Transcription downloaded from https://services.pcumc.org/sermons/27714/risk/. Disclaimer: this is an automatically generated machine transcription - there may be small errors or mistranscriptions. Please refer to the original audio if you are in any doubt. [0:00] Thank you. [0:30] Thank you. [1:00] Thank you. [1:30] Thank you. [2:00] Thank you. [2:30] Thank you. [3:00] Thank you. [3:30] Thank you. [4:00] Thank you. [4:30] Thank you. [5:00] God's everyday act of creating new life, all of these acts bringing that which is not into being, all of these are acts of originality. [5:13] What can you do to risk what God has given you to expand God's love and grace in the world? [5:52] That's what we're going to be talking about today. [6:22] It is indeed a joy. [6:52] And creating as you work, and creating as you work lovingly through us and creating as you work lovingly through us and among us. [7:22] Amen. Amen. Amen. Will you come and follow me. [7:54] Will you come and follow me. Will you come and follow me. Will you come and follow me. Will you come and follow me. Will you come and follow me. Will you come and follow me. [8:06] Will you come and follow me. Will you come and follow me. Will you come and follow me. Will you come and follow me. Will you come and follow me if I would call your name? [8:22] Will you go where you don't know and never be the same? Will you let my love be shown? [8:33] Will you let our name be known? Will you let my life be grown in you and you in me? [8:45] Will you leave yourself behind if I would call your name? [8:57] Will you careful, cruel, and kind that will ever be the same? Will you risk the hostile stare? Should your life attract or spare? [9:11] Will you let the answer prayer in you and you in me? Will you love the new you are if I would call your name? [9:32] Will you quell the fear inside and never be the same? Will you use the faith you found to receive the world around? [9:46] Through my sight and touch and sound in you and you in me? Lord, your summons echoes through when you would call my name Let me turn and follow you and never be the same In your company I'll go Where your love and footsteps show Let's all move and live and grow in you and you in me You may be seated Good morning [10:46] I'm Jennifer and I'm the newest member of your pastoral staff here And I'm so excited to be here and work with all of you So as we enter into this time of offering It's time for us to be drawn closer to God And send our talents out into the world Is by giving to God That we declare our intentions to him That money and God God means more than money Or the security that money offers And we declare that this importance And we devote ourselves to God and his mission So will you join me in a time of prayer And an offering this morning Thank you Thank you Asabel [11:58] Thank you. [12:28] Thank you. [12:58] Thank you. [13:28] Thank you. [13:58] Thank you. [14:28] Thank you. [14:58] Thank you. [15:28] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. [15:40] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. [16:20] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. [16:32] Thank you. Thank you. [16:44] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. [17:24] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. [17:36] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks you. [17:48] Do you son of the name of the kingdom of Jesus needs to beác. Jaclyn. And the тран native land, 유 diverse and 우� into the elo Selbst one system of the name. And so we pause in silence to personally confess our sins to you now. [18:02] Lord, in your mercy. Lord, we lift to you our church. We want Pendleton Center to be a strong and vital church in our community. [18:13] We want to be used by you to make a difference in the lives of others. The need for hope, acceptance, love, and compassion is great. [18:27] And you are an answer to those needs. Help us to show the way, others, the way to you through our programs, through our ministries. But most of all, through our lives and example. [18:39] Lord, in your mercy. Lord, we especially want to lift up grace to you. Who was in a terrible car accident. And for all those who are sick, suffering, lonely, misguided, or just in the need of your presence. [18:58] We ask that you would touch them with your healing, your guidance, and your peace. You have those that we've listed on our prayer list and in our hearts. [19:10] So at this time, we ask your blessing. Lord, in your mercy. Lord, for the confidence of joy and hope we have because we walk daily with you. [19:23] We give you thanks and praise you in the name of your son, our Lord Jesus Christ. And all the people of God said, Amen. Amen. Amen. Good morning. [20:13] Today's scripture is from the gospel according to Matthew. Again, it will be like a man going on a journey who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. [20:25] To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his own ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. [20:43] So also was the one with the two bags of gold and gained two more. But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master's money. [20:55] After a long time, the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five master. [21:06] He said, You entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more. His master replied, Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful with a few things. [21:17] I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share in your master's wealth. The man who had two bags of gold also came. Master, he said, You entrusted me with two bags. [21:29] See, I have gained two more. His master replied, Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been entrusted with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. [21:39] Come and share your master's happiness. Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. Master, he said, I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. [21:53] So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you. His master replied, You wicked, lazy servant. So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I do not gather seed. [22:08] Well, then you should have returned my money on deposit with the banker so that when I returned, I would have received it back with interest. So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. [22:21] For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have even what they have will be taken from them and thrown that worthless servant outside into the darkness, where they will be weeping and gnashing their teeth. [22:39] This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Would you pray with me, please? [23:03] Loving and gracious God, we are so grateful that you have gathered us together this morning. And that as we have opened our hearts to you in praise, by singing, by praying, and by hearing and meditating on your word, we ask that you would move among us now and plant a seed in us. [23:25] A seed that will grow and bear fruit for the honor and glory of your name. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, we pray. Amen. [23:36] So as you know, we have been taking this walk together through a series of messages called Drawn In, which is about God's ongoing creative work in the world. [23:47] And this week we want to spend some time talking about the idea of risk, because all creative enterprise involves a bit of risk. And so to help us start that talk, I want to share about a great colleague I once had. [24:05] Over the course of my professional life, I've had the blessing to work with a lot of great people. I'm mindful of this particular colleague because he had such a great and welcoming spirit. Whenever you would see him, and I would see him whether we were sitting down at a meeting together, or I'd go to his office, or even bumping into him in the hallway, one of his ways of greeting folks, if I saw him, I'd be like, how's it going this morning? [24:29] He's like, I'm living the dream. I'm living the dream. Now, sometimes this was sarcasm. And you could tell. Not sure exactly what had been happening over the course of his day, but, you know, like all of us, there were days when it did not exactly feel like you were living the dream. [24:50] But I'm willing to bet, nine times out of ten, knowing this guy, that when he said it, he was telling the truth. He had work that he enjoyed doing. [25:01] He had passions in his life that he was deeply invested in. Passions that were fun. He loved to sail, for example. Passions that meant a lot to him. He also was married to a great lady. [25:14] And he had so many things that he brought to the table around so many different particular activities. I do refer to him in the past tense because he lost the cancer battle and has gone on to his reward. [25:28] But that said, living the dream. Now, you may know somebody else who uses this phrase, that they're living the dream. I want to look at you and simply ask you the question. [25:41] If somebody asked you if you were living the dream the way you understand it, what would your answer be? There's not a lot of folks who really rush to put their hand up when you ask them, are you living the dream? [25:56] Now, especially if we look back to what we wanted to be when we were kids, that dream is probably long in the rear view. But even if you think about the dreams you have now, if you're not exactly living it, hopefully you're at least on the road to it. [26:12] But I'm going to make it even harder, which is exactly what you needed after that little shock of reality. But how many of you think you're actually living God's dream for your life? [26:29] That's an entirely different question. There's a few yeses out there. But how many of you think you're living God's dream? It's something to take yourself out of that seat and actually wonder, am I walking on the road? [26:43] Am I doing the things that God really hopes for me? And that's the question that's kind of square in front of us this morning as we look at the story. [26:56] Because our gospel story today actually centers that question, even though sometimes we read it, doesn't feel like that. Because this idea