J. Michael Laidlaw - "God's Ultimate Self-Disclosure" Parents' Weekend (October 2, 1983)
Loading the media player...
Transcript
Transcripts may contain inaccuracies.
(imposing organ music) | 0:03 | |
♪ Beautiful Savior ♪ | 5:25 | |
♪ Lord of the nations ♪ | 5:32 | |
♪ Son of God and Son of Man ♪ | 5:40 | |
♪ Glory and honor ♪ | 5:55 | |
♪ Praise, adoration ♪ | 6:02 | |
♪ Now and forever more be thine ♪ | 6:09 | |
♪ Now and forever more ♪ | 6:22 | |
♪ Be thine ♪ | 6:37 | |
(imposing organ music) | 6:50 | |
(imposing organ music) | 7:16 | |
(congregation singing) | ||
- | Grace and peace to you from the blessed Lord our God, | 11:26 |
and our Savior Jesus Christ. | 11:30 | |
Amen. | 11:33 | |
When we gather to praise God, | 11:46 | |
we remember that we are God's people | 11:49 | |
who have preferred our wills to that of our Lord. | 11:51 | |
Accepting God's power to become new persons in Christ, | 11:56 | |
let us confess our sin before God and one another. | 12:00 | |
- | Eternal and every merciful Lord, our God. | 12:06 |
We confess that often we have failed | 12:09 | |
to be an obedient church. | 12:12 | |
We have not done your will. | 12:14 | |
We have broken your law. | 12:17 | |
We have rebelled against your love. | 12:19 | |
We have not loved our neighbors. | 12:22 | |
We have not heard the cry of the needy. | 12:25 | |
Forgive us, we pray. | 12:28 | |
Free us for joyful obedience. | 12:30 | |
Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. | 12:33 | |
Amen. | 12:36 | |
- | Hear the good news. | 12:57 |
Christ died for us while we were yet sinners. | 12:58 | |
That is God's own proof of his love toward us. | 13:02 | |
In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven. | 13:06 | |
- | In the name of Jesus Christ, we are forgiven. | 13:11 |
Glory to God. | 13:15 | |
- | Amen. | 13:17 |
- | Let us pray. | 13:31 |
Prepare our hearts, oh Lord, to accept Your word. | 13:38 | |
Silence in us any voice but Your own. | 13:42 | |
That hearing we may also obey Your will. | 13:46 | |
Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. | 13:52 | |
Amen. | 13:56 | |
Reading from the Old Testament, | 14:01 | |
the book of the prophet Isaiah, | 14:03 | |
chapter 53, verses four through 12. | 14:05 | |
Listen, listen for the Word of God. | 14:09 | |
"Yet on himself he bore our sufferings, | 14:15 | |
"our torments he endured, | 14:18 | |
"while we counted him smitten by God, | 14:21 | |
"struck down by disease and misery; | 14:23 | |
"but he was pierced for our transgressions, | 14:27 | |
"tortured for our iniquities; | 14:29 | |
"the chastisement he bore is health for us | 14:34 | |
"and by his scourging we are healed. | 14:36 | |
"We had all strayed like sheep, | 14:40 | |
"each of us had gone his own way; | 14:43 | |
"but the Lord laid upon him the guilt of us all. | 14:46 | |
"he was afflicted, he submitted to be struck down, | 14:50 | |
"and did not open his mouth. | 14:52 | |
"He was led like a sheep to the slaughter | 14:55 | |
"like a ewe that is dumb before the shearers. | 14:57 | |
"With protection, without justice, he was taken away; | 15:01 | |
"and who gave a thought for his fate, | 15:06 | |
"how he was cut off from the world of living people, | 15:07 | |
"stricken to the death for my people's transgression? | 15:11 | |
"He was assigned a grave with the wicked, | 15:15 | |
"a burial-place among the refuge of mankind, | 15:18 | |
"though he had done no violence | 15:22 | |
"and spoken no word of treachery. | 15:24 | |
"And yet the Lord took thought for his tortured servant | 15:26 | |
"and healed him who had made himself a sacrifice for sin | 15:29 | |
"so shall he enjoy long life | 15:35 | |
"and see his children's children. | 15:36 | |
"And in his hand the Lord's cause shall prosper. | 15:39 | |
"After all of his pains he shall be bathed in light, | 15:43 | |
"after his disgrace he shall be fully vindicated; | 15:47 | |
"so shall he, my servant, vindicate many, | 15:51 | |
"himself bearing the penalty of their guilt. | 15:54 | |
"Therefore, I will alot him a portion with the great, | 15:58 | |
"and he shall share the spoil with the mighty, | 16:01 | |
