Christmas Eve 2022

It was in a winter time when all the birds had fled, that might be many chosen angel quiet and said, Before I was gone through him, and wandering wonder of you Jesus born king is born.

Jesus is born in a child is glory.

A ragged robe of rabbit season wrapped his beauty wrong, but as the hunters break my angels all went on.

Jesus your Jesus is born.

He never shall see as was the remote hair.

Darkness and silence are everywhere.

Softly and clearly the came from silence for wonderful sun, all wonderful sun to me.

Oh gods in Maradies, I wonder.

Somebody has to see on the break.

Oh god, I both win all the guys on the wicked.

Doubting I ask what the sight be Christar before the sight of the sight to see.

I saw me to speak.

Oh god, this I will say the border.

Because I'm energy.

Innocent.

All the eyes are bringing.

All passing heaven.

Well can be a single king.

All that dies.

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

And blessed be all family now and forever.

Amen.

Let's pray together.

Almighty God.

All desires known.

And from the we know secretary.

Cleanse of all our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit.

That we may hurtly love you and will magnify your holy name through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Let us pray.

God, you've caused this holy night to shine with the brightness of the true light.

Grant that we who have known the mystery of that light on earth may also enjoy him perfectly in heaven.

For with you and the Holy Spirit he lives and reigns, one Lord in glory everlasting.

Please be seated.

Those who live in a land of deep darkness, on them, the light has shined.

You have multiplied the nation, you have increased its joy.

They rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as people exalt with dividing the thunder.

For they open their burden and the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor you have broken as on the day of Midian.

For all the boots of the tramping warriors, and all the garments rolled in blood shall be burned as fuel for the fire.

For a child has been born for us, a son of given to us.

Authority rests upon his shoulder, and he has been wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of peace.

His authority shall grow continually, and there shall be endless peace for the throne of David and his kingdom.

He will establish and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time onward and forevermore.

The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

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

While we wait for the blessed hope and the manifestation of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.

He it is who gave himself for us that we might redeem us from iniquity and purify for himself a people of his own who are zealous for good deeds.

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

Thanks be to God.

The holy gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke.

Glory to you, Lord Christ.

In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered.

This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria.

All went to their own towns to be registered.

Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David.

He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged, and who was expecting a child.

While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child, and she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.

Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.

But the angel said to them, Do not be afraid, for see, I'm bringing you good news of great joy for all the people.

To you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord.

This will be a sign for you.

You will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of a heavenly host praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest heaven and on earth peace among those whom God favors.

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.

So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the child lying in the manger.

When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them.

But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart.

The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they'd heard and seen as it had been told them.

The gospel of the Lord.

This is a story that we've heard so many times.

I'm afraid it's all too easily taken for granted.

So I'm gonna agitate the story a little bit.

And I'm gonna ask you to do something a little unepiscopalian a couple of times, which is like hands raising.

Don't worry, there'll be no clapping.

Um swaying your hands.

But I am curious to know how many of you have heard before that Jesus was born in a stable or barn.

Now, this is like a normal thing, right?

Um there aren't stables or barns.

I just want you to know this.

Uh, in the ancient world, people did not have bows, the animals stayed in the house.

More on that in a second, but I do want to hold on to that tab for just one second, because um, I went to college in North Carolina and we had a phrase there for people who like ate hot wings and had like sauce all over their mouth, or left their dorm room with the door open, we would say, Were you born in a barn?

Have you heard this phrase before?

It's not a good conclusion to be born in a barn.

Hold on to the idea Jesus was born in a stable for one second.

Jesus was born in a barn.

So the next time you see somebody and think, holy smokes, wipe your mouth, were you born in a barn?

You might be talking to the Son of God.

If you don't get anything else, keep that.

Next.

There's a gospel we don't include in the Bible.

It's called the infancy gospel of James.

I don't know if you've ever heard of it.

Has anybody been to Israel before?

On our pilgrimage to Israel, we went in 2017 and we went to Bethlehem, and there's of course the church where you can go, but most archaeologists will tell you Jesus was born in a cave.

There are some caves in the hillside of Bethlehem.

And actually, um, I wrote a book one time about the Gospel of Luke, and I turned to this idea about Jesus being born in a house, not in a cave, and the editor said, Well, you know, I just went to Israel and the archaeologist says he was born in a cave.

That could be true, but Luke's not interested in that.

He's not.

And I want to tell you why, because uh not many people are born in caves.

