Pentecost 14 2023

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

Let's pray together.

Almighty God, unto whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid.

Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of thy Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love thee and worthily magnify thy holy name through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Let us pray.

Lord of all power and might, the author and giver of all good things, graft in our hearts the love of your name, increase in us true religion, nourish us with all goodness, and bring forth in us the fruit of good works through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Amen.

A prayer for Labor Day.

Almighty God, you have so linked our lives one with another that all we do affects, for good or ill, all other lives.

So guide us in the work we do, that we may do it not for self alone, but for the common good.

And as we seek a proper return for our own labor, make us mindful of the rightful aspirations of other workers, and arouse our concern for those who are out of work through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

As you're being seated, our children are invited to children's chapel in the back with Mr.

Alice.

Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jebhro, the priest of Midian.

He led his flock beyond the wilderness and came to Hora, the mountain of God.

There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush.

He looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed.

Then Moses said, I must turn aside and look at this great sight and see why the bush is not burned up.

When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to sea, God called to him out of the bush.

Moses, Moses, and he said, Here I am.

Then he said, Come no closer.

Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.

He said further, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.

And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

Then the Lord said, I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt.

I have heard their cry on the account of their taskmasters.

Indeed I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of the land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the country of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Prezarazites, the Hevatites, the Hivatites, and the Jebusites.

The cry of the Israelites has now come to me.

I have also seen how the Egyptians oppressed them.

So come, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.

But Moses said to God, Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?

He said, I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you that it is I who sent you.

When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God on this mountain.

But Moses said to God, If I come to the Israelites and say to them, The God of your ancestors has sent me to you, and they ask me, What is his name?

What shall I say to them?

God said to Moses, I am who I am.

He said further, Thus you shall say to the Israelites, I am has sent me to you.

God also said to Moses, Thus you shall say to the Israelites, the Lord, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob has sent me to you.

This is my name forever, and this is my title for all generations.

Hear what the Spirit is saying to God's people.

Give thanks to the Lord and call upon God's name.

Sing to the Lord, sing praises.

Glory in God's holy name.

Let the hearts of those who receive the Lord rejoice.

Search for the Lord and the strength of the Lord.

Remember the marvels God has done.

O offspring of Abraham, God's servant.

O children of Jacob, God's servant.

Israel came into Egypt.

The Lord made his people exceedingly faithful, fruitful.

Whose heart God turned so that they hated the chosen people.

Not lag in zeal, but be ardent in spirit.

Serve the Lord.

Rejoice in hope.

Be patient in suffering.

Persevere in prayer.

Contribute to the needs of the saints.

Extend hospitality to strangers.

Bless those who persecute you.

Bless and do not curse them.

Rejoice with those who rejoice.

Weep with those who weep.

Live in harmony with one another.

Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly.

Do not claim to be wiser than you are.

Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all.

If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.

Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God.

For it is written, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.

No, if your enemies are hungry, feed them.

If they are thirsty, give them something to drink.

For by doing this you will heap burning coals upon their heads.

Do not be overcome by ill, but hold fast to what is good.

Love one another with mutual affection, outdo one another in showing honor, but overcome evil with good.

Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed, and on the third day be raised.

Peter took him aside and began to rebuke Jesus, saying, God forbid it, Lord, this must never happen to you.

But Jesus turned to Peter and said, Get behind me, accuser, you are a stumbling block to me, for you are setting your mind not on divine things, but on human things.

Then Jesus told his disciples, If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.

For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.

For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world that forfeit their life?

Or what will they give in return for their life?

For the Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of his father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done.

Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.

Gospel of the Lord.

Last week, Peter asked the disciples, Who do you say I am?

And Peter said, Well, you're the Messiah.

You're the one beloved by God.

And Jesus said, On this rock I'll build my church.

And then here's part two of that story.

Jesus is determined to go to Jerusalem, and he knows when he does, there's going to be trouble.

There's going to be suffering.

And Peter rebukes him.

The rock that he's going to build the church on says, Jesus, you're wrong.

Isn't that nice to know God can build on a church that says God's wrong?

I mean it.

That's really liberating, isn't it?

Why does Peter think that Jesus is wrong?

Probably the same reason I think God's wrong.

You ever prayed for something that was right and you didn't get it?

Have you ever been disappointed with God?

You're Peter in this story.

Rebuking God is not fair.

It's not just.

So how is it that you're going to have to hurt?

