Sunday School, July 2, 2023, 5 Pentecost, A proper 8

 Sunday School, July 2, 2023,   5 Pentecost, A proper 8

Theme:  Passing on Identity

Life is about receiving identity and passing it on.

We are born into a family, and we have family identity.  We have birth certificates and we are raised by family member who teach us who we are and where we have come from.

We have a citizenship identity as Americans.  How do we know that we are Americans?  We were born here or we applied for and received our citizenship.  We learn about our heritage and our fathers and mothers pass on citizenship to us.  We may have citizenship but we still need to practice citizenship by obeying the laws of our country.

What about our Christian identity?  How did we receive it?  Someone shared with us the life of Jesus Christ.  And we have welcomed the message of Jesus Christ as our life identity.

Jesus told his disciples that “whoever welcomed them were also welcoming him.”  For two thousand years people have been sharing the life of Jesus Christ with others.  And when we welcome the people who bring us the message of Christ, we are welcoming Jesus Christ.  In this way, the church has stayed alive and grown for two years, because we believe the presence of Christ is passed on as we share it with people.

Remember when we share Jesus Christ with other people; Christ is present and is being welcomed into the future life of other people

Sermon:

  Jesus said to his friends, “Whoever welcomes you, welcomes me.”

  How many of you are alone?  Are you a son or a daughter?  Are you a brother or sister?  Are you a mom or dad?  Are you someone’s friend?

  Even though we each have a name and we are each different from one another, we also know ourselves from our relationships with one another.

  Something happened to me when I got married.  I used to be  Phil, but suddenly lots of people were calling me Karen’s husband.  Something else happened to me when I had children.  Lots of people started called me Tessa’s dad or Simon’s dad.  So I used to be just Phil, but then I became Karen’s husband, Tessa’s dad and Simon’s dad.  What happened to me?

  I became very close to other people; so close that I sometimes would lose my name in them.

  Let me tell you how close this feeling was.  Did you know that when someone did something nice to my children or to my wife, I actually thought that they were doing it to me too?  That how close I felt with them.

  So when Jesus said, “Whoever welcomes you, welcomes me.”  That is how close Jesus felt with his friends.

  And that is how close Jesus wants to feel with us.  And that is how close Jesus wants us to feel with each other.

  When God sees us doing nice things for each other, God feels like we are doing these things for him.  Jesus called God is father.  And Jesus invited us to live as a part of God’s family and live so close that when we do things for each other, we are doing them for God and for Jesus.

   In the church, we celebrate the fact that we are part of God’s family.  And when we welcome each other, we are pleasing Jesus, because each time we welcome someone, each time we do a kind deed, each time we love one another, we are doing it to Christ.

  Now do you understand how close Jesus wanted to be with his friends?  Do you understand how we are live together as friends?  It means we share our lives with each other.  If you are sad, then all of feel your sadness.  And if you are joyful, then all of us feel you happiness.  Why?  Because God has put us together to be the family of Christ in this place.

  Just remember when someone does something nice to you, your parents feel so joyful; because they know that if someone is nice to you, they are also nice to them.

  And that kind of feeling together, is the feeling that Jesus gave to the church.  Let us learn how to feel together for one another as we were taught by Christ.  Amen.

Intergenerational Family Service with Holy Eucharist

July 2, 2023: The Fifth Sunday after Pentecost

Gathering Songs: Jesus Loves the Little Children, The Butterfly Song, There is a Redeemer, Soon and Very Soon

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

Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world. 

Red and yellow, black and white, all are precious in his sight. 

Jesus love the little children of the world.

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.

People:            And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

Almighty God, you have built your Church upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone: Grant us so to be joined together in unity of spirit by their teaching, that we may be made a holy temple acceptable to you; 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: 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

A reading from the Letter of Paul to the Romans

Do not let sin exercise dominion in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions.  No longer present your members to sin as instruments of wickedness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and present your members to God as instruments of righteousness.  For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.  

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

Liturgist: Let us read together from Psalm 13

But I put my trust in your mercy; * my heart is joyful because of your saving help.

I will sing to the LORD, for he has dealt with me richly; * I will praise the Name of the Lord Most High.

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 Matthew

People:            Glory to you, Lord Christ.

Jesus said, "Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet's reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous; and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple-- truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward."

