HEBREW BIBLE EXODUS 3:1-15 Leader:  The first reading is from the book of Exodus, and is read responsively.Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro; he led the flock through the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire, out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, but it was not consumed by the fire. Then Moses said, All:  “I will stop to look at this, and find out why the bush has not burned up.” When the Lord saw that he had turned aside, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, All:  “Here I am.” Then God said, “Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” Then God said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.Then the Lord said, “I have seen the misery of my people who are slaves in Egypt; I have heard their cry under the cruelty of their masters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and wide land, a land flowing with milk and honey. The cry of the Israelites has now come to me; I have seen how the Egyptians oppress them. So come, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.” But Moses said to God, All:  “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” God said, “I will be with you; and this shall be the sign for you that it is I who sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God on this very mountain.” But Moses said to God, All: “If I come to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is God’s name?’ what shall I say to them?” 

God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” God added, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘I am has sent me to you. The Lord, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you’. This is my name forever, and this my title for all generations.”Leader: The Word of the Lord. All: Thanks be to God.✠ THE GOOD NEWS Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32 Leader:  The good news of Jesus Christ, according to the gospel of Luke, the fifteenth chapter. All:  Glory to you, O Lord.Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.”So he told them this parable: “There was a man who had two sons. The younger son said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the property that will be mine when you die.’ And the father did so. A few days later, the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant country, and there he squandered all he had in extravagant living. When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and the son found himself in need of food and money. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. He longed for even a scrap of the food the pigs had, but no one gave him anything. He came to his senses and said, ‘How many of my father’s hired hands have more than enough to eat, and here I am dying of hunger! I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.”’ So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him, and was filled with compassion; he ran to him, hugged him, and kissed his face. Then the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick, bring out a robe—the best one—and put it on him! Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!’ And they began to celebrate. Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came towards the house, he heard music and dancing. He called one of the servants and asked what was going on. He replied, ‘Your brother has returned, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got his son back safe and sound.’ Then the older was furious and refused to go inside. His father came out and begged him, but he answered, ‘Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat to kill and eat with my friends. But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with extravagance, you killed the fatted calf for him!’ Then the father said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and has been found.’”SERMON Pastor EmmyA CELEBRATION OF MEN OF HEART

Leader:  On this day when fathers and men are uplifted and celebrated, we join our voices both with those who grieve and those who rejoice, remembering the many fathers of faith who came before us.Leader:  We remember every man who held his newborn child and found it to be the greatest gift and the hardest task of all. We celebrate with you.All:  May the God who bears new life in us inspire love in you.Leader:  We remember fathers who, like Jarius the synagogue leader, have sat beside the beds of children who were sick, and cried out to God on their behalf. We pray alongside you.All:  May the God who fathers each of us be a source of life for you.Leader: We remember men who have sought to become fathers and yet, through many life circumstances, find themselves without children to care for. May you, like the Jewish leader Mordecai and the Ethiopian eunuch, find that in your faithfulness to God you bear children of hope to the whole world.All:  May the God who fathers each of us be a source of life for you.Leader: We grieve alongside men who, like David and Job, have buried their own children, and alongside men who, like Jacob, have lost their wives well before it seemed fair. We mourn with you.All:  May the God who fathers each of us be a source of life for you.Leader: We remember children who face this day, whether for the first time or for the fiftieth time, without a beloved father. May you, like Joseph son of Jacob, know with confidence that your father’s life is honored and his legacies remembered. We mourn with you.All:  May the God who fathers each of us be a source of life for you.Leader:  We remember those who face this day in pain from fathers who did not celebrate and uplift the image of God in their children. We celebrate those who, like Esau the brother of Jacob and Joseph Jacob’s son, refuse to continue the cycle of manipulation and abuse, but instead choose to step into reconciliation and healing. We celebrate with you.All:  May the God who bears new life in us inspire love in you.Leader: We remember and give thanks for men who, like Joseph the father of Jesus, have made a family through adoption and stepfatherhood. We celebrate with you.All:  May the God who bears new life in us inspire love in you.Leader: We remember all those who have found freedom and new life in the difficult process of divorce. We celebrate with you.All:  May the God who bears new life in us inspire love in you.Leader: We remember King David and the poets and prophets, who in their mourning and in their celebrating were unafraid to show the fullness of emotion. We celebrate with you.All:  May the God who bears new life in us inspire love in you.Leader: We lift up all your children, O God, who have reflected, in ways large and small, your overwhelming compassion. Wherever we may be this day, in grief or joy, may we find ourselves turned towards You, whom Jesus spoke of as a wastefully extravagant father, lavishing us with joy and peace.All: Amen.