WEBVTT 00:00:00.239 --> 00:00:03.839 Blessed be God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 00:00:08.080 --> 00:00:09.359 Let's pray together. 00:00:09.679 --> 00:00:17.039 Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid. 00:00:17.280 --> 00:00:28.879 Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you and worthily magnify your holy name through Christ our Lord. 00:00:29.199 --> 00:00:29.839 Amen. 00:00:30.160 --> 00:00:31.199 The Lord be with you. 00:00:32.479 --> 00:00:33.920 Let us pray. 00:00:37.520 --> 00:00:55.039 Give us grace, O Lord, to answer readily the call of our Savior Jesus Christ, and proclaim to all people the good news of His salvation, that we and 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. 00:00:55.439 --> 00:00:56.079 Amen. 00:01:18.319 --> 00:01:28.159 The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, saying, Get up, go to Neve, that great city, and proclaim it by the message that I tell you. 00:01:28.719 --> 00:01:32.799 So Jonah set out and went to Neveh, according to the word of the Lord. 00:01:33.040 --> 00:01:38.239 Now Nebh was a large and exceedingly large city, a three days' walk across. 00:01:38.719 --> 00:01:46.959 Jonah began to go into the city by doing a day's walk, and he cried out, Forty days more, and Nineveh will be overthrown. 00:01:47.359 --> 00:01:49.359 And the people of Nineveh believed God. 00:01:49.840 --> 00:01:54.480 They proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth. 00:01:55.359 --> 00:02:04.159 When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity, and he said to them he would bring upon them. 00:02:04.319 --> 00:02:05.760 And he did not do so. 00:02:36.800 --> 00:02:39.680 God alone is my rock and my salvation. 00:02:43.199 --> 00:02:45.840 And God is my safety and my honor. 00:02:49.039 --> 00:02:51.759 Put your trust in God always, O people. 00:02:56.639 --> 00:02:59.599 Those of high degree but are fleeting breath. 00:03:03.360 --> 00:03:06.159 On the scales they are lighter than a breath. 00:03:08.080 --> 00:03:13.280 Put no trust in extortation, in robbery, take no empty pride. 00:03:17.280 --> 00:03:20.719 God has spoken once, and twice have I heard it. 00:04:02.639 --> 00:04:25.920 From now on, let even those who have wives be as though they had none, and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no possessions, and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. 00:04:26.240 --> 00:04:30.560 For the present form of this world is passing away. 00:04:31.040 --> 00:04:34.560 Hear what the Spirit is saying to God's people. 00:04:53.519 --> 00:04:55.519 Glory to you, Lord Christ. 00:04:55.759 --> 00:05:04.879 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near. 00:05:05.120 --> 00:05:07.920 Repent and believe in the good news. 00:05:08.240 --> 00:05:15.839 As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 00:05:16.079 --> 00:05:20.319 And Jesus said to them, Follow me, and I will make you fish for people. 00:05:20.720 --> 00:05:23.519 And immediately they left their nets and followed him. 00:05:23.680 --> 00:05:29.920 As he went a little farther, he saw James, son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. 00:05:30.160 --> 00:05:36.399 Immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him. 00:05:37.519 --> 00:05:39.040 The Gospel of the Lord. 00:05:44.319 --> 00:05:45.600 Please be seated. 00:05:50.800 --> 00:05:55.439 So I grew up going to VBS, and we had this song, I Will Make You Fishers of Men. 00:05:55.600 --> 00:05:57.839 I'm not going to sing it for you because we're not allowed to sing in church. 00:05:58.079 --> 00:05:59.120 I bet you're glad for that. 00:05:59.680 --> 00:06:10.879 But we always had this image of going out and fishing for people, and I've heard various slogans along the way, which is sort of like, look, you catch them, God'll clean them. 00:06:11.439 --> 00:06:19.360 Or we had these images of us being like good converted folks, throwing out our hooks to kind of snag people from the world. 00:06:19.439 --> 00:06:22.319 And sure enough, I've mentioned this before. 