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 Song: Butterfly Song (Christian Children’s Songbook # 9)

If I were a butterfly, I’d thank you Lord for giving me wings.  If I were a robin in a tree, I’d thank you Lord that I could sing.  If I were a fish in the sea, I’d wiggle my tail and I’d giggle with glee but I just thank you father for making me, me.  Refrain: For you gave me a heart and you gave me a smile, you gave me Jesus and you made me your child.  And I just thank you father for making me me.

If I were an elephant, I’d thank you Lord by raising my trunk.  And I I were a kangaroo, you know I’d hop right up to you.  If I were an octopus, I’d thank you Lord for my fine looks, and I just thank you Father for making me, me. Refrain

If I were a wiggly worm, I’d thank you Lord that I could squirm.  If I were a billy goat, I’d thank you Lord for my strong throat.  And if I were a fuzzy wuzzy bear, I’d thank you Lord for my fuzzy wuzzy hair, and I just thank you Father for making me, me.  Refrain

Doxology

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

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

Prologue to the Eucharist

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

All become members of a family by birth or adoption.

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

A family meal gathers and sustains each human family.

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

The Lord be with you

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts

We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to God.

It is right to give God thanks and praise.

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

Holy, Holy, Holy (Intoned)

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

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

Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the Highest.

(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 neighbor.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(Children rejoin their parents and take up their instruments)

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

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

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

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

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

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

As we forgive our debtors: Hallowed be thy name.

Lead us not into temptation: Hallowed be thy name.

But deliver us from evil: Hallowed be thy name.

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

Forever and ever: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

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

Breaking of the Bread

Celebrant:       Alleluia.  Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.

People:            Therefore let us keep the feast.  Alleluia!

Words of Administration

Communion Song: There is a Redeemer (Renew!  # 232)

There is a redeemer, Jesus, God’s own Son, precious Lamb of God, Messiah, Holy One.  Refrain: Thank you, O my Father, for giving us your Son; and leaving your Spirit til the work on earth is done.

Jesus, my Redeemer, name above all names, precious Lamb or God, Messiah, hope for sinners slain.  Refrain

When I stand in glory I will see His face, there I’ll serve my King forever, in that holy place.  Refrain

Post-Communion Prayer

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

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

And His Presence has been known to us.

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

    and sisters in Christ.

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

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

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

Closing Song: Soon and Very Soon (Renew! # 276)

Soon and very soon, we are going to see the king; soon and very soon, we are going to see the king.  Soon and very soon, we are going to see the king.  Hallelujah, hallelujah, we are going to see the king.

No more dying there, we are going to see the king; no more dying there, we are going to see the king.  No more dying there, we are going to see the king.  Hallelujah, hallelujah, we are going to see the king.

Dismissal:   

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

People:      Thanks be to God! 

  

Peaceful Transition?

4 Pentecost, A p 7, June 25, 2023
Gen. 21:8-21 Ps. 86:1-10, 16-17
Rom. 6:1b-11 Matt. 10:24-39

Lectionary Link

Until January 6th of 2021, the people of the United States touted our peaceful transition in the change of political administrations as proof of the strength of our form of democratic governance.

What the passage of time and what our Gospel reading today reveals is that peace can be a very ironic notion.

We can wax poetic like old hippies crying, "Peace out."  We can pass the peace in our liturgies even while the conditions in our temporal situations can betray the reality of peace.

Churches for hundreds of year passed the peace in their liturgies while retaining slaves, subjugating indigenous peoples and women, and making unjust war.  The irony of peace begs the question, peace for whom, and how is that peace actualized?

The Gospel words of Jesus indicate to us that the Jesus Movement was warned about the complacency, the irony, and ambiguity of preconceived notions of peace.

The Jesus Movement was a sect of Judaism which was often in conflict with the more established groups of Jews associated with the synagogues.

While the channelled words of the Risen Christ were saying to their community, "Peace be with you," it was obvious that many other people were saying, "Woe be unto you, and we wish you no success at all."  And some of those unconverted foes were in fact members of one's own family.

The big peace question for the Jesus Movement and for people in all ages and for us today, is this, "How is God's peace compatible with time and change?"

Our romantic notions of peace seem to present it as a perpetually sweet, calm sleeping baby, free of any conflict and totally protected by shielding parents.  But the passage of time and change does not allow peace to be constituted as a static state of sameness.

