Jesus Did Not Want to Be an Only Child!

7 Easter Cycle  A      May 24, 2020

Acts 1:6-14        Ps. 68 

 1 Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11   John 17:1-11     
Lectionary Link

Today is the Sunday after the Ascension.  Houston, there's been a lift off and Jesus has gone out of sight....And where did the early church believe that Jesus went?  They believed that he went into the realm of God to be with his heavenly parent and be a High Priest in the heavenly realm.  And what does Jesus the High Priest do?  He continues to live forever making intercession on our behalf.

In the Gospel of John for today, we've read the true "Lord's Prayer;" the other one is actually the disciples' prayer taught to them by Jesus, and he did teach them to address God as "Our Father."

When we read the Gospel of John, we get the impression that the writer walked with Jesus and was so beloved and close to Jesus that he shared with him his words and thoughts.  And if Jesus is a great High Priest who intercedes for us in heaven, the Gospels also presented him as a man who prayed and interceded for his friends while he lived on earth.

The writer of John really felt so close to Jesus, that he knew how Jesus prayed, so much so that we get a glimpse into the heart of concern of Jesus.  This prayer of Jesus expresses the mystical goal of the Gospel program of John's Gospel.  "Father, I ask that my friends might be one, as you and are one."

We sometimes think that this refers to the unity of the church, and it can and does, but more specifically in John's mystical program, Jesus desires that each person come to know the oneness with the heavenly parent as it has been modeled by him.  

Jesus is saying to his heavenly parent, " Father, I don't want to be an only child....let me have many, many, many brothers and sister.  Let them realize their end in life, which is to know themselves as sons and daughters of God.  That they may be one with you Father, as I am one with with you.

So, how are you and I going to realize and know that we are sons and daughters of God and one with our heavenly parent?

We're going to do what Jesus did.  And what did Jesus do?  He prayed.  We pray because we already have taken up identity within the family of God, as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  What is prayer?  According to our catechism it is living as though all our lives is a continual response to God with words and without words; with unspoken words of our body language in what we do and perform in love and justice.

In John's Gospel, Christ is the Eternal Word from the beginning.  Jesus said that his words were Spirit and life.   And when we make our lives prayer lives, we make our words spirit and life.  We live our lives emulating Jesus who is an intercessor for others.

When Jesus walked this earth, he prayed for his friends.  When Christ rose and ascended, he continues to pray.  And he says to us, " I want to borrow you and your life; I want to pray in and through you continually and make your lives, lives of prayer, and so you will know your true identity as sons and daughters of God, because you will embrace the very same prayer ministry that I have in this world."

Dear friends, don't doubt the image of God on your life.  You belong to God.  And how do you know it and practice it?  You pray, I pray and we all pray, all of the time.  Prayer involves word and Prayer words create.  They name the situation.  They name the need.  They name the normalcy of health and salvation.  They state the deprivation from health and salvation which sin and sickness and this pandemic are.  And words are like votes; if we cast enough of them to invoke health and salvation, we can tip the scales toward majority in the freedom that is in our world and come to realize health.

No matter what happened to Jesus.  He prayed.  Why?  He was one with God the Creator.  And you and I are invited into the priestly ministry of Jesus by living lives of prayer as it has been shown to us by Jesus.

Rejoice today.  We are chlldren of God.  We are one with the Father.  So, let get on with it.  Let get on with making prayer the very vocation of our lives.  Not just table grace prayer or prayer at church; but prayer as our intentional life of responding to God as our Father.  Amen.

Mystical Union? Being a Child of God

7 Easter Cycle A May 24, 2020

Acts 1:6-14 Ps. 68

1 Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11 John 17:1-11

Lectionary Link

The Gospel of John is significantly different from the other canonical Gospels. It was written later and includes different literary forms. It does not have parables; it does not have exorcisms, it does not have the Bethlehem birth story, and the miracles are called signs but it does have very long discourses and is the most significant "red letter/words of Jesus" Gospel. One of the long "discourses" of Jesus is the long prayer in John, chapter 17, which is in fact, can more likely be called the "Lord's Prayer," than the "Our Father," since the "Our Father," could be called the disciples' prayer. Remember the Gospel process involved persons who believe they were filled with God's Spirit, who had the mind of Christ, and who believed that when they spoke in the name of Jesus, they were channeling his words as an oracle of Christ himself. These oracle words channeled through the early preachers/friends of Jesus were then placed in narrative teaching contexts that became the Gospels. In the Gospel writings, there is a distinction of weaved words from the oral tradition of Jesus of Nazareth and the oracles words of the Risen Christ channeled through the early evangelists. John's Gospel is so distinctly different, it seems to involve more channeled words of the Risen Christ and the word are presented in a mystagogic form as a spiritual program for initiates to be on a transformational path to realize the end and goal of human life.

