The Celebration of the Gospel
May 19, 2019 — Fifth Sunday of Easter
“This is my commandment:
that you love one another as I have loved you.” —John 13.34
________ We Gather as the Body of Christ______
GREETING
PRELUDE 8:15: Great Day! – arr. Bill Ingram (Ringtones)
10:30: Day By Day – Oscar Ahnfelt, arr: Cindy Berry
[As we listen to the music we quiet our minds and bodies,
listen for our hearts’ deepest desires,
and become present to the Holy One who is lovingly present for us.]
* CALL TO WORSHIP
Leader: God of love, you create us in love.
All: You create us so that you may love us,
Christ, you come to us in love and show us how to love.
You send us into the world to love.
Holy Spirit, you fill us with your love so that it is your love, not ours
with which we love the world.
Renew your love in us, that we may love as you have loved us.
* SONG – Love Divine, All Loves Excelling – Blue hymnal # 384 v. 1,2
____________We Attend to the Word__________
(10:30) CHILDREN’S TIME
(10:30) THE WORD IN SONG – For the Beauty of the Earth – John Rutter
PRAYER
God of love, you are love itself. Where love is, there you are. In our thirst for your love, speak your love to us, renew your love in us, and let your love flow through us for the sake of all the world, in the spirit and the company of Christ. Amen.
NEW TESTAMENT – 1 John 4.7-12
[John says God is love. Our faith is not a set of beliefs but the love of God living in us—even perfected in us—and spreading out to others.]
Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God;
everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.
God’s love was revealed among us in this way:
God sent God’s only Begotten into the world so that we might live through Christ.
In this is love, not that we loved God but that God loved us
and sent God’s Only Begotten to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.
Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another.
No one has ever seen God;
if we love one another, God lives in us, and God’s love is perfected in us.
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* CANTICLE – from Revelation 21.1-6
Leader: I heard a loud voice speaking from the throne:
All: See, the home of God is among us. God will dwell with us.
We will be God’s peoples, and God in person will be with us;
God will wipe every tear from our eyes.
Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more,
for the first things have passed away.
And the one who was seated on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new.”
These words are trustworthy and true.
Then the One spoke to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.
“To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life.”
Alleluia!
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GOSPEL – John 13.34-35
[Jesus gives his disciples a new commandment, that they love one another as he has loved them. Jesus defines discipleship not by belief or doctrine, but by love—and not merely the Golden Rule, to love as we wish to be loved, but as Jesus (and God) has actually loved us.]
I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
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SERMON – As I have loved you
SONG – Come and Fill Our Hearts
Come and fill our hearts with your peace; you alone, O God, are holy.
Come and fill our hearts with your peace. Alleluia.
(8:15) PRAYER IN SONG – Meditation – Nan Beth Walton (Ringtones)
THE PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
[Anyone who wishes may share a prayer at the microphone.]
SHARING THE PEACE OF CHRIST
___________We Share at Christ’s Table _________
OFFERING OUR GIFTS 8:15: Christus, Mein Leben – Johann Pachelbel
10:30: Allegro Spiritoso – Greg Underwood (Bells of St. Matthew’s)
* COMMUNION SONG (Tune: Fairest Lord Jesus)
Blessed Lord Jesus, you who gave your life to us,
bright with the love of God you bore,
you bid us dine with you. We bring you gifts that we
may feast on love forevermore.
Brother, companion, teacher, healer, savior,
blessed friend, dear Jesus,
may we inherit your loving Spirit,
that we may love as you love us.
THE GREAT THANKSGIVING – [Black hymnal # 2257-a]
We thank you, God, for you create us out of love, for love.
You claim us as your Beloved, and promise to be our God.
You save us from all that oppresses, and set us free,
You surround us with this teeming earth, feeding us with your love.
And so with the saints and all Creation, we sing your praise.
[Sanctus # 2257-b]
Blessed are all who come in your name, and blessed is Jesus, your Christ.
He loved the unlovely and welcomed the rejected.
He taught a love that ruined all social barriers, and for that, he was crucified;
but you raised him from the dead, for love cannot be extinguished.
[The Blessing and Covenant…]
Jesus said, “Do this in remembrance of me.”
As often as we break this bread and share this cup
we remember his death and resurrection until he comes again.
Remembering these, your mighty acts in Jesus Christ,
we offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving
as a living and holy sacrifice, in union with Christ’s offering for us,
as we proclaim the mystery of our faith:
[Memorial Acclamation # 2257-c]
Pour out your Holy Spirit on these gifts of bread and cup,
that they may be for us the body and blood of Christ.
Pour out your Holy Spirit on us,
that we may be for the world the Body of Christ.
In this feast, we take in again all the ways you have loved us,
and poured out yourself for us, and into us.
Fill us with your love to overflowing,
that we may always love as you have loved us.
[Amen # 2257-d]
THE PRAYER OF JESUS
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.
SHARING THE HOLY MEAL [Everyone is welcome at the table of Christ’s self-giving love.
The bread is wheat-, soy- and dairy free. We dip the bread in the juice.]
PRAYER OF BLESSING
Gracious God, we thank you for this mystery in which you have given yourself to us. You have filled us to overflowing with your love. Send us into the world to love as you have loved us, in the name and the Spirit and the company of Christ. Amen.
______ We Are Sent in Ministry to the World_____
THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH IN THE WORLD
* SONG – They’ll Know We are Christian by our Love – Black hymnal #2223
* THE BLESSING AND SENDING FORTH
RESPONSE We stand and sing to our neighbors:
May the grace and peace of Christ be with you my friends.
Go and share the love of God, love that never ends.
POSTLUDE – Glory Be to God the Father – André van Vliet