The Celebration of the Gospel
May 17, 2020 – The Sixth Sunday of Easter
The Beloved will renew you in deep love;
and will exult over you with loud singing.
—Zephaniah 3.17
_____________We are Received as the Beloved of God _______
PRELUDE
GREETING
OPENING PRAYER
God of love, in times of uncertainty you are certain. We praise you.
When we feel unlovely you are loving. We thank you.
When we feel empty you are the beauty that fills us
and flows out through us into the world.
We worship you, and open our hearts,
that the love you plant in our hearts
in the grace of your Spirit
and the presence of Christ
may blossom, flourish, and bear fruit.
Amen.
SONG
CHIDREN’S TIME
_____________We are Transformed by the Word of Christ _______
OLD TESTAMENT – Zephaniah 3.14-20
Sing aloud, O daughter Zion; shout, O Israel!
Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem!
God has taken away the judgments against you,
the Holy One has turned away your accusers.
The keeper of Israel, the Holy One, is in your midst;
you shall fear disaster no more.
On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:
Do not fear, O Zion; do not let your hands grow weak.
God, the Holy One, is in your midst, a warrior who gives victory;
God will rejoice over you with gladness,
The Beloved will renew you in deep love;
and will exult over you with loud singing
as on a day of festival.
I will remove disaster from you,
so that you will not bear reproach for it.
I will deal with all your oppressors at that time.
And I will save the wounded and gather the outcast,
and I will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth.
At that time I will bring you home,
at the time when I gather you;
for I will make you renowned and praised
among all the peoples of the earth,
when I restore your fortunes before your eyes, says the Holy One.
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PSALTER – Psalm 31
In you, O God, I seek refuge;
do not let me ever act shamefully;
in your righteousness deliver me.
Incline your ear to me; rescue me speedily.
Be a rock of refuge for me, a strong fortress to save me.
You are indeed my rock and my fortress;
for the sake of your delight lead me and guide me,
take me out of the net that is hidden for me,
for you are my refuge.
Into your hand I commit my spirit;
you have redeemed me, Holy One, O faithful God.
I will not pay regard to worthless idols,
but I trust in the Beloved.
I will exult and rejoice in your steadfast love,
because you have seen my affliction;
you have taken heed of my difficulties,
and have not delivered me into the hand of my weakness;
you have set my feet in a spacious place.
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GOSPEL – John 14.15-21
”If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask God, who will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees her nor knows her. You know her, because she abides with you, and she will be in you.
”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 will be loved by God, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.”
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SERMON – The Frugalhorn’s Story
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
SHARING THE PEACE OF CHRIST
_____________We are Sent in the Power of the Holy Spirit _______
BLESSING AND SENDING
RESPONSE
May the grace and peace of Christ be with you, my friends.
Go and share the love of God, love that never ends.
POSTLUDE