Celebrating God's Gift Of Hope
Children's program
WHO - ME? DO A PROGRAM? Volume 2
Program Resources For Congregational Events
Leader's Helps
Participants
Narrator
Twelve readers (may combine the readings if your group is small)
Props
Twelve sign patterns (enlarge and color or cut from colored paper)
Make six arches to combine for a rainbow
Color Red
Half arch: Blood of Creation
Half arch: Blood of Christ
Color Yellow
Half arch: Light of Creation
Half arch: Light of Christ
Color Blue
Half arch: Waters of Creation
Half arch: Waters of Baptism
Color Orange
Full arch: Trinity
Color Green
Full arch: New Life
Color Purple:
Full arch: Chosen People
Program
Celebrating God's Gift Of Hope
Narrator: The day had been dismal inside and out. Searching for answers, a woman struggled with the condition of her life. Desperately calling out to the Lord, she asked for a sign of God's presence in the midst of this turmoil in her life. The rains outside had further dampened her spirits, and now she had to leave and enter the chaos of the world that surrounded her. Putting on a rain slicker, she stepped outside, only to be surprised by what she saw. The sun had broken out from behind the storm clouds. Lifting up her eyes, she beheld a rainbow in the sky - not just one rainbow, but two. A double blessing. "Thank you, Lord," she murmured graciously. "I needed that sign." Hope once more flooded her soul, and she went forth knowing God was present.
God's Gift of Hope - something to be celebrated. "Celebrating God's Gift of Hope" is the theme for our program today. The scripture we will reflect on is from Genesis 9:13--15, with emphasis on the rainbow as God's promise of hope.
Reader 1: In Genesis 9:13--15 God states, "I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh."
Narrator: As the rainbow was a sign to our woman in our first story, so it was a sign to Noah and his family that the storm had ended. Why had the storm come in the first place? We read in Genesis chapter 6 that the Lord was grieved that he had created human beings. Their wicked actions pained his heart. People were following the pursuits of the flesh and their own ways, ignoring God as their Creator. Therefore, judgment was about to fall upon all living creatures. However, there was one who had chosen to remain faithful to God, one who had not followed the crowd. Salvation was offered to Noah and his family. God's grace prevailed, a piece of creation would continue. God had not given up totally.
Most of us remember the flood story from Sunday school: how Noah built the ark trusting in God's Word even when there was no sign of a rain, how he gathered two of each kind of animal and brought them on board that ark, and then how it rained and poured for forty days. Noah sailed the waters as the rains continued, but he never gave up hope of God's promise to save his life. Then the sun came out, the lands dried up, and Noah, his family, and the animals came forth from the ark. This is the point at which our study tells us that God made a covenant with Noah. God recognized his creations would probably continue to pursue the old ways of fallen humanity, but God gave them a promise. Divine judgment in the form of another flood was removed. The rainbow in the sky was to be a sign to God never again to destroy the world through a flood. This sign has been there as that reminder to all the people of the Old Testament and to us as well - a sign of hope.
Reader 2: The rainbow is comprised of three primary colors: red, yellow, and blue. Each of them blends to form three secondary colors: orange, green, and purple. In our reflection upon the rainbow, God's promise of hope, we will look at these colors and what they might symbolize for us. We begin with our first band of color, red, the color of life symbolizing the blood that flows through all created beings as we begin at the beginning, Genesis chapter one. (Sign - Blood of Creation) Here we see the Creator God at work.
Reader 3: What fun God must have had making all the variety of birds, fish, and other animals. But the crown of the Lord's creation was human beings. God created them in his own image and breathed life into their very nostrils. God blessed Adam and Eve and gave them authority over all of nature. They were to go forth, subduing the earth and ruling benevolently. They were to be fruitful and multiply. And in the Garden of Eden God gave a command, found in Genesis 2:16, that this pair could eat from any tree except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. However, Adam and Eve disobeyed God's command, and as a consequence broke their relationship with a God who dearly loved them and wanted only the best for them. In order to protect them from further harming themselves, God drove them from the Garden. They were then forced to till the land and experience life with all its pains as well as its joys.
