Peaceful Transition?

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

Lectionary Link

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Theme:

God and the Probable

Freedom means that probable things can happen.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sermon:

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

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

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

  Why do these things happen?

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

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

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

  And those are very difficult questions to answer.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Intergenerational Family Service with Holy Eucharist

June 25, 2023: The Third Sunday after Pentecost

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

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

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

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

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

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

Through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Song: Here in This Place, (Renew # 14)

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

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

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.

People:            And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

O Lord, make us have perpetual love and reverence for your holy Name, for you never fail to help and govern those whom you have set upon the sure foundation of your loving-kindness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. 

First Litany of Praise: Chant: Alleluia

O God, you are Great!  Alleluia

O God, you have made us! Alleluia

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

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

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

O God, you have forgiven our sins!  Alleluia

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

Liturgist: A reading from the book of Jeremiah

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

the hands of evildoers.

The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

Let us read together from Psalm 69

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

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

Litany Phrase: Thanks be to God! (chanted)

Litanist:

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

For our families and friends. Thanks be to God!

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

For this day of worship. Thanks be to God!

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

For work and for play. Thanks be to God!

For teaching and for learning. Thanks be to God!

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

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

   Thanks be to God!

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

People:            Glory to you, Lord Christ.

Jesus said to the twelve disciples,

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

Liturgist:         The Gospel of the Lord.

People:            Praise to you, Lord Christ.

Lesson – Fr. Cooke:

Children’s Creed

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

Since God is so great and we are so small,

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

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

     resurrection of Jesus Christ.

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

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

     welcome.

We believe that Christ is kind and fair.

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

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

Litany Phrase: Christ, have mercy.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

People:                        And also with you.

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

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

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

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

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

Doxology

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

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

Prologue to the Eucharist.

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

All become members of a family by birth or adoption.

All are born into the family of God by Baptism.

A family meal gathers and sustains each human family.

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

The Lord be with you

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts

We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to God.

It is good and right so to do.

It is very good and right to give thanks, because God made us, Jesus redeemed us and the Holy Spirit dwells in our hearts.

Therefore with Angels and Archangels and all of the world that we see and don’t see, we

   Forever sing this hymn of praise:

Holy, Holy, Holy (Intoned)

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, God of Power and Might.  Heav’n and earth are full of your glory.  Hosanna in the highest.  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.  Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the Highest.

(All may gather around the altar)

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

You have made us in your image

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

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

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

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

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

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

  this food and drink  that becomes a part of us.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And now as our Savior Christ has taught us, we now sing, (Children may rejoin their parents and take up their instruments)

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

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

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

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

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

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

As we forgive our debtors: Hallowed be thy name.

Lead us not into temptation: Hallowed be thy name.

But deliver us from evil: Hallowed by thy name.

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

Forever and ever: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

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

Breaking of the Bread

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

People:            Therefore let us keep the feast.  Alleluia!

Word of Administration.

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

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

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

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

Post-Communion Prayer

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

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

And His Presence has been known to us.

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

    and sisters in Christ.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dismissal:   

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

People: Thanks be to God! 

God's Children's Have Names

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

Lectionary Link

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sunday School, June 18, 2023 3 Pentecost A, proper 6

  Sunday School, June 18, 2023    3 Pentecost A, proper 6

Theme:

Discuss the difference between a disciple and an apostle

It is June; we have finished the school year.  Many students have graduated.  What do students do after graduating?  They go to the next level of their education or they begin to work doing what they have been trained to do.

A disciple is a pupil or student.   An apostle is a person who has been sent.

Today we read a list of the 12 disciples.  The 12 disciples were pupils or students of Jesus.  They followed him and watched him.  They heard him teach many lessons about God and life.   Jesus as the teacher and professor decided it was time to graduate his disciples.  When he graduated his disciples, they became apostles.  They were sent to do and say the same things that they had learned from Jesus.  But as apostles, they still were disciples because even after they began to teach and preach like Jesus did, they still continued to learn from Jesus as his students.

You and I are to be both disciples and apostles.  We are supposed to students of Jesus.   But we are also supposed to students who have graduated.  We have successful learned many things from Jesus and so we are qualified to practice what we have learned and to share it with other people.

If we don’t share what we have learned then we have wasted it.  That is why we need to be both disciples and apostles.  We need to be students of Jesus but also messengers of Jesus in sharing what we have learned from Jesus about God’s love, God’s forgiveness and the Good News about Jesus.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fvq6iPkXCQQ

Sermon:

  Peter, Andrew, James and John.  Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew.  James and Thaddaeus, Simon and Judas.

  Do you know who these 12 men were?  They were 12 friends and disciples of Christ.

  Why were there 12 disciples?  The church was called the new Israel.  And how many tribes were in the Israel?  There were 12 tribes named after the sons of Jacob.

  Were there only 12 disciples of Jesus?  No there were many more.  Jesus helped so many people that all of those people became his disciples.

  There were women: Mary his mother, Mary of Magdala, Mary of Bethany, Martha.  There was Zaccheus, Nathaniel, Bartamaeus, and many more.

  Today, we have read about how Jesus changed the 12 disciples into 12 apostles.

