The Afterlives of John the Baptist and Jesus

8 Pentecost Cycle b proper 10     July 14, 2024
Amos 7:7-15   Psalm 85:8-13
Ephesians 1:3-14  Mark 6:14-29

Lectionary Link

Today we have read in our appointed Gospel what might be called the Passion Gospel of John the Baptist.

In a proverbial Christian Academy Award event, John the Baptist would be designated as the Best Supporting Actor in the Epic Story of  Jesus of Nazareth.

The life and ministry of John the Baptist was told in ways which paralleled the telling of the life and ministry of Jesus Christ.

John had a marvelous conception and birth, even though still a natural birth.  Jesus had a miraculous conception and birth, with a spiritual conception.

John baptized with water.  Jesus baptized with the Holy Spirit.  John's program of repentance coupled with baptism represented the height of what a person could do to reform one's life.

Jesus became associated with what happened because of the grace of an internal reform.  This was based upon the recognition that sheer human will power was not enough; there had to be an interior experience of grace to assist and aid the process of completeness that each person is called to in this life.

The lives of John the Baptist and Jesus came to be told in significantly different ways because of what we might call the "after lives" of John and Jesus.

The after life of John the Baptist became told as one who founded a community of followers who became those who would or should switch their spiritual allegiance to Jesus Christ.

The afterlife of Jesus included many events the like of which were not in the stories of the afterlife John the Baptist.  The afterlife of Jesus included many post-death appearances to various people in many different ways.

We do not have accounts of after-life encounters of people with John the Baptist.  But for hundreds of years people have been claiming to have life changing relationships with Jesus even though his physical body has left this world.

The accounts of John the Baptist and Jesus derive from how they have been experienced and regarded in their afterlives.

The poetry deriving from the mystical experiences of people with the Risen and unseen Christ was and is so significant as to influence how the stories of John the Baptist and Jesus came to be written about in the New Testament.

The cumulative effects of the mystical experiences of Christ meant the physical story of Jesus had to be told with the hyperbolic language and poetry of the fantastic.

The Christological hymns or poems about Christ found in the Pauline writings indicate that the story of Jesus could only be told in the most superlative language that was available to the writers of the time.

The Gospels writers wrote that John the Baptist was great, wonderful, and had a profoundly significant ministry, but he was set forth as the best human example to contrast with Jesus who became very other-worldly in his afterlife mystical encounters with many people.

Today we live on the "fumes" of those who had the foundation mystical experiences of the Risen Christ, people like Peter and Paul.  But we too, may have been blessed with mystical experiences which our tradition has taught us to attribute to the Risen Christ in various ways.

John the Baptist stands as the prophet who said that we must repent and get our act together with the best recommended behaviors of the excellence of divine law.

In contrast, Jesus Christ stands to us as the one who represents both the good recommended behaviors of the law, but also the personal experience of the Sublime as the wonderful mysterious marking upon our life experience as being valued and known in personal esteem.

As we remember John the Baptist, his witness, his life, his teaching, and his death,  let us be led to the events of the Sublime which both generally haunts the consciousness of life itself, but also becomes apparent in intermittent and serendipitous events to reinforce in deeply personal ways that we are valued children of God who are put here to model what being valued children of God means.

As we have known a baptism with water like the one proposed by John the Baptist, let us also know that we are always already having a baptism of the Holy Spirit that also becomes apparent in sublime events.  May God help us to cleanse our receptors that have been soiled by loss, grief, and pain can easily redefine the normalcy of good. Let us awaken afresh our ability to identify the sublime.  It is very close.  Amen.

Sunday School, July 14, 2021 8 Pentecost, B proper 10

 Sunday School, July 14, 2021  8 Pentecost, B proper 10

Sunday School themes

If you use the passage from the prophet Amos, you can use the metaphor of the plumb line.

Bring a plumb line and show how the lowest point of the pendulum swing creates a vertically straight line.  This can be used by brick layers so they can be sure their wall is straight up and down and not leaning.

So God provides us with plumb lines so that we can live lives which do not topple over.

The Plumb lines of our lives are the laws and rules which give us guidance for our very best behaviors.

You might remind them of some of the famous Plumb Line Rules:  10 Commandments, Golden Rule and the Summary of the Law.

The letter to the Ephesians remind us that we are made for a wonderful purpose.  We are created for higher values and we need to learn to find those highest values as we practice our faith within our community.

Amos was a prophet who had to remind his people that their lives had become like a wall that was built crooked.  They needed a plumb line to correct their leaning wall by rebuilding to be straight up and down.  Amos was to remind them to return to the vows of keeping the commandment of God.

