Last Sunday After Epiphany

so so so so so so [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] good morning to everyone and good to see you really braving the chill to be out this morning let's pray precious god by your grace we are live face another day by your grace and by your presence we've come to worship to acknowledge you as our divine god and savior we answer your blessing and all that is offered but more especially that our lives may be strengthened to fulfill your purpose through jesus christ o lord today is the final sunday of february of the history month and we begin our worship with um part of a well-known worship song by red blasted by we hope you will be able to join in with us i'm alive [Music] see [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Applause] oh [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] is [Music] foreign [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] be oh foreign [Music] begin our worship and thanksgiving to our gracious and wonderful god today is the last sunday of after the epiphany of course i am happy to welcome those of you who are here face to face and those of you who continuously join us sunday by sunday virtually they call it and greetings will be that for that last sunday after the epitome the colleagues can be found on page 162 in the book of common trade less regard father son and holy spirit hallelujah hallelujah confessing our sins may worthily offer to you our souls and bodies as a living sacrifice and peter drink god with spiritual food in this holy sacrament amen the courage of beauty almighty god to your heart all desires known come from you the secrets are cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of the holy spirit i am worthily magnified only through us and all our time the theory lord have mercy christ have mercy christ lord have mercy glory to god in the heights and peace to this people and earth lord god heavenly kingdom almighty god and father we worship you be giving your facts we praise him for your glory lord jesus christ lord god you take away the sin of the world you amen the lord call it appointed for the last sunday after episode let us pray together oh god who before the passion our will only becomes may be strengthened to their cross and be changed into his likeness from the glory to glory through jesus christ who lives a reading from the word of god taken from the book of exodus chapter 34 beginning at the 29th verse moses came down from sinai as he came down from the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant inside moses did not know that the skill of his face shone because he had been talking with god when aaron and all the israelites are moses the skin of his face is shining and they were afraid to come near him but moses called to them and aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him and moses spoke with them afterwards all the israelites came near and he gave them in commandment all that the lord has spoken with him on mount sinai when moses has finished speaking with them he put a veil on his face but whenever moses went in before the lord to speak with him he would take the veil off until he came out and when he came out and told the israelites what had been commanded the israelites would see the face of moses that the skin of his face was shining and moses would put the bear off his face again until he went in to speak with the lord the word of the lord [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] foreign [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] foreign [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] a reading from the word of god taken from the book of 2nd corinthians chapter 3 beginning at the 12th verse same same we have set a hope we act with great boldness not like moses who put a veil over his face to keep the people of israel from gazing at the end of the glory that was being set aside but their minds were hardened indeed to this very day when they hear the reading of the old covenant that same veil is still there since only in christ is it satisfying indeed to this very day whenever moses is free a veil lies over their minds but when one turns to the lord the veil is removed now the lord is the spirit and where the spirit of the lord is there is freedom and all of us with unveiled faces seeing the glory of the lord and to though reflecting in a mirror and being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another for this comes from the lord the spirit therefore since it is by god's mercy that we are engaged in this ministry be the we do not lose heart we have renounced the shameful things that once that one has we refuse to practice cunning or to falsify god's words but by the open statement of the truth we commend ourselves to the conscience of everyone in the sight of god the word of the lord 755 [Music] yes [Music] [Applause] foreign [Music] please [Music] the lord be with you the continuation of the holy gospel according to luke reading from the ninth chapter beginning at the 28th verse glory to christ our savior at that time about eight days after these sayings jesus took with him peter and james and went up on the mountain to pray and while he was praying the appearance of his face changed and his clothes became dazzling white suddenly they saw two men moses and elijah talking to him they appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure which he was about to accomplish at jerusalem now peter and his companions were way down the street but since they have stayed awake they saw his glory and the two men who stood within just as they were leaving him peter said to jesus master it is good for us to be here let us make three dwellings one for you one for moses and one for elijah not knowing what he said why he was saying this a crowd came and overshadowed them and they were terrified as they entered the club then from the plow