Pentecost 7 2023

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

Blessed be God's family now and forever.

Amen.

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.

O Lord, mercifully receive the prayers of your people who call upon you, and grant that they may know and understand what things they ought to do, and also may have grace and power faithfully to accomplish them.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the Holy Spirit, one God now and forever.

Amen.

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

Alex.

These are the descendants of Isaac, Abraham's son.

Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac was 40 years old when he married Rebekah, daughter of Bethel, the Aramenian of Pad and the Ram, and sister of Laban the Aramenian.

Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife because she was there.

And the Lord granted his prayer, and his wife Rebekah conceived.

The children struggled together within her, and she said, If it is to be this way, why do I live?

So she went to inquire of the Lord.

And the Lord said to her, Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples born of you shall be divided.

The one shall be stronger than the other, the elder shall serve the younger.

When her time to give birth was at hand, there were twins in her womb.

The first came out red with all his body like a hairy mantle, so they named him Esau.

Afterward, his brother came out with his hand gripping Esau's heel.

So he was named Jacob.

Isaac was 60 years old when she bore them.

When the boys grew up, Esau was a skillful hunter.

A man of the field while Jacob was a quiet man living in tents.

Isaac loved Esau because he was fond of game, but Rebecca loved Jacob.

Once when Jacob was cooking a stew, Esau came in from the field and he was famished.

Esau said to Jacob, Let me eat some of the red stuff, for I am famished.

Therefore he was called Edom.

Jacob said, First, sell me your birthright.

Esau said, I am about to die.

Of what use is the birthright to me?

Jacob said, Swear to me first.

So he swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob.

Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank, and rose and went his way.

Thus Esau despised his birthright.

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

The Psalm appointed for today is Psalm 119.

We will read responsibly by the half verse.

Your word is a lantern to my feet.

I have sworn and am determined.

I am deeply troubled.

Accept, O Lord, the willing tribute of my lips.

My life is always in my hand.

The wicked have set a trap for me.

Your decrees are my inheritance forever.

I have applied my heart to fulfill your statutes.

For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.

For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do.

By sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and to deal with sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, so that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the spirit.

For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the spirit set their minds on the things of the spirit.

To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the spirit is life and peace.

For this reason, the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God.

It does not submit to God's law.

Indeed, it cannot, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

But you are not in the flesh.

You are in the spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you.

Anyone who does not have the spirit of Christ does not belong to him.

But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is life because of righteousness.

The spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you.

He who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his spirit that dwells in you.

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

Jesus went out and sat beside the sea.

Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there while the whole crowd stood on the beach.

And he told them many things in parables, saying, Listen, a sower went out to sow.

And as he sowed, some seeds fell in the path, and the birds came and ate them up.

Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil.

But when the sun rose, they were scorched, and since they had no root, they withered away.

Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them.

Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

Let any one with ears listen.

Later Jesus explained the parable to his disciples and said, Hear then the parable of the sower.

When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart.

This is what was sown on the path.

As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy.

Yet such a person has no root, but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away.

As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing.

But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed beer bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, and another sixty, and in another thirty.

The gospel of the Lord?

Here is the vision of Jesus teaching on the boat because the shore is too crowded.

And this is in the Gospel of Matthew the very first parable.

Just I don't know why I need to say this, but for myself I do.

Parables are unique to Jesus in the ancient world.

You won't find any other rabbi teaching in parables.

So this is a really interesting thing.

And a lot of the time, uh maybe we've grown up looking at a parable as an analogy.

So we don't understand God, but we understand what it's like selling seeds.

So look, we'll just put them together and we'll get God.

And um maybe that's a great approach, although there are a lot of sticky rickets when we do that in this one, and I think they're worth spending a second on.

The first thing I want to do, if it's okay, well, I guess I'm gonna do it anyway, um, is uh talk about like what I think is probably the worst way we can use this parable and the way I've internalized it most of my life.

It has to do with productivity.

The way I heard this parable is very much the way John Calvin heard this parable when he wrote about the Protestant work ethic.

People are four kinds of soil.

