unknown: Good.
unknown: I know it's not the right.
SPEAKER_03: You'll have to have this.
SPEAKER_09: Blessed be God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_05: And blessed be God's family now and forever.
SPEAKER_05: Amen.
SPEAKER_09: Let's pray together.
SPEAKER_09: Almighty God.
SPEAKER_05: All the size of them.
SPEAKER_05: And from whom the spirits are here.
SPEAKER_05: Cleanse of our hearts.
SPEAKER_05: By the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_05: And worthily magnified.
SPEAKER_09: Let us pray.
SPEAKER_09: Give us grace, O Lord, to answer readily the call of our Savior Jesus Christ, and to proclaim to all people the good news of his salvation.
SPEAKER_09: That we in the whole world may perceive the glory of his marvelous works, who lives and reigns with you in the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.
SPEAKER_09: Amen.
SPEAKER_09: And I'd like to pray.
SPEAKER_09: This is from the Chinese Book of Common Prayer.
SPEAKER_09: This is the prayer for the spring festival, also called Chinese New Year.
SPEAKER_09: O God, Father of all people and creator of heaven and earth, we thank you for the remembrance of our ancestors and all that is past.
SPEAKER_09: As we celebrate the spring festival, we pray that you will make all things anew and give us new hope in the coming year.
SPEAKER_09: Grant to all your people unity and peace of the world.
SPEAKER_09: Watch over our nation and our families.
SPEAKER_09: Strengthen us with your love.
SPEAKER_09: Help us to be sensitive to the needs of others through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
SPEAKER_07: Amen.
SPEAKER_02: In the former time, he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Neptilia.
SPEAKER_02: But in the latter time, he will make glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond Jordan, Galilee of the nations.
SPEAKER_02: The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.
SPEAKER_02: Those who lived in the land of deep darkness, on them light has shined.
SPEAKER_02: You have multiplied the nation, you have increased its joy.
SPEAKER_02: They rejoice before you as rejoy at the harvest, as people exalt when dividing plunder.
SPEAKER_02: For the yoke of their burden and the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor, you have broken as on the day of meaning.
SPEAKER_02: Hear what the Spirit is saying to God's people.
SPEAKER_02: Reading from Psalm 27, we will read responsibly by the half verse.
SPEAKER_05: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.
SPEAKER_02: To behold the fair beauty of the Lord to see God in the temple.
SPEAKER_02: For on the day of trouble, the Lord shall shelter me in safety.
SPEAKER_02: Even now the Lord lifts up my head above my enemies round about me.
SPEAKER_02: Therefore, I will offer in the holy place an appellation with sounds of great gladness.
SPEAKER_05: I will sing and make music to the Lord.
SPEAKER_02: Oh, hearken to my voice, Lord, when I call.
SPEAKER_05: Have mercy on me and answer me.
SPEAKER_02: You speak in my heart and say, seek my face.
SPEAKER_05: Your face, Lord, rise me.
SPEAKER_02: Hide not your face from me.
SPEAKER_05: Nor turn away your turn in displeasure.
SPEAKER_02: You have been my helper.
SPEAKER_02: Cast me not away.
SPEAKER_05: Do not save me, but
SPEAKER_01: Of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose.
SPEAKER_01: For it has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there are quarrels among you, my brothers and sisters.
SPEAKER_01: What I mean is that each of you says, I belong to Paul, or I belong to Apollos, or I belong to Stephus, or I belong to Christ.
SPEAKER_01: Has Christ been divided?
SPEAKER_01: Was Paul crucified for you?
SPEAKER_01: Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?
SPEAKER_01: I thank God that I baptized none of you except Christmas and Gaius, so that no one can say that you were baptized in my name.
SPEAKER_01: I did baptize also the household of Stephans.
SPEAKER_01: Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.
SPEAKER_01: For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to proclaim the gospel, and not with eloquent wisdom, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its power.
SPEAKER_01: For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.
SPEAKER_01: Hear what the Spirit is saying to God's people.
SPEAKER_05: Thanks be to God.
SPEAKER_09: Now when Jesus heard that John the Baptist had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee.
SPEAKER_09: He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what had been spoken to the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled.
SPEAKER_09: Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali, on the road by the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles.
SPEAKER_09: The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light.
SPEAKER_09: And for those who sat in the region in shadow of death, light has dawned.
SPEAKER_09: From that time Jesus began to proclaim, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is come near.
SPEAKER_09: As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who's called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.
SPEAKER_09: And Jesus said to them, Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.
