Sunday School, January 14, 2018 2 Epiphany B

Sunday School, January 14, 2018   2 Epiphany B

Theme:

The Call of God

The Bible teaches us that God like us.  How do we know?

God calls to be God’s friends.

The boy Samuel heard a voice in his efforts to try to sleep.  It was the voice of God calling to him.  Samuel was shocked to find out that God was interested in him.  When Samuel said, “Speak Lord for your servant is listening,” he accepted a friendship with God to become an important leader for the people of Israel.  He became the most important Judge of Israel and God used Samuel to select the first two kings of Israel, Saul and David.

God like us so much, God sent God’s son Jesus to live with us and Jesus like us and called us to be his brothers and sisters and friends.

Philip was so excited that Jesus called him, he told his friend Nathaniel.  Nathaniel was not so sure at first about Jesus, but when he met Jesus he became very excited.  Jesus had a special way of making friends.

You and I are called by Jesus to be his friends and we are also asked by Jesus to introduce other people to Jesus.  How do we do that?

How do you make a friend?

Take an interest in them.  Share your life with them, your story and your good news.  You ask them to share their story with you.  You care for them.  One of the best things we can share with our friends is what Jesus means to us and to our lives.  The best news we can give our friends is the knowledge that God loves them and that Jesus calls them into a special relationship with God to help them live their lives in the very best way for themselves, their family and for our world.

Sermon:

What church season are we in now?  Epiphany.  And what is the color that we use during Epiphany.  Epiphany sounds like a funny word; what does it mean?

  Epiphany is when you discover something and your life changes because of that discovery.

  As a baby, when you learned that you can walk; that is an Epiphany.  And when you learn how to read and sound out words; that is an epiphany because it changes your life.

  Do you know what one of the greatest discoveries is in life?  It is the discovery of a friend.  Friends change our lives; they share with us their time; they help us when we’re sad; they encourage us.

  Today, we read about a man named Philip and he had a friend Nathaniel.  And since Philip was Nathaniel’s friend, he wanted to share with him his best news.

  And Philip had some good news.  And what was that good news.  Philip had met a wonderful teacher named Jesus.  And Jesus was such a good teacher who had taught Philip so many wonderful things; Philip wanted to share his friend Jesus with his friend Nathaniel.  Why?  Because he knew that Jesus could be a friend and teacher to Nathaniel too.

  Nathaniel was not sure that he wanted a new friend.  But he decided to go with Philip and meet Jesus.  And Nathaniel found out that Philip was right; Jesus was a good friend and teacher and Nathaniel became the friend of Jesus too.

  Epiphany is about discovering Jesus as our friend and teacher.  Epiphany is about discovering each other as friends and sharing our very best news with each other.

  The word Gospel means, “good news.”  And as friends we share good news with each other.  And what is our good news?  That God loves us, God cares for us, God forgives us when we make mistakes, God gives us family and friends to share our good news with.

  So remember the word Epiphany…it is when we discover that God is our friend and God sent his Son Jesus to let us know about the friendship that we can have with God.  And that is good news.  Amen

St. John the Divine Episcopal Church

17740 Peak Avenue, Morgan Hill, CA 95037

Family Service with Holy Eucharist

January 14, 2017 The Second Sunday After the Epiphany

Gathering Songs: Hallelu, Hallelujah; Peace Before Us; Lord, Be Glorified; Awesome God

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: Hallelu, Hallelujah (Christian Children’s Songbook # 84)

Hallelu, hallelu, hallelu, hallelujah!  Praise ye the Lord!  Hallelu, hallelu, hallelu, hallelujah!  Praise ye the Lord!  Praise ye the Lord, Hallelujah.  Praise ye the Lord, Hallelujah.  Praise ye the Lord, Hallelujah.  Praise ye the Lord!

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.

People:            And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

Almighty God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ is the light of the world: Grant that your people, illumined by your Word and Sacraments, may shine with the radiance of Christ's glory, that he may be known, worshipped, and obeyed to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

First Litany of Praise: Alleluia (chanted)

O God, you are Great!  Alleluia

O God, you have made us! Alleluia

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

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

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

O God, you have forgiven our sins!  Alleluia

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

Liturgist:   A reading from the First Book of Samuel

Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, and the word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him. The LORD called Samuel again, a third time. And he got up and went to Eli, and said, "Here I am, for you called me." Then Eli perceived that the LORD was calling the boy. Therefore Eli said to Samuel, "Go, lie down; and if he calls you, you shall say, `Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.'" So Samuel went and lay down in his place.  Now the LORD came and stood there, calling as before, "Samuel! Samuel!" And Samuel said, "Speak, for your servant is listening."