came a voice that said this is my son my chosen listen to him when the voice has spoken jesus was found alone and they kept silent and in those days told no one any of the things they had seen on the next day when they had come down from the mountain a great crowd met him just then a man from the crowd shouting teacher i beg you to look at my son he is my only child suddenly a spirit sees them and all at once he shrieks it convulses him until he forms at the mouth it mows him and will scarcely leave i begged your disciples to cast it out but they could not jesus answered you faithless and perverse generation much longer must i be with you and bear with you bring your son here while he was coming the demon dashed into the robbing convulsions but jesus rebuked the unclean spirit healed the boy and gave him back to his father and all were astounded at the greatness of god this is the gospel of christ [Music] um [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] foreign i speak to you in the name of god and holy spirit amen please be seated you know what my first question is going to be how are you i can't see your smiles but the body language looks positive so that's good i'm alive right yeah on the screen you will see your theme for this morning worship the mountaintop experience that leads us through ground level ministry you want to read it with me worship the mountaintop experience that leads us through ground level ministry quite a mouthful i know in luke's sharing of the gospel from chapter 9 today we see the value of worship because that is what jesus is doing when he takes his disciples peter and james up the mountain with him if you think about it when you and i whether we are coming to a place for worship or we are mindful that it is time that we set aside a moment or two to pray to god it is not a straightforward thing there's often a struggle sometimes if you're coming to church the struggle is though what you're going to put on as simple as that or sometimes to keep up with the time so that you can get on time to be there to share that first word of praise and sometimes it's an inner struggle where the week might have been not what you had hoped for what you had intended and there is a same self i really feel going church though you know anybody's ever felt like that and very often it has to do with a sense of unworthiness we we have not cleared our hearts our minds about some things that may have happened or things that we may have done or said to or about someone else but whenever we make that point of arrival whether it be at our bedsides whether it be in our or our living room in the kitchen in the car on the bus whenever we settle our um ourselves and especially when it is in the church then we are able to begin to know what it is like to experience what it is like to have that mountain top experience notice that going to the mountain took jesus and the the two disciples that he asked to accompany him away from all the other distractions which is what worship is supposed to achieve for us when we are at worship we ought to be able to just focus our presence our thoughts our hearts ourselves on what we understand about [Music] god want that to sink in your thoughts for a bit and that's why and i'm kind of old school in that regard that's why sometimes we make a fuss when before the service is about to start or the worship service is about to start you have to ask persons to be quiet or people forget that the other people are struggling to get to the mountain top to pray and being quiet is one way of clearing your mind of other distractions so jesus peter james they go up to the mountain and john thank you but they not only go up to the mountain but they are not sure what they have gone to do jesus immediately sets himself apart to pray luke tells us that they were sleepy they were tired probably but they tried to stay with what was going on they had not yet caught on as to what this journey up the mountain was about and while they were there two men who did not go up the mountain with them were on the mountain and were in conversation with jesus and luke is able to tell us what the conversation was about and who the two men were moses and elijah and they were talking about what what were they talking to jesus about i do want us to talk this morning so you can slip your mouth a little bit so he can hear you what were they talking to jesus about anybody behind me could you bring it up for me um michelle they were talking about jesus's departure and luke goes on to say that he was they were talking about jesus's departure which he was going to accomplish at jerusalem what was going to happen when he got to jerusalem there it is they appeared in glory we're speaking of his departure and continue which he was about to accomplish at jerusalem what was going to happen at jerusalem i can't hear you i can't hear you he was going to meet his his death he was going to meet his transition we understand it as death but he was going to meet his departure because he was going home so what luke sets out to show us is that jesus leads by example what worship is about setting yourself apart from the distractions of life and opening your heart your your being your entire self to receive and to experience the presence of god that's why you're here today to open or unworthy cells that being in the presence of god that being touched by god by being spoken to by god we may find ourselves transfigured what this transfigured means another word for change what happened with moses when he went up on the mountain when he came down he had to put on a veil because the people could not look at his face he was so glowing you know sometimes when we pray the same kind of thing happens anybody can kind of like experience that you may not have that your face is growing in terms of a dazzling light but sometimes persons can look at you and say they