SPEAKER_09: Immediately they left their nets and followed him.
SPEAKER_09: As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James, son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets.
SPEAKER_09: And Jesus called them.
SPEAKER_09: Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
SPEAKER_09: Jesus went out through went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every disease and every sickness among the people.
SPEAKER_09: The gospel of the Lord.
SPEAKER_05: Praise you, Lord Christ.
SPEAKER_09: Please be seated.
SPEAKER_09: I don't know if anybody else did this, but I grew up hearing this story on a flannel board, and there were these people by the water, and there were fishers, and we had this song.
SPEAKER_09: Do you know the song?
SPEAKER_09: I will make you fishers of men.
SPEAKER_09: Fishers of men.
SPEAKER_09: Do you know that one?
SPEAKER_05: Yes, yes.
SPEAKER_09: If you don't, I don't know that you're missing much.
SPEAKER_09: It's a lovely song, and it's a lovely idea, and it's very, very couch in this analogy of fishing for people.
SPEAKER_09: And um I want to speak to a little bit of the danger of the analogy, maybe give you a different way we could use it, and then talk about how maybe Jesus has something bigger in mind for us than just fishers of people.
SPEAKER_09: So, first, a little bit of the danger here is that sometimes uh we think that uh if we push on this hard, some people are people, and some other people are just fish.
SPEAKER_09: So we the ones with the right answer are the ones looking out over the dumb fish, and we're gonna reel them in.
SPEAKER_09: And it is because they are so dumb, it is okay to use things like nets and bait and hooks.
SPEAKER_09: I find that a little disturbing because to be honest, I didn't want to be drug against my will anywhere.
SPEAKER_09: I don't think I'm the only one.
SPEAKER_09: The other thing that's interesting to think about, honestly, is that hooks have barbs.
SPEAKER_09: Hooks have barbs.
SPEAKER_09: And I will tell you that part of my own spiritual journey, I have had hooks set in me that were very barbed.
SPEAKER_09: Barbs like.
SPEAKER_09: Hey, good news, God loves you, but will send you to hell forever because God don't really like you.
SPEAKER_09: That has traction.
SPEAKER_09: It'll pull you.
SPEAKER_09: And it hurts.
SPEAKER_09: Spiritually, it hurts.
SPEAKER_09: Now, I don't know if you know how to pull a filth hook out of somebody.
SPEAKER_09: Don't worry, there's no blood.
SPEAKER_08: But I'm gonna show you a picture.
SPEAKER_09: Bob, you might want to close your eyes.
SPEAKER_09: This comes from my wilderness first aid class.
SPEAKER_09: There are a couple of ways if you get a hook put in you, that you can get it out.
SPEAKER_09: One, of course, is that you can cut the hook and pull it through.
SPEAKER_09: But in general, if it's down deep, here you go.
SPEAKER_09: You can wrap the hook with a piece of twine or dental floss.
SPEAKER_09: You push down on the eyelet while you pull straight.
SPEAKER_09: And it'll come out.
SPEAKER_08: Now, I saw a video of this on YouTube, and the person with the hook was aided by a bottle of maker's mark.
SPEAKER_08: So they said, on three.
SPEAKER_08: One, two, glug, gluc, glug, three, out it came.
SPEAKER_09: And it occurs to me actually that because there is some danger in spiritual hook setting, part of our ministry might not just be fishing for people.
SPEAKER_09: It might be going to people who have had barbed spiritual hooks put in them and saying, Let me help you get that out so you can heal.
SPEAKER_09: I don't have Maker's Mark, but I have the life of Jesus and the sacraments to help ease the pain and increase the healing.
SPEAKER_09: I mean, maybe not, maybe bourbon is not equivalent to anointing with oil or uh what we do with the Eucharist, but I think what we have is better.
SPEAKER_09: Right?
SPEAKER_09: And so maybe this is part of our ministry is healing people who have been baited and switched, who have had barbs set in them.
SPEAKER_09: I'm going to give you a different couple ways to view this passage that I find a little helpful.
SPEAKER_09: One is an original piece of art that I saw.
SPEAKER_09: I wish I could show it to you, but it's copywritten, so I can't reproduce it.
SPEAKER_09: Uh, what it depicts are two people on a boat.
SPEAKER_09: Fortunately, they're wearing life preservers, and they're looking out over a tumultuous ocean, and there's all kinds of people struggling to keep their heads above the water.
SPEAKER_09: They're floating on things like flotsum and jetsum or they're dog paddling, and you can even see some sharks in the water.