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

Liturgist: Let us read together from Psalm 139

How deep I find your thoughts, O God! * how great is the sum of them!

If I were to count them, they would be more in number than the sand; * to count them all, my life span would need to be like yours.

Birthdays:   James Gabbard, Greg Parish, Ed Ludwick, Chad Church

Anniversaries:   Frank and Bethan Bath

  

Litany Phrase: Thanks be to God! (chanted)

Liturgist:

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.

The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, "Follow me." Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth." Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see." When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, "Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!" Nathanael asked him, "Where did you get to know me?" Jesus answered, "I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you." Nathanael replied, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!" Jesus answered, "Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these." And he said to him, "Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man."

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. (chanted)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

People:            And also with you.

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

Offertory Music:  Peace Before Us  (Wonder, Love and Praise  # 791)

Peace before us, peace behind us, peace under our feet.  Peace within us, peace over us, let all around us be peace.

Love before us….

Light before us…

Christ before us….

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 up 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.  Sanctify us 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: Lord, Be Glorified  (Renew! # 172)

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

In our homes, Lord…

In your church, Lord…

In your world, Lord…

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.

Sing three times

Dismissal    

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

People:      Thanks be to God! 

Baptism and Determinism

1 Epiphany B  January 7, 2018
Genesis 1:1-5   Ps. 29
Acts 9:1-7   Mark 1:4-11

Lectionary Link

In trying to answer the question of why one becomes the person that one is, we have the debate about Nature or Nurture.  Am I who I am because of my inherent basic genetic nature or am I who I am because of all of the environmental influences that nurtured me to make me who I am?  Those who believe that Nature is the telling factor, cite the case studies of identical twins separated at birth in adoption and who have been raised in different socio-economic settings.  They point to the data which shows identical twins behaving in similar ways in spite of having radically different socio-economic family environments.  Others note that socio-economic settings influence the probability of future success and failure in one's socio-economic performance and behaviors.

More sanguine observers would simply say about the Nature/Nurture debate:  It's both.  We are determined in part by our genetic internal physiological natures; we are determined in part by our social environment.

Sigmund Freud added his insights about psychological determinism with his "holy family of Mommy, Daddy and Me."  The young infant and toddler has his or her life scripted by a body narrative based upon how the parents code and treat the three erogenous zones of the baby's body.  Each body has a narrative and that narrative is a script which determines future psychological states of mind and behaviors.

The injunction of the Delphic oracle was: Know thyself.  Socrates said, "The unexamined life is not worth living."  And in our quest to discover that our lives are worth living we seek to know ourselves.  One question of self knowledge is: "how did I become the way that I am? " To know oneself is to ask questions about what has caused me to be and act in the ways that I have come to act.

And in the appraisal of self-knowledge we seek causal answers with a purpose.  One of the purposes of our lives involves how can we be and act better in our lives.  And if we experience self-discontentment, what do we do?  What do we do about the feeling of self-discontentment?

Sometimes we deal with self-discontentment in unhealthy ways.  If I am not content with my life, I can take the neurotic route; I can blame it on myself.  There is something wrong with me.  There is something inherently wrong with my nature.  Or if I am not content with my life, I can take an unhealthy nurture answer; I am not content with my life because of other people or my current situation.  My mom and dad made me who I am and that is why I am discontent.  My colleagues and my parishioners are the cause of my discontent.  If only I could have been born in a family of angels or had a congregation of angels, then I would be content.  (Some of you looked surprised....what do you mean?  Aren't we a congregation of angels?)

Today is the Baptism of Jesus Sunday.  And baptism provides a most important insight in this human quest of who we know ourselves to be and who we want to yet be.

Four statements are not true:  1-I have a superior and perfect human nature, a perfect pedigree.  2-I have a completely flawed and imperfect human nature, an impaired human nature.  3-I have a superior upbringing with perfect associations.  4-I have a totally flawed human community with completely imperfect role models.

None of these statements are true, even while all are partially true.  How so? 1- I have a snowflake unique nature without another copy.  2-My unique nature includes being sinful or falling short of my own set of ideals. 3-I have been given in my life access to some people who are models of good behaviors.  4-I have also been exposed to some poor examples human conduct.

I believe the event of the baptism of Jesus Christ gives us an important insight about how we can live within the probable conditions of nature and nurture which can seem to determine our lives.

The heavenly voice said to Jesus at his baptism: "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."

