Do We Believe God Loves the World?

Lent B March 10, 2024
Numbers 21:4-9 Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22
Ephesians 2:1-10 John 3:14-21

Lectionary Link

It is said that Einstein's once opined that the most important question in life had to do with a belief in a friendly universe.

Indeed, what do we project upon everything, everywhere, all at once?  Do we project a God involved in the universe with a divine presence, diffusely immanent and omnipresent?  Is divine omnipresence a friendly presence?  How could we know?  

Is the universe but God throwing the dice resulting of an infinite play of probabilities and giving all probabilities a degree of freedom, such that communities of freedom can unite to do collective evil or collective good?

The biblical witness and the Christian witness perhaps frames the Einstein question in a different way with a bit different language.  The biblical witness like the articulation of everything is necessarily anthropocentric because as language users we are limited to human experience.   But we also believe to be human means to partake of the sublimely human and touch the horizon of a deeper connection of all things, the connection we name as the divine presence, which contains us and always engenders a future.

In the biblical witness we posit a divine presence which is the residing place and the cause of the presence of everything, including us.  And we believe that the great Presence responsible for our becoming, made us good, so that we might be on the path of becoming better.  The lure for us becoming better is the lure of the Presence of the One we have come to call Love.

We deal with Einstein's question of a friendly universe by the belief that God is love.  The one who is love is able to make other beings who have the free capacity to also love and be loved.  The act of creation is a love act, and the continuous renewal of everything in time is the labor of the sustaining love of someone who wants every being to become continuously better or part of comprising a better surpassing whole.

One of the most quoted words of the New Testament is from our appointed Gospel.  "God so loved the world...."  So, such an expression is a belief that an omnipresence God is loving everywhere, and what could be more friendly than that?

Einstein, in knowing the potential misuses of scientific discoveries, thought that a friendly universe issue was important as it pertained to the morals and ethics of how we use our science and technology to treat each other.  We know that we have not been enlightened in the practice of friendliness toward each other so as to give everyone an equality in the pursuit of happiness and well-being.  Believing that human beings are mostly unloving and not perfectible in love might make us act as though selfish behavior is the central motivation of life.

If we, like the writer of John's Gospel, believe that God is love, how is such to be known and experienced?  Why does it often seem like God is love is the unknown secret of the universe?

The biblical writers often write about the failure of people to be loving toward God and toward each other.  The people of Israel, who are presented as God's experiment in bringing love to the world, are shown to be people who continually failed to represent a God of love.  The proliferation of the failure to love can seem to be the prevailing trend of life itself.

How does the biblical witness deal with the continual failure of people to love God and each other?  The God who has and will out live all and yet include every other being, is seen to be the best of parent.  God is seen as one who has the duration to forgive and give endless chances for amendment of life to people.

The God of love gave exemplars within human community of how people are supposed to love and be loved.  "God so love the world," that God gave a specific divine child of love to show his brothers and sisters the life of loving and being loved.  Jesus is the example of God not giving up on us and showing us the tolerant loving forgiveness of our parent God who always believes we can get better because we are made in having a genuine freedom to chose in the direction of love.

The Gospel questions for each of us today include: Do we believe that God is a loving presence everywhere in this universe?  If so, how can we and others know?  We can only know by experiencing love from others and passing that love on to others.

And if we believe that God is love, how should we live?  Following Christ, we should always chose love and try to speak and live lovingly with our lives.  Amen.

Sunday School, March 10, 2024 4 Lent B

  Sunday School, March 10, 2024    4 Lent B

Theme:

God’s love

One definition of God is this:  God is love.  But if God is love, how does God show that God loves us.

Can an elephant love an ant?  I don’t know.  An ant might get in the ear of an elephant and tickle the ear drum.  An ant might be too small for an elephant to see.  An elephant might be so different from the ant that it might seem like a silly question to ask.  If an elephant could magically be reduced to become the same size as an ant, then the elephant might be able to let the ant know that an elephant to love and care for an ant.