What is the biblical end and goal of human life? It is to recover and live out the image of God as our heavenly parent. Jesus Christ is the one who God gave to this world to help human being realize themselves as sons and daughters of God.

In the prayer of Jesus, which we read on Ascension Sunday, we have a prayer of Jesus speaking in the past tense about his time on earth. And he states his pray wish for his disciples. "Father, I pray that they may be one, even as you are one in me." This is the mystical goal of life. Jesus, told his disciples, if you have seen me, you have seen the Father." And now he wants it to be, "if you see my disciple, you also can see the Father; that is, you can see the image of God upon their lives as they have come into the power to be children of God."

What did the early Christians believe about the Ascended Christ? They believed that he had attained another state of glory, of profound influential fame, the influential fame of being next to God and interceding on behalf of his earthly friends.

You and I should use the interceding prayers of Jesus like our stairway, ladder or elevator to attain what St. Paul said, "be seated with Christ in heavenly places." This is the spiritual poetry of the early church to speak about mystical union with God in Christ in knowing oneself as a child of God.

John's Gospel is the most profound Gospel about the Fatherhood of God. Many of the words of the Risen Christ in the Gospel oracles are about the relationship between Jesus the Son and God the Father. Jesus is the unique Child, unique Son of God to help us realize, or have the power and authority to be sibling children of God.

In our modern era of coming into a fuller appreciation of the equality of women in our social order, but also into our theological symbols, the seeming limitation of "masculine" designation for the divine can seem starkly excluding of the feminine. And in charity, we need to understand the limitation of cultures of patriarchal dominance. Hebrew Scriptures has feminine designations for the divine, even while the masculine often prevailed because of the heavenly competition with the various goddesses of Canaan. In the old order when microscopic things were not yet seen, the contribution of the egg as equal in child birth was not known, and the masculine was given an omni-competence for generating the whole child, who had merely been planted in "soil" of the womb. In the old order, the masculine was the nature of a child and the feminine was but the nurture of the child. Since Paul wrote that in Christ, there is neither male nor female, but a new creation, we can understand the Fatherhood of God in a more androgynous way, as an omni-competent Heavenly Parent from whom we derived and whom we seek to be one with as we seek to perfectly bear the image of our heavenly parent.

The prayer, "that they may be one," has often been reduced to ecclesiastical policy. It is seen as a prayer of Jesus for the unity of the church. And yet there are so many churches which are not in such unity. I think that this prayer of Jesus has less to do with the administrative unity of everyone who calls themselves Christian; no, it has to do with each person coming into the power of being a child of God and bearing in the best possible way the image of our heaven parent and creator.

This is the daunting task of our lives; to bear the image of God into our world as we have been given the perfect example in the life of Jesus Christ.

And how to we bear the image of God into our world? With the practice of love and justice. What does God look like in our world now? God looks like love and justice as it can come to people in many ways through the practice of people who are seeking to bear and live out the image of God in this world.

Jesus said, "If you have seen me, you have seen the Father." And what did we see in Jesus? Sacrificial love, honesty and justice.

Now this day, on Ascension Sunday, we note the real absence of Jesus of Nazareth from this world. And what is it that takes the place of the absent Jesus of Nazareth?

The Risen Christ says, "If people see you, then they have seen your heavenly parent." Why? Because the prayer of the Risen Christ is always, "Father/Parent, make them one as you are one in me."

Let us use the power of the prayer of Christ for us, to realize ourselves as children of God today. Amen

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Sunday School, May 24, 2020 7 Easter A

Sunday School, May 24, 2020     7 Easter A

Theme:

Jesus Prayed

Have a discussion about what prayer means.  Discuss communication and relationship.