Narrator: Again recall your Sunday school lessons of how that first family adapted to their new environment. Their son, a creation of their own bodies, turned on his own brother and killed him, spilling his blood because he was jealous that Abel's sacrifice was more acceptable than his. That sacrifice had been the blood of a lamb. Cain's pride caused him to destroy his own flesh and blood. We see that happening today as jealousy and pride take over in situations and family relationships are destroyed. Blood that runs through the same veins is spilled on a battlefield of bitterness and envy. Now Cain was driven from the presence of God, and another son, Seth, was born to Adam and Eve. Noah is a descendant of Seth, and Noah walked in a right relationship to his God. But the descendants of Cain continued their wicked ways until God sent the flood to wipe them out, lest all of creation be lost. This was actually grace being shown, God's desire to save. Noah and his family were spared. From primeval waters came creation. From floodwaters came a new hope.
Reader 4: After the flood, God told Noah and his family, as he had told Adam and Eve, to go forth and be fruitful and multiply. God then made a covenant with him never to cut off life by the waters of a flood, thus destroying the earth. The red in our rainbow is a sign of that hope we have in the blood. And for us as New Testament creatures, that is the hope that is fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Today we are not driven from God's presence because we have sinned, because we have strayed from God's path, or because we seek to live by our own wisdom and not his. We are welcomed into the presence of God through the blood of Christ shed on Calvary, which has become our hope. (Sign - Blood of Christ) That is the Good News we find represented in the color red, for our God gives us the gift of hope in that he so loved us, he gave his only son to die, that we would be restored to fellowship once more with the God who loves us and wants only our best. We are freed to try and try again thanks to God's love and mercy.
Narrator: Next we place the color yellow into our rainbow, yellow representing light. As we do, let us once again return to the scene of creation. (Sign - Light of Creation) In the beginning the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And then God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. How awesome our God is. God speaks and light breaks into the darkness. God spoke to Adam and Eve in love, wanting only the best for them. But they listened to a voice from the dark, which told them they could be like God. As a result, sin entered the world. Darkness covered the minds of humankind and they chose to go their own way.
Reader 5: In order to keep the last flickering coals of righteousness alive, God sent the dark storm clouds upon the earth. The floodwaters came, but only for a time. The sun eventually came out and dried up the land. Noah and his family came out, and the first thing he did was offer sacrifice to God. God was pleased that Noah still trusted him. Light once more shone on the earth as those who had been saved responded in thanksgiving to the God who had delivered them from destruction.
Narrator: Things looked good, but appearances can be deceiving. Have you ever had the experience of buying a bunch of plump--looking grapes, anticipating that they would be sweet to the tongue, only to get them home, bite into them, and find out how sour they actually were? Yes, appearances can be deceiving. And so it has been with the people God has created. They continued to reject the light of God's love. God's chosen people Israel gave the appearance of a righteous nation, but they continued to walk away from God's light. They were the wild grapes the prophet Isaiah tells us about, a bad vineyard, of no good to anyone. They needed the light to break upon their darkness. Hope for deliverance came in the promise of a Messiah, and God gave them that gift of hope as the Light of the World came in Jesus. John in his Gospel so beautifully tells us of that light. God is not a distant God who created and then abandoned his creations to their own ways. God came at the beginning to care and love his created. God continued to be with the nation that he had created even when wayward Israel turned its back on him. So God entered history showing his great love for his people as he came in the flesh. God came at a time when there seemed to be no hope, and to a people who had almost given up hope in the promise of his deliverance. God came bringing to a darkened world the greatest gift of all - the truth revealed in Jesus, who is the true light. (Sign - Light of Christ)
Reader 6: John 8:12 tells us that Jesus said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." And again in John 12:44--46, "Then Jesus cried aloud: 'Whoever believes in me believes not in me but in him who sent me. And whoever sees me sees him who sent me. I have come as light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me should not remain in the darkness.' "
Narrator: A child sat in the darkness of the morning and brooded. Mom had gone to work already. Each day she had to haul her book bag and lunch box to school, but today was Thursday. That meant she also had to take her cornet for lessons at noon. How was she going to handle all that? "I know God takes care of the pastor and the church, but I need some help too. Are you there, God?" she murmured. The telephone rang. "Kayla, this is Mr. Foster. I'm taking my grandson Tommy and his horn to school this morning. We go right by your house. Would you like a ride to school on Thursdays too?" The child's face beamed. God is good. He does care about me.