of you playing your part in God's dream is very much an undercurrent in the story of the bags of gold. [27:12] Now, for those of you who have been raised in the church and may be familiar with this story, we usually hear it as the parable of the talents, depending on what your translation of scripture was. And actually, the way we use talent now is derived from this. [27:27] But many of us who have actually gone into this and studied it know that talent was actually a measure. It wasn't the way we tend to do it today. It was actually a measure. [27:37] It was a measure of weight. And it came out to be about 75 pounds, according to one source I looked at. I want you to just sit with that for a minute. Because you heard me say, the parable of the bags of gold. [27:49] Now I want you to think about 75 pounds. That adds up, doesn't it? Okay. There's one source I looked at around this that suggested that what this particular merchant or landowner was doing when he gave people their talents, that a talent worked out to be almost 16 years. [28:12] Hold that in your head. 16 years of income for a day laborer at the time. 16 years. Can you imagine that? One other source, just to keep you in this context, one other source said that what this person was doing is that he gave out in today's value, gave it about $2 million. [28:37] Okay. So this is something of great wealth. This is something of serious importance. This is something that matters. And when you think about entrusting people with something of that kind of import and then leaving town, because that's the story. [28:54] Then leaving town. Okay. You get why this is kind of a big deal. Right? Now, let's pay attention to what Jesus is trying to communicate here. [29:07] Because not only do we sit with this idea of a talent and what it means, but we've got to see what Jesus is trying to communicate. So, quick summary. [29:19] You heard the story read by Jacob Forrest. But remember what happens is we've got this merchant, landowner, wealthy person, who calls together three of his staff. He's getting ready to disappear for a while, go off somewhere, do whatever he's going to do. [29:34] And he gives each of them some of the fortune to take care of while he is away. Okay? One gets five talents, and he goes to work with it. [29:54] Another gets two talents, goes to work with it. One gets one talent, and we're going to focus on him in a little bit. But, again, I want you to hear what Jesus is doing. [30:08] Because if you have your Bible, and if you open it, what you'll see is that we're in Matthew 25. And we're starting at verse 14, and we go to verse 30. But I want you to pay attention to what comes in front of this. [30:20] Because in Matthew 24, Jesus is asked a question, and he talks about the destruction of the temple and the coming of the end of the age. He immediately starts to continue teaching about what happens in the future. [30:34] He tries to prep the disciples for a time when he will be gone away, and how things will work, and what he hopes happens when he comes back. And this is set in that larger context. [30:49] He talks about faithful servants towards the end of Matthew 24. He gives us the parable of the bridesmaids, the five who didn't stay awake, and the ones who did stay awake, while they were waiting for the bridegroom to come. [31:06] Then comes this story. And after this story, he talks about the sheep and the goats. In other words, what's going to happen when he returns. [31:18] And it's important that you kind of see that setting. Because when you see the parable in that context, you understand why the story has so much import to it. Okay? [31:29] And remember, we enter this at verse 14. And when we enter this at verse 14, it starts with the idea that, again, it will be like a man going on a journey. [31:39] Jesus has already been teaching, and he's been talking about this is what the coming kingdom is like. Okay? So that's what's important, why you have that understanding of where we start. [31:53] So we got the wealthy person going away. We've given this high-value stuff to members of the team. And we know what happens to it. [32:04] That the one who was given five makes five more. The one who was given two makes two more. Then we come to the one. [32:17] He's usually the focus of the story. Now, we know what happens. When he gets his, he runs off and he hides it in a field. [32:28] Itself a questionable decision, right? Remember what we said it was worth. Again, he runs off and hides it in a field. Okay? [32:40] Now, when the master returns and starts to settle these accounts, remember what he tells the first two. Well done, good and faithful servant. [32:51] But then we come to this guy. Now, here's something I want you to focus on. When the guy comes and he settles up with this particular person, I want you to see what he leads with. [33:05] Okay? I want you to see what he leads with. So, if you're with me and you have scripture with you, we're in verse 24. Okay? Matthew 25, verse 24. Then the man who received one bag of gold came. [33:20] Master, he said, I knew that