St. John the Baptist Anglican Church - Duncan St. John the Baptist Anglican Church - Duncan
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Epiphany 2 2023 abrgd
Guest Speaker
Sunday, January 15, 2023
Scripture
Playlist

As we gather, we recognize that we live, work, pray, and play
in the traditional lands
of the Cowichan Tribes and Coast Salish People. 
We continue to commit ourselves
to the work of reconciliation and relationship-building
with our First Nations neighbours.     

 

Call to Worship:  

 The Word of God became flesh and dwelt among us.
To all who receive him,
he gave power to become children of God. 

John 1.14; 12a,c 

O Come, Let Us Worship

 

Collect for Today
Almighty God,
Your Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ, is the light of the world.
May your people, illumined by your word and sacraments,
shine with the radiance of his glory, that he may be known,
worshipped, and obeyed to the ends of the earth;
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.    Amen. 

The Proclamation of the Gospel:

John 1. 29 - 42

Sermon:  The Ven.  Brian Evans

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of
our hearts be ever acceptable to you, O Lord.  Amen.

       “Look, here is the Lamb of God” 

I am sure you remember one of the lines from my sermon last Sunday:

“McDonald’s makes hamburgers. Cadbury’s makes chocolate. Starbucks makes coffee … and the Church of Jesus Christ makes disciples. And disciples make peace.”            

DO WE?  

In this Season of Epiphany, we will be guided by John’s Gospel. John writings are some of the most compelling in the building of disciples.            

Today, we pick up the Gospel following what may be referenced as a part of the sermon John preached.

In the verses prior to today we hear:

  • John is not the Messiah.

    John makes this perfectly clear.

The people of Jerusalem sent priests and Levites inquiring of John: “Who are you, or who do you say you are.

John makes it perfectly clear, “I AM NOT THE CHRIST.”

Obviously, the people are not convinced for they attempt a few more times to have John say who they thought he must be.

The final response comes in these words:
I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know.
He is the one who comes after me, the thongs of his sandals I am not worthy to untie.”
John 1. 26, 27

  • He tells them he is not Elijah.

  • He is not the prophet of some future experience in life.  

What John does say is this: I am the preacher who is to prepare the way.

Wonderful words for us—for our role today….not just for me as a priest, or a deacon, or a bishop, or any other ordained person: but all of us in the church today--our role is to prepare the way for disciples.   

We join the story here. John says

1.30 This is he of whom I said, 'After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.'  John talks about the fact that he baptized with water for repentance--but he also baptized with water for repentance so that we may know that when Christ comes—so that we may know that he is the son of God

"And John testified, "I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him.
1:33 I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.' 1:34 And I myself have seen and have testified (and I tell you to this day) that this is the Son of God."

Well, of course, not everyone would believe that…not everyone today would believe me if I stood on the corner of the street and proclaimed similar words…

1:35 The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples,
1:36 and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, "Look, here is the Lamb of God!"
“Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
"Look, here is the Lamb of God!"
1:37 The two disciples heard John say this, and they decided to follow Jesus.

 Here is the LEAPING OFF point for us.  

As John, for us, preacher and parishioner, IT IS NOT ABOUT US. It is not about me.  

What we do share is: the Good News of Jesus Christ delivers us.

What we have to share is: Christ came into the world to deliver us.

Christ affirms there is a God, and this God comes to us in the person of Jesus Christ.  

It is at this point we can give praise to some of the greatest of our hymnody in words like,

'Now Thank we all our God,
with heart and hands and voices,
who wondrous things has done
in whom the world rejoices
… and still is ours today.'
           

Jesus, the Lamb, the Son of God!  

This is the conclusion, I believe, the two disciples came to after following Jesus around for a whole day.  

Two questions:

  1. If two people were to follow myself around for a day, would they come to some conclusion as to who I follow in my life?

  2. If people spent the day following the witness of the parish of St. John the Baptist here in Duncan, what conclusion might they reach about our parish?  

    Asking this question this week I reflect back to Wednesday.  

