The Danger of Blurred Lines: Creator, Creation, and the Table

• Evangelism and Witness [00:30:27 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor argues that evangelism is not about persuasion or selling a product, but about clearly telling the story of God's love and waiting for the heart to break open so love can seep in.
• The Resurrection and Grief [00:31:08 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor describes the resurrection as a 'hard sell' due to 100% mortality rates, noting that the Easter story began with people who had broken hearts and devastating loss.
• The Emmaus Narrative [00:31:38 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor analyzes the story of the walk to Emmaus as 'genius storytelling' that invites listeners to enter the story, walk with the stranger, and experience the encounter at the table.
• Divine Omnipresence [00:35:02 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor introduces the theological truth that God is everywhere and omnipresent, present in every moment and as close as our next breath.
• Divine Presence and Healing [00:34:10 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor argues that encountering God's presence is inherently healing and restorative, capable of mending broken hearts even if it doesn't solve all needs.
• Omnipresence [00:35:10 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor defines God as being everywhere, in every moment, and close as our next breath, infusing the universe with His presence.
• Human Forgetfulness [00:36:06 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor notes that humans naturally forget God's presence in daily life, leading to a sense of distance during suffering.
• Communion as Sacred Reminder [00:37:08 ▶️ 📄]
  > Communion is presented not just as a ritual but as a 'sacred act of creative genius' that turns a mundane meal into an encounter with the divine.
• The Fourfold Pattern (Chosen, Blessed, Broken, Given) [00:40:36 ▶️ 📄]
  > Using Henry Nouwen's framework, the pastor explains that Jesus takes, blesses, breaks, and gives, mirroring the spiritual journey of believers.

• Sermon Illustration [00:30:27 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares an anecdote about a wise preacher friend who explained that evangelism is not about persuasion but about telling the story of God's love and waiting for the heart to break so love can seep in.
• Sermon Illustration [00:26:50 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor recounts the biblical story of the two disciples walking to Emmaus, where Jesus joins them unrecognized, interprets scripture, breaks bread, and vanishes, causing their hearts to burn within them.
• Sermon Illustration [00:33:08 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references the Emmaus walk program and Catholic Curcio projects as examples of life-changing retreats where people experience the gospel rather than just hearing it.
• Sermon Illustration [00:38:08 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor recounts a story from divinity school about a Dominican monk who rang a chime every 15 minutes during holy days to remind the community of God's presence, interrupting activities like lunch, library study, and dishwashing.
• Sermon Illustration [00:40:36 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references Henry Nouwen's interpretation of Jesus' actions at the table (taking, blessing, breaking, giving) as a fourfold pattern for the spiritual life of believers.
• Sermon Illustration [00:40:20 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor alludes to the story of the two strangers on the road to Emmaus, whose eyes were opened when Jesus broke bread, illustrating how ordinary meals can reveal divine presence.

• Pastoral Charge [00:43:37 ▶️ 📄]
  > Specific individuals are asked to come forward to assist with the communion service.
• Pastoral Charge [00:44:06 ▶️ 📄]
  > The congregation is invited to join in the prayer of thanksgiving.
• Pastoral Charge [00:45:27 ▶️ 📄]
  > The congregation is invited to recite the Lord's Prayer together.
• Pastoral Charge [00:46:29 ▶️ 📄]
  > The congregation is instructed to move to the center aisle for communion.
• Pastoral Charge [00:47:09 ▶️ 📄]
  > The congregation is invited to gather for the sacrament.

[00:00:06] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:00:06] Good morning, you guys. Happy Sunday after Easter. We'd love it if you'd stand as you're able and sing some with us.
[00:00:15] If you've been walking the same old road for miles and miles If you've been hearing the same old voice tell the same old lies The same old holes inside There's a better life, there's a better life if you got pain
[00:00:45] Peace of Christ be with y'all. Y'all take a moment to pass the peace.

[00:08:44] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:08:44] Thank you for enduring that long pregnant pause.
