New Family and New Family Values

13 Pentecost, Cp18, September 7, 2025
Jer. 18:1-18   Psalm 139:1-5, 12-17
Philemon 1-20 Luke 14:25-33

Lectionary Link

Among the crowd of concert goers, a woman once approached the pianist Van Cliburn, and gushed, Mr. Cliburn, "I'd do anything to play like you play."  Supposedly Van Cliburn responded, "No lady, you wouldn't, especially practice."

Among the throngs of people who admired and followed Jesus around because he was the latest prophetic phenom on the scene apparently Jesus could hear them wishing out loud, "Jesus, I'd do anything to be like you."   And Jesus offered some rather harsh reality checks to these groupies who perhaps were treating him like the latest fad.

Remember the Gospel were written about life before the Risen Christ and the experience of an empowering Holy Spirit.  In this age people could aspire for great things only to be disillusioned to find that they could not live up to their aspirations.

Even among his special followers, Peter thought that he could follow Jesus through anything, and he even bragged about being able to do so.  But Peter denied Jesus when the going got tough.  Peter, before the experiences of the afterlife of Jesus and the experience of the Holy Spirit wanted to love Jesus but could not do it.

The words of Jesus in the Gospel about hating one's own family seem extreme unless we appreciate the hyperbole of comparison in the literary context.  Most people seem to think that they love their family members even though the situations of actual family life often prove to be rocky and uneven in how even family members struggle to live together well.

And if struggling family love is difficult, so difficult that there are often harshness of words and actions which seem to be more expressive of discord and hate; just imagine the kind of love needed to leave the comforts of family and follow an itinerate prophet who lives off the land and has none of the consistent comforts of a stable home life.

To love Jesus to be able to follow him, would make family relations seem like hatred in contrast.

The hyperbolic words of Jesus are reminder to people not to be too proud about their ability to follow Jesus.  And each of us might ponder the following:  If what St. Francis of Assisi did is definitive of what loving Jesus and following him means, then how are you and I doing?  In comparison, our love for Jesus might seem so trivial as to be a mockery, a hatred of sorts.

I would invite us to consider some insights from these shocking words of Jesus.  First, they confront us from following Jesus as simply the latest fad.  To follow Jesus as a mere religious fad is easy to do with the crowd.  For many, the religion of Jesus and the many evangelists who speak and perform in his name is like a circus act.  It is mere entertainment.  How many of the great religious crowds gather for the sheer entertainment of it all for the crowds?  How much of religion is "mob religion?"

The many disciplines of discipleship involves the consistent and repeated practice of goodness, and very hard love, very hard justice.  It involves the self denial of service.  It involves the perpetual checking of the ego at the door.  It involves sacrifice.  In the formation period of the early communities of the Jesus Movement, the love of Jesus often brought conflicting loyalties to previous family and friends.

Let us understand the rather stark words of Jesus about "hating one's family," as a reality check to a crowd of people who were being challenged about wanting religious entertainment contrasted with devotion to one who could bring about a significant change of values in their lives.

Let us also understand the programmatic and teaching impact of the Gospel writing written for people many decades after Jesus.

One can divide the lives of disciples into their lives before their encounter with the Risen Christ, and their lives after a mystical encounter with the Risen Christ.  One could not be a mere religious spectator of holy people, holy writings and holy places, after an encounter with the Risen Christ.  

St. Paul confessed that his life had been changed from a life of hating Jesus and his followers to a life of loving the Risen Christ and giving life for the service of the churches.  The result for Paul is that he knew Jesus to be the one who created a new and alternate family of God.  In this new family, Paul called Timothy and Philemon his brothers, Apphia, his sister, even as he called the runaway slave Onesimus, his son because Paul had become his spiritual father.  The following of Jesus Christ became an alternate lifestyle from the lifestyle of merely being in and having a natural family.

You and I can know a conversion to this new family of Christ and it can present quite a contrast to the kind of experience that we have in our natural families.  The love of God in Christ requires that we love profoundly beyond our local family ties as we accept our admission into a greater family, the one that is known when we discover the image of God upon our lives and the lives of all people.