00:06:22.480 --> 00:06:38.480 In my high school days, I used to go to laundry mats because people can't leave their clothes and try to get them to convert to my church's views about God in heaven, mostly again, because they were stuck in this little eddy and there was nowhere to go. 00:06:38.560 --> 00:06:41.600 And you kind of had to be polite because you were in a public place. 00:06:42.560 --> 00:06:45.519 That was how I spent my leisure time in high school. 00:06:45.680 --> 00:06:52.160 And I've got to tell you, I'm not convinced that's really a great read of what's happening here. 00:06:52.319 --> 00:07:00.000 And the tie-in I've got today with Jonah has to do, uh, quite honestly, with mixing metaphors and hooks. 00:07:00.160 --> 00:07:09.759 So the interesting thing, right, is that at what point as a fisher person do you go from becoming a fish to a person? 00:07:11.439 --> 00:07:13.839 I don't see the imagery in the story, right? 00:07:13.920 --> 00:07:15.839 Like when do you make that conversion? 00:07:16.000 --> 00:07:25.839 So is it that you're a fish in the water until you believe some sort of proposition, and then you radically transform and become a human being? 00:07:26.000 --> 00:07:29.519 The other thing that is really tough, I have to tell you, has to do with hooks. 00:07:29.600 --> 00:07:34.480 And I don't know if any of you have ever had a hook get stuck in your clothing. 00:07:35.279 --> 00:07:43.759 Umce in my life have I had that happen, and it was about a month ago, and it had to do with my daughter not hooking the hook to the pole. 00:07:44.560 --> 00:07:48.319 So I got a hook stuck in, I think, a pillowcase. 00:07:49.199 --> 00:07:51.680 You ever tried to get a hook out of clothes? 00:07:52.079 --> 00:07:53.279 It's really dreadful. 00:07:53.519 --> 00:08:00.639 In fact, um, my solution was I was either pull and rip the clothes, right, or cut the hook. 00:08:00.879 --> 00:08:08.079 That seemed to be the only way to get it out without ripping completely uh the garment. 00:08:08.720 --> 00:08:23.360 Uh this, I don't want to be like graphically terrible, but you know, this book in Jonah we get to read about, there's a group of people called the Assyrians, and they come down and they invade Israel and they take people off, hostages, into captivity. 00:08:23.839 --> 00:08:34.480 The way they take them into captivity is not with handcuffs, they take them into captivity with fish hooks, so that the people won't run away. 00:08:34.879 --> 00:08:41.519 Historically, the evidence is that they put the hooks in people's noses, and that's enough to take them where they want them to go. 00:08:41.919 --> 00:08:43.759 Because you can't cut the hook, you see. 00:08:44.080 --> 00:08:46.639 You're on the hook, literally. 00:08:46.799 --> 00:08:49.600 For this reason, Jonah hates the Assyrian people. 00:08:49.919 --> 00:08:58.960 Because the Assyrians led literally, members of his family, from Jerusalem all the way up to modern day Iraq. 00:08:59.200 --> 00:09:05.279 That's a journey of about 1,400 miles, and they did it with fish hooks. 00:09:06.240 --> 00:09:07.519 God comes to Jonah. 00:09:07.600 --> 00:09:15.200 You probably know this story, it really shows up a lot in Sunday school when you're young, especially where Jonah gets swallowed by this really big fish. 00:09:15.440 --> 00:09:27.120 God shows up to Jonah and says, I want you to go to that place where they physically led away people you care about, and I want you to tell them to change their ways. 00:09:27.840 --> 00:09:30.000 This story isn't really that cute, it turns out. 00:09:30.159 --> 00:09:31.279 Jonah says no. 00:09:31.600 --> 00:09:32.720 He runs away. 00:09:32.879 --> 00:09:35.600 So he's supposed to go east and he goes west. 00:09:35.840 --> 00:09:46.720 And then the sea gets so violent that professional sailors, not really known for their kind manners and piety, are crying and sobbing while Jonah sleeps in the boat. 00:09:46.879 --> 00:09:50.399 They throw him in the boat, the fish swallows him, right? 00:09:51.039 --> 00:09:56.000 The fish vomits him after he prays, and now he's called again today in this story. 00:09:56.240 --> 00:10:00.000 Go to Nineveh, the great city, and call against them. 00:10:00.879 --> 00:10:02.080 So Jonah goes. 00:10:02.159 --> 00:10:07.840 And all he does for three days is says, In 40 days, you're gonna get what you deserve. 