Sunday School, January 2, 2022 2 Christmas C

 Sunday School, January 2, 2022     2 Christmas C

Sunday School

Taking a long trip

Did you ever drive on a long trip with your family for a special vacation?  To Disneyland?  Disneyworld?  Lego Land?  

Do you remember the trip?  Do you remember how excited you were as you waited to arrive at your destination?

The story of the Magi or Wise Men is about three people who took a long trip because they could not wait to arrive at special event, the event of the birth of a very special person who would change their lives and the life of this world.

The Magi or Wise men were foreigners.  They came from other countries to travel to Bethlehem to see Jesus.

This journey is the story of the early church.  The early church was a large group of foreigners who left their homes and their ways of living with the gods of the Roman Empire and they accepted the God who was known to them because of Jesus Christ.  They experienced the birth of Jesus Christ into their lives and so they gave everything, all of the most important gifts of their lives to follow Jesus Christ and to share this message of the Gospel to everyone.

Remember that sometimes we have to take journeys to reach important destinations in our lives.  We have to take a journey through school and education to learn important things which will make ourselves better.

Think about your life as a journey.  The star of God is leading you to new discoveries in your life.  We celebrate the story of the Wise Men because it shows us that we are on a journey to know what the birth of Christ means in our life.

Sermon

  Is Christmas over?  Yes and No.  Christmas Day is gone but the season of Christmas last for 12 days.  Perhaps you’ve heard the song about the 12 days of Christmas.  The song is about getting to open one Christmas gift for each day of the Christmas season.  How many of you opened all of your Christmas Gift on Christmas gifts on Christmas day?  How many of you adults said in July after buying something expensive,”   Dear this is my Christmas and birthday gift?”  How romantic!

  So today is the 10th day of the Christmas Season and when will the Christmas Season end?  It  will on Tuesday night at midnight because, do you know what day Thursday is called?  It is called The Epiphany.  And what season begins on The Epiphany?  Epiphany.

  Today we have read about the wise men who came to see the baby Jesus.  Did any of you play a wise man in the Christmas Pageant?  What did the wise men bring the baby Jesus?  They brought gold, frankincense and myrrh.  Most of us might like gold for a gift…but frankincense and myrrh?  It depends upon how much one is into aroma therapy to appreciate those two gifts.

  How many of you like getting gifts at Christmas?  Well, if you like getting gifts at Christmas then you should thank the wise men, because they are the ones who inspired giving gifts at Christmas.  So let us say to the wise men.  Thank you for starting the gift tradition.

  But the wise men are not just important for the giving of gifts at Christmas time.  They are important for something else.

  Did you know that the wise men were from a different country than Jesus?  And they travelled a long distance to come and visit him.

  Let me ask you a question.  Do you like chocolate?  How many people in this room like chocolate?  If someone who had never had chocolate came to visit us, should we let them have chocolate?  Why should we share our chocolate?  If is it good an sweet, why should we share it?  Does everyone have the right to taste and enjoy chocolate?

Now if we like chocolate and if we should share chocolate with everyone, what about God?

  If we know that God is close to us, should we let everyone know that God is close to them to?  Or should we hide it from them.  Should we let other people know that God loves them and is close to them too?  Why?  Because the best things in life have to be shared with everyone.  The wise men were looking for the best thing in life and they came a long distance to find it.  They found the best person in life in Jesus Christ who is person who taught us that God is very close to us and who taught us that God loves us.  Should we keep that a secret or should we share it?  Just like everyone should be able to enjoy chocolates, everyone should be able to know that God loves them and that God is close to their lives.  That is one of the meanings of the story of the wise men today.  Let us remember that God’s love is for everyone even for the people whom we don’t know.  So let us always be ready to share God’s love with the new people we meet.

Intergenerational Family Service with Holy Eucharist

January 2, 2022: The Second Sunday after Christmas

Gathering Songs:

 We Three Kings of Orient Are, Away in a Manger

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

People: And Blessed be God’s Kingdom, Now and forever. Amen.