The Psalmist wrote about the wonderful experience of being fully known by God.  In lovely poetry the Psalmist wrote about the encounter with God within his very being at the place where the image of God within him became apparent.

Today, let the shocking words of Jesus be a reality check to us about making our faith lives into but being spectators of religious entertainment.  Let us open ourselves to image of God rising to be known in us as an encounter with the Risen Christ through the power of Holy Spirit.  And let this experience initiate us continually in loving values of the family of God in Christ.  Amen.

 

Sunday School, September 5, 2025 13 Pentecost C proper 18

 Sunday School, September 5, 2025  13 Pentecost C proper 18

Sunday School Themes

For children, there has been the purposely avoided the “hard sayings” of Jesus about “hating” one’s family members to be a disciple of Jesus.  Though one could present how Jesus used contradictory riddles to present his priority.

The Gospel themes chosen center around wise planning

If you want to be a good baseball player, what do you do?  You practice, you join teams, you work out.

If you want to be a good ballet dancer, what do you do?  You join a dance studio and you practice and you listen to a good dance instructor.

Life is about planning because even though the future is not here yet, we believe that we will grow and change and we have to be prepared for what we are going to be doing in our future.

Parents begin to prepare their children for what they are going to do and become from the day of their birth.  Why?  Because life is about growing and changing.  Since life is about change we have to learn how to be prepared for the changes which will come to our lives.

Jesus said that a person who wants to build a big tower has to make sure that there is a plan.  There has to be materials and a design and the workers to do the job.  There has to be enough money to afford to build the tower.

Jesus said that we want to be his disciples, then we need to know what we need to do.  We need to be smart and wise about our planning.  A disciples of Jesus is a student of Jesus.  And we never graduate from being a student of Jesus.  So we need to plan on learning about Jesus for the rest of our lives.

Smart planning for learning how to be a disciple is to learn from the most important Christian rules.  And the most important Christian rule is to love God with all of our hearts and to love our neighbor as ourselves.

If we are planning to follow Jesus as his disciple and student, we need to plan to be his student and to always be learning about how to love God better and to love our neighbors better.

Sermon

  If you are going to build a house what do you need?

  Well, you need to have some money to pay for the building supplies.  You need an architect.  You need some land or a place to build your house.  You need a builder who can organize all of the workers.  You need building supplies, cement, wood, nails, shingles, electrical wires, lights, switches, sinks, counters, and many other things.

  So to build a house you have to do a lot of planning, because what will happen if you don’t plan?  You won’t be able to finish the house.  If you try to build a house you can’t afford then you won’t be able to finish it.  Or if you choose the wrong builder the house may not be built to last.

  Jesus reminded his friends that they needed planning in their lives, planning just like someone who was going to build a great tower, or just like a general who was planning a battle.

  And Jesus reminded his friends that they were going to have many people in their lives.  Their family and their friends.  To live our lives means that we have to learn to live with people.  So if we are going to plan our lives well, we are going to have plan our lives in learning how to live with people in our lives.  And it is important to learn how to live with people in our lives, with our parents, our brothers and sisters, with our husbands and wives, with our teachers and friends.  And it is important to learn how to live with our self.

  Now why do I say we have to learn to live with our self?  We have to know our self well, so we know how to plan our lives?  If I like baseball, but I am terrible at playing baseball, should I try to play professional baseball?  No, I would not be accepted by any team because I’m not good at playing baseball.  So I have to know myself and what I am good at in planning my life.

  It is important to know how to live with other people and with our selves.  So we need to plan well.

  And the best way to do this is to learn the law of Christ:  Love God with all of your heart and love your neighbor as yourself.

  This is the greatest plan of life.  And if we learn this plan in life, we will be successful in learning to live with other people and our self.

  So remember this great plan of Christ for our lives:  Love God with all our hearts and love our neighbors as our self.  Amen.

An intergenerational Eucharistic liturgy

September 7, 2025: The Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Gathering Songs: Rejoice in the Lord Always, He’s Got the Whole World, Alleluia, Jesus Loves the Little Children

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

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

Song: Rejoice in the Lord Always   (Christian Children’s Songbook, # 197)

Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice. 

Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice. 

Rejoice!  Rejoice!  And again I say rejoice. 

Rejoice!  Rejoice!  And again I say rejoice.

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.

People:            And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

Allow us, O Lord, to trust in you with all our hearts; for, since you always oppose the overly proud who do not think they need you, so you never forsake those who make there are very proud of your mercy; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

Litany of Praise: 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 Book of Deuteronomy

Moses said to all Israel the words which the Lord commanded him, "See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity. If you obey the commandments of the LORD your God that I am commanding you today, by loving the LORD your God, walking in his ways, and observing his commandments, decrees, and ordinances, then you shall live and become numerous, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to possess.

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

Liturgist: Let us read together from Psalm 139

LORD, you have searched me out and known me; * you know my sitting down and my rising up; you discern my thoughts from afar.

You trace my journeys and my resting-places * and are acquainted with all my ways.

Indeed, there is not a word on my lips, * but you, O LORD, know it altogether.

Litany Phrase: Thanks be to God!

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 Luke

People:            Glory to you, Lord Christ.

When Jesus was speaking to the people about being disciples, he said, “For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, saying, `This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.' Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? If he cannot, then, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace.”

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

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.

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

He’s got the brothers and the sisters, in his hands, he got the brothers and the sisters, in his hand.  He’s got the brothers and the sisters in his hands, he’s got the whole world in his hand.

He’s got the mothers and the fathers, in his hand, he’s got the mothers and the fathers, in his hand.  He’s got the mothers and the fathers in his hand, he’s got the whole world in his hand.

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 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,

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: Alleluia  (Renew! # 136)

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.

He’s my savior, alleluia.  He’s my savior, alleluia.  He’s my savior, alleluia.  He’s my savior, alleluia.

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: Jesus Loves the Little Children   (Christian Children’s Songbook, # 140)

Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world.  Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in his sight.  Jesus loves the little children of the world

Dismissal:   

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

People: Thanks be to God! 

 

A Gospel of Perfectability in Love

13 Pentecost, Cp18, September 4, 2022
Jer. 18:1-18   Psalm 139:1-5, 12-17
Philemon 1-20 Luke 14:25-33

Lectionary Link

The people who came to write down the words of the Bible understood that the God and the Jesus whom they wrote about, often issued some rather harsh words about people's behaviors.

It would be true to say that holiness and and unattainable perfection stand in stark contrast to our as of yet imperfect behaviors.

It is also insightful to indicate that people are to degrees, willfully imperfect based upon their exposure to the lived-out and practiced standards of more enlightened exemplar of living.

When we read the seemingly harsh words attributed to God and Jesus in the biblical writings, it is important to look at contexts of the words, especially in trying to imagine the community situations which brought the words to promulgation as the holy words to be retained as standards in continuous communities of Jewish and non-Jewish peoples.

What are some of those harsh words?  Jeremiah presents God as a Potter who has the ability to form a vessel  one way or another.   It is a curious metaphor assuming a piece of clay in the divine potter's hand has a degree of freedom to resist being made in an ideal way.  The angered divine potter is seen threatening to force environmental challenges on this willful piece of clay in formation who doesn't seem to want to follow God's patterns as seen in fidelity to the law.

The metaphor of God as a Potter seems to present God as a hovering parent micro-managing each misdeed of a willful child.

This view would seem to contradict a view of a degree of freedom which is necessary to uphold the moral and spiritual integrity of human behavior.

I tend to understand these very anthropomorphic views of God and providence, not as God micromanaging human situations; rather, they are presentation of prophets and seers who believe God, within a divinely inspired world, is a friendly presence within this world and uses all aspects of the world to be signs of a loving discipline of humanity toward perfectible behaviors.  Even though the presentations are starkly anthropomorphic, they are a witness to the belief that the universe is a friendly expression of divine discipline toward human perfectibility.