I'd like to think I know better than Peter, but I probably don't.

And Jesus' reply is interesting, isn't it?

You heard me change it on purpose because the word Satan in Greek means accuser.

Jesus says, Get behind me, accuser.

I have never had God do that to me in prayer.

Well, maybe once.

Once I was praying that God would do this particular thing, and God said, Why do you get to decide?

Why do you get to decide?

Well, I answered.

I told God, here's why.

Here's what I know.

And at the end of that, God replied, but why do you get to decide?

It was a humbling moment.

It certainly has changed the way I pray.

I wonder how this changed Peter.

I don't know.

Jesus then goes on to say, if you want to follow me, instead of rebuking me, instead of telling God that you know better, consider what I'm doing.

And take up the cross.

Now look, we use that phrase a lot, especially if you're in the South.

Taking up the cross is something inconvenient.

Like I had to go to my mother-in-law's house for dinner, and I just took up my cross.

That barista was so slow, but I took up the cross and I waited.

Of course you waited.

You paid for the drink.

You know, this is the kind of thing that we do.

And I just want to disabuse you of the notion, just really briefly, uh, that that's not what Jesus is talking about, some kind of inconvenience.

Um we often have these pictures in our head through art or movies that are like wildly fantastic and have very little to do with what crucifixion really was.

Uh, you may not like to hear this, um, but I'm going to tell you about it.

So we usually think about crosses being shaped like the lowercase T and being really long, and Jesus was like 15 feet in the air, and it took ropes and pulleys and ladders to get in there, and all that's art, none of it's historical.

Crosses were about five and a half feet tall.

They were permanently put in the ground outside of a city gate because in the old world there weren't billboards.

But keep in mind, in cities, most people lived out of the wall.

They came in the wall for the market.

So crosses were Rome's billboard to everybody coming in and out.

This is what happens when you try to overthrow the Roman government.

People didn't carry two railroad ties that weighed 200 pounds.

They were they carried a two by four that weighed about eight pounds.

They were tied to it.

Two soldiers picked it up and put it in a slot.

You didn't need ladders.

Nails don't work.

If you nail somebody and don't tie them with ropes, they'll fall off.

So nails came after ropes.

Maybe you're wondering, what if somebody was really tall?

Well, they just bent their legs.

They just bent their legs.

And there they were.

And this was designed by the Persians.

The Romans perfected this punishment so that it would last four days.

Like four days.

There's two ways you die on a cross.

One is within about five hours your body goes into shock and your system shuts down and you die.

That's Jesus' story.

The way the Romans wanted it to go, though, is that it took four days because with your weight suspended on your wrist, uh, it compresses your lungs.

So the only way your lungs can receive air is by pulling your weight off of your chest, and eventually you see you run out of strength and then you suffocate.

When you hear in the gospels that the Pharisees spat on Jesus, he wasn't way up there.

He was at eye level, and they literally spat in his face.

I tell you this uh so that you for two reasons.

I got really graphic depictions of crucifixion as a kid with the injunction that we were supposed to be extreme in our faith and not worry about our lives.

At the time, it was smuggle Bibles into communist Russia.

Because you could get the death penalty for that, but it was a good thing to do.

I don't know about that.

Um I would tell you that there are people who have taken up the cross throughout the last several years that shouldn't have taken it up.

It's getting ready to be September 11th.

And I have no doubt that the people who flew those planes and the World Trade Center thought they were doing a good thing by suffering and ending up life.

I have no doubt about that.

And I have no doubt that during the Crusades, when people slaughtered Muslim women, men, and children, our Jewish brothers and sisters, they thought they were taking up their cross, like Jesus said.

And of course, I'm going to tell you they were dead wrong.

Because Jesus isn't crucified for inciting an armed rebellion.

The people to his right and left are.

Maybe you've heard before Jesus is crucified between two thieves.

This is a bad translation.

When you steal, you get your thumb cut off.

The cross is reserved for trying to create a revelation.

The cross is for Benedict Arnold.

Jesus didn't seek the cross.

The suffering, but honestly, to remember the cross is a thing you get for insubordination against powers that diminish and strip fellow human beings of their God-given dignity.

When we commit acts of treason against a system that supports endemic ageism and racism and sexism, that is taking up the cross.

Not proving our faith through pain.

Most of us are not going to be in this position, but I would tell you, often we see a cross we could take up, and we choose not to pick it up because it seems really uncomfortable.