It was good of Mr. Foster to give a gift of a weekly ride to his little neighbor. How much more does God desire to give good things to each one of us. Adam and Eve knew God as the giver of all good. They knew God to be kind and gracious. They knew that God was willing to help as they had need. This light and understanding, which is at the heart of all humankind, cannot be suppressed or put out. Our natural reason knows that all good comes from God. We regard God as good, gracious, merciful, and generous. Yet, like Kayla, we are not sure that God really wants to help us as individuals. That's when we remember the yellow of our rainbow. God shows us his love in the Light, Jesus. Believing in Christ and following him enables us to walk in the light of God's love and experience his daily provision in all areas of our lives. That is Good News!
Reader 7: Now we look at our third color, blue. Blue represents the color of water that brings us back to our creation story in Genesis 1:6--10. "And God said, 'Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.' So God made the dome and separated the waters that were under the dome from the waters that were above the dome. And it was so. God called the dome Sky.... And God said, 'Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.' God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good." (Sign - Waters of Creation)
Narrator: In the beginning God's waters held no pollution. They teemed with life and hope of new life. But then sin entered the world. The waters of life became polluted. So God sent the floodwaters destroying the life that once existed. But then came the gift of another water - baptism. (Sign - Waters of Baptism) Here God makes a covenant with us. In the waters of baptism we are cleansed from sin and given new birth. The gift of baptism is a free gift from God. It is his love and deliverance.
Reader 8: Hear of that love in the flood prayer which is often recited just before the baptismal water is placed on the one to be baptized:
"Holy God, mighty Lord, gracious Father: We give you thanks, for in the beginning your Spirit moved over the waters and you created heaven and earth. By the gift of water you nourish and sustain us and all living things. From the waters of the flood you condemned the wicked and saved those whom you had chosen, Noah and his family. You led Israel by the pillar of cloud and fire through the sea, out of slavery into the freedom of the Promised Land. In the waters of the Jordan, your Son was baptized by John and anointed with the Spirit. By the baptism of his own death and resurrection your beloved Son has set us free from the bondage to sin and death, and has opened the way to the joy and freedom of everlasting life. He made water a sign of the kingdom and of cleansing and rebirth. In obedience to his command, we make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Pour out your Holy Spirit, so that those who are here baptized may be given new life. Wash away the sin of all those who are cleansed by this water and bring them forth as inheritors of your glorious kingdom. To you be given praise and honor and worship through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen" (The Lutheran Book of Worship, Augsburg Publishing House, Minneapolis, p. 122).
Narrator: As God's baptized, we are free from sin and enter into a relationship with our Lord. But as Luther states, we need to die daily - to go to those waters and repent, rising to a newness of life. That is our hope - of daily repentance and forgiveness. What a promise is ours. As we celebrate that hope we experience a new life now and one which is to come. We put our trust in something hoped for that gives promise for the future - salvation in Christ. We reach out in faith and claim God's gift of hope through our baptism. We enter into the divine mystery of God's great love for us by becoming children of God and in faith receiving God's gift of mercy.
Reader 9: For as Saint Paul writes in Romans 5: "Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person - though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. Much more surely then, now that we have been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life."
Narrator: The rainbow's three primary colors stand before us:
Red - the Blood of Creation/the Blood of Christ
Yellow - the Light of Creation/the Light of Christ
Blue - the Waters of Creation/the Waters of Baptism
But there are three secondary colors which blend, helping to make our rainbow complete.
Reader 10: As we mix red and yellow we obtain orange. Orange - a fruit which can be used to represent the Triune God (the peel, the fruit, the seed), the one who is referred to in our baptismal prayer: the Holy God, the Father who created heaven and earth and all living creatures; the Savior, Jesus Christ, who set us free from sin and death; and Holy Spirit who nourishes and sustains all living things. Trinity - the three in one. (Band of orange - Trinity)
Reader 11: Then we have the colors yellow and blue coming together to form green. Being set free from the failures of yesterday and today - freed to try again, we have the way opened to the joy and freedom of new life represented by green - our new life in Jesus. (Band of green - New Life)
Reader 12: (Band of purple - Chosen People) Our last color is purple, the combination of blue and red. Purple is the hope of the prodigal children returning to the Father, once again becoming part of the household of God. And who are those people in that household? They are, according to 1 Peter 2:9, "A chosen race (like Noah and his family), a royal priesthood (represented by the royal color purple), a holy nation (delivered from a death we so deserve), God's own people (the baptized), in order that you might proclaim the mighty acts of him (the Triune God) who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light (the light of Christ)" by giving us the gift of new life. "Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people," verse 10 continues: "once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy." And to this we say, "Amen, thank you, God, for that gift of hope, the gift we celebrate."
