Sunday School, May 19, 2024 The Day of Pentecost B

 Sunday School, May 19, 2024   The Day of Pentecost B

Theme:

Meanings of Pentecost

Pentecost is fifty days after Easter

Anglicans call it Whitsunday or “White” Sunday, called that perhaps because of the white robes worn by the candidates for baptism.

The English Church, retains the color white for Pentecost while the Episcopal Church and other churches use the color Red for Pentecost, symbolizing the red flames of the tongues of fire that is reported in the Pentecost event.

The tongues of fire seem to appear on the disciple in Jerusalem and the disciple began to speak about Christ in other languages.

This means that the message about Christ can be translated into all languages and all people can be united by the One Spirit of God even though all people are different in many ways.

Pentecost is a celebrate of our unity, perhaps, better called a “harmony.”  It is how God’s love is lived and expressed among people who have many differences.

When Jesus left this world, he reminded us that God’s Holy Spirit was with us to let God’s presence be known to us.

Sermon:

Many churches have a musical instrument with big pipes.  This instrument is called a pipe organ.  A pipe organ is made up of lots of pipes.  A pipe is just like a whistle.  You blow air through the pipe and it makes a sound.  But each pipe makes a different sound.  And when they play together, it like having an entire band all within the cabinets.  Some of the pipes can been seen and many are hidden and cannot be seen.

  To make the pipe organ work there has to be a powerful fan which can blow air through tubes and into chests so that when the holes under each pipe are opened the air blows the pipe and makes the sounds.

  Today, is the Day of Pentecost.  It is a day when we celebrate that God is known as the Holy Spirit.  We say God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

The word Spirit means Wind or breath.  Take a deep breath and blow.  Can you see your breath?  No.  But how do you know it is there?  You can feel it blow against your hand.  Can you see the wind?  No.  But can you see the wind blow the branches of a tree?  Yes.

  The Holy Spirit is like the wind and breath.  We cannot see God but we can see the effects of God in our world.  When we see love and kindness and beauty we know that God’s Spirit is present. 

  When a pipe organ is played there is one wind that plays all of the different sounds of the pipes.

  This is how we can understand God’s Spirit.  There is one Spirit of God who lives in each of us, but each of us are different and each of us have different things that we can do to make this world a better place.

  Today, we are baptizing Bishop.  It is like we are adding a new pipe to the wonderful pipe organ of God.

  Today, we know that the life of God’s Spirit is in Bishop and he is going to make some wonderful sounds with all of the good things which God will do with his life.  And he joins all of us as pipes in the great pipe organ of God with the Wind of God Spirit blowing through us.

  And so each of is like a different pipe in this great pipe organ of God.  Let us be thankful today that each of us is special and different.  But let us also be thankful that God’s Spirit is in us to help us make beautiful music together as we live together to love and care for one another.  Amen.

Intergenerational Family Service with Holy Eucharist

May 19, 2024: The Day of Pentecost

Gathering Songs: Glory be to God on High, Creating Spirit, Every Time I Feel the Spirit

Liturgist: Alleluia, Christ is Risen.

People: The Lord is Risen Indeed.  Alleluia.

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:  Glory be to God on High,     (Christian Children’s Songbook, # 70)

Glory be to God on high, alleluia.  Glory be to God on high, alleluia.

Praise the Father, Spirit, Son, alleluia.  Praise the Godhead, three in one, alleluia.

Sing we praises unto thee, alleluia, for the truth that sets us free, alleluia.

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.

People:            And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

O God, who on this day taught the hearts of your faithful people by sending to them the light of your Holy Spirit: Grant us by the same Spirit to have a right judgment in all things, and evermore to rejoice in his holy comfort; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of 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

A reading from the   Letter to the Romans

We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

Let us read together from Psalm 104

You send forth your Spirit, and they are created; * and so you renew the face of the earth.

May the glory of the LORD endure for ever; * may the LORD rejoice in all his works.

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 his disciples, "When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf. You also are to testify because you have been with me from the beginning.  "I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. But, now I am going to him who sent me; yet none of you asks me, `Where are you going?' But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts. Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because they do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer; about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.  "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you."

