Pentecost 12 2022

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

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.

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

Amen.

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

Alex.

Hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel.

Thus says the Lord.

In that they went far from me and went after worthless things and became worthless themselves.

They did not say, where is the Lord who brought us up from the land of Egypt, who led us to in the wilderness, in a land of deserts and pits, in a land of drought and deep darkness, in a land that no one passes through, where no one lives.

I brought you into a plentiful land to eat its fruits and its good things.

But when you entered, you defiled my land and made my heritage an abomination.

The priests did not say, Where is the Lord?

Those who handle the law did not know me.

The rulers transgressed from me.

The prophets prophesied by Baal and went after things that do not profit.

Therefore, once more I accuse you, says the Lord, and I accuse your children's children.

Cross to the coast of Cyprus and look, then to Kadar and examine with care.

See if there have ever been such a thing.

Has a nation changed its gods, even though they are no gods?

But my people have changed their glory for something that does not profit.

Be appalled, O heavens, at this.

Be shocked, be utterly desolate, says the Lord.

For my people have committed two evils.

They have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and dug out cisterns for themselves, cracked cisterns that can hold no water.

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

We will read responsibly by the half-verse.

Sing with joy to God our strength.

And raise a loud shout to the God of Jacob.

I am the Lord your God, excuse me, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and said, Open them out of mine, and I will fulfill it.

And yet my people did not hear my voice.

And Israel would not obey me.

So I gave them over to the stubbornness of their hearts.

To follow their own devices.

Oh, that my people would listen to me.

That Israel would walk in my ways.

I should soon subdue their enemies.

And turn my hand against their foes.

Those who hate the Lord would cringe before me.

And their punishment would last forever.

But Israel would I feed with the finest weed.

Remember those who are in prison as though you were in prison with them.

Those who are being tortured.

As though you yourselves were being tortured.

Let marriage be held and honored by all.

And let the marriage then be kept undefiled.

For God will judge the fornicators and the daughters.

Keep our lives free from love of money and be content with what you have.

For he has said, I will never leave you or forsake you.

So we can say the Lord is my helper.

I will not be afraid.

What can anyone do to me?

Remember your leaders.

On one occasion, when Jesus was going to the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat a meal on the Sabbath, they were watching him closely.

When he noticed how the guests chose the places of honor, he told them a parable.

When you're invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not sit down at the place of honor, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited by your host.

And the host who invited both of you may come and say to you, give this person your place.

And then in disgrace you would start to take the lowest place.

But when you're invited, go and sit down at the lowest place, so that when your host comes, they may say to you, friend, move up higher.

Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you.

For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

Jesus also said to the one who had invited him, When you give a luncheon or a dinner, don't invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they may invite you in return.

And then you would be repaid.

When you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay it.

For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.

The gospel of the Lord.

Well, if you grew up in the South, this is probably not a foreign teaching to you.

Whoever exalts themselves will be humbled, and whoever humbles themselves will be exalted.

If you grew up in the South, you probably understand this way of being called self-deprecation.

This is a practice that we Southerners love.

What you do, see, is you act like everything you do is nothing and hope that nobody confirms it.

Right?

This is like a backhanded dig for a compliment.

Oh, that work I did was no good, or yeah, thanks, but we were all in this together, my part wasn't all that important, right?

And I think it's predicated in this idea if we read scripture so literally we forget to take it seriously.

But of course, the disadvantage of doing this is that God didn't make us to be small.

And if you listen to this parable of the wedding bank, anybody been to a wedding before?

I want you to consider if you took this literally, it'd be a disaster.

If you're the best man, sit at the head table.

If the host has to look for you, rather than being honored, you will in fact be disgraced.

Because people will say, What were you thinking?

There's a seat with your name on it.

On the other hand, if you're the God's son twice removed of the videographer, do not sit at the head table.

Right?

See, I think what we forget is that humility is not about debasing ourselves.

And I had a teacher in seminary who explained this to me very carefully that biblical humility means being who God made you to be, no more, and no less.

As southerners, we typically struggle with that last phrase, and no less.