People do not always like to be corrected.  The prophets were sometimes attacked and injured when they tried to correct the bad behavior of people.

John the Baptist was a prophet too who was put in to prison and put to death because he tried to instruct all people including King Herod about what the law of God was for their behavior.  We need to stand up for people who are willing to tell us the truth about wrong behaviors.

Sermon:

Does anyone know the name of the cousin of Jesus?  His name was John the Baptist.

  How did John get his name, the Baptist?  We could also say John the Baptizer.

  If his name is John the Baptizer, what do you think John did?  He baptized.

  What is baptism?  Baptism for John was like taking a bath.  Why do we take a bath?  To get clean right?

  Do you really think that John the Baptizer wanted everyone to take a bath to keep clean?  No.  John the Baptizer wanted people to be clean inside.  He wanted people to make a promise to improve their lives.  He wanted people to make a promise to try to get better every day.  And he baptized people who made that promise.

  Today we still baptize.  Jesus asked his disciples to baptize.  Why do we baptize?  Do we do it to get clean?  You know when we baptize we just pour a little bit of water over the head.

  So, we do not baptize to take a bath; we baptize as a way to celebrate our adoption as sons and daughters of God.

  Baptism is a celebration that we belong to two families.  We belong to the family of our birth and we belong to the family God.

  Let us remember John the Baptist today.  And let us remember that we are baptized to celebrate that we are God’s children and that we belong to a wonderful family.  Amen.

Liturgy for the Day

Intergenerational Family Service with Holy Eucharist

July 14, 2024: The Eighth Sunday after Pentecost

Gathering Songs: Prepare the Way; Peace Before Us; My Jesus I love Thee; Soon and Very Soon

Song: Prepare the Way of the Lord   (Renew!  # 92)  Sing Four times

Prepare the way of the Lord, prepare the way of Lord, and all people will see the salvation of our God.

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

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

O Lord, mercifully receive the prayers of your people who call upon you, and grant that they may know and understand what things they ought to do, and also may have grace and power faithfully to accomplish them; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Litany Phrase: 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  to the Ephesians

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.

Or A reading from the Prophet Amos

This is what the Lord God showed me: the Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand. And the LORD said to me, "Amos, what do you see?" And I said, "A plumb line." Then the Lord said, "See, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel; I will never again pass them by;

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

 

Liturgist: Let us read together from Psalm 85

Truth shall spring up from the earth, * and righteousness shall look down from heaven.

The LORD will indeed grant prosperity, * and our land will yield its increase.

Righteousness shall go before him, * and peace shall be a pathway for his feet.

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 Mark

People: Glory to you, Lord Christ.

King Herod heard of the demons cast out and the many who were anointed and cured, for Jesus' name had become known. Some were saying, "John the baptizer has been raised from the dead; and for this reason these powers are at work in him." But others said, "It is Elijah." And others said, "It is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old."

Liturgist:         The Gospel of the Lord.

People: Praise to you, Lord Christ.

Sermon:  Fr. 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.

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

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

Love before us….  3. Light before us….  4  Christ before us….

Doxology

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

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

Prologue to the Eucharist

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

All become members of a family by birth or adoption.

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

A family meal gathers and sustains each human family.

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

The Lord be with you

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts

We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to God.

It is right to give God thanks and praise.

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

Holy, Holy, Holy (Intoned)

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

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

Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the Highest.

All may gather around the altar

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

You have made us in your image

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

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

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

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

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

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

  this food and drink  that becomes a part of us.

The Prayer continues with these words

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

As we forgive our debtors: Hallowed be thy name.

Lead us not into temptation: Hallowed be thy name.

But deliver us from evil: Hallowed be thy name.

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

Forever and ever: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

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

Breaking of the Bread

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

People:            Therefore let us keep the feast.  Alleluia!

Words of Administration

Communion Song: My Jesus, I Love Thee (Renew! # 275)

My Jesus, I love thee, I know thou art mine, for thee all the follies of sin I resign; my gracious Redeemer, my Savior art thou; if ever I loved thee, my Jesus, ‘tis now.

I love thee because thou hast first loved me, and purchased my pardon on Calvary’s tree; I love thee for wearing the thorns on thy brow; if ever I loved thee, my Jesus, ‘tis now.

In mansions of glory and endless delight, I’ll ever adore thee in heaven so bright; I’ll sing with the glittering crown on my brow;  If ever I loved thee, my Jesus ‘tis now.

