Living in the Universality of God

2 Lent B      February 25, 2024
Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16 Psalm 22:22-30
Romans 4:13-25  Mark 8:31-38

Lectionary Link

It is easy to confess universalism but quite difficult to practice such within our specific circumstances.  The famous cartoon quote of Charlie Brown is insightful about the great tension between good theory and experimental practice of that theory.  Charlie Brown said, "I love mankind; it's people I can't stand."

Great love is inclusive, but our narrow-minded affinities are often very exclusive and limited.  We know that God is love, and God calls us to love all but does that include the people who are thorns in my side?  Does it include our enemies?

One of the goals of St. Paul was to write the Gentiles into salvation history in continuity with the salvation history as found in the Hebrew Scriptures.  The Hebrew Scriptures highlight the tension between the universal nature of God and God's availability to everyone and the conflict of the people of Israel with all of Israel's neighbors, including those who had been pushed from land so that Israel could claim it as their Promised Land.

How can Abraham be the ancestor of a multitude of nations, while the love of God was to be only for God's favorite Israel?  How could the Psalmist implore for all the nations to praise God without specifically inviting them to do so?  How could the Temple be a house of prayer for all people, and yet entrance there not be allowed to all?

The history of salvation is the history of people who believe themselves to be favored by God, not being able to grant that favor with the true largesse of the loving heart of God.

Indeed no group of people has the same largesse of heart of God; and we have to be humble at accepting our limitation and our limited ministry to the people in our lives.

However, the universality of God always invites us to the continual expansion of learning to be more universal and inclusive of more people, even people who are outside our familiar comfort zones.

The writings of St. Paul and the Gospels are about bringing the message of God's love to more people than those who had been adherent Jews of the Temple and synagogue.  The movement of presenting God as being accessible to people who were more than adherent Jews of the synagogue and Temple was controversial.

St. Paul saw the Hebrew Scriptures as a witness to the universality of God for everyone, and for him, it meant that he understood the Gentiles as being pre-figured in the story of Abraham and in the universality of God written about in various parts of the Hebrew Scriptures.

Although the Gospels were written as though they are in the time of Jesus, they really are written from the perspective of people who knew the experience of the Risen Christ 25 to 55 years after Jesus had left the earth.  This is clearly in the Gentile age of the Jesus Movement.

What made the Jesus Movement more universal than the synagogue experience, was the mysticism of the early Jesus Movement.  This movement was based upon the experience of the Risen Christ being a spiritual experience of many people.  The teachings of Paul and the Gospels included a spiritual methodology for taking on an identity with Christ through a visualization of events in the life of Jesus.  One could be "crucified and raised" with Christ as an interior power of identification in the overall program of education, called repentance, meaning literally continual renewal of the mind.

One of the catch phrases of the early Jesus Movement was to take up one's cross and follow Jesus, a dying to one's soul life of former mind to receive a renewed mind, an after mind.  Repentance or metanoia literally means "after mind."  Instead of being a David-like external military messiah, Jesus, as Risen Christ,  was an interior power for the transformation of lives one at a time in the secret place of people's soul.

Taking up the cross of Christ was like the phrase of identity in Pauline spirituality, "I have been crucified with Christ."  St. Paul and the Gospel writers believed in the universal accessibility of knowing identity with the Risen Christ who was the sublime presence of a person knowing oneself as a child of God.

Let us today, as we are shackled with the limitations of our life experiences and fearful unwillingness to recognize God's relevance to everyone, let us acknowledge that the sublime experience of God can come to all and let us acknowledge such God-dignity upon the lives of all today.  Amen.

Sunday School, February 25, 2024 2 Lent B

  Sunday School, February 25, 2024   2 Lent B

Themes

Knowing but not understanding

Peter knew that Jesus was the Messiah but he did not understand what that meant.

We know what it means to be a good student, baseball player, a good dancer, gymnast or soccer player, but we don’t always understand it what it means to be a good student, baseball player, dancer gymnast or soccer player.

Knowing and understanding

We can watch Olympic athletes win gold medals and know about greatness.  But we don’t understand greatness until we try to do it.