They are either hard-hearted and in cahoots with the evil one, hence nothing good comes from them, or they'll just have that kind of weak faith with no root, or they get choked by concerns like taking care of their kids and taking care of their aging parents, and will they have enough money when they retire, those shallow faith people?

And then there's the good ones.

And the good ones are the ones who reproduce a hundredfold, which means if you haven't got somebody to sign on the line and a hundred of them, well, you're one of the other types.

Please hear that.

I'm not advocating that read.

I'm just saying that read has owned me.

The gospel of spiritual productivity.

And I don't think it's the gospel.

I'm convinced it's not good news, and I'm not sure that it produces fruit anybody else would want to eat.

So I want to unwind that.

One of the things that has bothered me about the parable, if I'm totally honest, is why on earth would a farmer throw seeds in places where they don't grow?

Now, you can go to Lowe's and buy a packet of seeds, it's really cheap, but in the ancient world, you had to be really careful about extracting seeds, drying them out, getting the right conditions.

So, look, only a truly foolish person would go around throwing seeds into clear lake and being disappointed within they grow into a fruit orchard.

So, if God's a sower, why is God wasting stuff?

I mean, that just seems like bad stewardship.

Sowing seeds where you know they can't grow.

God didn't read the fall letter we put out every year, right?

I mean, that just seems wasteful.

So I I want to offer you maybe a different um thought about this and and always take or leave it.

Um it comes from being out west a little bit and noticing actually that um a little bit in my own life, if I'm really honest, I'm probably not one type of soil.

I've probably got all of these areas all over the place.

Like there's areas where I'm really, really productive, and there's areas where I'm really choked by worries.

And honestly, some of those worries are really, really good things.

And then there's other areas where I'm probably just pretty hard-hearted and nothing much is going on.

But I wouldn't say I know anybody that's one type or another.

I think we got lots of fields in our lives, and having been out west, and and maybe you've seen this other places too, it occurred to me that there um there's something magnificent about going to like El Capitan in uh in Yosemite, which is a granite rock face and seeing a fully formed tree grow right out the side.

Well, you know how that tree got there.

There were a lot of wasted seeds.

Some of the seeds landed there, and of course, there was nowhere for them to sprout, so birds ate them up.

But you know, I guess there were enough seeds that once the birds were full, they flew away, and there were a couple left behind.

And sure enough, somehow, a little hair from a root got into a little tiny declinion in one of those granite crevices and made the fissure bigger.

And you know, I would guarantee you that first plant didn't grow very big.

It probably didn't produce any fruit, it may not even had a leaf.

But a couple hundred years later, it was a channel enough for a bigger root to get a I wonder if instead of our instant productivity demands, if this story isn't reminding us that God plays the long game.

You probably, if you're like me, you've had somebody in your life who insisted on being good to you when you were sure you didn't deserve it.

Initially you can kind of like dial that away, you know, like they're just nuts, right?

They're nuts.

And then after a while, they may keep coming back and you may find yourself thinking, they're just starting to be annoying.

How do I get them to leave me alone?

They keep telling me like they're thankful and I'm good, or something like this.

And then hopefully, hopefully, over time, they broke through.

And just a little root got in.

A little root got in and started to do what I call terraforming.

Started to terraform you.

Maybe the first plants didn't grow very much, but over a lifetime of ministry and love, whether this is your parent or your spouse or one of your kids or just somebody you work with, you start to find the soil changing.

And you start to find perhaps a little bit of grace and goodness taking root in you, even to your surprise.

That way, I would like to suggest to you one of my friends from 8 o'clock always says, Mike says to me, I've never learned anything from my successes.

I've only learned from my failures.

And so maybe, maybe some of our failures just get to be the fertilizer for the new growth.

Now I've got to tell you, the productive mindset that I'm in that permeates a lot of what I do.

As a parent and as somebody who runs a house, and honestly, as a priest, I just like to being productive.

I like getting things done.

You know, I hear a parable like this, and I immediately start to get concerned about waste.

And I don't know if you've been in a relationship where you were doing everything right and the outcome wasn't coming out.

