God So Loved the World

4 Lent    B         March 11, 2018
Numbers 21:4-9  Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22
Ephesians 2:1-10   John 3:14-21
Lectionary Link

 "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God-- not the result of works, so that no one may boast."

This phrase from the Epistle to the Ephesians has been used to established the identity of the Protestant Reformation particularly in the ministry of Martin Luther.

Luther observed the institutional practices of indulgences and it seemed that such indulgences were being "sold" by the church to gain a faster trip through the after life of purgatory.  So it seemed that one received grace as result of performing some penitential act of giving or deed of piety.  Luther was opposed to a rather crass method of church fundraising and he did not believe the name of God should be invoked on such a practice.

But his sola gratia, sola fides, sola Scriptura became something of an over-simplification because when it comes to salvation as a matter of grace or a matter of works, it really becomes an argument of what comes first, the chicken or the egg?

Martin Luther's extreme emphasis on grace meant that he had to disregard the letter of James from his Bible because the writer of James wrote, "If you have faith, then show me your works.  You can't tell me that you have faith if you show no evidence of works."  Jesus also said that if you abide in him, you will bear fruits.  In the sermon on the mountain, Jesus said, "By their deeds you shall know them."

One can note the extreme positions of faith versus works.  A person who says it's all about faith in a singular event, can be like the Emperor Constantine who was baptized on this death bed because he knew that he was going to be doing lots of sinning but he wanted last minute grace, sort of like a "Hail Mary" pass at the last second of the game.  People who believe that salvation is only about the one time event of "asking Jesus" into one's heart often seem to be like children who think they should be congratulated because they decided to receive the millions of dollars of their parents' estate.  "Aren't we just great people for deciding to accept all of this money?"  Persons who are devoted to their piety and works can come to be so proud of their works that they believe that they are "holier than thou" and more deserving of God's grace. 

I believe that the Gospel of John is the expression of the early Christians who were holding faith, grace and works together without division.

Today we've read one of the long discourses of Jesus in John's Gospel; the discussion he had with Nicodemus as his skeptical Pharisee interlocutor.  And we have the most famous verse found at many sporting events in the sign: John 3:16 :"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life."  I suspect these signs are carried by people who do not know if they love their sports more than their religious beliefs so to ease their consciences they tell themselves that they can evangelize at the ballgame by carrying a John 3:16 sign.

Why do we come to love God?  Because God is love and God first loved us.  If the very nature of God is love how does God actively love?  God actively loved by creating the world and God became bilingual within human experience.  God sent the divine Son as an expression of active love.  And how far did the active love of God go?  It went to the terminus of human life; the love of God went to the death of Jesus on the cross, proving that God was willing to walk fully in the shoes of humanity.  God demonstrated love to humanity in Jesus Christ, so that we might have the gift of "falling in love" with God.

Intimate human relationship happens because people experience the "gift" of falling in love; but that is not enough.  The gift of love has to become lived out in the continuous works of love to maintain the beauty of the gift of love.  A human intimate relationship is both the gift of love and the works of love; the two cannot be divided or you have merely sporadic events of lust or the continuous drudgery of painful obligation.

The writer of the Gospel of John in another discourse of Jesus wrote:  "This is the work of God, that you believe or have faith in name of the one whom God has sent."

So if faith in Christ is the work of God in our lives then the works that we do should reflect the fruits of the Spirit; they should be works of love, peace, joy, patience, self control, gentleness and goodness.

The work of faith and the works that we do because of faith cannot be separated.  It is unfortunate that in the history of the church the two became  regarded as somehow separate.  The gift of falling in love with God and the continuing works of our love for God cannot be separated.

In the discourse of Jesus, he compared lifting of a bronze serpent on a pole by Moses with what the lifting up of Christ on the Cross would mean.

The disobedient and complaining children of Israel were given immediate punishment when a nest of poisonous snakes attacked them.  Moses was told to create a bronze snake for them to look at and be healed.  What work did they have to do?  Nothing but gaze at the bronze serpent as a sign that they were accepting God's healing grace.  The writer of John, through Jesus said that this is how the cross of Christ functions.  The death of Jesus meant that he went through all that we know about human living.  The life and death of Jesus was God's gift to humanity to express love and to draw us into relationship.  In contemplating the cross of Jesus, we accept with the gaze of faith, the entirety of the life of Jesus as God's gift to us.  We accept the grace of  God to make up what we always lack in perfection and we depend upon the perfection of Christ for making up what we lack.