The failure of humanity to move in positive ways toward perfectibility becomes expressive of their alienation from what is best for them.  Eventually human badness gets confronted with opposing forces.  The prophets believed that the ability for coming to self-correction is built into the creative order, and so there is a presentation of God as all being a Potter who creates toward perfectibility.

Such a view is consistent with the Psalmist being amazed by how he or she is made.  Being made wonderful means being given a growth path in perfectibility.  And when human beings leave the path of perfectibility, the prophets believe in a divine correcting universe which can be known as discipline by humans who are in process. 

Jesus appeared in this world as the example of human perfectability to present a corrective path to recover from a predominance of human alienation from the path of perfectibility.

What are the big principles of human perfectability found in the seeming harsh and hyperbolic statements of Jesus?

First, God is the owner of everything.  So people who usurp possessions as being their own, need to give up all possessive claims to anything, which in spiritual shorthand means that people need to realize that we do not belong to ourselves, therefore we and all that we have belong to our creator.  The words of Jesus point to the early Christian spiritual practice of using the cross of Jesus as a spiritual force to die to possessiveness of one's life and the things of one's life.

God is also a heavenly parent for one humanity; but human beings have divided themselves into separate groupings and families as a way of denying equal status of other people.

The words of Jesus with hyperbolic effect proclaim, hate for every family situation which purports to be a replacement of all being in the family of God who is our heavenly parent.

The family of Christ was to be a family of people with the equal dignity of bearing the image of God.  So for St. Paul, this meant that every other identity could not be a primary identity.  Being in Christ, meant that in spirituality, this identity was beyond markers like male, female, Jew, non-Jew, slave or free.  St. Paul exhorted his fellow worker Philemon to accept back into his household and fellowship, Onesimus, a runaway slave who had come to know himself as being in Christ.  St. Paul wrote that because both Philemon and Onesimus were one in Christ, the slave and master designation, though significant in Roman society, did not hold in the kingdom of heaven.

The words of Jesus were presented as warning about how people would be treated who regarded themselves in the great family of God.  People who believe in lesser identities such as rich, poor, Jew, Gentile, American, African, male, or female as final identities will promote segregatory behaviors of discrimination and they will persecute those who believe in the love of God for everyone.

Small minded people will often threaten and persecute people who promote an equal love for all people.

The Gospel for us today is to be persuaded that we are called to love in God's big family of love.  But the Gospel also is a warning to us to be prepared for those who cannot yet accept how great the love and justice of God is.

Let us be sure of our call to the love of God today.  And let us receive the boldness of God to endure that call to love with people who cannot yet accept this great call of love.  Amen.

Sunday School, September 4, 2022 13 Pentecost C proper 18

 Sunday School, September 4, 2022  13 Pentecost C proper 18

Sunday School Themes

For children, there has been the purposely avoided the “hard sayings” of Jesus about “hating” one’s family members to be a disciple of Jesus.  Though one could present how Jesus used contradictory riddles to present his priority.

The Gospel themes chosen center around wise planning

If you want to be a good baseball player, what do you do?  You practice, you join teams, you work out.

If you want to be a good ballet dancer, what do you do?  You join a dance studio and you practice and you listen to a good dance instructor.

Life is about planning because even though the future is not here yet, we believe that we will grow and change and we have to be prepared for what we are going to be doing in our future.

Parents begin to prepare their children for what they are going to do and become from the day of their birth.  Why?  Because life is about growing and changing.  Since life is about change we have to learn how to be prepared for the changes which will come to our lives.

Jesus said that a person who wants to build a big tower has to make sure that there is a plan.  There has to be materials and a design and the workers to do the job.  There has to be enough money to afford to build the tower.

Jesus said that we want to be his disciples, then we need to know what we need to do.  We need to be smart and wise about our planning.  A disciples of Jesus is a student of Jesus.  And we never graduate from being a student of Jesus.  So we need to plan on learning about Jesus for the rest of our lives.

Smart planning for learning how to be a disciple is to learn from the most important Christian rules.  And the most important Christian rule is to love God with all of our hearts and to love our neighbor as ourselves.