God is love.  And God is great.  God is greater than us, even greater than the elephant is greater than the ant.

So how can a great God, who is love, show the people of this world that God loves us?

God reduced the divine life into baby Jesus in Bethlehem.  Baby Jesus grew up and lived with us and understood human life even better than we understand it.  God showed us that God loves us by giving us God Son, Jesus.  And Jesus did what every human eventually does, he died.  He died on the Cross.  But Jesus lived again after his death to show us that God is great enough to save and preserve our lives after we die.

God is love and God showed love to us when God gave us Jesus.

God so loved the world that he gave us his Son Jesus.  And if we see and look at the death and resurrection of Jesus, it is a path that we follow in this life.  If we believe in God’s love and in what Jesus has shown us and done for us, then we have the hope of living again after our deaths.  And that means we don’t have to live with fear in our lives.  We can live with faith and hope.  And if we live with hope we can have more fun and joy and success in our lives.

Sermon

Text:

  Do you like snakes?  Real snakes?  There are all kinds of snakes.  And some snakes are poisonous.

  There is story in the Bible about Moses and the children of Israel.  One day their camp was infested with poisonous snakes and many people were getting bitten.  So, Moses asked God what he should do and God told him to make a snake out of bronze metal and put it on a tall pole.  And when people looked at the snake on the tall pole they would get healed from their snake bites.

  When Jesus was talking to a man named Nicodemus, Jesus said, “just as Moses put the snake on the pole so that the people of Israel could be healed of their snake bites, Jesus said that he would be put up on the tall pole called the “Cross.”  And this cross would be something that everyone would know about and when they understood how much that God loved this world, they would know that God’s love could make us better.

  God love us in sending Jesus to teach us about living and dying.  About living Jesus taught us to love and care for one another.  He taught us to forgive each other; he taught us to accept God’s forgiveness when we know that we fail to do what is best and right.

  Jesus taught us about dying.  He taught us that some dying is heroic.  When a soldier dies to protect his or her country that is heroic.  When a fire-fighter dies to save a child that his heroic.  When Jesus died for us, that was heroic.

  Jesus taught us some other things about dying.  He taught not to be afraid of dying because it is only a gateway to another kind of life, called eternal life.

  Jesus taught us that we could die and live at the same time.  We die to our selfish self and let our kind and helping selves live.  When we go to school and learn, we die to our ignorant self and let a new self with more learning be born.

  So Jesus taught us that dying can mean saying good bye to bad things in our lives so that we can welcome better things and new ways to act and behave which will make our world better.

  Today, Let us remember that God loved the world so much that God gave us eternal life.  And now I want you to repeat one of the most famous verses in the Bible:  Say: John 3:16.  God so the loved the world that he gave his only Son.  Amen.

Intergenerational Family Liturgy with Holy Eucharist

March 10, 2024: Fourth Sunday In Lent

Gathering Songs:

  He’s Got the Whole World, Lord, I Lift Your Name on High, Eat This Bread, Awesome God

Opening Song : He’s Got the Whole World, (Christian Children’s Songbook, # 90)

1.         He’s got the whole world in his hands, he’s got the whole wide world, in his hands.  He’s got the whole world, in his hands, he’s got the whole world in his hands.

2.         He’s got the little tiny baby in his hands, he’s got the little tiny baby in his hands, he’s got the little tiny baby in his hand, he’s got the whole world in his hands.

3.         He’s got the boys and the girls..

4.         He’s got the mommies and the daddies..

Liturgist: Bless the Lord who forgives all our sins.

