All Saints 2022

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

There is one body and one spirit.

There is one Holy and us all of us.

One Lord, one faith, one baptism.

Let's pray together.

Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hidden.

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

Amen.

The Lord be with you.

And also with you.

Let us pray.

Almighty God, you've knit together your elect in one communion and fellowship in the mystical body of your Son, Christ our Lord.

Give us grace so to follow your blessed saints and all virtuous and godly living, that we may come to those ineffable joys that you have prepared for those who truly love you.

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

Amen.

As you're being seated, our children are invited to children's church with Mr.

Alex.

A reading from Daniel.

In the first year of King Belshazzar of Babylon, Daniel had a dream and visions of his head as he lay in bed.

Then he wrote down the dream.

I, Daniel, saw in my vision by night the four winds of heaven stirring up the great sea, and four great beasts came out of the sea different from one another.

As for me, Daniel, my spirit was troubled within me, and the visions of my head terrified me.

I approached one of the attendants to ask him the truth concerning all of this.

So he said that he would disclose to me the interpretation of the matter.

As for these four great beings, four kings shall arise out of the earth, but the holy ones of the most high shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever.

Hear what the Spirit is saying to God.

Let the faithful rejoice in triumph.

To wreck vengeance on the nations, to bind their rulers in chains, to inflict on them the judgment decreed.

So that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory.

And you and him you also.

When you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit.

This is the pledge of our inheritance, our redemption, as God's own people, to the praise of his glory.

I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints.

And for this reason, I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers.

I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know Him.

So that with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which He has called you, what are the riches of His glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of His power for us who believe, according to the working of His great power.

God put His power to work in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the age to come.

And when He has put all things under His feet and has made Him the head over all things for the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

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

Jesus looked up at his disciples and said, Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled.

Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.

Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man.

Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven.

For that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.

But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your consolation.

Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry.

Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep.

Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.

But I say to you that listen, love your enemies.

Do good to those who hate you.

Bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.

If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from anyone who takes away your coat, do not withhold even your shirt.

Give to everyone who begs from you, and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again.

Do to others as you would have them do to you.

The gospel of the Lord! I'm grateful to celebrate with you the communion of saints today, and not everybody realizes we truly are sitting in the communion of saints here because over there in that chapel there's a columbarium where the ashes of people who have died are interred.

So we are in the communion of saints, and today particularly we're recognizing two new saints.

We're not making them.

We're recognizing Roy and Nicole.

And I want to talk to you a little bit about sainthood, and I'm just gonna apologize up front.

If you've been to a funeral, you probably know what I'm getting ready to say a little bit.

Um I want to talk to you a little bit about light and everyday sainthood because I think in general that's what we need to hear.

We all know about luminaries who are perfect and majestical, if you don't mind me stretching that word a little bit.

But sometimes we talk ourselves out of what sainthood is really about.

So saint, sanctus.

It means holy, it means somebody who is set apart.

And you can find this actually in Renaissance art.

It's often John the Baptist who has his finger, it's not usually straight.

I don't know why.

I guess it's like more picturesque if it's a curled finger.

John the Baptist is always pointing at Jesus.

That's how you know it's John.

He never points at himself.

Saints are people who point to life.

And if you don't mind me saying so, if you do mind, it's okay, I guess.

I know people who aren't Christian who have pointed me to light, and they are saints in my life.

They have showed me life.

That's what we celebrate today.

The departed, the living, the light that has been made visible.

So here in front of us, and this happens on I on all high holy days, we have the Paschal candle, Paschal like Passover, that's Jesus.

Here's the light of Jesus, but we're supposed to think about, particularly when we think about the saints, who are the people in our lives who have made the light of Jesus visible to our eye?

I suspect your folk are different from mine.

There's like 29 candle holders up there.

These are people who have departed from us in the last year.

My mother is not there.

She has not departed.

She makes God's light visible to me every day.

There's gonna come a moment in the service where I'm gonna light these candles off of this.