No, I think what Luke is trying to do is something rather interesting here, which is to take something we put way beyond us as like transcendent and unreachable and so majestic that frankly it's not even applicable to us, and normalize the story.

So back to the house.

In the ancient world, particularly in Bethlehem, most houses had a little bit of a step up.

And most of the people lived on the upper step, and the animals lived on the lower bit.

They brought the animals in at night because the animals added a lot of warmth.

You don't need a fire when you've got a lot of cattle.

Houses were not big, everybody slept in the same room.

And what do you know?

They fed the animals right on top of the step.

So imagine your cow here, and here is some hay.

Sometimes we say, oh man, Jesus had it tough.

He was laid in this straw bed because we've forgotten there was no temper pedic 2,000 years ago.

In fact, I went on a pilgrimage of sorts to my wife's grandmother's house in Maine, and uh this was like five years ago, no, ten years ago, and what do you know?

The mattresses were made out of corn cobs and straw.

Still, then, in Maine.

That was normal.

This isn't lowly to put Jesus in a manger, it's normal.

Sometimes we read this word, there's no room at the end.

And uh, there's a fascinating book called Jesus through Mediterranean Eyes that says, actually, that word might be better translated as guest room.

Turns out that if a household was big enough, they would add a room on the top of the home, and that would be for guests.

As Joseph's people were all gathering, there was a room in the guest room.

So he slept on the main story with everybody else.

No, it's actually helpful to be southern and think about this for a second because when I would go to my aunt's house for Christmas, we were overcrowded in the house.

But no way were we staying in a hotel.

That would be unacceptable.

That would be a slight to her hospitality.

So the solution was we slept on couches, and even at the age of 15, she put trash bags on to make sure we didn't have accidents.

It was really glorious Christmas, right?

This is like that.

So Joseph goes with his people to be with his people, and what do you know?

They all sleep in the same place.

And sometimes we could say how lowly, but I want you to hear Luke is inviting us to consider how ordinary.

I was born in Good Samaritan Hospital in Lexington, Kentucky, and according to Luke, Jesus could have been in the crib next to me.

Why does this matter to me this year?

Well, I've been reading a book by Brian Green.

I don't know if you know of him.

He's a uh theoretical physicist.

And uh he likes to step outside of his area a little bit and do like a grand unified theory.

Uh, but it's a fascinating read anyway.

And what Brian Green says, which I think is really interesting, is that the way that our brains have evolved, as particularly as human beings, is that we are very, very prone uh to caution and fear and work.

For example, we've evolved so that mistaking a bush for a lion, like that benefits us.

What we don't want to do is mistake a lion for a bush.

Right?

So this is to our advantage that we're worried about things for our survival.

It's gonna sound a little bit wild on Christmas Eve.

Maybe.

But I grew up thinking God didn't like me very much, and that there wasn't very much good in human beings.

And I want to suggest to you that that might be a byproduct of our evolutionary brain that likes to ratchet up threat and danger and fear.

So when I hear the story this year about how ordinary Jesus' birth is, I think it's a reminder that we could buy into this byproduct of evolution, that God is angry and scary and vengeful and wrathful.

And Luke is trying to say, no.

No, don't mistake Jesus for a lion.

He's not a threat.

In fact, I don't know if you've thought this way before, but I grew up hearing that Christmas is really God's plan to be.

God had in mind that we were going to do everything perfect, and then we blew, and God was really mad and disappointed, so God said, Well, I guess I'll throw you a lifeline.

And I'd like you to entertain this Christmas Eve that God was pleased to be a human being.

This was God's plan A.

And the story exists for us to say that God was born in this flesh in an ordinary way to counter our fear that God is out to get us.

Did Jesus have diaper rash?

You better believe it, because so does everybody else remember.

This is part of the story.

Not that God just puts up with us because God has to.

But that God thought this would be a good idea.

Being a human being.

God thought that would be a great idea.

I would dare say to you, God did it because God enjoyed it.

And so when we find ourselves thinking, oh my gosh, I hate being a human being, well, we're arguing with our creator and we're arguing with the Christmas message.

Here is God in the flesh.

Well, all here.

And here.

Here.

This is the story of the incarnation.

We can talk ourselves out of God's favor, but we'd be doing that not God.

Couple of other thoughts.

I don't know.

I grew up in a different Christian tradition, you know, where this is, like I said I mentioned to you, this is God's plan B, and uh all the people before Jesus, well, poor them, they just didn't have grace or anything like that.

And so I I think don't think that could possibly be true, but for the longest time I did find myself thinking, why did it take God like so long to do this?

Right?

