The Celebration of the Gospel
April 24, 2016 —5th Sunday of Easter
I give you a new commandment, that you love one another.
Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.
— John 13.34
______ We Gather as the Body of Christ______
GREETING
PRELUDE His Strength Is Perfect Chapman & Smalley, arr: Lee Evans
[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: Creator God, we celebrate your gift of Earth, your gift of all Creation.
All: We give thanks that you embodied your love in Jesus,
made your compassion real with the dust of the earth,
and so blessed our lives, our breath and our bodies.
Loving Creator, we renew our reverence for your gift.
We look to Earth not as a “resource,” for our use, but a temple of your presence,
a living being that we are part of and in relationship with.
God, we, praise you; we confess our self-centeredness.
We open our hearts to your Spirit, that we may love as you have loved us.
* SONG I Am Your Mother Black hymnal # 2059
(10:30) CHILDREN’S TIME
_________We Attend to the Word_________
(10:30) THE WORD IN SONG Trust and Obey — Daniel B. Towner, arr. Lloyd Larson
PRAYER OF THE DAY
Loving God, we are led by many desires, commanded by many voices, torn by many forces. Speak your Word to us; give us your one command, that our souls may be still, that our hearts may be one, that our minds may be clear, that our strength may be yours. Bring us to right desire, right thought, and right action. Speak to us, God, for we are hungry for your Word. Amen.
NEW TESTAMENT Acts 11.1-18
[Peter has a vision in which he is invited to eat foods that are considered unclean, which leads him to include Gentiles in the ministry of the young church.]
Now the apostles and the believers who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also accepted the word of God. So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him, saying, “Why did you go to Gentiles and eat with them?” Then Peter began to explain it to them, step by step, saying, “I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision. There was something like a large sheet coming down from heaven, being lowered by its four corners; and it came close to me. As I looked at it closely I saw four-footed animals, beasts of prey, reptiles, and birds of the air. I also heard a voice saying to me, “Get up, Peter; kill and eat.’ But I replied, “By no means, Lord; for nothing profane or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’
But a second time the voice answered from heaven, “What God has made clean, you must not call profane.’ This happened three times; then everything was pulled up again to heaven.
At that very moment three men, sent to me from Caesarea, arrived at the house where we were. The Spirit told me to go with them and not to make a distinction between them and us. These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered the man’s house. He told us how he had seen the angel standing in his house and saying, “Send to Joppa and bring Simon, who is called Peter; he will give you a message by which you and your entire household will be saved.’ And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as it had upon us at the beginning. And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said, “John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ If then God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God?”
When they heard this, they were silenced. And they praised God, saying, “Then God has given even to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life.”
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GOSPEL John 13.31-35
[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) have actually loved us.]
When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Human One has been glorified, and God has been glorified in that one. If God has been glorified in the Human One, God will also glorify the Human One in God’s own person and will glorify the Human One at once. Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the others so now I say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’ 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
SONG The Gift of Love Blue hymnal # 408
* CANTICLE Revelation 21.1-6
[John sees “a new heaven and a new earth,” in which God dwells with the people and wipes away their tears, and death will be no more.]
Leader: I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And 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, “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!
THE PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
[Anyone who wishes may share a prayer concern at the microphone.]
PASSING THE PEACE
________We Share at Christ’s Table________
OFFERING OUR GIFTS Revive Us Again John Husband, arr: Charity Book Putnam
* COMMUNION SONG Come, My Way Blue hymnal #164
THE GREAT THANKSGIVING
Pastor: God, in love you create us.
All: In love you claim us.
In love you promise to be with us always; and you are.
When we wander, you follow. When we are stuck you set us free.
You judge the forces of oppression and lead us toward justice,
toward a New Jerusalem in which everyone is Beloved.
As a sign of that hope you invite us to your table.
At this table all are welcome, and all are beloved,
where we are all young and old, rich and poor, gay and straight, male and female,
guilty and innocent, whole and broken, without distinction or judgment.
Therefore, with all Creation, we praise you with love and delight.
[Sanctus]
Blessed are all who come in your name, and blessed is Jesus, who loved us as you love us.
In love he taught and healed, he gathered the outcast, he loved the unlovely.
In love he established a new realm; he built a new city.
In love, even in death, he gave us his Spirit, so that we might love as he loved.
[The Blessing and Covenant….]
“Do this,” he said, “in remembrance of me.”
And so, remembering your loving, mighty acts in Jesus Christ,
we offer ourselves with praise and thanksgiving
as a living and holy sacrifice,
in union with Christ’s offering for us,
as we proclaim the mystery at the heart of our faith:
[Memorial Acclamation]
Pour out your Holy Spirit on this food…
And 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 feast on your love, and it will become part of us,
so that your love is the love with which we love all people,
in the name and the Spirit of Christ.
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 fed us with your love; your grace is now a part of us. Send out to love as you have loved us, for the sake of the world, in the name and the Spirit of Christ. Amen.
____ We Are Sent in Ministry to the World___
THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH IN THE WORLD
* SONG Lord, I Want to Be a Christian Blue hymnal #402
* 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 Let All Things Their Creator Bless arr: Alfred V. Fedak
[During the postlude there are people ready to pray with you at the candles in the corners.]