you were a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. [33:33] So, I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. Did you catch the lead? Master, I knew you were a hard man. That basically, you take stuff you haven't worked for and you count on other people to do this work and you kind of reap the benefits. [33:55] Here's your money back. Now, I don't know about you. That seems like an odd conversation to have with one supervisor. [34:10] Okay? Especially when you're talking about an awful lot of money. But, it sets the stage for why this is so important. Because, remember, the wealthy person has gone off and entrusted this one with something of very significant value to him. [34:31] And, what's interesting about this response from the servant is that he seems to get the fact that the master had an expectation. [34:48] That I didn't ask you to just hold my money. Right? He seems to be, he seems like he gets that, but he doesn't do anything about it. [35:01] He still doesn't do anything about it. And, he's so afraid of what the master will do if he loses the money that he does nothing with it. [35:15] That he does nothing with it. Brings us back to our theme today of risk. Because, the story is pretty clear. [35:26] Being that you understand the larger context, you get that what's going on in this story is ultimately, Jesus is talking about himself. And, he's talking about his disciples. [35:38] That you've been gifted with something of significant value. And, I'm counting on you to go out here and do something with it until I return. [35:48] That lands on us a bit different. Because, we all know. [36:00] Go back to the beginning of this little conversation we're having. If you can sit there and honestly assess yourself in saying, how many of you are living God's dream for your life? [36:12] And, if you're struggling with, well maybe I am and maybe I'm not. Then, maybe this conversation is hitting a particular place. [36:29] Because, you've got to hear me on this church. Every single one of us has been entrusted with something of great value by our Lord. [36:47] Whatever his gift to you is. Whatever his gift to you is. He does not expect you to run off and hide it in a field. [36:59] And, the question you have to ask yourself is, is that in fact what you have done? Is that in fact what has happened in your life? [37:15] Because, when we do these things that we do. When we get up and we do our daily grind. The question we sometimes wrestle with is, we know that there may be something bubbling up in our souls. [37:29] Maybe some quiet little voice. Speaking to us saying, you can hear a gentle call that says, maybe there's something else that you are being asked to do. [37:45] You look around and you see your daily grind and you see the things you are experiencing. And, you're not feeling exactly as fulfilled as you might. [37:57] Good things are happening in your life. It's not saying this is bad news. Not saying that things have to be terrible for you to experience this. But, there's something going on inside your soul that says, maybe there's something else. [38:14] Maybe there's something more. And, the question that we all have to wrestle with is, what is that voice calling you to? [38:26] What might that voice be beckoning you to? Because, it's easy to ignore the voice. [38:38] Remember what the star of our little show was talking about. Says, well, I was afraid. Fundamentally, that's usually what it comes back to, right? [38:51] Some form of being afraid. Usually, that fear takes on one of two forms. First is, you look at the challenge, you hear the voice, and you go, well, I just don't think I can do that. [39:05] That's a form of fear. I just don't think I can do that. That, I look at whatever that challenge is. I look at whatever the road is in front of me. [39:15] And, I just don't think I have the gifting to go on and do this thing. Second challenge takes the point of, well, I just don't think it'll work. [39:30] I just don't think it'll work. Hear the difference between the two. The first one is about you. The second one is about how you perceive the world. Okay? Because, the first one says, well, I don't think I can do this. [39:43] In other words, it's about your skill set, your abilities. The other one says, well, I'm looking at the world. I'm calculating with all the rational gifts I have. And, I said, well, if I go out and do X, Y, and Z, I don't expect A, B, and C to happen. [40:01] Remember how we felt when we were talking about what we led, what the servant led with? Master, I know that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not scattered seed, gathering where you have not sown. [40:19] If you are hearing that voice and something is bubbling up in your soul, and you are telling God, I don't think you're right. [40:35] I don't think that what you've given me is enough, God. Or, I don't think that the road you set in front of me is the right road. You can't possibly expect me to go do that. [40:51] That's a hard thing to say to God. It's a hard thing to say to the one with whom we've pledged