Like when somebody tells a misogynistic joke in your presence and you say nothing.

You did not take up a cross.

No.

Would it be helpful to rein that person out?

I don't think so.

Would it involve a little bit of suffering to say, you know, as a professional woman, I don't appreciate that?

You could have some loss there.

Probably not loss of your life.

It would be painful and it would be right.

When somebody says, God's rejected the Jewish people because they killed Jesus, and you say nothing, you have rejected the cross.

What are you going to lose?

Your life?

No, you might lose a friend.

Were they really your friend anyway when your friendship is predicated on the degradation of an entire group of people?

I don't like being uncomfortable.

I don't.

I don't like losing friends, and I don't like conflict.

And Jesus says, hey, you want to go with me to Jerusalem?

Pick up the cross.

And commit acts of insubordination against a system that dehumanizes your brothers and sisters.

And that's a great segue to the Moses story.

I wish I had an hour to talk about this story.

Because it's super interesting.

This is Moses.

Now we don't know how many bushes were burning before Moses turned aside.

But Moses goes and he looks at this bush, right?

And God says to Moses, Does Moses know who God is?

We don't know.

Moses grew up in Egypt.

Go tell Pharaoh to let my people go.

And here's the proof.

I'm telling you, when Pharaoh lets them go, you'll bring them back here.

Wow, God, that's not good enough for me.

I'm just gonna be honest, right?

I'd like a little bit more than that.

So Moses asks this really bold question that we don't realize is a core question for our Jewish brothers and sisters.

Moses says, What's your name?

If I asked you what God's name is, you'd probably say, Well, of course it's God.

Or maybe you'd say it's Jesus, or you'd say the Lord.

But our Jewish brothers and sisters believe that God has a personal name, just like Jim and I, and Tim does.

The catch 22 is that our Jewish brothers and sisters, a long time ago, like 2,500 years ago, decided that God's name is so holy, it should not be said or written by human beings.

So, if God's name in Hebrew is written on a piece of paper, it has to get burned or buried.

If you've been to a synagogue, the Torah is written on scrolls, so you don't have to touch them.

Because God's name is on the scroll, and if you touch the paper with God's name, which is holier than you, you will defile yourself.

There's no evidence actually that Jesus used God's personal name, because people at the time didn't.

This is true today, by the way.

There's a lot of churches that will do this, and you've probably heard it before, it begins with the letter Y.

And I've even heard some contemporary praise and worship songs that use this word, and I just want to suggest to you, out of respect for Jewish people, that you not do this.

Because this is an abomination to do to our Jewish brothers and sisters to pronounce this particular name.

Turns out the version you've heard of it's probably not right anyway.

See, uh, our Jewish brothers and sisters, particularly the rabbis and the mystical rabbis, say if we ever pronounce God's name correctly, the world would end at that moment.

Um, and they do this other really interesting thing.

This is why I really appreciate mystics.

They say, even though you should never say God's name, because it's holier than you, you're all saying right now.

Because this name in Hebrew is four letters, Y-H-W-H is how we typically render them in English.

They don't have any vowels.

Try saying those consonants with no vowels.

It sounds like this.

Are you ready?

So the rabbis say, first thing that happens when you come out and your mom is you say God's name, probably pretty loud.

And you're all saying it right now, that's why you're alive.

God's name is your life force.

And the last thing you do before you die is you say God's name, and your life leaves you.

When God created a human being in Genesis 2, it was made out of clay, and God breathed in it, and the clay was inspired, breathed in God's name, and that's what made the clay alive.

And it's really interesting because sometimes we think our roots are western.

So if I asked you, where is your soul?

Most people in the States are going to point here.

Your soul's in your heart.

Judaism is an Eastern religion.

It's Eastern.

Your soul is not here.

Your soul is here.

In your throat.

This is very eastern because you know when you stop doing this, you die.

Your life force lives in your neck.

Your nephish in Hebrew is here.

I'm giving you this buildup and hopefully the dots connect.

Pharaoh is gonna say to Moses, you say I'm supposed to let the people go.

What's the name of your God?

I don't have all day, really.

Like, what's the name of your God?

Must have been a pretty confusing moment in the palace, all that.

And if you consider actually the radicality of the claim, that God's name is the life force that animates the clay behind every human being, whether they're a Pharaoh or a slave.

It's a pretty powerful sermon, isn't it?

