Sunday, May 26, 2019

In My Name May 26, 2019

Worship on Sunday, May 26 …

In this culmination of our focus on ONOMA, we engage the most challenging understanding of all! 
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╬  In My Name In all our exploration of the “onoma” – the true essence and character revealed in “name” – there are few expressions more powerful and more mystifying that the one Jesus makes in our Gospel today:  “Ask anything of the Father in my name, and he will give it to you.”  As the time of the Eastertide is fulfilled, our study brings us to this astounding revelation and its meaning for our lives.  To what it says about Jesus, and what it reveals about OUR “onoma.”
Below are the Prayer of the Day and Readings.  Sermon and Reflection Slides are attached.  PLEASE NOTE:  I have switched the First Lesson Reading for this week!


 Blessings to you all as we fulfill the time of the Eastertide!

- Pr. Brad Highum

bhighum@abidinglove.org

PRAYER OF THE DAY ----------- 

 God of all, in your Son your fullness is revealed.  Teach us the power of his name and the calling you place on each of us:  to embrace the onoma of your Christ as our way of being, our true identity in you.  Amen.

READINGS ---------------------

First Reading:  Isaiah 56:5-8

5 I will give, in my house and within my walls, a monument and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.  6 And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord, and to be his servants, all who keep the sabbath, and do not profane it, and hold fast my covenant — 7 these I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.  8 Thus says the Lord God, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, I will gather others to them besides those already gathered.

Psalm 20

1 The Lord will answer you in the day of trouble!  The name of the God of Jacob protect you!

 2 May he send you help from the sanctuary, and give you support from Zion.

 3 May he remember all your offerings, and regard with favor your burnt sacrifices.

 4 May he grant you your heart's desire, and fulfill all your plans.

 5 May we shout for joy over your victory, and in the name of our God set up our banners. May the Lord fulfill all your petitions.

 6 Now I know that the Lord will help his anointed; he will answer him from his holy heaven with mighty victories by his right hand.

 7 Some take pride in chariots, and some in horses, but our pride is in the name of the Lord our God.

 8 They will collapse and fall, but we shall rise and stand upright.

 9 Give victory to the king, O Lord; answer us when we call.

Second Reading:  Colossians 3:12-17

12 As God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. 13 Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Gospel:  John 16:22-28
22 So you have pain now; but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. 23 On that day you will ask nothing of me. Very truly, I tell you, if you ask anything of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. 24 Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.  25 "I have said these things to you in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures, but will tell you plainly of the Father. 26 On that day you will ask in my name. I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf; 27 for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.
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Sunday, May 19, 2019

What is in a Name? 5-19-2019

Worship on Sunday, May 19 …


╬  “What’s in a name?”  A great deal, in fact!  Scripture is filled with names – of people and of places – with profound meanings.  And it is full of stories of re-naming as significant events or revelations of character take place.  The word “onoma” translates from the Greek as “name” but means so much more.  Onoma expresses the character, the essence and fullness of what is named.  We see examples of true onoma emerging in the lives of Jacob/Israel, Saul/Paul, Simon/Peter.  God re-names as God consecrates people to new purpose.  We, in turn, wield considerable power as we name the world around us!

  Below are the Prayer of the Day and Readings. 

 Blessings to you all in the Eastertide!

 - Pr. Brad Highum
bhighum@abidinglove.org



PRAYER OF THE DAY ------------

God of all, by the power of your Spirit you are naming us.  In calling us to share life and ministry in you, you are calling forth the fullest expression of ourselves, of our identity rooted in you.  Shape us according to your goodness and grace.  Amen.

READINGS -----------------------

First Reading:  Genesis 32:22-31

22 The same night he got up and took his two wives, his two maids, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 23 He took them and sent them across the stream, and likewise everything that he had. 24 Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. 25 When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he struck him on the hip socket; and Jacob's hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. 26 Then he said, "Let me go, for the day is breaking." But Jacob said, "I will not let you go, unless you bless me." 27 So he said to him, "What is your name?" And he said, "Jacob." 28 Then the man said, "You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans, and have prevailed." 29 Then Jacob asked him, "Please tell me your name." But he said, "Why is it that you ask my name?" And there he blessed him. 30 So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, "For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved." 31 The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip.

Psalm 113

1 Praise the Lord!  Praise, O servants of the Lord; praise the name of the Lord.

 2 Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time on and forevermore.

