IN OUR WORSHIP
Sunday, June 1, 2014
Ascension Sunday
Ephesians 1.15-23
Psalm 47
Acts 1.1-11
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Sunday’s Worship:
The Celebration of the Gospel
June 1, 2014 — 7th Sunday of Easter: Ascension Sunday
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 people in white robes stood by them.
They said, “People of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven?
— Acts 1.9-11
What about those poor folks left behind?
It’s all about heaven on earth….
We Gather as The Body of Christ
GREETING
PRELUDE Father, We Praise You Todd Kendall
* CALL TO WORSHIP
Leader: God of glory, something just happened.
All: God of love, something just changed.
Christ now reigns overall the world.
Christ now reigns over all our hearts.
All our minds.
All our lives, and all our choices.
Christ, ruler of all that is, come rule over us.
Draw us up in your love, and make us your Body, for the sake of the world. Amen.
SONG Fairest Lord Jesus Blue hymnal #189
CHILDREN’S TIME
We Attend to the Word
THE WORD IN SONG Psalm 47 O Clap Your Hands Ralph Vaughan Williams
[Psalm 47 rejoices that God has “gone up with a shout” and sits on the holy throne.]
PRAYER OF THE DAY
Everliving God, your eternal Christ once dwelt on earth, confined by time and space. Give us faith to discern in every time and place the presence among us of the One who is head over all things and fills all, even Jesus Christ our ascended Lord. Amen. – Laurence Hull Stookey
NEW TESTAMENT Ephesians 1. 15-23
[A prayer that you may receive “a spirit of wisdom and revelation… with the eyes of your hearts enlightened,” so that you might know how great God’s power is. By this power God raised Jesus from the dead, and Christ rules in authority over all things, over all other powers, in this age and in the age to come. Jesus has ascended to the “heavenly places:” not the sky, or the afterlife, but the place of power at the heart of all things.]
I have heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, so I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.
I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Mother and Father, may give you a Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know God more deeply. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so that you may know the hope to which God has called you. May you know the riches that God’s beloved ones inherit and the immeasurable greatness of God’s power for us who believe.
That is the power by which God raised Christ from the dead, and seated Christ at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms. So Christ is far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, above every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. God has put all things under Christ’s feet and has made Christ the head over all things, including the church, which is Christ’s body, the fullness of the One who fills everything in every way.
GOSPEL Acts 1.1-11
[Jesus is taken up into heaven 40 days after the Resurrection. Jesus leaves behind his earthly form… and now the disciples facie the new situation of life without the bodily Jesus.
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 kingdom 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, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom 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 people 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
* SONG Christ has Ascended
Christ, you have gone now into all Being,
into all people, all time and space.
Open our eyes, then, that we may see you
risen and living, shining with grace.
Christ you have changed now, hidden in daylight,
always before us, here in plain sight.
We look not skyward, but to our neighbor,
every face shining with God’s pure light.
Christ, you expanded, so that your Spirit
is not yours only, but with us all.
Still our companion, you will be with us,
no matter where we follow your call.
Christ, in your love you rule all creation;
justice and mercy shine as you rise.
We are your Body, breathing your Spirit,
light of your rising clear in our eyes.
THE PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
PASSING THE PEACE
We Share at Christ’s Table
OFFERING OUR GIFTS
Come, Holy Spirit William and Gloria Gaither, arr. Fred Bock
COMMUNION SONG This a Day of New Beginnings Blue hymnal #383
THE GREAT THANKSGIVING
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is good to give God thanks and praise.
…The Blessing and Covenant…
THE PRAYER OF JESUS
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours,
now and 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 embodied your love in Jesus. You embodied your love in this bread. And now you embody your love in your people. may we be the risen Body of Christ, and bear your love to the world, in the name of Christ and power of your Spirit. Amen.
We Are Sent in Ministry to the World
THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH IN THE WORLD
* SONG 8:15: Bless the Lord, My Soul Black hymnal #2013
10:30 Now We Send You Steve G-H
* 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 Brethren, We Have Come to Worship Franklin Ritter