The Celebration of the Gospel
June 2, 2019 — Ascension Sunday
God raised Christ from the dead,
and seated Christ at God’s right hand in the heavenly places.
—Ephesians 1.20.
8:15 Service
________ We Gather as the Body of Christ______
GREETING
PRELUDE – Spirit Of God – Tune: MORECAMBE, arr. Mark Roberts
[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: Eternal God, you have raised Christ to rule over the universe!
All: We sing your praise in awe and wonder. Alleluia!
You have raised Christ to reign over all human history.
All is taken up in the grace and Christ. Alleluia!
You have raised up Christ to rule over our hearts and our lives.
We bow in humility and gratitude
and give our lives to serve in love and wonder. Alleluia!
* SONG – We Will Glorify the King of Kings – Black hymnal # 2087
___________We Attend to the Word___________
THE WORD IN SONG – Softly and Tenderly – arr Karen Roth (Ringtones)
PRAYER
Infinite God, the Christ who has walked among us you have raised up from death. The love Jesus embodied you have set on the throne of the world. In humility, we open our hearts to your Word. Speak to us and re-point the very compass of our hearts, that they may point to you alone, and to your love. We pray in the name of the crucified and risen and exalted Christ. Amen.
GOSPEL – John 17.20-26
[Jesus prays that his followers be united in his spirit, that we be in Christ and Christ in us as God and Christ are in each other. Christ is the over-arching reality that includes all of us, whether or not we like it—or each other.]
As Jesus prayed he said, ”I ask on behalf of those who will believe in me,
that they may all be one.
As you, God, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us,
so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
The glory that you have given me I have given them,
so that they may be one, as we are one: I in them and you in me,
that they may become completely one,
so that the world may know that you have sent me
and have loved them even as you have loved me.
God, I desire that those whom you have given me
may be with me where I am,
so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
+
EPISTLE – Ephesians 1.17-23
[Paul prays that we might come to know Christ and the power of his grace. This power is the same that raised Christ, who is seated “in the heavenly places,” meaning in power over the entire world, including every human power structure (“authority and power and dominion”.]
The God of our Sovereign Jesus Christ,
the Father and Mother of glory,
has embodied among us in Jesus
the love that creates and orders our lives
and makes them good and beautiful.
I pray that God will awaken in you deep awareness
of God’s presence and love.
With the eyes of your heart enlightened
may you have the hope God has for you;
may you live in wonder and trust
of the gifts we all receive as God’s Beloved;
may you come more deeply to trust
the immeasurable power of God’s love.
It is divine love that raised Christ from the dead,
raised Christ to rule the universe with love,
to rule over all human dominion
and all realms before and after humans,
in the visible world and the unseen.
All things are subject to the sovereignty of Love.
And we, the church, are the Body of Christ,
the body of that love,
love that fills everything, and contains everything.
Everything.
Alleluia.
+
NEW TESTAMENT – Acts 1.1-11
[ Jesus, who has appeared to the disciples for forty days since his resurrection, turns aside their desire for power structures (“will you restore sovereignty to Israel?”) and instead charges his followers to be witnesses to love. He then he ascends into the sky— a metaphor for Christ’s cosmic sovereignty.]
In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the empire of God. While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of God. “This,” he said, “is what you have heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
So when they had come together, they asked him, “Teacher, is this the time when you will restore sovereignty to Israel?” He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that God has set by God’s own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witness in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two messengers in white robes stood by them. They said, “People of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”
+
SERMON – Awe and wonder
SONG – Fairest Lord Jesus – Blue hymnal # 189
* AFFIRMATION OF FAITH – Ephesians 1.17-23
Leader: We pray that the God of the beloved, Jesus Christ, the God of glory, may give us a spirit of wisdom and revelation as we come to know the Creator so that, the eyes of our hearts may be enlightened.
All: We give our hearts to God, who calls us to hope,
who gives us a glorious inheritance among the saints,
and who shows immeasurably great power for us who trust.
God has shown that power in raising Christ from the dead
and seating Christ beside God in the heavenly places,
far above all rule and authority and power and dominion,
and above every name that is named,
not only in this age but also in the age to come.
God has put all things under Christ’s feet
and has made Christ the head over all things for the church,
which is Christ’s body,
the fullness of God who fills all in all. Alleluia!
* SONG – More Precious than Silver – Black hymnal #2065
THE PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
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 PEACE OF CHRIST
_____ We Are Sent in Ministry to the World_____
OFFERING OUR GIFTS – His Eye Is On the Sparrow — arr. Paul Kinney (Ringtones)
* OFFERING SONG – Doxology – Blue hymnal #95
* PRAYER
Gracious God, we give you our lives, symbolized in these gifts. Receive them with love, bless them with grace and use them according to your will. You are our sovereign; your love, embodied in Christ, reigns over all the world. Send us in humility and awe, in love and courage, to serve you, for the sake of the healing of the world, in the name and the Spirit of Christ. Amen.
THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH IN THE WORLD
* SONG – Come, Let Us with our Lord Arise — Black hymnal #2084
* 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 – Marche Triomphale — Sigfrid Karg-Elert
__________________________________________________
10:30 Service
Music Sunday
GREETING
PRELUDE – Processional – Kirtsy Mitchell (Bells of St. Matthew’s)
* CALL TO WORSHIP
Leader: Eternal God, your glory abounds!
All: We sing your praise in awe and wonder.
Loving Christ, your love surrounds and upholds us.
We sing your song in love and gratitude.
Holy Spirit, your beauty fills us.
We sing your praise in love and wonder. Alleluia!
* SONG – All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name – Blue hymnal # 154, v. 1, 3, 6
PRAYER
God of grace, you have raised Christ from the dead, and set Love on the throne of the universe, above all powers and principalities. What can we do but burst into song? We sing your praise and pray that by your grace in us our lives may be a love song for you. We pray in the name of Christ and the power of your Holy Spirit. Amen.
THE WORD IN SONG – God Is Gone Up – Gerald Finzi
GOSPEL – John 17.20-26
[Jesus prays that his followers be united in his spirit, that we be in Christ and Christ in us as God and Christ are in each other. Christ is the over-arching reality that includes all of us, whether or not we like it—or each other.]
As Jesus prayed he said,
”I ask on behalf of those who will believe in me,
that they may all be one.
As you, God, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us,
so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
The glory that you have given me I have given them,
so that they may be one, as we are one: I in them and you in me,
that they may become completely one,
so that the world may know that you have sent me
and have loved them even as you have loved me.
God, I desire that those whom you have given me
may be with me where I am,
so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
+
THE WORD IN SONG
Way Down in Egypt Land – arr Kevin McChesney (Bells of St. Matthew’s)
CHILDREN’S TIME
EPISTLE – Ephesians 1.17-23
[Paul prays that we might come to know Christ and the power of his grace. This power is the same that raised Christ, who is seated “in the heavenly places,” meaning in power over the entire world, including every human power structure (“authority and power and dominion”.]
The God of our Sovereign Jesus Christ,
the Father and Mother of glory,
has embodied among us in Jesus
the love that creates and orders our lives
and makes them good and beautiful.
I pray that God will awaken in you deep awareness
of God’s presence and love.
With the eyes of your heart enlightened
may you have the hope God has for you;
may you live in wonder and trust
of the gifts we all receive as God’s Beloved;
may you come more deeply to trust
the immeasurable power of God’s love.
It is divine love that raised Christ from the dead,
raised Christ to rule the universe with love,
to rule over all human dominion
and all realms before and after humans,
in the visible world and the unseen.
All things are subject to the sovereignty of Love.
And we, the church, are the Body of Christ,
the body of that love,
love that fills everything, and contains everything.
Everything.
Alleluia.
+
RESPONSE – Old 100th
1. All people that on Earth do dwell
Sing to the Lord with cheerful voice.
Him serve with fear, His praise foretell.
Come ye before Him and rejoice.
2. The Lord ye know is God indeed.
Without our aid, He did us make.
We are his folk, he doth us feed,
And for His sheep he doth us take.
5. To Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
The God whom heaven and earth adore,
From men and from the angel host
Be praise and glory evermore!
THE WORD IN SONG – The Lord Is My Shepherd – Randall Thompson
NEW TESTAMENT – Acts 1.1-11
[Jesus, who has appeared to the disciples for forty days since his resurrection, turns aside their desire for power structures (“will you restore sovereignty to Israel?”) and instead charges his followers to be witnesses to love. He then he ascends into the sky— a metaphor for Christ’s cosmic sovereignty.]
In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the empire of God. While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of God. “This,” he said, “is what you have heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
So when they had come together, they asked him, “Teacher, is this the time when you will restore sovereignty to Israel?” He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that God has set by God’s own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two messengers in white robes stood by them. They said, “People of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”
+
SERMON – Wonder and awe
THE PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
THE PRAYER OF JESUS
SHARING THE PEACE OF CHRIST
THE WORD IN SONG – Ubi Caritas – Maurice Durufle
OFFERING OUR GIFTS – Rondo Espressivo – C. P. E. Bach
* OFFERING SONG Bless Thou the Gifts – Blue hymnal #587
* PRAYER
Gracious God, we give you our lives, symbolized in these gifts. Receive them with love, bless them with grace and use them according to your will. May our lives proclaim your glory, in the love of Christ and the power of your Holy Spirit. Amen.
THE WORD IN SONG – I’m Gonna Live – arr Sandra Eithun (Bells of St. Matthew’s)
THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH IN THE WORLD
* SONG – His Eye Is on the Sparrow – Black hymnal #2146
* 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.
THE WORD IN SONG – Alleluia – Randall Thompson
POSTLUDE – Marche Triomphale – Sigfrid Karg-Elert