Sunday School, June 26, 2022, 3 Pentecost C, proper 8

 

Sunday School, June 26, 2022,  3 Pentecost C, proper 8

Themes

Can a student ever become as wise as a teacher?

Elisha was the student of Elijah and when it came time for Elijah to die, Elisha was fearful about losing his teacher.  He was worried that God would not be the same for him as God was for Elijah.  Before leaving Elisha wanted his teacher Elijah to promise that God would make him a good prophet and teacher for other students just as Elijah had been.  Elijah said that if Elisa would see him depart this earth, then it would be proof that God would make Elisha a good prophet and teacher.  Elisha had a vision of Elijah leaving this world riding on a chariot.  And so he knew that God heard his prayer and would be with him just as God was with Elijah.

Students, remember that some day you will be teachers, parents and you can have faith to know that God will be with you in the same way that God has been with the people who have been good teachers in your life.

The Epistle Lesson is about the Fruits of the Spirit

The soil of the earth can grow some really ugly thistles and weeds but if the soil is taken care of properly, soil can grow vegetable and fruit.

St. Paul shows us that our life is like “soil” which needs to be taken care of.  Out of our lives we can grow the weeds of bad behaviors OR we can grow the fruits of God’s Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  We need to learn how to tend the “soil” of our lives and allow the Holy Spirit to help us grow the fruits of the Spirit.

The Gospel Lesson

Jesus taught his followers not to be angry if people did not follow or agree with them.  People have to be ready to hear the good news of the Gospel and we need to be ready to share the good news of God’s love when people are ready to receive it.

Some people think it would be very easy to follow Jesus and other people make excuses about why they can’t follow Jesus.

Jesus used his riddles to help people understand that following Christ can be adjusted to every situation in our lives.  Jesus used his riddles to prove that most of the time when people say, “I can’t follow Christ” it really means “I won’t follow Christ.”

Today, Jesus is trying to convert our “I won’t” into “I can and I will.”  Remember at our baptism we make promises and we say, “I will with God’s help.”

A Children’s sermon on “I can’t,”  “I won’t,” and “I, will!”

How many of you have ever told your Mom or Dad, “I can’t?”

  Please eat your carrot…No I just can’t do it.

  Please pick up your toys.  No I just can’t do it.

  Please don’t tease your brother or sister.  No, I just can’t do it.

  Please finish your homework.  No, I just can’t do it.

  I can’t, I can’t, I can’t, I can’t.

Why do we say, “I can’t?” 

  It is okay to say I can’t when we are asked to do something that is impossible or when something is not good for us.

  But do our parents ask us to do things that are impossible?  No, our parent only ask us to do things that they know that we can do.

  So most of the time when we say, “I can’t to Mom or Dad, we really mean, “I won’t or we mean I do not want to.”

  Please pick up your toys…

  Jesus had some people who were not sure that they wanted to follow him.

  They were trying to say to Jesus, I can’t.

  And Jesus was using a playful language to try to get them to see that when Jesus ask them to do something, he was only asking them to do things that were possible for them to do.  And he was promising God’s help to anyone who followed him.

  So we need to be careful when we say “I can’t” to our parents or to God.

  When God asks us to do something, even if it seems hard to do, we need to learn to say, “I will do it with God’s help.”  If we learn to say this, then we will surprise our selves about how much we can do.

  Let us not say to Jesus today, I can’t.  Let us say, “I will, with God’s help.”  Amen.

Family Service with Holy Eucharist

June 26, 2022  3 Pentecost C, proper 8

Gathering Songs:

 I Have Decided to Follow Jesus,  I will make you Good Fisher Folk, Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,  I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light

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: I have Decided to Follow Jesus  (All the Best Songs for Kids, # 130)

1-I have decided to follow Jesus, I have decided to follow Jesus, I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back, no turning back.

2-Though none go with me, still I will follow, though none go with me, still I will follow, though none go with me still I will follow, no turning back, no turning back.

3-The cross before me, the world behind me, the cross before me, the world behind me, the cross before me, the world behind me, no turning back, no turning back.

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.