This is the baptismal secret of life.  What was said to Jesus was also being said to all of us.  St. Paul wrote that we are all in Christ and part of the body of Christ.  And being in Christ, we can hear this heavenly voice speaking to each of us.  "You are my child, the beloved; with you I am well pleased."

Now why is hearing this important in the Nature/Nurture issues of life?  If we are too proud of our nature or our nurture then we unwittingly commit the sin of pride before God's greatness and before the human community.  If we are completely critical about how bad other people are in causing our bad performance, we give them too much power.   If we are neurotically self blaming about our imperfect nature then we blaspheme God our creator for making a mistake with our unique nature.  

The way in which we help ourselves from the effects of being over-determined by the nature/nurture cycle of causation is to know ourselves as being children of God; to know ourselves as touched by God is what the early church called the baptism of the Holy Spirit.  The experience of Holy Spirit is to know a higher Nature within us with the power to determine us beyond the limits of our nature and our nurture.

The people whom I have admired the most in life are those who have had the experience of the uncanny.  They have known themselves to be touched by a Higher Power and these people have come from all socio-economic backgrounds and educational levels.  These people have had wide and varied gifts, talents and abilities.  These people have had really really good fortune in life; these people have had really, really bad luck in life when the deck has seemed to be profoundly stacked against their success, and yet all kinds of people have had this experience of the power of being a child of God.  As John's Gospel states, "who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God."

This uncanny experience is a crucial event of personal esteem and it allows us to be shielded from the horrifying effects in the failures of nurture and nature, and it helps us to remain humble in the face of the good effects of nature and nurture.

To know this baptismal experience of the esteem of being God's child, one can learn to live with faith and in wisdom to live with the cumulative effects of the nature and nurture of one's life.  And this is the faith adventure that each of us is living.

Today, as we commemorate the baptism of Jesus, let us know that into his baptism we too have been baptized.  We too, can hear the heavenly voice say to us: You are my child, the beloved; with you I am well pleased.  And having this event of personal esteem, let each of us go forth to determine our lives with wisdom and with acts of faith based upon the eternal hope of God.  Amen.

Sunday School, January 7, 2018 1 Epiphany B

Sunday School, January 7, 2018   1 Epiphany B: The Baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ

Theme:

Joining and Belonging

Joining and Belonging is what makes us great

God is the greatest of all, so great that God doesn’t need to join humanity.  God did not need to even let men and women know of God’s existence.

But God joined the human community.

First by giving men and women a law and way of living for their lives.

God joined and belonged to human family in the closest way by being born in Jesus.

Jesus was God special Son and he could have believed that he was so perfect that he did not have to be with those who were not as good and perfect as he was.

What did Jesus do?

He fully joined the human community.  How did he show this?

He was baptized by John the Baptist.  He perhaps was joining the community of John the Baptist.

The baptism of Jesus shows us that he did not think that he was too good for all people.

The baptism of Jesus shows us that Jesus joined and belonged to human community.

Jesus did not act too good and perfect for us, he joined, he belonged, and he participated.

God is great and Jesus is great because they joined humanity.

Great people join.  They join to share with other people the greatness of love, kindness and wisdom about how we should live best.

How should we follow Jesus?

We follow Jesus by joining, by being baptized, by belonging to groups of people.

By joining our church, we gather to follow Jesus who joined us to show us how to live.

If we want to live the best life, the way that we do is to join and belong to groups of people who are committed to what Jesus has taught.

Sermon

What is the most common mistake that everyone makes, children and adults?

  I think the most common mistake that all of us make is the mistake of forgetting.

  Do you ever forget?  Forget to do your homework?  Forget to clean your room?   Forget what your teacher told?  Forget what your parents told you?  Forget what you promised to your children or spouse?

  Forgetting is easy to do.

  But the most serious forgetting is forgetting about God.   Today we have read the story about John the Baptist on the day that he baptized Jesus in the Jordan River.

  John the Baptist and Jesus were special men who were prophets.  And they came to help people recover from their forgetting.  See many people had forgotten some important things about God.  Even the religious leaders had forgotten some important things about God.  And what is often forgotten about God?

  People often forget that God loves them.  People often think that God loves the people in our country, or in our neighborhood or in our race better than people in another country, neighborhood or race.

  When Jesus was baptized, the voice of God said, this is my beloved Son, with you I am well pleased.

  You and I need to remember what baptism means.  Baptism looks like just pouring some water over the head of a baby or an adult.  But what does baptism mean?  It means that we celebrate that each and every person is a child of God, a son or daughter of God.