see you you look real peaceful you look you look different and and what happens really is that that light of god because we have been in the presence of god that light lights up our lives somebody had a song you light up my life you gave me hope to carry on you light up my ways and changed my night two days anybody remember that sir my friends when you have had a worship experience like we used to do sometimes we ever walk home we go outside and we see each other like brother and sister we wanna know what's going on how you doing how the week went and all of that because something has moved us a peg or two from where we were and we are open for friendly caring and sharing and ministry and then luke kind of jumps us he says while the men are talking with jesus about his departure imagine that you are sleeping you something somehow wakes you up and starts to talk about to you but when you're dying when you're gonna die i can't buy you jump over the bed turn on the light no no no no no no you know that you you some of you know the joke about that um guy who i'll tell it nevertheless um the story goes that there was uh a man barbarian good in a man who had just managed to cook a nice erasing stew and he sat down and he at it man and he enjoyed it so much he belt slowly rubbed his tummy and said man look that food is so good and i feel so full i feel so satisfied i could dead know and his friend was just coming to visit him and heard him so he knocked on the house boom boom boom he said oh there and the friend said is me death i come to get here you say you're ready well as the story goes the man was out the house it was gonna you know burst through the door and running mother you can't take a joke you can't declare are they serious so when i read that i i it blew my mind that that jesus could have that discussion about his departure and jerusalem and the cross and all of what he was going to to face and then i realized but i'm going to have a departure too and all now through the holy scripture god has been talking to us through his holy spirit through his holy people through his priests through his ministers about being ready about understanding our purpose about fulfilling our place or status that when the time comes there are little or no regrets and that certainly awakened me to the reality and the power and the necessity of worship and then luke says as the men were talking with jesus peter as usual was so moved he said lord let us build three moves one for you one for moses and one for elijah and then this cloud a thick cloud not a dark cloud a thick cloud came and it seemed to cover everyone and when it was gone only jesus remained but before it had gone a voice was heard coming out of the cloud that said this is my son my chosen listen to him you see what luke presents for us is that god is a mystery there's a mystery of god there's a glory to god there's a glory of god but it's all a mystery because if we could predict god and and maneuver god and and so on then whatever it was that we would be doing it couldn't be god but yesterday we were about to venture into our first fundraising event for a long time and we were a little nervous on the friday because of the rain and probably even more nervous when saturday morning came and it was not letting up i want you to know and i'm not saying it because it is fast i want you to know that i was on this case it's friday and i received the word i said no matter what the weather does go forward and do what has to be done we got started like maybe almost three hours later than the planned time but when that cloud of doubt and frustration and whatever has had passed we realized that god was still very much there with us and enabling us and still brought the people and we still made close to three thousand dollars that we didn't have before nothing venture nothing gained and with god we say it all the time but with god all things are possible now we may not have applied a theological perspective to that event but that is exactly how god relates to us where we are alive where we are functioning in everyday life and so yesterday many of us who were involved were in that thick cloud of uncertainty except that i knew as a pastor of these people i must be by example they're standing ready to get going the first moment there is an opportunity that will be presented by god and when that happened we offered our prayers and thanksgiving to god and we went on with what needed to be done you see worship must lead you worship must be of your spirit worship must be or thrust because by ourselves we are nothing without god we are not able to accomplish much i share that so that when we speak now about the cloud that came and overshadowed those on the mountain you will recognize that that was an experience phrased that way but that every single one of us will have clouds that will overshadow us as we journey through life what is your response when the cloud comes and all that the disciples could do was sit and wait till the cloud moved away until clear could come and maybe that's why jimmy cliff said and he said i can see clearly now the rain has gone and that's what happens in your journey with god there are those moments when you know where you're going what you're doing but you don't need to know god knows what it is he is leading but are you prepared are we prepared to sit it out and wait it out until god reveals the way forward and so when the cloud passed and these persons looked around it was only jesus and then it always is jesus and us and there's so many powerful message in this gospel it is always god and us as long as we make the effort to indicate that we believe in god that we trust in god that we will make the effort to climb the mountain to be in the presence of god because god is always with us but we need to make that committed effort to be with god so here's what happens in worship