Good Shepherd New York • 6.21.20

[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] you good morning Good Shepherd and Happy Father's Day for some of us this Sunday is a day that we celebrate and more joyful over we remember our fathers for those of us who have children it can be a wonderful day where we get to reflect of the beauty of fatherhood and for others it's a very tough day because maybe we remember a relationship that was lost or perhaps our fathers aren't with us anymore however you come here this morning we want to welcome you here and we want to say that you are loved and so this morning let us take a breath in we breathe in God's mercy and peace and we exhale all worried we breathe in God's love when we exhale all fear let us say this call to worship together I'm gonna read this you can follow along on the screen blessed be God Father Son and Holy Spirit and blessed be God's kingdom now and forever bless the Lord who forgives us all our sins God's mercy endures forever Almighty God we offer ourselves to you this morning let us sing this hymn together this is my father's world [Music] this is my father's world and - - all nature scenes around me the music of the spheres this is [Music] of rocks and trees of [Music] he's and now wonders ride this is my father's world the birds there [Music] the morning then this my he shines in in the rustling grass side he speaks to me everywhere [Music] this is my [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] the Lord is king let the head some 86 a prayer of David hear me Lord and answer me for I am poor and needy God my life I'm faithful to you say he has servant who trusts in you you are my God have mercy on me Lord for I fall to you all day long bring joy to your servant Lord for I put my trust in you you Lord are forgiving and good abounding in love to all call to you hear my prayer Lord listen to my cry for mercy when I am in distress I pull to you because you answer me among because there is none like You Lord no deeds can compare with you all the nations you have made will come and worship before you Lord they will bring glory to your name for you are great new marvelous deeds you alone are God amen [Music] fatherfather love you sure you wonder in my dream last night singing but no one know what you might do you can't send me hide all dream in the blue don't try to fight don't let me go you've gone too far from what I know I'll smack hard in the dark with you father father why let me go father please don't let me go [Music] this variety fish fish you can trust me and when solo finally to say this don't try to you've gone to [Music] you by the fire line and you know stone we go [Music] and don't try to don't let me go you've gone too far [Music] Oh father please don't please don't let me go my [Music] father please don't let me go if I don't all are welcome to the table of God every man woman and child for Christ brings peace to all tearing down every hostile wall so that many may become one one heart one family one game humanity for God who is love and Christ was all in all show no partiality and make no distinction so neither race nor class gender or sexuality politics nor religion personality your nationality count for us or against us the light of Christ enlightens all Christ the prisoner and the naked Christ the hungry and the sick Christ the thirsty and the stranger Christ the other may God's Spirit hover over our chaos our hatred our indifference descended in heart to send in our hearts with love and pleasure blow us out into the world to listen and serve and set us ablaze to forgive and reconcile for all in welcome as a table of God every man woman and child Heena so times in a lie we all have pain we all have [Music] if we are [Music] that [Music] we know me that's true and I'll be [Music] swallow your pride [Applause] if I [Music] no one can feel Oh [Music] strong now be of [Music] yeah [Applause] - nah [Music] you just [Music] you there is you have [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] call me [Music] [Music] Church this morning let us continue our worship with our generosity liturgy godliness with contentment is great game we bring nothing into this world and we take nothing out of it we who call Jesus Lord devote ourselves to resisting greed which plunges the human heart into ruin and Pierce's it with many griefs we are determined to practice generosity with free hearts fixing our hope on God and not the uncertainty of wealth we desire to be rich in good deeds and willing to share all that we have laying up for ourselves treasure that will not decay but will shine in the age to come may be true of our community amen this morning you are welcome here at this time we speak grace and peace this is a simple prayer and we say this as an act of love so why don't you turn to someone around you your roommate or your family members and speak grace and peace if you're by yourself this morning know that you're not alone why don't you text a loved one and say grace and peace to you this morning you are welcome here grace and peace you a reading from Acts chapter 1 verses 1 to 11 in my former book Theophilus I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the Apostles he had chosen after his suffering he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive he appeared to them over a period of 40 days and spoke about the kingdom of God on one occasion while he was eating with them he gave them this command do not leave Jerusalem but wait for the gift my father promised which you have heard me speak about for John baptized with water but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit then they gathered around him and asked him Lord are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel he said to them it is not for you to know the times or dates the father has set by his own authority but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth after he said this he was taken up before their very eyes and a cloud hid him from their sight they were looking intently up into the sky as he was going when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them men of Galilee they said why do you stand here looking into