How is that we can conceive of a peace which is compatible with change in the passage of time?

I would submit that a more realistic notion of peace would be the continuing healing energy of justice seeking actual realization in life situations where justice has not yet been fully realized.

Such a notion of peace has to be understood as a process of peace when the world is seeking to be better healed by the practice of justice.

Peace is the hopeful not yet fully realized justice and includes our continual aspiration for a better justice for people.  Such peace can be very naive since there are many who seek no enlightened justice but only their own greedy control and comfort.  Some do not want the complacency of their current comfort upset by the vision of being much better human beings toward God and other human beings.

Wanting to be better upsets the settled satisfied comfortable souls whose comfort often resides upon the discomfort of those without means of wealth, knowledge, and power to provide for their own comfort.

While this dynamic notion of peace may seem to be a very challenging relationship to time and change; we should not forget to balance the outer apparent manifestations of peaceful and non-peaceful conditions with the interior notion of a deep, deep rest.

The interior notions of a deep, deep rest, a silence, can be the analgesic to tolerate the surface waves in the life ocean of time and change.

I believe the Gospel words which were channeled by the early Jesus Movement were words to get their members to be realistic about the rather profound changes which were happening within Judaism as the various communities resided within the world controlled by the Roman Empire.

The Gospel of peace for us is this:  God's peace is compatible with dynamic change as we as individuals and community try to surpass ourselves in justice in our future states.  The discomfort of the upsetting our our complacent underdeveloped states of justice, is complemented with the deep sense of Holy Spirit's interior rest which is our solid anchor amid so many surface conflicts.

May God help us to embrace peaceful transitions in our lives as we are always trying to surpass ourselves in the practice of love and justice.  Amen.

Sunday School, June 25, 2023 4 Pentecost, A proper 7

 Sunday School, June 25, 2023    4 Pentecost, A proper 7

Theme:

God and the Probable

Freedom means that probable things can happen.

When you kick a soccer ball what can probably happen?  You score a goal, you miss the goal or the goalie blocks the ball.

We live in our lives knowing many things can happen.  Some things make us sad and some things make us happy.

Because there is freedom in our lives, good things and bad things can happen.

God made freedom in this life because to have the freedom to choose is the highest thing that we can do as people.  Having freedom to choose is what makes our lives valuable.

The friends of Jesus wondered if God loved and cared for them, even when bad things happened to them.

Jesus told them that God care even when a sparrow fell to the ground.

Freedom is what happens because of time.  Jesus told his friends that they had to learn to live with freedom.  They had to learn to live with what probably can happen.

We have to learn to live with change in life.  We have to learn to live with good things that happen to us and bad things that happen to us.

Jesus said we had to know how to “lose our lives.”  He did not mean dying.  He meant education.  When we learn something new, we lose our ignorance. 

Jesus told his disciples and friends that they had to learn how to die to being ignorant and learn to live to new learning.

We can know that God cares for us in the middle of everything that can happen to us.

One of the greatest discoveries of life is to discover that God cares for us no matter what happens.

Prayer:  Ask God to help you know God’s love and care today.

Sermon:

Has anyone here ever had something bad happen to them?  Has something sad ever happened to you?

  Have you ever been sick?  Have you ever bumped your head?  Have you ever fallen down and scraped your knee?

  Have you ever had an argument with your brother or sister or a class mate?  Did you ever get your feeling hurt and cry?

  Why do these things happen?

    When some bad things were happening to the friends of Jesus, they wondered if God cared for them.  They wondered if God knew what was going on.  And Jesus told them that God knew when every sparrow fell to the ground and died.  He said that God counted even the hairs on our heads.  And some of you have much more hair for God to count than I have.

  So when bad things happen, we sometimes wonder: Why do bad things

happen?  And does God know that bad things happen?  And why doesn’t he stop bad things from happening?

  And those are very difficult questions to answer.

  Do you think that your mom and dad love you more than your car?  Just think about what a car does for you.  It takes you many places, to the park, to school, shopping and on vacation.  But does your car love you more than your mom or dad.

  And you say, of course not because a car is a machine, like a robot and it is not a person.  A car cannot choose to love.  A car can only do what it is programmed to do.  Your mom and dad have freedom and they choose to love you and because they choose to love you, it makes their love very special.