sometimes when you are worship you feel as though you're disfigured you're disfigured by things you thought or said or done or your past whatever that might be and when you arrive where other people have arrived to worship and you look around you may start to feel that you are not as worthy or you are not as good or you are not as whatever as the other person and jesus puts that to rest once and for all when the the rich young lad came to him and said good teacher jesus oh whoa whoa whoa call no man good we are as good as the moment because the very vessel that has the capacity to do good also has the capacity to do ill and so what jesus wanted that young man to understand that it is a struggle life is about a struggle trying to bring out the best out of oneself but only guided by god will you know what that goodness or that best is and that's true for us as well so sometimes we are disfigured by life we are bitter because people did as that people did that somebody stole this somebody told a lie somebody you know and it and you ha there's so much that you can find yourself rated by it disfigures you and they say to you that even as you cope with life you are i am at times feeling disfigured you think it's comfortable to walk and limp and in pain all the time you know you know when you'll be accustomed walking strong and tall and now you you and it gets to your ego and it gets to your pride and it gets to all those things but those things are vain and sometimes we have to go through those we have to be disfigured by those things so that we can be refigured by the grace and goodness of god so whatever our situation is don't knock yourself don't put yourself down you gotta limp lip you gotta hubble hubble you gotta whatever you do it because it's not about the outward self it's about what's going on in your heart you know what the love inside me the spiritual person that i know does not hobble is not restricted and that's where humanity struggles when we have egoistic problems challenges i am better than that person and i how dare you speak to me like that you know who i am really your ego happens when you fail to put god first in your life any time it's about you you're lost you're on the wrong track it has to be about trying to climb that mountain to be at worship so that you can receive and you can understand and you can be blessed and you can be strengthened to fulfill what god wants you to fulfill so it's all right to be disfigured my friends in the journey of life because god has the power to refigure you restructure you re re reset your your compass re-inspire you renew you and when that happens you don't care about the belief you don't care about the pain and i think my older friends of the parish family they don't know how much confidence they give me because i i see them with their ailments and so on and when you are oh by the grace of god i say i hear and i still going forward and then letting that and i say yes you know that's what i need that's how i need to be thinking that's what i need to be experiencing and don't be don't worry the power of evil is always trying to put something in your path to blot out the presence of the goodness and the the love of god the christian cannot allow that to happen now i know that sometimes when you must have listened to this gospel it seemed to be two gospels one on the mountain top and one on ground level they're not two gospels it's the same gospel but what the message that luke has given to us is that when you've had the mountaintop experience then you come back to the challenge the reality where all your other brothers and sisters are and you give them something of what you receive when you were on the mountaintop you you want to make your dream and we all have dreams we want our community to be better we want all our family members to live better and to be closer to each other we want good things but very often you find that you that is awakened in you when you've had that awakening experience with god and so when you get back into the the village and you get back into your your your neighborhood and you you get back to your family you pick up the phone and you call and you say how you're doing and just get back from church and i would remember you and say well what do you pray about where prayer about family you know how we can get negative and you you light up their lives that's what is needed in the world this when i couldn't help as i i went through psalm 2 chanting psalm 2 this morning and what the sami said and i could not help but think about putin and ukraine and the leaders the power people in the world who seem only concerned to to to show how much they can flex their muscles and how many tanks i have or how many players i have and you know something to die and and i want all they do is create havoc for the lives of others and that's why this physical life cannot be all that there is to living it cannot be and that's why when jesus rose from the dead and he he went back and revealed himself to his disciples and especially the two walking on the road to emmaus you remember what he did he opened the scriptures to them and he took them back from the old testament and brought them right back to what had not long happened on in in jerusalem on the cross and they were able to see the connection that god was always present in the world that god still is present in the world think about that that's why moses and elijah were the two characters one bringing the the time of the law and the other bringing the prophecy of god connecting with the the son of god the the trio that come together to make the point that god is not limited or or or or restricted by by time and history god is present with moses time he's present with elijah he's present with god he's present with you and when our children and children's children come up they too will experience god as long as we're able to keep