 3 From the rising of the sun to its setting the name of the Lord is to be praised.

 4 The Lord is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens.

 5 Who is like the Lord our God, who is seated on high,

 6 who looks far down on the heavens and the earth?

 7 He raises the poor from the dust, and lifts the needy from the ash heap,

 8 to make them sit with princes, with the princes of his people.

 9 He gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children.  Praise the Lord!

Second Reading:  Acts 9:19-29

For several days Saul was with the disciples in Damascus, 20 and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, "He is the Son of God." 21 All who heard him were amazed and said, "Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem among those who invoked this name? And has he not come here for the purpose of bringing them bound before the chief priests?" 22 Saul became increasingly more powerful and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Messiah.  23 After some time had passed, the Jews plotted to kill him, 24 but their plot became known to Saul. They were watching the gates day and night so that they might kill him; 25 but his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a basket.  6 When he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples; and they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple. 27 But Barnabas took him, brought him to the apostles, and described for them how on the road he had seen the Lord, who had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had spoken boldly in the name of Jesus. 28 So he went in and out among them in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord.

Gospel:  Matthew 16:13-19

13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" 14 And they said, "Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." 15 He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" 16 Simon Peter answered, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." 17 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. 18 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. 19 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."
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Sunday, May 12, 2019

Ongoingness May 12, 2019

Worship on Sunday, May 12 …

Naming is a part of the “ongoingness” creation … from the very beginning! 
╬ In the Beginning Naming and the power of names have been a meta-narrative in Scripture, from the Creation forward.  God calls forth life and nests humanity in the garden of creation.  Man and woman, Adam and Eve.  God spends a delightful day bringing creatures to Adam to see what he will name them.  We see the emerging onoma of Abram/Abraham and of Sarai/Sarah as God’s calling on them transforms their lives.  And we engage the depth of meaning in God choosing “a place for God’s name” … where God will dwell among the people.

 Below are the Prayer of the Day and Readings. 

 Blessings to you all in the Eastertide!

 - Pr. Brad Highum
bhighum@abidinglove.org

 PRAYER OF THE DAY --------------------

 God of all, in naming us as your children, blessed and beloved, you give us a new birth in a new creation.  Inspire us to embrace our calling to proclaim and live out your name – your onoma – in all the earth: Grace, Justice, Peace, Compassion.  Amen.

 READINGS ----------------------------------

 First Reading:  Genesis 2:15-23
15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, "You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die."  18 Then the Lord God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner." 19 So out of the ground the Lord God formed every animal of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. 20 The man gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the air, and to every animal of the field; but for the man there was not found a helper as his partner. 21 So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then he took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. 22 And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. 23 Then the man said, "This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called Woman, for out of Man this one was taken."

 Psalm 68:4-10
4 Sing to God, sing praises to his name; lift up a song to him who rides upon the clouds — his name is the Lord — be exultant before him.

 5 Father of orphans and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation.

 6 God gives the desolate a home to live in; he leads out the prisoners to prosperity, but the rebellious live in a parched land.

 7 O God, when you went out before your people, when you marched through the wilderness,

 8 the earth quaked, the heavens poured down rain at the presence of God, the God of Sinai, at the presence of God, the God of Israel.

 9 Rain in abundance, O God, you showered abroad; you restored your heritage when it languished;

 10 your flock found a dwelling in it; in your goodness, O God, you provided for the needy.

 Second Reading:  Genesis 17:1-8,15-19
17 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him, "I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless. 2 And I will make my covenant between me and you, and will make you exceedingly numerous." 3 Then Abram fell on his face; and God said to him, 4 "As for me, this is my covenant with you: You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of nations. 5 No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you the ancestor of a multitude of nations. 6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. 7 I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. 8 And I will give to you, and to your offspring after you, the land where you are now an alien, all the land of Canaan, for a perpetual holding; and I will be their God."

15 God said to Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. 16 I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall give rise to nations; kings of peoples shall come from her." 17 Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said to himself, "Can a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Can Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?" 18 And Abraham said to God, "O that Ishmael might live in your sight!" 19 God said, "No, but your wife Sarah shall bear you a son, and you shall name him Isaac.