People:            And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

Almighty God, you have built your Church upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone: Grant us so to be joined together in unity of spirit by their teaching, that we may be made a holy temple acceptable to you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen..

Litany of Praise: Alleluia

O God, you are Great!  Alleluia

O God, you have made us! Alleluia

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

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

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

O God, you have forgiven our sins!  Alleluia

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

A Reading from the Second Book of Kings

Elijah said to Elisha, "Tell me what I may do for you, before I am taken from you." Elisha said, "Please let me inherit a double share of your spirit." He responded, "You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it will be granted you; if not, it will not." As they continued walking and talking, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them, and Elijah ascended in a whirlwind into heaven. Elisha kept watching and crying out, "Father, father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!" But when he could no longer see him, he grasped his own clothes and tore them in two pieces.

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

Liturgist: Let us read together from Psalm 77

I will remember the works of the LORD, * and call to mind your wonders of old time.

I will meditate on all your acts * and ponder your mighty deeds.

Your way, O God, is holy; * who is so great a god as our God?

Litany Phrase: Thanks be to God!

Litanist:

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

For our families and friends. Thanks be to God!

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

For this day of worship. Thanks be to God!

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

For work and for play. Thanks be to God!

For teaching and for learning. Thanks be to God!

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

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

   Thanks be to God!

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

People:            Glory to you, Lord Christ.

Jesus and and his disciples entered into another village.  As they were going along the road, someone said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." To another he said, "Follow me." But he said, "Lord, first let me wait until my father has passed away." But Jesus said to him, "Then you will wait too long; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God." Another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but let me first get advice from all of my family at home." Jesus said to him, "If a farmer looks only behind him while he plows he will plow a crooked row; you must look to your future for the kingdom of God."

Liturgist:         The Gospel of the Lord.

People:            Praise to you, Lord Christ.

Lesson – Fr. Cooke

                           

Children’s Creed

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

Since God is so great and we are so small,

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

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

     resurrection of Jesus Christ.

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

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

     welcome.

We believe that Christ is kind and fair.

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

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

Litany Phrase: Christ, have mercy.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

People:                        And also with you.

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

Song for the Offertory: I will Make you Good Fisher Folk (Christian’s Children Songbook, # 58)

1-I will make you good fisher folk, good fisher folk, good fisher folk.  I will make you good fisher folk, if you follow me.  If you follow me, If you follow me.  I will make you good fisher folk, if you follow me.

2-Hear Christ calling come unto me, come unto me, come unto me.  Hear Christ calling come unto me, I will give you rest.  I will give you rest, I will give you rest.  Hear Christ calling come unto me, I will give you rest.

Doxology

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

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

Prologue to the Eucharist

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

All become members of a family by birth or adoption.

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

A family meal gathers and sustains each human family.

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

The Lord be with you

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts

We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to God.

It is right to give God thanks and praise.

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

Holy, Holy, Holy (Intoned)

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

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

Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the Highest.

(All may gather around the altar)

The Celebrant now praises God for the salvation of the world through Jesus Christ our Lord.

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

You have made us in your image

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

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

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

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

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

  the bread and drink the wine, we can  know that the Presence of Christ is as near to us        as this food and drink  that becomes a part of us.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(Children rejoin their parents and take up their instruments) 

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

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

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

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

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

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

As we forgive our debtors: Hallowed be thy name.

Lead us not into temptation: Hallowed be thy name.

But deliver us from evil: Hallowed be thy name.

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

Forever and ever: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

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

Breaking of the Bread

Celebrant:       Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.

People:            Therefore let us keep the feast. 

Words of Administration

Communion Song: Swing, Low Sweet Chariot

Refrain: Swing low, sweet chariot, Coming for to carry me home. Swing low, sweet chariot, Coming for to carry me home.

1-I looked over Jordan, and what did I see, Coming for to carry me home.  A band of angels coming after me, Coming for to carry me home.

2-If you get there before I do, Coming for to carry me home.  Tell all my friends I’m coming too,

Coming for to carry me home.