our lives, is it not? Because that's what you've got to wrestle with. [41:04] Do you really believe that the God who spoke the entire universe into existence, the God who dreamed up a unique space in the world that is distinctly yours, distinctly yours, in other words, when God looked across all that ever was and all that ever is and all that ever will be, God had the foresight to say, you know what? [41:29] I'm going to create this right here. And in this space, I'm going to put this unique soul. And this unique soul has a role to play in the plan. [41:42] Just like a thread in a tapestry. Just like a stroke in a painting. Just like a note in a song. They all add up to a bigger thing. But the larger work is diminished if that piece isn't there. [41:56] That larger piece is diminished if that individual piece isn't there. Now, it's not that God can't fix it. God is God after all. [42:09] However, God is counting on you. God is counting on you. And do you not believe that God will give you what you need to do what God expects? [42:29] Because if you do not believe that, you are saying what the servant is saying. That's our challenge. [42:40] God is going to be a challenge. Now, why have we spent so much time in this? We are talking about this idea of risking. Because when we think about risk, most of us think about risk a lot. [42:55] We are familiar with risk. We have risked pretty much all our lives. That person you now love and have loved for so many years. You took a risk at one point before they were your love and decided to approach them. [43:09] That career that you spent so many years doing, there was a time when there was an application that you had to fill out. And you took a risk and said, yes, I think I can do that. [43:21] The time you said, Lord, I am a sinner. I am outside of this relationship that I want. And you decided, I am going to take a risk and say yes. [43:38] So it is not as though we are unfamiliar with risk. We do it all the time. The question is, can we move that same attitude, we can move that same courage to the place where we are willing to take a risk based on what God is calling you to do and be? [43:57] See, the thing is, when we think about risk, most of us get our intellectual hats on, we think about calculated risk, right? We don't just push all the chips in on everything. We think about calculated risk. [44:11] But let's talk about that calculation. Because if you're looking at the world and you say, wow, God, that's going to be hard. [44:24] But is it too hard for God? You say, wow, God, I don't think that I can do that. Do you really think that God is not going to give you what you need to do what God is calling you to do? [44:44] Say, wow, God, I don't know that that's going to be that much fun. Well, that's probably true. That's probably true. [44:54] Everything ain't a walk on the beach. However, even though the task itself and the work may not be a walk on the beach, the thing is, is that we know what happens after you've put in the work. [45:12] Since when are we afraid of work? Since when are we afraid to get our backs bent over and break a sweat for something? We know this story. [45:27] We know how it goes. The challenge that we are facing is why is it we can get it when it comes to what the world expects of us, but not what God is expecting of us. [45:37] We know how it is. See, risk can be really challenging. You get this. But the question we have to ask ourselves, and if you hear nothing else, I want you to hear this today, is that do you really think that God is going to hang you out there without what you need? [46:07] So, if you don't believe that, because I can see on your faces that most of you do not believe that, so then our challenge becomes this. [46:22] To help yourself get into the place where that voice, that thing bubbling up inside you starts to become a little louder. [46:34] Where the picture that God is painting in front of you becomes a little clearer. So that you can step into whatever God has asked you to do with courage, with boldness, with faith, and go to the victory that he has in store. [46:50] You must be willing to risk whatever it is you fear in order to experience God's dream for you. And if you know that to be true, remember this about our story. [47:03] We spend so much time focusing on the one who buried his talent. But did we forget about the other two? Because the other two, they took what was given to them, and they did what they were expected to do. [47:22] And it returned with fruit. If we're going to spend a lot of time focused on the failure of the one, maybe we ought to remember what happens to the other two. [47:34] And not only the fact that they came back with stuff, but what God said. Well done, good and faithful servant. [47:48] Because remember what God was upset about. God was upset about the fact that the one servant didn't even try. God was upset about the one who was upset about the two. That was the source of his anger. [48:00] Not that there was failure, but that he didn't even try. Can you imagine if when Jesus called together the disciples