the sky this same Jesus who has been taken from you into heaven will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven this is the word of the Lord thanks be to God good morning Good Shepherd it's so good to be with you again the Sunday in the season of Pentecost where we're exploring how God's spirits at work in our world moving us inspiring us and blowing us out into the world to love it and to serve it and this week we're so excited to be joined by pastor drew Jackson drew has been with our community a handful of times he's preached sermons and we we love his voice his his ministry and presence in the city is located in the East Village he's with a church called Hope East Village and we love him so much he's married to janae he has two beautiful daughters and he's also a poet we did an interview with him on Wednesday Night Live which you can go on social media and check out but we couldn't be bigger fans of Drew and I heard him preached this sermon to his church and I asked him to come and preach it to our community because I think it's so timely I think it's prophetic and he is famously at least in our community my daughter's favorite preacher which really hurts but she's probably right he's great so give a warm welcome and show you love to Pastor drew Jackson good morning Good Shepherd it's such an honor and a privilege to be with you on this Father's Day and on this Juneteenth weekend where we celebrate and we also renew ourselves in the long struggle for freedom and for liberation that we are all engaged in you know something is happening right now there's a shaking a stirring a troubling of the foundations upon which we've built the systems and structures of society I'm not gonna attempt to name this something that is happening but I think that all of us have a sense that the tectonic plates of our society are shifting beneath our feet because we can feel the rumble and while I'm hoping with my ancestors that it is God that is troubling the waters while it is my prayer that this is a divine movement to echo what a friend of mine said to me just a couple of weeks ago the jury is still out but if it is God that is on the move if the sound that we hear off in the distance is the sound of a mighty Pentecost like wind approaching then you and I need to understand what it's going to mean for us to prepare for the fire to fall I know Pentecost Sunday was a few weeks ago but over at Hope East Village we felt it necessary for us to sit in the text of Pentecost for several weeks to see if together we can learn something about how to prepare for Pentecost movement and so this morning while I have the mic for a few minutes with you I want to talk to you from the title move mentalize by which I mean prepare yourself for movements and so if you're new to the book of Acts one of the things you need to understand right off the bat is that the book of Acts is a sequel ax is part 2 of the Gospel of Luke and in the very first verse of Acts Luke tells us that in the first book in his gospel he wrote about all that Jesus began to do and teach the implication of this is that what he's getting ready to tell us is about all that Jesus continued to do so even though Jesus is only physically around for these first few verses the presence power and the movement of Jesus is all throughout this book and if Luke wants to tell us anything through the book of Acts he wants us to know that the movement of Jesus has never stopped Jesus is on the move and every generation of the church has to ask where is the spirit of Jesus moving and how do we get on board see acts 1 is a massive shift in things because Jesus is getting ready to leave Jesus is getting ready to ascend back to the right hand of his father but Jesus's departure does not mean that the mission is done in fact it means that things are just getting started the revolution that began in a little town of Bethlehem is about to go global but Jesus knew that what was getting ready to happen with his ascension was going to present a significant challenge for his disciples see it's hard to be propelled into movement when all you feel is the loss of something familiar I mean think about it the disciples had already experienced the crucifixion of Jesus and all of the loss and all the disappointment that came with that but then they experienced the resurgence of hope that came with his resurrection their friend will back their leader was back I mean let's get this show on the road but now Jesus is getting ready to leave again and this time he tells them that he doesn't know when he's coming back this isn't really an energizing let's continue the revolution sort of moment this moment is filled with loss it's filled with feelings of inadequacy and all sorts of questions like what's happening right now what do we do how do we proceed why can't things just be like they were some of us are asking very similar questions right now at this moment where we are collectively experiencing a massive shift but at this moment of shifting and transition and shaking I believe that Jesus has a necessary word for us that comes to us through this text and I'll put it to you like this and this is the the entire point of the sermon don't memorialize move mentalize but before we rush ahead too rashly and too quickly we must wait for power let me break down for you what I mean see this is a new moment and the questions that may be arising in you right now are understandable but one of the great temptations of a moment like this the same temptation that the disciples faced is to spend our energy reaching for the past trying to hold on to what we feel like we've lost instead of following Jesus forward into an uncertain future this is the temptation to memorialize the text tells us that when Jesus ascended the disciples were standing there looking up into clouds gazing into heaven and some angels appeared to them and and asked them why are you standing here looking off into space you know in his commentary on the book of Acts the theologian Willie James Jennings he he says this about what was happening at this moment he says as he that is Jesus as he ascends the disciples watch and hear the danger of watching