that god alive by our experience by our existence by by the things we do the examples that we lead and so you move from being disfigured and and to be refigured and then after you have experienced that ring that rebuilding that that that new self oh man i think about my sunday school days and my sunday school religion and then i think of the four or five years i spent in codtington college trying to better understand my god and and to read and and to learn and to inwardly digest and to to at times have to let go some of the the things i held there and thought to me the way god works and and then to be open to revelation and and it's taken it takes time but today i am so happy that i made those first steps or that i answered the call that beckoned me to make those first steps and i don't mean the first steps are ordination i mean the first steps at sunday school the first steps were made by my parents and god's parents to have me baptized to give me to god and then the other steps that i made to go and to be part of the worship church and to grow and learn and understand what i needed to about god and then the other steps that led me to be part of the life of the church where i was not just there to pray but i was there to function to put my arms with other people's arms to reach out to the lady around the the church in the district of the church to touch the lives of others and i'm sorry if i seem to be i hope you understand i'm not i'm not preaching about me i'm just using myself as the example that you can look at your own self and see how you have been used and still continue to be used by god in your own journey do not give up worship i know that we have been dealing with a pandemic i understand the fears and cares about kovi and i know that the church has taken the the church the churches have felt as though they have taken the worst of what coven brought but that's not true covid the church's disfiguring was exposed to through covet the refiguring process is beginning again and as we grow with god we will have the transfiguration experience when the light of god will make its way into our hearts and we will understand who we are and who we ought to be as the church as the christians in the world of our time our children want to know more about god you know but they don't want to pursue it the way that we pursued it we use the tools that we have but now the technology of of their age and era helps them to to cover ground more quickly and to be at with more questions than we may even have had but yet notice that no matter how technological the world has become it does not surpass the technological love the power of god to control to be in control of all that is so today and any other day when you prepare for worship think about this looking experience that is shared with us that we want to push away get rid of the distractions notice the distractions are always there because when they come down from the mountaintop experience a day later what do they have crowds of people waiting and one man getting his throat up calls out look my son my son he said you got a demon i mean i i asked you you meant here to to do something and and they can't get nothing to do he's the only son of god do something for me and what does jesus say to his disciples he's in other words saying you know you don't yet get it you don't understand what the needs of your people are and you don't believe that you have the gifts to relate to their needs and he says bring him here and of course as i said to you before the evil must show up they always does to challenge us you can go out there for truth not not not if we got anything to say with it and the the young sister convulse and it throws him to the ground and jesus with the authority that he is as god is the authority that god is demands that this demon that this spirit leave the presence of this life this child who god claims by his power and we must be ready and willing to open our mouths and to trust what god is going to do and do it the demons that in our world today are very visible and you see it in all the addictions that different persons are experiencing and you know that there can be one there can be these demons can be put to rest but you also know that the individual all wills must also want to be in line with the will of god and so i i will close on that note this morning we worship the mountaintop experience that leads us through ground level ministry what jesus did when he healed that young young boy was to return to ground level and minister what the church is expected to be is the conduits through which the worship power of god enhances who we are that we can like martin luther dare to dream and want good things for others and it is in this way that the demons can be pushed back it is in this way that we can bring new light refiguring the lives of others because all lies have been transfigured by the reality of god i hope that something has stayed with us as the word of god has come out and there are basically four structures to worship there is the gathering there is the word there is the feeding and there's the praise and thanksgiving when jesus walked with the two disciples to embarrass there was a gathering and they went to sit to break bread but while they were walking there was the word and jesus took the scriptures and opened it that they could better see and understand and as they saw and understood more about god and as they were they did not want to be separated from the stranger that they met they did not yet know who he was and so they gathered together and they decided to have a meal and then it is in the breaking of the bread that they recognize who this man was because he disappeared from this site but now their lives are full with thanksgiving and they are sent out to bear witness and what do they do do are they still saying we gonna fish we we ain't over to no they go back to