Why did it take God so long to do it?

Like if this was a thing God needed to do, why wait like a hundred thousand years into human development?

And um, there's a couple of thoughts I want to give you.

Uh, one is that uh, if you know the story very well, um Mary says yes.

Do you recall this?

Hey, Mary, good news, you're gonna have a baby on a wedlock.

I don't know that that's really good news, but she said, okay, I'll do it.

And uh I read this really interesting poetry book that said, you know, maybe the reason it took Jesus so long to show up is because all the other women said no way.

It took a hundred thousand years for somebody to say, All right.

Now, the reason I think that matters is because I'm pretty quick to say no way to God.

I'm pretty quick to say no way to somebody with the wing sauce.

I'll even tell you the wings don't bother me.

I walk the neighborhood every day when I say hi to people and they don't say hi back.

Boy, they were born in a barn.

Uh that's what I think, right?

And so the story is indicting.

It's indicting for me because I'm saying no to God every time I walk by them as if I greet them to get something back.

Well, I do.

And that tells you why I'm so disappointed, because I'm not giving them a gift.

I'm expecting them to give me something back.

Here's the story.

Even when it's uncomfortable, can we say, I hope you have a good day?

Um we're gonna do this next year.

That's because we're probably gonna need it again next year.

That's what I want to suggest.

There's another thing that we often forget, and this is again where we sometimes talk ourselves out of this story doing something I think that Luke is trying to get us to do.

Um, we often forget that um Silent Night is a song about an organ in Austria, and there was a power failure, and the organ didn't work anymore, so they sung on the guitar.

And you know, like when a baby's born on a silent night, it's not good.

We've got an OBGYN running the film right now, and you really want babies to make noise because it means they're alive.

And Mary seems really sweet and demure, right?

There's no way that lady was quiet.

I've been in a delivery room.

Many of you have too.

Let's not talk ourselves out, frankly, of how normal this is.

The holiness is not in that it's different, the holiness is that it's right here.

Right here.

Part of the story that's really so interesting, right, is, and we come back to this, I think, is because we are hardwired as mammals to love babies.

Like if you don't love a baby, you're probably a sociopath.

I don't mind, I'm serious, right?

Like we're hardwired to do this.

If you don't love puppies, you might also be a sociopath.

Like this is true, right?

So babies are super sweet and easy to love, and that's why we baptize babies because it's really, really, well, easy.

And I don't know if you've heard the song uh by Pentatonics is re-recorded.

Mary, did you know?

Do you know this song?

Yeah, it's really old.

It's actually written by the Gaither Vocal Band or a member of it called uh Mark Lowry.

And there's this line in the song that says, Hey Mary, did you know that when you look at your baby, you were looking at the face of God?

Do you know the song?

Of course she knew that.

When I held my baby, I was looking at the face of God.

Any of you had a baby?

If you didn't think you were looking at God incarnate, I don't know what to tell you.

But for at least for the first seven years, if I needed to see God, I'd go in and look at my girl asleep in the bed.

Maybe I'm not the only parent that finds just the sweetness of the sleeping child.

That's part of this story.

We are hardwired to see God incarnate in our offspring and in the offspring of others.

And maybe you're a little bit like me when you hear this bit about Isaiah.

He's the king of kings and the lord of lords and the prince of peace.

And I'm looking at Ukraine right now and I don't see that happening.

There's a little bit of cognitive dissonance, right?

He's the Prince of Peace and the King of Kings, and there's war.

And maybe it's because we miss this detail.

I usually miss it.

Jesus didn't come in some kind of giant fireball that overwhelmed the world.

He came in a tiny, I mean, Bethlehem had like a hundred families.

The shepherds found it really easy to find him because he was the only baby around.

A little light in the King of Kings and Lord of Lords was born a non-king and a non-lord.

He was born a helpless baby.

And if Mary didn't take care of him, he would have died.

That's the human story.

We don't raise ourselves.

So if we're looking for the Prince of Peace and the Lord of Lords, maybe it's because we didn't raise them upright.

This is the challenge of the Christmas story.

Jesus needed parenting.

God thought that was a good idea.

God thought God would enjoy that.

And God hoped we would enjoy it.

Not just long ago, but now.

But now.

And what that means, of course, right, we get this with kids.

When kids have a meltdown, it's usually because they're hungry, angry, lonely, or tired or bored.

But when one of our co-workers has a meltdown, we usually say it's because you're a jerk.

And what if we looked at our coworkers and said, I don't know if you were one of these parents.

Shh shh shh shh.