becomes clear Jesus is no action figure no superhero to be consumed in spectacle watching Jesus and watching for Jesus was and is a significant temptation for his disciples such watching can easily undermine movement and easily undermine the priority of the journey these disciples consumed in spectacle may easily turn toward monument thinking and building they could easily have begun to consider how they mark the spot of his departure and forget his instruction given through the spirit this is a moment of loss even as they know they must go forward in faith see the disciples could have easily built a monument at this spot of ascension so so that they could sit around and reminisce about the good old days when when Jesus used to physically be with them I mean they could have built an entire religion centered around the statue and they could have written all these worship songs about what Jesus did and all of those things but that's not what Jesus called them to do Jesus called them to follow him and Jesus is always moving forward into God's promised future Jesus is on the move remembrance is important but we remember in order to move forward in faith as Willie Jennings says faith always leans forward to the place where God is waiting to meet us see some of us right now are longing to gather again in corporate worship and sing and do all the things that we used to do but what if God is moving us forward into a place where our worship gatherings are places of protest in the streets of our city and our worship songs are songs of resistance where we raise our voices to stand against the powers of this world some of us are longing for how it used to be when conversations about racism and oppression and white supremacy weren't constantly in our faces everywhere we turn those days were more comfortable but what if the place of confronting racial injustice is the place where God is waiting to transform you from one degree of glory to another see whenever God is moving forward in a significant way the people of God are always tempted so want to go back so what was familiar and comfortable I mean think about the children of Israel when God rescued them out of enslavement in Egypt and brought them across the Red Sea I mean they started to complain and say to Moses did you bring us out here to die do you even know where you're going take us back to Egypt at least we knew what to expect back there see the presence of God was with them leading them forward into freedom but all they could do was reach back to hold on to what they felt like they lost don't memorialize move mentalize as we lean forward into the ever advancing movement of God there will be things that we have to leave behind in order to be met by the newness that the Spirit of God is assuring in Jesus said it this way and I paraphrase you got to leave behind the old wineskins if you want to receive the new wine see the disciples they had to leave behind their old visions and conceptions of Jesus and of the kingdom of God up to this point the disciples only knew one experience of Jesus's presence he was with them in the flesh but if they wanted to lean forward into this new movement of God they would have to learn a new experience of the presence of God there was some letting go that they were going to have to do they were going to have to let go of their nationalist visions of the kingdom of God that was really all about making Israel great again and they were going to have to embrace a new vision a new vision of the kingdom that went far beyond the borders of their own comfort and had nothing to do with securing their own power they were also going to have to leave behind their desire to know and to be certain we can't follow Jesus forward while bowing to the idol of certainty because we can't trust the leading of the Spirit of God if we always have to know what might you have to leave behind in order to move forward with Jesus at this moment I mean that's a question that I want to invite you to sit with but I also want to offer some thoughts as I've been sitting with this myself and meditating on this for our community see I think for a lot of us we need to leave behind an individualistic notion of faith there is no room in the kingdom revolution of God for faith that his only concern about me and my personal relationship with Jesus your faith may have started there but it can't stay there the kingdom movement of God needs people who know to be true what fannie lou hamer said one of the mothers of the civil rights movement when she said no one is free until everyone is free I'm not free unless we're all free I need to know that my freedom my salvation my liberation is bound up with my neighbors the salvation that Jesus came to bring was not about giving me a hall pass to heaven but it was about rescuing the entire cosmos this faith you've been called to is way bigger than just you some of us have to leave behind this desire to follow Jesus deeper into our own comfort see confronting racial injustice and white supremacy is not comfortable protesting against police brutality is not comfortable laboring to create change so that our neighbors who are the most marginalized and oppressed among us can live in a more just and equitable world is not comfortable you will receive pushback but if we've heard the call to follow Jesus as they call deeper into comfort I must say that we've misheard the call ask Peter James and John if the call was comfortable ask the Apostle Paul if the call was comfortable go read Acts six and seven and ask Stephen if the call was comfortable there are some things that we have to leave behind another thing that many of us have to leave behind is the false belief that justice is a side issue that is not central to the gospel or or that doing justice is optional for the follower of Jesus I mean we serve a God who says justice and righteousness are the foundation of my throne the Jesus we follow said that he came to set at liberty those who are oppressed to liberate the captives this is not a side issue this is not optional doing justice is central to our vocation the last suggestion I want to give about what many of us might need to leave behind is the