Narrator: So look for the rainbow - God's sign of hope - and celebrate his promises to you as God's people of the rainbow - people of hope. Amen.
Participants
Narrator
Twelve readers (may combine the readings if your group is small)
Props
Twelve sign patterns (enlarge and color or cut from colored paper)
Make six arches to combine for a rainbow
Color Red
Half arch: Blood of Creation
Half arch: Blood of Christ
Color Yellow
Half arch: Light of Creation
Half arch: Light of Christ
Color Blue
Half arch: Waters of Creation
Half arch: Waters of Baptism
Color Orange
Full arch: Trinity
Color Green
Full arch: New Life
Color Purple:
Full arch: Chosen People
Program
Celebrating God's Gift Of Hope
Narrator: The day had been dismal inside and out. Searching for answers, a woman struggled with the condition of her life. Desperately calling out to the Lord, she asked for a sign of God's presence in the midst of this turmoil in her life. The rains outside had further dampened her spirits, and now she had to leave and enter the chaos of the world that surrounded her. Putting on a rain slicker, she stepped outside, only to be surprised by what she saw. The sun had broken out from behind the storm clouds. Lifting up her eyes, she beheld a rainbow in the sky - not just one rainbow, but two. A double blessing. "Thank you, Lord," she murmured graciously. "I needed that sign." Hope once more flooded her soul, and she went forth knowing God was present.
God's Gift of Hope - something to be celebrated. "Celebrating God's Gift of Hope" is the theme for our program today. The scripture we will reflect on is from Genesis 9:13--15, with emphasis on the rainbow as God's promise of hope.
Reader 1: In Genesis 9:13--15 God states, "I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh."
Narrator: As the rainbow was a sign to our woman in our first story, so it was a sign to Noah and his family that the storm had ended. Why had the storm come in the first place? We read in Genesis chapter 6 that the Lord was grieved that he had created human beings. Their wicked actions pained his heart. People were following the pursuits of the flesh and their own ways, ignoring God as their Creator. Therefore, judgment was about to fall upon all living creatures. However, there was one who had chosen to remain faithful to God, one who had not followed the crowd. Salvation was offered to Noah and his family. God's grace prevailed, a piece of creation would continue. God had not given up totally.
Most of us remember the flood story from Sunday school: how Noah built the ark trusting in God's Word even when there was no sign of a rain, how he gathered two of each kind of animal and brought them on board that ark, and then how it rained and poured for forty days. Noah sailed the waters as the rains continued, but he never gave up hope of God's promise to save his life. Then the sun came out, the lands dried up, and Noah, his family, and the animals came forth from the ark. This is the point at which our study tells us that God made a covenant with Noah. God recognized his creations would probably continue to pursue the old ways of fallen humanity, but God gave them a promise. Divine judgment in the form of another flood was removed. The rainbow in the sky was to be a sign to God never again to destroy the world through a flood. This sign has been there as that reminder to all the people of the Old Testament and to us as well - a sign of hope.
Reader 2: The rainbow is comprised of three primary colors: red, yellow, and blue. Each of them blends to form three secondary colors: orange, green, and purple. In our reflection upon the rainbow, God's promise of hope, we will look at these colors and what they might symbolize for us. We begin with our first band of color, red, the color of life symbolizing the blood that flows through all created beings as we begin at the beginning, Genesis chapter one. (Sign - Blood of Creation) Here we see the Creator God at work.
Reader 3: What fun God must have had making all the variety of birds, fish, and other animals. But the crown of the Lord's creation was human beings. God created them in his own image and breathed life into their very nostrils. God blessed Adam and Eve and gave them authority over all of nature. They were to go forth, subduing the earth and ruling benevolently. They were to be fruitful and multiply. And in the Garden of Eden God gave a command, found in Genesis 2:16, that this pair could eat from any tree except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. However, Adam and Eve disobeyed God's command, and as a consequence broke their relationship with a God who dearly loved them and wanted only the best for them. In order to protect them from further harming themselves, God drove them from the Garden. They were then forced to till the land and experience life with all its pains as well as its joys.