The longest prayer of Jesus in the Gospel is found in the 17 chapter of John.

Who did Jesus pray to?

His Father

Why did Jesus pray?

Prayer is talking and we talk to the people that we want to know.  Talking is how we express our relationship.

What did Jesus pray about?

He prayed for his disciple.  He prayed that his disciples might have the same close relationship with God as Father as he did.

What is prayer?

Prayer is an important indication of our belief in God.  We talk to those whom we believe to exist.  And we have special conversation with our friends.

Jesus prayed and so should we.

What does the Ascension mean?

The Ascension means that we believe that after Jesus Rose again, he went to the parallel place of heaven.  This this place we believe that Christ still prays for us and with us.  When we pray we want to join our prayers with the prayers that Jesus offers for us.

Sermon

  What are some of most important things that happen in a baby’s that let us know that the baby is growing up?  What about when the baby starts eating cereal and vegetables?  What about when the baby starts to shows some teeth?  What about when a baby starts to crawl? What about when a baby starts to walk?  And one of the most special things is when a baby starts to talk.  And what is the first word that a baby says?  Well all fathers know…a baby’s first word is Da Da.  Or at least that is what we hear.  Moms and brothers and sisters and grandparents may hear something else.

  And why is it important that a baby talks?  Because we can know our baby and our children better when they talk.  When a baby cannot talk and is just crying; we don’t always know why a baby is crying?  Is a baby tired, or hungry, or sick or does he need his diaper changed or is the baby just sad?

  But when a baby and child can talk, we can ask the baby what she wants.  We can ask her if she has a tummy ache.  And when a child can talk we can know more about a child.  So when a child talks to us

it is a great thing for us.

  Did you know that God likes us to talk too?  And when we talk to God, we call that prayer.

  Jesus was God’s Son.  And Jesus talked to God, his Father.  And we have read a part of the prayer of Jesus to his Father today.

  Jesus talked with his Father about things that made him happy.  He thanked his Father.  And he asked for some special favors from God for his friends.

  Your mom and dad and family are very happy when you talk to them.  When you tell them how you feel.  When you tell them that you love them.  When you ask for help.  When you thank them.  When you tell them about the fun you are having.  When you tell them why you are sad.

  God is our Father too.  And God likes for us to talk to him.  When we talk to God with our prayers, we a growing up in the big family of God.  When we talk to God with our prayers, we are showing that we are a part of this large family of God.  And if we act like we are member of this big family of God, then we will treat everyone as a special brother and sister.

  Just as our parents are happy when we first started talking to them.  So God is happy when we talk to him.  That is what Jesus showed when he prayed to God his Father.

  We come to church on Sunday to prayer together and talk to God.  And we do this to remember that we can talk to God anywhere.  We don’t have to be in church to prayer.  We come to church to remember to pray.

  Can you remember to prayer?  Talk to God.  If you do that you can be sure that God is very happy to hear and listen to you.  Amen.

Intergenerational Family Service with Holy Eucharist

May 24, 2020: The Seventh Sunday of Easter

Gathering Songs: Hallelu, Hallelujah!;  Majesty!, Father, I Adore You; Awesome God   

Liturgist: Alleluia, Christ is Risen.

People: The Lord is Risen Indeed.  Alleluia.

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

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

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

Through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Song: Hallelu, Halleluah  (Christian Children’s Songbook,   # 84)

Hallelu, hallelu, hallelu, hallelujah, Praise ye the Lord.

Hallelu, hallelu, hallelu, hallelujah, Praise ye the Lord.

Praise ye the Lord!  Hallelujah!  Praise ye the Lord!  Hallelujah! 

Praise ye the Lord!  Hallelujah!  Praise ye the Lord!

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.

People:            And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

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

First Litany of Praise: Chant: Alleluia

O God, you are Great!  Alleluia

O God, you have made us! Alleluia

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

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

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

O God, you have forgiven our sins!  Alleluia

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

A reading from the First Letter of Peter

Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you. Discipline yourselves, keep alert.

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

Liturgist: Let us read together from Psalm 68

But let the righteous be glad and rejoice before God; * let them also be merry and joyful.