false belief that we have no part to play in the movement of God you might be asking yourself right now what is my role in all of this and you might be tempted to believe that you have no role but let me tell you something part of the reason for the Ascension of Jesus was to communicate that the movement of God will not be about one person but that the Spirit of God will be poured out on all flesh that means that you have a part to play that means that the movement of God is waiting for the gifts and is waiting for the power that has been poured into you there are some things that we have to leave behind some old wineskins that that have to be shed to make way for the new wine the prolific black poet Audrey Lord has a quote that I believe speaks very powerfully in this moment and she says to us these words she says the old definitions have not served us nor the earth that supports us the old patterns no matter how cleverly rearranged to imitate progress still condemn us to cosmetically altered repetitions of the same old exchanges the same old guilt hatred recrimination lamentation and suspicion for we have built into all of us old blueprints of expectation and response old structures of oppression and these must be altered at the same time as we alter the living conditions which are the results of those structures for the Masters tools will never dismantle the Masters house the Masters tools will never dismantle the Masters house see God is doing a new thing and there are some old things that we must leave behind some old tools that we must drop in order to make way for the new but as we lean forward into this movement there there's another temptation that we are faced with just like the disciples in acts 1 and that is the temptation to rush ahead of what Jesus is doing before Jesus ascends back to his father he gives his disciples these instructions wait for the promise of the Father and we know that that this is the promise of the Holy Spirit don't memorialize move mentalize but before we rush ahead too rashly and too quickly we must wait for power Jesus goes on to tell them that when the Spirit comes when the Spirit comes upon them they will receive power to be his witnesses participation in the movement of God requires spirit empowered people but what is this power that we are waiting for and what does it mean to wait for this power I don't have time to say too much right now about this act of waiting about what this looks like but I will say this that this time of active waiting will most certainly involve shedding and unlearning those things that we just talked about having to leave behind I've heard it said that transformation is often more about unlearning than it is about learning and so I'll ask this again in a different way what is it that you need to unlearn during this time as you prepare to participate in the movement of God what do you need to unlearn but as we begin to wrap up I do want to speak about this power that's been promised see I don't believe that the power of the Holy Spirit is the power to become individual Super Saiyan Christians but I believe that this power is about the collective power of the people of God moving in the same direction to stand against the powers of evil this is power that is going to move us beyond the boundaries of our own comfort it's a power that's not going to Lourdes itself over others but it's going to join itself with others it takes more power to join than it does to dominate because it means that my walls have to come down it means that I have to let go of my own way it means that I have to embrace and work for the good of the other whom I may have once despised Willie Jennings calls Pentecost the revolution of the intimate because it moves us to an intimacy with God and an intimacy with the other that we have not previously experienced see the disciples believe that Jesus's physical absence meant less of Jesus but they didn't realize that leaning forward into this movement of God meant that they were getting ready to experience greater greater presence they were going to experience the indwelling presence of the Spirit of Christ something that they had not known and they were going to experience an intimacy and a solidarity with judea's and Samaritans and citizens of God's good world more deeply than they could have ever imagined this is Holy Spirit power it's the power to engage in the work of love and justice for the long haul and not just for a moment while it's trending and lastly I'll say this it's the power to raise your voice Jesus said we will receive power to be his witnesses witnesses to the in breaking of the kingdom of God and in the kingdom of God there are no silent witnesses to be a witness means that you have something to say it means that there's something that you've seen that you need to open your mouth to speak about and if the Spirit of God has opened your eyes to see the kingdom of God breaking in it means that you have glimpsed the world God's a new creation where black lives are not trampled underfoot and so to bear witness to what you have seen is to proclaim that black lives matter if you have been to the mountaintop and you have glimpsed God's promised future so be a witness is to proclaim and to embody the words of James Weldon Johnson who's saying and who said these words lift every voice and sing till earth and heaven ring ring with the harmonies of Liberty let our rejoicing rise high as the listening skies let it resound loud as the rolling sea sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us facing the Rising Sun of our new day begun let us march on till victory is won Good Shepherd the kingdom of God is at hand the Spirit of God is getting ready to blow through so let's lean into this move of God so that we can be the witnesses in this moment in this time in this place that we've been called to be and as I bless you as you go I want to just say this Benedict of blessing over you from my friend Aaron at Kim Eubanks who wrote these words may the spirit who is breath fill our lungs with the air of new life so that all God's children can breathe without violence and fear may the spirit who comes with fire burned down