You want to know the nature, the name.

See, we think names are just a title.

In the Hebrew Bible, your name is who you are.

What's the name of God?

What's the nature of God?

It's breath and life force.

Pharaoh, yours, and the same people you're exploiting.

That's the name of our God.

Existence.

We have this prayer where we say, Holy Spirit, in whom we live and move and have our being.

And it's interesting to think that, and you probably know about this in the world of psychology and neuroscience, that when you start to lose your mind from adrenaline cortisol, there's a particular practice that almost universally works that puts you right back into your soul.

It's intentional breathing, which is a meditation on who God is.

See, we thought we were just taking deep breaths.

But according to our rabbinic brothers and sisters, that's a meditation on God's nature.

Life.

And I would put before you the connection between taking up our cross and the fact that God has a personal name that is revealed in every human being in the room, and especially in those that you don't like, is that even though we breathe God's name in, we don't always tend to breathe it out.

You know, normally what we breathe out is like carbon dioxide, which is great for plants, but it's pretty toxic for other people.

And I don't know if you feel this way, but I have this notion that we are kind of living in a greenhouse effect of our own making with the way we talk, well, we don't really talk to each other, with the way we talk about each other.

Have you watched one of these presidential debates?

I mean, even among people who say they're on the same team, it's really interesting, isn't it?

Not interesting, actually, at all.

It's, well, it's the greenhouse effect.

Where even though people who are very beloved by God and are animated by God's own life force are breathing out things that are toxic.

I'd like to think that there are still rainforests in the world that do things like carbon fixing.

You know, like these plentiful places where we take that toxic air and we're able to just sort of treat it.

It might even be inconvenient.

It might even involve some suffering.

I'd like to think that's what God is calling us to do.

To be just a little rainforest here at St.

Thomas.

And do a little bit of, well, environmental preservation, if you don't mind me saying, for frankly, all the toxic crap that is out in the air.

That is saturated.

Not just on TV or radio, but frankly, the way we don't talk to each other.

We talk at each other.

I learned how to make points, and when I went to school, I learned how to make them even stronger.

What I didn't learn even in seminary is how to really listen to somebody else.

I learned how to outthink them.

I didn't learn how to listen.

I'm really good at outthinking other people.

Because I'm quick.

Thanks for being my rainforest here.

I mean it.

We get to do this for each other.

We do.

We get to do this for each other.

And sure, it might sound like a really small thing.

Oh, we're just going to help each other with the words we speak, but God, it's somewhere, isn't it?

It's somewhere.

I didn't know what cross God is asking us to bear, but I do want to be really clear.

Jesus doesn't take up a cross to prove to God his faith because of how much he'll suffer.

He doesn't do that.

And if you're trying to earn God's affection through suffering, get off.

You've already got it.

God's not going to love you anymore if you suffer.

No.

No.

The reason we suffer, frankly, and we choose to do it, is because we share God's dream that even Pharaoh deserves equitable consideration.

Even Pharaoh.

Pharaoh's got a lot of names.

We might call him Vladimir Putin.

On September 11th, we might call him Osama bin Laden.

Tomorrow, you might call him the solicitor that comes to your door.

And yes, God believes in accountability.

And God also believes in fundamental human dignity.

Because at the end of the day, where is God's name in everything that?

Now I get wound up pretty fast.

You probably know that already.

I'd like to be like easier about that.

I get wound up fast.

And here is this sort of reminder that in the midst of our getting wound up, there's a way that we return to God, and it's through our breath.

And I'm not a spiritual director.

But I will say there are these moments in which it is very, very helpful to breathe God's name in, God's life, God's consideration for other people, and then to breathe out all the stuff that's getting in the way and not do it to my neighbor.

This is why we pray in private, you see.

We breathe that stuff out, and then we breathe in compassion and consideration.

And maybe the best you can do is, God, I hope my enemy could just be happy.

I hope they could just be happy.

Some of you would find that easy.

For others of you, that would be like taking up a cross.

I could never pray for somebody to be happy who's hurt me so bad.

The thing is, God prays that they'll be happy.

God prays that they'll be happy, and God invites us to take up that cross.

Again, not to prove that we've got faith, but because God has faith.

We're invited to join God's faith.

And look, Jesus does this really interesting thing at the end.

There's some here who will see my kingdom.

And we've done a lot of weird stuff with that.

