Don't Take the Mysticism Out of Christianity

6 Pentecost, C p 11, July 21, 2019  

Gen. 18:1-14    Ps.15  

Col. 1:21-29  Luke 10:38-42 

Lectionary Link

Modern Christians have been intimidated by the true success of modern science, even to the point off developing a way to integrate modern science into their understanding and presentation of the Bible.  And what does one call the scientification of biblical stories?  Fundamentalism.

Since science has been so successful, giving us an impressive system of statistical approximations in understanding our world resulting in the best way to do probability theory rendering actuarial wisdom for living in the material world, such greatness has forced many to discount the proper value of discourses of faith in favor of presenting them in the mode of science.

What is the mode of science?  Empirical verification.  Something is really only true if it can be empirically verified.  So how did empirical verification result in fundamentalism?

Fundamentalists are those who are so impressed with the veracity of empirical verification, they feel that the Bible can only be meaningful true, if and only if all of the storied events of the Bible are events that could be empirically verified using the impressive scientific method.  So they have to present the Bible using the same criteria of veracity which scientists use for their theories.  But scientists are much more humble than fundamentalists; they only state that their laws and theories are tentative.  They are open to falsification of their theories; they are open to their theories being superseded by better theories or more comprehensive laws to explain why things happen in the way in which they happen.

Why did fundamentalists copy the scientific method?  They were envious of what they perceived to be the certitude of science.  Scientists seemed confident and proud of their discoveries and theories and they have been celebrated in popular culture particularly in how their discoveries have had massive collateral effects in our societies in the inventions of all of the devices of modern convenience.  But scientific certitude is in the mode of exploration, not any individual outcome, since an individual outcome in terms of a law can still be open to future falsification.

Fundamentalists craved the certitude which they thought science offered and the glory of the pragmatic results of science.  So they committed contortionist hermeneutics in trying to conform their presentation of biblical stories in a way that proclaimed the certitude that all events in the Bible could be empirically verified.  That has become their truth and they have been sticking to it.

And they have been able to comprise communities of ignorance to falsely apply empirical verification as relevant to all biblical events.  They have claimed to have God's active Spirit in their inaptly appropriation of empirical verification to all events in the Bible.  And in such misguided use of empirical verification regarding all biblical events, they have also become susceptible to political movements which offered their views a manipulated affirmation, even while trading their souls to follow political princes of lies and truly anti-to-Christlikeness in matters of love and justice for all.  An emotional sentiment of religion can easily be morphed to express the disapproval for people who are made to feel to be the "other" and the one to be "excluded."  Such religious and emotional sentiment does not have the depth of Spirit and it does not reach the standard of the deep mysticism which is truly trans-formative of all of life, including our lives for the common good of all in love and justice.

People who have adopted the tacit epistemology of their culture and in their conscious lives practice the underpinning of a scientific worldview, have been scornful of the fundamentalists' misappropriation of science. Many scientists and modernists have committed a logical fallacy in their scorn by seeming to say, "all people of faith are fundamentalists."  Or all people of faith resort to a misconstrued empirically verification for the interpretation of biblical events and religious experience.  At the same time, scientific skeptics can be those who wear the same unwashed T-shirt so that their college football team will not be jinxed.  A scientific skeptic can weep at a concert, cry at a movie or in the replay of a Martin Luther King, Jr. speech.  My point: the sublime can arise in many ways and it can surprise, evoke joy, tears, awe, and mystery.  People can understand the discourses of the sublime which we find in many of the artifacts of our cultures.  We know that the sublime occurs even as we know that its occasions of "in-breaking" are so intermittent and seemingly random, that the sublime is not reducible to controlled replication which is so important to the scientific method.

St. Paul was at his best as a mystic, one who had completely been bowled over by a mystical event.  It was such a pronounced event,  that it resulted in him stopping his murderous efforts to hunt down and have the followers of Jesus killed.  The mystical experience is trans-formative; it is empirical in the sense that it happens.  It is empirical in the sense that it changes one's life to become better.  It is empirical in that it results in poetic language of love and faith and fascinating entertaining imagery.  And one does not reduce poetry to language and logic of empirical verification; to do so is a violation of the mystical experience.  With sharing of the event of the mystical experience, one hopes that one creates the awareness that the mystical is happening and can happen at all times.   The sharing of the mystical experience of the sublime, as was the experience of the Risen Christ for Paul, is the invitation for others to be expectant to be "surprised by joy."  It is the invitation to live "anticipatingly."