and he said, I'm sending you out like lambs among wolves. [48:17] Go out and do this preaching and teaching. Can you imagine what happens when they all come back together and say, James and Andrew come up to Jesus and go, well, I know what you said. [48:29] But quite frankly, we were a little scared. And so we didn't actually go anywhere. We just kind of hung out over here and prayed until everybody came back. [48:41] Can you imagine where we'd be if the disciples felt that way? God will give you what you need to succeed. [48:58] Let me give you an example of that. I have recently had the fortune to come into connection and friendship with a particular man. This man is a disabled veteran. [49:11] He has suffered physically. He's actually lost a leg because of his service. He's also suffering some mental health challenges because of his service. And he's essentially become kind of housebound because of a combination of the two. [49:30] He uses a wheelchair most of the time. And because of the mental challenges he faces, he's not comfortable in large crowds and unfamiliar spaces. So, one of the times he was having a low point, he logged into a chat room for people with depression. [49:50] It took him a while. It took him a while. But eventually warmed up to the place where he could share a little bit of what he was feeling. After he did that, he started not only to receive, but he started to give. [50:07] He was offering support to others in the room the same way he had received that support. And now what's happened, he's been invited by those who run that site to become one of the moderators of the chat. [50:19] So, even when you look around his circumstance and what the world tells him about what he's been through, who he is and where he is, that he has now stepped into a new place where he is moving toward God's dream for who he can be. [50:39] Don't ever believe that somehow these stories are not about you. You just have not yet stepped into your story. [50:53] Trust the God you worship. Trust the one who has saved you. Trust that he knows the plan. [51:04] He knows your worth and he knows what he has given you and called you to do. And simply take the risk. Amen. [51:17] And amen. Loving and gracious God, we thank you that you are who you are. The ways that you work in our lives. The ways you continue to call us, to bless us, to equip us, and to use us. [51:33] Lord, for all of us who may be experiencing some hesitation. To all of us who may be experiencing some fear. To all of us for whom the noise of the world may be drowning out the still small voice that we are trying to hear. [51:49] Lord, you know our circumstance better than we do. So, Lord, we pray today for one another. For all who need that voice to be more clear. [52:00] For that vision to be more bold before them. For their spirits to rise up. For them to trust in the love that they have for you. The grace they have experienced from you. [52:11] So that we can move into the world. And be your messengers. Move into the world and be your apostles. Move into the world and be your difference makers. [52:24] So that you will be glorified. For those who do not yet know. May hear. This is your hope. [52:37] This is your plan. This is your ongoing dream. For all of us. Let us receive it. Let us hear it. [52:49] And let us say yes. Amen. Amen. As Scott said, it's hard. [53:18] It's not always a walk in the park or on the beach. And so this table has always been set before us. To give us the strength. [53:30] To remind us the forgiveness. So let us be about this sacrament of communion. One of the most creative things that Jesus did in his ministry. [53:43] Was to draw people into fellowship around a meal. His actions were not what people were used to. And he invited everyone. [53:54] Just as we do everyone to the table. Perhaps he sensed that when the food and drink is filling our bodies. People's guard comes down a little bit. [54:05] And they see common humanity. Common hunger. Perhaps it's a good model for us to think about how we look to eat with our neighbors. [54:18] Even if our neighbors are our families. So we come to the table to be reminded of this radical, hospitable, creative Jesus that we follow. [54:29] And we follow his example welcoming all who are hungry for God's love. For fellowship. For connection. For inspiration. And for new and everlasting life in Jesus Christ. [54:43] The Lord be with you. And also with you. Lift up your hearts. Lift up the Lord. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. And we decide to give our thanks and praise. [54:55] God set in motion the grandest creativity project of all. Creating light where there was no light. Water and land. Creatures on foot and wing. [55:08] Beauty and laughter. And God called it good. Out of that goodness we came. We. You and I. All. Came. [55:19] Each blessed with the gifts of the creator. We were invited to begin our lives of creating, making, building, planting, organizing, designing, crafting, fashioning. [55:33] Sometimes we get sidetracked. And we forget this true calling we destroyed instead of built up. But you God. You keep repairing our lives. [55:45] Calling us again into the joy of relationship with you. And so we proclaim our praise with the saints of all time and place. Saying, holy, holy, holy Lord. [55:58] God of power and might. Heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. [56:10] Hosanna in the highest. Your creativity God knows no bounds. And in the fullness of time you came to us and fashioned our own flesh and blood. [56:23] In sending Jesus you created human and holy connection. And showed us what love looks like in public. Preaching good news to the poor. [56:33] Proclaiming release to the captives. Recovering of sight to the blind. And setting at liberty those who are oppressed. Jesus promised to continue this work. [56:46] Through a new covenant of creativity. Sending his Holy Spirit to remain and move among us and through us. On the night in which he gave himself up for us. [56:58] He took bread. Gave thanks to you and broke the bread. And gave it to his disciples and said. Take and eat. This is my body broken for you. [57:10] Do this in remembrance of me. And when the supper was over. He took the cup. He gave thanks to you. He gave it to his disciples and said. [57:21] Drink from this all of you. This is my blood of the new covenant. Poured out for you. And for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this as often as you drink it. [57:32] In remembrance of me. And so what shall we do? We will repeat these lines. And you'll repeat after me. [57:44] We will break ourselves open. We will pour ourselves out. We will pour ourselves out. In food for the hungry. [57:56] In food for the hungry. And love for the stranger. And love for the stranger. Just as Christ offered all. Just as Christ offered all. [58:08] So too shall we. So too shall we. We will rise to new life. We will rise to new life. And commit to create. [58:19] And commit to create. And we will proclaim the mystery of faith. Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again. [58:29] Pour out your Holy Spirit. Upon all of us in this moment. That we may know your presence. And power in our lives. Make us one. [58:41] So that we can be used. To create your reign. Over all the earth. As it is in heaven. Let this bread. And fruit of the vine. Fill us with your spirit. For the work and play. [58:52] Of loving creation. And each other fully. And with the confidence. Of children of God. Let us pray. Our Father. Who art in heaven. Hallowed be thy name. [59:04] Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done. On earth. As it is in heaven. Give us this day. Our daily bread. And forgive us. [59:14] Our trespasses. As we forgive those. Who trespass against us. And lead us not. To temptation. But deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom. [59:26] And the power. And the glory. For ever and ever. Amen. Amen. If you have not. Been with us. These last few weeks. [59:37] While we have been serving. Communion. Down in the front. In a moment. I will call up those. Who are going to be. Helping to serve. And we will first serve each other. [59:49] Then we will serve them. And then they will serve you. At three stations. Across the front. Gluten free. And regular. Both in the disposable. And we also. [60:00] Have. Gluten bread. And we have. Gluten free bread. That I promise is. Gluten free. Gluten free. Not contaminated. [60:11] But we also have. Gluten free. Communion cups. For those who want. Someone asked last week. Said last week. I'm not comfortable yet. Taking communion. [60:22] That's something. That people have touched. These cups. With the little cracker. And the juice. Those are the ones. That you would want. We have them here for you. If you come up to receive. [60:33] And you want one of those. Just let us know. Let us give it to you. Because it is a body of Christ. Given for you. It is a body of Christ. [61:11] It is a body of Christ. For those who want us to eat. It is a body of Christ. Isn't it a body of Christ? Would we like to use a body of Christ. Whether or not. Can we kiss him by his flesh. Is a body of Christ. It is a body of Christ. It is a body of Christ. It is a body of Christ. Comment we swallow. The body of Christ. Will you need his body of Christ. [61:30] Well, Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord, LLC. Thank you. [62:06] Thank you. [62:36] Thank you. [63:06] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. [63:18] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. [63:30] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. receive just let us know and someone will come and serve you coisa liberam gasm i i Thank you. [64:56] Thank you. [65:26] Thank you. [65:56] Thank you. [66:26] Thank you. [66:56] Thank you. [67:26] Thank you. [67:56] Thank you. [68:26] Thank you. [68:56] Thank you. [69:26] Thank you. [69:56] Thank you. [70:26] Thank you. [70:56] Thank you. [71:26] Thank you. [71:56] Thank you. [72:26] Thank you. [72:56] Thank you. [73:26] And God could do it without you. [73:56] Thank you. [74:26] Thank you. [74:56] Thank you. [75:26] Thank you. [75:56] Thank you.