We've done weird stuff like, oh, uh John, John's the one, he never dies, and there's this weird eschatology that shows up in the last series.

I mean, look, you ever heard the speech, uh, I've been to the mountaintop?

See, Martin Luther King saw it before he got to go there.

Maybe Jesus is just talking about that.

Maybe we don't get to enter the promised land in our lifetime, but I've seen some of it, haven't you?

I've seen some of it.

And I think God invites us to share what we've seen with other people so we can be similarly inspired.

And then God invites us to just go ahead and start building that now.

Please join.

We pray our faith in the words of the Nicene Free.

We believe in one God, the Father.

We may believe in one Lord, the only God, eternally, God, right in life, true God, true God, the God, out of the Father.

Right, you can be fine, good, and I have to pray.

I'm the third day of hand, for two, you can find.

And I will.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, Lord God, good and son.

With the Father and Son, we give us our God.

He has to be God.

We believe in one who we have church.

We are all after.

We look for the head, and I will be able to do that.

Grant, Almighty God, that all who confess your name may be united in your truth, live together in your love, and reveal your glory in the world.

Lord, in your compassion, we pray for all who govern and hold authority in every nation, for the members of the armed forces throughout the world, and for all who struggle for peace and justice, that they may act with prudence and vision to plant the seeds of your kingdom everywhere.

Lord, in your compassion, give us all of reverence for the earth as your own creation, that we may use its resources rightly in the service of others, and to your honor and glory.

Lord, in your compassion.

Bless all whose lives are closely linked with ours, and grant that we may serve Christ in them and love one another as he loves us.

Lord, in your compassion.

Lead our parish.

The source of wisdom guide us.

The source of strength, support us, the source of love, unify us, we pray.

Lord, in your compassion.

Comfort and heal all those who suffer in body, mind, or spirit.

Give them courage and hope in their troubles, and bring them the joy of your salvation, especially those on our parish prayer list.

The congregation is invited to name celebrants or petition silently or aloud.

Lord, in your compassion, we commend to your mercy all who have died, that your will for them may be fulfilled, and we pray that we may share with all your saints in your eternal kingdom.

Lord, in your compassion.

Comfort those who mourn, strengthen those who are weary, encourage those in despair, and lead us all to faithfulness, to fullness of life.

All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, so let us confess our sin against God and our neighbor.

The hatred that divides nation from nation, race from race, class from class, Father, forgive, the covetous desires of people and nations to possess what is not their own.

Father, forgive.

The greed which exploits the work of human hands and lays waste the earth.

Father, forgive, our envy of the welfare and happiness of others.

Father, forgive.

Our indifference to the plight of the imprisoned, the homeless, the refugee.

Father, forgive.

The lust which dishonors the bodies of women, children, and men.

Father, forgive.

The pride which leads us to trust in ourselves and not in God.

Father, forgive.

The Almighty and compassionate God grant you absolution and remission of all your sin.

True repentance.

Amendment of life and the grace and consolation of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

So be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another as God and Christ forgave you.

The peace of the Lord be always with you.

There are a few announcements I want to call to your attention, but it is the first Sunday of September.

So if you were born in September, we'd like to invite you forward so that we can celebrate what we call the Feast of Your Nativity and offer God's blessing on your new year.

This might be quality, not quantity.

That's okay.

So our tradition is that we share our name, the day of our birth, and either where we were born, when we were born, or both of us.

Louis Delgado, September 6, 1950, in Orlando, Florida.

Alright, well, let's pray for Lewis.

God, we know every year, every moment of our lives is firmly in your hands.

So look with continued favor we pray on your child Lewis as he begins another year.

Grant that he would continue to grow in wisdom and grace, and above all strengthen his trust in your goodness and love all the days of his life through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Oh good.

Okay.

All right.

So the practice here is that we're going to share our names, uh, the date of our anniversary, like when it started, and where.

Donna and Herb Meyer, September the 30th, 1982, and here in Houston.

Okay.

Well, a prayer for you guys.

God, thank you for the gift and sacrament of marriage whereby you reveal your undying love for the world.

We pray that even as Herb and Donna continue to keep their vows and their vows keep them, God, we ask you would surprise them with new joy this year, and that the love and life they share with one another would be infectious and guide each of us to a deeper relationship with human beings and with God.

Amen.

Okay, uh several announcements to call to your attention.

Uh one is that we're having a couple community conversations about our next visible ministry.