00:10:08.879 --> 00:10:12.320 He doesn't say anything about repent or there's hope for you. 00:10:12.480 --> 00:10:15.440 He says, you are gonna get what you deserve. 00:10:16.960 --> 00:10:19.919 The people listen and take him seriously, and what do you know? 00:10:20.000 --> 00:10:20.559 They repent. 00:10:20.639 --> 00:10:22.240 In fact, we're missing some of the verses. 00:10:22.399 --> 00:10:27.279 They put on sackcloth and ashes, and they even put sackcloth and ashes on their animals. 00:10:27.519 --> 00:10:31.440 I mean, it's almost like a caricature of like over-repenting. 00:10:31.679 --> 00:10:42.480 The last verse of Jonah is really quite interesting because in Hebrew it says, God repented about the evil God spoke to do against the people of Nineveh and did not do it. 00:10:42.879 --> 00:10:51.200 God repented, it doesn't say changed mind, repented, about the evil God spoke to do and didn't do it. 00:10:51.440 --> 00:10:55.200 And what we miss is that in the next chapter, Jonah is really mad. 00:10:56.240 --> 00:10:57.519 Like really mad. 00:10:57.679 --> 00:10:59.840 He says, I wish I were dead. 00:11:00.080 --> 00:11:12.399 I would rather die than see you, God, pardon people who have committed this egregious crime against my family members. 00:11:14.080 --> 00:11:21.279 I would rather die being right than see people have life. 00:11:22.879 --> 00:11:40.000 It's an interesting story because, you know, sometimes in our lives we find ourselves feeling like we're in the morally superior place to other people, politically, economically, within family dealings. 00:11:40.320 --> 00:11:41.919 This story is for you. 00:11:42.799 --> 00:11:50.159 The story is uh great because it takes Jonah's anger really, really seriously. 00:11:50.799 --> 00:11:53.919 He's too angry, he could die. 00:11:56.480 --> 00:12:01.519 And he really wants to see people get what they deserve. 00:12:02.720 --> 00:12:11.039 And the interesting thing about the reading, and Jonah, anyway, is that according to Jonah, what people deserve is the opportunity to repent. 00:12:12.559 --> 00:12:22.000 Now, I wonder if you could fast forward that to the kind of fishers for people Jesus is calling the disciples to be, not people who fish with hooks. 00:12:22.080 --> 00:12:26.080 And let's be honest, many of us are familiar with people who fish with hooks. 00:12:26.320 --> 00:12:32.000 When I was in high school, we could go to like a youth rally where there would be a pizza dinner. 00:12:32.159 --> 00:12:33.840 For some reason, this was enough back then. 00:12:33.919 --> 00:12:34.799 I don't know if it is now. 00:12:34.960 --> 00:12:38.799 We'd go to this rally, and if you ate the pizza, you were going to church. 00:12:38.960 --> 00:12:41.039 In fact, there were adults who said that. 00:12:41.840 --> 00:12:47.919 Maybe you've heard of ministries that say we will feed homeless people after they go to our church. 00:12:48.240 --> 00:12:52.399 And if they don't go to church, they're not getting our food. 00:12:55.120 --> 00:12:56.639 You haven't heard of this before? 00:12:56.879 --> 00:12:57.679 I'm grateful. 00:12:57.759 --> 00:13:01.840 I'm not going to name the organization that does this as part of their policy. 00:13:02.000 --> 00:13:02.960 It's huge. 00:13:03.120 --> 00:13:05.440 And they ring bells at Christmas. 00:13:06.559 --> 00:13:08.799 This is setting the hook. 00:13:08.960 --> 00:13:09.440 It is. 00:13:09.519 --> 00:13:11.039 It's setting the hook. 00:13:11.440 --> 00:13:14.240 I'm not going to say that they don't do good work. 00:13:14.320 --> 00:13:16.799 I'm going to say it's setting a hook. 00:13:17.120 --> 00:13:17.759 Right? 00:13:18.080 --> 00:13:22.720 Notice, at least in the story, the disciples don't fish with hooks. 00:13:22.960 --> 00:13:24.480 They fish with nets. 00:13:24.720 --> 00:13:29.279 Now, that may sound strange because again, you're trying to catch things against their will. 00:13:29.440 --> 00:13:45.759 But I do want you to know that the kind of nets, actually, Andy Doyle, our bishop, has done a little bit of work on this, the kind of nets that they cast are the kind of nets that drag even like the boots and the tires up off the bottom. 