Sing to God, sing praises to his Name; exalt him who rides upon the heavens; * YAHWEH is his Name, rejoice before 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 John

People:            Glory to you, Lord Christ.

Jesus looked up to heaven and said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed.  "I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. "

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: Majesty, (Renew # 63)

Majesty, worship His majesty.  Unto Jesus be all glory, honor, and praise. 

Majesty, kingdom authority flow from His throne unto His own;

His anthem raise. 

So, exalt, lift up on high the name of Jesus. 

Magnify, come glorify Christ Jesus the King. 

Majesty, worship His Majesty; Jesus who died,

now glorified, King of all kings.

                           

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.  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,

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

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

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

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

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

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

As we forgive our debtors: Hallowed be thy name.

Lead us not into temptation: Hallowed be thy name.

But deliver us from evil: Hallowed be thy name.

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

Forever and ever: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

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

Breaking of the Bread

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

People:            Therefore let us keep the feast.  Alleluia!

Words of Administration

Communion Song: Father I Adore You (Christian Children’s Songbook, # 56)

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

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

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

Post-Communion Prayer

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

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

And His Presence has been known to us.

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

    and sisters in Christ.

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

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

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

Closing Song: 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)

Dismissal:   

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

People: Thanks be to God!  Alleluia!  Alleluia!

Being Contained as God's Offspring through Jesus Christ

6 Easter A       May 17, 2020  

Acts 17:22-31       Ps. Ps. 66   

1 Peter 3:13-22     John 14:15-21                

Lectionary Link
What is a container?   A container is something that has stuff inside of it.  A container has a boundary, a border and outside surface.  And in many ways we live in a world of containers, entities with outer surfaces which contain inner stuff.

Each of us is a container.  Our outer surface is our epidermis with some "attachments," like hair, eyeballs and finger nail and toe nails.    And we have inside of us all our physiological stuff that is best known by surgeons who actually get to interact with the same.  But we contain lots of "non-physiological" stuff, the stuff of what we call thought, emotions, feelings, sense of self, personal identity, cultural identity and many other things which we have named because we believe that they reside or are contained within us.  Through our cultures we have come to accept the mapping of our interior life, and we inherited the knowing of ourselves as body, soul and spirit in our Christian interior map.

The encounter of St. Paul with the Greeks on Mars Hill in Athens is a telling account.  It instantiate the fact that Paul, formerly, Saul of Tarsus was a man with a background in the Hebrew-Judaic tradition but he lived in the Diaspora as a Roman citizen within a culture that would be called Greco-Roman in composition.

Athens was the ultimate symbolic place of Greek philosophical world influence.  Greek philosophers from Socrates, Plato and Aristotle found a way to hold their beliefs in gods and goddesses even while proposing the very foundation of rigorous philosophical, reasoned inquiry.

Paul is presented, in this account from the Acts of the Apostles as a Christian apologist who is looking for correspondences within the artifacts of the Greek culture.  He encountered the agnosticism in the statute with the engraving, "To an unknown god."  This is quite amazing, since there were many gods and goddesses in the Greco-Roman pantheon, so to honor an "unknown god," was a place for Paul to begin, since it represented a humility of openness that there might be something further to understand about the meaning of the divine life.

And Paul, also adopted a phrase which suggested that the God which the Greco-Roman people did not know was not just another member of the pantheon of gods and goddesses, but rather this God was the ultimate Container.  Paul stated, "In God, we live and move and have our being."  Is there a more ultimate Container than such a God?  Such a container would not have anything outside of it influencing it from without.  Such a container would only be influenced by everything that it contained.  We live and move and have our being in God.  We are contained by the ultimate Container.

And yet Paul also goes on to affirm the special existence of human beings.  We are not impersonal stuff in the great God Container; no, we are offspring of God.  Here again, Paul recognized an insight which came, not from the Hebrew Scriptures but which came from a Greek poet.  And Paul, as a Jew, could agree, because he believed that in the tradition of Adam, we were made in God's image, so we are higher personality stuff; not like a rock, or tree, or even a monkey.  We are higher personality stuff.