"because he exposed himself to face death | 16:05 | |
"and was reckoned among transgressors | 16:08 | |
"because he bore the sin of many | 16:11 | |
"and interceded for their transgressions." | 16:14 | |
Here ends the reading from the Old Testament. | 16:17 | |
Reading from Acts, chapter two, verses 42 through 47. | 16:23 | |
"They met constantly to hear the apostles teach, | 16:30 | |
"and to share the common life, to break bread, and to pray. | 16:33 | |
"A sense of awe was everywhere, | 16:38 | |
"and many marvels and signs | 16:41 | |
"were brought about through the apostles. | 16:42 | |
"All whose faith had drawn them together | 16:45 | |
"held everything in common; | 16:47 | |
"they would sell their property and possessions | 16:50 | |
"and make a general distribution as the need required. | 16:52 | |
"With one mind they kept up their daily attendance | 16:57 | |
"at the temple, and, breaking bread in private houses, | 17:00 | |
"shared their meals with unaffected joy, | 17:04 | |
"as they praised God | 17:07 | |
"and enjoyed the favor of the whole people. | 17:08 | |
"And day by day the Lord added to their number | 17:11 | |
"those whom he was saving." | 17:15 | |
The gospel reading this morning, | 17:21 | |
rather than the one announced in our bulletin, | 17:23 | |
is from the gospel of Mark, | 17:26 | |
a passage from the 14th chapter, | 17:28 | |
and a reading from the 15th chapter. | 17:31 | |
Will the congregation please stand | 17:35 | |
for the reading of the gospel. | 17:36 | |
"When they reached a place called Gethsemane, | 17:51 | |
"he said to his disciples, sit here while I pray. | 17:53 | |
"And he took Peter and James and John with him. | 17:57 | |
"Horror and dismay came over him and he said to them, | 18:01 | |
"My heart is ready to break with grief; | 18:04 | |
"stop here and stay awake. | 18:07 | |
"And then he went forward a little, | 18:10 | |
"threw himself on the ground and prayed that, | 18:11 | |
"if it were possible, this hour might pass him by. | 18:14 | |
"Abba, Father, he said, | 18:19 | |
"all things are possible to thee; | 18:21 | |
"take this cup away from me. | 18:25 | |
"Yet not what I will, but what thou wilt. | 18:28 | |
"At midday a darkness fell over the whole land, | 18:35 | |
"which lasted till three in the afternoon; | 18:37 | |
"and at three Jesus cried aloud, | 18:41 | |
"Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani, which means | 18:44 | |
"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" | 18:48 | |
Here ends the reading of the gospel. | 18:56 | |
Amen. | 19:00 | |
Praying together. | 19:15 | |
Oh God whose mercies are in, | 19:20 | |
under, over, beside all things and peoples, | 19:23 | |
let Your work move among the word | 19:27 | |
spoken in Your name this day | 19:29 | |
that they bear though brokenly the mark of Your truth, | 19:33 | |
its fire, its vast intention, | 19:36 | |
and persuade in the minds and hearts of all who hear | 19:40 | |
a new desire to let Your truth break forth clamorously | 19:44 | |
and with compassion in our homes, our neighborhoods. | 19:48 | |
This Your world, in the name of Your son, the Christ. | 19:55 | |
Amen. | 20:02 | |
I'm Scottish you see, | 20:08 | |
with a sufficient dose of Welsh tossed in | 20:11 | |
to confound things and people and make my dilemma worse | 20:14 | |
if dilemma is what it can be called. | 20:18 | |
Because what I've discovered about myself is this. | 20:22 | |
That in addition to a hankering for salt air | 20:27 | |
and ocean's roar, | 20:30 | |
like my ancestors, I also have a stubborn streak | 20:33 | |
that puts me in league with Thomas | 20:36 | |
when it comes to raising faith questions. | 20:38 | |
But I'm coming around. | 20:43 | |
I'm coming to believe it, Him, | 20:45 | |
when Jesus says that to see Him is to see the Father, | 20:48 | |
which is to say to see God. | 20:54 | |
Not in person of course, not anymore than to see my sons | 20:57 | |
Michael or Chris is to see me. | 21:03 | |
But it is to say that you know something more about me | 21:06 | |
when you meet Michael and Chris and come to know them. | 21:10 | |
And that's what Jesus is saying | 21:15 | |