[00:08:48] I got too much going on today.
[00:08:52] Welcome.
[00:08:53] It's great to see everybody this morning.
[00:08:56] I want to welcome all of you.
[00:08:58] Glad that you joined us.
[00:08:59] Now, some of you may be visiting with us.
[00:09:01] Some of you have been visiting with us.
[00:09:03] And just to say we'd love to know a little bit about you.
[00:09:06] If you want to share that on a visitor card, we would love to catch some information.
[00:09:10] You can turn that in with the offering.
[00:09:12] And if you haven't been to a Next Steps meeting and you haven't joined the church, you could come to one of those.
[00:09:19] We're having it on April 22nd.
[00:09:22] And that's a time for us to have some conversation, to get to know each other.
[00:09:25] I find that people that have been visiting the church, what they do is they all have questions.
[00:09:31] And when somebody asks a question, then they say, oh, yeah, that was my question too.
[00:09:34] So it's a good time to do that.
[00:09:36] We'd love for you to come and meet a few of our folks.
[00:09:40] I know we have some folks that are joining us by live stream, always, on Sunday morning.
[00:09:45] and so we want to welcome you, and so glad that you came and are joining us, and we hope that this service is meaningful to you.
[00:09:53] So I want to thank everybody who gave candy for the children for the post-Easter egg hunt.
[00:10:01] It was a happy occasion. I was not there. I missed it. I was sad.
[00:10:06] Although I did find some chocolates left for me, so that was very nice.
[00:10:11] In your bulletin on the schedule of things that are happening, there's a difference about a correction to make. Tomorrow, tomorrow the funeral for Edith Knott is at 1 30. It's okay to get there early because parking may be a hassle. But
[00:10:26] if you're going to Edith's funeral, you're going to go to Arbor Acres. You're going to go in the main gate. And as you go into the main gate on the left, that first big building that you see,
[00:10:36] that's Asbury. And you can either park in the parking lot or back on the street there. And And the service is at 1.30.
[00:10:45] It's on the second floor in Asbury Building, and it's in Robinson Hall.
[00:10:51] You're just going to have to ask people, okay?
[00:10:53] It's real.
[00:10:54] In a few weeks, a group is going to be going to the Forsyth Prison and Jail Ministry, and they have a weekly worship service, and we're going to be joining them for that.
[00:11:05] It's not too late for you to go, and there's some information in the bulletin if you would like to let Don Egan know that you're able to go.
[00:11:14] All right.
[00:11:15] I wanna make an introduction to you all.
[00:11:17] This is Andrew Herrera.
[00:11:18] Raise your hand, Andrew.
[00:11:20] Andrew is a friend of ours and he reached out.
[00:11:24] We got connected about a year ago and he is the executive director of Impact Global Health.
[00:11:31] And it is an organization that has Methodist roots.
[00:11:35] Some of you all may have heard of Andean Rural Health Project.
[00:11:38] that was a former name of that, and they do amazing work.
[00:11:41] And so today, if you are walking back through the building, you'll see that we're having a luncheon.
[00:11:46] We've invited some healthcare professionals to come as well as some people in missions at various churches.
[00:11:54] And so Andrew's gonna be here to share a little bit of that with some others.
[00:11:58] And so anyway, it's great to have you, Andrew.
[00:12:02] See, are there any announcements that anybody else has here?
[00:12:08] here how was the um kit packing narcan kit packing ah very good yeah well that's great so yeah sandy led a group over there uh this saturday uh five people packing narcan kits but also wound care kits uh they use that as well and uh that's that's great thank you for doing that
[00:12:36] may 23rd may 23rd mark your calendars if you're free on that saturday it's a two-hour thing It's really great.
[00:12:44] You'll get to meet Rachel Thornley, and she will tell you stories about the work of harm reduction.
[00:12:51] Yeah, 10 to noon, right?
[00:12:55] I think 10 to noon, May 23rd.
[00:12:59] All right.
[00:13:02] Seems like I'm missing something.