God can be regarded to be "unknown."  If God is so high and a different kind of existing being, then such an alien would not be able to be communicated with.  There would be no common language between humanity and such a God.  How does an unknown God become known by human beings?  By discovering a human being who is so magnificent that he is bi-lingual in the life and language of God and in the life and language of Jesus Christ we have such a "bi-lingual" Being.  And if such a being is made known, then we can be directed to find our own "bi-lingual nature," and realize our identity as children of God.

The Gospel of John is about knowing the power, the authority of being children of God.  The Gospel of John is explicit about Jesus presenting God as our heavenly Parent with Jesus as the unique divine Son who bears the image of God in such a profound way as to become definitive of what our relationship with God is to be.

Are we to be trapped in the physical and psychological determinism of our natural parents and cultures? No, the Gospel of John through the oracles of Jesus indicate that we can know our determination by our heavenly parent.  We can know that we are offspring of God, sons and daughters of God.

When parents die or leave our lives, we become orphans.  The Gospel of Jesus is a message about never being an orphan; our heavenly parent never left, never will leave, and never will die.

"So, Jesus, how can we know that we've not abandoned orphans, after you are gone and we are not able to see you?"  "I'm glad you ask," says the Risen Christ, "because I have the Holy Spirit within me to know this perpetual connection with God, the heavenly Parent.  And you are going to have this Internal Advocate too, so that you will have your true parentage always verified."  The Holy Spirit verifies our heavenly DNA.

Let us summarize some Gospel and Scripture insights for today.  1-We and everything else is contained in God as the Ultimate Container.   2-God is a very Personal Container, and we are made as God's offspring because unlike a rock or water, we are made of higher personality stuff.  3-God can be unknown unless we have a divine-human bi-lingual conduit for communication between humanity and God.  4-Jesus Christ is the divine-human bi-lingual Unique Son of God who came so that we could realize the original blessing of our creation in God's image as God's children.

And knowing this Gospel, let us accept our heavenly parentage and let us follow Jesus in learning how to be better in our bi-lingual practice of speaking the language of heaven within our earthly human experience.  The divine language in human experience is best known as love and justice.  Jesus Christ became human and spoke human language so that within human language we might learn to speak that which is most God-ward in human experience and so fully possess our inheritance as children of God.

This is the Gospel we celebrate and offer to all today.  Amen

Celebration of a New Ministry

Ante-Communion and Celebration of New Ministry

St. Mary’s-in-the-Valley Episcopal Church, Ramona, CA

May 17, 2020

 

Welcome to our worship today at St. Mary’s-in-the-Valley Episcopal Church, Ramona, CA.  My name is Phil Cooke, vicar of St. Mary’s-in-the-Valley Ramona.  Today is special for us because we are having a virtual Visitation of our Bishop, The Right Reverend Susan Brown Snook.  Bishops are central in the identity of our church, since “Episcopal” means, “having bishops.”  We are organized around having a bishop, and the office of bishop is an important symbol signifying the unity of the church in history and in geography.  A bishop symbolizes our connection with the church of the past; a bishop symbolizes our current connection with Christians gathered in other places in our world now.  Bishop Susan is our chief Pastor in the Episcopal Diocese of San Diego and we’re pleased that we can receive the benefit of her unifying ministry in our Diocese and the church-at-large.  Following today’s, Bishop Susan will preside at the Celebration of the New Ministry in a Zoom Meeting installation of the vicar of St. Mary’s-in-the-Valley.  We are pleased to begin with, “Old Time Religion,” played on the hammer dulcimer by Stanley Smith.  Our Bishop connects us in succession with the Old Time Religion of Jesus Christ as the Holy Spirit helps us to apply the Gospel in our current time.  Thank you for joining us today.

 

Prelude: Old Time Religion

Played on hammer dulcimer by Stanley Smith

 

Give me that old-time religion
Give me that old-time religion
Give me that old-time religion
It's good enough for me

It was good for our mothers
It was good for our mothers
It was good for our mothers
And it's good enough for me

It has served our fathers
It has served our fathers
It has served our fathers
And it's good enough for me

Makes me love everybody
Makes me love everybody
Makes me love everybody
And it's good enough for me

 

 

Alleluia. Christ is risen.

People The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia.