And then there's gonna come a moment where I'm gonna take the snuffer and I'm gonna put it on top of this flame, and it's going to change.

It's gonna change, it's not gonna go out because in the Lord life is not ended, it's changed.

You're gonna see it very strongly change into smoke that is very visible, and it's going to rise.

And all of you know, and I've talked to Lila, who's an astrophysicist, I don't think I'm gonna get this wrong.

Turns out visible light occupies that much of the spectrum.

Like your microwave is full of light.

Oh, I can see it, that's because there's a light in there.

No, no, microwaves are invisible to your eye and they cook your food.

Right?

That is to say, all the light we do not see.

This is the promise of Saint Hood.

People who are departed.

People who were kind to you ten years ago and now they got their own stress.

That light may not be not visible to your eye, but it is certainly not gone.

It is simply invisible to your eye.

This is our promise of faith.

Sometimes as Protestants, we get a little concerned.

How can you call somebody a saint when they're still alive?

Because they might become evil or wicked.

I can tell you, if my mom became like a worshiper of Satan and did animal sacrifices, in no way would that negate what she's given me for 75 years.

Let's just be honest about that.

Will I remember the bad?

Probably.

Only to my detriment will I forget the righteous.

This is what we say on All Saints Day.

Interesting thing about light.

Anybody ever been in a cave like Mammoth Cave?

You walk in and they say, okay, we're getting ready to turn out the lights, you'll be in absolute darkness.

Anybody done that?

Your eye kind of freaks out, right?

Because your retina is trying to find visible light.

Absolute darkness is, according to physicists, teeming with light, enshrouded in it.

You just can't see it.

This is the promise of the communion of saints.

You can't see it and it's there.

You can't see it and it's there.

That's why we have these reminders, like in the book of Daniel.

There's all kinds of catastrophic things.

There's four beasts that come out of the sea.

Are they really like the Kraken or Thanos from the Marvel Comics story?

Probably not.

There are probably rulers whose politics you don't like.

And in the middle of ugly politics, the saints will not fail.

This is what we're promised.

Light does not have mass.

But it does have momentum.

Which means light moves you.

Moves you.

And I suspect you're in church today because some saint has moved you.

In fact, if some saint had not moved you, I didn't think there would be church.

Because we got a lot of problems in church.

If you've ever gone to one, you know that.

And the only way I can think we're still around is because of everyday saints.

And we get to hear about everyday saints today in the Beatitudes.

Easy to gloss over them.

Jesus says, Blessed are the poor, for they'll inherit the kingdom of God.

And you may think, oh, that's if you're economically depressed, that's lovely because you have nothing, so you must have God.

And you know, maybe I just don't think God picks sides.

Instead, I hear this story as saying something a little bit different when we think about the saints.

There's this parable about the Zen master.

Once upon a time, a student comes to a Zen master and says, Teach me about Zen.

And the master says, Okay, here's a tea cup.

I'm going to pour you some tea.

He gets out the kettle and he starts pouring.

The cup gets half full, he keeps pouring.

The cup gets three-quarters full, keeps pouring.

The cup is totally full, keeps pouring.

The cup is overflowing, keeps pouring, pours out all the tea.

The guy says, Geez, you just wasted all that tea.

The master says, You want to learn Zen and you're already full of your own ideas.

You have no room for anything I can share with you.

Blessed are those who make room for other people because they'll be filled up.

That's what I hear today.

When I think about the saints in my life, they made room for me for a second.

Maybe just a second.

My mom made room for me for like 43 years.

We make room for each other, and this is sainthood.

Sometimes we do it in grand moments.

But you know, my mom's not gonna make it on the holy women, holy men calendar.

She just isn't.

She didn't abolish slavery, and she didn't um she didn't cure cancer.

But that woman did everything she could while I was living under her roof to get me educated and raise me right.

Well, as best she could.

Don't judge her based on me.

But you see, that is everyday sainthood.

I love George Washington, glad he threw the revolution.