[00:13:03] I forget what it is, but I'm just going to have to let that go.
[00:13:07] So Pastor Kelly will now come and lead us in a time of prayer.
[00:13:13] See what happens when Shane misses the second Sunday.
[00:13:16] And he told me last, on Easter, he said, you're not going to see me for a month.
[00:13:22] So there you go.
[00:13:24] How are y'all?
[00:13:25] All right.
[00:13:26] So let's take a little time and share some prayer concerns that we might have.
[00:13:31] As we mentioned earlier, Edith Knott died.
[00:13:35] She died on Maundy Thursday.
[00:13:37] And that was a very peaceful departure for her.
[00:13:41] And she was surrounded by her children and loved ones.
[00:13:45] She was 99 years old.
[00:13:46] 99 and a half, excuse me, and we're just really looking for a really celebration of her life tomorrow. Tom Sullivan is the brother-in-law of Stephanie Rehm, and he has had some blood pressure and anemia going on, and we want to lift him up for your prayers. How about others? He is waiting
[00:14:15] for a kidney transplant as well okay so let's pray for tom julian katie sullivan and uh and waits waiting for a transplant are there others yeah dave hopefully untied but yes great what's his name tyler tyler thank you silas silas thank you like paul paul and silas i got
[00:15:07] Yeah, so Silas is a grandson of Terry and Dave and has had a lot of medical procedures.
[00:15:16] I'm repeating this for friends at home so that they can hear.
[00:15:19] Are there others?
[00:15:23] Yeah.
[00:15:26] Ah, grandmother had a gallstone surgery.
[00:15:33] Gallstones in a stent.
[00:15:35] Yeah, gallstones are a little...
[00:15:37] She was uncomfortable, I'll tell you that.
[00:15:42] Where's your grandmother?
[00:15:46] Alabama.
[00:15:46] Alabama, okay.
[00:15:50] So Recy's grandmother has got gallstones removed as well as a stent.
[00:15:55] Any others?
[00:15:56] Yeah.
[00:16:05] Yeah, Shelby Citizen had a heart procedure before Holy Week, and it went well, but the recovery has been slow, and she's been in the rehab unit, but she's headed home.
[00:16:21] So that's great.
[00:16:22] Good news.
[00:16:23] Yeah.
[00:16:42] Okay.
[00:16:43] So it's her mother that died, right?
[00:16:45] All right. Sarah Sylvester's mother died. And, you know, we want to pray for her in this time of grief.
[00:16:53] Yeah. Yes. Yes. Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. Kate's father has been in and out of the hospital with some heart trouble.
[00:17:07] So. Yeah. Hey, Doc. OK. Yeah. OK. So Ann Presley is not here.
[00:17:28] She was feeling under the weather. I don't know where she can find a doctor, but.
[00:17:32] But our flight surgeon doctor here.
[00:17:40] Yeah, so we'll keep Ann in our prayers today.
[00:17:47] Any others?
[00:17:49] You gave me quite a list, so all right.
[00:17:52] So, friends, as we go to a time for prayer, let's bow our heads and we'll just kind of center ourselves as Casey gives us some music as we get ready for this time of prayer.
[00:18:53] Gracious God, we give you thanks during this Easter season.
[00:18:57] it is a day that we celebrate the resurrection but it is a season that we seek to understand its meaning we seek to gather in its energy to find some new life rising within us and we pray
[00:19:18] oh god that you will teach us how we ourselves are under your care and that you are a force within this world bringing about new life new life in our own and new life to come
[00:19:34] we give you thanks for your presence with us and as we gather at your table we remember your presence with others even in the time of resurrection so in the breaking of bread together help us to sense your presence
[00:19:54] and be ready to bear it into the world God, we pray today for the family of Edith Knott.
[00:20:11] That you will give them a sense of your presence in comfort in the loss.
[00:20:17] We pray for Sarah Sylvester and the loss of her mother.