The logical outcome of looking and receiving God's grace is gratitude.  And gratitude is not just a feeling; it results in the continuing works of gratitude the rest of our lives.  We don't congratulate ourselves for taking God's gift of grace; we respond with thanksgiving and we perform the continuing works of thanksgiving.

This event today is called Holy Eucharist and Eucharist means Thanksgiving.  Thanksgiving is the one creative thing that we can do and give to God.  We come today to express thanksgiving.  We leave this Eucharist to live thankful lives, offering continually the works of thankfulness to Christ and to each other.  Amen.

Sunday School, March 11, 2018 4 Lent B

Sunday School, March 11, 2018    4 Lent B

Theme:

God’s love

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sermon

Text:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

St. John the Divine Episcopal Church

17740 Peak Avenue, Morgan Hill, CA 95037

Holy Eucharist

March 11, 2018: Fourth Sunday In Lent

Gathering Songs:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Liturgist: Bless the Lord who forgives all our sins.

People: His mercy endures forever.  Amen.

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

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

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

Through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

 

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.

People:            And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

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

First Litany of Praise: Chant: Praise the Lord

O God, you are Great!  Praise the Lord

O God, you have made us! Praise the Lord

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

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

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

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

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

A Reading from the Book of Numbers

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

The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

Let us read together from Psalm 107

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

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

Litany Phrase: Thanks be to God! (chanted)

Litanist:

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

For our families and friends. Thanks be to God!

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

For this day of worship. Thanks be to God!

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

For work and for play. Thanks be to God!

For teaching and for learning. Thanks be to God!

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

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

   Thanks be to God!

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

People:            Glory to you, Lord Christ.

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

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

Liturgist:         The Gospel of the Lord.

People:            Praise to you, Lord Christ.

Sermon –   

Children’s Creed

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

Since God is so great and we are so small,

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

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

     resurrection of Jesus Christ.

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

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

     welcome.

We believe that Christ is kind and fair.

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

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

Litany Phrase: Christ, have mercy.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

People:            And also with you.

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

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

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

Doxology

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

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

Prologue to the Eucharist.

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

All become members of a family by birth or adoption.

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

A family meal gathers and sustains each human family.

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

The Lord be with you

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts

We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to God.

It is right to give God thanks and praise.

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

Holy, Holy, Holy (Intoned)

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

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

Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the Highest.

(All may gather around the altar)

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

You have made us in your image

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

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

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

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

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

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

  this food and drink  that becomes a part of us.

And so, Father, we bring you these gifts of bread and wine. Bless and sanctify them by your Holy Spirit

to be for your people the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ our Lord.  Bless and sanctify us by your Holy Spirit so that we may love God and our neighbors.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

As we forgive our debtors: Hallowed be thy name.

Lead us not into temptation: Hallowed be thy name.

But deliver us from evil: Hallowed by thy name.

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

Forever and ever: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

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

Breaking of the Bread

Celebrant:       Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.

People:            Therefore let us keep the feast. 

Word of Administration.

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

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

(Repeat during communion)

Post-Communion Prayer

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

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

And His Presence has been known to us.

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

    and sisters in Christ.

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

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

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

Closing Song: Awesome God, (Renew!  # 245)

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

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

Dismissal:   

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

People: Thanks be to God! 

   

The Cross as Divine Signature in History

3 Lent B      March 4, 2018
Exodus 20:1-17  Psalm 19

1 Corinthians 1:18-25   John 2:13-22

Lectionary Link

In literate cultures, the guarantee of a person's identity has often been the signature of a person.  Today when people are unable to write their fingerprint is regarded to be their signature and in this day of credit and debit card chips, a pin number becomes one's verified signature.