The reason I'm in church is my mom, not George Washington.

These luminary people are fantastic and you don't know them.

The people you know are the saints.

Sometimes the saints look like they're full of darkness, and God knows they're full of light.

That's what we claim today.

The people you think are full of darkness.

Insert politician name.

There's light in there.

You might have to go real down deep into that cavern to find it.

God says it's there.

Sometimes we don't even get to glimpse it with our eye.

The promise is that it's there.

Even the darkest cave, even the depths of outer space, are teeming with light.

This is our promise and our hope.

We don't make saints, we recognize them.

And that recognition is critical.

Critical because as I mentioned to you last week, Ann Frank says that regret is stronger than gratitude.

That's why you get more flowers after you die.

And as I mentioned to you last week, I just think regret is gratitude we expressed, well, after the person was around.

And of course, what we get to say today is the saints get it.

But in my own life, what I realize is that it is good for me to express my gratitude to my saints.

It is good for me to recognize how people have touched my lives.

Now, my dad died last year, and my brother's Orthodox Jewish, and he got up to give the homily or the eulogy, and I was a little concerned what he was going to say.

And he taught me this really interesting thing that I verified by reading rabbinic midrash.

You know that story of Cain and Abel?

So Cain kills his brother Abel, and God says to Cain, hey, where's your brother?

And Cain says, Am I my brother's shepherd?

And then God says to Cain, The bloods of your brother are calling out.

Did you hear that?

Bloods?

I don't think that's a word.

Isn't the plural of blood, blood?

In Hebrew, it's a plural, bloods.

What the rabbis say and what my brother said, I'm going to tell you my dad's story.

My dad was in Vietnam in 1971.

He was drafted by his own father, even though his draft number was in the upper 350s.

His dad was on the draft board, drafted him.

And so when my dad was in Vietnam, the barracks caught fire one day, and my dad and a couple other soldiers spirited everybody else out and saved their lives.

And he was commended with a bronze star, which at the time was kind of a big deal.

So my brother gets up at the funeral and says, you know, this whole thing about bloods, the bloods of Abel, recognizes that when you hurt somebody, you don't just hurt them, you hurt everybody their life touches.

You hurt their children, their grandchildren.

You hurt their friends.

And when you save somebody, you don't save a person, you save worlds.

Worlds.

And my brother said, and I hadn't thought of this, my father saved worlds.

That is what the saints do.

They save worlds in these hinge ordinary moments.

They save worlds because they move you, and thereby they move everybody you come in contact with.

And you all know that the universe is infinitely expanding, right?

And I want to suggest to you metaphysically it expands because of the deeds of the saints.

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, self-control.

Against such things, there is no limit.

This is the storehouse of merit of the saints.

It expands the horizons of the universe because it changes not only you, but everybody you come in contact with.

And yes, there are people I don't see the light of God in, and thank God you might.

Because we do.

Like asking somebody, how are you?

And then listening.

You have to empty your cup a little to do that, you know?

My cup is often full of appointments and stuff I want to do, and it's all really important, of course.

And sainthood is about saying, I'll just make a little more room.

Sainthood is about, I'll just send you a card.

Sainthood is about giving somebody a Thanksgiving dinner who doesn't know who you are, doesn't know how to thank you.

We're gonna do that for 50 families at least.

I think I already counted 50 out there.

Ah, Mike, it's just a shopping bag.

It makes the light of Jesus Christ visible in somebody's life.

This is sainthood.

And to be honest, like I say, sometimes it's in the smallest places.

I came back from a trip yesterday, and um there was a man loading a rental car bus.

He's probably the best rental car bus guy I've ever seen.

He had on like weightlifting gloves and he stood there in the door and he took your bag.

I didn't want him to take my bag, he took it.

He was he was really, really a big man.

I I didn't want to tell him not to.

Uh he took the bag, he schlepped it, you know.

Every woman, he put his hand down to help them up the stairs.

Every woman was really confused, he insisted.

He took every man's bag.

