NOTE: While there was no “sermon” today, there were inspirational moments addressing the sacred readings.
THE CELEBRATION OF THE GOSPEL
May 1, 2016 —6th Sunday of Easter
“You who love me will keep my word,
and my Father-Mother will love you,
and we will come to you and make our home with you.
— John 14.23
________We Gather as the Body of Christ______
GREETING
PRELUDE Prelude On “ST. AGNES” Edward Landin
[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: Holy One, praise for you rises in our hearts like spring flowers.
All: We sing with gratitude, with awe and joy.
Loving Christ, our hearts bow in thanks; they dance with delight.
Our faithful companion, we open our hearts to your blessing.
Holy Spirit, power of grace in us, we proclaim your mercy; we shine with your beauty
We worship you. We serve you. We live by your grace. Alleluia!
* SONG O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing Blue hymnal # 57 vss. 1,2,3,7
(10:30) CHILDREN’S TIME
_____________We Attend to the Word_________
PRAYER OF THE DAY
God of love, you have promised to be with us always, and that your Spirit will live within and among us. We open our hearts to be mindful of your presence, to listen for your Word, and to allow you to lead us by your grace. Come and fill us, Spirit of love. Amen.
FIRST LESSON Acts 16.9-15
[Paul speaks to women who have gathered to pray in Philippi. In a dream Paul has been beckoned to Macedonia by a man; but it is a woman, Lydia, who greets him and joins in his ministry. Shewelcomes them to stay in her household while they are there. ]
During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them. We set sail from Troas and took a straight course to Samothrace, the following day to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony.
We remained in this city for some days. On the sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there. A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul. When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home.” And she prevailed upon us.
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PSALTER Psalm 67
[We sing God’s praise and ask God’s blessing, that “God’s face will shine upon us,” that we will experience God’s gracious presence. ]
God, be gracious to us and bless us
and make your face to shine upon us,
that your way may be known upon earth,
your saving power among all nations.
Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you.
Let the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for you judge the peoples with equity
and guide the nations upon earth.
Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you.
The earth has yielded its increase;
God, our God, has blessed us.
May God continue to bless us;
let all the ends of the earth revere God.
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NEW TESTAMENT Revelation 21.10, 22 – 22.5
[A vision of the “New Jerusalem,” an image of God’s intent for this world. Recall how in the reading from Acts Lydia provided a home for Paul and his group. Home is again the theme: in the New Jerusalem our city, our home, is actually the temple—and the temple is actually God. God is not far away in heaven: we live in God, and that is heaven.]
The spirit carried me away to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God…. I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the rulers of the earth will bring their glory into it. Its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. People will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations.
Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city. On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. Nothing accursed will be found there any more. But the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and God’s servants will worship God; they will see God’s face, and God’s name will be on their foreheads. And there will be no more night; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.
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GOSPEL John 14.23-29
[The Gospel reading continues the theme of “home.” Jesus offers an image of God not as a king on a far-off throne, but as a homemaker. God comes and “makes a home” with us. In fact God is our home: Jesus says “I am in God and you in me, and I in you.” ]
Jesus said, “I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in God, and you in me, and I in you. They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me God will love, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.” Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will reveal yourself to us, and not to the world?” Jesus answered him, “You who love me will keep my word, and my Father-Mother will love you, and we will come to you and make our home with you. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. Now, the word that you hear is not mine, but is from God who sent me.
I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Life-Giver will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.
You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I am coming to you.’ If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to God, because God is greater than I. And now I have told you this before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe.
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HYMN SING We sing our favorite hymns
* AFFIRMATION OF FAITH Blue Hymnal, page 888
* SONG Doxology Blue hymnal # 94
THE PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
[Anyone who wishes may share a prayer concern at the microphone.]
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.
PASSING THE PEACE
(10:30) THE WORD IN SONG Song of Triumph
Arnold Sherman (Bells of St. Matthews; Julie Spring, harp)
______We Are Sent in Ministry to the World_____
OFFERING OUR GIFTS His Name Is Wonderful Audrey Mieir, arr: Fred Bock
* OFFERING SONG Bless Thou the Gifts Blue hymnal # 587
* PRAYER
Gracious God, we give you these gifts as symbols of our lives. Receive them with love, bless them with grace and use them according to your will. You are with us, and we live in you; and we are confident of your grace. Therefore send us out in love, 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
* THE BLESSING AND SENDING FORTH
RESPONSE We stand and sing to our neighbors:
God Be with You till We Meet Again Blue hymnal # 672
POSTLUDE Fugue In C Major J. S. Bach