when it comes right down to it. | 21:16 | |
That to see Jesus is to know a lot more | 21:19 | |
about who God is and what God is up to | 21:22 | |
on this fine gypsy planet. | 21:25 | |
And maybe, maybe even why he's up to it in the first place. | 21:28 | |
And I don't feel bad about all of this, | 21:34 | |
my stubbornness I mean, | 21:36 | |
my tendency to press these questions of faith, | 21:38 | |
because I have come to take God seriously | 21:43 | |
when he says, Laidlaw, | 21:46 | |
love me with all of who you are. | 21:49 | |
Your heart, your soul, your strength | 21:52 | |
and your mind too, Laidlaw. | 21:57 | |
Don't forget that. | 21:59 | |
And so I don't feel guilty or hesitant anymore | 22:02 | |
because I'm finding, you see, | 22:05 | |
that God is abundantly patient with me in these matters, | 22:07 | |
abundantly patient. | 22:12 | |
But as I say, I'm coming around on this point, | 22:15 | |
which does bring us to this question, | 22:20 | |
well, if this is so, if this is so | 22:22 | |
then who is this God, this Elohim, this Yahweh, | 22:25 | |
this feisty creator who we come to meet and hear | 22:29 | |
and know something about in Jesus, Jesus the Christ? | 22:34 | |
My guess is this. | 22:41 | |
My guess is that for most of us | 22:43 | |
the dominant image of God is God Almighty. | 22:45 | |
God the all powerful one. | 22:49 | |
Or if we're theologically sophisticated | 22:53 | |
it's God as the power of being, | 22:55 | |
overcoming the power of non-being. | 22:57 | |
God is the one whose sends both weal and woe, | 23:02 | |
life and death. | 23:06 | |
The one for whom, in Jesus' words, all things are possible. | 23:08 | |
But then we have Jesus' final words, that final prayer. | 23:18 | |
Not so much uttered or spoken, as pushed out of his mouth | 23:23 | |
by the anguish of his body and the torment of his soul. | 23:28 | |
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? | 23:32 | |
And how good we are at fleeing that prayer, | 23:43 | |
how clever really. | 23:46 | |
As if somehow we've got to get God off the hook, | 23:48 | |
or ourselves off the hook, | 23:52 | |
or Jesus off the cross if need be. | 23:54 | |
Jesus don't you know? | 23:58 | |
God is practicing self-restraint. | 24:01 | |
God is holding back the kingly power. | 24:04 | |
You are the ransom, Jesus, to trick the devil. | 24:08 | |
You are the necessary price to appease God's wrath | 24:12 | |
for all of those centuries of accumulated human sin. | 24:16 | |
Or so the dominating traditions of the church | 24:23 | |
would have us believe. | 24:27 | |
God is like a king, omnipotent, all powerful. | 24:30 | |
Don't believe otherwise, we're told, | 24:34 | |
even though Jesus hangs there on the cross, | 24:36 | |
nailed there on the cross. | 24:41 | |
Dead there on the cross. | 24:46 | |
It doesn't matter that we confess Jesus | 24:52 | |
as the revelation of God, | 24:56 | |
as the human face of God, if I may say it that way. | 24:58 | |
We cannot, it seems, stop thinking of God | 25:04 | |
after the model of kings and Caesars, | 25:07 | |
absolute rulers whose power has no bounds, | 25:11 | |
no serious limits. | 25:16 | |
Lord of Lords we say, King of Kings. | 25:19 | |
The throne of God. | 25:24 | |
But I have come to suspect, | 25:30 | |
I have come to suspect that we say these things | 25:33 | |
and use these images more for our own benefit | 25:36 | |
than for God's. | 25:40 | |
In fact, in fact I suspect that God | 25:42 | |
is quite uncomfortable with these images, | 25:46 | |
because I have come also to suspect, | 25:51 | |
with scripture as the fertile soil for my suspicions, | 25:54 | |
that Dietrich Bonhoeffer was closer to the truth | 25:58 | |
when back in 1944, | 26:03 | |
in a prison in Nazi Germany, | 26:06 | |
Bonhoeffer came to understand God not as monarch, | 26:09 | |
but as a fellow sufferer. | 26:15 | |
"People go to God", wrote Bonhoeffer | 26:18 | |
just a few months before his execution, | 26:20 | |
"people go to God when God is sore bestead. | 26:22 | |
"Find God poor and scorned without shelter or bread, | 26:26 | |
"whelmed under the weight of the wicked, the weak, the dead. | 26:31 | |