I was a bobbing shusher.

Don't actually pick them up and do this.

But what if we said to the person who cut us and cut us off in traffic, you're probably just hungry.

I mean it, right?

We didn't get mad at babies for being hungry.

We give them food.

So what if we raised the child of God in our workplace?

And at those awkward family gatherings, you know, where like Uncle Steve's there, and you're like, oh God, Uncle Steve.

Mom, can I do the dishes so I don't have to be around Uncle Steve?

What if we put ourselves out there to raise the child of God that's in our midst?

There's another element in the story, and you know, I think this works really well.

If you've been to the Vatican and you've seen Raphael's paintings in the 16 apartments, right, the angels are like these little cute fat babies, right?

Like really chubby, and they got these little wings, and they're really cute and sweet.

Again, we're hardwired to like babies, so this works, right?

But I didn't know if you realize that in the Hebrew Bible, like angels are like terrifying and scary.

They have four heads and they're covered with eyeballs.

And so they show up and they say, Don't be afraid.

And look, no fat baby with wings would ever say that.

They would say, Hug me, right?

And like you would do that.

But they're like terrifying monstrosities that show up and they say, Don't be afraid.

And you know what?

Sometimes taking care of God's children in our midst is scary as hell.

That's part of the story, though.

This in the story that it is not always delightful to do this.

But it's where life is to be found.

There's this other part of the story that we often forget.

As I mentioned, we always think of Mary as this like sweet demure lady, and childbirth was really easy, but uh I can tell you, um, having seen delivery, at least, well, I've seen it once, that uh, and I think probably almost any lady in the room could verify what I'm getting ready to say.

Uh, when you have a baby as a lady, my understanding is it permanently changes your body for the rest of your life.

You will never have abs again.

Am I wrong about this?

We forget this part of the story.

It is work raising the Son of God.

It is work raising the child of God.

It is exhausting and sometimes.

It leaves marks on us.

We celebrate the story because Mary said yes, she'd do it anyway.

We celebrate the story that is so part of our human existence because some of you have had more than one of these kids, right?

Somehow you forgot the first time, or you said it was worth it.

This is part of our story.

And we get to gather here and talk about Mary and the baby because guess what?

It's part of our story that loving somebody else who may not love you back can be very painful.

Loving somebody who is very hard to love, it can change your physical body for the rest of your life.

And somehow it's a terrible thing for God to ask us to do this, but it is the only way.

It is the only way that we bring light into the world.

And it's a little light sometimes.

And if you weren't here Sunday, I mentioned to you.

Look, it's the seventh night of Hanukkah.

It just started actually tonight.

So we lit our Hanukkih up here, and you know the story of a Hanukkiya is that they had enough oil for one day and it lasted eight nights, right?

And um this lovely part, right?

That with God a little bit of light can go a really long way.

Like just giving a little room to God incarnate in your annoying co-worker can go a long way.

It's where our advent rate came from.

It came right from the Hanukkah.

Right?

And this is one of the few years for Hanukkah Christmas.

And there's something really incredible to think that these little tiny lights.

Like, I hope you have a good day and I'm in it.

Or, you know, that person cut me off.

Maybe they're having a medical emergency.

Just that little thought can go a really long way.

We're even gonna practice it because you know the candles are sweet, right?

You've all got candles, and after we're nourished off God's table, we're gonna light these candles, and you'll see that the little light from one candle.

This is where we're gonna practice, goes a really long way.

Because it's gonna light up the whole room, right?

This is what we do.

It's built into the service, it will not be a surprise.

We're going to do it in a minute because it's practice.

It's easy to practice here.

The hard thing is, can we do it when we go out?

Even just little tiny lights.

I'm gonna let it go this time.

I'm glad to see you, even if you're not glad to see me.

Can go a really long way with God.

The last thing I want to say, because we heard it read from Titus.

The grace of God which brings salvation has appeared to all people.

I mean, if I would have written it, I'd have written, the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to people who think and dress like I do.

That's usually what I think.

And it's interesting to think that somehow we've entered into our tradition that God doesn't like people who don't have like the right thoughts.

But that's not what Titus thinks.

Titus thinks that God's salvation has appeared to everybody, even the ones who don't vote like you.

Titus thinks that God's salvation has appeared to people who don't worship like you do.

Titus thinks that God's salvation has appeared to people who start fights.

And that's sometimes really, really hard to accept.

Which is why we will hear this story again next year, over and over and over.

Hopefully, that little bit of light grows into eight.

Hopefully.

