05 03 2020 Our Good Shepherd

Good morning. I'd like to welcome all of you to our divine service this Good Shepherd Sunday. We are still celebrating Easter. So we are still slammed saying to each other Christ is risen. He is risen indeed Alleluia, and I'm glad note let's begin with our first song.

Because of Jesus our Good Shepherd we can gather this morning together in the name of the father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit man, how come let us sing to the Lord? Let us Make a Joyful Noise to the rock of our salvation. For he is our God and we are the people of his pasture and the Sheep of his hand. Let us not come before God and true repentance seeking his forgiveness in amendment of Our Lives as we follow the lord.

With what shall I come before the Lord and bow myself before God on high. Shall I give my first-born for my transgression the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

He has told you what is good for people. What does the Lord require of you but to do justice and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your guy? With these words in our hearts and in our minds, let's take a few moments of quiet for personal confession.

And now let's pray and confess together. Almighty God. I confess that I am indeed sinful. I have done the evil you forbid and have not done the good you do man. I do repent and I'm truly sorry for these my sins. Have mercy on me because of Jesus my good shepherd grant that by the working of the Holy Spirit. I may follow where he leads until that time when I by his grace come to dwell in your house forever.

Your friends God has indeed promised forgiveness to those who repent of their sins and turn to him for Grace. Therefore now was it called and ordained servant of Christ and by his authority I forgive you all your sins and name of the father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit a man thanks be to God assured of his forgiveness. We can freely now share his peace with each other as we say to one another the Peace of the Lord be with you and also with you let spray

Almighty God merciful father seems you have waking from Death The Shepherd of your sheep. Grant us your holy spirit that when we hear the voice of Our Shepherd. We may know him who calls us each by name and follow where he leads through the same Jesus Christ your son our Lord who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit as one God now and forever.

Will continue now with the reading from the word of God.

The first reading for the fourth Sunday of Easter is from Acts chapter 2. They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and fellowship to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And all came upon every soul and Many Wonders and signs were being done through the apostles and all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all as any head need and day-by-day attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes. They received their food with glad and generous Hearts praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who are being saved. This is the word of the Lord.

The epistle this morning is from 1st Peter chapter 2. This is a gracious thing when mindful of God 1 indoor of Sorrows while suffering unjustly for what credit. Is it if when you send in are beating for it you endure. But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called because Christ also suffered for you leaving you an example so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled he did not revile and return when he suffered he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly he himself bore our sins in his body on the tree that we might die to sin and live to righteousness by his wounds. You've been healed for you're straying like sheep, but have now returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls and this is the word of the Lord.

And the good news of Jesus for today is taken from St. John's accounting chapter 10 beginning at verse 1 Glory To You O Lord. These are the words of Jesus himself. He said truly truly. I say to you he who does not enter the Sheepfold by the door, but climbs in by another way that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is The Shepherd of the sheep to him the gatekeeper opens the sheep hear his voice and he calls his own Sheep by name and he leads them out. When he has brought out all his own he goes on before them and the Sheep follow him for they know his voice a stranger. They will not follow but they will flee from him for they do not know the voice of The Stranger. This figurative speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. So Jesus again said to them truly truly I say to you. I am the door of the sheep all who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the Sheep did not listen to them. I am the door if anyone enters by me, he will be safe and he will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and to kill and to destroy I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. This is the gospel of the Lord praise to you o Christ.

In response to know each other word of God that was read this morning. We confess together. They started Christian faith as we find it in the Nicene Creed.

Believe in one God the Father Almighty maker of heaven and Earth and of all things visible and invisible and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God begotten of his father before all worlds God of God light of Lights very God of very God begotten not made being of one substance with the father by whom all things were made who for us man. And for our Salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary and was made man.