People: His mercy endures forever.  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

Gracious Father, whose blessed Son Jesus Christ came down from heaven to be the true bread which gives life to the world: Evermore give us this bread, that he may live in us, and we in him; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

First Litany of Praise: Chant: Praise the Lord

O God, you are Great!  Praise the Lord

O God, you have made us! Praise the Lord

O God, you have made yourself known to us!  Praise the Lord

O God, you have provided us with us a Savior!  Praise the Lord

O God, you have given us a Christian family!  Praise the Lord

O God, you have forgiven our sins!  Praise the Lord

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

A Reading from the Book of Numbers

From Mount Hor the Israelites set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; but the people became impatient on the way. The people spoke against God and against Moses, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we detest this miserable food." Then the LORD sent poisonous serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many Israelites died. The people came to Moses and said, "We have sinned by speaking against the LORD and against you; pray to the LORD to take away the serpents from us." So Moses prayed for the people. And the LORD said to Moses, "Make a poisonous serpent, and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten shall look at it and live." So Moses made a serpent of bronze, and put it upon a pole; and whenever a serpent bit someone, that person would look at the serpent of bronze and live.

The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

Let us read together from Psalm 107

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, * and his mercy endures for ever.

Let all those whom the LORD has redeemed proclaim * that he redeemed them from the hand of the foe.

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 to Nicodemus, "Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.  "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

"Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God."

Liturgist:         The Gospel of the Lord.

People:            Praise to you, Lord Christ.

Sermon –   

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.

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:  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 God.”

All become members of a family by birth or adoption.

Baptism is the 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.

(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.

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 neighbors.

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,

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 by 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:       Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.

People:            Therefore let us keep the feast. 

Word of Administration.

Communion Hymn: Eat This Bread (Renew! # 228)

Eat this Bread, drink this cup, come to me and never be hungry.  Eat this bread, drink this cup, trust in me and you will not thirst.

(Repeat during communion)

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: Awesome God, (Renew!  # 245)

Our God is an awesome God, he reigns from heaven above

with wisdom, power and love our God is an awesome God.

Dismissal:   

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

People: Thanks be to God! 

   

God So Loved the World

Lent B March 14, 2021

Numbers 21:4-9 Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22
Ephesians 2:1-10 John 3:14-21

Lectionary Page

The appointed Bible readings for today present quite a contrast in how God's people understood God and God's intervention in response to human behaviors.

Imagine yourself as a parent with children who complained about the food you served or about what they got to drink.  What kind of parent would you be if you said, "Alright, kids, I'm tired of your complaining.  Tonight, you're going to be locked in your room with a nest of poisonous snakes."

If you did this, you might get reported to Child Protective Services.

But what about God, the heavenly Parent and the children of Israel who complained about food and water to Moses?  God sent as punishment for the complaining people,  poisonous snakes to bite and kill many of them.  Moses interceded and was instructed to put a bronze serpent on a pole for the disobedient children to look at and be healed.  All they had to do was just glance at the serpent.  Not a hard task.  Accept the healing just by looking at the snake image.

In crueler times, this story seems to be a story that an older brother would tell to a younger sibling as what would happen if they didn't clean their plate and drink their milk.  You better eat your food or you know what happened to those complaining children of Israel, a long time ago.

Now fast forward to our New Testament readings we see find a contrast in how God is presented in the New Testament writings?  God so loved the world and gave us Jesus as a way to know the gift of everlasting life, in this life by the Spirit, and in the age to come.  And we are saved by grace through faith and further, according to St. Paul,  we are lifted up to be seated in heavenly places with Christ.

I would suggest that the Bible readings present quite an evolution in how people have understood God and God's interaction with us.

I think that we can be thankful that the best presentation has been saved for the last.

We don't have to face poisonous snakes for our sins, for our short comings, our ignorance and our under-developed moral and spiritual lives.

But what do the words of Jesus retain from the bronze serpent on the pole story?  It was only the glance of faith which healed.  And that is how the cross functioned for St. Paul and the Gospel writers.  If sin is the poisonous snakes which robs us of good living, then just look at the cross of Jesus where he is lifted up.  