Hopefully, we get a little more light.

We're going to return next year because I'm suspicious, like me, this is all a really nice idea until I wake up in the morning and I'm tired and I'm hungry and I'm lonely or I'm angry, and then it's hard to do this, and that's why we're asked to come back together over and over again.

Oh, I'll take you once a year.

Let's be honest.

I'm glad you're here.

But imagine if we said that this is what the story is asking us to do, and we said that regularly, and then we had the guts to just shine a little bit more light.

Merry Christmas.

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

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, light from light, true God, from true God, begotten and unmade, of one being with the Father.

Through him all things were made.

For us and for our salvation, he came down from heaven.

By the power of the Holy Spirit, he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary and was made man.

For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate, he suffered death and was buried.

On the third day he rose again in accordance with the scriptures.

He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.

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

With the Father and the Son, he is worshipped and glorified.

He has spoken through the prophets.

We believe in one holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.

We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.

We look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.

Amen.

Unto us the child is born, unto us the Son is given, and his name shall be called the Prince of Peace.

And so the peace of the Lord be always with you.

And also for you.

It's always nice when the sharing of the peace lasts longer than you think it should.

Right?

I mean, that's like a celebratory thing.

So thank you for making peace.

If you're new to us or haven't done this before, grateful that you've worshiped with us tonight.

And in the room right behind the one you're sitting in, we call it an Arpfix, are these little cards that say welcome.

And we'd be tremendously grateful if you just fill one of those cards out so we have a record of your visit.

I'm not going to call you unless you tell me you want to call.

So don't be afraid.

It's got a lot of options.

But grateful that you chose to worship with us tonight.

So a few announcements.

One is immediately following the service.

We'll do most of what you do when there's a new baby.

We'll have some champagne and some chocolate to celebrate the birth of the Lord.

So that'll be right out in the hallway after we're done with the Eucharist.

Tomorrow, we have one service at nine o'clock, and uh this is like the pajama day service.

Uh I mean, you know, as long as you're like reasonably closed, we'll just be grateful to have you here.

So that's at 9 o'clock, and that's our one service tomorrow.

I'm gonna tell you this ahead of time because if you didn't make it tomorrow, you won't get to hear it.

But um we recently have been given a bequest that is going to have a new Lord's table.

And so if you don't make it, well, you won't be here tomorrow, but it will be here January 1st.

So I just want to prepare you.

You may come in January 1st and say, what happened?

And the answer it was planned.

It's planned, and we hope you'll enjoy this piece of uh uh that was given in memory of two of our longtime parishioners.

I also just want you to be aware that um, again, because we're we're in holidays, so I may not see everybody, but we're going to go on a tour of a couple different religious traditions starting in January.

The first one's January the 11th.

We'll be going to um Congregation Harshalom, a conservative synagogue, and Rabbi Federo will give us the tour of the synagogue and tell us what everything is used for uh in the room and answer questions we have about Judaism in general.

Uh we'll also later in January be heading to the Coptic church that's on Space City?

Is that where it is?

Clear Lake City.

Clear Lake City, yeah, it's the gold-domed one.

And we'll get a tour of their church and their tradition and how they how they do things in the building.

And we'll also go to the Islamic Center.

So I just want to broadcast that out there because um it's really important.

It's really important that we understand and respect how other people do it, right?

So the first one's January 11th.

The last thing to say is uh we are getting ready.

I mean, boy, practicing peace and loving other people.

It's tiring.

Like, I need some energy for that.

So um God's gonna give us some energy here in a second, right?

And uh the way we're gonna do this is through communion.

So if you'd like to receive bread, you're gonna put your hands out, and I have gluten-free.

Just let me know if you need gluten-free.

I've got it.

And um, if you come to this side, my right, your left, this is where you can dip the bread in the cup.

If you come to this side, you can drink directly from the cup, or you can skip either and still receive a blessing.

And you know what I love about the prayer book, like that's in front of you, the red thing?

It says that um the desire to receive uh nourishment from the Lord's table works whether you receive it or not.

So follow your conscience, God's gonna give you the grace you need, even if you don't feel it.

That's the assurance of faith, and all are invited to God's table.

So walk in love.

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

Christmas Day in the morning, Christmas Day in the morning, Christmas Day in the morning, Christmas Day in the morning.

And of your own have we given you.

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.

The Lord be with you, and also with you, lift up your hearts, we live unto the Lord.

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

It is right to give God thanks and praise.

