The Church of the Epiphany
The Little Church that cares
Service for April 07, 2024
The flowers in the Sanctuary today are to the Glory of God and in loving memory of “Kath”, given by “Glore”.
*Garage Bake Hot Dog Sale. Thank you! Donors, Shoppers, Volunteers, Bakers, Hot Dog Makers.
*Our food cupboard. Butch 519-615-9106.
*Penny Social May 3 6:30 for 7:30.
*Masonic Visit. Sunday May 5.
*Welcome Sunday. May 19. Lunch.
*Jazz Vespers. St. James. May 26. Afternoon. Stephen
*Fundraiser Dinner. Epiphany. June 8. Silent Auction.
*Jeremy Smith. Sun. July 28. Afternoon.
*Meat and Veggie Pies. 5$ for a great meal.
*Mint smoothies Sandra $3
*Cancelled stamps. Gloria Thompson.
*Rinsed empty drink containers Dan Davies
*Apportionment. 2024 $19,571.00
*Sept. 22. Bishop Todd visits. Change!
*Slate Sisters by Adam C- H. Kydra R. Acting. April 18 – 29. For tickets call 519-615-2210.
*There are three ways to support our church. Volunteering at events. Generosity. Prayer. Our church is a team
*If you wish, our regular weekly donations or special donations may be sent to our Envelope Secretary:
Barb Smallman
4860 Whiteoak Road
London, Ontario
N6E 3Y8
519-680-0649
Bible Readings for April 07
Audio Service for April 07
Opening:
Mighty God,
in whom we know the power of redemption,
you stand among us in the shadows of our time.
As we move through every sorrow and trial of this life,
uphold us with knowledge of the final morning
when, in the glorious presence of your risen Son,
we will share in his resurrection,
redeemed and restored to the fullness of life
and forever freed to be your people. Amen.
Reading John 20:19-31
20:19 When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”
20:20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
20:21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”
20:22 When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
20:23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
20:24 But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came.
20:25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”
20:26 A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”
20:27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.”
20:28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”
20:29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”
20:30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book.
20:31 But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.
Sermon
John 20:24-29
A lot of us will remember the old TV show Dragnet?
The main character, Sergeant Joe Friday used to tell the folks,
“Just the facts, please, just the facts?”
It seems Thomas was a little like Joe Friday.
Thomas needed the facts and needed to see the “signs” and wonders of Jesus with their own eyes.
For centuries Thomas has been labeled a doubter
but likely Thomas doesn’t get fair treatment.
Thomas was a practical person.
If he couldn’t see it, touch it or feel it,
he had a hard time believing it.
But there was more to Thomas than just doubt.
Thomas was a man of courage, commitment; and faith.
And there’s a little bit of Thomas in all of us.
-
Two Kinds of Doubt
We all have a little doubt in us.
But there are two kinds of doubt.
There is a difference between doubt and unbelief.
Doubt asks questions
while unbelief won’t even listen to answers.
==
Some of you may remember Dave Dravecky,
former pitcher for the San Francisco Giants.
At the peak of his career in 1991
he lost his pitching arm to cancer.
It is bad enough to have cancer,
let alone face the amputation of an arm,
but then on top of that,
to lose a promising career as a major league baseball player.
Naturally Dave was devastated.
But His Lord was close, carrying him through somehow….
During his struggles,
letters of encouragement poured in from all over the country.
Most were letters of encouragement.
They had seen him keep his faith,
and they wanted to know how he had done it.
But one day he received this letter:
“Dear Mr. Dravecky, I
f there is a God who cares so much about you,
why did he allow you to have this trouble in the first place?
I have lived 41 years in this old world
and have yet to see any piece of genuine evidence
that there is anything real
about any of those religious beliefs you talk about.
A pretty cruel letter, isn’t it?
How would you have responded to it?
Dave Dravecky sent a letter to the man
He said that he had faced his own doubts
and that faith was not always easy.
He wrote, “I am convinced that there is a God.
That no matter what happens to us,
there is a purpose for it
and behind that purpose stands a loving, caring God
helping us through.”
Dravecky had come to know the same Lord
who came back for Thomas.
The same Resurrected Jesus
who stood before all the disciples and said,
“Peace be with you, Thomas.
Put your finger here; see my hands.
Reach out your hand and put it into my side.
Stop doubting and believe.”
We all have doubts:
Thomas, Dravecky, the letter writer.
No one is exempt.
What Jesus says is:
You will be blessed if in the midst of those doubts you believe.
This kind of doubt leads to a deeper faith.
A more meaningful life of service.
===
You see, when push came to shove,
Thomas’ faith helped him believe,
because Thomas was a man of faith.
Scripture doesn’t say where Thomas was
when the risen Christ first appeared,
it just says that he wasn’t there.
Then he found himself back with the disciples
with their incredible story.
Being a pragmatist,
he wanted physical proof.
A week later he got it.
Scripture doesn’t tell us whether or not
Thomas actually touched Jesus.
It does say that Jesus invited him to.
But maybe he did not touch.
He likely did not he need to.
