SPEAKER_03: Holy Spirit, and blessed be God's family now and forever.
SPEAKER_03: Amen.
SPEAKER_03: Let's pray together.
SPEAKER_03: Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid.
SPEAKER_03: 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.
SPEAKER_03: Amen.
SPEAKER_03: The Lord be with you.
SPEAKER_03: Let us pray.
SPEAKER_03: Grant, O merciful God, that your church, being gathered together in unity by your Holy Spirit, may show forth your power among all peoples to the glory of your name, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
SPEAKER_03: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: The daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her attendants walked beside the river.
SPEAKER_01: She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her maid to bring it.
SPEAKER_01: When she opened it, she saw the child.
SPEAKER_01: He was crying, and she took pity on him.
SPEAKER_01: This must be one of the Hebrews' children, she said.
SPEAKER_01: Then his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, Shall I go and get a nurse from the Hebrew woman to nurse the child for you?
SPEAKER_01: Pharaoh's daughter said to her, Yes.
SPEAKER_01: So the girl went and called the child's mother.
SPEAKER_01: Pharaoh's daughter said to her, Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will give you your wages.
SPEAKER_01: So the woman took the child and nursed it.
SPEAKER_01: When the child grew up, she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and she took him as her son.
SPEAKER_01: She named him Moses, because she said, I drew him out of the water.
SPEAKER_01: The word of the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: We will read responsibly by the half-verse of Psalm 124.
SPEAKER_01: If the Lord had not been on our side, if the Lord had not been on our side, then they would have swallowed us up alive.
SPEAKER_03: In their fierce anger towards us.
SPEAKER_01: Then would the waters have overwhelmed us.
SPEAKER_03: And the torrent gone over us.
SPEAKER_01: Then would the raging waters have gone right over us.
SPEAKER_01: Blessed be the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowler.
SPEAKER_01: Our help is in the name of the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: The word of the Lord.
SPEAKER_04: Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
SPEAKER_04: For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you, not to think of yourselves more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.
SPEAKER_04: For as in one body we have many members, and not all members have the same function.
SPEAKER_04: So we who are many are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another.
SPEAKER_04: We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us prophecy in proportion to faith, ministry in ministering, the teacher in teaching, the exhorter and exhortation, the giver in generosity, the leader in diligence, the compassionate in cheerfulness, the word of the Lord.
SPEAKER_03: And they said, Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.
SPEAKER_03: Jesus said to them, But who do you say that I am?
SPEAKER_03: Simon Peter answered, Well, you are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.
SPEAKER_03: And Jesus answered him, Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven.
SPEAKER_03: And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.
SPEAKER_03: I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
SPEAKER_03: And then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.
SPEAKER_03: The gospel of the Lord.
SPEAKER_03: Please be seated.
SPEAKER_03: There's a couple of ways I think we can hear this gospel story today, and one of the most traditional ones is this this is establishing what's called the primacy of Peter.
SPEAKER_03: So if you know your church history, this is the incident in which Peter says the right thing, and as a result, is going to end up becoming the first bishop, the bishop of Rome, and exerting power all the way throughout.
SPEAKER_03: So in that way it's it's descriptive, probably not much life application for you, but it describes something that's happened.
SPEAKER_03: He gets the keys to the kingdom of heaven.
SPEAKER_03: And in imagination, what that means is that heaven is a city you go to after you die, and it's surrounded with a barbed wire fence to get people out, and it has a gate.
SPEAKER_03: And Peter has the keys to the gate.
SPEAKER_03: And if you're good enough, Peter will let you in, but if not, you're locked out of heaven.
SPEAKER_03: Right?
SPEAKER_03: And you've seen this in Renaissance art.
SPEAKER_03: Peter's got the keys, that's the symbol of the papal flag.
SPEAKER_03: Supposedly the Pope, the Bishop of Rome's successor, has the keys to heaven and hell, can excommunicate you on earth and keep you out.
SPEAKER_03: This is all very strong kingdom language.
SPEAKER_03: And I want to suggest it results in a practice that I have complained to you about before, which is people coming to my house trying to convert me to believe what they believe.
SPEAKER_03: Because if I believe the right thing, then Peter will open the door for me.
SPEAKER_03: But if I do not, Peter will keep the door locked, and of course, there's barbed wire around heaven that will not let me in.
SPEAKER_03: This is the popular imagination.