Liturgist:         The Gospel of the Lord.

People:            Praise to you, Lord Christ.

Sermon – Father Phil

Children’s Creed

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

Since God is so great and we are so small,

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

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

     resurrection of Jesus Christ.

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

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

     welcome.

We believe that Christ is kind and fair.

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

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

Litany Phrase: Christ, have mercy.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

People:                        And also with you.

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

Offertory Song Spirit of the Living God, (Renew # 90)

Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.  Spirit of the living God fall afresh on me. Break me, melt me, mold me, fill me.  Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.

Spirit of the living God, move among us all; Spirit of the living God, make us one in love: humble, caring, selfless, sharing— Spirit of the living God, fill our lives with love.

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 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. Sanctify us 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 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: Creating Spirit, Holy Lord  (Renew! # 283

Creating Spirit, holy Lord, the gentle breeze, the mighty wind, with warmth and pow’r and graciousness in grace refashion heart and mind.

O comforter of all who toil, gift from the fountain head of light, O Spirit of all love and fire, anointing chrism of all might.

 

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: Every Time I Feel the Spirit, (Christian Children’s Songbook, # 48)

Refrain: Every time I feel the spirit moving in my heart, I will pray.  O every time I feel the spirit moving in my heart I will pray.

1-On Pentecost day, the Spirit came.  The people praised with joyous tongues.  The Spirit came to everyone.  Jews and Gentiles, all the same. Refrain

2-God’s Spirit lives, within the church.  He gives us gifts to build us up.  God’s Spirit fills us with his love.  O blessed Spirit, heavenly dove.  Refrain

Dismissal:   

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

People: Thanks be to God!  Alleluia!  Alleluia!

Ascension in the Phases of Jesus Christ

 7 Easter  B    May 12, 2024
Acts 1:15-17, 21-26   Psalm 1
1 John 5:9-13  John 17:6-19

Lectionary Link

Some assumptions that I make when I read the New Testament writings are: 1-They were written decades after Jesus was gone. 2-They were written in the koine Greek, not in the language of Jesus and his Galilean disciples, Aramaic.  3-As later writings, these writings represent first the concerns of their writing contexts, and pertain less to the years zero to 30 when Jesus actually lived. 4-The writings of Paul in his letters regarding church order and the mystical experiences of the Risen Christ, pre-date the writing of the Gospels. This means that the teaching, preaching, and mystagogy of Paul and other leaders are programmatically interwoven in the Gospel narrative presentations of the life of Christ. The early communities were teaching the meaning of their experiences of the Risen Christ through a narrative of the life of Jesus.

The New Testament writings occurred in communities which were under great stress.  On one hand, followers of Jesus felt so favored and blessed with their mystical experiences even while being a minority group subject to situations of persecution which could arise at any moment.  The stress had created the situation of resorting to a coping phenomenon through a belief in a divine cosmic rescue.  

Preachers like St. Paul believed in a double ascension.  St. Paul wrote that in our mysterious relationship with Christ we are already raised and seated with Christ  in heavenly places, bespeaking the visionary state of the mystical experience.  At the same time, in the earliest New Testament writing, the first letter to the Thessalonians, Paul comforted his readers by referring to the event of being caught up in the air to meet the Lord.

One could say that the early Christians were like Paul, people waiting to be caught up in the air in some future cosmic divine rescue of being taken from this visible world into the invisible world, at least invisible to how the eyes now see.

Being caught up in the air in some divinely cosmic rescue is visionary language with a long tradition.  From writings of the Hebrew Scriptures, the Apocrypha, and other writings, now called the apocalyptic genre, we can find this tradition of being caught up in the air.  The apocalyptic genre functioned in oppressed communities to help them cope with their horrendous situations.  The apocalyptic literature provide visualizations as an analgesic for the pain of their life situations.