So we had one this morning with, you know, as we think about how we're going to use our building space going forward.

We had one this morning, and there'll be two opportunities tomorrow at nine and at six.

Nine and at six tomorrow.

And reminder that there's also an online forum.

Uh, if these meetings are not convenient for you, we're taking ideas that way so that we don't ride out of discernment what God may have in store for us.

So I invite you to continue, even if you come to one of these meetings or it's not up your alley, uh, to continue to be pray to pray and be open to where God might be calling us to serve our community next, because we sure do intend to do that.

Uh, on Tuesday, uh, this is kind of the last call I'm going to make for this.

We're starting an evening Bible study.

It's going to go for 14 weeks, and it's going to be centered on the book of 1 Corinthians.

And that is really going to start this Tuesday.

So we've met twice to get some background, but this Tuesday from 6.30 to 7.30 in the Christhal, we'll have our first real deal on 1 Corinthians.

On Wednesday morning, uh, we're having an appreciative inquiry into world religions.

Last week we talked about how we're doing that in general.

This Wednesday from 9 to 10.15, we'll be talking about Judaism, and we'll be studying Judaism affirmatively for the next couple of, at least weeks, uh, Wednesdays from 9 to 1015.

I'll tell you when we're on to the next one, uh, which will probably be Islam.

Um so those are a little bit of our fall.

Uh next week, we have uh a series starting.

You know, Paul writes to us that we are God's masterpieces of art.

And so when we uh when we create, we are doing exactly what our creator did.

So we have a series that is designed to help us be creative.

Next week, Todd Parker, who's a professional photographer, is going to, between services, 9.15 to 1015, teach us how to take a better picture.

Your cell phone's fine.

That's what most of us use, right?

But if you're interested in how to take a better picture, uh Todd will be doing that next week.

Uh the week after that, which is the 17th, we're gonna have a lesson on watercoloring basics, and uh our teacher's gonna send us home with some supplies, so you can work at doing some watercolors if you want.

Uh and then we'll have two weeks on ceramics and an opportunity to build like a holiday-themed piece of decor, and we'll end with some prayer balm.

Um, most of us use balm on our cracked feet.

Uh, you can also do that in prayers, which is lovely.

So you'll get to make your own balm, and we'll talk about how we actually use that in prayer for one another if you're interested as well.

So that's kind of the series we're starting uh next week, which I'm pretty excited uh that we're doing.

Um other things that seem really important.

You're gonna see this announcement, and it's a good thing.

You know, when we with the closure of a school, um, we now have a parish administrator who's working 30 hours a week.

He used to work 30 for us and then a halftime job with the school, running their finance and their facility.

And now that there's no school, he's working 30 hours and he needs a full-time job, so he's found one uh with our with our blessing.

So Sean's gonna be moving on in about two weeks to work at First Baptist in Deer Park.

And um we think we can handle this, but if you're willing to help on the facility end, you will see a form in the e-news because um Herb generously is facilities chair, and I end up doing some of this, and Alex is gonna do some of this, and we could use a few extra helpers.

Maybe you say I'm good at painting and I would do that, be willing to do that once a year.

Maybe you say I love digging holes.

Those people are out there, and I'll dig a hole when you need it.

So the form will allow us to do that, um, but um this is we think good stewardship of our resources because we don't have a full-time job for Sean.

We don't, and we're really pleased to send him to one that he needs for his family life.

So um please be mindful to thank Tom Sean for his ministry here.

And also if you have any interest in helping administrate our parish grounds, uh you'll see that you'll see that form coming out on Wednesday.

Um the last thing I wanted to call to your attention, which is a really oh, I'm supposed to remind you that choir officially begins next week.

And Garmin, are is practice on Thursday or it's just on Sunday morning?

Thursday.

So Thursday night at 7.15.

At 7.15, or and or Sunday morning starting at 8.30, 8.30.

Those are our choir rehearsal times.

Some people go to both, some people can only make the Sunday morning one, right?

And and that works.

If you have any interest in being part of the choir, you won't find a better director.

So please talk to Garmin or anybody in the choir, or you can even talk to me.

Like I'm a cautionary tailor.

What happens when you're not in the choir?

You've heard me sing, right?

So so uh so I will point you always to Garmin to do this.

It's a lovely gift that we have of beautiful uh music from all over, frankly, the Christian tradition in the world at St.

Thomas.