The Pauline hymns to Christ, just like the prologue to John's Gospel, are the attempts in words to express personal meanings of the mystical event.  To try to reduce these to parallel meanings of empirical experiences as is done in science is a violation of mystical discourse and the meaning of faith and the experience of beauty.

How did the mystical get expressed in the Gospels?  How was the mystical re-configured in a narrative re-presentation of Jesus of Nazareth?

One example:  Mary and Martha invited Jesus to their home.  Martha was the epitome of hospitality in wanting to have everything perfect for Jesus as she entertained Jesus in their home, their physical house.  Her sister Mary sat in contemplation of Jesus as his words entered her inward home and mystically re-ordered her interior environment.  Martha has come to symbolize the exterior home, which is the very important home for the occasion of the mystical encounter.  Mary is the symbol of our interior home which needs the mystical encounter with the Risen Christ as the Eternal Word to enter our interior homes and rearrange all of the interior furniture so as to be a place of perfect hospitality for the presence of God, Eternal Word, whose words are Spirit and Life.  

Friends, do not take the mysticism out of Christianity and do not misunderstand mystical discourse as the equivalent discourse of E=MC squared.  Amen.

Sunday School, July 21, 2019 C proper 11

Sunday School,   C proper 11

Themes

What is the most import “computer” center of the human body?

Is it our legs? Stomach? Arms? Heart? Mouth?

No it is our head which houses the most important computer center of our entire body.

So how do we know that our head is the most important computer center of our body?

We know when we learn to think and when we practice thinking and learning.

Paul said the church was like a body made up of many organs and parts.  But Paul wrote that the head of the body, the church was Christ.

And so how do we make the church function the very best?  We keep in touch with Christ as our brain.  We look to his life and his words and his example and the people whom he has inspired. 

We stay in touch with Christ so that we can make the church a group of people who practice love and kindness and service and telling people the Good News of Christ being with us as our Head.

Mary and Martha were friends of Jesus.

Sometimes in our lives we need to be very active.  We need to work; we need to prepare food, wash the dishes and the clothes and clean the houses.  Martha was a very good worker and she was upset when Mary was not working as hard as she was.  Mary was doing something else.  She was sitting and learning from her best friend Jesus.

In our lives we need to know when to work and when to stop working and learn to get to know Jesus as our best friend who can help us grow in being the very best persons that we can be.

Work is good; prayer and learning from Jesus is also very good and most important.  We need to take time to work but never forget the importance of prayer and talking to Jesus.

Sermon

  Ding dong, the door bell rings.  And you open the door and you have surprise visitors; it’s grandmother and grandfather.  They are on a trip and can only spend a few hours at your house.  What do your parents do?

  Do they make you go finish all of your chores?  Do they make you leave the room and wash the dishes?  Do they make you practice your music lesson or finish your homework?

  No, why?  Because grandmother and grandfather are only going to be there for just a few hours and so everyone gets to spend time being with them.

  Well, Jesus dropped in one day at the home of his friends Mary and Martha.  And they were very excited because Jesus was a special person in their lives and they could not see him all of the time, so they wanted to make his visit special.

  Martha loved her friend Jesus and she was a good hostess.  She wanted to treat Jesus as a special guest.  So she wanted to get the house all fixed up and cleaned and she wanted to get the food all prepared.

  But her sister Mary just sat in the living room talking with Jesus.  And that upset Martha because Mary wouldn’t help.

  Jesus was not worried about getting food and he was not worried if the house was not in order or if the good napkins were put out and fresh flowers were in place.

  Jesus only wanted to spend time with his friends:  He wanted Mary and Martha to be with him and talk with him.  And he wanted to talk with him and tell them some wonderful things.

  Did you know that you and I can sometimes be so busy we forget that God is our friend and that God just wants to spend time with us?