Being caught up in the air, in the apocalyptic tradition has also been called an "assumption."  Enoch, Moses, Elijah, and significantly later, Blessed Mary, are figures who are regarded to be those who were assumed into the afterlife in ways that stood out as being unique passings from this visible realm.  One of the features of these "assumption" personalities is how they reappear in the visionary realm, such as what Moses and Elijah did in the event of the Transfiguration.  And who has more apparitional re-appearances than the Virgin Mary?

The presentation of Jesus as the Ascended Lord and Messiah is comprised within this tradition of the Assumptions and being "caught up in the air."  But the Ascension of Jesus is seen as being very unique within this tradition of being caught up in the air.

It is in fact seen as but a phase in how God came to be manifested to humanity.  The Divine has such a capacity of Plenitude that nothing but Plenitude can comprehend Plenitude.  In order to be known by those who can know within the realm of Plenitude there had to be phases or manifestations or emptyings of the Divine into perceptible forms by humans. In the phases of the divine for human beings, we have the tradition of the phases of Jesus Christ.

What are the phases of Jesus Christ?  They include his state in the Beginning as Word who is God, his emptying phase as Word made flesh in Jesus in his birth, and the phases of his life highlighting his ministry and teaching, his continuing quest to manifest complete identity with human experience in his death on the cross, his burial, his resurrection re-appearances, his Ascension, and arriving at a glorified status with the fullness of his sojourn within human experience.  The Ascended Christ is one who has known full human identity so as to be the appropriate advocate and intercessor for humans living within the realm of God.

A famous prayer of Jesus is presented by the writer of John's Gospel, as his oracle of the ascended Lord.  Notice how the writer has Jesus speaking in the past tense: 

 "While I was with them, I protected them in your name that you have given me. I guarded them."

What verb tense is "was," "protected," and "guarded?"  Past tense.  If Jesus prayed, "While I was with them," does this imply that he is no longer with them in the way that he had previously been with them?

And if Jesus is no longer with his disciple during this prayer, where is he?

The writer of the Gospel of John believed, like Paul, that he had the mind of Christ, and could speak and write in his name.  The writer wrote as an oracle of the Ascended Christ, and presented the Ascended Christ in the role which the early Christians understood him to have.  He was an intercessor on behalf of humanity and on behalf his friends who were committed to get his message of the love of God for the people of this world spread far and wide.  

The Ascension of Jesus, on this Ascension Sunday, resides in the tradition of the Assumptions, namely, that there is communicative connection or communicative travel between the invisible realms, the realm of words within each person, with the external world where the words take on the flesh through our sensorial experience.  Words are externalized outside of their interior origins within people, but they "ascend" inwards to be refreshed and edited for further occasions of being made flesh.  This process of the word being made flesh needs higher guidance so that word being made flesh is known in its best form of love and justice.  Jesus as the prime exemplar for how word is made flesh best continues to be an interior Word editor in our attempts to live out the best words of our life.

On this the Ascension Sunday, we as Christians believe that Christ exists in an invisible realm, the worded realm, where Word is God.   By word we are connected  with the divine and we can be given perpetual editorial guidance in how our lives are to be scripted.  Pray is word life in editorial process.  The ascended Christ is our Word editor, interceding for us and continually offering us new ways to script our lives, in making our words flesh in the practice of love and justice.

Let us be thankful for the phases of the life of Jesus Christ, who now resides in his ascended and glorified phase to intercede for us, to be the continual editor of our worded lives,  and to continually send us the connected procession of the Holy Spirit to aid us in the main experience of life, knowing ourselves as one with our heavenly parent.  Amen.

Sunday School, May 12, 2024 The Seventh Sunday of Easter B

 Sunday School,  May 12, 2024  The Seventh Sunday of Easter B

Themes:

Choosing the replacement for Judas by casting lots

Casting lots is like choosing straws

Why do we choose straws or cast lots to make selections?

When people are equally worthy and qualified, sometimes using “chance” is the way in which we give everyone an equal chance to do a something important on behalf of the community or family.  So it takes the politics or favoritism out of the selection.  A person who draws the short straw might feel disappointed at “losing” but at least he or she knows that he or she had an chance.