Now look, there's people in the room who were involved in getting the last human being on the moon.

Does that mean they're God?

No.

Does it mean we got people out of this world?

Yes.

So if a NASA rocket scientist said, well, I'm not that good at math, yeah, we built the space shuttle, but I had help.

You know, it's really sweet.

But it isn't sweet.

It's in fact, it's wrong.

We get this wrong when we think that belittling ourselves and belittling our contributions somehow earns us a heavenly reward.

Let me disabuse you of heavenly rewards.

They don't exactly exist.

All of this theology about you get crowns, you jewels in your heavenly crown, if you've read the good book, the first thing you do with that crown is throw it down.

So, lest you think that the kingdom of heaven is full of barons and earls in the kingdom of God, it is not.

No one will know how many jewels are in your crown because no one will be wearing one.

And that isn't why we do it.

See, I think this actually invites us to consider this week, and I'm hearing all the readings doing this, at least for myself, to consider what is true humility and what's false humility.

Now, I've told you this before, and I'm sorry, I don't want to sound like a broken record.

Clearly, I'm saying words I need to hear.

Jesus goes on to say, when you throw a party, invite people that can't pay you back.

Now, you could do that, and you could think, look what a good person I am.

I'm accruing heavenly rewards, and you've missed it.

You've missed it.

I want to tell you, as I said for a couple of years now, I think I'll just speak to myself.

I'm not really good at giving gifts.

I'm not.

I'm really good at making investments and loans.

And I think that's because I have not embraced humility.

You see, when we know who God has made us to be, know more and no less.

Well, that puts us at a point where I can give something for the joy of giving instead of giving something based on what you might do with it.

When I get concerned with what you do with the gift I gave, that's an indication I didn't give you anything except expectations.

Now look, investments have their place in life, right?

My 403B is invested.

And I want it to do well.

But I sure would also like to come to the place where I give out of the space of joy instead of the space of expectation.

Many of you know this about me?

I love giving stuff because it's a way of being in control.

As long as I'm the one giving stuff, look what I'm doing.

The hardest thing, of course, is receiving joyfully.

And I do love this African proverb never accept a shirt from a naked man.

Because truth be told, you can't give what you don't have.

And if I'm not able to receive joyfully, can I give joyfully?

I'm not so sure I can.

And so here's Jesus saying, Saying, here's the way you get out of that.

You see, the way you get out of it is you give gifts to people who cannot pay you back.

Now, uh, we like to put this, or at least I do, I like to put this into dollars and cents, but you know as well as I do that poverty is not only financial.

I know a number of folks who live in abject spiritual poverty, even though they could buy and sell me.

I don't know if they can always pay back gifts of love.

I don't know.

But I know they need those gifts.

I know they want to start thinking about whether those piano lessons I gave my kid are going to get them into Stanford.

I am not giving piano lessons.

I hope this is really clear.

I think this permeates every aspect of our living.

I think so.

It's not just about money, but it sure is also about money.

I want to set that frame for you if I can.

I have a friend, great friend, who mentioned to me, oh, 10 years ago, I make more money than I know what to do with.

And that's relatively the case, right?

These weren't millions of dollars, but they were plenty of dollars.

A couple of days later, person said to me, Do you give 10%?

I said, Well, I try to, yeah.

Person said, Well, I've looked at how much that is and I can't give it away.

Isn't that interesting?

I make more money than I know what to do with.

I've looked at how much 10% is, and I can't do it.

I will tell you, and Jim, call me out if this is not true.

People who give relatively the most generously are the ones who have the least to give.

This is a strange thing in life.

Strange thing in life.

And I wonder, I wonder what it is about percentages.

Because percentages are about making things fair and equitable, right?

This is a confusing thing.

I don't know if this grabs you at all, but I want to, but I do want you to hear, I think this brings us into Hebrews actually pretty fast, this idea about humility and being who God has made us to be, the no more and the no less, and we get some instructions about this that I think we could misread.

Entertaining angels, you've heard this before, right?

As if God goes around masquerading in angelic bodies to test your faith.

I mean, look, doesn't God already know everything?

The test is not for God.