  You see the problems in our life happen when we forget that we are sons and daughters of God.  The problems in our life happen when we forget that other people are son and daughters of God.

  When we remember that we are children of God we treat ourselves with respect.  When we remember that other people are children to God, we treat them with respect too.  When we remember God, then we remember to live good lives for God and we remember to live in peace and love with each other.

  John the Baptist and Jesus came to remind us about some things that we had forgotten.

  Let us remember the meaning of baptism.  Our baptism is a reminder that we and all people belong to the same family of God.  And if we remember that we will work to love one another and live in peace with each other.  Amen.

St. John the Divine Episcopal Church

17740 Peak Avenue, Morgan Hill, CA 95037

Family Service with Holy Eucharist

January 7, 2018: 1 Epiphany: The Baptism of Our Lord Jesus Christ

Gathering Songs:

 There Is One Lord, Jesus Loves Me, Jesus Loves the Little Children, God is So Good

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

People: And Blessed be God’s Kingdom, Now and forever. Amen.

Song: There is One Lord (Renew # 161)

There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism; there is one God who is Father of all.

 (Twice to begin, once after each solo verse)

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.

People:            And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

Father in heaven, who at the baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan proclaimed him your beloved Son and anointed him with the Holy Spirit: Grant that all who are baptized into his Name may keep the covenant they have made, and boldly confess him as Lord and Savior; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

First Litany of Praise: Alleluia (chanted)

O God, you are Great!  Alleluia

O God, you have made us! Alleluia

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

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

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

O God, you have forgiven our sins!  Alleluia

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

Liturgist: A reading from the Book of Genesis

In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

Liturgist: Let us read together a verse from Psalm 29  

Ascribe to the LORD, you gods, * ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.

Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his Name; * worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.

The voice of the LORD is upon the waters; the God of glory thunders; * the LORD is upon the mighty waters.

The voice of the LORD is a powerful voice; * the voice of the LORD is a voice of splendor.

My faithfulness and love shall be with him, * and he shall be victorious through my Name.

Litany Phrase: Thanks be to God! (chanted)

Liturgist:

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

For our families and friends. Thanks be to God!

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

For this day of worship. Thanks be to God!

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

For work and for play. Thanks be to God!

For teaching and for learning. Thanks be to God!

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

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

   Thanks be to God!

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

People:            Glory to you, Lord Christ.

John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. He proclaimed, "The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."

In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."

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. (chanted)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

People:            And also with you.

Offertory: Song during the preparation of the Altar and the receiving of an offering

Song: Jesus Loves Me, This I Know (# 104 in All the Best)

1-Jesus loves me, this I know.  For the Bible tells me so.  Little ones to him belong.  They are week but He is strong.  Yes, Jesus loves me.  Yes, Jesus Loves me.  Yes, Jesus loves me.  The Bible tells me so.

2-Jesus love me. He who died.  Heaven’s gates to open wide.  He will wash away my sin, let His little child come in.  Yes, Jesus loves me.  Yes, Jesus loves me.  Yes, Jesus loves me.  The Bible tells me so.

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 up to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to God.

It is right to give him 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 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 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, (Children may rejoin their parents and take up their instruments)

Our Father (Sung): (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:       Alleluia! Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.

People:            Therefore let us keep the feast.  Alleluia!

Words of Administration.

Communion Song: Jesus Loves the Little Children (# 30 in All the Best)

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.

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: God is So Good (# 31 in  All the Best)

1-God is so good, God is so good, God is so good, He’s so good to me.

2-He cares for me, He cares for me, He cares for me, He’s so good to me.

3-I’ll do His will, I’ll do his will, I’ll do his will, He so good to me.

4-He is my Lord, He is my Lord, He is my Lord, He’s so good to me.

Dismissal:   

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

People: Thanks be to God!

Aphorism of the Day, December 2017

Aphorism of the Day, December 31, 2017

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.  In the beginning was the Word.  There is an incredible difference between the insight about "the beginning" between Genesis and John's Gospel.  John's Gospel is perhaps a bit more philosophical.  There could not have been a human eyewitness to such a beginning as related in Genesis.  The Gospel of John hints about a different sort of beginning, the beginning of human life and experience as we know happening because we are constituted by language.  Human life as we know it is created, comes to have existence because of Word, and the confession about Word being our beginning is perhaps the basic insight of human life.  Humanity has built endless human products even while forgetting that it all has happened because we begin with Word.  Having Word, having words, having language is always, already the big elephant in the room of human existence.  As we might be very proud of all of our human products we should offer an important disclaimer: "Oops, I forgot that I have been using language and have been used by it."