  So God made this world with lots of freedom.  God did not make the world to be like a robot or a machine.  Why?  Because the only valuable love is love that happens with true freedom.

  And because there is true freedom, it means that lots of great and wonderful things can happen, but also some bad things can happen too.  And God knows and see everything that happens, the good things and the bad things.  And God won’t change things because then God would be making the world like a machine that did not have freedom.

  So when bad things happen, God would like us to respond and help each other.  When we respond and help each other, we can overcome the bad with the good.    So let us remember: Bad things can happen because the world is not a machine.  The world is made with true freedom.  God knows what is happening.  And we can please God by asking for God’s help to do good things.

  So how many sparrows have fallen to the ground?  How many hairs do you have?  God knows.  God knows and care for even the little things.  And God wants us to care too, so that we choose to help each other.  Amen.

Intergenerational Family Service with Holy Eucharist

June 25, 2023: The Third Sunday after Pentecost

Gathering Songs:  Here in This Place, To God Be the Glory, I Come with Joy, Soon and Very Soon

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: Here in This Place, (Renew # 14)

1-Here in this place new light is streaming, now is the darkness vanished away;  see in this space our fears and our dreamings brought here to you in the light of this day.  Gather us in, the lost and forsaken, gather us in, the blind and the lame; call to us now, and we shall awaken, we shall arise at the sound of our name.

2-We are the young, our lives are a myst’ry, we are the old who yearn for your face; we have sung throughout all of hist’ry, called to be light to the whole human race.  Gather us in, the rich and the haughty, gather us in, the proud and the strong; give ua heart, so meek and so lowly, give us the courage to enter the song.

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.

People:            And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

O Lord, make us have perpetual love and reverence for your holy Name, for you never fail to help and govern those whom you have set upon the sure foundation of your loving-kindness; 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: Alleluia

O God, you are Great!  Alleluia

O God, you have made us! Alleluia

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

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

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

O God, you have forgiven our sins!  Alleluia

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

Liturgist: A reading from the book of Jeremiah

Sing to the LORD; praise the LORD! For he has delivered the life of the needy from

the hands of evildoers.

The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

Let us read together from Psalm 69

But as for me, this is my prayer to you, *  at the time you have set, O LORD:

"In your great mercy, O God, * answer me with your unfailing help.

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 Matthew

People:            Glory to you, Lord Christ.

Jesus said to the twelve disciples,

"A student is not above the teacher, nor a  work above the employer; it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher, and the slave like the master. If they have called the master of the house a very bad name, how much more will they malign those of his household!  "So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops. Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. And even the hairs of your head are all counted. So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.

Liturgist:         The Gospel of the Lord.

People:            Praise to you, Lord Christ.

Lesson – Fr. Cooke:

Children’s Creed

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

Since God is so great and we are so small,

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

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

     resurrection of Jesus Christ.

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

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

     welcome.

We believe that Christ is kind and fair.

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

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

Litany Phrase: Christ, have mercy.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

People:                        And also with you.

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

Offertory Song: To God Be the Glory, (Renew # 258)

1-To God be the glory, great things he hath done, so loved he the world that he gave us his son, who yielded his life an atonement for sin, and opened the lifegate that all may go in. 

Refrain: Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the earth hear his voice! Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the people rejoice!  O come to the Father through Jesus the son, and give him the glory, great things he hath done.

2-O perfect redemption, the purchase of blood, to every believer the promise of God;  the vilest offender who truly believes, that moment from Jesus, a pardon receives.  Refrain

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.

All are born into the family of God by Baptism.

A family meal gathers and sustains each human family.

The Holy Eucharist is the special meal that Jesus gave to his family 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 good and right so to do.

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 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, 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!

Word of Administration.

Communion Hymn:  I Come With Joy   (Renew! # 195)

I come with joy a child of God, forgiven, loved, and free, the life of Jesus to recall, in love laid down for me.

I come with Christians, far and near to find, as all are fed, the new community of love in Christ’s communion bread.

As Christ breaks bread, and bids us share, each proud division ends.  The love that made us makes us one, and strangers now are friends.

Post-Communion Prayer

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

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

And His Presence has been known to us.

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

    and sisters in Christ.

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

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

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

Closing Song:  Soon and Very Soon, (Renew # 276)

1-Soon and very soon, we are going to see the King; soon and very soon, we are going to see the King; soon and very soon, we are going to see the King; hallelujah!  Hallelujah!  We’re going to see the King.