  That is why God gave us the commandment about the Sabbath or worship day of Sunday.  It means that we are to stop everything in our lives sometimes and just take time to be with God, to be with Christ.

  And we do this by hearing the stories of the Bible.  We do this by praying with others.  And we do this each day by setting aside some time to just talk with Christ.

  Jesus was happy that Mary took time from her work to talk to him.  And Jesus is happy when we take time to pray and to spend time with God.

  Let us remember what Mary did.  She remembered to take time to be with Jesus.  And so we should do the same.  Amen.

Young Child friendly Eucharist for Year C, proper 11

Gathering Songs: Jesus in the Morning, Only A Boy Named David, I Come with Joy, Christ Beside Me

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

People: And blessed be God’s kingdom, now and forever.  Amen.

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

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

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

Through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

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

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

Love him, love him, love him in the morning, love him at the noontime.  Love him, love him, love him when the sun goes down.

Serve him, serve him, serve him in the morning, serve him at the noontime.  Serve him, serve him, serve him when the sun goes down.

Praise him, praise him, praise in the morning, praise him at the noontime.  Praise him, praise him, praise him when the sun goes down.

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.

People:            And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

Almighty God, the fountain of all wisdom, you know our necessities before we ask and our ignorance in asking: Have compassion on our weakness, and mercifully give us those things which for our unworthiness we dare not, and for our blindness we cannot ask; through the worthiness of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Liturgy Leader: In our prayers we first praise God, chanting the praise word: Alleluia

Litany of Praise: 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 Colossians

Christ Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers-- all things have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

Liturgist: Let us read together from Psalm 52

But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God; * I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever.

I will give you thanks for what you have done * and declare the goodness of your Name in the presence of the godly.

Liturgy Leader: I invite you to let us know what you are thankful for today

   As we thank God let us chant Thanks be to God

Litany Phrase: Thanks be to God!

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!

(Sing Birthday blessings or wedding blessings to those present who are celebrating)

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

People:            Glory to you, Lord Christ.

As Jesus and his disciples went on their way, Jesus entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me." But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her."

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.

Liturgy Leader: Next in our prayers, we remember people who have special needs.  As we pray let us chant:  Christ Have Mercy

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: Only a Boy Named David, (All the Best Songs for Kids, # 112)

Only boy named David.  Only a little sling.  Only a boy named David, but he could pray and sing.  Only a boy named David, only a rippling brook.  Only a boy named David, and five little stones he took.  And one little stone went in the sling and the sling went round and round.  And one little stone went in the sling and the sling went round and round.  AND….round and round and round and round and round and round and round.  And one little stone went up in the air.  And the giant came tumbling down.

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.

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, the gifts of bread and wine will be presented at the Eucharist. We ask you to bless and sanctify them by your Holy Spirit to be for your people the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ our Lord.  Bless and sanctify us by your Holy Spirit so that we may love God and our neighbor.

We remember that 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:       Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.

People:            Therefore let us keep the feast. 

Words of Administration

Communion Song: I Come with Joy, (Renew! # 195)

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

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

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

Post-Communion Prayer

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

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

And His Presence has been known to us.

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

    and sisters in Christ.

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

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

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

Closing Song: Christ Beside Me (Renew! # 164)

Christ beside me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, king of my heart.  Christ within me, Christ below me, Christ above me, never to part

Christ on my right hand, Christ on my left hand, Christ all around me, shield in the strife.  Christ in my sleeping, Christ in my sitting, Christ in my rising light of my life.

Dismissal:   

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

People: Thanks be to God! 

Neighbor: Being the One Who Gets to Love

5 Pentecost, Cp10, July 14, 2019 

Deut. 30:9-14   Ps.25:3-9  

Col. 10:25-37  Luke 10:25-37 

Lectionary Link
The parable of the Good Samaritan in the Gospel of Luke has the sublime elements that one could call brilliant, wise genius, for those who really seek creative advancement in the best of recommended behaviors for persons who are on a path of seeking to surpass themselves in future states of excellence.

The set up for the parable has elements which could be compared with some of the Socratic dialogues penned by Plato.