jerusalem so that they can share with their brothers and sisters the good news of the experiences that they were able to have when they discovered that were they were in the mountaintop experience in the presence of god in jesus christ so don't take your life for granted don't take your time at prayer for granted yeah the books help you to follow how to pray and so on but then you need to be able to move to a point where you talk to god with your heart your mind your soul and your strength we are at ground level my brothers and sisters let's minister to the people when we have come like today and i'm being fed amen if there's anything i want for you to reflect on as we will soon stand and review update the nicene creed etc i want you when you are worshipped to practice and to learn the art of surrendering and let it go our hearts are so full on our heads are so full of stuff going on and we go on go through the routines and praying you get up and we walk away and you feel no change and it's really not about time but it's about death it's about the willingness so just let go and let god surrender but i know how difficult that is because surrender beast but not the white flying and losing because every time you're on a team and your team surrenders the other team wins but with god there is no opposition when we surrender to god god is able to know and what it is we really want to be so in these moments of intercession whoever needs it let us try to pray in the session and not just read it through and while we are going through the experience let us try to surrender that god that filled the space that we are finally as we surrender trust me [Music] the words of the night seek free as we say today we believe in one god the father the maker of heaven and earth we believe in one lord jesus christ the only son and god eternally daughter of the father god life from life true god from true god begotten not made one in me with the father through him all things for us and for our salvation he came down by the power of the holy spirit he was born of the virgin mary and who became him for our sake he was crucified up upon his fight he suffered died on the third day he rose again a fulfillment of the scriptures he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the father he will come again in glory the judge the living and his kingdom we believe in the holy spirit the lord the giver of life who were seized from the father the father the son his worship is spoken through the that's why luke tells us that jesus was discussing his departure can he sit on you for intercepting sessions intercession for see with our heart and all your mind let us pray to the lord same lord have a mercy for the peace from above for the loving kindness of god and for the salvation of our souls let us pray to the lord have mercy for the peace and welfare of the world for the witness and work of the church and for the unity of more peoples let us pray to the lord for our bishops and all ministers of god's word and sacraments that they will be filled with truth and learn and follow the thought of the lower sky let us pray to them for the leaders of the nations and those in authority among us then they may serve justice and promote the freedom and dignity of all peoples let us pray to the lord for the victims of hunger fair in justice and oppression and for all who labor and because of human liberation and fulfillment let us pray to the lord r for the sick suffering the soulful and the dying and for all who remember and care for them let us pray to the lord for the deliverance from the relatives of hurricane earthquake drought or flooding and for a just and proper use of god's creation let us quit in the long run for ourselves and all who confess the name of christ that we may show forth the excellencies of him who called us out of darkness into his marvelous light let us pray to the lord [Music] and now and forever so [Music] [Music] is is [Music] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] every snap [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] we receive ourselves and the truth is not in us if we confess our sins god is faithful and just and will forgive sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness guided by form a confess our sins almighty god our heavenly father we have saved against you and one another a thought word and deed and what we have left we are sorry and we repent of all our things for your son the lord jesus christ saved forgive us all that is past and grant that we may serve you in unison to the glory of your name amen may the mighty god have mercy upon you pardon and deliver you from all your sin confer and strengthen you in all goodness and keep you in life eternal through jesus christ we are the body of christ by the one spirit we were all baptized into one body and have all been made to drink of the one spirit let us then pursue the things that make for peace and build up the problem may the peace of the lord be always with you please look around and share that greeting with others peace [Music] seven eight nine [Music] [Music] here [Music] oh [Music] [Music] ah [Music] so [Music] foreign [Music] so we pray for the presentation of the offering father we offer you these gifts which you have given us this prayer and this wine with them we offer ourselves our lives and our work to be contributing through the same price the lord be with you lift up your armpits let us give thanks to the lord our god it is right and a good and joyful thing always and everywhere to give you thanks father almighty everlasting god through jesus christ o lord because in coming to dwell among us as man he revealed the readings of his glory and brought herself of darkness into his own marvelous light therefore we praise you joining our voices with angels and archangels with all the company of heaven who for every single state to proclaim the