The test is something we encounter every single day, and it is for us.

And the test goes like this.

Once upon a time, God thought it would be a good idea to take on a human body.

That's called the incarnation.

Since that's the case, and since God is everywhere all the time, I want you to look at the person to your left, because you are looking at God's presence in human form right next to you.

Turns out the word angel in Greek translates to messenger.

And I would say that because God is fully present in each and every person in this room and outside, where can you go that you don't entertain a messenger from God?

If it helps you to think about the feathered things with the halo, by all means do so.

But imagine them flying above the person you like the least.

There is an old Hebrew proverb that everywhere we go, there is a guardian angel in front of us saying, make way for Beth McGill, created in the image of God.

You want to entertain an angel today?

Be kind to the person on your left.

In small things, we're great.

And the scriptures push us beyond, I think, what we normally settle for.

I've got to tell you, one of my biggest markers of respect for Senator John McCain, you read this line about people who are being tortured.

Love them as if you're being tortured.

Do you know about Senator John McCain?

He spent about six years at the Hanoi Hilton being waterboarded, having his shoulders and arms broken so that he couldn't raise them above here.

The thing I love about John McCain is when he got back, he said, we shouldn't be torturing people.

Now I've met folk.

Remember, I used to live on Coronado, which is where the Navy SEALs train.

And they said we get waterboarded all the time in our training.

What's the big deal if we do it?

The gospel of Jesus Christ is the big deal.

Did you enjoy being waterboarded?

No, it was our duty.

This is going to sound political, because it is.

And I have respect for people who suffered the torture and said no more.

And so does the gospel.

And doing that is tough because the line before it is about visiting people who are in prison.

I don't know how much prison ministry you've got under your belt.

If I'm honest, I don't have a lot.

And I'm going to tell you, it's really hard.

Working with people who have been incarcerated is really hard.

The idea is beautiful.

But you see, when you've got PTSD from being in jail, which everybody does.

If you hear about jail, you'll understand why.

And by the way, most people who go to jail had PTSD before they got there anyway, right?

When people have that experience, life is not always linear like it seems to be in my brain.

And so when I get called to talk about the same thing we made a plan for nine times, it's really tiring.

When people don't have a five-year plan or they're short on a note, and I say, Well, what's your budget look like?

And they've never heard the word budget, it can be really frustrating.

When people yell at you because they don't have anybody else who will even hear it without telling them to go to you know where.

Usually I want to walk away from bad investments very quickly.

But don't you understand that visiting people in prison is not an investment?

It's an act of love if we do it from humility.

Maybe God's not calling you to do that.

Maybe not.

But Hebrews is calling us to take care of people who are being tortured and being incarcerated and are in circumstances we don't like because God is fully present in those people and we entertain God when we take care of people who have no one to care for them.

And it's really hard.

I don't know anybody who has worked with people in financial need, incarcerated, you name it, who have not gone home thinking, gosh, I love helping people who are poor.

And poor people are hard to help.

And I think without humility, we'll quit.

There's this interesting phrase that Hebrews gives us, and it speaks to these moments, I think, in which we just so wonder.

See, I grew up hearing that when God gets mad, God gets even.

And then we get this lovely line in Hebrews that is older than the book itself, because it's set off as a quote.

This is a quote that the early church used and enjoyed that we don't have the source from anymore.

We have this line.

Never will I leave you.

Never will I forsake you.

See, I grew up thinking God was ready to leave me in a second.

All I had to do was have an impure thought or make a mistake, and then God was ready to leave me in hell forever.

I really did.

I just don't know why we didn't read the Bible.

This seems pretty clear to me.

I'll never leave you, and I'll never forsake you.

So we can say with confidence, the Lord is my strength.

What can anyone do to me?

Because God has already decided God won't leave.

And don't you see that comes out of God's humility?

God's humble enough to say, I'm going to be who I am, which means I'm not leaving you.

Now you might be wondering, well, the Jeremiah reading seems really hard because God seems kind of mad, right?

And I want to suggest to you maybe there's a different way to read Jeremiah to kind of pull all of this together.