What is the set up?  A lawyer in the time of Jesus within the communities of Judaism would be practitioners of the laws which governed behaviors of observant Jews.  It would have been a different legal practice to deal with interaction with the outsiders who lived under the laws of the Roman Empire.

A religious law expert asked the question regarding the link between one's life and one's afterlife.  "What must I do to inherit eternal life?"  There is, of course, a basic contradiction in the question itself.  People who inherit are called heirs.  How do heirs inherit?  By being born into a family as a child.  A child is an automatic heir.  So why does a child heir have to do something to receive the inheritance?

What this contradiction exposes was how the lawyer regarded the divine law.  He regarded the Torah to be a collection of recommended behaviors that if one could follow, it would allow the inheritance of a continued personal life in the afterlife.  Jesus asked the lawyer what the written law said about his question.  The lawyer gave the summary of the law, "Love God, and love your neighbor as yourself."

But then the lawyer revealed his misunderstanding of the law of God.  He understood human limitation and sought to allow such a limitation to be put on the law of love.  In the Christian community, the law of love was said to be the fulfillment of the law.

The lawyer was thinking if I counted up all of the loving deeds that I did for my neighbor, would there be neighbors who I would not have to love.  What about my natural enemies, like the Roman soldiers or what about the Samaritans whom we occasionally had to confront?

The parable of the Good Samaritan is penetrating in many ways.

First, it presents a Samaritan, the lawyer's natural enemy as the one who is the loving neighbor.

Second, it presents the obvious observers of the law, a priest and a Levite as those who did not want to get involved in the plight of the victim of the attack.  Their laws of ritual purity prevented them from being good neighbors.  How?  If the victim was dead, then they would pollute themselves by coming in contact with a "dead" body.  There lives would be inconvenienced by having to go through ritual purification  to cleanse themselves of their unclean act of touching a dead person.  If they didn't know the victim and if he might be dead, why bother?

Third, a Samaritan had their own version of Torah religion.  They were not any less religious than observant Jews.  But this Samaritan who would not be considered a candidate for eternal life for the lawyer, is presented as the one who fulfills the love of God.  And being a loving person of all is what fulfills God's law of love and that loving behavior is what expresses eternal life, or that which truly lasts forever.

In short, Jesus taught that eternal life, is the love of God flowing through us as God's children who have inherited this privilege to be lovers of God and each other.

Who is my neighbor?  Jesus  said that is the wrong question.  The question is when and where and to whom do I get the privilege to be neighborly.

Jesus affirmed the active definition of the word "neighbor."  Neighbor is the subject, the verb and the object.

A neighbor, neighors other neighbors, and so neighbor as a verb is conjugated, "I neighbor other neighbors.  You neighbor other neighbors.  We all neighbor other neighers."  And this is how we prove that the eternal life of God's Spirit is in and through us.

Let us go forth to be active neighbors today and so fulfill the eternal life of God.

Sunday School, Eucharist for Children, C proper 10

Sunday School,   C proper 10

Exploring the Theme of the Parable of the Good Samaritan

What is a neighbor?

Sometimes we think that neighbors are people who live close to each other.

Sometimes we think that neighbors are just the people who we feel familiar and comfortable with.

When Jesus said that we are to “love our neighbor as ourselves,”  a man asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?”  He was really asking Jesus, “Who am I required to love in order to please God.”

Jesus told the parable of the Good Samaritan to show a different meaning for “neighbor.”

Neighbors are not just people who live close to each other and are familiar with each other.  A neighbor is one who cares for anyone who is in need.

So a neighbor is doing and not just being.  This means we have to work in our lives to practice kindness all of the time so that we are always in good practice of being a neighbor.

Sermon

  What is a neighbor?

  Sometimes we use neighbor to mean only the people who live close to us.

  But sometimes people who live close to each other are not very friendly.

  Jesus told a story to help teach a young lawyer about the meaning of being a neighbor.

  One day a man was traveling to Jericho.  And he was attacked by robbers.  They hurt him and took all of his belongings and left him in the ditch.

  Two very important people, a priest and Levite saw the poor man in the ditch and but they did not stop to help him; they walked by because they thought that the man was dead.

  Then a man, a Samaritan, came and saw the man. (The Samaritan was a man who would not be liked by the lawyer).  The Samaritan nursed and cared for the man and carried him on his donkey to a place where he could heal.