SPEAKER_03: But it misses a few things, this way of thinking.
SPEAKER_03: Number one, it misses that Peter, even though he says the right thing here, betrays Jesus later.
SPEAKER_03: So we can say the right thing and do the wrong thing.
SPEAKER_03: And I think that's really, really important.
SPEAKER_03: I think there's another problem that we've kind of come down to do, which is that, again, we say that belief is something we do cognitively.
SPEAKER_03: And if we hold on to the story too tightly, if you don't have the right beliefs, you don't get in.
SPEAKER_03: But what about behavior?
SPEAKER_03: And then I think the real question we have to ask is does God have locks on doors?
SPEAKER_03: Or do we?
SPEAKER_03: Now, one of the most helpful words I've heard came from a feminist theologian I read in seminary who said, you know, this whole idea about kingdom is really bolstering the way we think.
SPEAKER_03: So a kingdom is pyramid-shaped, and God's on the top, and here's Peter underneath, and here's, of course, the clergy next, right?
SPEAKER_03: Uh important priests, you know, of parishes next to Nash.
SPEAKER_03: And then, you know, other priests, like St.
SPEAKER_03: Martin's or St.
SPEAKER_03: John's, something like that.
SPEAKER_03: And then down here were like other lay people, right?
SPEAKER_03: So it's a pyramid scheme, and you want to get yourself in there.
SPEAKER_03: But this person said, you know, um, that actually is kind of foreign to God.
SPEAKER_03: That's who we are.
SPEAKER_03: Um, what if instead uh God is, as the scriptures present over and over and over again, the parent of all humanity?
SPEAKER_03: Um so instead of a kingdom model, what if it is a kingdom model?
SPEAKER_03: That is, what if this is really all about living as a family of God instead of living as petty viceroys who wield authority over one another?
SPEAKER_03: I have to admit it's not a way I like to live, because I'm very often very happy to have the right beliefs and to be able to lock people out because they don't have my beliefs.
SPEAKER_03: But that's the gospel of Mike.
SPEAKER_03: That's not the gospel of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_03: And I think this is really important to consider which doors are actually locked.
SPEAKER_03: Are they God's doors?
SPEAKER_03: Are they the doors to my heart on behalf of other people?
SPEAKER_03: Are they the doors socially that lock people out of their fundamental dignity?
SPEAKER_03: So I think you'll hear me say this.
SPEAKER_03: I became very convinced that God is not interested in a kingdom.
SPEAKER_03: God is interested in a kingdom and in a family.
SPEAKER_03: And I want to offer you one other suggestion here that all throughout the Psalms, the king of Israel is called the Son of God.
SPEAKER_03: And that was not meant to be a literal understanding, of course.
SPEAKER_03: That was meant to say the king of Israel sat in a privileged position.
SPEAKER_03: And Peter, I don't know if you know this, um, his name, Shimon, Simon, this is uh one of Jacob's children.
SPEAKER_03: It means listens.
SPEAKER_03: And I wonder if Jesus isn't trying to say, instead of Peter's the one, I wonder if he isn't trying to say the foundation of the church is based on people who listen.
SPEAKER_03: On the Shimons, the people who listen to God.
SPEAKER_03: When God reveals something to them, that's what Jesus says.
SPEAKER_03: You didn't come to this on your own.
SPEAKER_03: God revealed it to you.
SPEAKER_03: And upon listening, take keys that could have locked doors and unlock them instead.
SPEAKER_03: I wonder if that isn't the foundation of the family of God, that we take the keys we have and use them to unlock ourselves, use them to unlock shackles that hold other people down.
SPEAKER_03: As Paul says, we offer ourselves as living sacrifices instead of sacrificing other people in the name of our principles.
SPEAKER_03: That plays out in the Exodus story today.
SPEAKER_03: Notice there's two shiroes who thwart the power of the Pharaoh.
SPEAKER_03: We even get their names, which is remarkable.
SPEAKER_03: They're midwives.
SPEAKER_03: These are nameless people.
SPEAKER_03: And they're given names.
SPEAKER_03: They're Shifra and Pua.
SPEAKER_03: They resist Pharaoh on behalf of life.
SPEAKER_03: They refuse to sacrifice these boy babies.
SPEAKER_03: They resist a kingdom model and say, no, these boys that you're afraid of, imagine that being afraid of boys of a different race.
SPEAKER_03: And we will not act against them.