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

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

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

Through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Song: We Three Kings ( Blue Hymnal # 128)

1-We three kings of Orient are, bearing gifts we traverse afar, field and fountain moor and mountain, following yonder star.  O, star of wonder, star of night, star with royal beauty bright; westward leading still proceeding, guide us to thy perfect light!

2-Born a King on Bethlehem’s plain, gold I bring to crown him again, King for every ceasing never, over us all to reign. O, star of wonder, star of night, star with royal beauty bright; westward leading still proceeding, guide us to thy perfect light!

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.

People:            And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

O God,  you have wonderfully created, and yet more wonderfully restored, the dignity of human nature: All us to share in the divine life of him who humbled himself to share our human life, your Son Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

 Litany of Praise: Chant: Alleluia

O God, you are Great!  Alleluia

O God, you have made us! Alleluia

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

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

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

O God, you have forgiven our sins!  Alleluia

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

Liturgist: A reading from the Letter of Paul to the Ephesians

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

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

Liturgist: Please join in reading from Psalm 84

How dear to me is your dwelling, O LORD of hosts! * My soul has a desire and longing for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh rejoice in the living God.

The sparrow has found her a house and the swallow a nest where she may lay her young; * by the side of your altars, O LORD of hosts, my King and my God.

Happy are they who dwell in your house! * they will always be praising you.

Litany of Thanksgiving: Chant: Thanks be to God!

Litanist:

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

For our families and friends. Thanks be to God!

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

For this day of worship. Thanks be to God!

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

For work and for play. Thanks be to God!

For teaching and for learning. Thanks be to God!

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

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

   Thanks be to God!

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

People:            Glory to you, Lord Christ.

In the time of King Herod  when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, "Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him honor to this king of the Jews." When King Herod, who was also called the King of the Jews, heard this, he was frightened, and as well as the people of Jerusalem.  He called together all the chief priests and scribes of the people and he asked them where the Messiah was to be born.  They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet: 'And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.'" Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search for the child; and when you have found him, come and tell me so I can go honor him too. When they had heard the king, the wisemen went in the direction of the star until it stopped over the place where the baby Jesus lay. The wisemen were joyful to arrive at their destination. They enter the house and they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and honored him.  Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. They were warned in a dream not to return to Herod so they left for their own country without telling Herod where the Christ child could be found. 

Liturgist:         The Gospel of the Lord.

People:            Praise to you, Lord Christ.

Sermon:

Children’s Creed

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

Since God is so great and we are so small,

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

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

     resurrection of Jesus Christ.

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

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

     welcome.

We believe that Christ is kind and fair.

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

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

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

Song: We Three Kings (Blue Hymnal # 128, vss.3-4)

3-Frankincense to offer have I: incense owns a Deity nigh; prayer and praising gladly raising, worship him, God most hight. O, star of wonder, star of night, star with royal beauty bright; westward leading still proceeding, guide us to thy perfect light!

4-Myrrh is mine; its bitter perfume breathes a life of gathering gloom; sorrowing, sighing, bleeding, dying, sealed in the stone-cold tomb. O, star of wonder, star of night, star with royal beauty bright; westward leading still proceeding, guide us to thy perfect light!

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 birth into the family of God.

A family meal gathers and sustains each human family.

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

The Lord be with you

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts

We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to God.

It is right to give God thanks and praise.

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

Holy, Holy, Holy (Intoned)

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

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

Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the Highest.

(All may gather around the altar)

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

You have made us in your image

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

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

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

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

Your Son called us to live better lives and he gave us this Holy Meal so that when we eat the bread and drink the wine, we can know that the Presence of Christ is as near to us as this food and drink that becomes a part of us.

The Prayer continues with these words

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

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

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

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

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

By Christ, and with Christ, and in Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit all honor and glory is yours, Almighty Father, now and for ever. AMEN.

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

(Children rejoin their parents and take up their instruments) 

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

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

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

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

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

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

As we forgive our debtors: Hallowed be thy name.

Lead us not into temptation: Hallowed be thy name.

But deliver us from evil: Hallowed be thy name.

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

Forever and ever: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

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

Breaking of the Bread

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

People:            Therefore let us keep the feast.  Alleluia.