SPEAKER_09: They're predators.
SPEAKER_09: And the way these people fish for other people is they throw them a life preserver and they bring them in.
SPEAKER_09: There are no hooks, there are no barbs, and to be clear, the people doing the fishing aren't even standing on solid ground.
SPEAKER_09: They're in a boat themselves.
SPEAKER_09: Which is to say, it's very possible they could fall in.
SPEAKER_09: And surely the people they brought in, hopefully, will extend them the same life preserver.
SPEAKER_09: Now you might say, well, geez, Mike, what are the sharks and what are the waves?
SPEAKER_09: Well, I think they're things that corrupt and destroy the creatures of God.
SPEAKER_09: We go over this every time we do the baptismal covenant.
SPEAKER_09: They are things that strip us of our fundamental dignity and what God has imagined for us.
SPEAKER_09: So one of the things that's in the currents is being afraid of God.
SPEAKER_09: You might say, who's afraid of God?
SPEAKER_09: I've been most of my spiritual life.
SPEAKER_09: Because while God loves you, God doesn't like you.
SPEAKER_09: That's something we need savings from.
SPEAKER_09: Being afraid of God.
SPEAKER_09: Another thing we need savings from are, of course, those words that end in Ism.
SPEAKER_09: I've mentioned this before, right?
SPEAKER_09: But racism and sexism and ageism, those are all predators in the sea.
SPEAKER_09: And we need rescue from that.
SPEAKER_09: And look, there's no surprise.
SPEAKER_09: This church was built as an upside-down boat hole because it's supposed to be the ship of salvation.
SPEAKER_09: And it's on the waters, not on a found, not on an unmovable foundation, right?
SPEAKER_09: Because there's safety, but we can fall in ourselves.
SPEAKER_09: And this is a ministry we extend to one another.
SPEAKER_09: Hey, I'll pull you in.
SPEAKER_09: I'll pull you in.
SPEAKER_09: Not I'll yank you against your will.
SPEAKER_09: And there can be healing in the boat.
SPEAKER_09: We can remove the hooks from one another.
SPEAKER_09: If you don't like that one, uh then I want to share with you this other one, which has to do with keeping the analogy totally in the fishing world.
SPEAKER_09: If some people are fish, then well, everybody's a fish.
SPEAKER_09: And as you know, maybe you've seen this on the Discovery Channel or National Geographic.
SPEAKER_09: Um, fish have this incredible way of joining forces and swimming together in a school.
SPEAKER_09: And maybe you've seen that 5,000 fish essentially can swim as one, and things like predators are afraid.
SPEAKER_09: They're afraid of their own prey because they banded together and they look really large.
SPEAKER_09: And out of their peripheral vision, they pay attention to one another and they move in sync, and the ones in the front bear the hydrodynamic resistance so the ones in the middle can rest.
SPEAKER_09: And then they swap so that they take turns in breaking up the currents that would corrupt and destroy the creatures of God.
SPEAKER_09: And honestly, if enough fish swim in tandem, not only do they scare away predators, they change the currents of the water.
SPEAKER_09: And isn't that the call of Jesus Christ?
SPEAKER_09: To change the currents of society, whatever they may be, of spirituality, of politics, so that the dignity that God imagines for us all is protected and preserved.
SPEAKER_09: You may not like either one of us.
SPEAKER_09: But I do hope you hear in the warnings that we get today from Paul, Paul says, look, don't swim as a school of five fish.
SPEAKER_09: Don't split yourselves up because you think your baptism is better than somebody else, or your fins are better than somebody else.
SPEAKER_09: Of course, your fins could be your liturgical practices or how you have the Eucharist or how you pray.
SPEAKER_09: No, no, no.
SPEAKER_09: Don't split up.
SPEAKER_09: Get together.
SPEAKER_09: We can do more together, and the more of us there are together, well, the more we have a hope not only of replenishing one another, but changing the currents.
SPEAKER_09: What Paul says is too be unified.
SPEAKER_09: And of course, what he doesn't say, this is good news, he doesn't say be uniform.
SPEAKER_09: He doesn't say you have to become a fish that you are not.
SPEAKER_09: Like if you're a clown fish, you don't have to become a gar.
SPEAKER_09: You can still swim together.
SPEAKER_09: It's okay to disagree or to do things differently.
SPEAKER_09: We don't have to be uniform, however, the encouragement is to be unified.
SPEAKER_09: Now, maybe you didn't like any of that.
SPEAKER_09: That's okay.