See, Jeremiah is doing this interesting thing.

He's been caught up into God's mind and says, look, God has given everything possible.

Like, why are you not being faithful?

And I wonder, see, as a parent, I've had these couple of things.

I've had moments in which I do a litany like Jeremiah.

Why did you not do good stuff?

And now I'm gonna get even.

And I've also had these moments, and I'm gonna call them holy moments, where I say, I've given you all this stuff and I just lament for you.

Lament.

I wanted you to be more secure in yourself than you are.

I wanted you to have more joy than I see you having, and it breaks my heart that you don't.

And it's a fine line to walk that in humility without going to anger and vengeance.

And I think God is humble enough to do that.

God is humble enough to be disappointed, not with us, but for us.

And here's how God handles disappointment God never leaves, God never forsakes.

So imagine in those moments when you think whether you're dealing with somebody who's been incarcerated or somebody who has spiritual or financial poverty, and they are driving you nuts.

You can have those feelings.

What more could I have done?

I don't know.

And I'll never leave or forsake you.

And then you get to be like God.

Now that's a hard message, which is why I think it's right.

Usually the harder ones are the more correct ones to do.

That is to say, God can have all the feelings we have.

We don't know if God has feelings, right?

I mean, God's God.

But if God has the feelings we have, the amazing thing about God is God doesn't act on those feelings.

God acts from humility and chooses to give us gifts we can't repay.

Because it was never about repayment anyway.

Now, we get to hear a couple of things in Jeremiah, he calls out.

That the people have forsaken God and that they have dug for themselves cracked cisterns that hold no water.

And I want to suggest to you this part of humility that maybe is not a challenge for you.

But see, I was raised to do things that are really good.

Not necessarily things I wanted to do.

I don't know if you know the difference between those things.

I usually don't.

So I'm gonna tell you one of the most stressful things in my life was having a sabbatical.

Because four months of vacation, what are you gonna do with that?

Well, that may sound really easy.

I'd go to a beach and read a book.

My brain immediately thought, what's the best thing I can do?

What merit badges can I come back with?

How do I justify having this time off?

Sometimes I'm really great at navigating the obstacles that get in the way of an opportunity, having never thought whether I wanted that opportunity or not.

I think that comes from true humility.

True humility, which is probably the work of the church.

Now, we talked about this in men's Bible study this week because there is this really lovely line that we get that I find is sometimes very challenging in the production economy that lives here.

Be content with what you have.

It was clear to me about three years ago that if I ever found one of those lamps and the genie came out, I really only need one wish to be content with what I have.

Strange that I need magic to do that, isn't it?

Strange.

But I think that's what true humility is about.

Being content where we are, which is kind of a radical message.

It sort of means, and and I think maybe you grew up this way, maybe you didn't.

I grew up hearing that God has a perfect plan for my life.

It's like a straight line.

And every time I sin or make a bad decision, well, there goes that plan.

So now you're on plan B.

Well, after about 10 seconds, I'm on plan Q.

And it's not getting any better, right?

Because boy, I keep going down, you know?

And I just want to tell you, it's terrible theology.

The amazing thing about God is no matter what you choose, God's not leaving.

Even if He made the worst big business decision of your life, God will go there with you.

That's because God knows what it's like to give out of humility.

It's not threatening to God that we make mistakes.

I wish I'd heard that message as a kid.

I don't know how old you are, but I hope you hear that message.

God is not threatened by your decisions at all.

Otherwise, God, frankly, wouldn't be God.

So there's this lovely invitation not to be afraid of God, but since God's not leaving us to do our best thinking, we don't have to earn that.

We already get it.

So, how are we going to pursue humility in our lives and with our gifts, whether they're financial or gifts of time or talent?

Sometimes we say, hey, your ministry is where your deepest joy meets the world's deepest need.

And sometimes we say, it may not be your deepest joy, but it might be your turn.

And I put before you, with all of this, as you think about humility, which is again, God calling you to be who you are.

I'd encourage you to try giving a gift this week.

Somebody.

Maybe the gift is you say hello to a person who has not returned your greeting the last ten times.