Matthias was chosen to replace Judas as one of the Twelve Disciples.  The number 12 was important to the early church because there were 12 Tribes of Israel and the early Christians believed that the church was like a New Israel.

Psalm 1 Emphasizes the important of the people whom we hang out with called our peers.  If we choose good friends, they can help us do better and make good decision.  If we choose to be with people who model bad behaviors, we can be influenced toward those bad behaviors.

The Gospel of John and the Epistle of John

The Gospel is the real “Lord’s Prayer” because it is a prayer of Jesus with his Father.  The other “Lord’s Prayer” is better called the “Our Father” because it is a group prayer.

The prayer of Jesus shows us some important lessons.  First, we need to know God as our Father or heavenly parent, as one who listens to us and who encourages us to speak with Him at anytime.  So Jesus show us that as He is the Son of God, we are sons and daughters of God.   The prayer of Jesus is all about sharing conversation with the family of God to which we belong.  The prayer of Jesus shows us that we are to prayer for each other, for safety and protection and for the growth in knowledge and in truth.

If Jesus prayed, then so should we.

Gospel Puppet Show:

Telephone prayer between Jesus and God the Father

Jesus: Hello, Dad.  This is your Son Jesus.

The Father: Hello, Son, I’m so glad that you called.  I always like to hear from you.  I know that you will soon be sitting next to me.

Jesus: Dad, I would like to talk to you about something.

The Father:  Of course, What is it?

Jesus: Dad, I’ve made some friends here and I know that when they will no longer see me in person they might have some fears.

The Father:  And what would you like?

Jesus: Well, you know how close you and I are.  We are so close we are like One being.

The Father: Yes, we are very close.

Jesus: Well, could you give to my friends the same close relationship that you and I have?  Could you let them know that you are their Father too?

The Father:  Well, of course I can.  After all, I created people in my image and so I sent you to be with them so they could discover that they are sons and daughters of God.

Jesus: Yes, could let them know how special they are to you?  If you do, they will know the special feeling about themselves, the feeling of esteem or glory.  I feel that glory because I am your Son and I want them to feel that glory too.

The Father:  Son, you and I really agree on this and I will do what you ask.  And I will let your friends know that I am their Father, but you need to remind them to treat me like their Father.  And the way that they can do that is to talk to me, like you do.

Jesus: Yes, I will tell them to pray and I have taught them to pray because if they practice talking to you they will get to know you in a special way and that is what I want for them.

The Father:  Amen….Son, anything else?

Jesus: Dad, could you also keep them in safety and protection?

The Father: I certainly will do, I can keep them all the time, even in death because I can preserve their lives forever, just like your life will be forever.

Jesus:  And Dad, could you help them to grow in what is wise and truthful.

The Father: Yes, I will.  I made people with curiosity to seek and know what the right thing to do is at all time.  I will give them a Book, a Bible with words which they can read to guide them in honest truth.

Jesus: And Dad, could teach them to be like turtles?

The Father: What do you mean?

Jesus: Well, turtles have to know how to live in the water and on the land.  People have to learn how to live in inner world of their spirit and in the outer world of their lives.  Sometimes it is hard to balance the inner and the outer worlds.  Can you help them balance their inner worlds and their outer worlds.

The Father:  I will help them do this but you need to remind them to talk to me and ask for help.  I cannot help them if they do not ask.

Jesus: Thank you, Dad.  I love you.  And now I must go finish the work you gave me to do before I return to be with you heaven.

The Father: I love you.  Thanks for calling.  I love when you and your friends talk to me.  And soon you will be with me again.  Amen.

Sermon:

How many days are in the week?  Seven right.

  When God created the world how many days did God work?  Six days.  And what did God do on the seventh day?  God rested.

  And in the 10 commandments what is the seventh day called?  It is called the Sabbath.  And one of commandments says: Remember the Sabbath to keep it holy.

  Do you know what that means?  It means that one day out of seven belongs to God.

  So how can we possibly give 24 hours a week of special time to God?

  Jesus showed us how we can give at least 24 hours a week to God.  How did he show us?  Jesus prayed to God his Father.