  After Jesus told the story, he asked the lawyer.  Who was the neighbor?  And the lawyer answered, “The Samaritan, the one who showed care and mercy.

  Jesus taught an important message about the meaning of being a neighbor.

  A neighbor is not just someone who lives close to us.  A neighbor is you and I, and anybody when they show love and kindness and mercy to people who are in need.

  Today, we want God to make us good neighbors, because we want to be those who respond to people in need.

Child friendly Holy Eucharist, using the rubrics on page 400 of the Book of Common Prayer with guidelines for non-principal Eucharist

C proper 10

Gathering Songs: Kum Ba Yah, This Little Light of Mine, Seek Ye First, Praise Him

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

People: And blessed be God’s kingdom, now and forever.  Amen.

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

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

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

Through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Song: Kum Ba Ya, (Christian Children’s Songbook  # 150)

Kum ba yah, my Lord, kum ba yah.  Kum ba yah, my Lord, kum ba yah.  Kum ba yah my Lord, kum ba yah.  O Lord, kum ba yah.

Someone’s singing Lord, kum ba yah.  Someone’s singing Lord, kum ba yah. Someone’s singing Lord, kum ba yah.   O Lord, kum ba yah.

Someone’s loving Lord, kum ba yah.  Someone’s loving Lord, kum ba yah. Someone’s loving Lord, kum ba yah.  O Lord, kum ba yah.

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.

Liturgy Leader: In our prayers we first praise God, chanting the praise word: Alleluia

Litany of Praise: 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 Book of Deuteronomy

For the LORD will again take delight in prospering you, just as he delighted in prospering your ancestors, when you obey the LORD your God by observing his commandments and decrees that are written in this book of the law, because you turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

Liturgist: Let us read together from Psalm 25

Show me your ways, O LORD, * and teach me your paths.

Lead me in your truth and teach me, * for you are the God of my salvation; in you have I trusted all the day long.

Remember, O LORD, your compassion and love, * for they are from everlasting.

Liturgy Leader: I invite you to let us know what you are thankful for today

   As we thank God let us chant Thanks be to God

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 Luke

People:            Glory to you, Lord Christ.

Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he said, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" He said to him, "What is written in the law? What do you read there?" He answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself." And he said to him, "You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live." But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" Jesus replied, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, `Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.' Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?" He said, "The one who showed him mercy." Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."

Liturgist:         The Gospel of the Lord.

People:            Praise to you, Lord Christ.

Sermon –   

Children’s Creed

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

Since God is so great and we are so small,

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

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

     resurrection of Jesus Christ.

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

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

     welcome.

We believe that Christ is kind and fair.

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

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

Liturgy Leader: Next in our prayers, we remember people who have special needs.  As we pray let us chant:  Christ Have Mercy

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: 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 am 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 to 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.

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 or said)

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.

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 a 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 gifts of bread and wine will be presented. We ask you to bless and sanctify them by your Holy Spirit to be for your people the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ our Lord.  Bless and sanctify us by your Holy Spirit so that we may love God and our neighbor.

We remember that 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 the 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:       Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.

People:            Therefore let us keep the feast. 

Words of Administration

Communion Song: Seek Ye First, (Blue Hymnal, # 711)

Seek ye first the kingdom of God and its righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you, allelu, alleluia. Refrain: Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, allelu, alleluia.

Ask, and it shall be given unto you, seek, and ye shall find, knock and the door shall be opened unto you; Allelu, alleluia.    Refrain

Post-Communion Prayer

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

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

And His Presence has been known to us.

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

    and sisters in Christ.

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

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

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

Closing Song: Praise Him, All Ye Little Children (Christian Children’s Songbook,  # 184)

Praise him, praise him, all ye little children, God is love, God is love.  Praise him, praise him all ye little children, God is love.  God is love.

Love him, love him all ye little children, God is love, God is love.  Love him, love him, all ye little children, God is love, God is love.

Thank him, thank him, all ye little children, God is love, God is love.  Thank him, thank him all ye little children, God is love, God is love.

Dismissal:   

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

People: Thanks be to God!