We can become good, smart or great without practice.  And practice means doing lots of things that are not fun.  To pass tests at school, we have to read and study and memorize.   To become a good soccer player we have to practice many, many hours.  To be a good dancer or gymnast we have to practice many hours.  And we make mistakes.  We fall and might even hurt ourselves.  But we have to keep trying over and over again.  And sometimes we quit because we say, “I’m not good at this and I’ll never be good, so I’m going to quit.”

Peter knew that Jesus was great and he knew that Jesus was the Messiah, but he did not understand what it would mean for Jesus to be the Messiah.  He did not understand that the Messiah would have to suffer and die and over come death.

Peter wanted only a triumphant king Messiah.  But Jesus is God with us.  If God is with us, God has to be with us in the best times and the worst times.  And pain and death are sad times in human life and if Jesus was really the Messiah, he had to be with us in the bad and sad time too.  So, Jesus suffered and he died.  And because he died, he really was with us in everything that we as people have to go through.

Peter only wanted a “half” Messiah.  He wanted a Messiah who did not suffer and not have to face the things that all human beings had to face.

Jesus said to Peter, “Peter, you know about the Messiah, but you do not understand the Messiah.”  The Messiah is one who will suffer and die because the Messiah is proof that God is with us in everything in life, including our death.

Jesus went through death and resurrected; he came back to life to show us that we have an afterlife.

Let us both know and understand Jesus as the Messiah.  Let us know that Jesus is the Messiah because he was strong enough to be with us in our suffering; he will be with us in our death; and he will be with us in our afterlife.

  

Sermon

What is a riddle?  A riddle is a word puzzle to solve.  There many kinds of riddles.  Like, where is the ocean the deepest?  On the bottom of course.   Or why do potatoes make good dectectives?  Because they have so many eyes.  A riddle often includes a word pun.  And what is word pun.  A word pun is when you use the wrong meaning for the word that sounds the same.

  The words of Jesus often sound like riddles too.  Sometimes you have to think about them for a long time to understand them. 

  We have read one of the riddles today.  Jesus said, “If save your life, you will lose it.  If you lose your life you will save it.”  Now that is quite a riddle, isn’t it?  What is solution to this riddle?

  Have you heard about some difference sciences?  Have you heard about biology?  The study of life.  Psychology is the science that studies human behaviors.  Zoology is the science of studying animal life.  The names of these sciences come from Greek words and all of these Greek word mean life.  Bios, pseuche, and zoe.

  So when Jesus said we need to lose our life to save our lives, what meaning of life do you think he was referring to?

  Was he referring to our physical life?  Well, maybe.  Sometimes heroes lose their lives to save people right?  Like when a fireman goes into a dangerous fire to rescue someone trapped in a building.

  But the Greek word for life that Jesus used was pseuche.  And that refers to our behavior.  He is saying that we must lose certain behavior for us to save ourselves.  How can we understand this?  Losing life to save it?

  Did you know that when you read a book and learn something you are losing your life?  You used to know only this much…but now you know this much.  So you lost your old understanding and have received new understanding.

  How else do you lose your life and save it?  Let’s say that you are sitting down to watch the TV, and your mother asks you to do something to help.  You really want to watch TV….but you decide to obey your mother and help.  You lost your life of watching TV but you gained your life of obeying and helping your mother.  And you have made yourself better and you have made your family better by helping.

  Now do you understand this riddle of Jesus, of how we lose our life and save our life?

  We also call this a sacrifice.  A sacrifice is when we say no to something that we really want to do, and do something to help others.

  Our family, our society and our church happen only because people sacrifice.  People say no to being selfish, and they say yes to helping others.  This is what losing our lives and saving our lives means.

  During the season of Lent we practice the life of sacrifice; saying no to some our favorite things, so that we can say yes to helping make our world a better place.

  Do you understand the riddle of Jesus now?  Good.

February 25, 2024: The Second Sunday In Lent

Intergenerational family liturgy with Holy Eucharist

Gathering Songs:  Precious Lord, Take My Hand; He’s Got the Whole World, Break Thou the Bread of Life; Lift High the Cross

Liturgist: Bless the Lord who forgives all our sins.

People: God’s mercy endures 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.