  How do you get to know someone?  You have to talk to them to get to know them, right?  If you don’t ever spend time with someone you don’t get to know them.

  So how do we spend time with God?  We spend time with God by praying.  That one of most important things that we do in life.  We pray when we come to church.  How do we pray.  We praise God because we see God’s greatness in the things that God has done.  We thank God too in our prayers, because of the wonderful things that God has given us.  And we ask God for the things that we need in our life.  And we offer the prayers over the bread and wine, because Jesus asked us to do this.  Did you know that our singing is prayer too?  And when we are kind and help each other, did you know that is prayer too?

  Do we pray only when we come to church?  No, we can pray in many ways in many places.  Before our meals.  Before we go to bed.  Before we go out to play.  And we can pray before we take an exam at school.  Do you know that my favorite prayer is a one word prayer.  Do you know what that prayer is?  Help.  Help me God.  Amen.

  If we learn to pray in all of the times of our lives then we can easily give 24 hours a week to God. 

  Jesus prayed that his disciples would become just like him and his father.  Jesus wanted his friends to know that they were sons and daughters of God.  And they could know that if they would spend some time getting to know God.  And the best way to get to know God is to pray as often and in as many ways as possible.

  Remember that Jesus prayed.  And we should pray too.  That is how we get to know God.  That is how we learn to honor God by keeping the Sabbath.  Let us all remember to pray today.  Amen.

Family Service with Holy Eucharist

May 12, 2024: The Seventh Sunday of Easter

Gathering Songs: The King of Glory, The Butterfly Song, Father I Adore You, This Little Light

Song: The King of Glory! (Renew! # 297)

Refrain: The King of glory come, the nation rejoices.  Open the gates before him, lift up your voices.

Who is the King of Glory; how shall we call him? He is Emmanuel, the promised of ages. Refrain

In all of Galilee, in city or village, he goes among his people curing their illness. Refrain

Sing then of David’s son, our savior and brother: in all of Galilee was never another. Refrain

Liturgist: Alleluia, Christ is Risen.

People: The Lord is Risen Indeed.  Alleluia.

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

O God, the King of glory, you have exalted your only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven: Do not leave us comfortless, but send us your Holy Spirit to strengthen us, and exalt us to that place where our Savior Christ has gone before; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. 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

A reading from the First Letter of John

And this is the testimony: God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

Let us read together from Psalm 1

Happy are they who have not walked in the counsel of the wicked, * nor lingered in the way of sinners,
nor sat in the seats of the scornful!

Their delight is in the law of the LORD, * and they meditate on his law day and night.

They are like trees planted by streams of water, bearing fruit in due season, with leaves that do not wither; * everything they do shall prosper.

  

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!

For the blessing of our mothers on Mother’s Day. Thanks be to God!

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

People:            Glory to you, Lord Christ.

Looking up to heaven, Jesus prayed, "I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them in your name that you have given me. I guarded them, and not one of them was lost except the one destined to be lost, so that the scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth."

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  our sins. Christ, have mercy.

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

People:                        And also with you.

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

Song:  The 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 the tree, I’d thank you Lord that I could sing.  And if I were a fish in the sea, I’d wiggle my tail and I’d giggle with glee, and 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 for raising my trunk.  If I were a kangaroo, you know I’d hop right up to you.  And 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.

Holy 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.  Sanctify us 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 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: Father I Adore You (Christian Children’s Songbook # 56)

Father, I adore you, lay my life before you.  How I love you.

Jesus, I adore you, lay my life before you. How I love you.

Spirit, I adore you, lay my life before you.  How I love you.

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: This Little Light of Mine (Christian Children’s Songbook # 234)

This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine.  This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.

Hide it under a bushel, no!  I’m going to let it shine.  Hide it under a bushel, no!  I’m going to let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.

Don’t let anyone blow it out, I’m going to let it shine.  Don’t let anyone blow it out, I’m going o let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.

Shine all over my neighborhood, I’m going to let it shine.  Shine all over my neighborhood, I’m going to let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.

Dismissal:   

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

People: Thanks be to God! Alleluia!  Alleluia!