SPEAKER_03: We will not sacrifice them to keep our jobs.
SPEAKER_03: This is, to be fair, uh, this is social resistance, these women do.
SPEAKER_03: It's extremely social.
SPEAKER_03: Pharaoh's own daughter does it.
SPEAKER_03: Do you notice?
SPEAKER_03: Pharaoh's own daughter adopts Moses.
SPEAKER_03: There's no doubt she knows that this is a Hebrew child.
SPEAKER_03: There's no doubt.
SPEAKER_03: Her brother is the Pharaoh.
SPEAKER_03: Pharaoh's own sister believes in a family model, not a kingdom model.
SPEAKER_03: She draws Moses out of the river, and that's his name.
SPEAKER_03: Moshe means to draw out.
SPEAKER_03: And I would suggest if we're to really join Peter, if we're really to follow this gospel story, our job is not to lock people out of God's kingdom, but to unlock whatever holds them back from being a full member.
SPEAKER_03: And to unlock those parts of ourselves, quite honestly, that are all too happy to lock people out for the wrong answer.
SPEAKER_03: And I want to say, especially, because of the political climate we're in, this is essential discipleship for us.
SPEAKER_03: To not lock people out because their political sign doesn't match ours.
SPEAKER_03: But to somehow find a way to open our hearts.
SPEAKER_03: Even if that means we have to sustain judgment, if we have to suspend disbelief, that's the word.
SPEAKER_03: Even if we have to suspend disbelief to look at somebody's personhood instead of locking them out for their apparent politics.
SPEAKER_03: Otherwise, don't you see?
SPEAKER_03: In a winner-take-all strategy, we sacrifice the brothers and sisters we're invited to live in in the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_03: We sacrifice them instead of doing what Paul asks us to do, which is to recognize God witness us all together into one body.
SPEAKER_03: If your body's like mine, the older it gets, the more it resists being one body.
SPEAKER_03: Like arthritis.
SPEAKER_03: Sore muscles.
SPEAKER_03: Used to not be such a hard thing to do.
SPEAKER_03: But in order to run, we've got to work together, my body and I.
SPEAKER_03: And I want to suggest that's not the challenge before us, that's the opportunity.
SPEAKER_03: And it will decide, I think, whether or not we enter the family of God fully and joyfully together or not.
SPEAKER_03: Please join me as we pray our faith in the words of an I seen creed.
SPEAKER_03: We believe in one God, the Father of the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen.
SPEAKER_03: We believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only child of God, eternally begotten of the Father.
SPEAKER_03: God from God, light from light, true God from true God, begot and not made, of one being with the Father.
SPEAKER_03: Through him all things were made.
SPEAKER_03: For us and for our salvation, he came down from heaven.
SPEAKER_03: By the power of the Holy Spirit, he became incarnate of the Virgin Mary and was made human.
SPEAKER_03: For our sake he was crucified and just finded it.
unknown: He suffered death and the spirit.
unknown: On the third day he rose again in the Christmas scriptures.
SPEAKER_02: He ascended heaven and saved the right hand of the Father.
SPEAKER_02: He only glorious believed in death.
SPEAKER_02: In the name of the Holy Spirit, glory in our life, the rest of our son, when our Jesus worship, in the past, we have only as our church.
unknown: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Let us pray for the church and the world.
SPEAKER_00: We thank you, O God, for your universal church and its mission, and for calling us to serve you and among your people.
SPEAKER_00: Continue, we pray, to equip us with all we need to tell others of you and glorify your name and all we do.
SPEAKER_00: We pray for the leaders of all nations that they may seek to do your will for the welfare of the people.
SPEAKER_00: They lead and serve.
SPEAKER_00: We pray for those holding public offices in our nation, that they may be guided by your gifts of wisdom and charity.
SPEAKER_00: We thank you, Creator God, for the beauty, majesty, and abundance of your creation, especially for its manifestation around Clear Lake.
SPEAKER_00: Keep us mindful of the holiness and fragility of our earthly home, and all the creatures who dwell therein, that we may rejoice in being stewards and peacemakers.
SPEAKER_00: O God, giver of all things, we thank you for the abundance of grace poured out upon us.
SPEAKER_00: May we, with grateful hearts, show compassion through our thoughts, words, and deeds for those who are hungry, homeless, neglected, abused, exploited, or any other need.