Words of Administration

Communion Song: Away in a Manger

1-Away in a manger, no crib for a bed, the little Lord Jesus laid down his sweet head.  The stars in the bright sky looked down where he lay, the little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay.

2-The cattle are lowing, the baby awakes, but little Lord Jesus no crying he makes.  I love thee, Lord Jesus!  Look down from the sky, and stay by my cradle till morning is nigh.

3-Be near me, Lord Jesus; I ask thee to stay close by me for ever and love me I pray.  Bless all the dear children in thy tender care, and fit us for heaven to live with thee there.

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: We Three Kings (Blue Hymnal # 128, verse 5)

5-Glorious now behold him arise, King and God and sacrifice; heaven sings alleluia: alleluia the earth replies. O, star of wonder, star of night, star with royal beauty bright; westward leading still proceeding, guide us to thy perfect light!

Dismissal:   

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

People: Thanks be to God!  

The Christmas Story in John's Gospel?

1 Christmas C      December 26, 2021
Is.61:10-62:3     Ps. 147:13-21
Gal. 3:23-25,4:4-7  John 1:1-18

Lectionary Link

 

If the Gospels of Luke and Matthew tell us about the birth of Jesus, the Gospel of Mark tell us about the adoption of Jesus by God the Father at his baptism when the heavenly voice said, “You are my son, the beloved, with you I am pleased.”  And the Holy Spirit descended upon him like a dove.

 

So,what do we call John’s Gospel regarding the origin of Jesus?   I would call John’s Gospel a very developed pre-conception story of Jesus.  It’s not about how he began in a conception in Nazareth or as a birth in Bethlehem or as an adoption at his baptism but as being the beginning of all beginnings.

 

What is the most expansive human notion to try to explain the beginning of all human life as we know it?  The Word.  Think about it, everything that can be known, is known because we always first assume that we exist as language users, having language.  We came into our lives not knowing how to use language fully, but we inherited the stamping of language all over our lives.  We came into this world as babies who were pre-coded by our parents’ culture and language.  Anything that can be known is known because we first assume the wide reach of the Reality of Word.

 

So, how does John’s Gospel state the pre-conception life of Jesus?  “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the word was God.  All things came into being through the Word…and the Word became flesh and lived among us.”

 

So, how can we build a cute little Christmas Pageant on the nativity story in John’s Gospel?  We can’t.

 

The Christmas Pageant in John is expressed solo in the phrase, “And the word became flesh and lived among us…”. Rather than being limited to the nativity of Jesus, this expresses a most profound reality about our human relationship with God.

 

The fact that human beings have word ability is what distinguishes them among other creatures.  The fact that we are limited to our life of words means that we filter and know all human experience through having language.  What do we do as language users?  We name other beings, and because we have language we project our human characteristics upon animals, and we think that we really communicate with our pets, and even with our plants.  To have language is to be a person and personal, with other persons.

 

And so having words, we also come to name the Being of God.  Yes, we have a human experience of God because we know that we live in realm greater than ourselves, and in our fascination, we can only say the evocative Wow! or My God!  And because words are proof of personality, we can only project that God and all things are personal and have personality.

 

And John’s Gospel tells us why we do this?  Why?  Because word was from the beginning, and word was with God, and the word was God.

 

So, in our worded link with God, we find the implanted image of God on us.  And with the word implant on our lives, we experience greatness and we say God.

 

We might ask an atheist if they believe in words?  Do they believe using words is proof of personhood? 

 

But we also might ask most people who say that they believe in God, do you believe that word is God?

 

We cannot be outside of words to know if things exist outside of having words and language.  It is silly and frustrating to try since we even are presuming to have language when do so.

 

I think the point of John’s Gospel is to deal with the central human reality that we have language.  So, the most important human issue is how we are using language.  I am not talking about having a big vocabulary or good grammar or whether you swear too much.  I am talking about the overall communication effect of our lives?  We are signs in motions giving off perpetual messages by how we are constituted by the language of our lives.

 

What do we say with the sign languages of our lives today?  Are we saying to others? I value you, I care for you, I honor your dignity, I am hopeful for you, and I am thankful for you.