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.  Alleluia, alleluia, we’re 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.  Alleluia, alleluia, we are going to see the King.

Dismissal:   

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

People: Thanks be to God! 

Don't Miss the Too Familiar King and Kingdom

 7 Pentecost Cycle B Proper 9 July 7, 2024
2 Samuel 5:1-5, 9-10 Ps.48
2 Cor.12:1-10 Mark 6:1-13

Lectionary Link

Many of the people of Nazareth said to Jesus and about him, "We've read about David the Messiah, and Jesus, you are no David. You're only Joe and Mary's boy whom we grew up with. You became a wonder worker and a traveling preacher but you're just Joe and Mary's boy to us. Why do you let so many people idolize you?"

To read the Bible is to appreciate the great gap between the actual and the ideal, the way life is and the utopia that we would like it to be.

To read the Bible is to appreciate the gap between sinful us and the ideal people that we wish we could be for our own benefit and for the benefit of the entire world.

Why is this gap between the actual and ideal even an issue? Why can't we just be brute fact realists unburdened by the illusions of the ideal. Why take the utopian opiates of the people to live in denial about the dreadful material conditions of inequity among the people of any society?

The incredible horrifying cruelty of countless events of human history has not been able to surgically remove Hope from the human psyche. If we did not have indelible hope, we could resign ourselves more easily to inequities and the seeming random distributions of the kinds of weal and woes in the field of probabilities, of what may happen to anyone at any time or any place.

What is the relationship of hope to the actual? What is the relationship of what happens to the utopia of what we would like to happen in ideal situations? What is actual provides the visionary possibilities for what we hope for. How so? Situations and people have been good enough to inform us about what is good, and what is better, and what might be best. Situations and people have been good and favorable enough even when they co-exist with bad and horrible conditions and people acting their very worst. The actual good becomes the visionary inspiration for what might be better.

The genre of the hero happens within human community. The ideal or utopian person tales are generated because of people who have been legendary or specifically impactful in their lives.

For people of the Hebrew Scriptures, King David was one such actual person on whom a future ideal person could be modeled. David was not without his faults, even some serious faults, some faults which would get him imprisoned in our modern notions of lawful behaviors. But David was impactful enough in his long reign in Israel, and his reign in comparison with the many other forgettable kings in their history, meant that he was the model for the future anointed or messiah which Israel hoped for and needed. This hope for a perfect and ideal person was the analgesic which they applied to their pain of having to experience so many long years of oppression and exile.

During the time of Jesus, Israel was an occupied land and the hope for an ideal utopian person based upon the Davidic ideal prevailed. Such hope with visualization is part of the continuing comfort of knowing things could always be better for us and certainly for those who suffer the most. The Psalms, like the appointed one for today, are also about God having a special presence in Zion, the city of the great king. There was a hope that somehow hope's plans could be articulated through Jerusalem and the city of the great king.

What happens when the hope of a liberating king and kingdom does not seem possibly or likely? By the time that Jesus appeared in Palestine, the actual kingdom of the world was the Roman Empire, and it did not appear to be leaving anytime soon. The record surrounding Jesus gave no indication that his message of the kingdom of God had anything to do with the likes of the kingdom of the Caesars, or even a kingdom like the one presided over by king David.

Also by the time that Gospel were written, the Temple had been destroyed, and Palestine had been evacuated. How could the city of the great King with God's special presence in Zion be the place of dissemination of any kingdom at all?

What happened within the followers of Jesus was mystical experience which altered their entire perspective. They attributed this altered perspective to the life, ministry, and teaching of Jesus of Nazareth and to the experience of be baptized by the Holy Spirit.

How could there be a historical kingdom of God when in fact the kingdom or realm of God was always, already from the beginning of creation? To believe that the kingdom of God had to be an earthly political reality was to deny the obvious realm of God everywhere, as the realm in which we live, move, and have our being. The realm of God did not have to come into existence; rather people had to accepts its omnipresent reality. This was the stealth realm of God and Jesus taught in figures of speech and in parables to confuse literal thinking to provoke another kind of perception.

In St. Paul, we have the movement from the one Temple in Jerusalem as the singular special presence of God in the world, to an understanding that the human body, starting with the body of Jesus was God's temple and dwelling place.

St. Paul came to accept his body as the place where he met God in glorious ecstasy of seeming out of the body experiences, but also in the full continuum of human experiences which could happen to him. The understanding of the realm of God became spiritually generalized in accepting omnipresence but in particular accepting the interior of the human body as the special meeting place of realization of oneness with God in this great Divine Realm.