SPEAKER_09: I do want to highlight that it gets a little bit more difficult when you hear this word about Isaiah, about Zebulun and Naphtali.
SPEAKER_09: And just so you can hear, right?
SPEAKER_09: Those were the people like on the edges of the country, and they were thought to be, well, kind of backward.
SPEAKER_09: So I don't know.
SPEAKER_09: Is that I'm just using stereotypes?
SPEAKER_09: Is that Alabama and Mississippi?
SPEAKER_09: It could be New England for you, right?
SPEAKER_09: These are people who they just don't have their head on, right?
SPEAKER_09: And we get to hear, um, Isaiah, you may think that, but God doesn't view it that way.
SPEAKER_09: Did you notice that Jesus moves at the beginning?
SPEAKER_09: He moves home.
SPEAKER_09: He goes to the most backward place of his time to say the light of God is in fact here.
SPEAKER_09: In the gar, in the barracuda.
SPEAKER_09: We can swim together.
SPEAKER_09: Last part.
SPEAKER_09: I don't know if you thought about this, but Jesus talks about fishing for people because he's talking to people who fish.
SPEAKER_09: Good news, you don't have to be a fisher person.
SPEAKER_09: Maybe that is what you do.
SPEAKER_09: I would love it if the story said Jesus was walking along the lake and he saw a couple of accountants, and he said, Follow me, and you'll account for people.
SPEAKER_09: Oh, that's weird.
SPEAKER_09: How would that look?
SPEAKER_09: Well, you know what accountants like to do is they like a balanced ledger.
SPEAKER_09: You could use that skill to help people find balance in their lives, don't you think?
SPEAKER_09: Oh, well, Mike, what would you do with chemical engineers?
SPEAKER_09: Follow me, and I'll have you do better living through chemicals.
SPEAKER_09: That may sound funny, right?
SPEAKER_09: But part of chemical engineering in the human form, right, is getting away from toxic, albeit motivational chemicals like cortisol and adrenaline, and saying, hey, let's engineer a society in which we focus on serotonin, on oxytocin, so that we can be connected as human beings instead of divided through things like fear and worry.
SPEAKER_09: I wonder what Jesus would have said to Christopher Kraft Jr.
SPEAKER_09: Follow me, and I will have you help get human beings out of this world and into the one God intends.
SPEAKER_09: Out of this world.
SPEAKER_09: So good news.
SPEAKER_09: You don't have to be a fisher, you don't have to be an accountant, you don't have to be an engineer.
SPEAKER_09: Who you are is just fine, and the skills you have and the wisdom you have can grow the school of fish that is God's family.
SPEAKER_09: And the reason that we want to do this is because it's what God wants.
SPEAKER_09: And God doesn't just want it because God wants it, God wants it because God knows we'll enjoy it more if we do.
SPEAKER_09: So this I put to you is our invitation to fish, to account, to re-engineer on behalf of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_09: Please join me as we pray our faith in the words of the Nicene Green.
SPEAKER_05: We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all the days seen and unseen.
SPEAKER_05: We believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, light from light, true God from true God, begotten of me, and one being with the Father.
SPEAKER_05: Through him all things are made.
SPEAKER_05: For us and for our salvation, he came down from heaven.
SPEAKER_05: By the power of the Holy Spirit, he became imparted from the Virgin Mary and was made man.
SPEAKER_05: For our sake he was crucified under his wild.
SPEAKER_05: He suffered death and was buried.
SPEAKER_05: On the third day he rose again, and according to the scriptures, he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
SPEAKER_05: He will come again in glory to the living and the dead, and his kingdom will happen upon it.
SPEAKER_05: We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
SPEAKER_05: With the Father and the Son, he is worshipped and glorified.
SPEAKER_05: He has spoken through the prophets.
SPEAKER_05: We believe in one holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.
SPEAKER_05: We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
SPEAKER_05: We look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.
SPEAKER_05: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Your spirit lives in us, and we in your spirit.
SPEAKER_00: Hear us, for it is your spirit who speaks through us as we pray.
SPEAKER_05: Lord, hear us.
SPEAKER_00: Gracious God, you created the heavens and the earth.
SPEAKER_00: Bless the prudence of our land and the works of our hands.
SPEAKER_00: Lord hear us.
SPEAKER_00: Gracious God, you created us in your own image.
SPEAKER_00: Teach us to honor all your children.
SPEAKER_00: Lord hear us.
SPEAKER_00: Gracious God, your steadfast love provide for your creation.