And you might have thought, I'm not wasting my time on this anymore.

Please tell me I'm not the only one.

By the way, I get there really fast, like too fast.

And there's just this lovely reminder when we think about.

Being terraformed by grace, that there are seeds, and I don't know that this isn't necessarily about money.

I mean, we have to be careful when we think about this stuff, but I would say the scriptures are pretty clear to us that there are seeds that may feel wasteful for us, but in the long term they terraform the world.

Those seeds, in case you're wondering, they're called the fruits of the Spirit, because when they take root, that's exactly what they do.

They produce fruits that nourish the world.

And maybe it takes a whole lot of seeds of love and joy and peace and patience, kindness, and goodness and gentleness and self-control.

It can probably feel like we're wasting up against a hard rock.

And what I hear in the parable is Jesus saying, actually, that's not wasted.

Even if you don't see the outcome, those things are never wasted.

Those seeds are the ones who are able to chip fissures into those rock and start to bloom.

Hey, the first ones may not work out great, but that's okay.

God's got plenty of seeds.

God's got plenty of seeds.

And I mean that in the most personal way.

See, the truth is, so often I look at God as if God's put out that I didn't get it the first time.

And I'd like to suggest to you we could read the parable that way.

To our detriment.

Instead, what if we believed in a God who was happy to waste grace on us?

Because God knows it didn't waste.

God knows it might be bouncing now.

But eventually it might just make its way in.

And we might do the scariest thing we ever imagined.

We might enjoy the life God's given us.

And God can play that game for a long time.

Because unlike corn and wine and oil, the fruits of the Spirit are not limited commodities.

That is to say, when I'm dealing with regular commodities, when I give some away, I have less to give.

When I'm planting the fruits of the spirit, what my life has taught me when I'm honest about it, is that the more I sow grace, the more I have to sow in my life and in the lives of others.

Maybe God's abundance comes frankly because it isn't in commodities.

It's in things like empathy and compassion and celebration of who we are, even when we don't want to celebrate those things.

Now that might sound a little bit wild, but you know there's the first line we read from Romans, and it really rejects the reading of the parable I put at the very beginning.

It begins that, hey, some people might be a path, and some people might be rocky soil, and some people might be thorny, and then there's those really good folks, and guess what?

There's no condemnation for any kind of soil in Jesus Christ.

And if Christ doesn't condemn me, why do I want to condemn myself?

And why do I want to condemn other people who aren't hustling the land as hard as I want to?

You might have a different answer from me.

But I think my answer is because I'm just a little bit afraid that God's willing to waste grace on me.

But I'm pretty sure God is willing to waste grace on you and me.

Now we're reading this book, at least a few of us are from the artist's way, and you know, this happens sometimes that you'll hear a thing ten years, and you're like, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever, you know.

And then you hear it for the hundred millionth and eleventh time, and it's like, oh, that makes so much sense.

Um this week, or actually a week and a half ago, we were we were still in Africa, uh, this is this is what uh the lady wrote.

We come to recognize that God is unlimited in supply and that everyone has equal access.

And this begins to clear up guilt about having or getting too much.

You see, since everyone can draw on the universal supply, we deprive no one with our own abundance.

If we think of receiving God's good as being an act of worship, cooperating with God's plan to manifest goodness in our lives, we could begin to get to let go of having to sabotage ourselves.

Sabotage ourselves.

Listen, I can tell you as a priest, there are people in the room who are the loveliest people I know who don't want to call me because they might not really need it.

Because maybe they only get four clergy visits in their life, and they don't want to waste one now.

Jim will agree, this happens.

He's laughing so he doesn't cry.

Listen, you don't have a limit with clergy visits.

You taking time about something like that may not be consequential is not depriving somebody else of clergy time.

Promise.

I don't want to say that's what I'm here to do.

I want to say that's what God is here for us to do with one another.

You don't have to deserve it.

You don't have to feel like you deserve it.

You don't even have to agree with God that God thinks you deserve it.

This is part of like what we call faith.

I don't have to justify God believing I deserve it.

I'm just going to accept that God thinks that I do.