3-The brightest day that ever I saw Coming for to carry me home.  When Jesus wash’d my sins away,

Coming for to carry me home.

4-I’m sometimes up and sometimes down, Coming for to carry me home. But still my soul feels heavenly bound, Coming for to carry me home. 

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: I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light

1-I want to walk as a child of the light, I want to follow Jesus.  God set the stars to give light to the world, the star of my life is Jesus.

Refrain: In Him there is no darkness at all.  The night and the day are both alike, the Lamb is the light of the city of God.  Shine in my heart Lord Jesus.

2-I want to see the brightness of God, I want to look at Jesus.  Clear sun of righteousness shine on my path and show me the way to the Father.  Refrain.

3-I’m looking for the coming of Christ, I want to be with Jesus.  When we have run with patience the race we shall know the joy of Jesus.  Refrain

Dismissal:

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

People: Thanks be to God! 

Christ-Identity As Primary Identity

 2 Pentecost, Cp7, June 19, 2022

1 Kings 19:1-4, (5-7), 8-15a  Psalm 42

Gal. 3:23-29   Luke 8:26-39

 

Lectionary Link

 

Paul wrote some very startling things.  Like in Christ, there is neither Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female.

 

It could be that everyone was given a Christ-identity at creation, in that everyone is made in the image of God.  But what has humanity occupied itself with?

 

Taking on identity after identity and regarding them as being more important than the original identity, the original blessing.

 

Our societies and cultures teach us to put on may personae, many layers of identity.  And not just put them on, but idolize them and make them primary.

 

Our lives are full of qualifying adjectives: American, Russian, Californian, Episcopalian, male, female, Gay, Straight, Transitioning, Republican, Democrat, Liberal, Conservative, Wealthy, poor, Middle Class, educated, uneducated.  On and on, the list of qualifying identities pile up in our lives and we can become like the man wearing a hundred coats, and wondering why he's feeling hot.

 

Was Paul trying to say that being Jew, Greek, slave, free, male or female were unimportant and irrelevant identities?  Was he silly enough to live in such denial?  I don't think so.

 

I think what Paul was trying to teach is that we need to understand and know how to be related to all the identities which we come to have in our life settings and cultures.  How do we moderate between all the identities?

 

We find our Christ-identity, our baptismal identity, our original blessing identity and we make it our primary identity.  And from our Christ-identity we learn to articulate, control, and balance our other identities so that they serve our Christ-identity rather than replace our Christ-identity.

 

One of the purposes of spiritual practice is to learn how to let one's Christ-identity rule our lives.  One of the outcomes of the practice of meditation and contemplation is the silencing of all our identities so that the Christ-identity can come to recognition in the deep silence of peace within us.

 

St. Paul believed that one could find this Christ-identity and be lifted into heavenly places above all principalities and powers, all controlling impulses which can wreck us if we allow them to make our secondary identities our primary identities.

 

St. Paul believed in this mystical experience of being in-Christ.  How did this get presented in the Gospel narratives of Jesus?

 

Jesus was the one who was above all inner principalities and powers; above all demons.  In ancient Greek a daemon in the negative sense was a controlling impulse.  The poor man in the story from the Gerasenes,  and being a place where pigs were raised it was not inhabited by Jews.  Jesus what are you doing there?  The man is not a Jew.  He's is crazy, the kind of crazy that is so deep that we say he has a dirty, impure, unclean spirit.  What is the dirty and unclean animal for Jews?  The swine.  So ,Jesus who is above all principalities and power puts the unclean spirits into the unclean animal and they rush to their elimination.

 

This story is highly parabolic and symbolic.  The man who had a non-Jewish identity and an unclean inner life identity, was brought to his Christ-identity.  Can we understand how the Jesus story exemplified what was happening within the really foreign Gentile peoples who were coming into their Christ-identity and having their lives transformed.

 

What everyone wants in life is their God-identity, their Christ-identity.  The Psalmist said his soul longed for God like a deer panting for the water.

 

Our Christ-identity is something that is both character and situationally active.  By practicing coming to realize over and over our Christ-identity, it becomes our habit and character.