If Jesus Christ is the Word of God, then that is the ultimate Communication of the Nature of God to us as human beings, and how are you and I going to be those who communicate the nature of God in Christ to the people in our world?

 

This is our task today, and in the new year, and in our personal lives, parish lives and in our national life.  Why?  Because we are supposed to be God’s signs to each other in this world in the very best possible ways.  Amen.

 

Christmas Eve C December 24, 2021

 Christmas Eve C  December 24, 2021
Isaiah 9:2-7 Psalm 96
 Titus 2:11-14  Luke 2:1-14

Lectionary Link

 

The expansive popularity of Christmas probably has to do with what can be called “baby magic.” The Christmas story is easier to tell to children than the Holy Week story.  And if it is safe for children then it is safe for everyone.  The Christmas story gets a PG rating for movie censors.

 

What is the baby magic?   Babies are completely dependent upon us.  Is that magic?  Sleepless nights?  Changing diapers?

 

So why do we like babies, other than their newness and their cuteness?  It could be that we are drawn to baby magic when we like the very best part of ourselves.  And what the very best part that we like about ourselves?

 

Being meaningful care givers to someone who really needs our help.  In the church we call this “ministry.”  Having the gift or the ability that is strategically useful to someone else.

 

Why do we feel different about ministry to a baby?  Because a baby seems to have an innocent helplessness about her that is winsome.  We have our doubts about the reasons for adult needs, because we hold an adult more accountable for their life situation, but we don’t do that with  babies, because they cannot be held accountable for their life conditions.

 

At Christmas time, the nice thing, even in our over-commercialized season, is that people want to please other people by giving gifts.  It is very satisfying to see a child excited about receiving a gift.

 

Most all Charities rely upon Christmastime largesse in giving to help in their ministry of giving throughout the entire year.

 

There is something right about our self-esteem, if we like ourselves better as people who can and do give to people who are benefited by our giving.  And this is the goodness that the Christmas can draw from us.

 

Where does the baby magic get its power?   A baby says to all of us, “You were once my age, and you’ll never consciously remember it.  You can hold me, smile at me, smell me, but you can’t be where I am. I’m living what you can’t remember.”

 

The baby evokes from us the fact of our first birth which remains locked in our memory vaults and can only be experienced when we project our birth upon the baby.  The baby allows the occasion for an experience of our original freshness.  And we like that feeling.

 

It is not surprising that this feeling became a metaphor the mystical experience which happened to the followers of Jesus.  People came to have these experiences of original freshness, and they called it a new birth.  St. Paul called it the mystery of having Christ in us.

 

And when many people experience of the mystery of having Christ in them, they looked for ways to teach this mystery of the church in story form.  And so we have the story of Mary who became the paradigm mystic of having Christ born within her physically and mystically.   She became the model for all Christians who have known the reality of Christ being born in their lives through the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit.

 

Let us return within ourselves to the mystical awareness of the Christ-Nature rising within us and like Mary, say over and over again, “Let it be according to your word.”

 

And as we know within ourselves the awareness of the Christ-nature, let it also be known in our lives as the Spirit of generosity towards those who need what we have to offer in terms of them knowing the worth and dignity of their lives.

 

Tonight we can get through all of what has accrued to Christmas in our cultural celebrations, and we can return to the mystical fact of Christmas: Christ is born in us.  Why?  So we can know our original dignity in the image of God?  Why?  So we can recognize that dignity in others and work to live lives worthy of the full dignity which God in Christ has imparted to every human being.

 

Merry Christmas!  Merry Birth of Christ in you.   Amen.

Prayers for Advent 2021

Friday, Christmas Eve, December 24, 2021

God of dark and light in the natural realm, your presence is constant while the sun can be seen and when it is not; we seek constant light from the Spirit of your Son Jesus so that in wisdom we can direct the path of our life choices today.  Amen.

Thursday in 4 Advent, December 23, 2021

God of always, already synchronicity, we cannot help but divide life experience into sequences and categories and identities; but everything is always, altogether, and we trust your comprehension of the altogether, to help us have wisdom in our parsing of overwhelming experience through the specific funnels of our focus today in trying to make our specific situation better, not in a comparative way but in an integrative way with how we mediate the wisdom of your presence.  Amen.