[00:20:26] For all of the ways, God, that we have people in our lives that we know who are hurting.
[00:20:33] Who are trying to find their way back to health.
[00:20:37] We lift them up to you.
[00:20:40] For Tom Sullivan and his family.
[00:20:46] For Silas, recovering from procedures.
[00:20:50] For Shelby Citizen and recovering from her procedures.
[00:20:53] We pray for Kate's dad, for Reese's grandmother, and for Ann, whose presence we miss today.
[00:21:09] God, where our hands cannot reach, we know that your presence can still be there.
[00:21:15] and we pray that you will give them a restoration of health and wholeness.
[00:21:22] God, we live in a world that is war-torn now where relationships between countries have been deeply strained, where a pathway to peace seems out of reach and there is great confusion.
[00:21:43] We pray, oh God, that some clear thinkers may sense the passion that you have for all children on this planet that you will bring forth not only a cessation of violence but the presence of justice
[00:21:59] for those who have been wounded and hurt. We pray, O God, for a little sanity in the midst of all of this. We pray, God, for those who struggle with anxiety and depression, with loneliness, with
[00:22:18] hunger, people that have too many bills past the end of their paycheck. We pray, O God, that you will help find a way, and that you will work through us to bring forth new life in the midst
[00:22:35] of those who are struggling and suffering. Be with us in our worship today as we reflect on your presence. We pray all of this in the name of Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.

[00:22:49] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:22:49] Now, if you thought that was strange, that's because we didn't read the gospel lesson for you,

[00:26:46] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:26:46] because that old song was about what I'm going to read to you right now.
[00:26:50] um luke chapter 24 we hear the story of the two people that were walking to emmaus and jesus coming to them so the walk to emmaus it's a long story you'd think it would be from john but it's
[00:27:11] uh it's better i think here we go now on the same day two of them were going to a village called emmaus about seven miles from jerusalem and talking with each other about these things that
[00:27:23] it happened, while they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. Jesus said to them, what are you discussing with each other as you walk along? And they stood still and looking sad. And then one of them, whose name was
[00:27:43] Cleopas, answered, are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place in these days? And Jesus asked them, what things?
[00:27:54] And they replied, the things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet, mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned
[00:28:05] to death and crucified him. But we had hoped that he would be the one to redeem Israel.
[00:28:13] Yes, and besides all of this, it is now the third day since these things took place. Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb earlier this morning and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed
[00:28:30] seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. And some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see him. Then Jesus said
[00:28:42] to them, oh, how foolish you are and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared, was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory? And then beginning with Moses and the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about
[00:29:00] himself in all of the scriptures. And they came near to the village to which they were going and Jesus walked ahead as if he were going on, but they urged him strongly saying, stay with us
[00:29:13] because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.
[00:29:19] So we went in to stay with them.
[00:29:21] And when he was at the table with them, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it and gave it to them.
[00:29:30] And their eyes were opened and they recognized him and he vanished from their sight.
[00:29:39] And they said to each other, were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us.
[00:29:48] That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together and they were saying, the Lord is risen indeed and he has appeared to Simon.
[00:29:58] And then they told what had happened on the road and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.
[00:30:08] The word of God for the people of God.
[00:30:10] Thanks be to God.
[00:30:12] Would you pray with me?
[00:30:13] God, may the words of my mouth, the meditation of the hearts of all of us be acceptable in thy sight.
[00:30:21] O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.
[00:30:27] A wise preacher friend of mine once was telling me about evangelism.
[00:30:32] And she said, you know, it's not a matter of dressing up a message or selling a product.
[00:30:38] It's not about persuasion or argumentation.
[00:30:42] I can't convince anybody that God loves them.
[00:30:46] All I can do is tell them as clearly as I can what I believe and to place it on their heart.
[00:30:53] And then just to wait, to wait.
[00:30:58] And then when your heart breaks, the love of God can seep in.
[00:31:08] The story of the resurrection is a hard sell.