Narrator: Again recall your Sunday school lessons of how that first family adapted to their new environment. Their son, a creation of their own bodies, turned on his own brother and killed him, spilling his blood because he was jealous that Abel's sacrifice was more acceptable than his. That sacrifice had been the blood of a lamb. Cain's pride caused him to destroy his own flesh and blood. We see that happening today as jealousy and pride take over in situations and family relationships are destroyed. Blood that runs through the same veins is spilled on a battlefield of bitterness and envy. Now Cain was driven from the presence of God, and another son, Seth, was born to Adam and Eve. Noah is a descendant of Seth, and Noah walked in a right relationship to his God. But the descendants of Cain continued their wicked ways until God sent the flood to wipe them out, lest all of creation be lost. This was actually grace being shown, God's desire to save. Noah and his family were spared. From primeval waters came creation. From floodwaters came a new hope.
Reader 4: After the flood, God told Noah and his family, as he had told Adam and Eve, to go forth and be fruitful and multiply. God then made a covenant with him never to cut off life by the waters of a flood, thus destroying the earth. The red in our rainbow is a sign of that hope we have in the blood. And for us as New Testament creatures, that is the hope that is fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Today we are not driven from God's presence because we have sinned, because we have strayed from God's path, or because we seek to live by our own wisdom and not his. We are welcomed into the presence of God through the blood of Christ shed on Calvary, which has become our hope. (Sign - Blood of Christ) That is the Good News we find represented in the color red, for our God gives us the gift of hope in that he so loved us, he gave his only son to die, that we would be restored to fellowship once more with the God who loves us and wants only our best. We are freed to try and try again thanks to God's love and mercy.
Narrator: Next we place the color yellow into our rainbow, yellow representing light. As we do, let us once again return to the scene of creation. (Sign - Light of Creation) In the beginning the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And then God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. How awesome our God is. God speaks and light breaks into the darkness. God spoke to Adam and Eve in love, wanting only the best for them. But they listened to a voice from the dark, which told them they could be like God. As a result, sin entered the world. Darkness covered the minds of humankind and they chose to go their own way.
Reader 5: In order to keep the last flickering coals of righteousness alive, God sent the dark storm clouds upon the earth. The floodwaters came, but only for a time. The sun eventually came out and dried up the land. Noah and his family came out, and the first thing he did was offer sacrifice to God. God was pleased that Noah still trusted him. Light once more shone on the earth as those who had been saved responded in thanksgiving to the God who had delivered them from destruction.
Narrator: Things looked good, but appearances can be deceiving. Have you ever had the experience of buying a bunch of plump--looking grapes, anticipating that they would be sweet to the tongue, only to get them home, bite into them, and find out how sour they actually were? Yes, appearances can be deceiving. And so it has been with the people God has created. They continued to reject the light of God's love. God's chosen people Israel gave the appearance of a righteous nation, but they continued to walk away from God's light. They were the wild grapes the prophet Isaiah tells us about, a bad vineyard, of no good to anyone. They needed the light to break upon their darkness. Hope for deliverance came in the promise of a Messiah, and God gave them that gift of hope as the Light of the World came in Jesus. John in his Gospel so beautifully tells us of that light. God is not a distant God who created and then abandoned his creations to their own ways. God came at the beginning to care and love his created. God continued to be with the nation that he had created even when wayward Israel turned its back on him. So God entered history showing his great love for his people as he came in the flesh. God came at a time when there seemed to be no hope, and to a people who had almost given up hope in the promise of his deliverance. God came bringing to a darkened world the greatest gift of all - the truth revealed in Jesus, who is the true light. (Sign - Light of Christ)
Reader 6: John 8:12 tells us that Jesus said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." And again in John 12:44--46, "Then Jesus cried aloud: 'Whoever believes in me believes not in me but in him who sent me. And whoever sees me sees him who sent me. I have come as light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me should not remain in the darkness.' "
Narrator: A child sat in the darkness of the morning and brooded. Mom had gone to work already. Each day she had to haul her book bag and lunch box to school, but today was Thursday. That meant she also had to take her cornet for lessons at noon. How was she going to handle all that? "I know God takes care of the pastor and the church, but I need some help too. Are you there, God?" she murmured. The telephone rang. "Kayla, this is Mr. Foster. I'm taking my grandson Tommy and his horn to school this morning. We go right by your house. Would you like a ride to school on Thursdays too?" The child's face beamed. God is good. He does care about me.
It was good of Mr. Foster to give a gift of a weekly ride to his little neighbor. How much more does God desire to give good things to each one of us. Adam and Eve knew God as the giver of all good. They knew God to be kind and gracious. They knew that God was willing to help as they had need. This light and understanding, which is at the heart of all humankind, cannot be suppressed or put out. Our natural reason knows that all good comes from God. We regard God as good, gracious, merciful, and generous. Yet, like Kayla, we are not sure that God really wants to help us as individuals. That's when we remember the yellow of our rainbow. God shows us his love in the Light, Jesus. Believing in Christ and following him enables us to walk in the light of God's love and experience his daily provision in all areas of our lives. That is Good News!
