Photos from the Children's service October 21st

Here are a few photos that were taken this morning at our first (since I've been in Marlboro) "children's mass."

NOTE: The previous post (below) contains the "script" for the children's sermon and a link to the audio. I recommend the audio version. I didn't stick with the "script." (You'll want to turn up the volume.)

ThisWeeksSermon from The Episcopal Church in Marlboro, New York

NOTE: This is a children's sermon. Pretty cute, I think, shared at base of the altar with eight kids -- preschoolers through third grade. It went well. I recommend the audio version. I didn't stay with the script!

(I have some nice photos -- in the next post.)

AUDIO VERSION: http://www.episcopalmarlboro.org/Uploads/20071021ThisWeeksSermon.mov.

“Don’t worry. God’s here with us.”
Children’s Sermon on the 21st Sunday After Pentecost, October 21, 2007

RING THE BOWL BELL
Do you like that sound?
Want me to do it again?
When you heard it, what did you do?
When the bell rings…
I want it to say…
Pay attention!

THE PHOTO OF JACKSON
Do you know who this is?
It’s Jackson.
Jackson’s my dog.

THE BEAR
Do you know what that is next to his nose…
on the pillow?
It’s Jackson’s favorite thing.
It’s a stuffed animal bear…
made especially for a dog to keep.
I brought it with me today.

THE LABEL
The bear was made by people who make Coleman lanterns and stoves and canoes…
all kinds of equipment for camping.
They make bears, too.
Check this out.
There’s a label on its side.
It says Coleman.
That’s why I named the bear “Coleman.”
“Coleman the bear.”
Jackson’s favorite toy
Jackson knows the names of a lot of his toys.
“Get the the red porcupine,” I’ll say…
and he goes looking for it.
Doesn’t always find it.
Sometimes he gives up.
I say…
“Jackson, find me your squeaky bone,”…
and he goes looking for it.
Doesn’t always find it.
But when I say…
“Jackson, bring me Coleman-the-Bear”…
he doesn’t give up.
He looks all around the kitchen…
then he goes into the living room…
comes back without it…
and I say…
“Look upstairs!”
He runs upstairs…
going from bedroom to bedroom.
If he comes back without it…
then I say…
“Look downstairs”…
and off he goes.
He always finds it eventually.
Coleman-the-Bear takes a “bath”
Last week Jackson went to the groomer and got a haircut and a bath.
Last week Coleman-the-Bear got a bath, too…
in the washing machine!
Our washing machine doesn’t have a door on the top.
It has one in the front.
You push all the dirty clothes in through the front door…
add some detergent…
and everything starts spinning around inside until its washed…
and rinsed…
and clean.
Jackson watched me as I pushed Coleman-the-Bear into the washing machine along with my blue jeans…
and flannel shirt…
and towels…
and everything else.
The washing machine was totally full!
I couldn’t have gotten another thing into it.
When the wash is done…
there’s always a bell.
It sounds something like this.
It got Jackson’s attention.
He ran to the washing machine and waited for me to open the door.
Before I could even begin pulling out my blue jeans and towels and socks…
his head had disappeared into the clean laundry.

I pulled my jeans out by the leg.
Jackson’s head was still in there.
I pulled a towel out by its corner.
Jackson’s head was still in there.
I pulled out a big old flannel shirt…
and out came Jackson’s head with it.
He had Coleman-the-Bear in his mouth.
Can you believe that?
Jackson keeps track of that bear
Jackson always keeps track of that bear.
He knows where it is.
Jackson sleeps on my bed with me.
When I turn off the light, he always makes sure the bear is with us.
If it isn’t he goes and gets it…
all by himself.
You see…
Jackson will always keep track of that bear…
and be with that bear.
That’s the way God is with us.
God always keeps track of us, too!
We don’t have to look for God.
God keeps looking for us…
no matter what we have done.
Looking for us all the time…
no matter where we have gone.
God will look all around the house.
God will look upstairs.
God will look downstairs.
God will even look for us in a washing machine!
We don’t have to look for God…
because God is right here.
God is right here with us.
God is in our hearts.
God might even be in this bowl.
Listen to the bell.
Sometimes I think I can hear God in the bell.
Can you?

PRAYER
Let us pray.
Lord, you told us not to worry about tomorrow,
which brings worries of its own.
Help us to have love right now for You. Amen.

Jesus will not be an idol. Jesus will be a doorway.

What lies ahead for us are new spiritual possibilities in an ever changing culture.... I believe it’s the Energy of God that drives many of our culture shifts. I believe the Energy of God will always be a mystery into which we travel, and the Truth of God will always be just beyond, just beyond the ability of human minds to understand, to explain, or to exhaust. (Bishop Jack Spong said this part. But it's true for me, too.)

Jesus will not be an idol. Jesus will be a doorway through which we pass in our journey to the Mysterious Energy of God, our journey back to the place from which we came. Our religion will be a journey, rather than a faith that must be believed. Our religion will be a faith that can be explored.

That is my hope for the future, the future that lies ahead for us ... in this, the 21st century following those ancient days when Jesus walked the dusty roads of the Middle East.

The sermon in its entirety is available oneline:
http://www.episcopalmarlboro.org/ThisWeeksSermon.html
Audio version: www.episcopalmarlboro.org/Uploads/20071014ThisWeeksSermon.mov