If we are planning to follow Jesus as his disciple and student, we need to plan to be his student and to always be learning about how to love God better and to love our neighbors better.

Sermon

  If you are going to build a house what do you need?

  Well, you need to have some money to pay for the building supplies.  You need an architect.  You need some land or a place to build your house.  You need a builder who can organize all of the workers.  You need building supplies, cement, wood, nails, shingles, electrical wires, lights, switches, sinks, counters, and many other things.

  So to build a house you have to do a lot of planning, because what will happen if you don’t plan?  You won’t be able to finish the house.  If you try to build a house you can’t afford then you won’t be able to finish it.  Or if you choose the wrong builder the house may not be built to last.

  Jesus reminded his friends that they needed planning in their lives, planning just like someone who was going to build a great tower, or just like a general who was planning a battle.

  And Jesus reminded his friends that they were going to have many people in their lives.  Their family and their friends.  To live our lives means that we have to learn to live with people.  So if we are going to plan our lives well, we are going to have plan our lives in learning how to live with people in our lives.  And it is important to learn how to live with people in our lives, with our parents, our brothers and sisters, with our husbands and wives, with our teachers and friends.  And it is important to learn how to live with our self.

  Now why do I say we have to learn to live with our self?  We have to know our self well, so we know how to plan our lives?  If I like baseball, but I am terrible at playing baseball, should I try to play professional baseball?  No, I would not be accepted by any team because I’m not good at playing baseball.  So I have to know myself and what I am good at in planning my life.

  It is important to know how to live with other people and with our selves.  So we need to plan well.

  And the best way to do this is to learn the law of Christ:  Love God with all of your heart and love your neighbor as yourself.

  This is the greatest plan of life.  And if we learn this plan in life, we will be successful in learning to live with other people and our self.

  So remember this great plan of Christ for our lives:  Love God with all our hearts and love our neighbors as our self.  Amen.

An intergenerational Eucharistic liturgy

September 4, 2022: The Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Gathering Songs: Rejoice in the Lord Always, He’s Got the Whole World, Alleluia, Jesus Loves the Little Children

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

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

Song: Rejoice in the Lord Always   (Christian Children’s Songbook, # 197)

Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice. 

Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice. 

Rejoice!  Rejoice!  And again I say rejoice. 

Rejoice!  Rejoice!  And again I say rejoice.

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.

People:            And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

Allow us, O Lord, to trust in you with all our hearts; for, since you always oppose the overly proud who do not think they need you, so you never forsake those who make there are very proud of your mercy; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

Litany of Praise: 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 Book of Deuteronomy

Moses said to all Israel the words which the Lord commanded him, "See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity. If you obey the commandments of the LORD your God that I am commanding you today, by loving the LORD your God, walking in his ways, and observing his commandments, decrees, and ordinances, then you shall live and become numerous, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to possess.

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

Liturgist: Let us read together from Psalm 139

LORD, you have searched me out and known me; * you know my sitting down and my rising up; you discern my thoughts from afar.

You trace my journeys and my resting-places * and are acquainted with all my ways.

Indeed, there is not a word on my lips, * but you, O LORD, know it altogether.

Litany Phrase: Thanks be to God!

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 Luke

People:            Glory to you, Lord Christ.

When Jesus was speaking to the people about being disciples, he said, “For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, saying, `This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.' Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? If he cannot, then, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace.”

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

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.

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

He’s got the brothers and the sisters, in his hands, he got the brothers and the sisters, in his hand.  He’s got the brothers and the sisters in his hands, he’s got the whole world in his hand.

He’s got the mothers and the fathers, in his hand, he’s got the mothers and the fathers, in his hand.  He’s got the mothers and the fathers in his hand, he’s got the whole world in his hand.

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 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,

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: Alleluia  (Renew! # 136)

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.

He’s my savior, alleluia.  He’s my savior, alleluia.  He’s my savior, alleluia.  He’s my savior, alleluia.

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: Jesus Loves the Little Children   (Christian Children’s Songbook, # 140)

Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world.  Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in his sight.  Jesus loves the little children of the world

Dismissal:   

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

People: Thanks be to God!