One of stumbling blocks of understanding the Realm of God as being the truth of creation, and understanding the body of Jesus as being the intensely present divine, is that the divine can seem to be too ordinary to be believed. Jesus was just Joe and Mary's boy who lived next door; how can he be God's specialized presence? If Jesus was a general with liberating armies for Nazareth and Palestine, then perhaps he might have been better regarded by his fellow townspeople, who were limited to having but literal external notions of having a king within a kingdom.

Jesus did not come to impose a kingdom upon this world; he came to proclaim that God's kingdom already was and the secret was coming to accept it and to accept oneself as the place where God would be made known.

So, the strategy Jesus was to send his disciples who had realized the kingdom of God to go forth and to teach and instruct people how to realize the realm of God within their own lives.

Today, people still miss Jesus, and the obviousness of the realm of God, and people still miss their own interior lives as the telling meeting place with God.

You and I are sent to spread the Gospel of the realm of God, that we live and move and have our being in God, and God can and does get inside us to meet us with love, peace, joy, and hope. And in the events our our continuous inner meeting with God we are commissioned to help others realize the same in their lives.

Let us not miss the obviousness of the Christ, who is all and in all, in our lives today. And let us not wrongly think that we can replace the always, already, realm of God with some American Christian National government. Let us awaken to the obviousness of God, God's Realm, and the meeting place with the divine within each of us. Amen.

Sunday School, July 7, 2024 7 Pentecost Cycle B Proper 9

 Sunday School, July 7, 2024   7 Pentecost Cycle B Proper  9

 
Dealing with the riddle of St. Paul: , “for power is made perfect in weakness ." So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.”

You might discuss the meaning of this riddle.  When we try to rely only upon ourselves and don’t ask Christ or anyone for help, we can find that we are not strong in all of our abilities and so we need other people to be strong in the areas of our weakness.

Remind them about one of the mottos of our country on Fourth of July weekend:  e pluribus unum:  Out of the many, One.  When we unite to do things together we are no longer weak as individual persons.

The Gospel lesson is about how Jesus chose to share the good news.  He wanted to get his message of love out really quickly and so he sent his disciples out two by two.  He told them to pack very light since if they took too many things they could not keep moving from village to village to share the good news.

How do advertisers get people to buy their products?

We are not selling the Gospel.  How can we get people to accept something which is free and wonderful?  How can we get teach and live the Gospel so that people will be able to accept something which can make their lives better?

Explain to children the saying: Familiarity breed contempt.  It means some time when people close to us are very good and marvelous people, we get so use their goodness that we don’t appreciate it anymore and we don’t understand how good it was until we find out that everyone is not as good as the wonderful people in our lives.

Jesus was not accepted by everyone in his family or in his hometown of Nazareth.  People in his family and in his hometown maybe were jealous of his success and because they were jealous of him, they would not accept him and the good things that he wanted to do for them.

We know that things are wrong when we cannot accept the good things that are being given to us because of our pride and jealousy.


A children’s sermon


  When Jesus was a boy, he lived in a town called Nazareth.  His father Joseph was a carpenter, and so he probably helped his father in the carpenter shop.
  But Jesus was a very bright young boy;  he liked to learn and he like to speak.  When he was a young boy, he was arguing with the smartest teachers in the religious law in the temple.  So his parent knew that he was going to have a different career than most boys.
  Soon the work of Jesus took him away from Nazareth.  He became a traveling preacher.  Jesus looked at people and he felt love for them.  He saw that many people needed to have encouragement and hope.  Many people needed to know that God cared for them.  Jesus knew that he was sent to this world to preach a message about God’s love and care.  He also knew that he was supposed to help people who were sick.  He knew that he was to invite forgotten people into the community of faith.
  One day Jesus went back to his home town.  He had become very famous, and he went home, probably to see his Mother Mary and Joseph.
  And Jesus wanted to help people in his own home town.  But they wouldn’t let him.  They said, “We know Jesus, he’s Joe and Mary’s son.  We were raised with him.  Who does he think he is coming here and preaching to us?    They were so jealous and so unfriendly, Jesus just had to leave town without doing something wonderful for them.
  He was very surprised about their unbelief.  Why wouldn’t they let him do good things for them?
  He was too familiar to them.  And they were jealous, so they would not receive any from him.
  Did you ever want to do something good for someone, but they won’t let you?  It hurts when you want to give something good to someone but they won’t take it.
  What about when your parents fix you a wonderful meal and they are so happy to take good care of you, but what you say, “No, I don’t want it.”  Aren’t you glad that your parents don’t stop giving things to you, even if you refuse to receive everything that they offer?
   Sometimes we treat God this way.  God wants us to receive good things…love, forgiveness and kindness, but sometimes we refuse to take God gifts.  And it really hurts us when we don’t receive God’s gifts.
  When Jesus went to his home town, he was very surprised that the people in his town would not let him do some good things for them, because he was so familiar.
  Did you know the best things that happen to us happen to us through the familiar people in our lives.  Friends, family, parents….   So we should not let our jealousy keep us from receiving good things from the people who are familiar to us.
  Remember your parents want to give some very good things to you and sometimes you don’t see how they are good.  But you need to trust your parents.
  So too, God has some very good things for us, and we might not see why they are good for us…..like learning to follow rules and laws.  But if we receive the gifts of God, some day we will see how good they are for us.  Let us always be ready to receive the good things that God wants to give us.  Amen.