Aphorism of the Day, December 30, 2017

The writer of John's Gospel confesses that the Word was God.  One can say that the Word is God, in that being within the web of Word is how we have any awareness of anything at all and have our existence confirmed.  If Word is God, it is most embracing and comprehensive human platform and we as having some free agency in our role as language used and language user should commit ourselves to be effective translators of language use for the greater benefit of all language users remembering the most profound use of language is body language acts of mutual kindness and regard.

Aphorism of the Day, December 29, 2017

Paraphrase of John 1:1ff.: The beginning of human consciousness as we know happens because of Word, hence Word signifies the Personal Superlative even to the degree of being equal with the Personal Superlative.  All things have existence because of Word and nothing can have existence as humans know it without having Word.  Through Word comes existence which is also called life and knowing such life through the Word is light or consciousness for humanity.

Aphorism of the Day, December 28, 2017

The beginning of human life as it can be known is the Word and all things come to be known as having existence through having word ability.  Descartes said, "I think, therefore I am."  He was putting "de cart before de horse."  From John's Gospel, one could say, "I think because I have become aware of having language and in having language I know that I am because I use language to tell me the same."

Aphorism of the Day, December 27, 2017

In the Beginning was the Word.  Can one see how one gets into a "chicken or the egg" stalemate?  One uses words to say that Word was in the beginning before "Word."  Does what we refer to with words have a verifiable existence apart from words?  The Almighty as a word user?  Alas, we've used words to say, "the Almighty."

Aphorism of Day, December 26, 2017

Probably the most empirically verifiable phrase of the Bible is that "all things came into being by the Word."  That we have word is the way in which we know that we are language users and being language users we reflexively verify that we use language by using language.  It is the most brilliant and valid circular argument of all because we cannot falsify the fact that we are language users.

Aphorism of the Day, December 25, 2017

Lost in the primary naiveté of the Christmas Story so promulgated by "popular" church culture is the ancient mystagogy of the early church which presented the story as a parable for eternal birth of the Risen Christ in the souls of the one's who knew this favor.

Aphorism of the Day, December 24, 2017

The Song of Mary confesses a utopian hopefulness which does not seem to be always, already realized:

He has mercy on those who fear him *in every generation.

He has shown the strength of his arm, * he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, * and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things, * and the rich he has sent away empty.

Such outcomes may have intermittent realization in actual human history so why confess such utopian optimism?  The ideal is always an invitation to people who have freedom and it should continually be confessed and offered as the standard for living.  It is a confession of an always already parallel kingdom of heaven to which some have access and they continually pray, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

Aphorism of the Day, December 23, 2017


The Magnificat, the Song of Mary, is like most biblical utopian vision; it is anticipatory of the ideals of the parallel universe of heaven.  In the exterior world the reign of probable mixture of good, bad and indifferent events occur proving the general conditions of freedom.  The biblical drama is constructed upon free human agents seeking the will of heaven or hell in contributing to outcomes in the mixture of what can actually happen in this world.  The Song of Mary is a confession of justice and an anticipation of just outcomes in this world, especially for the poor and suffering.

Aphorism of the Day, December 22, 2017

One might call the Gospel of Luke, a "musical," in that within the narrative of the events people spontaneously break out in poetic songs:  The Songs of Zechariah, Simeon and Mary have become the Canticles of the Daily Offices of our prayers.  The subject matter of the songs are loaded with confession of utopian ideals of justice and a belief that such should also become the "heaven" on earth actuality.

Aphorism of the Day, December 21, 2017

Even though through the passage of time there has been a "differentiation" of consciousness in humanity based upon discoveries which have changed how people read and interpret, one can still locate discursive practices in ancient texts such as the Bible that are similar to the variety of discursive practices that we have today.  Modern science created a preference for establishing empirical verification as the chief mode of propositional truth.  Intimidated by the pragmatic realism of empirical verification, may Bible readers gave up the artistic truths of the Bible by making the claim that a "plain" reading of the Bible means that all of the details of the Bible can be empirically verified.  By presenting biblical writing as empirically verified, many modern people left the Bible because of the way in which it has been presented.  If we return to the text as an artistic text guided by motives of moral and spiritual transformation we allow the writings of the Bible to serve their purpose consistent with their discursive practice.