00:13:46.720 --> 00:13:56.080 So when Jesus tells the disciples he'll make them fishers of people, you need to know how low Jesus' standards are. 00:13:57.039 --> 00:14:04.639 They're going to cast nets that pick up the junk off the bottom because God's interested in the junk. 00:14:05.440 --> 00:14:08.320 It's a really interesting frame, isn't it? 00:14:08.639 --> 00:14:10.639 God's interested in the gar. 00:14:10.879 --> 00:14:15.440 You know, when I was a kid and I went fishing with my grandpa, the last thing you wanted on the hook was the gar. 00:14:16.559 --> 00:14:18.240 Does anybody know why? 00:14:19.519 --> 00:14:21.279 They have teeth, right? 00:14:21.440 --> 00:14:25.519 And when you try to get them off the hook, that's a little bit of nefarious business, right? 00:14:25.600 --> 00:14:27.519 Because you don't want a gar biting you. 00:14:27.840 --> 00:14:31.919 Jesus is interested in the gar grabbed. 00:14:33.039 --> 00:14:35.679 Now that's still mixing metaphors a little bit, right? 00:14:35.759 --> 00:14:39.440 Because again, how do you become a person throwing a net when you used to be a fish? 00:14:39.600 --> 00:14:44.960 And I wouldn't suggest to you, actually, I think Jesus is asking us to really consider the whole frame differently. 00:14:45.200 --> 00:14:50.399 The way we fish for people is not with hooks or even with nets. 00:14:50.639 --> 00:14:52.480 At the end of the day, we're all fish. 00:14:52.639 --> 00:14:56.080 The way we fish for people is by the way we swim. 00:14:57.440 --> 00:15:03.840 Now, if you know anything about schools of fish, they provide some really interesting advantages to fish, right? 00:15:03.919 --> 00:15:07.120 So communities really do a lot, even in the natural world. 00:15:07.200 --> 00:15:11.279 Like you can watch a school of fish, and they all move in synchronicity, right? 00:15:11.360 --> 00:15:18.399 They're all different, but they move in synchronicity, and that gives them things like the ability to look much bigger than they are. 00:15:18.960 --> 00:15:27.039 Sometimes when a fish gets big enough, it can actually resist the currents of the water. 00:15:28.159 --> 00:15:34.080 Being in the middle of a school of fish is really, really hydrodynamic. 00:15:34.240 --> 00:15:37.600 That is to say, you can go to the middle and you can draft. 00:15:38.480 --> 00:15:42.559 The people on the outside are the ones moving the water, and you get to rest. 00:15:42.639 --> 00:15:47.679 And you know what fish do is they actually change position within the school. 00:15:47.919 --> 00:15:48.559 Right? 00:15:49.840 --> 00:16:04.240 And of course, predators get scared because when the school moves in synchronicity, it doesn't look like a bunch of little fish, it looks like a giant thing. 00:16:04.720 --> 00:16:05.360 Right? 00:16:07.519 --> 00:16:14.320 So I want to suggest to you that I think Jesus is inviting us to swim in schools of fish. 00:16:15.120 --> 00:16:18.320 And I've got to tell you, this I didn't seem to understand in high school. 00:16:18.399 --> 00:16:19.279 I don't know why. 00:16:19.519 --> 00:16:22.080 Um it didn't occur to me. 00:16:22.480 --> 00:16:28.799 But if there's really nothing life-giving about the school you're swimming in, why would you think anybody would want to join it? 00:16:29.039 --> 00:16:38.080 The school I was swimming in is I have an intellectual proposition, and I really want you to have it so I'll feel better about myself. 00:16:38.320 --> 00:16:39.600 That's not very attractive. 00:16:39.679 --> 00:16:42.080 I just I have to be honest, right? 00:16:42.799 --> 00:16:50.000 And I wasn't really interested in the boots and the old toilet seats at the bottom of the lake. 00:16:50.559 --> 00:17:02.320 I was really interested in the people that might make me feel better about myself instead of the people who had never found themselves in a school ever in their lives. 00:17:03.200 --> 00:17:05.440 I had a really good friend, and he did this. 00:17:05.599 --> 00:17:16.079 He said, Yeah, when I was in high school, my dad taught me, and I always loved doing this, I would go to a party and I would look for the person who was sitting by themselves, and that was the person I sat by. 00:17:16.480 --> 00:17:18.960 Because they were always really fun when you did that. 00:17:19.119 --> 00:17:20.720 It was really interesting advice. 