What is the meaning of a signature?  It is meant to verify the identity of the signer with the document or item that is signed.  The signer can be separated from what is signed but the signature carries the identity of the signer in the time of the signer's absence.  The signature of Picasso on his painting is important long after he is dead and gone for art dealers wanting to verify authenticity.

Signature is the outward and separated sign of a person on a document or item.  Yet the signature is a sign of connection of the signer with what is signed.

Signum is the Latin word for sign; the Greek word for sign is semeion.  Perhaps you know that the study of signs and symbols is called semiotics.  You know that a semaphore is a flag used for flashing signals.

Signs is an important word in the Bible; it occurs in relationship to how human beings understand that God is known to us in creation, even when we can't see the full divine plenitude because we don't have the capacity.  We ask, how does the great creator mark or sign the creator's works so that we the creatures can know divine authorship of this life?

We are told that creation happened with divine utterances.  God said, "Let there be light, and there was light."  We are told that the Word was in the beginning with God, the Word was God and that all things came into being because of the Word.

So, the biblical stories are words, and we are told that God is Ultimate Word in being the creating author, the Playwright of this great Play of life as we know it.  And this world is so complex, so diverse, and yet we find the simplicity of single colors of white or black co-existing with a rainbow of many mixed colors.  We are given a script of life that is revealed in the limitations and boundaries of our human capacity, but God, the Great Playwright of life also allows individual ad libbing in this great Play of life.  And how we ad lib really matters; ad libbing expresses our genuine freedom.

The great Divine Playwright has left signs of the divine presence; signatures of God being with us even when in God's greatness, God is absent because of our limited human ability to verify the full scope of divine plenitude.

The Hebrew Scriptures are writings about the signs and signatures of God that occurred to the people of the past: water coming out of a rock, seas parted, oil poured on the head of messiah kings, clouds and fire on the mountain top, a burning bush, plagues sent by God, a talking donkey, fire from heaven, a chariot of fire, a still small voice, and many many more.  The writers of the Hebrew Scripture were people who wanted to know how and when God was involved with creation.  If God is the Author of life they wanted to know if God put specific signatures on events, things and in people such as kings, sages, prophets and wisdom teachers, judges, and ordinary moms and dads and shepherds and soldiers.  The confession of the writers of the Hebrew Scripture is that God provided signs of the divine presence and action.

The question for any age is this:  Does God continue to sign this age with evidence of the divine presence and action?  More personally: Does God sign the events and circumstances of your life and my life with evidence of the divine presence and action?

The signs and signatures of God are topics of our Bible readings today.  We have the account of the giving of the Law, the Ten Commandments.  In the accounts of the Mt. Sinai event, it is written that God wrote the laws on the tablet with the divine finger.  The laws were God's etched signature; they were not God but evidence of God within the human experience.  As God's signature, the laws were perhaps the most important Sign of God in the Hebrew Scriptures.

In the New Testament writings, the religious folks in Palestine were presented as people who were still interested in the signs of God.  Signs of God, is a much larger category than a miracle or a wonder.  A Sign was something that convinced someone of God's distinct presence or action, and though there might be a private sign between God and a person, the telling signs were those that became significant for the greater community.

The New Testament is a collection of writings based upon the experiences of people who understood Jesus Christ to be the Ultimate Sign of God in their lives.  But the writers of the New Testament also wrote much about the people who did not understand or were not convinced about Jesus Christ being the Ultimate Sign of God in their lives.

For people who do not know the game of baseball, they can observe some very strange behaviors.  An outsider to baseball might observe an older beer bellied man in a coaching box, touching himself in strange ways with a continuing series of gestures.  What is that fool doing touching himself in strange ways?  The baseball insider has to explain that the coach is relaying signs to the players to do things like take a pitch, or steal, or bunt.  So the signs mean something very important to those within the baseball game; to the unknowing outsider the gestures seem like human foolishness.

The writer of John presented a story of an interaction of Jesus with some people who did not understand the signs.  Jesus had cleansed the temple of its crass commercialism and his opponents wanted to know what sign, by what divine authority did he attacked the sellers of sacrificial offerings in the temple complex.  Jesus cryptically identified the Temple with his own body and said it would be destroyed and raised in three days.  The readers of John's Gospel knew that the Temple had been destroyed in the year 70 but they also knew that Jesus had died and reappeared after his death to inspire the formation of the church.  However, for the community from which the Gospel of John derived, there remained many people who did not understand the seeming cryptic signs that were known and appreciated within the church of believers.