And Garmin does such a good job with that.

So that begins next week.

Last thing is, we don't always know that this book has some lovely prayers that Christians have prayed for like more than 1,500 years, and it just seems really appropriate that we pray one of them today.

So I'm going to ask you to join me in your red prayer book.

There's just a time for things.

Um, you'll see it when you get there.

This is on page 828, prayer 43.

Page 828, prayer 43, which is called for rain.

It's in the book, I mean, isn't that lovely?

And it's a thoughtful one.

O God, Heavenly Father, who by thy Son Jesus Christ has promised to all those who seek your kingdom and its righteousness all things necessary to sustain their life.

Send us, we entreat thee, in this time of need, such moderate rain and showers that we may receive the fruits of the earth, both to our comfort and to thy honor, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Now continue to walk in love, as Christ first loved us and gave himself for us, an offering and sacrifice to God.

It is made ready for those who love him and those who want to love him more, so come.

You who have much faith and you who have little.

You who have been here often and you who have not been for a long time or ever before.

You who have tried to follow and you who have failed, come.

Not because the church invites you, it is Christ.

And he invites you to meet him here.

Our service continues on page three hundred and forty of your red prayer book.

Page three hundred and forty.

O Lord, Holy Father Almighty, everlasting God, creator of the light and source of life, who has made us in thine image, and called us to new life in Jesus Christ our Lord.

And therefore, with angels and archangels, and with all the company of heaven, we laud and magnify thy glorious name, evermore praising thee and singing.

For that thou didst create heaven and earth, and didst make us in thine own image.

Of thy tender mercy didst give thine only Son, Jesus Christ, to take our nature upon him, and to suffer death upon the cross for our redemption.

He made there a full and perfect sacrifice for the whole world, and did institute, and in his holy gospel command us to continue, a perpetual memory of that his precious death and sacrifice until his coming again.

For in the night in which he was betrayed, Jesus took bread.

And when he given thanks to thee, he broke it, gave it to his disciples, saying, Take, eat.

This is my body which is given for you.

Do this in remembrance of me.

Likewise after supper, Jesus took the cup of wine, and when he given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, Drink this all of you.

This is my blood of the renewed covenant, which is shed for you and for all for the remission of sin.

Do this as oft as you shall drink it in remembrance of me.

Wherefore, O Lord and Heavenly Father, we thy people do celebrate and make with these thy holy gifts, which we now offer unto thee, the memorial thy son hath commanded us to make, having in remembrance his blessed passion and precious death, his mighty resurrection and glorious ascension, and looking for his coming again with power and great glory.

We most humbly beseech thee and merciful Father to hear us, and with thy word and Holy Spirit to bless and sanctify these gifts of bread and wine, that they may be unto us the body and blood of thy dearly beloved Son Jesus Christ.

And we earnestly desire thy fatherly goodness to accept this, our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, whereby we offer and present unto thee, O Lord, ourselves, our souls and bodies.

Grant, we beseech thee that all who partake of this holy communion may worthily receive the most precious body and blood of thy Son Jesus Christ, and be filled with thy grace and heavenly benediction.

And also that we and all thy whole church may be made one body with him, that he may dwell in us and we in him, same Jesus Christ our Lord.

By whom and with whom and in whom.

In the unity of the Holy Ghost, all honor and glory be unto thee, O Father Almighty, world without end.

Amen.

And now, as our Savior Christ has taught us, we are bold to pray, our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever.

Amen.

Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.

Therefore, let us keep the feast.

These are the gifts of God for you, the people of God.

Feed on them in your hearts by faith and with thanksgiving.

Most heartily thank thee for that thou dost feed us in these holy mysteries with the spiritual food of the most precious body and blood of thy son, our Savior Jesus Christ, and dost assure us thereby of thy favor and goodness towards us, and that we are very members incorporate in the mystical body of thy Son, of the blessed company of all faithful people, and are also heirs of hope of thy everlasting kingdom.

And we humbly beseech thee, O Heavenly Father, so to assist us with thy grace, that we may continue in that holy fellowship and do all such good works as thou hast prepared for us to walk in.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom with thee and the Holy Ghost be all honor and glory, world without end.

Amen.

May God give you the grace never to sell yourself short, the grace to risk something big for something good.

The grace to remember that the world is too dangerous for anything but the truth, and too small for anything but love.

And the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit be with you this day and remain with you always.

Amen.