Here's how you know if it was a gift.

You were happy to do it regardless of their response.

If you say hello and they walk by and you think, what a jerk, you did not give anything away.

Except for expectation and disappointment, which came back to you.

If you find yourself doing service, like I'm helping my neighbor, one day, maybe they'll help me, or gosh, I've cut their grass nine times and they never said thank you.

This is an indication you gave them nothing.

So I would encourage you, give one thing this week.

Give one thing.

Could be hello.

Could be some jam you made and you read the machine.

See how it feels.

Because I think there's really nothing more joyful than giving out of that spot of who God called you to be.

No more.

But no less.

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 made.

One being with the Father.

Our son for salvation, he came down from heaven.

But the power of the Holy Spirit became coming from the Virgin Mary and was made.

He descended into heaven and it is here 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.

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 has worshiped 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.

The prayers of the people.

In peace, let us pray to the Lord, saying, Lord, have compassion for the holy church of God that may be filled with truth and love and be found without fault at the day of your coming.

We pray to you, O Lord.

Lord have compassion.

For all the holy people of God, for all bishops and other ministers, for Andy, Hector, Jeff, Kay, and Scott, our bishops, and the Diocen Cycle of Prayer, St.

Isidore's Spring, St.

James the Apostle Conroe, and St.

Luke's Livingston, for Michael, our presiding bishop, for Mike, Jim, Craig, and the priest in our community, we pray to you, O Lord.

For all who fear God and believe in you, Lord Christ, that our divisions may cease, and that all may be one, as you and the Father are one, we pray to you, O Lord.

O Lord have compassion.

For the mission of the church, that in faithful witness it may preach the gospel to the ends of the earth.

We pray to you, O Lord.

O Lord have compassion.

For the peace of the world, that a spirit of respect and forbearance may grow among nations and peoples.

We pray to you, O Lord.

For those in positions of public trust, especially Joe, our president, and Greg, our governor, that they may serve justice and promote the dignity and freedom of every person.

We pray to you, O Lord.

For the poor, the persecuted, the sick, and all who suffer, for refugees, prisoners, and all who are in danger, that they may be relieved and protected.

We pray to you, O Lord.

Lord have compassion.

For this congregation, that we may be delivered from hardness of heart and show forth your glory.

In all that we do, we pray to you, O Lord.

Lord, have compassion for our enemies and those who wish us harm.

And for all whom we have injured or offended, for ourselves, for the forgiveness of our sins, and for the grace of the Holy Spirit to amend our lives, we pray to you, O Lord.

Lord have compassion.

For all who have commended themselves to our prayers, for our families, friends, and neighbors, especially Chris, Jim, Patrick, Dorothy, Joe, Sue, Kevin, Barb, Jan, Miriam, and those the congregation wishes to name it this time, silently or aloud, we pray to you, O Lord.

For all who have died in the communion of your church, and those whose faith is known to you alone, that with all the saints, they may have rest in that place where there is no pain or grief, but life eternal, we pray to you, O Lord.

Lord have compassion.

Rejoicing in the fellowship of all the saints, let us commend ourselves and one another and all our life to Christ our God.

For yours is the majesty, O Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory, now and forever.

Amen.

I invite you to join me on page 331 of your prayer book as we make our confession to God.

Page 331.

Ye who do truly and earnestly repent you of your sins and are in love and charity with your neighbors, and intend to lead a new life, following the commandments of God and walking from hencewith in God's holy ways.

Draw near with faith.

Join me in making a humble confession to Almighty God, kneeling or standing or sitting, as your piety permits.

Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against thee, in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone.

We have not loved thee with our whole heart.

We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.

We are truly sorry, and we humbly repent.

For the sake of thy son, Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us, that we may delight in thy will and walk in thy ways to the glory of thy name.

Amen.

The Almighty and most merciful Lord grant you absolution and remission of all your sins, true repentance, amendment of life, and the grace and consolation of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

It's a lot of up and down, but it's important we stand because that worked.

So with that in our hearts, we say the peace of the Lord be always with you.

If you're new to us or haven't done this before, there are some little cards in the room right behind the one we're sitting in that say welcome.