St. Paul wrote that the Jews were seeking a sign but they could not see or understand Jesus and his death as a sign of God's messiah.  St. Paul wrote that for those who understood the cross of Christ as the power of God to transform one's interior life, it was the important sign of life.  The Greeks were looking for logic and wisdom.  How could the death of Jesus signify something important?  Logic would say that the death of Jesus would be the end of the Jesus Movement, but in the baffling wisdom of God, this illogical death was the wisdom of God and was proven in the effects that it was having in the lives of many people.

Now to you and me.  Our lives can have many events which may seem illogical in being connected with God.  The cross of Jesus?  How could that be a signature or sign of God?  We can have such seeming illogical events in our lives, events of pain, hurt, loss or failure. But:  Subsequent resurrection events can remake some very terrible things into the very wisdom of our future lives of having empathy, compassion and ministry to others when they are faced with the seeming contradictory events of pain and loss in life and the mercy of God.

My prayer for each of us is to have the wisdom to be able to read the signs of God within our lives, both personally and as a parish.  Let us not discount what the wisdom of God can do with some seeming events in our lives that don't seem to be events of mercy and favor.  Let us in faith keep looking for resurrection when events contrary to mercy and favor seem to have us baffled and doubtful.  And when we experience resurrection joy, let us remember it when we certainly go into the next valley of our lives. 

You and I are invited to the Signs of God in our lives; even those that are signified by the power and the wisdom of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Sunday School, March 4, 2018 3 Lent B

Sunday School, March 4, 2018    3 Lent B

Theme:

10 Commandments

In our world today, we don’t use instruction manuals.  When we want to put something together or fix something, we just Google it and find a video on Youtube to show us someone giving and showing us specific instruction on how to put things together and how things work.

In the time of the Bible there were no videos.  What did God give to this world to show men and women and boys and girls how to live life in the best way.

God inspired the famous Ten Commandment as an old-fashioned video for how people should live.

Answer these questions:

How can I show God that I love God the most?

What things am I tempted to value more than God?

How can I misuse God’s name wrong?  When do I say I love God and yet I do not act as if I do?

What special time do I give to God to show and prove that I love God?

What do I do to show that I respect my parents?

What do I do to honor the marriage promises of others?

What do I do to show that I respect the value of life?

What do I do to show that I value what is true?

What do I do to show that I respect the property of other people?

What do I do to show that I am thankful and content with my life?

If you answer these question, then you can understand how the 10 Commandments are teaching you how to live your life in the very best way.

Sermon:

  When you get a new car, or new television, or new set a Legos, or a new bike, what do you get with them?

  You get a book or an instruction manual.  This manual tells you how to put something together.  This book tells us how to take care of our car, our bicycle or our toys.  It tells how to treat our car or bicycle or toy to keep it from breaking.

  When a baby is born, do mommy and daddy receive an instruction manual about how to take care of a baby?  Well, yes, we have many books that tell us how to take care of babies.  And we have books to tell us how to take care of young children, teen age children, young adults, middle age people and older people too.

  And there is a very famous instruction manual for how all people should live.  We read it today.  It is called the 10 commandments.  If we want to live a good life, then we will try to follow the 10 commandments.

  If God made us, then we need to make God the most important thing in our lives.  And that means everything else is less important than God.  And how do we make God important in our lives.  We give God time by thinking about God and by praying and by worshipping God when we gather together.  And if we make God important, then we won’t misuse God’s name.  If we make God very important in our lives, then we all also know how to live with each other?

  And how are we to live with each other?  We respect our parents and families.  We respect the importance of everyone’s life.  We respect the things that belong to each other.  We respect marriage.  We tell the truth.  And we learn to be happy and contented with the good things that God has given us.

  Those are the 10 commandments that God has given us.

  And if you can’t remember all 10 commandments, Jesus gave us two commandments that will help us to always know what to do with our lives.