 Gospel:  Luke 24:44-49

 44 Then he said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you — that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled." 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, 46 and he said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high."
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Sunday, May 5, 2019

ONOMA - The power of Naming May 5, 2019

Worship on Sunday, May 5 …


As we go deeper into our exploration of ONOMA – the power of naming – we engage with a multitude of names for GOD that are revealed in Scripture! 
╬ Names of God The Scriptures are filled with myriad names for God, from the gift of God’s name to Moses in the wilderness – “I AM” – to the “abba” that Jesus lovingly introduces to his followers.  The word “onoma” translates from the Greek as “name” but means so much more.  Onoma expresses the character, the essence and fullness of what is named.  In revealing names to us, God reaches to us in love to share identity, understanding and unity. God is constantly making God-self known in deeply meaningful ways.  God’s onoma, the fullness of God, has been revealed in Christ and is being called forth in all humanity.

 Below are the Prayer of the Day and Readings.  


 Blessings to you all in the Eastertide!

 - Pr. Brad Highum

 bhighum@abidinglove.org

 PRAYER OF THE DAY ---------------------------

 God of grace, in your Name is revealed the wholeness and fullness of you.  We reach to you, seeking to name the wonder that is you.  Imprint your name upon us that we may truly become your people and live in the Kingdom you are calling forth in the world.  Amen.

 READINGS ----------------------------------

 First Reading:  Exodus 3:1-15

 1 Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led his flock beyond the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed. 3 Then Moses said, "I must turn aside and look at this great sight, and see why the bush is not burned up." 4 When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here I am." 5 Then he said, "Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground." 6 He said further, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.  9 The cry of the Israelites has now come to me; I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them. 10 So come, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt." 11 But Moses said to God, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?" 12 He said, "I will be with you; and this shall be the sign for you that it is I who sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God on this mountain."  13 But Moses said to God, "If I come to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' what shall I say to them?" 14 God said to Moses, "I Am Who I Am." He said further, "Thus you shall say to the Israelites, 'I Am has sent me to you.'" 15 God also said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the Israelites, 'The Lord, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you':  This is my name forever, and this my title for all generations.

 Psalm 138
1 I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing your praise;

 2 I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness; for you have exalted your name and your word above everything.

 3 On the day I called, you answered me, you increased my strength of soul.

 4 All the kings of the earth shall praise you, O Lord, for they have heard the words of your mouth.

 5 They shall sing of the ways of the Lord, for great is the glory of the Lord.

 6 For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly; but the haughty he perceives from far away.

 7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies; you stretch out your hand, and your right hand delivers me.

 8 The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.

 Second Reading:  Revelation 22:1-6

 22 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 through the middle of the street of the city. On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. 3 Nothing accursed will be found there any more. But the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him; 4 they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 And there will be no more night; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.  6 And he said to me, "These words are trustworthy and true, for the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place."

 Gospel:  John 14:1-7
14 "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. 2 In my Father's house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. 4 And you know the way to the place where I am going." 5 Thomas said to him, "Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?" 6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him."  
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Sunday, April 28, 2019

What's in a Name? April 28, 2019

Worship on Sunday, April 28 …




The Wilderness Journey! comes to an end as Jesus enters Jerusalem and all that awaits him there! 

As we move into the Eastertide, we begin to explore the concept of ONOMA … naming, in all of its Biblical significance! 
╬ Name Above All Names!

 “What’s in a name?”  A great deal, in fact!  In ancient traditions names were said to have particular power over people and places. In the Bible, God gives God’s name to the people and proclaims the gathered community as the place where “God’s name” will dwell on earth.  Jesus invites us to pray “in his name.” Renaming frequently takes place when God proclaims something new or consecrates people to new purpose.  The word “onoma” translates from the Greek as “name” but means so much more.  Onoma expresses the character, the essence and fullness of what is named.  In this season of revelation, we will explore the Biblical traditions and deeper meanings of naming – from Genesis to the Christian testament – and engage God’s name for each of us in our world.

 Below are the Prayer of the Day and Readings.  

 Blessings to you all in the Eastertide!

 - Pr. Brad Highum
bhighum@abidinglove.org

 PRAYER OF THE DAY -----------------------

 God of grace, you call us by name and you call us your own.  Bless us to live into the name you reveal in the One who shows us the way and the truth and the live that is you, the Name above all names.  Amen.