"Christians stand by God | 26:35 | |
in God's hour of grieving." | 26:39 | |
What is this? | 26:45 | |
Standing by God. | 26:47 | |
God whelmed under the weight | 26:50 | |
of the wicked, the weak, the dead. | 26:52 | |
This morning I suggest to you this is God. | 26:56 | |
And because this is God, you and I will do well | 27:02 | |
to cease our thinking about God in monarchial images. | 27:06 | |
We will do well to stop thinking of God's crown | 27:11 | |
as a crown of gold. | 27:14 | |
We will do well to stop thinking, | 27:18 | |
to cease our thinking about God in terms of coercive power. | 27:20 | |
Because only when we cease such thinking, can this event, | 27:26 | |
this feast at once joyful and mysterious and awful, | 27:32 | |
make any sense and afford us any sort of hope. | 27:39 | |
Let me ask you. | 27:47 | |
Let me ask you in the presence of the table, | 27:49 | |
can you and I begin to experience God's power as creative | 27:52 | |
because God is with us, | 27:58 | |
beckoning us to unknown possibilities? | 28:02 | |
Can you and I begin to experience God's power | 28:08 | |
and God as redemptive, | 28:12 | |
because God's intention is to increase our concern | 28:15 | |
for the other and the future of the other? | 28:19 | |
Can you and I, | 28:25 | |
can we begin to experience God's power as healing | 28:27 | |
because God's very soul is with us, | 28:33 | |
with us in our various griefs and brokenness? | 28:37 | |
I am speaking now out of the life of Christian discipleship, | 28:44 | |
this life in which we feel the world | 28:47 | |
the way that God feels the world. | 28:50 | |
This life in which we know God is suffering with us, | 28:53 | |
suffering on the cross of course, | 28:59 | |
but not only on the cross. | 29:02 | |
Suffering also in the village streets, | 29:05 | |
and in the cancer ward, | 29:10 | |
and in the room where the infant hovers | 29:12 | |
between death and life, | 29:14 | |
and in the broken heart of the old black man | 29:17 | |
as he hears himself called again a useless nigger, | 29:19 | |
and in the tender psyche of a young boy | 29:23 | |
as he tries to understand the senseless abuse | 29:25 | |
that is heaped upon him by his stepfather. | 29:31 | |
In all of these places and experiences | 29:34 | |
and a thousand times a thousand times a thousand more. | 29:37 | |
This is My body which is for you. | 29:43 | |
Can we live with this vision of God? | 29:51 | |
This vision intimated in the life an death of Jesus. | 29:53 | |
This vision of God's suffering | 29:57 | |
the open wounds of life itself, | 29:59 | |
suffering even the faintest quiver of pain, | 30:01 | |
your pain, my pain, the world's pain. | 30:04 | |
Can you and I come to realize that the horrors of human evil | 30:13 | |
are not just matters of private suffering, | 30:17 | |
but that they do enter into the very life, | 30:21 | |
the very soul of God? | 30:23 | |
Can we accept the knowledge, you and I, | 30:28 | |
that all of those woes that we create | 30:30 | |
or tolerate or ignore, | 30:34 | |
that all of these woes add to God's suffering | 30:35 | |
no less than those nails driven into that Galilean | 30:39 | |
2000 years ago? | 30:43 | |
This cup is the new covenant, | 30:47 | |
sealed in My blood. | 30:51 | |
Frankly I don't find much gospel in those old notions | 30:55 | |
about God as monarch, I believe. | 31:01 | |
Frankly the life and death of Jesus makes no sense at all, | 31:03 | |
no sense at all if they're true. | 31:08 | |
But you and I are spared that dreadful judgment, | 31:12 | |
that idea that in the midst of all that's happening | 31:16 | |
on the cross and around the cross, | 31:18 | |
that there's no gospel, no good news, no new reality. | 31:20 | |
There is after all more than meets the eye here, | 31:27 | |
and the mind too, for that matter. | 31:32 | |
Because we find that this story of God, | 31:36 | |
like all true stories of God, | 31:38 | |
is not told in terms of the dynasties of kings, | 31:42 | |
but rather it is to be told as you and I | 31:47 | |
tell the saga of the suffering servant. | 31:49 | |