00:17:20.880 --> 00:17:22.160 I was not that person. 00:17:24.559 --> 00:17:32.400 But I want to suggest to you maybe that's the kind of fishing Jesus has in mind. 00:17:33.279 --> 00:17:40.160 And maybe the net is not something that's meant to physically catch us and bring us in against our will. 00:17:40.319 --> 00:17:44.480 The net is this connection that God has hardwired into the universe. 00:17:44.640 --> 00:17:49.440 Maybe you call it energy or maybe you call it light, but I think even better you call it grace. 00:17:49.759 --> 00:18:02.319 And the question is whether or not we swim gracefully and graciously, or forgive me for saying this, we swim judgmentally and competitively. 00:18:06.640 --> 00:18:10.400 Again, we had a relatively calm week nationally. 00:18:10.480 --> 00:18:12.160 I'm really grateful for that. 00:18:12.400 --> 00:18:16.240 But I don't think that that's done even at the national level. 00:18:16.400 --> 00:18:28.000 The Jonah story, I think, is as much about divided American politics as it is about Russia and the United States, or Iran and the United States. 00:18:28.240 --> 00:18:30.000 I'm not a policy whiz. 00:18:30.240 --> 00:18:30.720 I'm not. 00:18:30.880 --> 00:18:38.799 But I do think the Jonah story asks, who do you dislike so much that you don't want God to give them a second chance? 00:18:39.039 --> 00:18:43.519 And you may say there's nobody like that, and then I can ask you the same question. 00:18:43.839 --> 00:18:52.160 But who do you dislike so much that you don't even want God to give them a second chance in this life? 00:18:54.079 --> 00:18:55.359 It's a good meditation. 00:18:57.039 --> 00:18:58.559 Would you be willing? 00:18:59.680 --> 00:19:08.559 Would you be willing to swim in a net of grace for those people? 00:19:14.799 --> 00:19:20.400 Those are the questions I think that we're being called to ponder this week. 00:19:20.480 --> 00:19:26.079 And if you think about those kinds of questions, you start to understand, I think, what Paul is trying to say. 00:19:26.240 --> 00:19:30.240 If you take Paul literally, I think you're not taking him seriously. 00:19:30.480 --> 00:19:36.480 He's not saying, look, marriage is over and give away all your money and just do something really strange. 00:19:36.640 --> 00:19:43.359 I think he's trying to say, look, we're invited to live a life we've never experienced before. 00:19:43.920 --> 00:19:56.160 We're invited to do something new because God is in fact doing something new and would like us to join God in doing something new because God believes it will be more enjoyable. 00:19:57.759 --> 00:20:01.839 So Paul is saying, don't do it the same way. 00:20:02.079 --> 00:20:03.279 Do something different. 00:20:03.440 --> 00:20:08.960 Don't stand on the shore casting hooks, don't get in the boat throwing nets, get in the water and swim. 00:20:09.759 --> 00:20:11.920 I think that's the invitation that we get. 00:20:12.000 --> 00:20:18.480 And at the end of the day, Jesus uses this really scary word, or at least Mark does, to describe what all this is about. 00:20:18.720 --> 00:20:20.480 The word is good news. 00:20:20.640 --> 00:20:23.440 Now that might not scare you, except that's the word. 00:20:24.880 --> 00:20:29.839 That's the word from which we get evangelize. 00:20:31.279 --> 00:20:33.039 It's a scary word because you know what? 00:20:33.119 --> 00:20:35.759 I've had people come to my door and try to evangelize me. 00:20:35.920 --> 00:20:39.920 I've even said, look, I'm a priest, and they didn't even slow down. 00:20:40.079 --> 00:20:43.759 In fact, they got really excited because they were going to convert the priest. 00:20:45.680 --> 00:20:52.160 There's a reason we don't like that word, but please consider the word is, it means good news. 00:20:52.559 --> 00:20:59.279 It doesn't mixed news, it doesn't mean news, it means good news. 00:20:59.680 --> 00:21:09.119 Good news is the boots matter and the toilet seats matter and the gar matter and even the clownfish, they all matter to God. 00:21:09.440 --> 00:21:10.319 They're important. 