SPEAKER_00: Grant good reign for our crops.
SPEAKER_05: Lord hear us.
SPEAKER_00: Gracious God, you inspire the prophets of old.
SPEAKER_00: Grant that your church may faithfully proclaim your truth to the world.
SPEAKER_00: Lord hear us.
SPEAKER_00: Gracious God, you sent your Son into the world.
SPEAKER_00: Reveal him to others to live his life in us.
SPEAKER_00: Lord hear us.
SPEAKER_00: Lord Jesus, you send your apostles to make disciples of all nations.
SPEAKER_00: Bless the clergy and laity of our diocese and church, together with Andy, Hector, Jeff, Kay, and Scott, our bishops, and the Archbishop in the Diocesen Cycle of Prayer, Sochal Austin, St.
SPEAKER_00: Albans, Manchaka, Austin, and St.
SPEAKER_00: David's Austin.
SPEAKER_00: Justin, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Michael, our presiding bishop.
SPEAKER_00: Lord Jesus, for your sake, men and women forsook all and follow you.
SPEAKER_00: I call many to serve you in religious communities and in the ordained ministry of your church.
SPEAKER_00: Lord Jesus, you call your disciples to take up the cross.
SPEAKER_00: Deepen in each of us a sense of vocation.
SPEAKER_00: You pray for your church to be one.
SPEAKER_00: Unite all Christians that the world may be.
SPEAKER_00: You forgave the thief on the cross.
SPEAKER_00: Bring us all to penitence and reconciliation.
SPEAKER_00: You broke down the walls that divide us.
SPEAKER_00: Bring the people of this world to live in peace and concord.
SPEAKER_00: You taught us through Paul, your apostle, to pray for kings and rulers.
SPEAKER_00: Bless and guide all in authority.
SPEAKER_00: You were rich, yet for our sake became poor.
SPEAKER_00: Move those who have wealth to share generously with those who are poor.
SPEAKER_00: You sat among the learned, listening and asking them questions.
SPEAKER_00: Inspire all who teach and all who learn.
SPEAKER_00: You cured by your healing touch and word.
SPEAKER_00: Heal the sick and bless those who minister to them.
SPEAKER_00: You were unjustly condemned by Pontius Pilate.
SPEAKER_00: Strengthen our brothers and sisters who are unjustly suffering violence and persecution.
SPEAKER_00: You lived in exile in Egypt.
SPEAKER_00: Protect and comfort all refugees.
SPEAKER_00: Christ heroes.
SPEAKER_00: You knew the love and care of an earthly home.
SPEAKER_00: May your presence and protection be known to migrant co-horders into their families.
SPEAKER_05: Christ heroes.
SPEAKER_00: You open and then shut.
SPEAKER_00: Open the gates of your kingdom to those that have died without hearing your gospel, especially Andrew.
SPEAKER_00: You have been glorified in the lives of inevitable saints, especially St.
SPEAKER_00: Thomas.
SPEAKER_00: Give us the strength to follow inevitable saints.
SPEAKER_00: Holy Spirit, you help us in our weakness and intercede for us when we cannot.
SPEAKER_00: Remember our petitions and thanksgivings before God, especially Miriam, Kay, Pat, Isabel, Terry, Rick, Billy, Sue, and Joe.
SPEAKER_00: And enhance our vision to see your presence in your hero.
SPEAKER_00: The congregation is invited to name their own celebration and competitions aside.
SPEAKER_00: In your infinite compassion.
SPEAKER_00: Compassionate God, make your healing and peaceful presence known to the world.
SPEAKER_00: Comfort those who mourn, strengthen those that are weary, encourage those in despair, and lead us all to fullness of life.
SPEAKER_00: Father, we know that you are good and that you hear all who call upon you.
SPEAKER_00: Give us and all people what is best for us, that we may glorify you through your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who is alive and reigns through you and the Holy Spirit, now and forever.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_09: Let us confess our sin against God and our neighbor.
SPEAKER_05: Gracious God, our sins are too heavy to carry, too real to hide, and too deep to undo.
SPEAKER_05: Forgive what our lips tremble to name, what our hearts can no longer bear, and what has become for us a consuming fire of judgment.
SPEAKER_05: Set us free from past that we cannot change.
SPEAKER_05: Open to us a future in which we can be changed, and grant us grace to grow more and more in your likeness and image.
SPEAKER_05: Through Jesus Christ, the light of the world.
SPEAKER_09: Amen.
SPEAKER_04: Amen.
SPEAKER_09: The peace of the Lord be always with you.