That's what the sacred feast is all about, | 31:54 | |
and that's why along with Jesus' favorite prophet, Isaiah, | 31:59 | |
you and I can too declare, | 32:04 | |
see, see this is our God, | 32:07 | |
for whom we have waited to deliver us. | 32:12 | |
Welcome, my friends, | 32:17 | |
to this joyful feast of God's people. | 32:20 | |
Amen. | 32:26 | |
- | Christ, our Lord, invites to His table all who love Him, | 32:52 |
and who desire to live in peace with one another. | 32:56 | |
May the peace of the Lord be with you. | 33:00 | |
- | And also with you. | 33:03 |
- | As forgiven and reconciled people, | 33:05 |
let us offer ourselves and our gifts to God. | 33:08 | |
(soft organ music) | 33:15 | |
♪ Worthy is the Lamb ♪ | 33:33 | |
♪ That was slain ♪ | 33:39 | |
♪ And hath redeemed us ♪ | 33:44 | |
♪ To God by his blood ♪ | 33:49 | |
♪ To receive power and riches ♪ | 33:57 | |
♪ And wisdom and strength ♪ | 34:00 | |
♪ And honor and glory and blessing ♪ | 34:03 | |
♪ Worthy is the Lamb ♪ | 34:11 | |
♪ That was slain ♪ | 34:19 | |
♪ And hath redeemed us ♪ | 34:24 | |
♪ To God by his blood ♪ | 34:34 | |
♪ To receive power and riches ♪ | 34:42 | |
♪ And wisdom and strength ♪ | 34:45 | |
♪ And honor and glory and blessing ♪ | 34:48 | |
♪ Blessing and honor, glory and power ♪ | 34:55 | |
♪ Be unto Him, be unto Him ♪ | 34:58 | |
♪ That sitteth upon the throne ♪ | 35:02 | |
♪ And unto the Lamb ♪ | 35:05 | |
♪ Blessing and honor, glory and power ♪ | 35:08 | |
♪ Be unto Him, be unto Him ♪ | 35:10 | |
♪ That sitteth upon the throne ♪ | 35:14 | |
♪ And unto the Lamb ♪ | 35:17 | |
♪ That sitteth upon the throne ♪ | 35:19 | |
♪ Forever and ever ♪ | 35:22 | |
♪ That sitteth upon the throne ♪ | 35:26 | |
♪ Forever and ever ♪ | 35:27 | |
♪ That sitteth upon the throne ♪ | 35:32 | |
♪ And unto the Lamb ♪ | 35:34 | |
♪ That sitteth upon the throne ♪ | 35:37 | |
♪ And unto the Lamb ♪ | 35:39 | |
♪ Blessing and honor, glory and power ♪ | 35:42 | |
♪ Be unto Him forever ♪ | 35:45 | |
♪ Blessing and honor, glory and power ♪ | 35:48 | |
♪ Be unto Him ♪ | 35:51 | |
♪ That sitteth upon the throne ♪ | 35:53 | |
♪ That sitteth upon the throne ♪ | 36:01 | |
♪ Blessing and honor, glory and power ♪ | 36:11 | |
♪ Be unto Him forever ♪ | 36:14 | |
♪ Blessing and honor, glory and power ♪ | 36:19 | |
♪ Be unto Him, be unto Him ♪ | 36:22 | |
♪ Blessing and honor, glory and power ♪ | 36:25 | |
♪ Be unto Him, be unto Him ♪ | 36:28 | |
♪ Blessing ♪ | 36:32 | |
♪ Honor ♪ | 36:33 | |
♪ Glory ♪ | 36:35 | |
♪ And power be unto Him ♪ | 36:36 | |
♪ That sitteth upon the throne ♪ | 36:39 | |
♪ That sitteth upon the throne ♪ | 36:42 | |
♪ Forever, forever ♪ | 36:48 | |
♪ Forever, forever and ever ♪ | 36:51 | |
♪ Forever and ever ♪ | 36:56 | |
♪ Forever and ever ♪ | 36:59 | |
♪ Forever and ever ♪ | 37:02 | |
♪ Forever ♪ | 37:05 | |
♪ Forever and ever ♪ | 37:06 | |
♪ Forever and ever ♪ | 37:13 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 37:32 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 37:40 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 37:44 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 37:48 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 38:01 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 38:03 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 38:07 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 38:10 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 38:21 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 38:24 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 38:26 | |
(soft organ music) | 38:28 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 38:54 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 38:57 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 39:06 | |