Reader 7: Now we look at our third color, blue. Blue represents the color of water that brings us back to our creation story in Genesis 1:6--10. "And God said, 'Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.' So God made the dome and separated the waters that were under the dome from the waters that were above the dome. And it was so. God called the dome Sky.... And God said, 'Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.' God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good." (Sign - Waters of Creation)
Narrator: In the beginning God's waters held no pollution. They teemed with life and hope of new life. But then sin entered the world. The waters of life became polluted. So God sent the floodwaters destroying the life that once existed. But then came the gift of another water - baptism. (Sign - Waters of Baptism) Here God makes a covenant with us. In the waters of baptism we are cleansed from sin and given new birth. The gift of baptism is a free gift from God. It is his love and deliverance.
Reader 8: Hear of that love in the flood prayer which is often recited just before the baptismal water is placed on the one to be baptized:
"Holy God, mighty Lord, gracious Father: We give you thanks, for in the beginning your Spirit moved over the waters and you created heaven and earth. By the gift of water you nourish and sustain us and all living things. From the waters of the flood you condemned the wicked and saved those whom you had chosen, Noah and his family. You led Israel by the pillar of cloud and fire through the sea, out of slavery into the freedom of the Promised Land. In the waters of the Jordan, your Son was baptized by John and anointed with the Spirit. By the baptism of his own death and resurrection your beloved Son has set us free from the bondage to sin and death, and has opened the way to the joy and freedom of everlasting life. He made water a sign of the kingdom and of cleansing and rebirth. In obedience to his command, we make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Pour out your Holy Spirit, so that those who are here baptized may be given new life. Wash away the sin of all those who are cleansed by this water and bring them forth as inheritors of your glorious kingdom. To you be given praise and honor and worship through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen" (The Lutheran Book of Worship, Augsburg Publishing House, Minneapolis, p. 122).
Narrator: As God's baptized, we are free from sin and enter into a relationship with our Lord. But as Luther states, we need to die daily - to go to those waters and repent, rising to a newness of life. That is our hope - of daily repentance and forgiveness. What a promise is ours. As we celebrate that hope we experience a new life now and one which is to come. We put our trust in something hoped for that gives promise for the future - salvation in Christ. We reach out in faith and claim God's gift of hope through our baptism. We enter into the divine mystery of God's great love for us by becoming children of God and in faith receiving God's gift of mercy.
Reader 9: For as Saint Paul writes in Romans 5: "Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person - though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. Much more surely then, now that we have been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life."
Narrator: The rainbow's three primary colors stand before us:
Red - the Blood of Creation/the Blood of Christ
Yellow - the Light of Creation/the Light of Christ
Blue - the Waters of Creation/the Waters of Baptism
But there are three secondary colors which blend, helping to make our rainbow complete.
Reader 10: As we mix red and yellow we obtain orange. Orange - a fruit which can be used to represent the Triune God (the peel, the fruit, the seed), the one who is referred to in our baptismal prayer: the Holy God, the Father who created heaven and earth and all living creatures; the Savior, Jesus Christ, who set us free from sin and death; and Holy Spirit who nourishes and sustains all living things. Trinity - the three in one. (Band of orange - Trinity)
Reader 11: Then we have the colors yellow and blue coming together to form green. Being set free from the failures of yesterday and today - freed to try again, we have the way opened to the joy and freedom of new life represented by green - our new life in Jesus. (Band of green - New Life)
Reader 12: (Band of purple - Chosen People) Our last color is purple, the combination of blue and red. Purple is the hope of the prodigal children returning to the Father, once again becoming part of the household of God. And who are those people in that household? They are, according to 1 Peter 2:9, "A chosen race (like Noah and his family), a royal priesthood (represented by the royal color purple), a holy nation (delivered from a death we so deserve), God's own people (the baptized), in order that you might proclaim the mighty acts of him (the Triune God) who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light (the light of Christ)" by giving us the gift of new life. "Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people," verse 10 continues: "once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy." And to this we say, "Amen, thank you, God, for that gift of hope, the gift we celebrate."
Narrator: So look for the rainbow - God's sign of hope - and celebrate his promises to you as God's people of the rainbow - people of hope. Amen.