 

Elijah was a prophet, with a practiced God-identity; but he still allowed in a situation his "fearful identity" to assert itself.  He fled in fear from Ahab and Jezebel and went to spend time alone in the mountain cave, there he became re-established in his God-identity as he realized the still small voice of the divine within him.  And he was restored.

 

Let the Scriptures for today teach us that our hearts seek the divine with a profound thirst.  And let us practice the finding of our God-in-Christ identity over and over again so that we can tame and control other potential proudful identity or fearful or tyrannical identities.  Let the Christ-identity become the controlling identity of our lives, and let us not be too proud to admit when in practice we still sometimes forget the Christ-identity and allow a past habitual identity enslave us or bring us to acting out in wrong ways.

 

The Gospel is that no matter how much we fail to act from our Christ-identity, it is always there for us to return to.  And we come here as a community to say, let the Christ-identity be our identity, again today.  Amen.

Trinity FAQ

 Trinity Sunday  June 12, 2022

Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31 Psalm 8/Canticle 13

Romans 5:1-5  John 16:12-15

Lectionary Link

In my typical droning fashion, of reading a written sermon, I'd like to drone on like the proverbial Officer Friday with some "just the facts" ma'am, about the Trinity.  But by facts, I mean FAQ or frequently asked questions, or more truthful frequently asked Phil Questions about the Trinity.

 

Q: What is the Holy Trinity?

A: The Trinity is the Christian belief about God being one God in three equal Persons.

 

Q: Is the Holy Trinity the invention of the Council of Nicaea in the year 325?

A: The Council of Nicaea was a meeting of Bishops to standardize across the known Christian World, Christian practice, and belief, starting with what Christians believed about God, as God was referred to as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit within the writings which had come to be general accepted as inspired writings for the churches, the writings known now as the New Testament.

 

Q: Did all Christians agree about the Trinity before and after the Council of Nicaea?

A: No.  There were different writings by scholars and bishops regarding the degree of divinity of Jesus, and the nature of the relationship between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  The winner of the Council resolution is associated with Athanasius who argued for the full and equal status of Jesus as both equally God and human.  This is referred to as a High Christology position.  A priest named Arius is associated with what is call a Low Christology in emphasizing the human nature of Christ.  Bishops and scholars had followings in different regions with many having the support and protection of their local governors.  So, even though Athanasius’ position won the vote at the council and the canons condemn any other beliefs to the contrary, those contrary beliefs continue in various regions for about another century.  There was not actual unity of belief and practice for the period before and after the Council of Nicaea.

 

Q: Is there evidence for the Holy Trinity in the Hebrew Scriptures?

A: Yes, if one is a Christian looking for that evidence, like the reference to a "Son of Man," coming in the cloud mentioned in the Prophet Daniel.  Also, one can say God the Father spoke the words to create and the Word that was being spoken was the Eternal Word Christ, and further the dynamic implementation of creation was the Spirit moving over the abyss.  Voila! There is the Trinity found in the creation account.  It would be wrong to say that for Jews who are in the traditions the Hebrew religion and Judaism, find the Trinity in their Scriptures.   The Hebrew religion and Islam derived from polytheistic situations and the Hebrew Scriptures describe the condition of henotheism (belief in a chief god who presides above other gods).  Hebrew Scriptures describe the phase of henotheism while becoming exclusively monotheistic.  One can see that anything that looked like the direction of plural deities would be suspect to strict monotheistic religions like Judaism and Islam.

 

Q: Can the Holy Trinity be defended as true according to empirical verification?

A: If something is only meaningfully true if it can be empirically verified, then the Holy Trinity does not qualify as that kind of meaningful truth.

 

Q: How can it be claimed and defended that the Holy Trinity is true?

A: First, admit that empirical verification is not the only criteria for meaningful truth.    There are intuitive truths, aesthetic truths, literary truth, relationship truths, spiritual truths, and moral truths that are obviously meaningful in the lives of people.  The belief in the Trinity conforms to these other criteria of meaningful truths.  And these truths have empirically verifiable outcomes, like when we practice active love and justice in physical word and deeds because of our Trinitarian beliefs, these outcomes are verifiable.