institutions propped up by evil and oppression and set our hearts ablaze with God's justice and righteousness may the Spirit who brings new other answers and power our voices to speak to pray and protest in ways that usher in heaven and troubles the masses may the Spirit who shakes the earth rattle our world so that we cannot go back to life as we knew it may God's Spirit fill us empower us and amaze us this day as witnesses to the coming of a new world and the birth of a new humanity amen and now having heard this message we now declare our faith and we do this by reciting the Apostles Creed together the Apostles Creed is the oldest sort of essential form of the story of Jesus Christ which we've received and which we hand on and it's a it's a story it's a Creed which we sort of like tether to and ping off of doesn't mean we uncritically just receive it and then say it back but we wrestle with it we grapple we question it we come to it again and again wondering with curiosity what this story and this confession means for our lives and for our world and so would you join me whether you bring lots of faith or doubt in an act of solidarity with this beautiful tradition that we have behind us and that we want to see move forward with the freshness of God's Spirit so would you join me in this this Creed we believe in God the Father Almighty Creator of heaven and earth we believe in Jesus Christ His only Son our Lord who was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit born of the Virgin Mary suffered under Pontius Pilate was crucified died and was buried he descended to the dead on the third day he rose again he has ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God he will come again to judge the living and the dead we believe in the Holy Spirit the Holy Catholic Church the communion of saints the forgiveness of sins the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting amen and now we lift our hearts and our voices in prayer these are the prayers of the people they're written by our community for our community and for our world and so let's join our faith together as we pray these prayers oh great mystery wondrous creator of all that is seen and unseen bless your church and help us to keep our feet firmly on the path of love and service let us rejoice and be glad of your presence now and forever Holy Spirit guide us in the way of justice and truth bless the leaders of governments everywhere help them to see that wrongs can be repaired for the benefit of all help them to hear and respond to the voice of wisdom and compassion that sounds deep within the heart of all creation and may our elected officials listen to the cries of those in need and become beacons of peace to the people they serve Lord in your mercy will you hear our prayer lord have mercy Christ have mercy lord have mercy Christ have mercy [Music] when the walls around us crumble and the ground begins to shake when terrors flood our dreams at night we call upon you Holy Spirit to fill us with your hope for what could be renew the dry ground that surrounds us so that out of it may spring up new life Lord in your mercy hear our prayer [Music] hallo hallo it be the heart me hallo [Music] for those among us who hurt and who mourn we pray that you would grant us peace filling the empty places with joy and love for those with whom our pain and sorrow are connected will you release your light into the shadows the darkest corners of our lives that we hide from view Lord Jesus Man of Sorrows you know our pain and so we cried to you hear us O Lord lord have mercy Christ have mercy lord have mercy Christ have mercy [Music] Lord within our church community we have learned so much about the ways of Jesus and what it means to be a faithful follower of Christ from our queer family and friends this month we celebrate and stand with those who identify with in the lgbtq+ community we repent of the history of social and systemic persecution of lgbtq+ people we repent of the way that churches have responded in fear ways that have created devastating harm in the quiet of this moment counsel us as to where we have lived out of our brokenness and fear and caused harm to you to ourselves to others and to the earth Holy Spirit receive our prayers of quiet repentance [Music] Lord in your mercy hear our prayers [Music] lord have mercy Christ have mercy lord have mercy Christ have mercy for the world that was created out of an overflow of love we call to you God our Father we repent for our part in the destruction of your dream we're truly sorry for what we've done and allowed to be done to those whom you love beyond measure we look to you for the renewal of that dream and the overwhelming beauty of your kingdom on earth as it is in heaven glory to the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit as it was in the beginning is now and will be forevermore amen and now having offered our prayers we make space for confession which is our way of taking responsibility for the ways we fall short of love it's not a weird introspective moment where we just try to feel bad or beat ourselves up no this is about courage to change and so all of us we review our lives we engage in that act of holy memory and we ask God's Spirit to help us to help us remember the things that matter for our own transformation right now and so whatever you bring into this moment just let's take a quiet moment to open our hearts open our imaginations to God and let's be guided by God's Spirit to those memories which we need to pay attention to which we need to own and take responsibility for and where we need to ask for God's Spirit and God's intervention and love to touch heal and transform us let's take a moment of holy memory God as we open our minds and our hearts to you we recognize this is a very tender moment and it can be very difficult and we're it not for your kindness we're it not for the mercy and the solidarity we see in Jesus with sinners with evil with that which is polluted we wouldn't have a lot of hope and yet we come boldly before your throne of grace because we know we have a listening ear and we have a patient and loving parent ready to receive us and ready to encourage and