(soft organ music) | 39:08 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 39:13 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 39:19 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 39:25 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 39:33 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 39:49 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 40:00 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 40:09 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 40:13 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 40:21 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 40:34 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 40:44 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 40:46 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 41:04 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 41:10 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 41:19 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 41:27 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 41:33 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 41:44 | |
(imposing organ music) | 41:53 | |
♪ Praise God from whom all blessings flow ♪ | 42:15 | |
♪ Praise Him all creatures here below ♪ | 42:21 | |
♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ | 42:26 | |
♪ Praise Him above ye heavenly host ♪ | 42:34 | |
♪ Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost ♪ | 42:40 | |
♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ | 42:47 | |
♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ | 42:53 | |
♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ | 43:00 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 43:09 | |
- | Lift up your hearts. | 43:22 |
- | Lift them up to the Lord. | 43:24 |
- | Let us give thanks to the Lord, our God. | 43:26 |
- | It is right to give You thanks and praise. | 43:29 |
- | Oh God, it is right that we should always and everywhere | 43:33 |
give You thanks and praise. | 43:36 | |
Only You are God, You created all things and call them good. | 43:39 | |
You made us in Your image. | 43:44 | |
Even when we rebelled against Your love, | 43:47 | |
You did not desert us. | 43:50 | |
You delivered us from captivity, | 43:52 | |
made covenant to be our God and King, | 43:54 | |
and spoke to us through Your prophets. | 43:57 | |
Therefore, we join the entire company of heaven | 44:01 | |
and all Your people now on earth | 44:04 | |
in worshiping and glorifying You. | 44:07 | |
- | Holy, holy, holy Lord, | 44:10 |
God of power and might, | 44:13 | |
heaven and earth are full of your glory. | 44:16 | |
Hosanna in the highest. | 44:19 | |
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. | 44:21 | |
Hosanna in the highest. | 44:25 | |
- | We thank You, Holy God, that You love the world so much | 44:28 |
You sent Your only son to be our savior. | 44:32 | |
The Lord of all life came to live among us. | 44:36 | |
He healed and taught people, ate with sinners | 44:40 | |
and won for You a new people by water and the Spirit. | 44:43 | |
We saw His glory, | 44:48 | |
yet He humbled himself in obedience to Your will, | 44:50 | |
freely accepting death on a cross. | 44:54 | |
By dying He freed us from unending death. | 44:57 | |
By rising from the dead He gave us everlasting life. | 45:01 | |
We remember that on the night | 45:06 | |
in which He gave himself up for us, | 45:08 | |
the Lord Jesus took bread. | 45:10 | |
After giving You thanks, he broke the bread, | 45:13 | |
gave it to His disciples, and said, | 45:16 | |
"Take, eat, this is My body which is given for you." | 45:19 | |
When the supper was over he took the cup. | 45:25 | |
Again he returned thanks to You, | 45:28 | |
He gave the cup to His disciples, and said, | 45:30 | |
"Drink from this, all of you, | 45:34 | |
"this is the cup of the new covenant in My blood, | 45:36 | |
"poured out for you and many, for the forgiveness of sins." | 45:40 | |
When we eat this bread and drink this cup, | 45:45 | |
we experience anew the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ | 45:49 | |
and look forward to His coming in final victory. | 45:53 | |
- | Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again. | 45:58 |
- | We remember and proclaim with gratitude, Holy God, | 46:03 |
what Your son has done for us in His life and death, | 46:07 | |
in His resurrection and ascension. | 46:11 | |
- | Accept our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, | 46:15 |
in union with Christ's offering for us, | 46:19 | |