 

Q: How is the Holy Trinity a relational truth?

A: It is found in the specific words attributed to Jesus about himself, about his relationship to God as his Father, and his promise of the Holy Spirit being known to his followers.  Since Jesus is the superlative life example for his followers, his words about himself and the nature of God become definitive for how we understand and communicate our faith.  Jesus was the relationship location for God as Father and Holy Spirit, and he said that people too could be in a relationship location for the three Person of the Godhead.

 

Q: How is the Holy Trinity intuitive truth?

A:  As human beings, we are limited to having human experiences of God, so we speak about God from human perspectives with human language and human experiences from which we use analogies about God.  We understand we have come from Plenitude as the origin of our coming to be, so God as Father is Origin Plenitude.  The appearance of one who is human, and God means that human experience is a valid way to come to know the one greater than we are.  So, we speak of God the Son, as validating our higher knowledge of God.  Further, we know that we exist in an environment which conduct mutual and reciprocal and relationship experience.  So, we call the Holy Spirit this omnipresence which allows us to know mutual connection.  In this way, we can confess the Trinity to be intuitively meaningful truth.

 

Q: Can you and I know the Holy Trinity?

A: Not if we think that we have the equal capacity to know.  We can know that we are contained by Plenitude and greatness.  We can know that our relationship with Plenitude is personal, because we use language.  The use of language implies personality; so we cannot avoid knowing God in personal ways.  God as Trinity is never known, but God is always becoming known, because relationship is dynamic in time.  And God becomes known in piecemeal events of relationships, sometimes as Father, sometimes as Son, and sometime as Holy Spirit.  Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as original dynamic love relationship, acquires all of the possible attributes which  are consistent with the definition of greatness.  Knowing the Trinity is being open to continuous future relationship, since as Jesus said, "the Spirit is present to let us know continually about this endless on-going relationship."

 

Q: How should we regard the Holy Trinity?

A: With the humility of knowing that it is better that God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, knows us and is knowing and experiencing through us, rather than it being about our pride in thinking we know God.

 

In short, let us not be proud of our knowledge of the Trinity; let us humbly make ourselves available to be known by God so that we can represent the divine persons to our world with a witness to God as Creator,  God as forgiver, redeemer, reconciler, and God as continuous dynamic personal connection as the Holy Glue of continual Oneness.

 

In the name of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Sunday School, June 12, 2022 Trinity Sunday, C

Sunday School, June 12, 2022    Trinity Sunday, C

Today is Trinity Sunday

What does Trinity mean?

It means that we believe God is three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit

But if God is three persons, how can God be One God?  Do we believe in three Gods?

No, we believe in One God, in three Persons who are all equally God

Why do we believe in God as a Trinity?

Even though we believe God is much greater than us, we believe that God wants us to know about God. We as human being believe we are persons.  A person is someone who knows oneself in relationship with each other.  I am a son because I have a father.  I am a father because I have a son.  I am a brother because I have brothers and sisters.  I am a husband because I have a wife.  So I have many expressions of my personality depending upon what relationship I have with other people.

We believe that God wants to be related to us as persons.  So we believe that God can best be known to us in being known as Persons of the Trinity.

When we relate to God as our creator, we speak of God as our Father.  When we relate to God as someone who became human to show us how to live the best human life, we know God as Jesus the Son.  And when we know that God surrounds us like water surrounding a fish and when we know that God is close inside of us, we know God as the invisible Holy Spirit.

So in our relationship with God we know God in different kinds of relationships and yet each of these kinds of relationship are with a single one, kind and loving God.

The Trinity is our confession about a great God who wants to be in relationship with us and we wants us to be in relationship with God, in different ways, sometimes as our Father, sometimes as our big brother Jesus and sometimes like the invisible breath or wind when we know God is with us because we feel the closeness of God.

Exercise: What is your name?  How many persons are you?  Son? Daughter? Brother? Sister? Boy? Girl? Student? Soccer Player? Dancer?