 Wednesday in 4 Advent, December 22, 2021

O God, we who have invented the ability to have everlasting lights while there is natural darkness have lost the light of moral and just care of each other and our environment.  Restore in us the inner Light of Christ to penetrate the darkness of injustice, cruelty, and the selfish neglect of those who suffer the most because of lack of care.  Amen.

Tuesday in 4 Advent, December 21, 2021

O God, who bears everything which has come into existence; and in our thinking that existence should be censored to allow only the perfect to come into being, we erase the moral significance that can only come because of freedom in a field of probabilities, give us the grace to bear everything that we must face today, and help us to discern how we can exercise our moral significance by making the wise decisions in our circumstances toward loving and just outcomes.  Amen.

Monday in 4 Advent, December 20, 2021

Gracious God, you emptied the divine life into the life of a baby; your emptied life continues within the lives of all babies and vulnerable people in this world who have been diminished by harshness.  Give us grace to tend to the continual self-emptying of the divine within the weak in our world.  Amen.

Sunday, 4 Advent, December 19, 2021

O God of justice, we cannot yet say the world is just because we exist in time;  give us grace to approximate our behaviors in time with what is just, in giving everything and everyone their due, as each being is also able to acknowledge co-existence with all that was, is, and will be.  As we seek justice, let the notion of tomorrow's justice deconstruct the presumption of having arrived at justice for today.  Amen.

Saturday in 3 Advent, December 18, 2021

O God of the Magnificat, who lifts up the lowly; not all lowly are lifted up and not all hungry get fed, and we can blame you as an intermittent interventionist or we can live up to our moral integrity created by genuine freedom to persuade humanity to love one another for best human practice.  Amen.

 Friday in 3 Advent, December 17, 2021

God of Eternal Word, Time, and Freedom, we know ourselves to be because we have language, and having language we have come to name you because language is evidence of the personal, and having language, we cannot help but see everything in personal ways, and so to name you God, as Great Personal Being, seems unavoidable.  Give us grace to continue to take you and everything personally, especially if it means deliberate love, care, and justice.  Amen.

Thursday in 3 Advent, December 16, 2021

God of Freedom and Time within the lives of language users; we interpret today Freedom and Time as definitive of evolution toward being people of justice and love, and when we seem to be devolve away from justice and love, we ask that the horrendous outcomes will shock us back upon the path of justice and love.  Amen.

Wednesday in 3 Advent, December 15, 2021

O God of freedom, we need strategy of living with the truth of the free conditions of our world as we try to influence institutions and governments to feed the hungry and lift up the lowly, while doing what we can on the local scale in our neighborhoods.  We beseech the will of heaven of ideal behaviors and harmonies to be brought to the actual earthly conditions of our lives even though we know that what is perfect is always further in the future because all creations is still growing up and we of higher sentient life are hoping to learn better behaviors from having failed so often.  Help us in the continual task of reconciling the ideal to the actual, and may we play our part in helping to make the actual more ideal.  Amen.

Tuesday in 3 Advent, December 14, 2021

O God of Blessed Mary, are you scattering the proud and casting the mighty from their thrones when they are not lifting up the lowly?  We want the values of Mary's Magnificat to be ours today and we ask for the persuasive powers of God's love to further bend the arc of history toward helping the lowly.  Amen.

Monday in 3 Advent, December 13, 2021

Our souls proclaim the greatness of the surpassing Worthy One, because humility is natural in the face of Plenitude; and yet in our very humbled particular human being, we still find a favor in knowing our association, and completeness with the Great One.  And all generations of humanity have and will know the favor of having the Christ Child be born in them because of the divine spark on everyone's human life from the beginning of knowing existence itself.  Amen.

Sunday, 3 Advent, Gaudete, December 12, 2021

God of Rejoicing in the middle of such a diverse life that there are many thing which are so impaired of goodness that rejoicing can seem out of place; we look for inner and divine compensation to face things which are not worthy because of deliberate evil or the probability conditions which include sufferings; as the Lady of Guadalupe appeared to members of a subjugated people to give them hope and identity, let us also be those who bring hope to people in very deliberate ways when we have the ability to do so.  Amen.