SPEAKER_00: Lord Jesus, healer of bodies and spirits, may your healing hand touch all who suffer in mind, body, or soul.
SPEAKER_00: May those who attend to them use their God given.
SPEAKER_00: Skill, wisdom, and compassion to restore them.
SPEAKER_00: We pray especially for Chris, Jerry, Sean, Jerome, Chris, Susie, Ted, Andrea, Kevin, Ron, Joe, and Nancy.
SPEAKER_00: The congregation is invited to name their own celebrations or petitions, silently or aloud.
SPEAKER_00: Trusting that you are able to do more than we can ask or imagine.
SPEAKER_00: We give you thanks, Lord Jesus, for graciously restoring those who have battled and survived serious illness and near-death situations, that by your help and the help of those sent to them, they may continue to serve you in this life according to your will.
SPEAKER_00: We are especially grateful for.
SPEAKER_03: So that literally came through on Thursday, and you saw an email to that effect.
SPEAKER_03: They're asking us once again if we can help with school supplies and backpacks.
SPEAKER_03: The backpacks will be here this week.
SPEAKER_03: They're also asking if we can help with masks.
SPEAKER_03: And so there's a link to their school supply list.
SPEAKER_03: These can be ordered online or they can be piecemealed together.
SPEAKER_03: We're still working on some strategies on how to make that as cost-effective as possible.
SPEAKER_03: A number of people have asked if I don't want to go shopping, can I support this effort financially?
SPEAKER_03: And the answer is absolutely yes, and we'll have we have some power shoppers at St.
SPEAKER_03: Thomas.
SPEAKER_03: And also then the opportunity to buy in bulk and to try to meet these needs.
SPEAKER_03: I mean, within two or three miles, and so parents are constantly having to pick between food, rent, and school supplies.
SPEAKER_03: And so we we want to try to make that choice really, really easy on what they can do for their kids.
SPEAKER_03: Same with masks.
SPEAKER_03: Homemade masks are okay, and in fact, reusable ones are great for them.
SPEAKER_03: So if you know mask makers, whether they go to St.
SPEAKER_03: Thomas or not, I think it would be really all-inspiring to show up with the 900 masks that they need and say, our community came together, here you are.
SPEAKER_03: Really happy to say on the other side that we had our first week here at St.
SPEAKER_03: Thomas of school.
SPEAKER_03: And even though, of course, these are strange times, it was really delightful to have our students here, physically here, and to see them and to hear their voices all throughout the week.
SPEAKER_03: So thank you for making that possible.
SPEAKER_03: And it really is a wonderful thing, even though chapels are now done on Zoom.
SPEAKER_03: We are having them.
SPEAKER_03: Another service opportunity I want to uphold to you is because Galveston County Food Bank is closed on Labor Day, our next fresh food distribution is this coming Saturday.
SPEAKER_03: You can show up to help if you'd like at around 7.45, and we're always finished by 10.30, and we serve around 450 people, each with about 40 to 50 pounds of fresh produce at no cost to them.
SPEAKER_03: They gave us a receipt last time.
SPEAKER_03: During normal conditions, we pay$200 a month for about$15,000 worth of groceries, to put that in perspective, and that's sort of the power of working with the food bank to serve these families.
SPEAKER_03: And it's powerful, and we've been doing it for months, and so this is an ongiving opportunity to volunteer.
SPEAKER_03: One last thing I want to hold up to you.
SPEAKER_03: Well, two more things.
SPEAKER_03: Um this week we were able to pay down thanks to the capital funds drive and your generosity.
SPEAKER_03: Our loan balance two years ago was$540,000 and it is now under$100,000.
SPEAKER_03: So huge thank you for helping us get to this point of uh you know sustainability over our facilities and our financials, and the the end is in sight.
SPEAKER_03: So thank you for staying up with your contributions and being generous.
SPEAKER_03: Um the last is that starting Labor Day weekend, that's the first weekend in September, we're going to start an adult forum that starts at 9 a.m.
SPEAKER_03: and ends at 10 each week.
SPEAKER_03: It'll be several weeks long and involves professionals from all around who are going to speak to racism, sexism, etc.
SPEAKER_03: And so this is a really great opportunity to have a widespread conversation.
SPEAKER_03: Our choir director, for example, Garmin Ashby, served, had to do mandated military service during apartheid in South Africa.
SPEAKER_03: He'll be one of our presenters among some professors from U of H and U of H C A L C.