 

The Celebrant may say

Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid; Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy Name; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

Glory to God in the highest,  and peace to his people on earth. Lord God, heavenly King, almighty God and Father, we worship you, we give you thanks, we praise you for your glory. Lord Jesus Christ, only Son of the Father, Lord God, Lamb of God,  you take away the sin of the world; have mercy on us; you are seated at the right hand of the Father:  receive our prayer.   For you alone are the Holy One, you alone are the Lord, you alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the Father.  Amen.

 

The Celebrant then says

          The Lord be with you.

People And also with you.

Celebrant Let us pray.

 

Collect

O God, you have prepared for those who love you such good things as surpass our understanding: Pour into our hearts such love towards you, that we, loving you in all things and above all things, may obtain your promises, which exceed all that we can desire; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen

The First Lesson

 

Acts 17:22-31

Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, “Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way. For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, ‘To an unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things. From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him—though indeed he is not far from each one of us. For ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, 

‘For we too are his offspring.’ 

Since we are God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the deity is like gold, or silver, or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of mortals. While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

Hear what the Spirit is saying to God’s people

Thanks be to God

Psalm 66:7-18

Jubilate Deo

7 Bless our God, you peoples; *
make the voice of his praise to be heard;

8 Who holds our souls in life, *
and will not allow our feet to slip.

9 For you, O God, have proved us; *
you have tried us just as silver is tried.

10 You brought us into the snare; *
you laid heavy burdens upon our backs.

11 You let enemies ride over our heads;
we went through fire and water; *
but you brought us out into a place of refreshment.

12 I will enter your house with burnt-offerings
and will pay you my vows, *
which I promised with my lips
and spoke with my mouth when I was in trouble.

13 I will offer you sacrifices of fat beasts
with the smoke of rams; *
I will give you oxen and goats.

14 Come and listen, all you who fear God, *
and I will tell you what he has done for me.

15 I called out to him with my mouth, *
and his praise was on my tongue.

16 If I had found evil in my heart, *
the Lord would not have heard me;

17 But in truth God has heard me; *
he has attended to the voice of my prayer.

18 Blessed be God, who has not rejected my prayer, *
nor withheld his love from me.

The Epistle

1 Peter 3:13-22

Now who will harm you if you are eager to do what is good? But even if you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear, and do not be intimidated, but in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and reverence. Keep your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who abuse you for your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if suffering should be God's will, than to suffer for doing evil. For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water. And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you-- not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him. 

Lord, You give the Great Commission

Sung and played by Joshua Charney

Verse 1

Lord you give the great commission
Heal the sick and preach the word
Lest the Church neglect its mission
And the gospel go unheard
Help us witness to Your purpose
With renewed integrity
With the Spirit's gifts empower us
For the work of ministry

Verse 2

Lord You call us to Your service
In my name baptise and teach
That the world may trust Your promise
Life abundant meant for each
Give us all new fervour draw us
Closer in community
With the Spirit's gifts empower us
For the work of ministry

Verse 3

Lord You make the common holy
This my body this my blood
Let us all for earth's true glory
Daily lift life heavenward
Asking that the world around us
Share Your children's liberty
With the Spirit's gift empower us
For the work of ministry

Verse 4

Lord You show us love's true measure
Father what they do forgive
Yet we hoard as private treasure
All that You so freely give
May Your care and mercy lead us
To a just society
With the Spirit's gifts empower us
For the work of ministry

Verse 5

Lord You bless with words assuring
I am with you to the end
Faith and hope and love restoring
May we serve as You intend
And amid the cares that claim us
Hold in mind eternity
With the Spirit's gifts empower us
For the work of ministry

The Gospel

John 14:15-21

Jesus said, ”If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.

”I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.”

 

The Gospel of the Lord

Praise to you Lord Christ

 

Sermon:  Bishop Susan Brown Snook

 

 

Offertory Hymn: Love Divine, All Love’s Excelling

Sung by Deb and Rob Lewallen, and with accompaniment by Josh Charney

 

Love Divine, all loves excelling
Joy of heaven to earth come down
Fix in us thy humble dwelling
All thy faithful mercies crown

Jesus, thou art all compassion
Pure unbounded love thou art
Visit us with thy salvation
Enter every trembling heart.