2-No more dying there, we are going to see the king; no more dying there, we are going to see the King; no more dying there, we are going to see the King; hallelujah!  Hallelujah!  We going to see the King.

Dismissal:   

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

People: Thanks be to God! 

God's Children's Have Names

3 Pentecost, A p 6, June 18, 2023
Ex. 19:2-8a Ps.100
Rom.5:6-11 Matt. 9:35-10:15

Lectionary Link

To have a name means that one has been wanted and designated as having a unique place within a group of people, most notably, one's family.

In our time, our identity is most often associated with numbers, our social security numbers and driver license numbers.  We get assigned different numbers in all kinds of transactions.  Having a number as our identities can leave us seeming to be impersonal administrative cogs getting lost as mere statistics within a system.

Numbers can be offered in combinations so as to be individually unique, while if one's name is John or Jane, there are many other Johns and Janes. 

But the point of having a name like John or Jane, is that John or Jane are someone's John or someone's Jane, in the sense of belonging.

Today's Gospel lists the twelve disciples of Jesus by name.  The existence of the Gospels is proof that the Jesus Movement attained some success as a social movement and with success of any movement there comes the organizational changes to become efficient in administrating larger numbers of people as well as adopting deliberate strategies to present the originating ideals to a greater number of people.

The originating ideal of the Jesus Movement was discovered and manifest in the life of Jesus of Nazareth.  I don't think that Jesus tried to revolutionary; he just had this great gut feeling that many, many people were missing the obvious.  He did not think that people should be alienated from the obvious, because the obvious belongs to everyone.

We know that food, water, and air are obvious needs for the lives of everyone and knowing that, the human task is to make sure that everyone has knowledge about and supply for what is obvious for the sustaining of physical life.

But what was the great personal and human relationship obvious thing which was being missed by people in the time of Jesus?  The obvious for Jesus is that he knew himself to be a Son of God, and because he knew this, he also knew that everyone else too was a son or daughter of God.  But the social conditions in the setting of Jesus did not allow people to know the obvious.  The many other human roles of society dominated and crowded out the ability for people to know themselves as children of God.

God's realm or kingdom was a personal realm, a realm where each person was to know oneself as God's child.  This knowing oneself as a child of God is exemplified in the baptism of Jesus when he is declared to be the son of God, but not just a son but one who was delightfully pleasing to his heavenly parent.

For Jesus to know himself as a son of God and one who had the interior sense that his very being delightfully pleased the heavenly parent, well.......he believed that this is what every person should realize in their lives.

This was the good news of the obvious which Jesus shared.  And he called his friends and let them know about this obvious primary dynamic: James, John, Peter, Andrew, Matthew, Philip, Bartholomew, James, son of Alphaeus,Thomas, Judas, Simon, and Thaddaeus.

The disciple had names because they were known to Jesus, they belonged in the company of Jesus, they belonged in the family of God, as God's children.  And if these friends of Jesus could know this obvious reality of being God's children, then they too would want to share the obvious with as many people as they could.

So the Gospel message of being children of God, made in God's image as the primary affirming identity of life is what the evangelical mission was about.   Our Gospel lesson presents some strategies in spreading this basic message within the environs of Palestine.

The heart of the Gospel is that God's children have names because they are known by God as God's beloved children, and they are known to have personal names within the community of the people of this world.

It is very easy for people to lose their personal value within community.  People can be reduced to their function and their roles, their titles, the amount of wealth, education or their positions within society.

The obvious message of Jesus was this: First, each person is a child of God and to be treated with the dignity and respect of such an identity.  Yes, we have many other callings, roles, and functions within our social setting, but Jesus came to remind us about our primary identity as children of God.

The mission of Jesus was to convince his friends that they were children of God and then get them to convince other people about their basic membership within the family of God.

The disciples are listed by their names because they belonged to God and to each other.  Let us discover the baptismal meaning of our names today, namely that we are God's children, and it is our mission to discover this, and to help other people discover this too with as many strategies as love can devise.

In our highly populated world, people can easily get lost by being an administrative number or a member of a statistical category. We in the church, the local church are to be like the proverbial bar, Cheers, where everyone knows our name, because we celebrate belonging to God and to each other.  Amen.