00:21:11.119 --> 00:21:19.599 And the things we would love to swim by or the things we would like to discard can be the very things, frankly, that when folded into the school, give us rest. 00:21:22.160 --> 00:21:30.319 And if we do this well enough, we have a chance not just to swim in a school and get some rest and help other people on their way. 00:21:30.480 --> 00:21:32.559 This is, I think, the important image. 00:21:33.200 --> 00:21:37.359 A big enough school of fish can change the currents of the water. 00:21:38.240 --> 00:21:44.559 And there are some currents in the water that could sure use changing. 00:21:44.880 --> 00:21:52.319 I don't even care what your politics are, as in what side you're on, there's some currents in the water that need changing. 00:21:53.039 --> 00:21:58.400 And that is the kind of invitation that Jesus lays out for us today. 00:21:59.359 --> 00:21:59.599 So 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:09.440 Invite you to try and join the disciples, even if in a small way, and fishing for people. 00:22:16.559 --> 00:22:20.559 Please join me as we pray our faith in the words of the Nicene Creed. 00:22:21.279 --> 00:22:29.279 We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all ideas seen and unseen. 00:22:29.839 --> 00:22:40.960 We believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Himself, eternally God of the Father, God from God, life and light, true God and true God. 00:22:48.240 --> 00:22:50.960 Our salvation became heavy and heaven. 00:22:51.359 --> 00:23:00.640 By the power of the Holy Spirit, he became until our Savior was crucified and righteous. 00:23:01.359 --> 00:23:03.119 The second death was buried. 00:23:03.519 --> 00:23:07.519 On the third day he rose again in accordance to the scriptures. 00:23:07.839 --> 00:23:09.039 He is the man. 00:23:12.160 --> 00:23:20.160 He will not be anymore to just be in the Holy Spirit. 00:24:02.400 --> 00:24:05.680 Father, we pray for your Holy Catholic Church. 00:24:07.920 --> 00:24:11.359 Grant that every member of the Church may truly and humbly serve you. 00:24:15.039 --> 00:24:22.960 We pray for Michael, our presiding bishop, for Andy, Hector, Jeff, and Kay, our bishops. 00:24:23.200 --> 00:24:30.480 In the Diocesan Circle of Prayer, San Francisco de Assist Austin, Soko Austin, St. 00:24:30.559 --> 00:24:33.279 Albans Manchaca Austen, and St. 00:24:33.359 --> 00:24:34.720 Christopher's Austin. 00:24:35.200 --> 00:24:45.680 For Justin, Archbishop of Canterbury, for the priests in our community, Mike, Craig, Bill, and Lillian, and for all bishops, priests, and deacons. 00:24:50.480 --> 00:25:06.319 We pray for all who govern and hold authority in the nations of the world, for all the members of the armed forces, and for all who struggle for peace and justice, that they may act with prudence, prudence, and vision to plant the seeds of your kingdom everywhere. 00:25:09.839 --> 00:25:12.160 We pray for our parish and our vestry. 00:25:16.880 --> 00:25:17.680 We pray for St. 00:25:17.759 --> 00:25:21.599 Thomas the Apostle School for those who teach and those who learn. 00:25:26.400 --> 00:25:30.079 Give us grace to do your will in all that we undertake. 00:25:33.599 --> 00:25:37.680 Have compassion on those who suffer from any grief or trouble. 00:25:40.640 --> 00:25:43.359 Give to the departed eternal rest. 00:25:46.640 --> 00:25:47.839 We praise you for St. 00:25:47.920 --> 00:25:51.359 Thomas the Apostle and your saints who have entered into joy. 00:25:55.920 --> 00:26:21.440 Let us give thanks for our blessings and pray for our own needs and those of others, especially Chris, Jerry, Sean, Jerome, Susie, Joe, Nancy, Helen, Renee, Mark, Janice, Rudy, and those the congregation wishes to name at this time, silently or aloud. 00:26:24.559 --> 00:26:30.000 Almighty God, by your Holy Spirit, you have made us one with your saints in heaven and on earth. 00:26:30.319 --> 00:26:40.880 Grant that in our earthly pilgrimage we may always be supported by this fellowship of love and prayer, and know ourselves to be surrounded by their witnesses to your power and mercy. 00:26:41.200 --> 00:26:50.400 We ask this for the sake of Jesus Christ, in whom all our intercessions are acceptable through the Spirit, and who lives on and reigns for ever and ever. 00:26:50.799 --> 00:26:51.440 Amen. 00:26:51.920 --> 00:26:54.559 Let us confess our sin unto Almighty God. 00:26:57.680 --> 00:27:08.319 We acknowledge that we have not always used our gifts, talents, and God-given personalities in the service of creation, our neighbors, and ourselves. 