SPEAKER_03: We really do have experts doing this series, and I think the conversation and learning and opportunities for us to continue to grow in ministry will be Myriad.
SPEAKER_03: So I just want to hold this up to you.
SPEAKER_03: Last word is instruction about communion.
SPEAKER_03: We'll be taking communion of bread only and reminder, I'll come to the aisle that is to your right.
SPEAKER_03: So when I come down the middle, that'll be David only.
SPEAKER_03: When I come to this one, that'll be you five.
SPEAKER_03: When I come over here, that'll be Miss Vicky only.
SPEAKER_03: I'll serve you the bread and then please just consume it on the way back to your seat.
SPEAKER_03: For now, we're doing bread only as a way of as being as safe as we can.
SPEAKER_03: Continue to walk in love.
SPEAKER_03: As Christ first loved us and gave himself for us, an offering and sacrifice to God.
SPEAKER_03: This is the table not of the church, but of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_03: It is made ready for those who love him and those who want to love him more.
SPEAKER_03: Subcumb.
SPEAKER_03: 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_03: You who have tried to follow and you who have failed, come.
SPEAKER_03: Not because the church invites you, it is Christ.
SPEAKER_03: It invites you to meet him here.
SPEAKER_03: The Lord be with you.
SPEAKER_03: Lift up your hearts.
SPEAKER_03: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
SPEAKER_03: It is right and a good and joyful thing always and everywhere to give thanks to you, Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
SPEAKER_03: Therefore we praise you, joining our voices with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven, who forever say this hand to proclaim the glory of your name.
SPEAKER_03: Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory.
SPEAKER_03: Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, Hosanna and the highest.
SPEAKER_03: Holy and gracious Father, you're in your infinite love, you made us for yourself.
SPEAKER_03: 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_03: He stretched out his arms upon the cross and offered himself, in obedience to your will, a perfect sacrifice for the whole world.
SPEAKER_03: On the night he was handed over to suffering and death, our Lord Jesus Christ took bread, and when he'd given thanks to you, he broke it, and gave it to his disciples and said, Take, eat.
SPEAKER_03: This is my body which is given for you.
SPEAKER_03: Do this for the remembrance of me.
SPEAKER_03: After supper, Jesus took the cup of wine.
SPEAKER_03: And when he'd given thanks, he gave it to them and said, Drink this, all of you.
SPEAKER_03: This is my blood of the new covenant which is shed for you and for all for the forgiveness of sins.
SPEAKER_03: Whenever you drink it, do this from remembrance of me.
SPEAKER_03: Therefore, we proclaim the mystery of faith.
SPEAKER_03: Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.
SPEAKER_03: We celebrate the memorial of our redemption, O Father, in this sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving.
SPEAKER_03: Recalling his death, resurrection, and ascension, we offer you these gifts.
SPEAKER_03: 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_03: And sanctify us also that we may faithfully receive this holy sacrament and serve you in unity, constancy, and peace.
SPEAKER_03: And at the last day bring us with all your sanctions the joy of your eternal kingdom.
SPEAKER_03: All this we ask through your Son Jesus Christ, by Him and with Him and in Him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all honor and glory is yours, Almighty Father, now and forever.
SPEAKER_03: Amen.
SPEAKER_03: And now, as our Savior Christ has taught us, we are bold to pray, our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
SPEAKER_03: 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.
SPEAKER_03: For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever.
SPEAKER_03: Amen.
SPEAKER_03: Hallelujah, Christ, our Passover is sacrificed for us.
SPEAKER_03: Therefore, let us keep the feast.
SPEAKER_03: Hallelujah.
SPEAKER_03: These are the gifts of God for you, the people of God.
SPEAKER_03: Feed on them in your hearts by faith and with thanksgiving.
SPEAKER_03: Loving God, we give you thanks for restoring us in your image and nourishing us with spiritual food in the sacrament of Christ's body and blood.
SPEAKER_03: Now send us for the people, forgiven, healed, renewed, that we may proclaim your love to the world and continue in the risen life of Christ our Savior.
SPEAKER_03: Amen.
SPEAKER_03: May God, who by the Holy Spirit cause those of many languages and world views to proclaim Jesus as Lord, strengthen your faith, and send you out to bear witness to God in word and deed.
SPEAKER_03: And the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be upon you this day and remain with you forever.
SPEAKER_03: Amen.