glory of your name ruler [Music] is holy and gracious father all creation rightly gives you praise all life all holiness comes from you through your son jesus christ o lord whom you sent to share our human nature to live and die as one of us to reconcile us to you the god and father of all we therefore bring you these gifts we ask you to make them holy by the power of your spirit that they may become the body and blood of your son our savior jesus christ who offered himself in obedience to your will the perfect sacrifice for all mankind on the night he was retreated to bread and when he given thanks to you he broke it and gave it to his disciples and said take this and eat it this is my body which is given for you do this for the remembrance of me [Music] you took a cup of wine at any given time he gave it to them and said drink this all of you this is my love of the new covenant which is shared for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins do this whenever you drink it for the remembrance [Music] when we eat his bread and drink this cup we proclaim the death of christ until he comes again father calling to mind the death your son endured for our salvation his glorious resurrection and ascension his continual intercession for us in heaven and looking for his coming again in glory we offer you in thanksgiving this holy and life-giving sacrifice look let's say while your church is offering and grant that we will eat and drink these holy gifts may be filled with the holy spirit and become one body in christ and serve you in unity constancy and peace may he make us a perpetual offering to you and enable us in communion blessed mary and the whole company of heaven to share in the inheritance of your sins with him and in him and through him by the power of the holy spirit we worship you father almighty with all who stand before you in earth and heaven and strong and everlasting praise blessing and honor and glory and for yourself [Music] on earth [Music] give us [Music] as we forgive those who say against us [Music] the time of trial [Music] and there [Music] the glory are yours [Music] now and forever [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Applause] [Music] the gift of government for the people of god lamb of god you take away the sin of the world have mercy on the sin of the us have mercy on us lamb of god you take away the sin of the world so so so [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] says [Music] is [Music] uh [Music] is [Music] r [Music] me [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Music] you [Music] [Laughter] [Music] foreign [Music] [Laughter] [Music] let us pray eternal god and heavenly father we thank you for feeding us with the body and blood of your son jesus christ send us now into the word of peace and grant us strength and the courage to love and serve you and all persons in you with gladness and singleness of heart through your son jesus christ lord amen christ the son of god may he gladden your hearts with good news of his kingdom and the blessing of god almighty the father the son and the holy spirit be amongst you remain with you all today this week and all right be seated for the purposes we begin with birthday greetings we say happy birthday to trisha gibson the collide clark kermit dorothy skeet lewis so once again as those names come around the names of the birthday people celebrating around this time we wish them every blessing let us sing the birthday song [Music] [Applause] okay me [Music] [Applause] no many other verses at this time so we continue now to the other notices persons have been asking about the change of time for services for a while so god willing on sunday coming the first sunday of lent march 6 please note that our eucharist our service time our worship time is 9 00 am this will continue every first sunday of each month 9 00 am for our worship services only on first sunday all of the sunday services 7 30 a.m stewardship envelopes are ready and i want to again thank you those of you who work diligently to make sure that they could be ready i know that some persons are having some difficulty with the fact that they did not get back the number that they held as you know we have been telling you how and showing you how difficult and how str and strap financially we are and we had enough envelopes in our possession that allowed us to recycle the envelopes um and it may have meant that we had to change a few numbers and some person said they will write their names on the envelopes and i guess that's all right too but in trying to be the best chores we could be we did not allow ourselves to go and spend thousands of dollars which is what it costs to bring in the influence to which you are accustomed so i do ask you to bear with the slight change and if you must and you feel you're more credible with having your name on the envelope then that's entirely up to you but it's okay but just know that you have not received the wrong envelope it is just that in recycling we've given um new numbers based on the envelopes we had available and the persons in some cases to different persons so continue to support your church and send your spiritual envelopes in and as i said if it means you need to put your name that's fine so can you collect or arrange to have your envelopes collected by some one who is coming out or you can call me at two four four nine zero eight zero or any member of the church council if you need assistance thank you so much um there will be a i because of the because of the uh covered restrictions at the time in this program came out we have identified that there will be a zoom parish length and study program so the first program will be zoom on zoom but it may very well be possible for us on sunday evenings to just come out and share it more accurately here at the church for that first sunday night but we will commence on this first