Come, Almighty to deliver,
Let us all thy life receive;
Suddenly return and never,
Never more thy temples leave.
Thee we would be always blessing,
Serve thee as thy hosts above,
Pray and praise thee without ceasing,
Glory in thy perfect love.

Finish, then, thy new creation;
Pure and spotless let us be.
Let us see thy great salvation
Perfectly restored in thee;
Changed from glory into glory,
Till in heaven we take our place,
Till we cast our crowns before thee,
Lost in wonder, love, and praise.

 

The Celebration of a New Ministry will convene on Zoom at 10:30 a.m.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Celebration of New Ministry via Zoom, Enriching Our Worship, 4

 

 

Bishop: There is one Body and one Spirit;

People: There is one hope in God’s call to us;

Bishop: One Lord, one Faith, one Baptism;

People: One God, Creator of all.

Bishop: The Lord be with you.

People: And also with you.

Bishop:Let us pray.

O God of unchangeable power and eternal light: Look favorably on your whole Church, that wonderful and sacred mystery; by the effectual working of your providence, carry out in tranquility the plan of salvation; let the whole world see and know that things which were cast down are being raised up, and things which had grown old are being made new, and that all things are being brought to their perfection by him through whom all things were made, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

 The Bishop states the purpose of the gathering; and concludes

People of St. Mary’s-in-the-Valley, you have reflected on your ministry and discerned your choice for a new Vicar.

Wardens, with Connie Bley, Bishop’s Warden saying on behalf of the Bishop’s Committee

We have chosen and called Philip R. Cooke to be our Vicar, and he has accepted.

Bishop: I commend your choice and affirm this call

The Letter of Institution (BCP, p. 557) is read. The Bishop continues
Are you, the people of St. Mary’s-in-the-Valley ready to continue in your ministry, with Phil as your priest?

People: We are.

The Word of God

Rob Lewallen presents a Bible and says

Phil, with this Bible we proclaim and hear God’s living Word. Join us in the ministry of telling the Good News to the World.

Phil: Amen. Let us hear again the Good News of salvation.

Renewal of Baptismal Vows

 

Bishop: People of St. Mary’s-in-the-Valley: in Holy Baptism we received full adoption through God’s grace and full empowerment for ministry through the Holy Spirit. Will you work together as partners in the mission of the Church, to reconcile all people to God through Christ?

People: We will, with God’s help.

Bishop: The water of baptism signifies our eternal covenant with God. In it we are buried with Christ in his death. By it we share in his resurrection. Through it we are reborn by the Holy Spirit. Therefore in joyful obedience to Christ, we bring into his fellowship those who come to him in faith, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

The Bishop may bless the water.

We pray you, O God, to sanctify the waters of baptism by the power of your Holy Spirit, that all who in baptism are cleansed from sin and born again may continue for ever in the risen life of Jesus Christ our Savior.

Bishop:  Let us renew the solemn promises and vows of Holy Baptism, by which we renounce Satan and all his works, and promise to serve God faithfully in God’s holy Catholic Church.

Bishop: Do you reaffirm your renunciation of evil and renew your commitment to Jesus Christ?

People: I do.

Bishop: Do you believe in God the Father?
All: I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.

Bishop: Do you believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God?
All: I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again to judge the living and the dead.

 

Bishop: Do you believe in God the Holy Spirit?

All:  I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.

Bishop: Will you continue in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers?

All:  I will, with God’s help.

Bishop: Will you persevere in resisting evil, and, whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord?

All: I will, with God’s help.

Bishop: Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ?

 All: I will, with God’s help.

Bishop: Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?

All: I will, with God’s help.

Bishop: Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?

All: I will, with God’s help.

Bishop: May Almighty God, who has given us a new birth by water and the Holy Spirit, bestowed upon us the forgiveness of sins, and called us to ministry in Jesus Christ, keep us in eternal life by his grace; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Prayers

Bishop’s Warden, Connie Bley:

Phil, with this Book of Common Prayer we offer our prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings to God.

Phil: Amen. In the Spirit of God, who searches the heart and knows our deepest needs, let us pray for the Church, the world, and all who yearn for Christ’s healing.

