It wasnt until Christianity moved beyond Judaism that it came into direct conflict with the Greek understanding of reality, which insisted upon the dualism of body and soul. When our heartbeats returned to normal, we decided that wed made a clean escape and we chose not to share the adventure with our sleeping parents. This dear friends is what it means for you and me to sit at Jesus side. For after the fire came a BAT KOL. May this meal be blessed as we gather to celebrate together. We ask you to bless this bread and this cup. and for the mission of justice you have made our own. by our unbelief and lack of understanding of Gods presence in us. A SERVICE OF WORD AND TABLE II. Surely, today, when troops are again amassing in Europe and the world cant seem to sake itself loose from the myth of redemptive violence, surely today, it is time for us to move beyond thinking of DIVINITY as the ultimate purveyor of violence and Jesus as the ultimate sacrifice. It didnt take very long before the many layers of clothing, with which I had hoped to insulate myself from the dangers of the cold, failed to keep me moving very far into the expanse of white snow drifts which glistened as the Suns glorious rays danced incapable of warming much of anything but my heart. We proclaim and celebrate this Easter season because it links Jesus with all life, with transformation, and with possibility of life beyond our imagining. *All: Alleluia, alleluia, give thanks to the risen Lord! petitions prayers for strength a selection of modern petitions asking for God's strength to come, with a prayer for those grieving and a prayer for hope. The apartment manager got out some WD40. The following liturgy was submitted by Rev. This knowledge has to change the way in which we see our relationship with the MYSTERY that lies at the very source of our being; our Creator if you will. What and Where to use this ritual: Altar-building. The sermon is broken up into three short homilies. May this Spirit help us to recognize the Christ-presence in our midst. The EMPIRE OF DIVINITY is not yet here. Easter Day: All Things Are Made New: a service of light with Holy Communion. The apostle Paul, both a Jew and a Roman citizen, would have known from the perspective of both the conquer and the conquered the Roman motto, vini, vedi, vici I came, I saw, I conquered. The third face of CHRIST belongs to a Ukrainian Mother holding back her tears as she embraces her little family. Jesus insisted with all that he is, that justice and not violence is the only way to establish and maintain peace. This week, two events stand in stark contrast to one another. If ever we needed to be intentional about preserving and honouring our basic humanity and that of our neighbours, its now. The vibrancy of the vision is only exceeded by the discovery thatones spirit has a home everywhere. You are still in your sins, and those who have fallen asleep in Christ are the deadest of the dead. It was an epic trip on which my once innocent 20-year-old self learned to swig akvavit like a Viking. The truth has left its living word for anyone to read. I confess, that I cant quite see CHRIST in that face yet. Salvation is about making us whole, ONE with one another and ONE with the ONE who is as Jesus taught with his very life is the LOVE we call GOD. We believe that death is not the end, but rather a transformation into new possibilities. There are flowers in the sanctuary during Lent! Peace begins with non-violent resistance. The SPIRIT of DIVINITY is within us! Gardens often provide a space for worship in a neutral setting outside the church for people to gather and share a faith experience. Living as the Vine and Branches in the Era of COVID-19: A Worship Liturgy. O Little Town of Bethlehem - Spoken Word - Christmas Mini Movie. A quick glace toward the shoreline confirmed that I was well beyond where I would safely swim on a summer day and a strange sort of vertigo began to take hold over me. Somehow, hed managed to secure me with what we professional wrestlers call an arm bar. Odd, long-vanished creatures and their tracks & shells are found; We lift up these prayers in the belief that we are bonded in Gods Spirit with everything that exists. Close with quote from Michael Morwood: In nature we see superb aspects of transformation in supernovas exploding and in their dying giving birth to new possibilities resurrection producing abundant life. Frame 8: When you make the biggest mistake ever,something good comes from it.*. I had just moved up to Jasper, Alberta, determined to make enough money during that summer, so that I could continue my backing excursions in Europe. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Inflammatory rhetoric is a method of speaking designed to capture the attention of those upon whom it is inflicted. Justice will exact our tears. May this Spirit help us to recognize the Christ-presence in our midst. Amen. When humankind struggles, we all struggle together. Imagining the horizons of my ancient ancestors, I could see in my minds eye a familiar worldview, a three-tiered universe, complete with an omnipotent god smiling and then frowning down at me. Let us affirm the resurrection by living as Jesus lived, embodying the LOVE which IS the DIVINE MYSTERY. 3 0 obj Congregational Prayers (may be solicited), which may be preceded by other joyful and appropriate responses to the Easter Gospel. The hands are up like a shot. } document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); *This liturgy is an adaptation of the traditional. You would be correct to conclude that I do believe in resurrection. Turns out I was close. You and I are the wealthiest followers of Jesus who have ever walked the Earth. We know that humans have been evolving over millennia. What kind of body will they have? What a stupid question! My oh, my, oh my In my sacred imagination, I can see Paul sitting up from his letter writing and nodding as if to say, there that out to stop those endless arguments about the resuscitation of a corpse.. Listen carefully. So, let me just cling to what I have accumulated and pay lip-service to the need for sacrifice. Practicing resurrection happens when we gather to build communities of compassion. Hosanna in the highest. These days hikers on the Pacific Rim trail often begin or end their hike by camping at Pachena Bay. May we remember to give out the grace and forgiveness that you have freely given us, Yet the story of Jesus Way of being in the world continued to be present among those who sought to live as Jesus lived. Sign up with your email address to receive news and updates. Psalm 25:1-10. Humans are incomplete beings. But just when Alan was approaching the point of no return, I managed with a feat of superhuman strength to rise up, twist around and swing for all I was worth and connect with what I though must be my brothers chest. The truth is Humpty Dumpty was not an egg. For a very long time, the story of Jesus appearance in the upper room where his followers were huddled in fear, conditioned me to focus my attention upon Jesus wounds, Thomas doubts, and back again to Jesus wounds, and then to Thomas belief. 3:4 Everyone who commits sin is guilty of lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. read more Progressive Christian Lent Course 2015 Where, O death is your sting?. if ( '' != thisact ) { I expect solutions. O God, let us take in the moment of this day of crucifixion, not remembering it in the context of what came after it, but how it left Jesus' disciples and followers in tragic sadness and heart-wrenched disillusionment. [on the night before he died, Jesus took bread, and after giving thanks to you, he broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying: Not all bodies are the same! Your rhetoric is sublime! Today, during this season of Easter, our doubts about the possibility of resurrection are not as important as our doubts about the possibility of peace. My own desire to resist the urge to respond to violence with violence weakens with every report of the injustices perpetrated as innocent lives are lost. Thank you! After warming myself on my cars heating vent, I caught sight of sundog begin to emerge as the Sun was still setting. Contemplating the miracle that these parables survived, were told over and over again, written down and preserved by people persecuted by empire, I have to believe that they are more than nice little stories all about how we should live.They have to be more than mere speculation about the character of YAHWEH, casting the CREATOR of ALL that is, was, and ever more shall be as a fool. He was teaching in the Galilean synagogues, and all were loud in their praise. It began to seem like the only way to get Crystals hand out was to break the family heirloom. Surly, even Putin will come to his senses. They not yet but already here EMPIRE of DIVINITY is here in every stranger who welcomes a refugee, in every aid worker, doctor without borders, in every reckless fool who risks it all for the kind of justice which makes peace. For the LOVE expressed in the life and death of Jesus lives in you and in me. It is right, and a good and joyful thing, always and everywhere to give you our thanks and praise, O God! Let it go. Sure enough, the vase slipped off as smooth as silk. We celebrate the risen Christ in our midst. Remember the precarious nature of the lives of the people who first heard these parables. Crystal cried out, Mommy Im stuck. Enjoy! DONATE NOW! Frame 1: We are about to enter a world of life-giving beauty. If you cannot bear to look upon the face of CHRIST, thats ok. Just stop this video and take a moment or two to pray. Growing up I had a very clear advantage as I developed my wrestling skills. It took the Church until 1991 to concede that Galileo and not the writer of Joshua was right and that the Earth did indeed revolve around the Sun. Oh, how