SPEAKER_05: And also with you.
SPEAKER_09: Good morning, and thank you for worshiping with us at St.
SPEAKER_09: Thomas today.
SPEAKER_09: If you're new to us or haven't done this before, in the room right behind the one we're sitting in, we call that the Narthex.
SPEAKER_09: I grew up calling it the best of Buell.
SPEAKER_09: The Narthex is there.
SPEAKER_09: And there's these little cards that say welcome.
SPEAKER_09: And we'd be tremendously grateful if you fill one of them out.
SPEAKER_09: So we have a record of your visit.
SPEAKER_09: And thanks for worshiping with us today.
SPEAKER_09: Okay, a couple of announcements.
SPEAKER_09: Sometimes we don't always know what happens in the building, so I just want to let you know that our girls' troupe of scouts, that's 1965, these are the girls who will earn the Eagle rank, just like our boys' troupe will.
SPEAKER_09: They had a camp out here the last two nights, and you don't always get to see them, but it is just a lovely ministry that scouts are forming families, and not just children, but families, in wonder and in responsibility and frankly loving one another.
SPEAKER_09: So this is a great ministry.
SPEAKER_09: And I want to draw your attention because these girls are going to go on an adventure this summer to uh Natural Bridge Cavern in uh near San Antonio.
SPEAKER_09: And so they to help themselves out there and to make sure that kids can go who don't have the resources to do it, they're going to throw a fundraiser.
SPEAKER_09: And that fundraiser will be Fat Tuesday.
SPEAKER_09: They'll be making pancakes for us when we gather to burn last year's palms to make the ashes for Ash Wednesday.
SPEAKER_09: So you'll see that it's February 22nd, and please support them.
SPEAKER_09: You may say, I don't like pancakes.
SPEAKER_09: I don't care if they like pancakes.
SPEAKER_09: I don't.
SPEAKER_09: These ones will be very good, and please do support our scout girls.
SPEAKER_09: They're working to do this not only for themselves, but for other scouts who just can't afford to do it.
SPEAKER_09: Okay, a couple other things.
SPEAKER_09: This morning we had, I think, a really fantastic and well-attended organ meeting where we discussed the future of the pipe organ and uh cannot thank the organ committee or Garmin well enough, and cannot thank you well enough for coming and paying attention and bringing your questions.
SPEAKER_09: Reminder, if you missed the meeting, we did record it.
SPEAKER_09: It'll show up on YouTube and there'll be a link in the Wednesday e-news.
SPEAKER_09: The reason we're having this reminder is that since we started the organ project, costs have changed and the cost has exceeded what we initially thought.
SPEAKER_09: So we are going to vote on the future of the pipe organ next week at the annual meeting, along with our slate of members from Vestry, our slate of council reps, and the parish annual budget.
SPEAKER_09: So we always do those three things.
SPEAKER_09: This year we're also voting on the pipe organ.
SPEAKER_09: And uh just a reminder that'll be in between services.
SPEAKER_09: So it'll be at 9:15, it'll zoom, it'll be in person, and if you know you can't be here, we also have absentee ballots.
SPEAKER_09: This year everything's on a ballot.
SPEAKER_09: Uh you'll scan a QR code with your phone, it'll immediately bring up a ballot, it'll vote and tabulate in real time.
SPEAKER_09: If you say, I don't have a phone or I don't know how to do that, we've got paper ballots, right, on all four measures.
SPEAKER_09: And if you won't be here, we have absentee ballots as well.
SPEAKER_09: So this is what we do at the annual meeting.
SPEAKER_09: In addition, you'll hear from Andy Knight about the school and how this challenges of the school and the vision for the school, from Alex about family ministry and what our goals are for the year, and then you'll have an opportunity to hear sort of State of the Union of St.
SPEAKER_09: Thomas in general and ask questions that you have on your mind.
SPEAKER_09: So that's next week, and I hope you will make time to attend the annual meeting.
SPEAKER_09: Uh, the other things I want to highlight for you, again, you heard me say this last week.
SPEAKER_09: I was tremendously proud of us for going to a synagogue to learn more about Judaism and having more than 50 of us show up.
SPEAKER_09: That was super lovely that you decided this is a priority for your time.
SPEAKER_09: Thank you.
SPEAKER_09: Uh we've got two more visits coming up.
SPEAKER_09: One is on February 1st.
SPEAKER_09: The reason we're not doing it this week is because we're hosting a meeting for the diocese on Thursday.
