In Memory of God!



Gate Pa: Easter Sunday 2013.

Readings:
            First Reading:              Acts 10:34-43                          Bible Page 895
            Second Reading:         1 Cor 15:19-26                        Bible Page 936
            Gospel:                        Luke 24:1-12                           Bible Page 860
What I want to say:
*        Ask three questions of Easter:
o   What image comes to mind when I think of Easter?
o   What image of God am I given in the Easter story
o   Who am I in the Easter story?
*        Reaffirm our Baptism – statement that our self identity and self worth is found in the God who is love, who loves us as something of great worth and dignity by an act of such self giving, and who through this gives us the grace to love God in like fashion

What I want to happen
  • To grow in love of God and in God’s love


The Sermon:
  1. Introduction:
  • Introduce yourself to the person next to you, even if you know them
    • your name,
    • one important thing about you,
    • and what comes to mind when you think of Easter?
    • Please include the children
·  Ask for responses on what comes to mind about Easter?
·  In western church often think that Easter is just about salvation
·  And for us that has come to mean having our sins forgiven through Jesus’ death on the cross and then rising again

  1. Introduction:
  • want you to imagine a child snuggling into a mother
o               what allows that to happen?
o   discuss
  • In church of first thousand years, and eastern church today
    • that image of child snuggling or cleaving into God described salvation
    • to be created in image God meant
·        knew loved by God
      • because we loved – we cleaved to God-> child snuggles to a mother
      • but we forget.
      • Story Jesus reminds us of that
      •             so can again cleave
  • From this point of view
    • for us to really be able to cleave to God
      • Not only need our sins forgiven
      • need to be retaught about who is God, and about who we are
    • God does this re-teaching through birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, especially the death and resurrection – Easter.
  • purpose of Easter is much more than having our sins forgiven
  • the equally important purpose of Easter is teaching us about God?
  • Question I asked at the beginning
    • So what comes to mind when we think of Easter
    • Becomes really important question
  • So lets pause
  • What is God teaching us about who God is and who we are through those things you think of when think of Easter?
    • Think about that
    • Might want to tell person next to you as well

  1. Who is God?
    • Ask for responses.
  • Overwhelming image of God for early church and Eastern Church is one of Love.
  • God is love
  • God loves humanity.
  • Not love we see today
    • Movie stars saying love audience – means like your adoration, keep adoring me
    • Or see movies or tv, - I like you, and I like feeling good with you
  • Kind of love Easter is talking about is
    • God is deeply committed to us.
    • God is deeply attached to us
  • Image of God in Easter is a God who holds us in such high regard that God gave all so that we could be freed from the results of our sin, be reminded of who God is, and be able to once again snuggle into or cleave to God
  • Easter is not about how bad we are
  • Easter is all about how important we are to God

  1. Who are we?
  • At beginning asked you say one important thing about yourself
    • How many said that they are profoundly and deeply loved by God?
  • But that is what God is trying to teach us through Jesus and Easter
    • That we are profoundly and deeply loved by God?
    • That God holds us in such high regard, as so important, as people of such worth that God would do anything to bring us back
    • Anything
  • There is nothing more important in our lives than that.
    • Not the fact we are sons and daughters, husband and wives, mothers and fathers, that we go to school or work or not,
  • Easter says that our identity is found only in a God who deeply and profoundly loves us.
  • The end.

  1. Response
What is your response to that
in light of that how would you answer questions
            who is God
            who are you?
take time think about that, and think about world we live in.
What is God inviting you to today?
who is God inviting you to be today?
write on paper
make into flower
place it on Cross as our prayer this morning.


  1. Baptism
  • We are about to reaffirm our baptismal vows
  • When we do that we are doing two things
    1. Declaring Gods profound love for us and deep attachment to us
    2. Declaring our desire that the most important thing in our lives is the great worth and love God holds us in
                                                              i.      we cleave to or snuggle into God
                                                            ii.      we will base our identity in that above all else
·  Are we ready to do that?
·  Then let us declare The God of Easter and the love of our lives and baptise


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Get those PSA Blood Tests Done Boys!

I had a strange conversation a few months ago. I was lying back in a chair, naked from the waste down, holding a nappy over my bits while I waited for the skin under my bits to go numb enough from liquid nitrogen or some such thing, so that they could inject the local anesthetic and then punch a couple of holes through to the prostate. All in all a fun experience. And while I waited the nurse made small talk and asked what I did. "I'm retired", I replied. "Oh, what are you planning to do now you are retired? any travel?" "Turns out not" I said, "It seems I'm just keeping my dairy open for dealing with health things." And I am still keeping my dairy open and still dealing with them. This journey began last year. I was already dealing with two other things, including a lump in my parotid gland which has been slowly growing there for about 3 years. When I got back from being overseas on sabbatical my doctor called me in to talk about that an
Read more

What a Ride! - Thankyou and Goodbye!

Image
You can listen to this sermon here   Gate Pa - Ascension Sunday and Easter 7 Year B, 2024 Readings: Palm                            Psalm 1 First Reading:             Acts 1:1-11, 15-17,21-26                     Bible Page 884 Second Reading:        1 John 5:9-13                                       Bible Page 991 Gospel:                         John 17:6-19                                        Bible Page 879 What I want to say: A sermon to say thankyou -           To explore the process we are all going through – and that it is ok -           Use the ascension to invite us all to trust God in all this -           Offer some thoughts about what the future might be What I want to happen: People to embrace all that the liminal space might offer with thankfulness, hope and trust. The Sermon 1.      Introduction: Pancake Monday in 2012 – nearly 12 ½ years ago Bishop David Rice installed me as vicar of Gate Pa Telling everyone I didn’t know much about vicaring -          Outraged some
Read more

"Just Enjoy The Coffee"

I was just sent this on Anglicans All. Being a coffee enjoyer and a Franciscan I enjoyed it. I hope you do to: Even if you are not a coffee drinker...Have a good day!!!! A group of graduates, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life. Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups - porcelain ,plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite, telling them to help themselves to the coffee. When all the students had a cup of coffee, the professor said: If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the simple and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In most cases, it is just more ex
Read more