00:27:08.559 --> 00:27:12.640 We seek change of heart toward a reflection of steadfast love. 00:27:13.039 --> 00:27:19.119 May we forgive and be forgiven, resuming our journey through life with renewed intention. 00:27:19.599 --> 00:27:20.240 Amen. 00:27:20.720 --> 00:27:22.160 God forgive you. 00:27:22.480 --> 00:27:23.920 Forgive all others. 00:27:24.160 --> 00:27:25.519 Forgive yourself. 00:27:26.240 --> 00:27:26.880 Amen. 00:27:49.279 --> 00:27:51.759 Just a few announcements I want to call to your attention. 00:27:52.160 --> 00:27:57.279 One is we have just received this volume, we've been working on it for a while with your help. 00:27:57.680 --> 00:28:02.960 Our 55 years in ministry and mission, they're available up at the front counter. 00:28:03.200 --> 00:28:06.559 We just ask for$10 to pay for the book itself. 00:28:06.880 --> 00:28:15.599 But it really is a fabulous way to hear about where we've been over the last 55 years and stories about how it is that things came to be the way they are. 00:28:15.759 --> 00:28:18.480 In the sanctuary, the hallway itself. 00:28:19.279 --> 00:28:26.480 There's a lot of wisdom in here and a lot of ministry, I think, in the church that maybe you didn't know about, no matter how long you've been here. 00:28:26.640 --> 00:28:28.319 So I commend these to you. 00:28:29.200 --> 00:28:32.240 Also, I want to mention that next week we've got two opportunities. 00:28:32.960 --> 00:28:37.279 Next week is on Saturday morning at 7.45. 00:28:37.359 --> 00:28:40.000 We'll be doing our mobile fresh food distribution. 00:28:40.160 --> 00:28:45.039 So you show up at 7.45, we're done 10 o'clock shortly thereafter. 00:28:45.200 --> 00:29:10.160 We'll serve a hundred people in the parking lot, something like ten to twenty thousand dollars worth of food that we don't pay for, and that they don't pay for, uh, so that we can be supportive, and it's incredible that something quarter of cars live in Nassau Bay, and that something like a fifth to a quarter of the cars are grants. 00:29:12.160 --> 00:29:17.599 This is a vital life-sustaining ministry that we're offering, uh, and it's actually the next two weekends. 00:29:17.759 --> 00:29:26.799 Normally we do it the first Saturday of the month, uh, but they were closed for the new year, so we're doing the last Saturday in January and the first in February. 00:29:26.960 --> 00:29:30.799 Um, next Sunday morning is the parish annual meeting. 00:29:30.960 --> 00:29:35.519 It starts at 9, so you can expect a shorter sermon. 00:29:37.200 --> 00:29:45.440 And uh we're gonna do this on Zoom, and we're on three things our our new vestry, our annual budget, and our representative council. 00:29:45.680 --> 00:29:50.160 So um expect those things to be next week, and I implore you, please do visit the annual meeting. 00:29:50.240 --> 00:30:03.359 It's an opportunity not only to do the parish of voting, but also to hear where we're hoping to go this year, quite honestly, and a little bit more uh details about sort of the state of the union, if that makes sense. 00:30:03.599 --> 00:30:14.079 Um as Christ first loved us and gave himself for us, an offering and sacrifice to God. 00:31:02.160 --> 00:31:04.640 This is the table not of the church, but of God. 00:31:04.960 --> 00:31:09.680 It is ready for those who seek relationship with God, so come and make this journey. 00:31:09.920 --> 00:31:17.920 You who have much faith have little, you who have been here often, and you who have not been in a long time or ever before. 00:31:18.240 --> 00:31:24.400 You who have tried to follow, and you who have lost your way, come and make this journey not because I invite you. 00:31:24.720 --> 00:31:25.759 God invites. 00:31:26.000 --> 00:31:28.640 It is God's desire that we gather here. 00:31:30.000 --> 00:31:31.440 The Lord be with you. 00:31:32.640 --> 00:31:34.079 Lift up your hearts. 00:31:35.599 --> 00:31:38.000 Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. 00:31:40.559 --> 00:31:49.039 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. 