A Litany for the Mission of the Church (BOS 2018)

Cathy Knowles, Prayer Leader

Leader: Holy God, in whom all things in heaven and earth have their being,

Have mercy on us.

Leader: Jesus the Christ, through whom the world is reconciled to the Father,

Have mercy on us.

Leader: Holy Spirit, whose glory fills the world and searches the depths of God,

Have mercy on us.

Leader: Blessed Trinity, source of both unity and diversity,

Have mercy on us.

Leader: From blind hearts and petty spirits, that refuse to see the need of all humankind for your love,

Savior, deliver us.

Leader: From pride, self-sufficiency and the unwillingness to admit our own need of your compassion,

Savior, deliver us.

Leader: From discouragement in the face of pain and disappointment, and from lack of persistence and thoroughness,

Savior, deliver us.

Leader: From ignorance, apathy, and complacency that prevent us from spreading the Gospel,

Savior, deliver us.

Leader: O God, we pray for the gifts of ministry.I nspire our minds with a vision of your kingdom in this time and place.

Hear us, O Christ.

Leader: Touch our eyes, that we may see your glory in all creation.

Hear us, O Christ.

Leader: Touch our ears, that we may hear from every mouth the hunger for hope and stories of refreshment.

Hear us, O Christ.

Leader: Touch our lips, that we may tell in every tongue and dialect the wonderful works of God.

Hear us, O Christ.

Leader: Touch our hearts, that we may discern the mission to which you call us.

Hear us, O Christ.

Leader: Touch our feet, that we may take your Good News into our neighborhoods, communities, and all parts of the world.

Hear us, O Christ.

Leader: Touch our hands, that we may each accomplish the work you give us to do.

Hear us, O Christ.

Leader: Strengthen and encourage all who minister in your name in lonely, dangerous and unresponsive places.

Hear us, O Christ.

Open the hearts and hands of many to support your Church in this and every place.
Hear us, O Christ.

Oil Stock presentation: Sandra Bedard

Phil, with prayer, companionship and laying-on of hands we bring the reconciling presence of Christ to those who seek healing. Join us in this ministry by calling us to repentance, and assuring us of God’s forgiveness and love.

Phil: Amen. Live without fear: your Creator has made you holy, loves you eternally, and reconciles you to one another.

The new Vicar says to the people

 The Peace of Christ be always with you.

People And also with you.

The Holy Communion Symbols

Chalice and Paten: Richard and Pamela Wade

Phil, when we share the bread and the cup, we proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. Join us at God’s table to offer and bless our gifts of bread and wine.

Vicar: Amen. Together, let us keep the feast.

Bishop

We offer thanksgiving to God for the ministries represented by these symbols, and ask God’s grace to live ever more fully into the commitments we have made in Baptism.

People Amen.

The General Thanksgiving

Officiant and People

Almighty God, Father of all mercies, 
we your unworthy servants give you humble thanks 
for all your goodness and loving-kindness 
to us and to all whom you have made. 
We bless you for our creation, preservation, 
and all the blessings of this life; 
but above all for your immeasurable love 
in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ; 
for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory. 
And, we pray, give us such an awareness of your mercies, 
that with truly thankful hearts we may show forth your praise, 
not only with our lips, but in our lives, 
by giving up our selves to your service, 
and by walking before you 
in holiness and righteousness all our days; 
through Jesus Christ our Lord, 
to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, 
be honor and glory throughout all ages. Amen.

Bishop

We have celebrated this new pastoral relationship in the great prayer of the Church. Phil,  I commend to your love and care the people of St. Mary’s-in-the-Valley. My brothers and sisters in Christ, I commend to your love and care your new Vicar, colleague and friend, Phil.

Pontifical Blessing:

Bishop: Our help is in the Name of the Lord.

All: The Maker of heaven and earth.

Bishop: Blessed be the Name of the Lord.

All: From this time forth for evermore.

Bishop: The blessing, mercy, and grace of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be upon you, and remain with you for ever. Amen.

Closing Hymn: Doxology

Dismissal

Vicar: Alleluia.  Alleluia.  Let us go for into the world, rejoicing in the power of the Spirit.

All:  Thanks be to God!  Alleluia!  Alleluia!