Well, that's easy you say.  And isn't that the point of grace?  It's as difficult of simply taking it.  People who are prideful are in the habit of turning down or more often not recognizing the gifts they've been given.  Persons of sinful pride think: 'I don't need gifts.  I am a self made, go it alone person.  I don't need you.  I don't need God's grace.  I am an island of independence."

This is the illusion of the state of sin, being born within all of the provisions of the world and with the image of God upon our lives, and falsely believing we are the ones who made this happen.

The purpose of the life of Jesus is to convince us of grace and the total gift of God that has been toward us in creation itself.

And what are we to do?  We are to learn how to revel in God's goodness and abundant gifts all around us.  And we are to learn that abundant goodness can be inside of us too, in grace, love, peace and joy;  all these delicious wonderful free gifts.  But we need to learn to get the ego out of the way to merely learn how to take the glance of faith and receive and access the gifts.

Another thing, we need to learn about grace and condemnation.  Saving grace or condemnation is inherent in how we act or behave.  We don't have to wait for future punishments or for God to release poisonous snakes.  When we do what is wrong it is the manifestation of condemnation itself.  That we do wrong is its own punishment.  Conversely, grace and salvation are immediately inherent and self reinforcing.  The reward of grace and salvation, when we act in faith to do what is right, is that we get to be good, loving, kind, and just.

The reward of grace is immediate: Wow, we get to be nice and kind and that is salvation and grace.

What you and I can learn from John 3:16 is that God loves the world.  And God has hidden that love in each of us and all we have to do is let it out.  And as we give the gift of love, we receive more of the supply of love because it is all about the flow of the love of God through us.

And that is the secret of poetically being seated to Christ in heavenly place.  When we can love with the gift of God's love through us, that is what heaven on earth means.  Amen.

Sunday School, March 14, 2021 4 Lent B

 Sunday School, March 14, 2021    4 Lent B

Theme:

God’s love

One definition of God is this:  God is love.  But if God is love, how does God show that God loves us.

Can an elephant love an ant?  I don’t know.  An ant might get in the ear of an elephant and tickle the ear drum.  An ant might be too small for an elephant to see.  An elephant might be so different from the ant that it might seem like a silly question to ask.  If an elephant could magically be reduced to become the same size as an ant, then the elephant might be able to let the ant know that an elephant to love and care for an ant.

God is love.  And God is great.  God is greater than us, even greater than the elephant is greater than the ant.

So how can a great God, who is love, show the people of this world that God loves us?

God reduced the divine life into baby Jesus in Bethlehem.  Baby Jesus grew up and lived with us and understood human life even better than we understand it.  God showed us that God loves us by giving us God Son, Jesus.  And Jesus did what every human eventually does, he died.  He died on the Cross.  But Jesus lived again after his death to show us that God is great enough to save and preserve our lives after we die.

God is love and God showed love to us when God gave us Jesus.

God so loved the world that he gave us his Son Jesus.  And if we see and look at the death and resurrection of Jesus, it is a path that we follow in this life.  If we believe in God’s love and in what Jesus has shown us and done for us, then we have the hope of living again after our deaths.  And that means we don’t have to live with fear in our lives.  We can live with faith and hope.  And if we live with hope we can have more fun and joy and success in our lives.

Sermon

Text:

  Do you like snakes?  Real snakes?  There are all kinds of snakes.  And some snakes are poisonous.

  There is story in the Bible about Moses and the children of Israel.  One day their camp was infested with poisonous snakes and many people were getting bitten.  So, Moses asked God what he should do and God told him to make a snake out of bronze metal and put it on a tall pole.  And when people looked at the snake on the tall pole they would get healed from their snake bites.

  When Jesus was talking to a man named Nicodemus, Jesus said, “just as Moses put the snake on the pole so that the people of Israel could be healed of their snake bites, Jesus said that he would be put up on the tall pole called the “Cross.”  And this cross would be something that everyone would know about and when they understood how much that God loved this world, they would know that God’s love could make us better.