Saturday in 2 Advent, December 11, 2021

O God, who asks us to rejoice because of knowing the fruit of the Spirit joy; we know that we cannot rejoice in the conditions of hatred, oppression, cruelty and suffering, even as we can be happy in the good things of life; help us to see you beyond the visible to be the true source of our joy in the midst of all that can happen to us.  Amen.

Friday in 2 Advent, December 10, 2021

God who comprehends the most extensive realm of Life; help us to live the values of the realm of God in the applied practice of harmony of difference known as justice so that all beings can find the role that is in accordance with the full freedom of their nature and in so doing live peaceably without causing harm to others.  Forgive O God, my prayer for the seeming impossible, but let the ideal inform even our attempts at harmony today.  Amen.

Thursday in 2 Advent, December 9, 2021

O God of authenticity, give us humility to receive the rebukes for our hypocrisy, and refrain from replacing right behaviors with religious piety, and help us to "know ourselves," by continual deferral to the Messiah, the one who is unsurpassable but who shares the direction of surpassability with us so that we can repent.  Amen.

Wednesday in 2 Advent, December 8, 2021

God of Power, is there any hope for "Christian" empires consisting of people who have forgotten our origins as oppressed peoples following the Christic martial arts of the beatitudes?  We pray for the perfection of power in being transformed for the care of everyone in society, especially the vulnerable and the weak, and help our democratic leaders to know care as the only way that power can be perfected.  Amen.

Tuesday in 2 Advent, December 7, 2021

O God, who could be named the superlative of all virtues, we seek to know joy as a sustainer and compensating fullness in the midst of life where the sadness of loss and the results of oppressions, tyranny, and lying are so rampant.  Let us not reduce joy to happiness for getting what we want but know it as a flow from a deep well as affirmation for original goodness of life itself.  Amen.

Monday in 2 Advent, December 6, 2021

O God of Nicholas of Myra, his outstanding witness of kindness to children inspired the imaginations to make him is his posthumous days a near universal saint of children.  Let the spirit of kindness reign today toward children so they can be nourished in hope for a future which from our current world can oft seem dire.  With hope let our children be inspired in creativity to make Nicholas' kindness universal.  Amen.

Sunday, 2 Advent, December 5, 2021

O God who inspires strategies of people getting better; you sent John the Baptist to emphasize the importance of understanding moral and spiritual direction and the importance of making a commitment to perfection even when our failure due to bad habits humiliate us as a strategy for bringing us to experience the grace of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the Higher Power promised us in Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Saturday in 1 Advent, December 4, 2021

O God of desert solitude, city bustling activity, countryside pastoral settings; lead us to cross pollination of ideas and pieties born in different settings so that we might enlarge our hearts to understand the meaning of justice for persons within different life situations.  Give us grace to tolerate diversity even as diverse people honor justice for all.  Amen.

Friday in 1 Advent, December 3, 2021

O God of the Rainbow, comprehending the entire diversity of what is; give us the wisdom of knowing yes and no on matters of love and justice, but also the grace of the threshold between the either and or, because we are people in progress toward what we yet want to become.  Help me to know that my yesterday's yes, might be today's "no" because of the becoming in time toward what justice continually means.  Amen.

Thursday in 1 Advent, December 2, 2021

O God of the Silence which speaks and inspires, you sent John the Baptist from the silence of the wilderness to preach perfectability as the direction of human becoming, and he prepared the way for Jesus to baptize with the Higher Power of your Spirit, so that we might have the ability to progress in the path of the perfect excellence to which we are called.  Amen.

Wednesday in 1 Advent, December 1, 2021

Gracious God who calls us to excellence, let us be on the adjustable path toward perfection as we face always the binary of what is, with what is better for the people of our world in kindness, love, and justice.  Let us always resolve the binary of what is and what is better with creative advance toward excellence.  Amen.