God thinks you deserve to enjoy your life.

God thinks that.

God thinks that you are worthy of love even when you don't feel like it.

God thinks that.

I am very convinced of it.

God thinks that even if you don't know what to do with that, God's not willing to condemn you.

Because God doesn't think you're worthy of that.

God thinks that if we can't change the soil of our lives while we're alive, God will take care of it when we're dead.

God thinks that.

I think God hopes we'll do it now, because God knows we'll enjoy it if we do.

And this is where this parable is not just about how do we receive grace.

Frankly, I think it reminds us how do we choose to plant?

Now, I've got limited money.

I do.

And I choose not to throw my money in Clear Lake.

I'd much rather put it in other places.

That makes sense.

I've got a limited amount of food in my home, and I have limited amounts of time in my day, but I don't know why it is that I'm so willing to talk myself out of being unlimited in sharing compassion and kindness and love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, and self-control.

Those things don't have limits.

And again, what I hear God reminding us this week is that even when it feels like we're bouncing those things off a wall, first of all, that's what it took for us.

Second of all, those walls exist for good reasons because we've all been hurt.

We've been hurt.

And we have coping mechanisms for good reasons.

They help us survive.

And it takes time to train us that some of the things that got us to survival are getting in the way of enjoyment.

God is patient with us.

We get to be patient with us.

We don't have to.

We get to.

It's more enjoyable if we are.

We get to be patient with that stubborn person at work.

You don't have to.

You get to.

It's more enjoyable if you do.

For both of y'all.

So I don't know what you need to sew this week, but I'd encourage you to do what God does and waste a little bit of goodness.

Please join me as we pray our faith in the words of the Nicene Creed.

We believe in one God, the Father, the Maker and all is.

We believe in one Lord, Christ.

God from God, life and light, true God, and true God.

God and one being the Father.

Through Him all his name.

And he came on good.

For our sake we crucified and justified.

Of the good days of hand, in accordance with the scripture.

He attended heaven, and it seemed at the right hand of the Father.

He will come again in glory to judge the king of the death, and his kingdom will come.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, who will teach the Father and Son.

With the Father and Son he is worshiping the right.

He has worked for Christ.

We believe in the one that has come to our church.

We look up to those.

For all people in their daily life and work, for our families, friends, and neighbors, and for those who are alone.

For this community, the nation and the world.

For all who work for justice, freedom, and peace, for the just and proper use of your creation.

For the victims of hunger, fear, injustice, and oppression.

For all who are in danger, sorrow, or any kind of trouble, for those who minister to the sick, the friendless, and the needy, for the peace and unity of the Church of God.

For all who proclaim the gospel, and all who speak the truth.

For all bishops, priests, and deacons, for the priests in our community, Mike, Jim, and Craig, for Andy, Hector, Jeff, and Kay, our bishops, in the diocesan cycle of prayer, St.

Francis, Tyler, St.

John's, Carthage, St.

John's Center, and for Michael, our presiding bishop, for all who serve God and his church.

For the special needs and concerns of this congregation, especially those on our parish prayer list, and those the congregation wishes to name at this time, silently or aloud.

Hear us, Lord, for your mercy is great.

We thank you, Lord, for all the blessings of this life.

We will exalt you, O God, our King, and praise your name forever and ever.

We pray for all who have died, that they may have a place in your eternal kingdom.

Lord, let your loving kindness be upon them.

We pray to you also for the forgiveness of our sins.

I invite you to join me in this confession that comes from St.

George's Cathedral in Cape Town.

All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

The hatred that divides nation from nation, race from race, class from class.

The covetous desires of people and nations to possess what is not their own.

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

Father, forgive us.

Our envy of the welfare and happiness of others.

Father, forgive us.

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

Father, forgive us.

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

Father, forgive us.

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

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave you.

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.

If you're new to us or haven't done this before, in the room right behind the one we're sitting in, we call that the North X, we have these little cards that say welcome, and we'd be tremendously grateful if you'd fill one out and just put it in the blue basket.

You get to decide what the follow-up is, and if you don't want one, there won't be one, but we'd just be grateful for you letting us know you were here today.