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

And thanks for worshiping with us today.

We're going to do something special today, and the scriptures really align very well.

We're going to install or receive some new members into the daughters of the king.

And you're going to hear a little bit more about the daughters of the king, but I want to make sure you know these are ladies who are committing to a rule of life centered around prayer, study, and service.

So when somebody says, Hey, Father Mike, would you pray for so and so in my life?

The answer is yes.

And do you want our daughters praying for them as well?

And that's a gift that they give.

It's a lovely gift of prayer for people they maybe have never even met.

Service here looks like providing, among other things, hospitality at funerals.

Talk about entertaining angels.

Hospitality at a funeral is a sacrament.

Will people pay you back?

Who cares?

It's entertaining God in flesh.

And they do it.

And they do it with offensive generosity.

I mean, there's piles of food left over.

And isn't that the way you'd want it?

And then they come together and study.

And so we're inducting some new members to the order.

I'm going to ask all of our DOK to come up, and especially if you're going to be admitted to the order today, I have you stand down front.

Okay?

So, daughters, let's come all up in a big train.

This is our bullpen full of daughters here this morning.

Wherever you're sitting, come on up front, and I'll have our new our new admittees here in the middle.

You're the other presenter.

Okay.

I'm going to hold this so everybody can hear you.

It is my privilege to present Nadine Barch, Betty Gilfillon, Valerie Henson, Sonia Markham, and Polly Steele as candidates for membership in the Order of the Daughters of the King.

We are gathered here in the sight of God and before this congregation to admit these women into the Order of the Daughters of the King.

We commend them to your earnest prayers.

These people who are praying for you.

We commit them to your prayers, that they may have grace to fulfill the invitations of the order, and that their labors may be to the glory of God and the welfare of God's people.

Sonia, Valerie, Nadine, Betty, and Polly, this one's for you.

The Daughters of the King is an order for women whose mission is the extension of Christ's kingdom, especially among women and girls, through prayer, service, and evangelism.

Do you desire to become a member of the order of the daughters of the king?

I do.

Do you promise to faithfully live into the two rules of the order, the rule of prayer and the rule of service, to offer your support to the clergy for the good of the parish and the extension of God's family?

I do with God's help.

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, I'm delighted to receive and admit you as members of the orders of the daughters of the King.

Now, remember, these are the people who are supporting you, so now I'm going to ask you to support them.

And the line is we will with God's help.

That's your line when I put my hand up.

Will you support these women in their ministry of prayer and service?

We will with God's help.

Now, our daughters wear a silver cross, and maybe you've seen them, and I have some on the plate.

This is how you know that they're members of the order.

So I'm going to bless these crosses.

Bless the Lord, these crosses, and grant to your servants now admitted into this order, such an abundance of your grace that they may wear the sacred symbol in the spirit of true humility and with devotion to the service of the King of Kings.

Take up your cross and follow me.

Now, new members, there's a little prayer.

I'm going to ask you to pray together, and then all of the daughters will join us for another prayer.

Almighty God, help me to pray so faithfully that I may draw near to you and learn your will.

Help me to serve so joyfully that others may be drawn to you.

May your Holy Spirit guide me each day that all I think, do, or say may be pleasing in your sight.

I ask it for the sake of Jesus Christ, whose cross I wear.

Amen.

Daughters, let's pray all together.

O eternal God, you have sent us, Jesus, to teach us things pertaining to your heavenly family.

Give your blessing to our order, wherever it may be throughout the world, that we might be a blessing to the world you created and love.

Grant that we, your daughters, ever may discern your truth and bear the cross throughout our growth in earthly life.

Give us strength to overcome temptation and the grace to work to spread your kingdom and to gather your scattered sheep within your fold.

Pour out upon us the sevenfold gift of the Holy Spirit, that we may always remember it is your work we are called to do, that all we think, do, or say may be pleasing in your sight.

Amen.

May your love, O Lord, help the daughters live lives of love.

And may your holiness lead them to be examples of virtue, that they, strengthened by your Holy Spirit, may pray and serve you all their days through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

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

Amen.