Tuesday in 1 Advent, November 30, 2021

Eternal Word of God, even though words are made flesh and external reality in how words structure our existence; words in their most basic sense are interior reality and in this reality we have come to colonize our entire external order.  Give us grace to appreciate the interior angelic reality of word messaging and help us to find our best voices following the example of the values of love and justice given to us in the witness of Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Monday in 1 Advent, November 29, 2021

God of space, time, and matter, it is hard for us to conceive of space, time, and matter as not existing yet we can understand transformations, transitions, endings, and new beginning as always, already happening.  We know that big transitions happen, like the one we call Death, but even as personal death is a change not an ending, we know that you preside over Continuous Life Always, and we are humbled to live and move and have our being and becoming in You.  Amen.

First Sunday of Advent, November 28, 2021

God of freedom and time, we aspire for a coming of a hero who would take away the very conditions which make moral freedom valid; we desire a world without possibility or probability of evil, harm, and need and we use hope's narratives for an analgesic for our current struggles.  Help us to accept the co-existence of ambiguous living with our days of childhood innocence when we could not understand moral significance and help us be morally strong people who protect the state of the innocent in those who have not yet attained their moral maturity.  And let this Advent season be one when all who should be morally mature, rise to the occasion to be those who protect the innocent.  Amen.

Sunday School, December 26, 2021 1 Christmas C

  Sunday School, December 26, 2021   1 Christmas C

Theme:

A different kind of Christmas Story

If we say that Jesus is the eternal Son of God, that means he has always been.  So, where was Jesus the eternal Son of God, before he was born to Mary in Bethlehem?

The Gospel of John gives us the answer to this question.  In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.  The Word was made flesh…the Word was found to be in the baby Jesus who grew to be a grown adult man.  So, the Word, which created everything, lived with us in the person of Jesus.

The Gospel of John tells us about Jesus, the Christ, before he was born in Bethlehem.

Word is a very good metaphor for Christ and for God.  Why?

Word is the most distinguishing thing about being human.  People have and use words in a way that no other creatures do.  Words make us human.  The only way that we can know that we know anything at all is by having and using words.

Why is it important that Jesus as WORD AND GOD?  To be the very best human beings, we have to learn how to use words in the very best way.  We have to learn to use words to be wise, to know as much as we can, to speak with love and kindness, but we have to remember our body language too.  We have to have our body perform deeds of love and kindness.  Jesus is the Word made Flesh and though the life of Jesus, God showed us how we can create our lives in the very best way through the ways in which we use words, with our speaking and with our writng and with our body language.

As we begin the new year, let us make a resolution to improve our word use, in our speaking, in our learning new things, in our writing and in our body language.

Remember God as Word is everywhere, inside of us and outside of us because God as Word is Life and Light.

My Word to You:  Happy New Year and God bless you in how you use your words in 2022

Sermon

  Let’s pretend for just a minute.  Let us pretend that we cannot see.  Let us pretend that we cannot hear.  Let us pretend that we cannot speak.

  It is hard to pretend this.  Because if we had never learned the word pretend, we wouldn’t know what pretend.

  Maybe we should think about a little baby who is crying.  Do we know why a baby cries?  Can the baby tell us why exactly he or she is crying?  No, but we try to guess.  Do we need to change a diaper, or give the baby some milk, or give the baby some medicine?  Do we need to burp the baby?  Does the baby have a tummy ache?  Or is the baby cold?  Or is the baby too hot?  Or is the baby lonely?

  We try to guess why a baby is crying, but we cannot be sure why a baby is crying.  Why?  Because a baby does not yet know how to speak or to use language.  And when a baby begins to use language, a baby starts to become more like a grown-up.  Why?  Because the baby can now talk to mom and dad and to brothers and sisters and Grandmothers and grandfathers.  And so we always celebrate when a baby says the first words, because we know that the baby is becoming able to tell us how she feels.

  There once was little girl named Helen Keller.  When she was a baby she had a sickness and she lost her ability to see, to talk and to hear.  Because she could not see, talk or hear, she had no way to learn how to talk.  Can you imagine what her life was like?  She was not happy and she was very hard to care for, because she had no way to talk with her parents.   Her parents hired a teacher to try to teach her.  And it is very hard to teach someone who cannot see, hear or talk.  But the teacher used her hands to make letters in her hand.  But she did not even know the letters, until one day when water was pouring over her hand, the teacher spelled “w-a-t-e-r” into the hand of Hellen Keller.  And Helen suddenly understood what words meant.  And she was so excited she wanted to know the name of everything that she could touch.  And when she could use words, her life was suddenly new, because she could now talk with her parents using her hands.  Helen Keller grew up to be a famous and well-educated person, and she helped and inspired people who did have the ability to see, hear or speak.