He was so friendly, and we had been waiting for an hour to leave.

It was crazy.

I've never been in a rental car line for an hour.

He loads the last bag, and then he says, Let's get the hell out of here.

I'm not even sure what I enjoyed more, him loading my bag or him saying that.

I told him, You're probably the best bus driver, rental car bus driver guy I've ever had.

Like I've been doing this a long time.

You're probably the best.

But I want you to know he was the best.

I want you to know he was the best because for a moment, God, he made the light of Jesus visible.

He took the bags and then he said this thing that isn't like right.

You're not supposed to say, let's get the hell out of here.

But man, we were all thinking that.

I was running to the gate and he said it in such a nice way, and I thought, God, like you just, it's like you were reading my mind.

He was.

And it was so saintly.

And it wasn't even about right or wrong anymore, it was about life.

It was about life.

And he made room for us.

And Mr.

Howard's a saint.

He was wearing an Asterisk jersey, by the way, um, which helps.

So this is our opportunity, right?

Is to think through who are these people that got us here?

Who got us here?

Who has put momentum in our lives that makes the light of Jesus visible?

And you know, there's this thing that is really difficult for me to do.

I probably won't do it.

But I would just suggest to you, if you're around in the 80s, maybe a way you can pray for all saints is to get your lighter out and put it up above your head and sway a little bit in front of the mirror and see a saint of God staring right back at you.

And maybe, if you're doing like me and you're trying to make a catalog of people you're grateful for, make sure you take a catalog moment and say, you know, I made room for somebody today.

It doesn't mean I'm perfect.

It just means I made a little bit of room for somebody.

And that's what we just sang.

They're all of them saints of God, and I want to be one too.

And what if at the end of the day, instead of thinking about what we're gonna do tomorrow or all the other hassles, we just thought through who made life more visible to us today?

Who made life bigger?

Who did I make room for?

The communion of saints invites us to do this.

And we get to do this in a powerful way today because, like I said, we're not making saints, we're recognizing two.

So in just a few minutes, we're gonna recognize the sainthood, the light of Jesus Christ, that is sitting inside both Nicole and Roy.

And we're gonna really see it.

Because there it is.

Pearls in God's oyster.

And I've said this before, but it bears repeating.

What I love about an oyster is when it gets irritated, it makes something beautiful.

That's what the saints do.

The saints in my life have found me a lot less irritating than I find myself.

And they continue to make room.

They continue to make room.

The saints are those people who believed in you against all odds.

The saints are those people who showed up morning after morning against all odds.

The saints are people who said hello even though you didn't answer them day after day after day.

That's saintly behavior.

That's what we're called to.

I do want us to do a confession because when we're surrounded by the light of the saints, it's important to recognize, hey, they, us, sometimes we miss.

Sometimes we miss.

And what's amazing about God, we don't always have to get it right.

We don't.

It's our opportunity to say, God, sometimes we get it wrong.

And make sure you do the other part.

And sometimes I get it right with you.

And let's stand between those two places together as we confess or absolved, and then we recognize two new saints into the communion this morning.

My sisters and brothers, we are called by Christ to love and serve God's people throughout the world, caring alike for all as we make Christ and his redemptive love known.

There have been times when we have failed to pattern our thoughts, words, and deeds in accordance with Christ.

We have not always been a wholesome example to those entrusted to our ministry.

As your priest, I confess my own failure to fully live into the joyful will of our Lord, and I ask you to join me so that together we may seek God's mercy, grace, and forgiveness.

Most gracious God, we confess the many ways that we have failed to steward the ministries entrusted to us with grace, patience, and care.

We apologize for the times we have chosen comfort over courage, blame over accountability, and what is easy over what is right, for the many ways we have failed to make room for the voices of others, failed to empathize with people's experience and listen to their stories, we repent.

We acknowledge that far too often we relied on advice, judgment, gossip, and favoritism as a substitute for faithful engagement.