Aphorism of the Day, December 20, 2017

The confessions about God as found in the famous Song of Mary, are sometimes "true."  Why only sometimes?  "He has filled the hungry with good things; the rich He has sent away empty."  How is it that it is verified that God has always already filled the hungry with good things?  The confession about who God is and what God stands for still needs the cooperation of humanity to make the God-ideal true in actual life circumstance.  While we live confessing the perfect will of God in the parallel reality of the kingdom of God, we still need in time and the external world to make God's will done on earth as it is done in heaven.  Prayer and persuasion to express our "better angels" are not yet finished.

Aphorism of the Day, December 19, 2017

In the mystagogy of the early church, people were confessing to events of the heart in a realization that general divine omnipresence was becoming particular presence within them.  They used the language of being filled with the Holy Spirit or having the Risen Christ "born" in them.  The early churches believed that they were moving from external signs and markings of religious identity to the inward verification of God's presence.  We read the Christmas stories as plays for our Christmas Pageants but the first use of the infancy narratives were "mystagogic" texts hiding the inward verifiable event of the birth of Christ into one's life within the infancy narratives of the Gospel.  One needed to have "ears" to hear what was being proclaimed in the model of Mary as the paradigm for the Christ-mystic.  Over-shadowed by an interior event, one in acquiescence confessed the Marian words, "Let it be unto your servant according to your word."  The way in which words are constituted within a mystic are the words which are mirrored in the infancy narratives which comprise the significant realities of identity within the early churches.

Aphorism of the Day, December 18, 2017

The Hebrew word "beit" or house has duel meanings.  It can refer to people of one's household, present, past and future and it can refer to a structure, such as the Temple, as being the House of God.  King David wanted to build a structural house for God and he wasn't able to do it.  His house or lineage was to last forever.  Joseph, was from the house of David as the Gospel writers were tracing lineage of family for Jesus.  History indicates that structures can be destroyed but God resides in the lineage of people even though certain spaces might be regarded to be "sacred."

Aphorism of the Day, December 17, 2017

"Gaudete" or Rejoice!  Rejoice always!  Quite a command given the actuarial probability of lots of things happening at any given time which defies the logic of being joyful.  And it might even seem irreverent to be joyful since the appearance of joy might seem inappropriate in the company of people who are faced with immediate suffering and afflictions.  The command to rejoice is not naïve optimism; it can be a spiritual methodology of garnering the inward capacity to day-dream to focus upon the energy of psychic analgesia and beyond analgesia to an actual "high," not to deny the external reality of troubles and woe but to cope and inspire creative response to what one is facing within one's exterior circumstances.  Rejoicing as opposed to possession with gloom is a greater orientation toward creative action to play the hand that one has been dealt.  To tap the capacity for joy at all time is to tap an elixir for creativity with what is in one's life.

Aphorism of the Day, December 16, 2017

Interlocutors to John the Baptist: "Are you the Messiah, Elijah, a prophet?"  John the Baptist:  "No, No, No. I am but a Voice crying in the wilderness..."  This conversation reveals the eschatological speculation of their time.  It was a time of suffering and speculation about how intervention by a hero Messiah could bring justice.  The collective daydreams of all suffering people produce eschatological speculation about justice, superheroes and intervention all of the time.  That such speculation came to biblical literature should not demand that we treat it as prediction in the sense of a future verifiable specific event; the visualization functions as the "eternal return" in human experience of justice and intervention to achieve the same in all human history.  Most of modern eschatology has moved into the cinema, comic books and science fiction.  Whether religious or secular, the eternal return, viz., the repetition of visualization of attained justice occurs.

Aphorism of the Day, December 15, 2017

It interesting to note the spiritual genealogy of John the Baptist in John's Gospel.  In the beginning was the Word, the Word was God, the Word created life that that life was the light of humanity.  John the Baptist, we are told, was sent from God and denied being the light, but to testify to the light. Word, Life, Light is a sequence in John's Gospel and each is a metaphor for Christ who has such a metaphorical exclusivity in the New Testament, and all other confessing people are lesser words, life and light in comparison.  The metaphorical exclusivity of Christ in the confession of the church is the way in which the hierarchical value of Jesus was experienced and proclaimed.

Aphorism of the Day, December 14, 2017

John of the Cross coined the phrase "dark night of the soul" to describe a phase of spiritual desolation, a sense of forsakenness.  On first reading one might think that the writer was suffering from severe depression.  Or it could be that in spiritual methodology, depression energy is named and something creative arises out of the chaos of wanting to be in a dark closet only smelling the leather of one's shoes.  Today we don't have time for the energy of the depression to be transformed; it has to be immediately cured so that we can be "functional."  Perhaps the mystics had the time for depression and the structure of community to rework the energy by progressively renaming it and reconstituting the interior word structure of one's life.