  Jesus Christ is called the Word of God.  And from the life of Helen Keller, you and I can understand how important Words are for us.  Everything in our world is created with Word, because we don’t know what anything is if we don’t have words.

  Let us be thankful today that we have words.  With words we don’t have to live alone and be lonely, because with words we can talk with the important people in our lives.  And let us be thankful that God our creator made us special because we were made to use words.  And so today we use our words to thank God who made us to have words in our lives.  And we should be very careful about how we use the words of our lives.  Our words can create love and kindness; or our word can cause war and fighting.  Let remember when we use words; they are special gifts to us that God gave us to use. Amen.

Family Service with Holy Eucharist

December 26, 2021: The First Sunday after Christmas

Gathering Songs: What Child Is This?;   Go Tell It On the Mountain; God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen

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

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

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

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

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

Through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

What Child Is This  (Blue Hymnal # 115)

What child is this, who, laid to rest, on Mary’s lap is sleeping?  Whom angels greet with anthems sweet, while shepherds watch are keeping?

Chorus: This, this is Christ the King, whom shepherds guard and angels sing;

   haste, haste to bring him laud, the babe, the son of Mary.

Why lies he in such mean estate where ox and ass are feeding?  Good Christian fear: for sinners here the silent Word is pleading.  Chorus

So bring him incense, gold and myrrh, come, peasant, king, to own him; the King of kings salvation brings, let loving hearts enthrone him.  Chorus

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.

People:            And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

Almighty God, you have poured upon us the new light of your incarnate Word: Grant that this light, enkindled in our hearts, may shine forth in our lives; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

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 Letter of Paul to the Galatians

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God..

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

Let us read together from Psalm 147

Hallelujah! How good it is to sing praises to our God! * how pleasant it is to honor him with praise!

Great is our LORD and mighty in power; * there is no limit to his wisdom.

The LORD lifts up the lowly, * but casts the wicked to the ground.

Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving; * make music to our God upon the harp.

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.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.  There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.  He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.  And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth. (John testified to him and cried out, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.'") From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father's heart, who has made him known.

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

Song: Go Tell It On the Mountain, (Blue Hymnal, # 99)

Chorus: Go tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere; go tell it on the mountain, that Jesus Christ is born!

While shepherds kept their watching o’er silent flocks by night, behold, throughout the heavens there shone a holy light. Chorus

The shepherds feared and trembled when lo above the earth rang out the angel chorus that hailed our Savior’s birth.  Chorus

Down in a lowly manger the humble Christ was born, and God sent us salvation that blessed Christmas morn.  Chorus

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 birth into the family of God.

A family meal gathers and sustains each human family.

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

The Lord be with you

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts

We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to God.

It is right to give God thanks and praise.

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

Holy, Holy, Holy (Intoned)

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

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

Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the Highest.

All  may gather around the altar

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

You have made us in your image

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

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

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

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

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

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

  this food and drink  that becomes a part of us.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(Children rejoin their parents and take up their instruments)

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

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

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

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

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

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

As we forgive our debtors: Hallowed be thy name.

Lead us not into temptation: Hallowed be thy name.

But deliver us from evil: Hallowed be thy name.

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

Forever and ever: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen: 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 :  

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: God Rest You Merry Gentlemen (Blue Hymnal # 105)

God rest you merry gentlemen, let nothing you dismay; remember Christ our Savior was born on Christmas day, to save us all from Satan’s power when we were gone astray.  Chorus: O tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy; O tiding of comfort and joy!

From god our heavenly Father a blessed angel came and unto certain shepherds brought tiding of the same: how that in Bethlehem was born the Son of God by name.  Chorus

Dismissal:   

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

People: Thanks be to God!