Puppet Show for Trinity Sunday
Characters:

Officer George

Father Phil

  

Sign on the Puppet Theatre

Security Agent, Security Systems and Driving Instruction

Fr. Phil: (knocks on the puppet theatre) Is anyone in?  I need some help.

Officer George:  (pops up)  Hello, I’m Officer George here.  Can I help you?

Fr. Phil:  Yes,  I need some one to teach a friend of mine how to drive.

Officer George:  Happy to help you.  Just have them come and sign up and I will be do the driving instruction.  I have never had a ticket but I wrote lots of tickets for speeders when I was a traffic cop.

Fr. Phil:  Great, I’ll have my friend come by to see you and sign up for the class.

(Officer George leaves)

Fr. Phil:  Oops, I forgot that I needed something else.  (Fr. Phil knocks on the theatre again)   Hello, is anyone still in the office?

Officer George: (pops up)  Yes, I’m still here.  Do you need another driving lesson?

Fr. Phil: No, I want to talk to your security person.  I need to have an alarm installed at my home.

Officer George:  Well, you’ve come to the right place.  I’ll be happy to help you.

Fr. Phil:  But aren’t you the Driving Instructor?

Officer George:  Yes, but I also install alarm systems.  Is that a problem?

Fr. Phil:  Well, no but you must be a busy person.  I will give you my address.  When can you come by and give me a bid.

Officer George:  I’ll come by tomorrow and help you decide what kind of alarm system that you need.  Good bye…..(Officer George disappears)

Fr. Phil:  Oops.  I forgot I still need something.  I need a security guard to come by each night and check our property.  Knock!  Knock!  Is anyone still there?

Officer George:  Oh, hello.  I see you are still here.  How can I help you? 

Fr. Phil:  I want to talk with your security agent.  I need a watchman to check out the church each night.  Can I hire one of your night watchmen?

Officer George:  Yes, you can.  I am the night watchman.

Fr. Phil:  How can you be the Driver Instructor, the alarm installer and the night watchman?

Officer George:  Well, I could ask you how you, the one and same person, could need a driver instructor, an alarm installed and a watchman.

Fr. Phil:  Well, as a person I have many needs.

Officer George: So you can be just one person and have many needs?  Don’t you think that I can be one person and have many jobs and titles?  I am a Driving Instructor, an alarm installer and a watchman.  Fr. Phil as a priest you should be able to understand that?

Fr. Phil:  Why do you say that?

Officer George:  Well, today is Trinity Sunday.  God is One, but we know God in different ways in God’s different Persons.  We know God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Fr. Phil: Officer George, thank you for your instruction about the Trinity.  Do you think this will help the children at St. John’s understand the Trinity?

Officer George:  Maybe a little…but now you’ve given me a fourth job, a teacher.  I think that I’ll stick to my three jobs.  Good bye, as you see I’m a very busy person having three different jobs.

Fr. Phil:  Good bye Officer George and thank you.  God must be a very busy God since there are so many people who have so many needs.  It’s a good thing that God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Don’t you think so?

A Sermon for Trinity Sunday.

Can you be a brother or sister, and a son or daughter, and student all at one time?  Can your father be a father, brother and husband all at one time?  Can your mother be a mother, sister and wife all at one time?

  So one person can be many different personal roles at one time.  I am a father, a brother, a son, a cousin, a priest, and yet I am still just one human being.  I am a father person, a brother person and a son person, but still just one human being.

  Today is called Trinity Sunday.  Does anyone know what Trinity means.  Whenever you see the three letters TRI at the start of a word, what number are we talking about?  The number three.  So Trinity refers to three persons.

  As Christians we say that God is One God but in trinity of persons.  And what are the three persons?  Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

  If you are talking to your Dad, then you know him as your father.  But if your uncle is talking to your dad, he will know your dad as a brother.  And if your mother is talking her your dad, she will know your dad as her husband.

  So whether we know God as Father, Son or Holy Spirit, it all depends on how we are knowing God.

  If we are talking about God as the great creator, we will be speaking about God as our Father. 

  But if we are talking about God as God became known to us as a human being, then we will talk about Jesus Christ, God’s Son.