00:31:49.359 --> 00:31:58.640 Because in Jesus Christ our Lord, you've received us as your daughters and sons, made us citizens of your kingdom, and given us the Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth. 00:31:58.880 --> 00:32:08.400 Therefore we praise you, joining our voices with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven, who forever say this hymn to proclaim the glory of your name. 00:32:08.720 --> 00:32:15.920 Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory. 00:32:16.160 --> 00:32:17.920 Hosanna in the highest. 00:32:18.160 --> 00:32:23.200 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, Hosanna and the highest. 00:32:23.519 --> 00:32:27.599 Holy and gracious Father, in your infinite love, you made us from yourself. 00:32:27.759 --> 00:32:43.119 And when we've fallen into sin and become subjects 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. 00:32:43.359 --> 00:32:51.039 He stretched out his arms upon the cross and offered himself, in obedience to your will, a perfect sacrifice for the whole world. 00:32:51.279 --> 00:33:01.039 On the night he was handed over to suffering and death, our Lord Jesus Christ took bread, and when he given thanks to you, he broke it, gave it to his disciples, and said, Take, eat. 00:33:01.200 --> 00:33:03.519 This is my body which is given for you. 00:33:03.839 --> 00:33:06.000 Do this for the remembrance of me. 00:33:08.160 --> 00:33:15.279 After supper, Jesus took the cup of wine, and when he gave thanks, he gave it to them and said, Drink this, all of you. 00:33:15.440 --> 00:33:20.640 This is my blood of the new covenant which is shed for you and for all for the forgiveness of sins. 00:33:20.880 --> 00:33:24.559 Whenever you drink it, do this for the remembrance of me. 00:33:27.599 --> 00:33:30.559 Therefore, we proclaim the mystery of faith. 00:33:32.400 --> 00:33:33.680 Christ is risen. 00:33:35.680 --> 00:33:41.119 We celebrate the memorial of our redemption, O Father, in this sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving. 00:33:41.359 --> 00:33:45.759 Recalling his death, resurrection, and ascension, we offer to you these gifts. 00:33:46.000 --> 00:33:54.400 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. 00:33:54.720 --> 00:34:01.839 Sanctify us also that we may faithfully receive this holy sacrament and serve you in unity, constancy, and peace. 00:34:02.079 --> 00:34:06.799 And at the last day bring us with all your saints into the joy of your eternal kingdom. 00:34:07.279 --> 00:34:12.159 All this we ask through your Son, Jesus Christ, by Him and with Him and in Him. 00:34:12.320 --> 00:34:18.320 In the unity of the Holy Spirit, all honor and glory is yours, Almighty Father, now and forever. 00:34:18.639 --> 00:34:19.280 Amen. 00:34:20.079 --> 00:34:23.760 And now, as our Savior Christ has taught us, we are bold to pray. 00:34:24.079 --> 00:34:33.920 Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 00:34:34.159 --> 00:34:46.400 Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. 00:34:46.639 --> 00:34:51.760 For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. 00:34:52.159 --> 00:34:52.800 Amen. 00:34:54.159 --> 00:34:57.039 Be known to us in the breaking of the bread. 00:34:57.440 --> 00:35:02.480 We who are many are one body, for we all share in the one bread. 00:35:02.800 --> 00:35:06.800 These are the gifts of God, and we are the people of God. 00:35:06.960 --> 00:35:16.000 I invite you to come forward and receive bread or blessings by coming to the aisle immediately to your right, coming down forward and returning to your seat on the left. 00:37:23.360 --> 00:37:28.320 Before all creation, we acknowledge the mystery of this simple meal. 00:37:28.559 --> 00:37:35.599 Let it remind us of our common humanity and our commitment to love one another and all of creation. 00:37:36.000 --> 00:37:38.800 Through it may we be strengthened to service. 00:37:39.039 --> 00:37:40.960 In it may we find peace. 00:37:41.280 --> 00:37:41.920 Amen. 00:37:42.960 --> 00:37:52.079 May God bless your swim to represent grace, to build God's school on earth, and to cast the threads of grace's net ever wider. 00:37:52.639 --> 00:37:59.039 And the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be among you this day and remain with you always. 00:37:59.360 --> 00:38:00.000 Amen.