Above all, we have remained stubborn and stuck in our self-sufficiency, and we have not let you heal our shame.

For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, forgive us our sin and grant us the grace we need to forgive ourselves, so that we may once again partner with you and all of your saints in the healing of the world.

Amen.

That's a confession we say at clergy conference right before we renew our vows, but you know that the church is made of ministers, laity, deacons, priests, and bishops.

We are all entrusted to this ministry, and that's why I wanted us to do this together, right?

And here's the good news.

My sisters and brothers, we have a high priest who is able to empathize with our weaknesses, our quirks, our idiosyncrasies, one who in every respect has been tempted as we are and yet is without sin.

God has taken away your sin and renewed you for joyful service.

And I therefore invite you to stand with confidence before the Lord and renew our baptismal covenant with Nicole and Roy.

So actually, Congregation, you can stay seated for just a second.

I'm going to ask Nicole and your family, Roy and your family, come on up here to the font.

I'll give you the stand in just a second.

That's crazy.

If you've ever had a baby, you know they're perfect when they come out.

No, we're asking God to wash off anything that gets in the way of them recognizing the beauty God's already put there.

We're asking God to refresh them as they struggle to live into sainthood like the rest of us are.

So that's what we're gonna do together, and we're gonna start here with Nicole.

So we've got a we're gonna have this formal presentation, and then I'm gonna tell you when to stand, and we're all gonna join in renewing our vows so that we can be holy folk in God's family.

So the candidates for holy baptism will now be presented.

I present Nicole received the sacrament of baptism.

Nicole, do you desire to be baptized?

Okay, and I'm gonna ask uh you guys, please, to present Roy.

I present Roy Marcel Parent to receive the sacrament of baptism.

Will you and your family be responsible for seeing this child you present as brought up in the Christian faith and life?

Will you, by your prayers and witness, help Roy to grow into the full stature of Christ?

I will, with God's help.

And now, look, let's all be in on this because this covenant's important.

This is a covenant of the saints.

So if you're if you're able to stand with me, I invite you to.

This is for everybody.

Do we renounce Satan and all the spiritual forces of wickedness that rebel against God?

Do you renounce the evil powers of this world which corrupt and destroy the creatures of God?

Do you renounce all sinful desires that draw you from the love of God?

Do you turn to Jesus Christ and accept him as your Savior?

Do you put your whole trust in his grace and love?

Do you promise to follow and obey him as your Lord?

I do.

And this is for everybody, and this is how we're a church.

This is the we part.

Will you, who witness these vows, do all in your power to support Nicole and Roy in their lives with Christ?

We will.

Then let us join with those who are committing themselves to Christ and renew our own baptismal covenant.

Do you believe in God the Father?

I believe in God.

Do you believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God?

I believe in Jesus.

Do you believe in God the Holy Spirit?

I believe in the Holy Spirit of the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life of everlasting.

Will you continue in the apostles' teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and in the prayers?

I will with God's self.

Will you persevere in resisting evil?

Whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord.

I will with God's self.

Will you proclaim by word and example the good news of God in Christ?

I will with God's self.

Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?

I will with God's help.

Will you strive for justice and peace among all people and respect the dignity of every human being?

I will with God's help.

Let us now pray for Nicole and Roy, who are to receive the sacrament of new birth.

Deliver them, O Lord, from the way of sin and death.

Lord, hear our prayer.

Open their hearts to your grace and truth.

Lord, hear our prayer.

Fill them with your holy and life-giving spirit.

Lord, hear our prayer.

Keep them in the faith and communion of your holy church.

Lord, hear our prayer.

Teach them to love others in the power of the Spirit.

Lord, hear our prayer.

Send them into the world and witness to your love.

Lord, hear our prayer.

Bring them to the fullness of your peace and glory.

Lord, hear our prayer.

Grant, O Lord, that all who are baptized into the death of Jesus Christ, your Son, may live in the power of his resurrection and look for him to come again in glory, who lives and reigns now and forever.

Amen.