sunday coming six o'clock in the evening are on zoom and we will continue um every sunday we will try to send out the um calling id and so on so you can join to participate on that program on baptism virtual sunday school resumes on 13th of march 10 a.m so after the first sunday of march at nine o'clock here then the following sunday the 13th virtual sunday school will resume at 10. we ask the parents and guardians to please be aware and encourage your charges your children your grandchildren your nieces and nephews to rejoin us for those wonderful sharings that have been taking place i draw your attention to the fact that we do need some assistance of teachers or assistants in whatever ways you can with the virtual sunday school understand the school in general so you can always communicate to dr griffith artisan law to tiara to mrs broome um i'm missing somebody and carly these are persons who you can speak to and they will be able to facilitate your particular skill or talent or gift that you can offer to support the summer school when we resume sometime soon after that there will be virtuals um you speak sessions um what i can also tell you as it relates to youth that the diocese is inviting our young people to make or prepare a video if they are vocalists or if they play an instrument um the anakin young people um would love for you to submit that video to the office so that you can be highlighted and this can be shared through a number of our virtual platforms during this this time especially during the season of lent so if you have a talented youngster at home who plays an instrument or something uh sings a nice inspirational message video and video in that format and you can send it in to us and we will direct your paths our congregational meeting is scheduled for sunday the 20th of march after our said eucharist this is an important meeting to let you know the journey in the outreach the ministries the aspect of the church how we are doing and what still needs to be done and what are more the more challenging issues so after they send you grace we invite you to to do so in the meantime all organizations could you please prepare a brief report and financial statements that will cover um the last year or so of your function of your ministry there is going to be a doctorate lenten study program i think this is directed mostly for clergy and maybe a childist assistance pastoral assistants and this is going to be facilitated by the reverend dr michael clarks principal of covington college and this will be also on zoom every first sunday sorry every beginning the first thursday in lent thank you there's a vacancy in the diocese or the position of property officer you can contact the secretary of the trustees ms judith miller and the numbers are on your screen if you're interested i want to express our grateful appreciation to all of you who in any way contributed assisted with or even if you just came to be our patrons we thank you for being there and enabling us to get our first fundraiser up and off the ground there you can see some of our uh workers some of the activity that took place yesterday and what our set it was you can see how great the sun is shining but nevertheless we were there and we made a really good effort it was a wonderful evening also of fellowship among the workers and i really feel blessed having been part of that experience even though i was not able to do an awful lot but thank you thank you thank you on behalf of the members of our church council and my own self thank you very much drinks are on sale after this service they are all non-alcoholic and they're a variety of natural juices and you can purchase one at three dollars each and mobby at two dollars each so that we can just get them off um the juices uh five finger passion fruit cucumber ginger pineapple ginger beer sorrel and pomegranate [Music] for ash wednesday the ash wednesday service i begin with um imposition of ashes at the belches primary school um 8 45 on wednesday i will be here for midday for the imposition of ashes and this will be streamed under the captions spiritual feeding for length and every wednesday during length that will be the caption for our broadcasts or streaming service spiritual feeding for length then in the evening for those who could not have been here in the morning at 6 30 in position of ashes and said eucharist so let me do that again i'm sorry that is not up on the screen but they probably didn't get prepared on time um ash wednesday imposition of ashes services i begin at the welch's primary school and here from midday and then i'm here again at 6 30 in the evening so you can come straight from work pop in spend an hour and then go so we look forward to your sharing with us and then of course we will continue during light with the various courses sunday evenings and the sacrament of baptism and on thursday evenings on answered on the by the study process study programs for the clergy and pastoral assistance i think that brings me to the notices the end of the notices at this time i thank you again for being here uh we it seems as though we have a pretty cool day so far so if you can relax and enjoy and give thanks and i hope that we have many mountaintop experiences as we pray god bless you all our recessionary [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Music] is um [Music] oh holy jesus most merciful redeemer friend and brother may we know thee more clearly love thee more dearly and follow thee more nearly amen go in peace to love and serve the lord in the name of christ amen a blessed mean to you all thank you [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] i don't even know you

Channel: St. Thomas Parish Church - Barbados

Views: 417

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Id: _jFSFP4mH7g

Length: 127min 21sec (7641 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 27 2022