  What is a disciple?  A disciple is like a student.

  Is a person supposed to be a student forever?  No, that is why we have graduation.  A student graduates.  A student then becomes a teacher, because everything that a student learns he or she must share that with someone else.

  So the twelve disciples graduated from their school with their teacher Jesus, and they became apostles.

  Apostle means someone who has been sent to do an important work.

  The disciples graduated and became apostles because Jesus told them it was time for them to go and to do the things that he had taught them.  He told them to go and tell people good news.  He told them how to get rid of the bad things in life.  He told them how they could recover from their sicknesses.

  And since Jesus had only one voice, two feet and two hands, he could not be everywhere.  So he sent the apostles to help him do his work.

  And now today, Jesus calls us to be disciples.  We are students of Christ.  But not just students of Christ, we are also apostles, because Christ needs us to be his voice and his hand and feet in this world.

  With our voices we can tell people good news.  With our feet we can go to the places where we are to tell people good news?  Where is that?  It is right here.  And with our hands we can help and heal people who need to be helped.

  Let us remember that we are disciples of Jesus, but that we also have graduate from being disciples, because Jesus also makes us apostles when we are sent to do and say the good things that Christ taught us.  Amen.

Intergenerational Family Service with Holy Eucharist

June 18, 2023: The Third Sunday after Pentecost

Gathering Songs: If You’re Happy and You Know It, Awesome God, Amazing Grace,  Simple Gifts

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: If You’re Happy and You Know It, (Christian Children’s Songbook, # 124)

If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands.  If you’re happy and you know it clap your hands.  If you’re happy and you know it then your face should surely show it.  If you’re happy and you know it clap your hands.

Make a high five…...

Make a low five…..

Shout Amen….

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.

People:            And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

Keep, O Lord, your household the Church in your steadfast faith and love, that through your grace we may proclaim your truth with boldness, and minister your justice with compassion; for the sake of our Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

First Litany of Praise: Alleluia (chanted)

O God, you are Great!  Alleluia

O God, you have made us! Alleluia

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

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

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

O God, you have forgiven our sins!  Alleluia

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

A reading from the Letter of Paul to the Romans

Since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,  through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God.

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

Liturgist: Let us read together from Psalm 116

I will offer you the sacrifice of thanksgiving * and call upon the Name of the LORD.

I will fulfill my vows to the LORD * in the presence of all his people,

  

Litany Phrase: Thanks be to God! (chanted)

Litanist:

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

For our families and friends. Thanks be to God!

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

For this day of worship. Thanks be to God!

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

For work and for play. Thanks be to God!

For teaching and for learning. Thanks be to God!

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

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

   Thanks be to God!

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

People:            Glory to you, Lord Christ.

Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every disease and every sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest." Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness. These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon, also known as Peter, and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed him. These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: "Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, proclaim the good news, `The kingdom of heaven has come near.' Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment.

Liturgist:         The Gospel of the Lord.

People:            Praise to you, Lord Christ.

Sermon – Father Phil

Children’s Creed

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

Since God is so great and we are so small,

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

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

     resurrection of Jesus Christ.

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

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

     welcome.

We believe that Christ is kind and fair.

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

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

 Litany Phrase: Christ, have mercy. (chanted)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

People:            And also with you.

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

Offertory Song: Awesome God (Renew! # 245)

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

With wisdom, power and love.  Our God is an awesome God.

(Sing three times)

Doxology

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

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

Prologue to the Eucharist

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

All become members of a family by birth or adoption.

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

A family meal gathers and sustains each human family.

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

The Lord be with you

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts

We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to God.

It is right to give God thanks and praise.

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

Holy, Holy, Holy (Intoned)

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

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

Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the Highest.

(All may gather around the altar)

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

You have made us in your image

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

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

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

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

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

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

  this food and drink  that becomes a part of us.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(Children rejoin their parents and take up their instruments)

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

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

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

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

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

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

As we forgive our debtors: Hallowed be thy name.

Lead us not into temptation: Hallowed be thy name.

But deliver us from evil: Hallowed be thy name.

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

Forever and ever: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

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

Breaking of the Bread

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

People:            Therefore let us keep the feast.  Alleluia!

Words of Administration

Communion Song: Amazing Grace (Blue Hymnal # 671)

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound.  That saved a wretch like me.  I once was lost but now am found.  ‘T’was blind but now I see.

‘T’was grace that taught my heart to fear.  And grace my fears relieved.  How precious did that grace appear, the hour I first believed.

The Lord has promised good to me, his word my hope secures.  He will my shield and portion be as long as life endures.

Through many dangers, toils and snares, I have already come.  ‘Tis grace that brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.

When we’ve been there ten thousand years.  Bright shining as the sun.  We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise.  Than when we’ve first begun.

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: ‘Tis the Gift to Be Simple (Blue Hymnal, # 554)

‘Tis the gift to be simple, ‘tis the gift to be free, ‘tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,

and when we find ourselves in the place just right, ‘twill be in the valley of love and delight. 

When true simplicity is gained, to bow and to bend we shan’t be ashamed,

to turn, turn, will be our delight till by turning, turning we come round right.

Dismissal:   

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

People:      Thanks be to God!