And if you'd like to follow along, we're on page 306 in your red prayer book.

There's no speaking parts for you, but you'll know what I'm saying.

The Lord be with you.

And also let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

It is right to give God thanks and praise.

We thank you, Almighty God, for the gift of water.

Over it, the Holy Spirit moved in the beginning of creation.

Through it, you led the children of Israel out of their bondage in Egypt into the land of promise.

In it, your Son Jesus received the baptism of John and was anointed by the Holy Spirit as the Messiah, the Christ, to lead us through his death and resurrection from the bondage of sin into everlasting life.

We thank you, Father, for the water of baptism.

In it we are buried with Christ in his death.

By it we share in his resurrection.

Through it, we are reborn by the Holy Spirit, and therefore, in joyful obedience to your Son, we bring into his fellowship those who come to him in faith, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

And now sanctify this water.

We pray you, by the power of your Spirit, that those who are here cleansed from sin and born again may continue forever in the risen life of Jesus Christ our Savior.

To him, to you, and to the Holy Spirit, be all honor and glory now and forever.

Amen.

Nicole, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

And all of God's people said, Nicole, you are sealed by the Holy Spirit.

And marked as God's very own forever and ever.

Amen.

Okay, Roy, you're gonna get a little wet.

Just a little bit.

I won't use the shell, you'll be okay.

He's okay, he's okay.

Roy, I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

And all God's people said, Roy, you are sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked as God's very own forever and ever.

Amen.

Let's sing Roy into the family of God and then Nicole.

Let us pray.

Heavenly Father, we thank you that by water and the Holy Spirit you have bestowed upon your servants the forgiveness of sin and have raised them to the new life of grace.

Sustain them, O Lord, in your Holy Spirit.

Give them an inquiring and discerning heart, the courage to will and persevere, the Spirit to know and love you, and the gift of joy and wonder in all your works.

Amen.

Let us welcome the newly baptized.

We receive you into the household of God, confess the faith of Christ crucified, proclaim his resurrection, and share with us in his eternal priesthood.

And now, the peace of the Lord be always with you.

Only in Nassau Bay, Texas, can this happen.

Hey, uh, thanks for celebrating the saints with us today.

If you're new to us or haven't done this before, in the room right behind us, it's called the North X, there's these little cards that say welcome, and we'd be super grateful if you'd fill one out so we have a record of your visit.

And thanks for worshiping with us today.

Uh, I've got a couple announcements I want to call to your attention.

Uh, but first, it's the first Sunday of November.

So if you were born this fine month, I would like to invite you up so that we can celebrate your birthday.

As you're coming, it's our practice to say our name, when we were born, like what day, and either uh where we were born or what year or both of those.

Adele, I was born in Japan, and I was born November 24th.

It's my birthday on Thanksgiving this year.

Oh, uh Jim McGill, and I was born in 1950 in uh Dallas, Texas, on November the 2nd, which was a few days ago.

Thank you.

Uh Davidstuff, um November 20th, 1951, Merced, California.

Looks like November was a month of quality, not quantity.

That's okay.

Uh but let's pray for our birthdays and then we'll sing for them.

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

Look with continued favor and compassion on 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.

Okay, how about anniversaries?

If you have a November anniversary, we'd love to recognize and bless it.

All right.

Well, that I will tell you a few of the announcements, and you'll find these in the bulletin or on the website.

Thanks to everybody who did the food distribution yesterday.

Um our next one will be the first Saturday in December.

That'll be December the 3rd.

Uh also from 7:45 until about 9.30 in the morning.

Um, I wanted to let you know that the pumpkin sales are kind of over.

Uh, what's gonna happen to the pumpkins tomorrow or Tuesday is they're gonna kind of get thrown away.

So if you want a pumpkin, take it.

Uh, I mean, what's better a gift to a neighbor than a post-Halloween pumpkin?

Uh actually, they're all food grade organic, so if you want to do cooking, uh, this is a chance to pick up some pumpkins that you can cook with for the holidays, and you can make a donation if you want to or not.