Jesus’ voice
the look in his eyes,
and forgiveness was enough for Thomas,
he believed.
That was when Jesus said:
“Have you believed because you have seen me?
Blessed are those who have not seen
yet have come to believe.”
====
We need the faith Thomas had,
the faith to believe in God
even when the going gets not just rough.
Like the hymn says:
“You ask me how I know He lives?
He lives within my heart!”
Not only that,
but we see the signs of the Risen Christ’s presence
with us in everyday life.
====
Thomas had faith, he also had courage and commitment.
It was his love for Jesus that filled him with courage.
When Jesus started back to Judea
to raise Lazarus from the dead,
the other disciples warned Jesus
that the Jews there would just try to kill him again.
Thomas says,
“Then let’s go die with him.”
Thomas was brave.
Loyal.
===
Thomas was committed.
He was ready to follow Jesus anywhere,
even if it meant his own death.
Thomas was always there.
He was the person you can count on.
=
Tommy tried and tried to go to church with his wife.
Sophia was the one who’d been brought up in the church.
Her parents had been very devout Christian people.
With Tommy’s parents it was completely different.
Tommy had promised he’d give church a try.
And he did.
But there was just too much there that was unbelievable!
Tommy tried talking to Sophia about it one Sunday after they had been to church.
“Can’t we find some kind of compromise on this religion thing?” Tommy asked.
“You promised,” she said to Tommy. “You said you would give it a try.”
“But I have tried,” Tommy replied. “How long do I have to go on with this anyway?
I’ve been to church with you just about every Sunday for this whole first year of our marriage.
. There’s just too much about church and all that I just can’t believe.”
“Well, what can you believe about it all?” Sophia asked.
“Jesus,” Tommy blurted out after a few moments of silence.
“I like Jesus. He makes a lot of sense to me.
There’s some very good advice about life in his teachings.
But to buy into Jesus I’ve got to buy into too much other stuff
that isn’t helpful at all.
In fact, it just confuses the issue.
I don’t need all this miracle business.
At the end of their discussion, however, Tommy agreed to keep his promise and go with her on Sundays for a few more months.
One Sunday the gospel reading caught Tommy up short.
It was about Thomas.
That was his name.
Thomas had doubts.
So did he.
He liked what Thomas had to say
“Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands,
and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side,
I will not believe.”
Tommy couldn’t have put it better himself.
“If only I could see his body,”
Tommy thought to himself.
“If only I could touch his body.
That’s the way we Thomas people are.”
That’s what he was thinking about when he and Sophia
went up for communion.
“If only I could see his body.
If I only could touch his body.”
And then Tommy’s musing was interrupted
by the ministerr’s words,
words that jolted his consciousness, simple words,
“This is the body of Christ given for you.”
It was his sign,
His miracle,
His God was a God who answered questions….miraculously.
With that one personal only for him miracle
He believed.
===
There is a bit of Thomas the doubter in each of us.
==
Jesus said Blessed are those who have not seen
and yet have come to believe.”
That through believing
you may have meaningful life in his name.
Hymn: Thine is the Glory
Thine be the glory, risen, conqu’ring Son;
endless is the vict’ry Thou o’er death hast won.
Angels in bright raiment rolled the stone away,
kept the folded grave-clothes where Thy body lay.
Thine be the glory, risen, conqu’ring Son;
endless is the vict’ry Thou o’er death hast won.
Lo! Jesus meets us, risen from the tomb.
Lovingly He greets us, scatters fear and gloom;
let His church with gladness hymns of triumph sing,
for the Lord now liveth; death hath lost its sting.
No more we doubt Thee, glorious Prince of life!!
Thine be the glory, risen, conqu’ring Son;
endless is the vict’ry Thou o’er death hast won.
Life is nought without Thee; aid us in our strife;
make us more than conquerors,
through Thy deathless love;
bring us safe through Jordan
to Thy home above.
Thine be the glory, risen, conqu’ring Son;
endless is the vict’ry Thou o’er death hast won.
The Apostles’ Creed
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.
Prayers:
O God, your Son remained with his disciples after his resurrection,
teaching them to love all people as neighbors.
As his disciples in this age,
we offer our prayers on behalf of the universe
in which we are privileged to live
and our neighbors with whom we share it.
Prayers: Linda (Deb Mc.); Christine A.; Bob H.; Dori; Garfield; Eunice S.; Connie C.; (Church)Suzanne (Ron and Jan); Gloria A. (Carol); Belinda,; Ross B., Francis & Bill W.; Jeff G. (Dori); Kenny; Jim T.; Norma A,;Dave F.; Peter T.; Dan B.;. (Garfield & Diane); Gord T.; Amy W. ; Yvonne; Maryanne; Gus; Jay P.;; Rick W.;.; Sharon; Anne F.; Marcel D.; Jeff B.; (Sandra); Mike J.; Scott H.; Lisa (Keeling), Wendy; Eric P,; Sarah-Jane P.; Linda H.; Sharon D.; Philip D; Jacquie and Cam .; Janice & Darrin R; Roland; .(Suzie D.)