Opening Song : Take My Hand Precious Lord, (LEVAS #106)

1.         Precious Lord, take my hand, Lead me on, let me stand, I am tired, I am weak, I am worn; Through the storm, through the night, lead me on to the light, take my hand, precious Lord, lead me on.

2.         When my way grows drear, precious Lord, linger near, when my life is almost gone; Hear my cry, hear my call, Hold my hand, lest I fall, take my hand, precious Lord, lead me on.

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.

People:            And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

O God, whose glory it is always to have mercy: Be gracious to all who have gone astray from your ways, and bring them again with penitent hearts and steadfast faith to embrace and hold fast the unchangeable truth of your Word, Jesus Christ your Son; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

First Litany of Praise: Chant: Praise the Lord

O God, you are Great!  Praise the Lord

O God, you have made us! Praise the Lord

O God, you have made yourself known to us!  Praise the Lord

O God, you have provided us with us a Savior!  Praise the Lord

O God, you have given us a Christian family!  Praise the Lord

O God, you have forgiven our sins!  Praise the Lord

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

Liturgist: A Reading from the Book of Genesis

God said to Abram, "I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless. And I will make my covenant between me and you, and will make you exceedingly numerous." Then Abram fell on his face; and God said to him, "As for me, this is my covenant with you: You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you the ancestor of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you."

The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

Let us read together from Psalm 22

Praise the LORD, you that fear him; * stand in awe of him, O offspring of Israel; all you of Jacob's line, give glory.

For he does not despise nor abhor the poor in their poverty; neither does he hide his face from them; *
but when they cry to him he hears them.

My praise is of him in the great assembly; * I will perform my vows in the presence of those who worship him

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.

Then Jesus began to teach his disciples that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things."  He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels."

Liturgist:         The Gospel of the Lord.

People:            Praise to you, Lord Christ.

Sermon – Father Phil

Children’s Creed

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

Since God is so great and we are so small,

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

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

     resurrection of Jesus Christ.

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

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

     welcome.

We believe that Christ is kind and fair.

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

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

Litany Phrase: Christ, have mercy.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

People:                        And also with you.

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

Offertory Song: He’s Got the Whole World (Christian Children’s Songbook, # 90)

1          He’s got the whole world; in his hands he’s got the whole wide world in his hands.  He’s got the whole world in his hands; he’s got the whole world in his hands.

2          Little tiny babies.  3    Brother and the sisters   4       Mothers and the fathers

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 the 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.

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 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:       Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.

People:            Therefore let us keep the feast. 

Words of Administration.

Communion Hymn: Break Thou the Bread of Life (LEVAS # 146)

Bread thou the bread of life, dear Lord to me, as thou didst break the loaves beside the sea; beyond the sacred page I seek thee, Lord; my spirit pants for thee, O living word.

(Repeat during communion)

  

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: Lift High the Cross, (Blue Hymnal # 473)

Refrain: Lift High the cross, the love of Christ proclaim.  Till all the world adore, his sacred name.

Led on their way in this triumphant sign, the hosts of God in conquering ranks combine. Refrain

Each newborn servant of the Crucified- bears on the brow the seal of him who died.  Refrain

O Lord, once lifted on the glorious tree, as thou hast promised, draw the world to thee.  Refrain

So shall our song of triumph ever be: praise to the crucified for victory.  Refrain

Dismissal:   

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

People: Thanks be to God! 

Lent and Living with Probabilities

1 Lent B      February 18, 2024
Gen. 9:8-17           Ps    25:1-9  
1 Peter 3:18-22         Mark 1:9-13

Lectionary Link
 

Holy Scripture sometimes places together in proximity the notion of temptation, trial, and ordeal.

In the Our Father, we pray, "lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil."  Or the contemporary translation, "save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil."

Temptation, trial, ordeal, and evil have to do with probabilities in life, which for many are unavoidable.

The lessons from Scripture for today, might pertain to some insights about the covenant that we live in with God, each other and with life itself.  The covenant that we live is our baptismal covenant.  And what is this covenant?  It is a strategy within community to live best with the probabilities of life.

The probabilities of life include everything that may happen to us and how does one prepare for such a great task?  What does one desire when faced with many weals and woes of what may happen to us?