But just hear that they're going to the trash.

So um, this was a good year for us.

I think the PAC made about$5,000 around there.

This is their one fundraiser for the year.

That's down a little, but keep in mind that a couple other churches did this this year in our area.

So this is fine.

I mean, it really supports our scouts.

It's beautiful.

Uh so thanks for understanding all of that and supporting um the pumpkins this year.

Um, I am taking at least 50 bags of Thanksgiving uh food to McWorter on Wednesday.

So the absolute last day I can take them is on Tuesday.

We'll bless them at the school chapel so that our families who don't know us are gonna get these blessed bags.

Um I think we're close to 50, but if you if you've got this at home, we just gotta get it by Tuesday to get it to get it over there.

And thanks, there were several of you who just said, I don't want to go shopping, here's some money to buy it, and so thank you.

Um it's kind of nice to be a parish that practices what I call offensive generosity.

Like it's so counterintuitive to do this.

Thank you.

Um I mentioned this earlier.

Um we had a meeting in between services, but by no means is this sort of done.

We uh are gonna take a trip to Paladuro Canyon in uh March.

That's a spring break trip.

And look, this is just a church-family retreat.

You can come and go as you want.

You can stay in a hotel and join us at the at the canyon if you want to, the rest of us will be tent camping.

But if you're interested in knowing more about that, you can just send me an email.

And there's no cost to you.

You just we go together and that's what we do.

Uh we'll share food and we'll share some prayers and we'll share some really nice time outdoors and some hiking.

Um, some of you know that we're taking a trip to South Africa next year, and we've got a couple of weeks left to kind of finalize our deposits.

So if you're thinking about it and you want more information, let me know.

But we're closing that window pretty soon.

I also want you to know that two weeks from today, we're gonna consecrate our pledge cards.

That's the end of the church year.

It's on the 20th of November.

So I don't know if you realize this.

We end our year before the fiscal year and the calendar year.

Well, the year begins on Advent 1.

So on the last Sunday of the year, we consecrate our pledges.

And look, I don't know what you pledge, that's none of my business, but I do want to bless your pledge.

So at this church, we pledge what we're gonna support with our time, with our leadership, and our finances, if that's a thing, right?

And and I want to ask God to bless that.

So if you don't have a pledge card, I'll give you one.

I will tell you, and I think Jim gets this too.

I don't know what's gonna happen to pledging five years from now.

I really don't know.

I don't know what's gonna happen to like church life five years from now because of the pandemic.

I don't know.

None of us know this.

But I'm grateful to be here with you.

I'm grateful to be here with you, and I'm grateful for who you are as a community.

And for now, pledging is the best way we can come up with a budget that's responsible, right?

Not just financially, but for the ministries we're gonna do, right?

If nobody wants to be on the altar guild, we can't have one.

So you know, we've got to figure that out.

So please pray over that pledge card.

And uh, and again, if you need one, I'm grateful to give you one and uh bless us in two in two weeks.

Um I've been here seven years, and uh, you know what's been really lovely about being here, particularly having just renewed my ordination vows with a bishop about ten days ago, is to recognize uh the growth I've had in myself that is a gift from you to me.

There's a lady I visit, Levon Lucre, she's 96, and uh every time I leave her room, she says, I love you.

And uh for about like two years I found myself not knowing what to say.

I think I said like, thanks.

So bad, right?

Like just in like middle school when somebody's like, Oh, I think I love you, thanks.

And you're like, oh no, oh no, they hate me.

You know, I just didn't know what to do, and I realized like part of it is I just didn't know how to receive love very well.

And I had this really lovely moment like a month ago where she said, I love you.

And I said, you know, Levon, I do, I love you too.

I love you guys.

And I've been here long enough that even though sometimes you might make it hard, I love you.

I love you, Saints of St.

Thomas.

I truly do.

Thanks for sharing your light and making it visible with me.

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.

He invites you to meet him here.