Okay, to the members of the Order, since you're here, let's renew our vows.

As members of the Order of the Daughters of the King, your duty this coming term is to cooperate with the officers you've chosen and work together to fulfill the rules of prayer and service here and in this congregation and beyond.

We promise to pray for our officers, offering our best efforts to fulfill the nation of the Lord.

We declare our loyalty to our Lord's service, to the church and to our spirit of guidance all that we understand.

May God richly bless you and all your efforts to the glory of God's family.

Amen.

Please be seated.

Now, you might be thinking, I don't know much about the daughters of the king, but I'm curious.

You've got lots of ambassadors here and another one here.

So if you're interested at all, please do let me know.

But these are fabulous people who are standing underneath us sometimes without us realizing it.

Okay, a couple announcements I want to call to your attention.

Some of these are in the weekly bulletin, and one or two are new.

So you know that as parishioners, you're always invited to school functions.

And where's the school function tomorrow morning?

At 7 o'clock, we're having an Artemis launch party.

So if you want to join our school kids at 7 in the morning, you're more than welcome to come.

I think it's scheduled for 7.33.

I don't know the chance of probability of launch, depends who you talk to.

But 7.33, and there'll be some coffee and some donuts and a lot of excited kids, and possibly also a hot air balloon that has nothing to do with Artemis out there.

So uh that's that's tomorrow.

And I do want to encourage you, you may not know Paul Beelski, but Paul works uh to help us stream services at 8 o'clock, and he just showed up on ABC with Lester Holt telling him the difference between a car and a rover.

There's a link on our Facebook site, and I encourage you to watch it.

It's interesting.

Uh we got people here who are getting us out of this world.

Sometimes in space and sometimes in love, and usually in both.

Uh so it's lovely to see the good work we're doing.

Um, also want to re-invite you, I'll probably stop doing this after another week or two, but we have a men's Bible study that meets on Tuesday.

It goes from 6 to 7 a.m.

We read the lectionary for the coming week.

So those are the four scriptures we just read.

It's really a delightful time, not only to start the day with scripture, but to make connections with one another.

Um, you don't have to RSVP, you can just show up.

Um, you do have to open the door, which will be open, but that's about it.

You just sort of come in and we're in Kristal.

We study for about an hour and then we're able to go either to work or take care of our kids or cook breakfast, whatever it is that we do.

So I just want to uphold this for you.

Uh, it's really a lovely opportunity.

Uh there's a couple other things that are starting up very soon.

You usually wait till Labor Day to get some programs.

That way we're all settled into school.

And so here are the things that you can look forward to.

One is that a week from this Wednesday, that'll be September the 7th, so a week from this Wednesday, we're starting a 30-week study that's related to the uh Apostles' Creed.

So it's about the things we believe and what difference it makes.

So, not which boxes we check, how the things we believe inform the way we see God in the world.

You might think that would put me to sleep.

That's a ministry.

So if you want to come to go to sleep, that's fine too.

And if that uh way of studying appeals to you, that's great.

We have um, we're doing this hybrid, which means we'll be in person, but if you can't come any given week, or you say, I just don't want to get out of the house, I'm worried about whatever, you can zoom in to the meeting.

Uh, and you'll be on the screen along with the rest of us.

It works really, really well.

Um so so let me know if you're interested.

Uh, and and again, that starts September 7th.

The other thing happening September 7th is our next fresh food distribution.

We should be having it this Saturday, but the food bank's closed for Labor Day, and they were gonna skip the whole month, and we sort of begged them, can we please do one?

Because there's frankly a lot of people that have been showing up the last two.

So we're gonna do it Wednesday, September the 7th at 4 p.m.

in our parking lot.

This is a one-off, this is not our normal thing.

4 p.m.

We can use volunteers as early as 3:30 if you're interested.

And um I there's a lot of folks who will not be able to come who are regulars, so if you're able to come, that would be great if this appeals to you.

Wednesday, uh, September 7th from 4, we'll be totally done by 5.45.

Um, another thing that's starting as we get close here, and we haven't been able to do this for about two years because of the pandemic.