And was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried and the third day he rose again according to the scriptures and ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the father and he will come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead whose kingdom will have no end and I believe in the Holy Spirit the Lord and Giver of Life who proceeds from the father and the son who with the father and the son together is worshipped and glorified who spoke by the prophets and I believe in one holy Christian and Apostolic church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins and I look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Oh, man. We are continuing our next song

Grace mercy, peace be to each of you from God our Father through Jesus Christ. His only son and Our Risen Lord and Savior. I'm in. Last week we were looking at the Silver Linings this pandemic covid-19. We were trying to find some good stuff in the midst of the bad stuff that's going on all around us which seems to be lightning up a little bit but it's not over yet. And so we talked about how free sample we have a new and or deeper appreciation of those who work in the medical fields of of those that are considered essential people never thought of them that way before the farmers and the trucker's and then Distributors and so on and so forth. Another example was the deeper or new appreciation we have for teachers and all that. They do obviously First Responders, we talked about the creative and compassionate ways that people are finding it so cold and to interact with each other personally for us as Christians. Theologically we talked about the silver lining up how if we were to open your eyes and see it that evolution is being disproven before our eyes as we see it. A single one cell organisms which are least fit to survive taking out these complex multicellular organisms known as human beings and then of course politically were also seeing at the silver lining the fact that evolution is being disallowed by our public policy as we are doing everything we can to protect the vulnerable and not just going to let them die off which is what we would do if we really believe in evolution. So what kind of Silver Linings Silver Lining of humor if you will I will try shared a couple of examples last week humor is always healthy and beneficial especially when we're going through something that is stressful which we are so I have a few more this morning. Okay, he's come to you courtesy of the Internet, so he's not mine and I'm sure you can find more on your own. So here we go. My wife is singing in a house and I am sitting outside. So my neighbors do not think I'm hitting her. I told my wife that she should embrace her mistakes and she hugged me. I saw a flying saucer today. It appears right after the flying cup that my wife threw at me. I grew up with Steve Jobs Johnny Cash Bob Hope now, there are no jobs. No cash. No. Hope please do not let anything happen to Kevin Bacon. and finally after years of wanting to thoroughly clean my house, but liking the time this week I discovered that that wasn't the reason let me tell you how it's looking really good. All right. I don't know baby is out. There are funny, maybe not. All right, let's look at let's get to the theme of the day. All right, which is our Good Shepherd. Today is Good Shepherd Sunday. It's always the fourth Sunday of Easter. And we always read in the gospel a portion of John chapter 10 John as a gospel has a lot of female attic chapters. They're not so much a narrative chronological narrative has Matthew Mark and Luke. There is some chronology and John there's a lot of themes that are in the various chapter. So for example, John chapter 6 is about the Book of Life. Jesus being the bread of life. John chapter 9 is about the healing of the man born blind John chapter 11 is about the raising of Lazarus from the dead John chapter 17 is the high Priestly prayer of Jesus on the night. He was betrayed John 19 of courses his crucifixion in Des and John 20. Is resurrection John 10 is the Good Shepherd chapter and we read it over the course of three years by dividing it into three parts. We talked a couple of months ago about how we follow this three-year cycle of readings and which are very fancy names based upon Matthew Mark and Luke and every so often the winter sports the Gospel of John. This is one of those Sundays. So we take John chapter 3 divided over three years and make it into three parts. And this is series a so today we leave the first 10 verses of John chapter 10 the Good Shepherd chapter if you noticed if you remember there was actually no mention of Jesus as the Good Shepherd in the first 10 verses of John chapter 10. There was a mention he explicitly said that Jesus is the door. By the way, this explains why so many doors and so many houses and so many buildings have a cross in them. But nobody ever notice that I paid attention to that but look at the doors in your house and look at the doors and various buildings except for the glass doors, but it's almost always have a cross or sometimes. It's a cow cross like when the windows are on top of the door. It's still a Tau cross it comes from this idea that Jesus is the door because it very often doors are made by Carpenters. And Jesus was a carpenter.

That was free and I was going to charge the shepherd Jesus as Good Shepherd is kind of intimated and reference in verses 3 and 4 where it says the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own Sheep by name and he leaves them out.