challenge us toward a new humanity and now friends we remember we're not alone so would you join me in this corporate confession most merciful God we confess that we've sinned against you in thought word indeed by what we've done and by what we've left undone we've not loved you with our whole hearts we've not loved our neighbors as ourselves we are truly sorry and we humbly repent for the sake of your son Jesus Christ have mercy on us and forgive us that we would delight in your will and walk in your ways to the glory of your name amen and now friends receive this pardon which comes to us in the gospel of Jesus Christ in Jesus Christ you are loved you were forgiven and as high as the heavens are above the earth so great is God's love toward us as far as the east is from the west so far has God removed our transgressions from us you are here and you are loved and the kindness of God amen and now we lift our hearts as we come to the table of Holy Communion it's a meal that we call Eucharist which means the great Thanksgiving and it's a sacrament which means it's something tactile and earthy combined with the community experience that ushers us into the presence of God it Grace's us with strength with love and it and it sends us out into the world to be better human beings and so would you join me in this ancient prayer the Lord is here his spirit is with us lift up your hearts we lift them up to the Lord let us give thanks to the Lord our God it is right to give thanks and praise Lord it is good and beautiful to say thank you in the face of so many good gifts in our world and on our own lives and so we pause right now and we recognize your beauty your holiness in fact we cry out with the prophet Isaiah whose vision saw angels surrounding your throne singing holy holy holy Lord God of power and might heaven and earth are filled with your glory hosanna in the highest blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord hosanna in the highest and now we ask that by the power of your Holy Spirit and according to your holy word that these gifts of bread and cup which we all hold with us now in homes across our city across our world we ask that that spirit would bless and come and sanctify these elements that they would be to us and for us the body and blood of Christ who on the night he was betrayed took bread and cup and bless them on the night Jesus was betrayed he took bread and after he blessed it he gave it to his disciples and he said this is my body given for you do this in remembrance of me and so we welcome you risen Christ we thank you for your body given and the love we see there may we receive it afresh and likewise Jesus took the cup and after he blessed it he gave it to his disciples and he said this cup is the cup of a new covenant in my blood it's shed for the forgiveness of sins do this in remembrance of me and so we welcome you risen Christ we thank you for this blood which was spilled on our behalf this blood which speaks of the violence of empire the wrath of humanity descending on the one whom God sent and loved Lord may we receive that new arrangement the arrangement given by your spirit that turns all of our relationships upside down that sends us forth into the world with new eyes to see grace us with that vision and with this love amen and now we remember the mystery of our faith would you join me in saying this Christ has died Christ is risen Christ will come again and these are God's holy gifts for God's holy people Jesus Christ is holy Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father amen and now friends we invite you to receive Holy Communion our practice is intention where we take the bread we dip it in the cup and we simply say thanks be to God and if you're wondering if this meal is for you our practice is an open table which means if you see the love we see in Jesus Christ and are drawn to it this is freedom let's receive Holy Communion together [Music] thanks be to God and now friends we are so glad that you've joined us once again and we look forward to seeing you again next week we have started groups if you're part of the Good Shepherd parish here in New York even if you've gone off to some other place during quarantine we invite you to connect with the community through our community groups we have book studies we have sermons discussion groups and I think we have two available now we're gonna have a couple others coming online in the next week or so and we'd love for you to go online Good Shepherd New York calm you can select community and you'll see the eight schedule which is Tuesdays and Thursdays at 8 p.m. and then you'll see the groups that are offered right now but be sure to stay connected during this time even if it's just ringing up a friend or meeting up for a social distance hanging we want to stay connected because the church is more than just a digital experience on a screen the church is the people and it's our connections that really matter so let's foster those connections and take responsibility for those connections in the weeks to come especially as we approach the summer and now receive the spin addiction listen to what the Lord says I have loved you with an everlasting love and still I maintain my unfailing love towards you I will lead you beside quiet streams and down smooth uncluttered paths so that you do not stumble for I have become a father to you and you my firstborn child go from here in confidence knowing that the love of God the Father the grace of Jesus Christ and the presence of the Holy Spirit goes with you amen praise God from whom all blessings flow praise him all creatures here below praise Him above ye heavenly hosts praising Son and Holy Ghost we seen [Music] mend [Music] go in peace does love haven't gone stranger give us your time in tea just a dream we come every Oh [Music] Oh [Music] Oh we [Music] we sing the pretend [Music] let freedom reign that does the constants of your [Music] three [Music] oh what a beautiful world beautiful what a beautiful [Music]

Channel: Good Shepherd New York

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Length: 67min 44sec (4064 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 21 2020