We cannot be unrealistic about freedom; freedom is.  Things happen.  And we have only varying degrees of control over what happens to us in life.  So to have a baptismal strategy is prepare ourselves to live with the probabilities in life.

And what do we desire in living with the probabilities in life?

We want good timing.  We want to be doing the right things, at the right time, and in the right way.  This means that we need training, wisdom, and insights about avoiding what is harmful and unworthy.  We also need to be taught about what is good and beneficial to us and those in our life.  And we also need training to know how to bear up when the things over which we have no control confront and afflict us.

Good timing in life is a desirable goal to have, but to find good timing and to have optimal responses to trouble we need to have training and practice.  And this is part of the reason we have the season of Lent.  Because we know that things can go wrong, how do we purposeful deny ourselves so as to be better prepared to face the conditions of unchosen exigent threats.

The reason athletic teams have pre-season extended training periods is so they can simulate actual game conditions in preparation for the possible game events.

What did Jesus actually have to experience in his life?  Rejection by his family, criticism and persecution by religious leaders, being called crazy or mad, being called one who had a demon, being threatened, being called a drunkard, being called a sinner, being called blasphemous, mocked, betrayed by a disciple, denied by his disciple, abandoned by his disciples, tried for false charges, being  flogged, and being crucified.  How could Jesus be prepared for these?

Those who knew Jesus best believed that he was prepared in an ordeal of an extended temptation.  In his interior life, Jesus had to be prepared for everything that was going to happen to him.  The synoptic Gospels give us accounts of the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness, a time like a Vision Quest which would tempt his role in controlling the timing of his life.

Jesus understood that he had to live in God's will, God's timing.  The temptations of Jesus in the wilderness are presented as efforts of that inward accuser to get Jesus to do things in the wrong way, at the wrong time, for the wrong motive.  The result of the temptation was Jesus being true to the timing of God for his life.  He was to eat, he was to attain glory and fame, and he was to die, in God's time and way and not in the timing of the evil one.

Where you and I have freedom, means that mistiming is the chief temptation of our lives.  Lent is a season for you and I to ponder continuously good timing for what we do and say.  If probability is the rule of the freedom of life, then you and I need to have insight and wisdom about where we exercise our freedom in what we do and say.

Lent is a good season of probability training for us.  We can use this time to simulate what might happen to us and prepare for how we can maintain ideal timing in our potential responses.  Prayer, Study, discerning from Scripture strategies of ideal timing, seeking community support, and doing the good preventive work of giving alms; these are ways that we can prepare in constructive ways for living with the vast probabilities of life.

So much of this, like the temptation of Jesus, is interior work, because we have to be inwardly prepared before we take on the details of our mission and work in our lives.

Today, let us continue to pray, "lead us not into temptation, save us from the time of trial, and deliver us from evil,"  but let us also work during this season of Lent to learn good timing in our lives, doing and saying the right things, at the right times, for the right motives, and so progress in our desire to be more Christ-like.  Amen.

Ash Wednesday: How Will We Be Recycled?

Ash Wednesday   February 14, 2024
Isaiah 58:1-12 Ps.103
1 Cor. 5:20b-6:10 Matt. 6:1-6, 16-21

Lectionary Link

Did you ever think that before we came to know about atoms and other sub-atomic particles, that a fragment of dust or ashes might have been regarded to be the smallest entity in life?

Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return. The mere observation of the body put on fast forward either through fire or through long decaying in an ossuary, rendered the conclusion that when the bodies breaks into its smallest fragments, it is but a collection of dust. As dust and ashes the body is eventually recycled into the environment over time depending upon the environment into which bodies are disposed.

How should we think about dust and ashes now that we have come to believe in the existence of atoms and sub-atomic particles? What does our delving into the hyper-microscopic world do to our dust and ashes metaphors? And how does our knowledge of atoms and the sub-atomic world affect our understanding of our Ash Wednesday Scripture readings?

The ancient people, like us, knew of the mystery of the unseeable microscopic and the sub-microscopic worlds. They used metaphorical words like heart and spirit to speak about the inner mystery of life within our bodily flesh. The ancient people, like us knew that the flesh has a shelf life, and the flesh has a event of separation of the inside sub-microscopic life of heart, spirit, and soul from the body.