When you guys brought out all his own he goes before them and the Sheep follow him for they know his voice. All right, that's Shepherd imagery that would apply of course to Jesus does Jesus Lead his sheep? Obvious answer is to happen naturally to that Eternal kingdom of God. This is the reason why Jesus came into the world in the first place. This is the reason why he suffered this is the reason why he died. This is a reason why he rose again. to bring us to God to to restore that relationship to forgive us to redeem has to connect us to God our creator so that when all is said and done on We would end up and live and be with him forever in heaven. But there's another answer. It's not just simply to heaven. The only place where Jesus is leaving. He's also leading to the kingdom of God on Earth, which is the church. That's what he is doing. Now. He leaves people to the church his body his flock if you will. And then when you leave them choose our church. Then he leaves the church as his flock on Earth to become like him and to do his will. Trying to become like him and to do his will we say this every single week? We just use other words we say what's our purpose to know him and to make him known. My folks if you're going to know Jesus you're going to become like him. If you're going to become like him you're going to know him and if you're going to make him known which is his will. Then if you're going to do his will you were going to make him known? That's how he is leading the church.

So now the question is what does the church look like?

well Unfortunately today the church that Jesus is leading has become obscured with what I've said before institutional package. So as you look at the church from the outside or even from the inside, it appears that the church is basically buildings properties budgets council's building use traditions. preferences options programs That's institutional baggage folks. If you're lookin come outside the church and you're an outsider and you're looking and this is what you're seeing. You're not saying the church. That's not church. That's the institutional baggage of church. The church looks different. It's underneath all of that. So maybe today because the church is obscured with institutional baggage. Maybe we ought to ask a different question. What did the church look like in the beginning?

Before there was institutional baggage. What are the church look like when it started and that is answered beautifully for us today in the first reading from Acts chapter 2. Let me refresh your memories and got to add a couple of words there They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching. Was that mean it means they were committed to what the apostles were preaching and teaching they were committed to reaching and we would say that a Bible study. They were devoted committed to that. Also True Fellowship that does not refer to the potlucks we have in the basement and hopefully one day we will again that refers to worship to what we do in this place called the church building and what we're doing now online and our homes. To the breaking of bread again. That's not a fancy way of saying meals that's a Biblical way of saying communion. Answer the prayers K. Those four things Apostles teaching fellowship breaking up right and prayers. They were committed to preaching and bible study to worship the communion and the prayer. furthermore in Acts chapter 2 the early church, all who believed were together. That means they were an intertwined relationships. And they had all things in common. They shared what they had according to the need of others. Now, you can picture that those commitments and not life together to me. This is a powerful picture of the early church church, those four commitments the Bible study and prayer for self for for safe relationships and generosity.

I would make sense. The one side of the coin is the Fourth Amendment. The other side of the coin is safe relationships and generosity.

For the future charge the church going forward as we are as we get done with this isolation and this quarantine stuff. Somebody said and I think it's true that right now because of the quarantine and the self-isolation the church is kind of a blank slate. You're the truck. The past has been cleared off. The future was uncertain don't know what's going to look like what if it look like that.

Anderson is a powerful vision for the future of our own church. Good Shepherd someday soon. We're going to come back together already people talk that talk about opening up various parts of various States and things like that. One of these days we're going to come back together. What's that going to look like? Is it going to look like it look before? What is it going to look a little different?

We can debate that what we'd like it to look like. But before we get involved in debating that maybe we go to ask this question. I'd like to ask a lot of questions. Where is Jesus leading us?

Or phrase that differently. Where is our Good Shepherd leading our Good Shepherd?

Jesus is not in the management business. Jesus is in the leading business. That's what it means to be a Shepherd. A Shepherd leads a Shepherd does not manage and Leadership by definition is moving a bunch of people or in the case of a Shepherd a bunch of sheet from point A to point B. That leadership Jesus is leading people from point A where they are or where they were to point B where they need to be.