A couple of things to call your attention, but I think we ended up skipping birthday Sunday.

So if you were born in July, I'd like to invite you up so that we can name your birth and offer God's blessing on the new year.

And uh while you're making your way up, our custom is that we share our name and the day we were born on, and either where we were born, when we were born, or both of those.

Good morning, Donna Meyer.

I was born in Macon, Georgia on July the 13th, 1956.

Good morning.

Richard Keene, uh born in Houston, Texas, July 9th, 1970.

Jam Catchham.

Born in Patterson, New Jersey on July 27th, and I didn't have three.

Born in Southern July, 1953.

And she's just coming in.

And then there's Emory, who was born on July the 7th, 2012, in San Diego.

So let's pray God's blessing.

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

Look with continued favor we pray on these your children as they begin another year.

Grant that they would continue to grow in wisdom and grace, and above all, strengthen their trust in your goodness and love all the days of their lives.

Through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Was yours in July?

Yeah, we don't really get it.

It's okay.

We invite you up, and uh we ask your names and the day of your union and where it happened, if that was okay.

I'm Jim McGill, and this is my wife Beth.

We were married on July the 21st, 50 years ago.

1934.

Oh, we were married in um Mattituck, New York, on Long Island.

Thank you.

And our eight o'clockers, Betty and David Gilfillin, are celebrating 60 years together this month.

So uh celebrations coming this week, so let's uh let's celebrate with God what's happened in this relationship.

God, thank you for the gift, the sacrament of marriage, whereby you show your undying love for us, even when we don't always want it.

We pray, God, that as you continue, as Beth and Jim continue to keep their vows, and their vows keep them, surprise them, God, with new joy this year, with curiosity in one another, with the love and life you intend for them, and may they be a source of inspiration, not only to one another, but to us all.

Amen.

You know, it's pretty sweet to celebrate anniversaries.

I just have to say, right?

Because 19 years in, I've probably counted who gets what piece of furniture about four or five times.

But to hear, you know, 50 and 60 years, it's just lovely to do in community.

So thanks for being a part of that.

Um, couple things I want to lift up to us that are coming up.

And first, it's always good to go back what happened um the last uh the last week or so.

So uh yesterday, tremendous outpouring of love and support for two funerals.

And uh I, you know, I was at both of them, and it was it was really lovely to be a part of both.

Um two fantastic, truly lovely human beings.

And one thing we don't always get, you know, I used to be a uh on North Island in Coronado where they train Navy SEALs, and every other funeral I did was for a Navy person.

But one of the things we never did, and this is kind of the Navy way, honestly, is that you do the presentation of colors at the graveside.

So it didn't happen in church, even for the three-star admirals, right?

Um, we had those presentations yesterday at the beginning of a service.

We had a 99-year-old Joe Bass who was a submariner, one of the last World War II vets, kind of around, just to be honest, right?

So, submariner uh went on to live a fantastic, I mean, the testimony about the guy is fantastic.

And the Navy showed up, and they don't always show up, and they did, and they folded this thing and and they, you know, they presented it to Carol, his widow.

It's like incredibly moving to be a part of.

I don't know if you've been a part of this uh before.

So distinguished and so much joyful service to his country and his family, was really beautiful.

And then we got to celebrate Janet Morgan, who, if you don't know her, sorry you missed out.

I mean, you really did.

I mean, truly beautiful human being.

And all I can say about you all is not only did you in general show up, and of course, you you offer these things and you share this space, but you do it with such hospitality and grace to people who are looking for God's celebration of their loved ones and looking to have that in a compartment that you supply with food and love.

So thank you.

Good on you, St.

Thomas.

And this is a really beautiful part of our ministry to the community.

We do these for members and we do these for people who've never been to church before because they ask.

Thank you for getting that.

And yesterday we really got it twice.

Uh, really thrilled to be back with 18 of us from South Africa.

Uh, thanks for enjoying some good preaching while I was gone.

Sorry, I'm here for a while now.