  God love us in sending Jesus to teach us about living and dying.  About living Jesus taught us to love and care for one another.  He taught us to forgive each other; he taught us to accept God’s forgiveness when we know that we fail to do what is best and right.

  Jesus taught us about dying.  He taught us that some dying is heroic.  When a soldier dies to protect his or her country that is heroic.  When a fire-fighter dies to save a child that his heroic.  When Jesus died for us, that was heroic.

  Jesus taught us some other things about dying.  He taught not to be afraid of dying because it is only a gateway to another kind of life, called eternal life.

  Jesus taught us that we could die and live at the same time.  We die to our selfish self and let our kind and helping selves live.  When we go to school and learn, we die to our ignorant self and let a new self with more learning be born.

  So Jesus taught us that dying can mean saying good bye to bad things in our lives so that we can welcome better things and new ways to act and behave which will make our world better.

  Today, Let us remember that God loved the world so much that God gave us eternal life.  And now I want you to repeat one of the most famous verses in the Bible:  Say: John 3:16.  God so the loved the world that he gave his only Son.  Amen.

Intergenerational Family Liturgy with Holy Eucharist

March 14, 2021: Fourth Sunday In Lent

Gathering Songs:

  He’s Got the Whole World, Lord, I Lift Your Name on High, Eat This Bread, Awesome God

Opening Song : He’s Got the Whole World, (Christian Children’s Songbook, # 90)

1.         He’s got the whole world in his hands, he’s got the whole wide world, in his hands.  He’s got the whole world, in his hands, he’s got the whole world in his hands.

2.         He’s got the little tiny baby in his hands, he’s got the little tiny baby in his hands, he’s got the little tiny baby in his hand, he’s got the whole world in his hands.

3.         He’s got the boys and the girls..

4.         He’s got the mommies and the daddies..

Liturgist: Bless the Lord who forgives all our sins.

People: His mercy endures forever.  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

Gracious Father, whose blessed Son Jesus Christ came down from heaven to be the true bread which gives life to the world: Evermore give us this bread, that he may live in us, and we in him; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

First Litany of Praise: Chant: Praise the Lord

O God, you are Great!  Praise the Lord

O God, you have made us! Praise the Lord

O God, you have made yourself known to us!  Praise the Lord

O God, you have provided us with us a Savior!  Praise the Lord

O God, you have given us a Christian family!  Praise the Lord

O God, you have forgiven our sins!  Praise the Lord

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

A Reading from the Book of Numbers

From Mount Hor the Israelites set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; but the people became impatient on the way. The people spoke against God and against Moses, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we detest this miserable food." Then the LORD sent poisonous serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many Israelites died. The people came to Moses and said, "We have sinned by speaking against the LORD and against you; pray to the LORD to take away the serpents from us." So Moses prayed for the people. And the LORD said to Moses, "Make a poisonous serpent, and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten shall look at it and live." So Moses made a serpent of bronze, and put it upon a pole; and whenever a serpent bit someone, that person would look at the serpent of bronze and live.

The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

Let us read together from Psalm 107

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, * and his mercy endures for ever.

Let all those whom the LORD has redeemed proclaim * that he redeemed them from the hand of the foe.

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 to Nicodemus, "Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.  "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

"Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God."

Liturgist:         The Gospel of the Lord.

People:            Praise to you, Lord Christ.

Sermon –   

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.

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:  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 God.”

All become members of a family by birth or adoption.

Baptism is the 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.

(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.

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 neighbors.

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,

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 by 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:       Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.

People:            Therefore let us keep the feast. 

Word of Administration.

Communion Hymn: Eat This Bread (Renew! # 228)

Eat this Bread, drink this cup, come to me and never be hungry.  Eat this bread, drink this cup, trust in me and you will not thirst.

(Repeat during communion)

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: Awesome God, (Renew!  # 245)

Our God is an awesome God, he reigns from heaven above

with wisdom, power and love our God is an awesome God.

Dismissal:   

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

People: Thanks be to God!