A manager says how do we improve Puente? How do we make .8 better? Jesus is not in the management business. He's in the leadership business or leader says how do we get people from point A to point B? So where is our Good Shepherd leading our Good Shepherd? Is he leading us to come back as before? Where nothing is changed? Meaning everything was great. Everything was ideal. Everything was wonderful. Everything was perfect. Or perhaps is he leaving us to come back different? Keep some of the positives of the past and then move and take some next steps into the future.

Is it possible that our Good Shepherd is giving us a chance to reboot so to speak our Good Shepherd and come back from this isolation and quarantine As Good Shepherd to WinCo?

to use contemporary language What if if that may be the case if that's the case, what if then Good Shepherd 2.0? Looked more like the early church. Did not like the institutional Church. What if we made those same four commitments to Bible study and to worship communion and prayer? What if we became devoted to those? things

So what kind of?

Some not yet. summer struggling with that cuz it's just trying to figure out how I was going to fit into your schedule. according to their priorities What if we were devoted to the apostles teaching to the fellowship to the breaking of bread and to the prayers like in Acts chapter 2 in the early church? What if we did not make those four commitments a function of our schedule, but what if we made our schedule a function of those for commitment? How would we look different? How would we live different? How would our church be different?

What if we came back in safe intertwined relationships? And not I'm not your sort of a kind of a casual passing each other in the hallway. See you next week.

What if it became difficult to leave Good Shepherd?

For the past 24 years, it's been. In my opinion way too easy, and it's happen way too often. and when folks leave even if they leave because they pass away. It's very few people that I know their grief. and that mourn The fact that somebody has left.

What if people didn't want to leave and didn't need to leave what if we had safe intertwined relationships?

What about generosity stepped up a notch? We have a good track record of generosity. I'm not trying to knock that. We really do as a congregation. It's a beautiful thing to see. What if we stepped it up and took it to the next level? When we come back.

And I One More weather for today. And that is this in order to facilitate everything that I just asked in order to enable all of this. What if We came back together as one unified congregation with one Unified Service.

That is different. That be a change. we have almost 60 years of tradition that says otherwise and yet this is what we have been doing for the past seven weeks as we gather together around. TVs on our couches and our pajamas without coffee and our kids.

We're going to continue to do this for a few more. I don't know how many more. Can we continue this together?

In this building as a congregation. If we could and if we did, you know that would give us another opportunity then finally to have a Sunday morning Bible study again. We haven't had one of those in years years. We can actually get together and explore and dig into the apostles teaching just like the early church tit. We could that actually if we came back as a unified church for the Unified Service. We could actually attend worship together. We all of us we could receive communion together. We could pray together like the early church did. And we can even so to speak break bread together in that social kind of way as we all go down the hallway and have that goes in coffee or whatever. We're going to eat a special event as we go downstairs once in awhile for congregational meal. We haven't had a congregational dinner or congregation oatmeal in years.

And we can strengthen those relationships. We can intertwine those relationships as we eat together with glad and generous Hearts as it says the early church did and Acts chapter 2

I think this is something for us to pray. About in Ponder. Where is our Good Shepherd leading our Good Shepherd? I know we would probably like some particulars and some details and some specifics. There's no time for that today. I will share that with your next week until then. Let me close with this that are good Shepherd's institutional Baggers will remain. The building the budgets the Council of the building use the grounds all that stuff because all of those things are in fact blessings. These are not curses. But these are not the essence of the church. What's more important?

Is the answer the question. Where is our Good Shepherd Jesus leading our Good Shepherd as a church? or maybe Put it this way. How can I resemble the early church just a little bit more and not just simply get lost in the weeds of the institutional baggage. We've accumulated over the centuries. Could you please pray on that and ponder that? And then we'll talk some more about that next week if you want to share some comments on Facebook in real time. Go right ahead. In the meantime, we're going to continue now as I invite you to make your offering to our congregation. You can either do that online on the website or you can write your check now as we listen to the next song and this next song is a little more for the kids.

at home or away

Let's pray.