[00:31:12] With the mortality rate still at 100%, people are less than open to hearing about somebody coming back from the dead.
[00:31:19] And all you can do is kind of tell them the story of God's love through Easter and kind of wait and wait for life to take its course, for something to break open their heart, to let love seep in.
[00:31:38] The story of the walk to Emmaus, I think, is genius storytelling.
[00:31:43] The story is mysterious and it's very tender.
[00:31:48] It's often ruined by preachers trying to add something to the simple beauty and the perfect construction of the story.
[00:31:55] It invites us to enter the story ourselves, to kind of walk alongside this mysterious stranger, and then to take a place at the table.
[00:32:06] The story is a little comical, really, when you think about it.
[00:32:09] I mean, you know, Jesus kind of sneaks up to them, you know, to walk alongside them.
[00:32:16] two grieving people they said you know we thought he was the one and jesus the stranger leads them in a bible study when they reach their destination jesus acts if he's as if he's going on right
[00:32:29] he goes well my work is done here and he keeps going they go wait wait oh they invite him in and it's there at the table jesus picks up bread and gives that fourfold motion and then
[00:32:42] like Houdini, he just disappears. And they say to one another, weren't our hearts burning inside of us? The grief that they had felt in the loss of Jesus and the disbelief that they and bewilderment they had about rumors of a resurrection, love seeped through the cracks
[00:33:08] of a broken heart. Some of you may have participated in Emmaus program, Emmaus walk.
[00:33:19] If you're a Catholic, had grown up Catholic, you may remember Curcio.
[00:33:25] And those projects have been really amazing retreats.
[00:33:29] And for a lot of people, it has been a life-changing encounter.
[00:33:33] And anybody that's ever gone to one will tell you that it's not enough for you to actually hear the story of the gospel.
[00:33:41] What you really need is to experience it.
[00:33:45] Experience it for yourself.
[00:33:48] Luke gives the perfect story, and then he sits back and he waits for our hearts to just break open.
[00:33:57] Inside this story, there's a few truths that I think are worth fleshing out.
[00:34:02] The first one is, if you encounter the presence of God, it has the power to make you whole.
[00:34:10] Healing power of whatever that you are struggling with.
[00:34:14] The encounter itself with the presence is healing and restorative.
[00:34:20] It may not solve all of the needs that you have for healing, but it will and can mend the broken heart.
[00:34:28] You know, we love the joy of Easter, the celebration of victory over death, but we can't forget that Easter began with people with broken hearts.
[00:34:37] People changed because they were in relationship to Jesus.
[00:34:41] And when they were faced with the loss of His presence, it was devastating.
[00:34:47] The encounter with the resurrected Jesus then was transforming.
[00:34:50] and healing. It set them on fire inside. A second truth is this. I like to say it this way. There is no place where God is not. Put positively, God is everywhere, omnipresent. God is in all things,
[00:35:10] in every moment, as close to us as our next breath. We live in a world that is infused with God, the very source of life, the driving energy of the universe.
[00:35:26] This profound truth starts to cheapen and depreciate as soon as we start to say it out loud.
[00:35:32] The story of the gospel is that Jesus, God's presence with us, that Jesus, God is present with us in some of the worst and unimaginable experiences of life.
[00:35:47] Dying on a cross, Jesus joined us in the worst of our experiences.
[00:35:53] The suffering, crucified Jesus brought the presence of God even into the place where it felt like God was absent.
[00:36:04] And finally, a third truth.
[00:36:06] We are going to forget number one and two.
[00:36:09] It's true.
[00:36:10] We will forget that God is with us.
[00:36:12] We will leave this place and somewhere between now and Monday morning, we will probably act like we didn't even know that God was around.
[00:36:22] Life will return to its common, ordinary time.
[00:36:25] No one can experience God's healing presence all of the time.
[00:36:34] And when we suffer and we had forgotten those two things I've mentioned, it can feel like God is far away and is nowhere to be found.
[00:36:47] So we in the church give you all spiritual practices, ways that you can draw close to the story where you can remember.