Our service continues on page 372 of your red prayer book.

Page 372.

The Lord be he with you.

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

It is truly right to glorify you, Father, and to give you thanks.

For you alone are God, living and true, dwelling in light and accessible from before time and forever.

Fountain of life and source of all goodness, you made all things and filled them with your blessings.

You created them to rejoice in the splendor of your radiance.

Countless throngs of angels stand before you to serve you night and day, and beholding the glory of your presence, they offer you unceasing praise.

Joining with them and giving voice to every creature unto heaven, we acclaim you and glorify your name as we sing, and we're not going to be able to do that.

Your mighty works reveal your wisdom and love.

You formed us in your own image, giving the whole world into our stewardship, so that in obedience to you, our Creator, we might rule and shepherd all your creatures.

And 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 to 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, he proclaimed the good news of salvation, to prisoners freedom, to the sorrowful joy, to fulfill your purpose.

He gave himself up to death and rising from the grave, destroyed death, and made the whole creation new.

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 believe, to complete Jesus' work in the world and bring to fulfillment the sanctification of all.

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

At supper with them he took bread.

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

This is my body which is given for you.

Do this for the remembrance of me.

After supper, Jesus took the cup of wine.

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

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

Whenever you drink it, do this for 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 pray 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 sharing 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 cup may become one body and one spirit, in living sacrifice in Christ, to the praise of your name.

Remember, Lord, your one holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, redeemed by the blood of your Christ, reveal its unity, guard its faith, and preserve it in peace.

We seem to give them back to you, dear God, who gave them to us.

Yet as you did not lose them in giving, so we do not lose them by their returning.

Not as the world gives, do you give, O lover of souls.

What you give you do not take away.

For what is yours is ours always.

If we are yours, life is eternal, and love is immortal, and death is only a horizon.

And a horizon is nothing but the limit of our sight.

Lift us up, strong Son of God, that we may see further.

Cleanse our eyes, that we may see more clearly.

Draw us closer to yourself, that we may know ourselves nearer to our beloved, who are with you.

And while you prepare a place for us, prepare us for that happy place, that where they are and you are, we too may be.

Remembering especially the light you've shone through William Adams, Ellen Armstrong, Casey Arnold, Wanda Sue Collins, Mary Cox, Christopher Guy Elliott, Austin Frank, Billy.

Gerald Fuller, Don George, Barbara Keener, Margaret June Kern, Ray Kapecki, Mary Ludwig, the Right Reverend Mary Adelia McLeod, Carol Preston, Jack Tones, Aaron Velasco, Tracy Mills, Jerry Young, Ruby Ramey, Aline Joy Morrow, Hilton Hampton Morrow, Sue Ann Fearing, Nell Laraway, Tom Hope, Dot Goodwin, Anita Hartoon, Aaron, Anthony Catherine.

All honor and glory are yours, Almighty God and Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, forever and ever.

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.

Therefore, let us be the beast.

Behold who you are and become what you receive.

And a reminder to you that intention, that's dipping, is to my right, your left, and that drinking directly from the chalice is to my left, your right, and that you can give and receive a blessing by crossing your arms.

Faithful God, in the wonder of your wisdom and love, you fed your people in the wilderness with the bread of angels, and you sent Jesus to be the bread of life.

We thank you for feeding us with this bread.

May it strengthen us that by the power of the Holy Spirit we may embody your desire and be renewed for your service through Jesus Christ our Savior.

Amen.

The ordinary saints, the ones we know, are too familiar family and friends.

When shall we see them?

Who can truly show, while still rough hewn, the God who shapes our ends?

Who will unveil the presence, glimpse the gold that is and always was our common ground?

Stretch out a finger, feel along the fold, to find the flaw, to touch and search that wound, from which the light we never noticed fell into our lives.

Remember how we turned to look at them and they looked back.

That full-eyed love unselled us, and we turned around, unready for the wrench and reach of grace, but one day we will see them face to face.

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

Amen.