Being Befriending Neighbors

6 Easter B         May 5,2024
Acts 10:44-48    Ps. 33:1-8,18-22
1 John 4:7-21      John 15:9-17     

Lectionary Link

In the passing of time, we re-contextual the inherited traces of what has gone before.  And this is what we do with the biblical readings, just as the biblical readings themselves were at one time the musings of writers who re-presented and re-contextualized the traces of what they had received in the available traditions to them at the time of their writing.

As we re-contextualize the reading from the Gospel of John today, we must be honest about the great differences in our context today from the context of the Johannine community or communities in which the writings were generated some 6 or 7 decades after Jesus lived in perhaps communities distant from Galilee and Jerusalem.

The Gospels themselves are re-contextualized writings, presenting the writers' experience of the Risen Christ within a narrative account of Jesus of Nazareth, even assuming the voice of an oracle of Christ in speaking and writing in the name of Jesus.

The reading from our appointed Gospel provides us the occasion to reflect upon a comparison of the notion of neighbor and friend.

All neighbors are not friends.  All friends are not neighbors, in the sense of having continual physical proximity.

What might be the meanings of the love injunctions regarding neighbors and friends?

We are to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.  Are we supposed to lay down our lives for our neighbors?  It does happen.  Heroes often die for people they don't know personally in battle, or in a rescue from a dangerous situation.

I think the notion of neighborly love and the friendship love referred to in John's Gospel evokes some context specific features of the Johannine community of the writer.

That community was a social gathering with an identity which centered around the mystical experience that persons had with the Risen Christ.  It was a community which existed with neighbors who were not privy to that experience.  Such a mystical experience gave a certain exclusiveness to this community.  Christians and Jews believed in an exclusive devotion to one God, whereas their neighbors within the cities of the Roman Empire held to the belief in many various gods and goddesses coupled with a required belief in a deified Emperor.  How does a community which requires exclusive devotion to One God, One Christ, fit into a situation that tolerates the beliefs in all the gods and goddesses as long as it is coupled with participation in the cult of the Emperor?

I hope we can appreciate how there arose the notional differences of neighbor and friend.  Long before the Quakers borrowed the term "Friends" as a preferred designation of their community, the Johannine community understood the contextual difference between neighbor and friend.

The early Christians were neighbors with everyone, but they were friends with the ones with whom they shared the intimacy of the mystical experience of knowing the Risen Christ.

As friends, they knew that their identity most often was not something widely shared with their neighbors living in the cities of the Roman Empire.  But as friends in their situations of potential exigent persecution, they knew that they might be brought to the situation which required them to lay down their physical lives for each other.

We who have lived in situations of such freedom of religious practice, perhaps cannot appreciate fully the context of this early community of friends, who had been made into such a friendship group by sharing an experience of the Risen Christ.

The Johannine community needed to be founded in friendship with Christ to help each other in their minority status within the Roman Empire.  And the notion of laying down of one's life for one's friend is also an internal dynamic of the fellowship of Christ.  The fellowship of Christ survives internally because friendship requires the continual practice of laying down of one's life for each other.  The New Testament Greek word for life here is pseuche or soul life.  In this sense, friendship requires the continual checking of the ego at the door, so as to make room for each other to have dignity and respect within the community.

If we look at the history of the Christian church, much of it has been about requiring many members of the church to lay down their lives for the authority and power of men, especially the men who have had the power to define what dignity and participation within community means.

Today, we are called to re-contextualize what friends in Christ means for us.  It means a radical inclusive community for persons who have been heretofore marginalized both within the church and within societies where our churches find themselves.

Friendship does not mean being but passive neighbors for whom the laws of our society require a live and let live attitude even while letting active and passive biases and discriminative practices occur.  The laying down of one's life for friendship today requires celebrating the equality that has occurred because of the image of God on each person's life and because of the accessible experience of the presence of the Risen Christ to actualize that image of God in a particular way within the Christian fellowship.

Let us explore the fellowship of friendship today and create communities of radical welcome for all.  This is the friendship that Christ calls us to today.  Amen.