as a reasonable and holy surrender of ourselves. | 46:22 | |
Send the power of your Holy Spirit on us, | 46:26 | |
gathered here out of love for You, and on these gifts. | 46:29 | |
Help us know in the breaking of this bread | 46:34 | |
the presence of Christ who gave his body and blood for all. | 46:37 | |
Make us one with Christ, one with each other, | 46:42 | |
and one in service to all the world. | 46:47 | |
Through Your Son Jesus Christ | 46:49 | |
with the Holy Spirit in your holy Church, | 46:52 | |
all glory and honor is Yours, Almighty Father. | 46:55 | |
- | In unity with Christ and each other we pray. | 46:59 |
- | Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name, | 47:03 |
thy kingdom come, thy will be done, | 47:08 | |
on earth as it is in heaven. | 47:11 | |
Give us this day our daily bread. | 47:13 | |
And forgive us our trespasses, | 47:16 | |
as we forgive those who trespass against us. | 47:18 | |
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. | 47:22 | |
For thine is the kingdom, | 47:27 | |
and the power, and the glory, forever. | 47:28 | |
Amen. | 47:32 | |
- | Because there is one loaf, | 47:35 |
we, many as we are, are one body; | 47:37 | |
for it is one loaf of which we all partake. | 47:41 |
- | The body of Christ, given for you. | 0:08 |
Blood of Christ, given for you. | 0:25 | |
- | Body of Christ, broken for you. | 0:41 |
- | Amen. | 0:43 |
- | Blood of Christ, shed for you. | 0:50 |
- | Be seated. | 1:02 |
(organ music) | 1:03 | |
- | Jesus said, I am the light of the world. | 6:00 |
You who follow me will not walk in darkness, | 6:03 | |
but will have the light of life. | 6:07 | |
Arise, and go in peace, | 6:10 | |
and may the light of the world shine on your pathway | 6:12 | |
and in your heart forever, amen. | 6:15 | |
(gentle organ music) | 6:25 | |
The ushers will come and guide groups of you | 6:56 | |
here in concentric circles around the table. | 7:00 | |
You are invited to come and be served the Eucharist. | 7:04 | |
If any of you would like to be served | 7:08 | |
in your pew or chair, please notify an usher, | 7:10 | |
and we will be glad to serve you. | 7:14 | |
(light organ music) | 7:19 | |
(organ and choir together) | 9:38 | |
- | Jesus said, I am the vine, and you are the branches. | 14:44 |
By this my father is glorified that you bear much fruit | 14:47 | |
and prove to be my disciples. | 14:51 | |
Go in peace, and may the glory of your life | 14:54 | |
bear the fruits of the spirit, amen. | 14:56 | |
(organ music) | 15:14 | |
(organ and choir together) | 16:06 | |
- | Jesus said, I am the way and the truth and the life. | 20:55 |
No one comes to the father but by me. | 21:00 | |
Arise, and go in peace, and may you ever walk | 21:04 | |
in the way of life and truth, amen. | 21:07 | |
(organ and choir together) | 21:13 | |
- | What does the Lord require of us, | 27:58 |
but to do justice, to love kindness, | 28:01 | |
and to walk humbly with our God. | 28:03 | |
Arise, go forth in peace, | 28:06 | |
may God's justice and righteousness | 28:09 | |
be alive in each of you, amen. | 28:11 | |
(gentle organ music) | 28:16 | |
(organ and choir together) | 28:36 | |
- | Jesus said I am the door, if anyone enters by me, | 36:24 |
you will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. | 36:28 | |
Arise and go in peace, and in Christ's service | 36:33 | |
may you find perfect freedom, amen. | 36:37 | |
(gentle organ music) | 36:53 | |
- | Let us join together in the prayer | 39:34 |
of Thanksgiving and commitment. | 39:36 | |
You have given yourself to us, oh Lord. | 39:40 | |
Your love has made us a new people. | 39:46 | |
Your glory has filled our hearts. | 39:52 | |
(organ music) | 40:01 | |
(organ and choir together) | 40:55 | |
- | The peace of God, which passes all understanding, | 43:59 |
keep your hearts and minds and the knowledge | 44:03 | |
and love of God, and of his son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. | 44:06 | |
And the blessings of God almighty, | 44:11 | |
creator, redeemer, sustainer, | 44:14 | |
be among you and remain with you always. | 44:17 | |
(choir sings) | 44:24 | |
(joyful organ music) | 45:50 |