Here is a glimpse of our day:

  • 8:00 am - our Parish Administrator and Rector’s Warden are here to welcome Healthier Babies to the parish;

  • 8:35 am  - our Parish Priest is here to welcome them;

  • 10:00 am - we celebrated the Feast of The Holy Innocents;

    Rather appropriate that on this day when we are welcoming the community who are working towards the ministry of having healthy babies in our community that we should be thinking about the holy innocents from so long ago;

  • Noon - an opportunity to share in the kitchen, as a small group of people prepared a ‘healthy’ meal for the parents of all these toddlers in our midst.

    No salt, no caffeine- only healthy foods;

  • 1:pm - our 12 Step group shares the facility with everyone else;

  • In the evening - the Garden Club.  

Upon reflection:
I listened to the people we shared the day with, share their thanksgivings for the gift we have to share--the facility that has been prepared before us by our ancestors, similar to the faith that has been passed down to us by our ancestors, beginning with the likes of John the Baptist; Christ the son of God.  

This idea of ministry, evangelism, and making disciples, is linked to our Collect for this week.  

We have prayed (I have changed the pronouns)

“May I, illumined by your word and sacraments, shine with the radiance of Christ, that He may be known, worshipped, and obeyed to the ends of the earth.”

And may that equal ‘making disciples’.

A senior priest in my younger years preached a sermon about ‘the collect for each week’;
that it would be good to write it out and post it where we could read it and be reminded of what our focus for ministry could be for the week.  

I am going to stop here, as I have reminded this week and asked, Who is Jesus?

This is the heart of the message, keeping Jesus at the center, making disciples.

For you see we must focus Jesus at the center, as we did today and every time we worship together.  Not myself, not Tina, not Michael, not our deacon, not Carol.  

It was He who was-- who is -- the central figure in the celebration of Sacrament of Holy Communion.  

Look, here is the Lamb of God! 

Thanks be to God.  Amen. 

We respond in the words of the Apostles' Creed
Our statement of faith:
I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.  
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.
He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit
and born of the Virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified,
died, and was buried.

He descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven, and is seated
at the right hand of the Father.

He will come again to judge the living and the dead.  

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.  Amen. 

Let Us Pray

Called together to follow Jesus, we pray for the church,
the world, and all in need.  

Put a new song in the mouth of your Church.
Inspire the baptized to tell of your faithfulness,
sharing the good news of your salvation throughout the earth.
Bless the witness of missionaries, Mercy Ships, and Grassroots in Liberia,
with James and Kathleen Ngenda.

Merciful God,
Receive our prayer. 

The waters of baptism call us into life in the Spirit.
Preserve the world’s waters: protect them from pollution.
Support plants and animals who depend on them;
and bring rain in places of drought.
Guide us in protecting local waterways,
and in responding to devastating floods. 

Merciful God,
Receive our prayer.

Jesus, you are the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.
Show your mercy to all nations.
Direct leaders to do your will;
fill governing bodies with righteousness;
equip judges with discernment, and compassion. 

Merciful God,
Receive our prayer.

You incline your ear to all who cry to you.
Draw near to individuals, and communities, suffering
violence, injustice, illness, or poverty.
Hide them in the shadow of your hand,
and make us signs of your faithfulness to all in need. 

We continue to pray for those in need, particularly in our parish:
Roy & Gail;  Daryl & Sue; Roy; John; Daryl & Joyce; Sheila; Carolyn;
Flo; Catherine; and those on our hearts.  

Merciful God,
Receive our prayer.

You are glorified in the servants you have called.
Even when it feels like a sharp sword, or polished arrow,
give us courage to receive your call to repentance and racial justice. 

Merciful God,
Receive our prayer.

In every place and time, you have sanctified your people.
We praise you for the testimony of those
who have died in the faith.
Strengthen us as we wait for the day
of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Merciful God,
Receive our prayer.

We bring to you our needs and hopes, O God,
trusting your wisdom and power,
revealed in Christ crucified.   Amen.
 

As our Saviour taught us:
Our Father,
who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name,

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as in heaven. 
Give us today our daily bread. 
Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who tresspass against us.
And lead us  not into temptation, but deliver us fom evil.  
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power and the glory,
forever and ever.  Amen.

God of glory,
you nourish us with bread from heaven.
Fill us with your Holy Spirit, that through us
your light may shine in all the world.
We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ.   Amen.

The Blessing

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, 
keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God,
and of his son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.
And the blessing of God almighty, the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Spirit, be among you, and remain with you, always.  Amen.