 READINGS ----------------------------------

 First Reading:  Isaiah 9:2-7
2 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness — on them light has shined.  3 You have multiplied the nation, you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as people exult when dividing plunder.  4 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 Midian.  5 For all the boots of the tramping warriors and all the garments rolled in blood shall be burned as fuel for the fire.  6 For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  7 His authority shall grow continually, and there shall be endless peace for the throne of David and his kingdom.  He will establish and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time onward and forevermore.  The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

 Psalm 8
1 O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth!  You have set your glory above the heavens.
2 Out of the mouths of babes and infants you have founded a bulwark because of your foes, to silence the enemy and the avenger.
3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established;
4 what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?
5 Yet you have made them a little lower than God, and crowned them with glory and honor.
6 You have given them dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under their feet,
7 all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field,
8 the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas.
9 O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

 Second Reading:  Philippians 2:5-11
5 Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, 7 but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness.  And being found in human form, 8 he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death — even death on a cross.  9 Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

 Gospel:  Matthew 1:18-25
18 Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. 20 But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." 22 All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:  23 "Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel," which means, "God is with us." 24 When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, 25 but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus.
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Sunday, April 21, 2019

Easter April 21, 2019

Worship on Easter Sunday, April 21 …




The Wilderness Journey! comes to an end as Jesus enters Jerusalem and all that awaits him there! 

We gather to celebrate the Risen Christ, who calls us by name, calls us his own, and leads us into a new day! 
╬   “Mary!” … John’s Gospel relates a story of Easter morning, the First Day, when a grieving Mary Magdalene discovers an empty tomb.  In her, anxiousness and fear she fails to recognize the One standing in her midst.  Then he calls her by name and she experiences the overwhelming joy of recognizing the risen Christ.  The clarion call of Easter is for people everywhere to recognize Christ in the midst of the world today, in all the ways he comes to us in the Resurrection.  He is calling us by name.  God is with us!  Christ is alive!

 Below are the Prayer of the Day and Readings.  

 Blessings to you all in this culmination of Holy Week!

 - Pr. Brad Highum
bhighum@abidinglove.org

 PRAYER OF THE DAY -----------------------
God of grace, in the resurrection of Christ you have put to death forever anything that can separate us from you.  In raising your Christ as Lord of Life, you have raised us to live resurrected lives in him.  Open our eyes to see him in the midst of the world.  Open our hearts to receive him as your gift of light and love for a world in need.  Amen.

 READINGS -------------------------------------
First Reading:  Isaiah 65:17-25
17 For I am about to create new heavens and a new earth; the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind. 18 But be glad and rejoice forever in what I am creating; for I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy, and its people as a delight. 19 I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and delight in my people; no more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it, or the cry of distress. 20 No more shall there be in it an infant that lives but a few days, or an old person who does not live out a lifetime; for one who dies at a hundred years will be considered a youth, and one who falls short of a hundred will be considered accursed. 21 They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. 22 They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be, and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.   23 They shall not labor in vain, or bear children for calamity; for they shall be offspring blessed by the Lord — and their descendants as well. 24 Before they call I will answer, while they are yet speaking I will hear.  25 The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, the lion shall eat straw like the ox; but the serpent — its food shall be dust! They shall not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain.

 Psalm 118:1-2,14-24
O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his steadfast love endures forever

 The Lord is my strength and my might; he has become my salvation.

 There are glad songs of victory in the tents of the righteous: "The right hand of the Lord does valiantly; the right hand of the Lord is exalted; the right hand of the Lord does valiantly."

 I shall not die, but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the Lord.  Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord.

 This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it.

 I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation.

 The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.  This is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.

 This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it!

 Second Reading – Revelation 1:4-8,12-18
Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.  To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, 6 and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.  7 Look! He is coming with the clouds; every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail.  So it is to be. Amen. 8 "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.  12 I turned to see whose voice it was that spoke to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the lampstands I saw one like the Son of Man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash across his chest. 14 His head and his hair were white as white wool, white as snow; his eyes were like a flame of fire, 15 his feet were like burnished bronze, refined as in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of many waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, and from his mouth came a sharp, two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining with full force.  17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he placed his right hand on me, saying, "Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last. 18 I am he, the living one. I was dead, and see, I am alive forever and ever.”

 Gospel:  John 20:1-18
20 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. 2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him." 3 Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. 4 The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, 7 and the cloth that had been on Jesus' head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. 8 Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9 for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 10 Then the disciples returned to their homes.  11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; 12 and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. 13 They said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him." 14 When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?" Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away." 16 Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to him in Hebrew, "Rabbouni!" (which means Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, "Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'" 18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord"; and she told them that he had said these things to her.
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Friday, April 19, 2019

Good Friday April 19, 2019

Good Friday Worship - April 19, 7:00pm
Cantata Choir with String Ensemble, Tenebrae Service






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