  Jesus said, We should love God, with all of our hearts, our mind and our strength.  And he said that we should love our neighbors as we love ourselves.

  Love God, love our neighbors, and love our selves.  Can you remember that?  If you can remember these three things, you will always know how to live a very good life.  Amen.

St. John the Divine Episcopal Church

17740 Peak Avenue, Morgan Hill, CA 95037

Holy Eucharist

March 4, 2018: Third Sunday in Lent

Gathering Songs:

  Jesus in the Morning; Let All That Is Within Me,  Ubi Caritas; Oh, When the Saints

Opening Song: Jesus in the Morning, (Christian Children’s Songbook, # 134)

1.         Jesus, Jesus, Jesus in the morning, Jesus at the noontime.  Jesus, Jesus, Jesus when the sun goes down.

2.         Love him…

3.         Praise him…

4.         Serve him…

Liturgist: Bless the Lord who forgives all our sins.

People: His mercy endures forever.  Amen.

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

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

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

Through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.

People:            And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

Almighty God, you know that we have no power in ourselves to help ourselves: Keep us both outwardly in our bodies and inwardly in our souls, that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

First Litany of Praise: Chant: Praise the Lord

O God, you are Great!  Praise the Lord

O God, you have made us! Praise the Lord

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

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

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

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

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

A Reading from the Book of Exodus

Then God spoke all these words: you shall have no other gods before me.

You shall not make for yourself an idol, You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the LORD your God, Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. Honor your father and your mother, You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not covet. 

The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

Let us read together from Psalm 29

The law of the LORD is perfect and revives the soul; * the testimony of the LORD is sure
and gives wisdom to the innocent.

The statutes of the LORD are just and rejoice the heart; * the commandment of the LORD is clear
and gives light to the eyes.

Litany Phrase: Thanks be to God! (chanted)

Litanist:

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

For our families and friends. Thanks be to God!

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

For this day of worship. Thanks be to God!

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

For work and for play. Thanks be to God!

For teaching and for learning. Thanks be to God!

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

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

   Thanks be to God!

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

People:            Glory to you, Lord Christ.

The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. He told those who were selling the doves, "Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father's house a marketplace!" His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for your house will consume me." The Jews then said to him, "What sign can you show us for doing this?" Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." The Jews then said, "This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?" But he was speaking of the temple of his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

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.

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:  Let All That Is within Me,  (Renew! # 262) 

1-Let all that is within me cry, “Holy,” Let all that is within me cry, “Holy.”  Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lamb that was slain.

2-Let all that is within me cry, “Glory,” Let all that is within me cry, “Glory,” Glory, Glory, Glory to the Lamb that was slain.

3-Let all that is within me cry “Jesus,”  Let all that is within me cry, “Jesus,” Jesus, Jesus, Jesus is the Lamb that was slain.

Doxology

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

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

Prologue to the Eucharist.

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

All become members of a family by birth or adoption.

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

A family meal gathers and sustains each human family.

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

The Lord be with you

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts

We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to God.

It is right to give God thanks and praise.

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

Holy, Holy, Holy (Intoned)

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

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

Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the Highest.

(All may gather around the altar)

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

You have made us in your image

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

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

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

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

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

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

  this food and drink  that becomes a part of us.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

As we forgive our debtors: Hallowed be thy name.

Lead us not into temptation: Hallowed be thy name.

But deliver us from evil: Hallowed by thy name.

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

Forever and ever: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

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

Breaking of the Bread

Celebrant:       Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.

People:            Therefore let us keep the feast. 

Word of Administration.

Communion Hymn: Ubi Caritas (Renew! # 226)

Ubi caritas et amor, ubi caritas, Deus ibi est.

(Repeat during communion)

Post-Communion Prayer

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

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

And His Presence has been known to us.

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

    and sisters in Christ.

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

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

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

Closing Song: When the Saints Go Marching in, (Christian Children’s Songbook,  # 248)

Oh when the saints go marching in.  Oh when the saints go marching in.  Lord I want to be in that number.  When the saints go marching in.

Oh when the girls go marching in…

Oh when the boys go marching in..

Dismissal:   

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

People: Thanks be to God!