Um, Bishop Monterrosa is coming to visit us uh December the 4th.

And when he comes, this is our chance to do confirmations, receptions, and renewal of confirmation vows.

So we get to do all these things.

And this is how we normally do this when we know the bishop's coming, we back up about eight weeks and we offer this class that is for confirmation, for reaffirmation, for reception, and for people who are curious, meeting the Episcopal Church.

I didn't realize I didn't know.

Whatever title you think is snazzy.

What we do is we meet for about eight weeks in between services.

So this will be on Sunday morning, starting September the 11th, and we'll talk about the Episcopal Church.

And if you're interested in confirmation, we'll talk about that too.

If you don't know what confirmation is, I'm happy to share that with you.

So um, so that's gonna start in two weeks from today.

Uh, other really important announcement, choir is also gonna start.

It's two weeks from today, right?

So if you're interested in singing, or if you're thinking, boy, you know, um I'm not sure that I'm good enough, that's okay.

Garmin's got to talk to you because our choir is fantastic, and I don't know if he likes me doing this, but I'm gonna do it anyway.

He's pretty much the best in town, and and I mean it.

And I think Jim McGill would nod his head as well to that, and we've seen other folk, right?

So this is as good as it gets.

If you've got interest in learning how to sing joyfully at St.

Thomas, that's your guy right there.

Uh, please talk to him or me after the service or or Bob or Kathy, right?

Because uh we just have a beautiful ministry, and Garmin gets most of the credit.

Um I think that might that'll hold us for the week.

I think so.

So I want to give you this line again from Hebrews do not neglect to do good and share what you have.

For such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

It is not light, if thou be need O may no work on cords to hide me from thy servants eyes when the thoughts of Jews of kindly sleep my wear with gently steep in my last thought has we to rest for ever on my savious rest with me from until eve, for without thee I cannot live abide with thee when night is nigh, for without thee I dare not die.

Where can I go apart from thee or whither from my presence flee?

In heaven it is thy dwelling fair in death's abode, oh thou art fair sick and preach up all with blessings from thy hem is told.

Come near and bless us when we wake there through the world away, we make till in the motion in heaven, and then we're gonna be able to

All things come of thee, O Lord.

And thy own have we given thee.

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.

Page 340.

And also with you.

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

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

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

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

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

This is my body which is given for you.

Do this in remembrance of me.

Likewise, after supper, Jesus took the cup of wine.

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

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

Do this as often as ye shall drink it in remembrance of me.

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

And 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, that they may be unto us the body and blood of thy dearly beloved Son Jesus Christ.

And we earnestly desire thy fatherly goodness to accept this, our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving.

Whereby we offer and present unto thee, O Lord, ourselves, our souls and bodies.

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

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

By whom and with whom and in him.

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 hath 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.

Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever and ever.

Amen.

Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.

Therefore, take the feast.

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

Behold who you are and become what you receive.

Renewed by this bread from the heavenly table.

We beseech you, Lord, that being the food of charity, it may confirm our hearts and stir us to serve you and our neighbor through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Before I bless you, I want to give you two other things.

And I waited.

One is on the way out.

You'll see a little sign-up sheet for volunteers at the Fall Festival that is coming up October the 22nd.

It is a gift to the neighborhood to have fun.

And we need all kinds of volunteers.

Lewis and Kathy are able to answer questions, me too.

It's October the 22nd from 9 to 2.

It's a lovely tradition at St.

Thomas, and it's a lot of fun.

So maybe it's a gift you want to give.

Maybe it isn't.

But if you're interested in it, let's talk.

The other thing I want you to know is we are very close to the High Holy Days in our Jewish brothers and sisters, and you'll hear more about in the next two weeks.

Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

And I want to commend to you if you're interested in knowing about that.

There's a book written by Rabbi Alan Liu called This Is Real.

And you're completely unprepared.

It is the best book I've read about how our Jewish brothers and sisters interface with the high holy days.

I commend it to you if it's of interest.

Now, instructions for living a life.

Pay attention.

Be astonished.

Tell about it.

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

Amen.