Uh, but we had a tremendous time, and look, not everybody can go on these things, we get that, but I will tell you it is kind of amazing to take a group of people to a place that most of us said we would never go on our own, to go there together.

And maybe it's because we went on a church trip that we were on our best behavior, but I didn't think so.

I think it's because we have really fantastic people here, and so the camaraderie and the communion that happens on these things is transforming.

I'll tell you, I've never been to a country so humbling, honestly, where the tour guide thanked us.

The most important thing we could have done is visit their country.

I've never had a tour guide say that quite that way.

This is a country in Zimbabwe where they don't even have their own currency.

So if we don't come as tourists, they can't even conduct trade with one another.

Humbling to hear somebody thank you for being a tourist.

And uh to go with Garmin, of course, was absolutely amazing to think through you know how Africa is still trying to.

Well, it discovered itself after years of apartheid.

So it was a really beautiful pilgrimage, and thank you for thinking of us.

And you'll get to hear more about it in the weeks that come.

Couple things coming up.

This coming Thursday.

This week we're gonna have probably 200 kids here for summer camp doing camp invention.

So the campus is gonna kind of be packed.

But on Thursday at 9.30, I'd like to offer coffee with the rector in the Narthex.

That's the one room not being used.

So you don't have to register, but if you're interested in coming by and just have an informal time, I'll be here at 9.30 in the Northex.

And uh yeah, there'll be a lot of kids in the building, which is kind of a magical thing.

So uh I'll be here from 9.30 until about 10:30 or 11.

Feel free to drop in and drop out as as your schedule.

Um also you notice maybe in the e-news, if you don't get it, let me know and we can we can make sure you get it.

Episcopal Night at the Ballpark's coming up, uh, and it's kind of a really nice way uh to go and enjoy an Astros game, knowing the person sitting next to you will either go to church here or to some other Episcopal church in the diocese.

It's kind of a cool thing.

And some people really live for these things because it's a great way to see that there's more of us than there are of us.

That's kind of a nice reminder, isn't it?

You know, and especially to do it in a fun way.

Um last thing is Alex just got back from a week of ministry as well.

Come on up, Alex is gonna tell us a little bit about it.

But Alex was involved in planning and coordinating what they call Mission Palooza, which is an opportunity for youth to do service throughout the diocese as a group together.

But you should use the microphone.

So this past week we got to take some of our youth on a trip called Mission Palooza.

Um by the end of the week, we called it Mission Palooza because we met a lot of good pals on the trip.

Um we had uh about 50 kids from um 50 to 60 kids from different churches within the diocese, some from the Houston area, some from the Austin area, some even from the Waco area, who accumulated at a church called Trinity Episcopal Church in Gallaston, and we all gathered together to do community outreach within the Gallaston area.

Now, I say Gallaston area, some of us ended up in Angleton doing some work about an hour away.

Um, but we we split up the kids from the churches they were brought with and put them into work groups.

Um so they were growing community not just with our own church, but with others.

Ooh, sorry.

And so we split them into work groups and they all got to go out each day and do service work and create service opportunity.

Some of our kids went to Angleton, like I said, about an hour away from Gallaston to do work on painting and restoring houses that were still being affected by hurricane that are still re um re reconstructed from Hurricane Harvey.

There, and and so there are still some work that they were doing for that.

Um, it was very hot those days.

Our heat index had about 106, but the kids were trooped on.

They had they started a strategy of um some of the kids would sit lit gave for a little while while the others painted and then they switched every half hour to 45 minutes and they started this cool system.

Um they really encouraged one another for the keep.

We had another group, two groups stay on the island.

One worked with St.

Vincent's House, um, which is an organized community outreach organization associated with the Episcopal Church.

Um they helped to uh re-kind of give give it a replenished uh paint.

They painted the playground there, um, they painted some of the murals there that kind of gave it a refreshed look so that the work this year can be done with a new refreshed look.

We also worked with St.

Gusting, who um our new Reverend Eric Ellis, who about three weeks ago just got ordained and was here with us for a little while, is now there as their priest.

We got to work with them and we got to help really um clean and update the church and really give them a refresh as well as they go into the new year with the new priest Eric Ellis.