[00:36:55] We create sacred spaces like this.
[00:37:00] We need sacred times like this to set aside, to remember these truths, and to rise back up into our consciousness.
[00:37:08] This table, the sacrament of communion, is a sacred act of creative genius on Jesus' part.
[00:37:16] You know, we dress it up a little bit with the metal trays and make it look nice, But the reality is that this is simply the common meal of Jesus' day.
[00:37:28] And the genius of him is he took that, one of the most mundane, necessary activities of life, and turned it into an opportunity to encounter the divine presence.
[00:37:39] Take this bread.
[00:37:40] This is my flesh.
[00:37:42] Take this cup.
[00:37:43] This is my blood.
[00:37:46] This is the life force of me.
[00:37:51] When you take in food, as you must each day, then think of me. Then know I am present with you. I had a roommate in divinity school who was a Dominican priest, a monk really. He told me of a practice that they had in seminary in the high
[00:38:08] holy days. One of the monks was given a chime and probably it would have been like perfect with the bells, you know. So he hit those bells or he hits the chime and he would do so every 15 minutes,
[00:38:21] every 15 minutes no matter what was going on at the time the chatter at the lunch table the silence in the library chores of washing dishes a theological argument breaking out in class and all of a sudden the chime would ring
[00:38:34] everybody would stop what they were doing and the man would stand up and he said my dear brothers I remind you that we are in the holy presence of God life and activities would go back to normal
[00:38:52] 15 minutes later the chime would ring again.
[00:38:57] I wish that I could just follow each and every one of you through your entire day and just chime every 15 minutes.
[00:39:03] You could set your clocks to your watch or your phones to do that.
[00:39:08] This is the common meal.
[00:39:14] It's given to us like striking a chime to remind us of what we have forgotten, that God is present, that God makes us whole.
[00:39:24] The common meal Jesus provides to that common meal an extra ingredient.
[00:39:31] He infuses the ordinary with his very presence.
[00:39:35] He takes the place at the table as an honored guest, as the host itself.
[00:39:42] And there he does what he did when he fed 5,000 people.
[00:39:46] And then later, two chapters later, when Jesus fed the 4,000 people.
[00:39:50] And then later, when he gathered the 12, it was his custom.
[00:39:56] He took bread, he gave thanks to God, he broke the bread, and he gave it.
[00:40:02] Suddenly, suddenly the two strangers having reached Emmaus at the table, when Jesus did that, their eyes were opened, they woke up, and they saw, and Jesus disappeared.
[00:40:20] You want a little more truth about all of this?
[00:40:22] How about this?
[00:40:24] I heard Henry Nouwen once say that Jesus' formula of the fourfold pattern for the spiritual life, that this is actually a pattern for us.
[00:40:36] Jesus does four things at the communion table.
[00:40:39] He takes bread, he blesses it, he breaks it, and he gives it, four verbs.
[00:40:48] This is all true for us.
[00:40:49] We are chosen.
[00:40:50] We are taken.
[00:40:53] We are blessed.
[00:40:55] We are loved and sustained in ways that we forget that we have seen.
[00:41:00] We're chosen.
[00:41:01] God chose us and says, you are my beloved.
[00:41:05] We're blessed in ways that we can't even see, don't even know.
[00:41:08] And then somewhere along the line, we're broken.
[00:41:11] And if we're human beings, we are going to experience some kind of brokenness.
[00:41:15] It's part of being human.
[00:41:19] And if we're lucky, though, if we live a life where we don't have a lot of suffering, then we can choose a sense of brokenness.
[00:41:26] We can choose to choose some discomfort and some inconvenience, to suffer alongside the God who is trying to love those who are broken into completion.
[00:41:39] And finally, we're given.
[00:41:43] It's not just to hold on to this for ourselves.
[00:41:45] We are given.
[00:41:46] We are sent out to be a gift to others, to live a life that is beyond our simple egos and become gifts to those who are suffering.