Even though humanity in many ways has believed in the inward life of soul and spirit, it does not diminish the preferred connection of our inward life with our bodily lives. For all intents and purposes, we rather be living, so much so that we cherish living, and we mourn when we lose people from the realm of the living, and we hope that they continue to live in some way. We hope that they have some substantial continued being, one even as substantial as they were in their bodies which become ashes.

St. Paul wrote about having treasure in our earthen vessel. The words of Jesus exhort us to build up treasures in heaven, in such a way that they cannot be degraded like our bodies which break down back to dust.

Ash Wednesday is about contrasting how our bodies will eventually be recycled with how the mystery and worth of our personhood will be recycled.

Most of us will not make the history books, even while we might be retained for a generation or two in memories within our family and friendship circles. So how will the mystery of our lives be recycled and retained? This is the building of treasure part of our future.

An act of kindness, mentoring a person, and myriads of deeds of love and justice will remain recycled as the fuel of hope forever. Building up the secret treasures of heaven means that we will be bricks in the wall of time forever, unable to be removed and forever contributing with what has been, is, and will happen.

The liturgy of Ash Wednesday is about cherishing our mortal lives so much that we "make hay while the sun shines." That is, we develop our inward lives of language to code our body deeds, our speech, and our writing with the mystery of the treasures of heaven, even the mystery of love and justice played forward forever through our interaction with the people of our lives.

When we think about it, words are mysterious in what they are and how they come to be within us. They are sub-atomic, even sub-microscopic but they are poignantly effective in manifesting the values of our lives through deeds, saying, and writing.

We are given this life in our bodies so that we can develop the treasures within, about which the words of Jesus and Paul refer to. Let us cherish our lives in our bodies so much by developing our words in action lives which determine the legacies that we have with the people in our lives now, but also become the future chain of becoming for the people whom we influence who live beyond us and influence people for their futures.

May God help us cherish our lives in our declining bodies, so that we are mindful to build the basis to influence the enhancement of goodness for people now and in the future. Let the treasures of love and justice from us be how the best part of us is recycled forever. Amen.

Sunday School, February 18, 2024 1 Lent B

  Sunday School, February 18, 2024   1 Lent B

Themes:

The temptation of Jesus

What is temptation?

Temptation is about being tricked into doing things at the wrong time.

If you see a piece of chocolate cake in the kitchen and it is only an hour before dinner, you may want to eat the lovely piece of cake.  But you also know that your mom wants you to wait until it is time for dessert after you eat a good healthy meal.

But you really want to eat the chocolate cake right now.  And so you do and when it comes supper time, you are not hungry to eat good food.  And your mom wants to know about the missing cake.

We are tempted all the time.  We are tempted to have lots of mis-timing in life.  We desire things, right now and we don’t want to wait, even though by not waiting we get into trouble.

So we need to practice doing the right things at the right time.  The church has an entire season for learning how to practice doing things at the right time.  We fast.  That is, we say no to certain foods and things so that we can develop our muscles of choice to be strong enough to do the right things at the right time.

We don’t like to say “no” to ourselves.  But we need to learn how to practice self-control.  The season of Lent is a season to build our muscles of self control.  How do we do this?  One way is to say no to some of our favorite pleasures and to use our time and our money to share with people who do not have as much as we do.  We do more community service.  We take on projects to help others because we are using the energy that we used to use for ourselves for others.

The season of Lent helps us to learn self control so that we can practice good timing in our lives, do the right things at the right time.

Exercise:

Think about things that you really like to do but that may not be good for you if you do too much or do them at the wrong time.

Then develop a strategy, a plan during Lent to practice self control so that you can learn the very best timing for doing everything in your life.

Sermon

What season of the Church are we in now?  Lent.  And what is the color for Lent?  For the season of Lent we make some changes.  We change colors.  You noticed that we changed candle holders on the altar.  We have changed our collection plates from silver to basket.  We have change our wine cup and bread plate from silver to pottery.  And we have dropped a very, very happy word that means “yeah God” out of the service.  And we won’t say it during Lent, at least not on purpose.