SPEAKER_09: So I didn't want to do two of them.
SPEAKER_09: I just did that.
SPEAKER_09: Next Wednesday, February 1, we're going to the Coptic Church that's right off Clear Lake City Boulevard.
SPEAKER_09: Maybe you've driven by.
SPEAKER_09: Is someone with the gold domes, and I invited us.
SPEAKER_09: The priest said, I'd love to have you.
SPEAKER_09: He will give us a tour of the church, explain what they do with the architecture, and well, you'll see some different things in there that support practices.
SPEAKER_09: So I hope you'll make time.
SPEAKER_09: If you have any interest in learning more about Coptic practices of Christianity, this is your time.
SPEAKER_09: We'll meet over there from 6 to 7.
SPEAKER_09: I can't record it.
SPEAKER_09: I hope you understand why.
SPEAKER_09: So this is live in person, and I do hope we'll go back next year.
SPEAKER_09: But February 1.
SPEAKER_09: And then I also want you to set your calendar for February 9th.
SPEAKER_09: That's the following Thursday, uh, in which we'll go to the Clear Lake Islamic Center.
SPEAKER_09: And uh, I just want you to know it's really amazing to do this.
SPEAKER_09: Um, I was talking to one of the three Imams that leads prayer at the Islamic Center, and of course they were very happy to host us.
SPEAKER_09: And he said, look, we want you to come from five to seven, not six to seven, five to seven, for two reasons.
SPEAKER_09: We want to feed you.
SPEAKER_09: So we want to introduce you to cultural food.
SPEAKER_09: Now, don't plan on dinner, but plan on some light bites that they're gonna, and they insisted we do this.
SPEAKER_09: They insisted because this is part of hospitality.
SPEAKER_09: And they'll uh there will be an evening prayer that begins during our time on the tail end that we'll get to observe what evening prayer looks like, and they know we're coming, and they're excited we're coming, and they're not shy about doing what they do in front of us in our presence.
SPEAKER_09: So this is a lovely opportunity, and you'll hear me say this next week too, that on February the 5th, the Sunday prior, we'll have a meeting in Christ Hall where I introduce you to the basics of Islam.
SPEAKER_09: You may not know them, so that you can come with a little more information and ask questions about Islamic practice theology, belief.
SPEAKER_09: Right?
SPEAKER_09: So, this is my opinion, really lovely that people are opening their sacred spaces to us because they want us to understand and appreciate their practices.
SPEAKER_09: So, if that appeals to you, I hope you'll take advantage of it.
SPEAKER_09: I think that's it for the day.
SPEAKER_09: Continue to walk in love.
SPEAKER_09: No, I need to tell you this story.
SPEAKER_09: I do, I need to tell you this story.
SPEAKER_09: I've got to.
SPEAKER_09: Um, you never know what's going to come out of a premarital counseling meeting.
SPEAKER_09: You never know.
SPEAKER_09: We require premarital counseling to get married in the church.
SPEAKER_09: Our bishop requires us to require it.
SPEAKER_09: And Jim and I were doing our first meeting with a couple this week.
SPEAKER_09: I already said this at the organ meeting, but it bears repeating.
SPEAKER_09: Jim asked this question to one of the couple and said, Hey, when you say I love you, what does that mean to you?
SPEAKER_09: I love you.
SPEAKER_09: And the person said.
SPEAKER_09: I mean, really, it just means thank you.
SPEAKER_09: Thank you for being who you are.
SPEAKER_09: Thank you for being willing to share yourself with me.
SPEAKER_09: Thank you for making room for me.
SPEAKER_09: I've never heard somebody say that.
SPEAKER_09: I wanted to pass it on because I found it exceptionally beautiful.
SPEAKER_09: I love you means thank you.
SPEAKER_09: Now walk in love.
SPEAKER_09: Thank you, God.
SPEAKER_09: As Christ first loved us and gave himself for us, an offering and sacrifice to God.
SPEAKER_06: Down from the regions of glory, he's there, sharp nature, all for his heart, the bright angels of the brightest tempest of the souls of the morning, dawn of the darkness and peace, and screen of the screen, some day, something else.
SPEAKER_09: If you find yourself wondering why we're talking about a pie fork, then consider what difference an instrument makes.
SPEAKER_09: Right?
SPEAKER_09: That's why we're having that conversation.
SPEAKER_09: This is the table, not of the church, but of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_09: It is made ready for those who love him and those who want to love him more, so come.
SPEAKER_09: You who have much faith and you who have little, you who have been here often and you who have not been for a long time or ever before.