Um, so we got to do a lot of good service work with a lot of different um communities and different youth and people we haven't met before.

We also got to have a lot of fun.

We went to Twitter Bond on Wednesday and we all got very, very sunburned, um, but had a very, very good time.

Um, and then on Thursday we had a very unique and cool experience.

We we took all the kids and we said, We're on Galveston.

Uh we got to go to the beach, but we actually we said, Why don't we go to the beach and let's do church on the beach?

Let's do Eucharist on the beach.

Um so we actually took the kids in about right at sundown.

We went out and it was nice and cool, and the the beach was quiet, and we had a very cool Eucharist service on the beach, and the kids really loved it.

It was a very beautiful experience.

So on this trip, these kids not only had fun, they had um they got lots of good service in too with their with their brothers and sisters of the Episcopal faith, but they also got to have experience really cool, really cool prayer and experience God in ways that they might not usually just hear at church or in a youth group regular time.

So um it was a really fun time.

We are blessed to get to do these things with your guys' support and with your guys' love and prayers for us.

And so we had a wonderful time.

If you have any questions or want to know more about the trip, please come ask me.

Also, you can ask our Andy Worley.

He was a rock star on this trip.

Um, by the end of the week, he had all the kids playing wall ball with the tennis ball he brought.

It was awesome.

You can also talk to Andy Worley, he'd love to tell you a lot more about that trip, too.

So thank you.

Again, thank you so much for your love and support.

And if you have any other want to know more, just let me know.

Yeah, and thank you for being the people you are who understand that Alex being chaplain at Camp Allen and Alex working at Mission Palooza on behalf of a bunch of other Episcopal churches is just doing our mission, right?

We say we can do more together, and as a diocese, we're doing that.

Continue to walk in love.

As Christ first loved us and gave himself for us, an offering and sacrifice to God.

This is the table not of the church, but of Jesus Christ.

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 340 of your red prayer book.

And just forgive my brain, it's still somewhat in a different time zone, so the bulletin looks a little funny.

We're just gonna go with the way we do it normally, okay?

The Lord be with you.

Let us give thanks unto who are those who would come.

It is so.

Whenever you drink wine, remember 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, O merciful Father, to hear us, and with thy word and Holy Spirit to bless and sanctify these gifts of bread and wine, so 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 our 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, through the same Jesus Christ our Lord.

By whom and with him 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 from the New Zealand Prayer Book, Eternal Spirit, earthmaker, pain-bearer, life giver, source of all that is and that shall be, Father and Mother of us all, loving God in whom is heaven.

The hallowing of your name echo through the universe, the way of your justice be followed by the peoples of the world, your heavenly will be done by all created beings, your commonwealth of peace and freedom sustain our hope and come on earth.

With the bread we need for today, feed us, and the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us.

In times of temptation and test, strengthen us, from trials too great to endure, spare us, from the grip of all that is evil, free us.

For you reign in the glory of the power that is love, now and forever.

Amen.

Hallelujah.

Christ our Passiver is sacrificed for us.

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

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

Father of all, we give you thanks and praise that when we were still far off, you met us in your Son and brought us home.

Dying and living, He declared your love, gave us grace, and opened the gate of glory.

May we who share Christ's body live his risen life.

We who drink his cup bring life to others.

We whom the Spirit give light to the world.

Keep us firm in the hope you have set before us, so we and all your children shall be free, and the whole world live to praise your name through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Before the blessing, I just forgot.

We're having a newcomer's lunch today, immediately following the service.

Maybe you didn't plan on going.

You can still come.

Maybe you've been here for ten years and you thought, I never got to go to one.

You can still come.

We're just going to go into Kristall right after the service, and you truly are welcome to a newcomer's lunch.

Like a chalice, like a basin, like a bowl.

When the Spirit comes, let it find our heart shaped like this.

Shaped like something that knows how to receive what is given, that knows how to hold what comes to fill, that knows how to gather itself around what arrives as unbidden, unsought, unmeasured love.

The blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Alleluia, alleluia.

Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.

Thanks, Peter.