Aphorism of the Day, December 13, 2017

The Gospel of John is full of "ego eimi" sayings, "I am" sayings of Jesus.  In contrast John the Baptist is the disclaimer, the one who says, "I am not he, Elijah,  the messiah, the light."  His recorded disclaiming in the Gospels is the set up message for proclaiming Jesus and the contrast was an important persuasive oracular device for the members of his community who were being asked to switch their allegiance to Jesus.

Aphorism of the Day, December 12, 2017

John's Gospel is about the personification of Word, which is God.  After the declaration that Word is God, such a notion would refer to the "hum" of the universe of all possible discursive practice such that differentiation could not be recognized.  So, from the realm of all possible discourse a discursive figure arises who is life of differentiation by setting the hierarchy of values of how Word is to become known within an actual human person.  Such a person on top of the hierarchy is called life and light in the midst of people whose lives are in "word disorder."  Jesus as the superlative case of instantiating Word becomes the incarnate corrective for human "word disorder."  So, John the Baptist calls him the light shining in the darkness of human "word disorder."

Aphorism of the Day, December 11, 2017

Since four books of the New Testament are called Gospels, one might think that the notion of Gospel originated with Jesus and the early church.  Gospel or good news was taken directly from the writings of the prophet Isaiah: "he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed."  If one does not think that Gospel has anything to do with political conditions, think again.  Good news for the oppressed does not mean just learning how to tolerate the conditions of oppression; it is a promise of deliverance.  Anyone who claims to be honest to the Gospel needs to be one who is working to relieve and overturn the conditions of the oppressed people of the world.  People who live in the conditions of being free from the conditions need to remember their Gospel duty.

Aphorism of the Day, December 10, 2017

In a figurative way, the earliest Gospel, the Gospel of Mark present, not the birth of Jesus, but perhaps the birth of the Jesus Movement out of the John the Baptist Movement.  It is interesting to note that the writer of the earliest Gospel is more interested in presenting the birth of the Jesus Movement rather than the birth of the person of Jesus.  There seems to have been some compunction about showing continuity with the John the Baptist Movement because the core followers of Jesus may have been first in the John the Baptist Movement.

Aphorism of the Day, December 9, 2017

There is an obvious truth to the "last shall be first" phrase of Jesus.  A person who interprets in the present tense is always interpreting in the latest day; the present tense is always the latest time.  As such, the one who is latest cannot but interpret all of the memories of the past in a way that serves in some way the present, which is the latest in time.  So John the Baptist and his community are chronologically before Jesus and his significance is interpreted by later followers of Jesus Christ in a way that John himself could not have foreseen in his own time.  The oracles of the early church function somewhat like playwrights trying to assign significance to the life of John the Baptist in light of what their experience was in the early churches.  So John was viewed as the water-man and Jesus was viewed as the Spirit-man.  A baptism or immersion in the Spirit assumes a deeper inward event than the external washing of a ritual baptism in the Jordan River.  In the present, we conveniently make the past serve what we understood to have become.  If this seems unfair, we can only note that we too must serve the ends of future people who will make us what we never were in our own time, if we are remembered at all.

Aphorism of the Day, December 8, 2017

Both the words of John the Baptist and Jesus are presented as oracles within the early churches, particularly in the effort to show the transition for the followers of John to become followers of Jesus.  So the oracle of John the Baptist speaks within the early church: "I baptize with water but he will baptize with the Holy Spirit."  This is a contrast which seems to imply that John's baptism was not accompanied by Holy Spirit.  Was John's baptism a "lifeless" ritual?  As a baptism of repentance, it would seem to be a public ritual about a person's intention to change or transform one's life.  How could such a transformation be regarded as being a transformation with being "Holy Spirit" aided?  This oracle of John the Baptist is an indication of the development of Pneumatology in the early church, or a doctrine of the rising personal omnipresence of the Holy Spirit as a distinctive cause of personal transformation.

Aphorism of the Day, December 7, 2017

In the "solo scriptura" position of some Reformation groups, the Bible was elevated to something it never was nor ever could become, namely the exhaustive words of God.  The writer of John's Gospel states that the Word from the Beginning was God, not the writings that eventually formed the canon(s) of the Bible after several hundred years.  A person who is serious about hermeneutics and charitable toward writers of the past who lived under different conditions, can say that the Bible is adequate to the concerns and issues that were being raised in the time that they were written without saying that the writings are "Omni-adequate" or "Omni-applicable" to the details of all human knowledge past present and future.  One can have a humble view of the Bible without denying its divinity in providing the universal and eternal patterns of humanity within language such that the divine and enduring principles of love and justice can be discovered for inspiring people of all time to find correspondences in their own time.