  Why do we do all of this?  Because the season of Lent is not a season of celebration.  It is a season of hard work and preparation.  And it lasts 40 days, not including Sundays.   And when does it end?  It ends on the biggest celebration of the year, on Easter Sunday.

  Why do we have Lent?  Why does a baseball team have spring training?  Why does a football team have training camp?

  To get ready for the real games.  What are the baseball players doing right now?  They are in spring training.  They are do lots of exercises.  They are practicing fielding and throwing the ball.  They are practicing making double plays.  Over and over again.  Why?  So, their team can be ready when the real games start.  And why do they want to be ready?  Because they want to win as many games as they can and go to the most important game of all, the World Series.

  Lent is a Season of Practice.  And there are lots of things that we need to take time to practice.  We need to practice taking care of our health and our bodies.  So, we try to practice something new in health and safety.  Eating good food.

  We practice helping other people.  We might do something to help people in our world who are in need.

  We practice loving God.  How do we do this?  We learn how to pray a little bit more.  We spend more time talking to God.  And we learn more about the Bible and we learn more about God.  Why do we do this?  Because, we need to have faith.  Why do we need to practice our faith?  Because there are things in life that are hard and difficult.  There are things that might make us afraid.  Things that might make us worry.  And so we have to build our faith to help us be prepared for some of the difficult things that we might have to do.

  During Lent, we try to spend more time together.  We are a church family.  We are like a team.  And if we are going to be a good team, then we have to spend some time together, getting to know each other so that we can work together.

  So we have the season of Lent as a season of training and preparation to become better Christian.  Sometimes practice is hard work and sometimes it is not fun.  Most baseball players would rather play games than practice.  But if we want to do well in the game, we must practice.  So, too, if we want to be better Christians, and a better parish team, we need to practice.  In the season of Lent, we work on practicing our Christian faith.   Are you ready for practice?  I hope you and your family can find some things to practice during the season of Lent.  Amen.

Intergenerational Family Service with Holy Eucharist

February 18, 2024: First Sunday In Lent

Gathering Songs: Yield Not to Temptation, Change My Heart, O God, Eat This Bread, Peace Before Us

Liturgist: Blessed the Lord who forgives all our sins.

People: God’s mercy endures 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.

Opening Song: Yield Not to Temptation (LEVAS # 170)

Yield not to temptation, for yielding is sin, each victory will help you some other to win.  Fight pressing onward, dark passion subdue.  Look ever to Jesus, he will carry you through. 

Refrain: Ask the Savior to help you. Comfort, strengthen and keep you.  He is will to aid you.  He will carry you through.

Shun evil companions, bad companions disdain.  God’s name hold in reverence, nor take it in vain.  Be thoughtful and earnest, kind-hearted and true.  Look ever to Jesus, he will carry you through.  Refrain

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.

People:            And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

Almighty God, whose blessed Son was led by the Spirit to be tempted by Satan: Come quickly to help us who are assaulted by many temptations; and, as you know the weaknesses of each of us, let each one find you mighty to save; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Litany phrase: Praise the Lord (chanted)

O God, you are Great!  Praise the Lord

O God, you have made us! Praise the Lord

O God, you have made yourself known to us!  Praise the Lord

O God, you have provided us with us a Savior!  Praise the Lord

O God, you have given us a Christian family!  Praise the Lord

O God, you have forgiven our sins!  Praise the Lord

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

A Reading from the Book of Genesis

God said to Noah and to his sons with him, "As for me, I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you, and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the domestic animals, and every animal of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark. I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth." God said, "This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth." God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth."

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

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.

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.

In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."

And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.

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 Anthem: Change My Heart O God,   (Renew! # 143, gray paperback hymnal)

Change my heart, O God.  Make it every true.  Change my heart, O God, may I be like you.  You are the Potter, I am the clay; Mold me and make me, this is what I pray.  Change my heart, O God, make it ever true; change my heart, O God, may it be like you.

(Repeat)

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.

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 neighbors as our self.

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 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:       Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.

People:            Therefore let us keep the feast.   

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: Peace Before, (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…

Light before us..

Christ before…

Dismissal:   

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

People: Thanks be to God!