  And if we talking about how God can be present everywhere at one time, then we will talk about God as the Holy Spirit.

  So God can be one God and be also known as three different persons, depending upon what we need to know about God.

  And that is the wonderful thing about the Trinity.  God can be known to us in different ways.  Because sometimes we need to know God in different ways.

  Today let us be thankful that God can be known to us in different ways, as God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.  This is the Trinity that we celebrate today.  Amen.

 

Intergenerational Family Service with Holy Eucharist

June 12, 2020 Trinity Sunday

Gathering Songs: The King of Glory, Glorify Thy Name, Eat This Bread, Peace Like a River

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: The King of Glory Comes, (Renew! # 267)

Chorus: The King of glory comes, the nation rejoices.  Open the gates before him, lift up your voices.

1-Who is the King of Glory; how shall we call him? He is Emmanuel, the promised of ages.

2-In all of Galilee, in city or village, he goes among his people curing their illness.

3-Sing then of David’s son, our savior and brother: in all of Galilee was never another

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.

People:            And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

Almighty and everlasting God, you have given to us your servants grace, by the confession of a true faith, to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity, and in the power of your divine Majesty to worship the Unity: Keep us steadfast in this faith and worship, and bring us at last to see you in your one and eternal glory, O Father; who with the Son and the Holy Spirit live and reign, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

First Litany of Praise: Chant: Alleluia

O God, you are Great!  Alleluia

O God, you have made us! Alleluia

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

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

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

O God, you have forgiven our sins!  Alleluia

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

A reading from the Book of Proverbs

Does not wisdom call, and does not understanding raise her voice?   On the heights, beside the way, at the crossroads she takes her stand; beside the gates in front of the town, at the entrance of the portals she cries out: "To you, O people, I call, and my cry is to all that live.  The LORD created me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of long ago.

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

Liturgist: Let us read together from Psalm 8

When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, * the moon and the stars you have set in their courses,

What are men and women that you should be mindful of them? * and their children that you should seek them out?

You have made them but little lower than the angels; * you adorn them with glory and honor;

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 said to the disciples, "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you."

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: Glorify Your Name, (Renew!, # 37)

Father we love you we worship and adore you. Glorify your Name in all of the world.  Glorify your name, glorify your name, glorify your name in all the world.

Jesus we love you we worship and adore you. Glorify your Name in all of the world.  Glorify your name, glorify your name, glorify your name in all the world.

Spirit  we love you we worship and adore you. Glorify your Name in all of the world.  Glorify your name, glorify your name, glorify your name in all the world.

Doxology

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

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

Prologue to the Eucharist

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

All become members of a family by birth or adoption.

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

A family meal gathers and sustains each human family.

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

The Lord be with you

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts

We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to God.

It is right to give God thanks and praise.

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

Holy, Holy, Holy (Intoned)

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

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

Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the Highest.

(All may gather around the altar)

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

You have made us in your image

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

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

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

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

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

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

  this food and drink  that becomes a part of us.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(Children rejoin their parents and take up their instruments) 

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

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

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

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

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

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

As we forgive our debtors: Hallowed be thy name.

Lead us not into temptation: Hallowed be thy name.

But deliver us from evil: Hallowed be thy name.

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

Forever and ever: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

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

Breaking of the Bread

Celebrant:       Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.

People:            Therefore let us keep the feast. 

Words of Administration

Communion Song: Eat This Bread, (Renew! # 228)

Eat this bread, drink this cup, come to me and never be hungry. 

Eat this bread, drink this cup, trust in me and you will not thirst.

Post-Communion Prayer

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

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

And His Presence has been known to us.

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

    and sisters in Christ.

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

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

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

Closing Song: I’ve Got Peace Like a River (Christian Children’s Songbook, # 122)

I’ve got peace like a river, I’ve got peace like a river, I’ve got peace like a river in my soul.  I’ve          got peace like a river; I’ve got peace like a river.  I’ve got peace like a river in my soul.

I’ve got love…. 

I’ve got joy…

Dismissal:   

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

People: Thanks be to God!