Aphorism of the Day, December 6, 2017

The main message of John the Baptist is "Repent," which in Greek μετάνοια, metanoia,  literally means the "after mind" or the renewal of the mind.  John the Baptist emphasized the freedom of volition in the transformation of one's inner life.  Advent is a season of believing in "one's perfectability" and in one's real choices to participate with this progressive transformation to surpass oneself in a future state.  The emphasis on choice and human free will in transformation does not nullify God's grace because one never arrives at a final state of perfection where one no longer needs the complementing grace of God.  Grace and free will work together in the process of repentance.

Aphorism of the Day, December 5, 2017

John the Baptist is a fixture in the season of Advent and models the kind simplicity of an uncluttered life before we clutter our lives with the excesses Christmas.  John the Baptist's prominent role in the Gospel is an indication that early Christians were making an appeal to his long continuing followers to move on to Jesus.  In the Gospels, John is the "set up" man for Jesus.  Pharisees, Sadducees, Zealots were different religious parties; the community of John the Baptist was probably the one that was evangelized the most by early Christians. We wrongly assume that all followers of John the Baptist just automatically became followers of Jesus.  The Gospels are proof that various kinds of appeals were being made to the followers of John to persuade them to made the transition to the community of Christ.

Aphorism of the Day, December 4, 2017

The life style of John the Baptist, who pops out in our Advent lessons, is inaccessible for most of us who live closer to the stylistic norms of our society.  What he can model for us is the direction for simplifying our lives and to remind us that we should possess our possession and not have our possessions, possess us with maintenance demands competing with our devotion to God and commitment to charity.

Aphorism of the Day, December 3, 2017

The anthropological soundness of apocalyptic and utopian literature of the Bible is established by the way in which people appropriate it.  If the language is literalized as predicting tea leaves of actual events to come, it is equivalence of people acting out upon the dream material from last night's dream.  But if it is seen as deriving from the corporate day dream space coming to language and vision to complement the actual conditions of living in the actual ambiguities of the free conditions of this world, it is inspired and true.  Being created equal, having the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is the great American utopic dream that is not fully realized in actual life but it accompanies actual life to inspire our better angels to make it actual.  Don't appropriate the utopian in Disney's vision or the apocalyptic in Tolkien or Star Wars or D.C. Comic Superheroes and then deny this valid genre within the Bible to inform the direction of our ideals and to hold onto to the actual normalcy of justice enforced and injustice interdicted.

Aphorism of the Day, December 2, 2017

Utopian and apocalyptic discourses within the Bible represent radical discontinuities from the way things are.  Lion and lamb as normal playmates? Actuarial probability indicate that eventually lions will eat lambs.  But what if preditor-prey relations were magically reversed?  Probability in human life most often have the strong and the fittest surviving and imposing their will on the weak, the ignorant and the poor.  What if a super hero who was strong actually intervened and brought equal justice for the poor, the naïve and the weak?  Utopian and apocalyptic discourse are "dream" discourses and Marx criticized religion for having such discourses as "opiates" to not just survive present woe but to accept it as God's will.  Religion is often accused of "wishing" away the woes of the world and providing discourse to justify the maintenance of those "woes."  Utopian discourse represents a magically discontinuity with the way things are; apocalyptic discourse involves a stronger force actually doing some serious overwhelming of the "bad guys."  These discourses in the Bible have now become the common themes driving cinema and modern versions of futurism.  Is it human to create and imagine alternate worlds with alternate just outcomes?  If so, to what purpose?  Ponder this as we appropriate apocalyptic and utopian biblical discourse for Advent.

Aphorism of the Day, December 1, 2017

In looking at biblical futurism of the apocalyptic and utopian variety, I would ask the prior question to both of these varieties of discourse, "Will there be language and language users in the future, even as the very notion of future is linguistically mediated?"  According to the biblical account, God in the indeterminate pre-beginning with no human present to empirically verify, spoke, i.e, used word/language to create the world as we know it and God created language users to mediate all that was not language.  This creation was re-visited in John's Gospel by calling Word as being with God and being God.  While apocalyptic and utopian discourse may be meaningful within human contexts, they still reside in the scope of Word being God as the prior condition for any discursive practice.