It is truly right to glorify you, Father, and to give you thanks, for you alone are God, living and true, dwelling in light, inaccessible from before time and forever, fountain of life and source of all goodness, you made all things and fill them with you whose blessing, you created them to rejoice in the splendor, love of your radiance, conversation, angels stand before you, to serve you who night and day, and beholding the glory of your presence, they offer you unceasing praise, joining with them, and giving voice to every creature under heaven, we acclaim you and glorify your name as we sing.

You formed us in your own image, giving the whole world into our care.

That in obedience to you, our Creator, we might shepherd and serve all your creatures.

When our disobedience took us far from you, you did not abandon us to the power of death.

In your mercy you came to our help, so that in seeking you we might find you.

Again and again, you called us into covenant with you, and through the prophets you taught us to hope for salvation.

Father, you love the world so much that in the fullness of time you sent your only Son to be our Savior.

Incarnate by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, he lived as one of us, yet without sin.

To the poor we proclaimed the good news of salvation, to prisoners freedom, to the sorrowful joy.

To fulfill your purpose, he gave himself up to death, rising from the grave, destroyed death, and made the whole creation new.

And that we might live no longer for ourselves, but for the one who died and rose for us, God sent the Holy Spirit, God's own first gift for those who believed to complete Jesus' work in the world, and to bring to fulfillment the sanctification of all.

When the hour had come for him to be glorified by you, his heavenly Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

Supper with them, he took bread.

And when he given thanks to you, he broke it, gave it to his disciples, and said, Take, eat.

This is my body, all that I am, which is given to build you up.

Whenever you eat bread, remember me.

After supper, Jesus took the cup of wine.

And when he given thanks, he gave it to them and said, Drink this, all of you.

This is my blood, my life force, given to nourish your own.

It is shed for you and for all for the forgiveness of sin.

Whenever you drink wine, do it in the remembrance of me.

Father, we now celebrate this memorial of our redemption.

Recalling Christ's death and his descent among the dead, proclaiming his resurrection and ascension to your right hand, awaiting his coming in glory and offering to you from the gifts you've given us, this bread and this cup, we praise you and we bless you.

We praise you, we bless you, we give thanks to you, and we praise to you, Lord our God.

Lord, we pray that in your goodness and mercy, your Holy Spirit may descend upon us and upon these gifts, sanctifying them and showing them to be holy gifts for your holy people, the bread of life and the cup of salvation, the body and blood of your Son Jesus Christ.

Grant that all who share this bread and this cup may become one body and one spirit, a living sacrifice in Christ to the praise of your name.

Remember, Lord, your one holy Catholic and apostolic church, redeemed by the love of your Christ.

Reveal its unity, guard its faith, and preserve it in peace.

Remember, Michael, our presiding bishop, Andy, Jeff, Hector, Kay, and Scott, our bishops, and the diocesan cycle of prayer, St.

Paul's Katie, St.

Philip the Evangelist Houston, St.

Stephen's Houston, and St.

Thomas's Houston, the priests in our community, Mike, Mike, Craig, and Jim, and all who minister in your church.

Remember all your people and those who seek your truth, especially Miriam, Kay, Phil, Pat, Isabel, Terry, Rich, Billy, Roberta, Sue, Joe, and those the congregation wishes to name at this time, silently or aloud.

Remember all who have died in the peace of Christ, and those whose faith is known to you alone.

Bring them into a place of eternal joy and light.

And grant that we may find our inheritance with all the saints who have found favor with you in ages past.

We praise you in union with them and give you glory through your Son Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Through Christ and with Christ and in Christ, all honor and glories are yours, Almighty God and Father.

In the unity of the Holy Spirit, who rebel random.

And now, as our Savior Christ has taught us, we are bold to pray.

Our Father, who art in heaven.

Hallelujah.

Thy kingdom come, thy will be come on earth as it is in heaven.

Forgive us.

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 thy is the kingdom of the power and the glory forever and ever.

Amen.

It's a boy.

Hallelujah.

Christ, our Passover, is incarnate for us.

Therefore, let us keep the peace.

Hallelujah.

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

Receive them in your hearts by faith and with thanksgiving.

All right, little home treatment.

And the priest of the price shall be ours.

Heavenly Father, you have graciously accepted us as living members of your Son, our Savior Jesus Christ, and you have fed us with spiritual food in the sacrament of his body and blood.

Send us now into the world in peace, and grant us strength and courage to love and serve you with gladness and singleness of heart through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

May God who sent the angels to proclaim the good news of the Savior's birth, fill you with joy, and make you heralds of God's good news.

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

Amen.