OPENING: Welcome to our Sunday morning gathering of TEP’s loving, serving, learning and growing community. It is our weekly mission to honor our Christian heritage by tracking the needs of our neighbors who are struggling through misfortunes that have befallen them. We invite visitors to join us in our endeavor to express our gratitude to our Creator for the great gift of life we have been given.

RESPONSIBILITY: We deeply respect the ingenious design our Creator has given us that as his greatest work, able to understand all of creation, a man and a woman are required to start the life of a new member of the masterful human family. This immensely wise act is enhanced by the Creator’s magnificent compassion for the couple by necessitating an act of maximum intimacy. Beyond imagination the couple is blessed with sensations that can only be described as a state of ecstasy, a moment of exceptional pleasure while the egg of the baby is fertilized. The parents so magnificently blessed have the beautiful responsibility of raising the child.

UNDERSTANDING: The meaning we discern from this knowledge is that these unasked for gifts are the result of the very foundation of life as a human being, which is relationship. The most intimate relationship is required to start a new life of a human being. Since no one ever chose their parents I could have been you, everything is given you and a prejudice of any kind is an absurdity. Any human could be any other human including anyone in the history of humanity. The great wisdom of our Creator.

UPDATING: This is our way of bringing Christianity in line with the vast knowledge in existence today. From all the research humans have done expansive factual truths have been revealed about creation. Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, Newton, Darwin are a few who have contributed enormously to the relentless advancement of humankind. The Creator has so wisely gifted us with a curiosity that relishes the challenges the universe places before us. Now we have active the Large Hadron Collider with more than a thousand scientists hoping to uncover new truths about what is matter and gravity.

ANCIENTS: We are eternally grateful to our ancestors who struggled so valiantly to understand creation with so very little knowledge. During the birth of Christianity they knew nothing of the existence of planets. The earth was flat and the sky a dome with holes in it so the beautiful lights of the heavenly places could shine through. It was the destiny of an afterlife where only joy existed. People who hurt other people had to be punished, hence there must be something under the earth. They needed leaders who could protect the loving from the controlling persons. Jesus was raised by Joseph and Mary with the leaders of the Hebrew faith and became the loving leader that was a threat to those in power. Many stories were written about his life and crucifixion.

BELIEF: Foundational ideas were advanced to encourage people to live highly principled lives. These ideas can no longer be supported by our present knowledge of what exists in the universe. War has taught us that there is no supernatural force with supreme power to control all occurrences in our lives. There is the possibility that a Creator might exist who set everything in motion with all that it needs to survive. What is important is not what you believe but how you understand creation and the evolution of life. As human life evolved and our ability to reason grew from our fascinating curiosity to understand everything we are exposed to, we discovered logic. We need to make sense of what we experience if we are to live life fully.

CONCLUSIONS: We no longer worship at TEP but gather every Sunday morning to review what has happened in our community during the past week concerning the needs of persons living here. We do that now but we need to make that our primary mission in life because we now know that anyone of us could have been anyone else. Since each human life is infinitely valuable we serve one another. Because our church was founded upon our knowledge of Jesus CHRIST here is a suggestion for how our new Sunday CHRISTian service might appear.

(RESPONSE: Each member of the congregation will have a connection with a family or person having survival needs. Congregants may team up to perform as mentors.)

GATHERING TO LOVE, SERVE, LEARN & GROW

Silence for prayer and meditation

Welcome and announcements from Pastor

Prelude: All’s Well With My Soul arr. Aaron Garber

Pastor’s Report

OFFERING/CHOIR Anthem (If communion special hymns)

MESSAGE

Pastor presents a biblical story, comments on its importance to the people of that era and what we might gain from it. He also comments on special happenings in the local surroundings and the world, He keeps our memories alive to honor our ancestors who struggled so valiantly to keep humanity improving relationships.

HYMN SING

DEPARTURE

Pastor encourages mentors to keep the congregation informed on Sunday morning of important or interesting information concerning the family they are mentoring. Remind everyone they are in touch with their Creator every waking moment. Express your gratitude with inspired service. Get in touch with local charities if you are looking for a family and notify church office. When local needs are met we will expand to persons beyond our surroundings and in other lands.

COMMUNION

Because we did not choose life or our parents we are all one family of human beings. As we take the bread and cup we celebrate the life of Jesus and express our endless gratitude to our Creator for designing our existence for love of each other. May this celebration strengthen our resolve to serve and take care of each other. The bread and wine strengthen and maintain the memory of Jesus.

Submitted by Clarence (Bill) Wenzel
January 16, 2018