McPhail Weblog Feb 7 2021

McPhail Baptist Church

Feb 7th 2021

Prelude: “Nun bitten wir den Heiligen Geist”

(D. Buxtehude)

Translated as: “We now implore the Holy Ghost”

Hymn: “Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee”

Prayer of Confession

Lord Jesus, for You have promised that if we ask, we shall receive, and that if we seek, we will find; and that if we knock, we will be welcomed.

In response to that invitation, we ask for an unwavering faith. We seek the answers to the puzzles of life and we knock at heaven's gate for an assurance that You are alive and acting in our world.

And so we come confessing, Lord, the conceit which makes us think more highly of ourselves than we ought. We confess that we are prone to rationalize our faults, and sometimes we make snap judgments about others. We rewrite our past, and sometimes we take credit for our successes while blaming our failures on others.

Forgive us Lord of all our misdeeds. Help us to open our eyes to your pardoning grace, grace that is greater than all our folly and failure. We ask that your love will conquer us, that your mercy will restore us, and the Spirit's power fill us. Amen.

Special Music: “Out Of The Depths”

I learned this song from an old Mahalia Jackson album.

I have sung it at Black History events in the past

and included it today to go with today’s Black History sermon.

Scripture Readings

Genesis 9:18-27 (NRSV)

18 The sons of Noah who went out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Ham was the father of Canaan. 19 These three were the sons of Noah; and from these the whole earth was peopled.

20 Noah, a man of the soil, was the first to plant a vineyard. 21 He drank some of the wine and became drunk, and he lay uncovered in his tent. 22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. 23 Then Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father; their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father’s nakedness. 24 When Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done to him, 25 he said,

“Cursed be Canaan;

lowest of slaves shall he be to his brothers.”

26 He also said,

“Blessed by the Lord my God be Shem;

and let Canaan be his slave.

27 May God make space for Japheth,

and let him live in the tents of Shem;

and let Canaan be his slave.”

Luke 10:25-28 (NRSV)

25 Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus.[a] “Teacher,” he said, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said to him, “What is written in the law? What do you read there?” 27 He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” 28 And he said to him, “You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.” 29 But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

36 Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” 37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”

Hymn: “Help Us Accept Each Other”

Tune: Lanacashire

Sermon: “Including Me”

Rev Ernie Cox

This song which I chose for today’s sermon was written by Margaret and George Drynan, a Canadian

husband and wife team who lived in Oshawa. I first heard it sung by Garth Hampson. I stylized it for myself and have always been struck with the power of the simple lyrics and the beauty of the music.