I miss those Sunday closings! The BASILEIA ton THEON may not yet be the world we live in, but the BASILEIA ton THEON is already here. I find the stories of the empty tomb hard to take in. Salvation is not about saving us for life after death. On this her Feast Day, let us commemorate Julian of Norwich, who is perhaps one of the greatest English Mystics. Perhaps a story will help us move beyond what we think were looking for to actual miracle of resurrection. Alas, the power of Pauls rhetoric has waned over the centuries. Their beloved leader had been brutally executed by the powers that be and they were terrified that they would be next. In my mind, I saw old black and white faded images of other little families. Limitations which the evolving nature of our understanding of reality compel us to reject. Frame 11: When life hands you a lemon make lemonade!*. Is that right?, Crystal was a little breathless from all the crying she had been doing and all she could manage was a whimpered, Mmm hummm. Honey, tell grandma the truth now. Some were staring vacantly through time, like the tens of millions of Ukrainians who were starved to death during the Holodomor by yet another brutal Russian dictator. Heavenly bodies have a beauty of their own, and earthly bodies have a beauty of their own. For more information on the Commission, its mandate and membership, please click here. Thats where youre opponent wrenches your arm behind your back and applies just enough pressure to cause pain, but not enough to break anything. So, Im trusting that it doesnt much matter whether or not you or I or anyone believes or doesnt believe in the physical resuscitation of Jesus corpse. Holy, gracious, God, Generations beyond any cameras reach, each with their own pain. Jesus called them together and said, You know how among the Gentiles those who exercise authority are domineering and arrogant; those great ones know how to make their own importance felt. Pray deeply, reverently, and then fast-forward to the music. And there was no official campsite back then. As the train finally pulled into Narvik, I couldnt quite believe my eyes. . Petes words remind me over and over, and over again that Jesus lived and died embodying the CHRIST which is the DIVINE LOVE which rises in with through and beyond you and I, again, and again, and again. Jesus lived and died giving his life to ransom us from ourselves, from our fears, so that free from the captivity in which our fear has confined us, we might walk freely away from our own self-centredness. We all must take care of ourselves. According to this story, a bunch of rag-tag Jesus followers were huddled together in fear. Let us declare our faith together (you may rise): who welcomes us into the household of faith. So, I will not presume to answer for Jesus hometown congregations murderous intentions. Risen indeed! The LOVE which is the SACRED MYSTERY which is the LOVE that we call GOD. He . Crystal had always been told that one day the magnificent vase would be hers. For we are ONE with an evolving DEITY. Do you grant permission to use (with credit) for worship? Repent Metanoia let us think new thoughts so that we might ask: What can Jesus teach us? For the Lord Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it (here the minister shall break the bread) and said, "This is my body which is for you. We are free to imagine the grace of the MYSTERY capable of exquisite intricacy, unrelenting intimacy, magnanimous generosity, and evolutionary complexity; a MYSTERY which is the very embodiment of LOVE, the LOVE which is eternally becoming. Free from images and idols created by the inhabitants of a universe of misconceptions, we can abandon lives devoted to a god preoccupied with judging our journeys end, dispatching us to Heaven or Hell. So much so that they confessed their desire to stay with Jesus in the splendor of that mountaintop. Life finds a way. The second face of CHRIST belongs to a Ukrainian Child rubbing her eyes in a desperate attempt to stem the flow of her own tears. Let it go. Sure enough, the vase slipped off as smooth as silk. It was just politicians doing what politicians do, rattling sabers like little boys, stomping their feet, and insisting on their own way. It does sadden me that succeeding generations have projected their own violent proclivities onto the DEITY and offered up various atonement theories which rely on the DEITY embracing our primitive reliance upon violence. and proclaim the Resurrected Christ who offers life to all. The week before Easter, known as Holy Week, is very special in the Christian tradition. Share as a whole group some responses: What do you know about the life of Jesus that sheds some light on who and what the MYSTERY that we call God is? Anna explained that unless, I was prepared to be born again, under the tutelage of her pastor, I would need to find someplace else to live. 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