Soon and Very Soon  (Renew!, # 276).

Soon and very soon, we are going to see the King.  Soon and very soon, we are going to see the King.  Soon and very soon, we are going to see the King.  Hallelujah!  Hallelujah!  We are going to see the King.

2.  No more dying there, we are going to see the King.  No more dying there, we are going to see the King.  No more dying there, we are going to see the King.  Hallelujah!  Hallelujah!  We are going to see the King.

Dismissal:    

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

People: Thanks be to God!  Alleluia!  Alleluia!