SPEAKER_09: You who have tried to follow and you who have failed, come.
SPEAKER_09: Not because the church invites you, it is Christ, and he invites you to meet him here.
SPEAKER_04: And I am also with you.
SPEAKER_04: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
SPEAKER_04: It is right to give God thanks to grace.
SPEAKER_09: It is right and a good and a joyful thing, always and everywhere to give thanks to you, Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
SPEAKER_09: Because in the mystery of the word made flesh, you have caused a new light to shine in our hearts, to give a knowledge of your glory in the face of your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, and therefore we praise you, joining our voices with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven who forever sing this hymn to proclaim the glory of your name.
SPEAKER_09: And when we've fallen into sin and become subject to evil and death, you in your mercy sent Jesus Christ, your only and eternal Son, to share our human nature, to live and die as one of us, to reconcile us to you, the God and Father of all.
SPEAKER_09: He stretched out his arms upon the cross and offered himself in obedience to your will, a perfect sacrifice for the whole world.
SPEAKER_09: On the night he was handed over to suffering and death, our Lord Jesus Christ took bread.
SPEAKER_09: And when he given thanks to you, he broke it and gave it to his disciples and said, Take, eat.
SPEAKER_09: This is my body which is given for you.
SPEAKER_09: Do this for the remembrance of me.
SPEAKER_09: After supper, Jesus took the cup of wine.
SPEAKER_09: And when he'd given thanks, he gave it to them and said, Drink this, all of you.
SPEAKER_09: This is my blood of the new covenant which is shed for you and for all for the forgiveness of sin.
SPEAKER_09: Whenever you drink it, do this for the remembrance of me.
SPEAKER_09: Therefore, we proclaim the mystery of faith.
SPEAKER_05: Christ has died.
SPEAKER_05: Christ is risen.
SPEAKER_05: Christ will come again.
SPEAKER_09: We celebrate the memorial of our redemption, O Father, in this sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving.
SPEAKER_09: Recalling his death, resurrection, and ascension, we offer to you these gifts.
SPEAKER_09: Sanctify them by your Holy Spirit to be for your people, the body and blood of your Son, the holy food and drink of new and unending life in Him.
SPEAKER_09: Sanctify us also, that we may faithfully receive this holy sacrament and serve you in unity, in constancy, and peace.
SPEAKER_09: And at the last day, bring us with all your saints into the joy of your eternal kingdom.
SPEAKER_09: All this we ask through your Son Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_09: By Him and with Him and in Him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all honor and glory are yours, Almighty Father, now and forever.
SPEAKER_09: Amen.
SPEAKER_09: And now, as our Savior Christ has taught us, we are bold to pray.
SPEAKER_05: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
SPEAKER_05: Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
SPEAKER_05: Give us our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.
SPEAKER_05: And lead us not into deliver us from evil.
SPEAKER_05: For thy kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever.
SPEAKER_05: Amen.
SPEAKER_09: Hallelujah.
SPEAKER_09: Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.
SPEAKER_05: Therefore, let us keep the feast.
SPEAKER_05: Hallelujah.
SPEAKER_09: These are the gifts of God for you, the family of God.
SPEAKER_09: Family of God, behold who you are, and become the gift you receive.
SPEAKER_09: And reminder that if you'd like to receive by dipping, you'll come to the rail that is to your left, my right.
SPEAKER_09: If you'd like to receive by drinking from the chalice, you'll come to the rail that is to my left, your right.
SPEAKER_09: And you can skip either element and still receive a fullness of grace by crossing your arms and receiving a blessing.
SPEAKER_09: Let's pray together.
SPEAKER_09: Loving God, we give you thanks for restoring us in your image and nourishing us with spiritual food in the sacrament of the sacrament of Christ, body and blood.
SPEAKER_05: Now send us for the people forgiven renewed.
SPEAKER_05: That we may proclaim your love to work and continue in the risen life of Christ our Savior.
SPEAKER_05: Amen.
SPEAKER_09: Sometimes we have to dare to be fools for Christ.
SPEAKER_09: Well, that means that sometimes we have to be willing to give food to people who don't really need or deserve it.
SPEAKER_09: Sometimes we have to be willing to work with some people who might even exploit us.
SPEAKER_09: Maybe this is as close as we can come to an experience of self-emptying.
SPEAKER_09: It is the experience of being useless in the presence of the Lord.
SPEAKER_09: The blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit be with you this day and remain with you always.
SPEAKER_09: Amen.