Intergenerational Family Service with Holy Eucharist
July 7, 2024: The Seventh Sunday after Pentecost

Gathering Songs: My Country Tis of Thee; I’ve Got Peace, Eat This Bread, I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light

Song: My Country ‘Tis of Thee   (blue hymnal, # 717)
My country ‘tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing; land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim’s pride, from every mountain side let freedom ring.

Our fathers’ God, to thee, author of liberty, to thee we sing; long may our land be bright with freedom’s holy light; protect us by thy might, great God, our King.

Liturgist: Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
People: And blessed be God’s kingdom, now and for ever.  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
O God, you have taught us to keep all your commandments by loving you and our neighbor: Grant us the grace of your Holy Spirit, that we may be devoted to you with our whole heart, and united to one another with pure affection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Lord God Almighty, in whose Name the founders of this country won liberty for themselves and for us, and lit the torch of freedom for nations then unborn: Grant that we and all the people of this land may have grace to maintain our liberties in righteousness and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Litany Phrase: 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 Second Letter of Paul to the Corinthians
Three times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it would leave me, but he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness." So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.
Liturgist: The Word of the Lord
People: Thanks be to God
 
Liturgist: Let us read together from Psalm 123

To you I lift up my eyes, * to you enthroned in the heavens.
As the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters, * and the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress,
So our eyes look to the LORD our God, * until he show us his mercy.

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 our Country and for all of the liberties that we enjoy.   Thanks be to God!

Liturgist:         The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Mark
People: Glory to you, Lord Christ.
Jesus left that place and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. On the sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astounded. They said, "Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of power are being done by his hands! Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?" And they took offense at him. Then Jesus said to them, "Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house." And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them. And he was amazed at their unbelief. Then he went about among the villages teaching. He called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts; but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics. He said to them, "Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place. If any place will not welcome you and they refuse to hear you, as you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them." So they went out and proclaimed that all should repent. They cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.

Liturgist:         The Gospel of the Lord.
People: Praise to you, Lord Christ.

Sermon:  Fr. 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.

Song: I’ve Got Peace Like a River (Christian Children’s Songbook, # 122)
I’ve got peace like a river, I’ve got peace like a river, I’ve got peace like a river in my soul.  I’ve got peace like a river, I’ve got peace like a river, I’ve got peace like a river in my soul..
I’ve got love like a river, I’ve got love like a river, I’ve got love like a river in my soul.  I’ve got love like a river, I’ve got love like a river, I’ve got love like a river in my soul.

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.

Children may gather around the altar

Our grateful praise we offer to you God, our Creator;
You have made us in your image
And you gave us many men and women of faith to help us to live by faith:
Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Rachael.
And then you gave us your Son, Jesus, born of Mary, nurtured by Joseph
And he called us to be sons and daughters of God.
Your Son called us to live better lives and he gave us this Holy Meal so that when we eat
  the bread and drink the wine, we can  know that the Presence of Christ is as near to us as  
  this food and drink  that becomes a part of us.

The Prayer continues with these words

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

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: I Want to Walk As a Child of the Light, (Renew # 152)

1-I want to walk as a child of the light; I want to follow Jesus.  God set the stars to bring light to the world; the star of my life is Jesus.  Refrain: In Him there is no darkness at all, the night and the day are both alike.  The Lamb is the light of the city of God: Shine in my heart, Lord Jesus.

2-I want to see the brightness of God; I want to look at Jesus.  Clear Sun of righteousness, shine on my path, and show me the way to the Father.     Refrain

Dismissal:   
Liturgist: Let us go forth in the Name of Christ. 
People: Thanks be to God!