[00:41:58] God takes us, blesses us, breaks us, gives us.
[00:42:02] And perhaps, maybe through our giving, through our being with others, the eyes of others might be open to the truth of the gospel.
[00:42:12] With their hearts broken, love might seep in.
[00:42:15] It might even set them on fire.
[00:42:20] All right, I've said too much, you know.
[00:42:22] I told you.
[00:42:24] Ruined a perfectly good story.
[00:42:26] Afraid that you would just ignore it.
[00:42:28] go on about your mundane, ordinary life and not realize that every meal that you have is an opportunity to experience God's presence.
[00:42:37] I was afraid, so I chatted on.
[00:42:40] You'll have to forgive me.
[00:42:42] You know, when you preach about communion, it's a little like giving a lecture about dance because you don't learn about dance from a lecture.
[00:42:53] You dance a dance class.
[00:42:57] Put your body into it in this sacred place, in this sacred time, this common, ordinary meal, just remember, beware.
[00:43:08] Christ Jesus, our Lord, may just sneak up on you, and I hope you are surprised.
[00:43:30] I'm going to sneak in here.
[00:43:37] Carolyn, Ollie, Eddie, Mary Jo, could you all come and help us out with communion today?
[00:43:47] We gather at this table.
[00:43:49] We remember Jesus' custom.
[00:43:52] We remember that we are called to celebrate God's presence with us here in the midst of these gifts.
[00:44:02] It is always right and good and a joyful thing to give God thanks.
[00:44:06] Would you join with me?
[00:44:08] The Lord be with you.
[00:44:09] Lift up your hearts.
[00:44:12] It is right and a good and a joyful thing always and everywhere to give God thanks and praise.
[00:44:18] And we do so this day as we gather at the common meal that Jesus designated as the place where his presence would be.
[00:44:28] We remember all the times that Jesus gathered, but especially the time when he gathered with his disciples for one last meal.
[00:44:37] And it was there that Jesus took bread.
[00:44:40] And after giving thanks to you, he broke the bread.
[00:44:45] He gave it to his disciples and he said, Take, eat, this is my body which is given for you.
[00:44:51] Do this in remembrance of me.
[00:44:54] When the supper was over, Jesus took the cup, and after giving thanks to you gave it to the disciples and said drink from this all of you for this is the blood of the new covenant
[00:45:02] poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sin.
[00:45:07] And so we who gather here we come to remember to be remembered to experience once again that fourfold motion that Christ calls us to so that we may be chosen may be blessed may be broken
[00:45:24] and may be given.
[00:45:27] Friends, would you join with me as we pray the prayer that Jesus taught us to pray together?
[00:45:32] Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
[00:45:36] Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
[00:45:42] Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.
[00:45:51] And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
[00:45:56] for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
[00:46:25] I'm going to serve our servers.
[00:46:27] I'm going to serve our musicians.
[00:46:29] And then I'm going to invite the rest of you to come down here by the center aisle.
[00:46:32] We'll take communion by intention. I'll give you a piece of the bread. We'll have cups on either side and you can dip it in the cup and take the two together.
[00:46:41] If you prefer to have an individual cup, we'll have those available as well.
[00:46:45] And I want to remind you that we We are, this is not the table of our congregation.
[00:46:52] This is the table of Jesus, who is the host of this table.
[00:46:58] And that means that everybody here is invited and welcome to come.
[00:47:03] If you choose to need an individual cup, we have those.
[00:47:05] And we also have gluten-free, so ask us for that.
[00:47:09] So friends, let us gather for the common meal with an uncommon presence of God.

[00:47:16] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:47:16] Let's go from this place, having taken the very presence of God within you,

[00:53:52] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:53:52] and let it burn, give you heartburn.
[00:53:57] You're taking your broken hearts to burn, but also to burn with Christ's love.
[00:54:01] So go from this place and share it with others.
[00:54:03] We go with God who goes with us in the name of our creator, our sustainer, and our redeemer.
[00:54:08] Amen.