Your father in Heaven, we pray for the church the whole church that's through your body and your flock your goodness may be shared and the good news of Salvation may be joyfully Proclaim throughout all the world and you have forgiven the sins of all people that you have reconcile the entire world to yourself through Christ through his life and his suffering and his death and his resurrection and make people hear it and receive it gladly as they struggle to live this life in this world with meaning and with purpose Lord in your mercy. Hear our prayer. Father we also pray for those who are in any kind of need of Body Soul or spirit and that they would be assured of the Shepherd's Care for all of his sheep. Help us to meet the needs of those who travel with us through life as we are led by our Good Shepherd day by day to become more like him and to do his will we especially pray today Father for all those who are afflicted and affected in any way by this pandemic that's happening in our country and around the world. We pray that you would strengthen strengthen and heal and comfort and bless all those who are affected and infected. Lord in your mercy hear our prayer we pray Lord for the nations of the world asking that the Still Waters of Peace May flow around the globe and that there may be goodness and kindness among all peoples and that it may be lifted up and encouraged and that people may be a blessing one to another as they share in their various locations and callings into which you have placed them Lord in your mercy. Hear our prayer. Father we pray for our families and everyone in them together. We ask that you would help us to follow the Good Shepherd as one flock in which we all dwell together and love and unity and eats and rejoice with glad and generous Hearts as did your earliest disciples as we heard about this morning from the book of Acts Lord in your mercy. Our prayer, we pray for those whose tables are set in difficult or challenging places whose lives Noone tour Discord or sadness or continuing illness in particular we pray for the doctors in the healthcare people and all those essential workers that we depend so much upon as we not only live our lives but has to be specially now live our lives in this time of quarantine and we praying particular for those whose situations are near and dear to our hearts hear us O Lord as we mentioned their names now either quietly or not loud.

Gently guide them with your rod and staff your Good Shepherd and keep them always with you Lord in your mercy. Hear our prayer. With gratefulness dear father. We remember those who already dwell in the house of the Lord forever and particularly. Remember Pat Dolan and Mary Evans. We ask that your comfort would rest upon their families even as we rejoice and all the good gifts that you have given to them. Inspire us to pass through our Earthly Journeys with faith and with hope as we heat and follow the voice of our Good Shepherd Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer all these requests. Oh Lord and all those things. We don't know how to ask. We do ask of you to Grant according to your good and gracious will and in the name of Jesus your son Risen Savior and Lord who taught us 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. 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 for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever amen.

I know the Lord bless you and keep you and the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you and the Lord look upon you with his favourite and Grant you his peace man after we sing our final song. They'll be a few minutes minutes.

Harry Hines

Do Petersburg with digging deep?

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Vlad

joy, unspeakable Faith Unsinkable

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I just by way of closing announcements. We would like to extend our Christian sympathy as I mentioned briefly in the prayers to the families and the friends of Pat Dolan. She was the mother of Kristen wolf and a Mary Evans of you. Remember her when she was with us, they recently passed away this week. And so we would want to expand our prayers and sympathies to them especially during the coming weeks. Our main mission of the month is just going to be a continuation of April. We really don't have one while we are apart, you know that we want to focus on focus our energies. We're going to postpone earthshare which was supposed to be at April's on Mission in the month until we come back together again, so we're just going to continue to ask if you care to make a mission of the month donation or offering on top of what you were going to be offering at and donating to Good Shepherd that he would just simply go to Saint Gregory's Pantry for all the important work there. Why do I tell people who are hungry and in various needs and then we're also looking finally thirdly. We're also looking for any photos. You would want to send us about your time of quarantine and isolation would be happy to put them up and share them with the rest of the church with any kind of Greetings or anything like that that you might want to put a little sign some like that. All right. So God bless you all have a safe and and and well week and we'll be back together again next Sunday at 9:30 before we leave and go all of our separate ways. Let's remember those four important things that I ask at the end of service. First of all, who are you I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I needs I follow him when I hear his voice and he leads me right? Why are you here to know him and to make him known that means to become like him and to do his will Where are you going? I bring the compassion of Christ to people so they can live with hope and joy, that's where he's leading us. So now knowing and remembering and believing that lets go in peace and serve the Lord. Thanks be to God.

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