Virtual Worship for the Sixth Sunday of Easter (May 17, 2020)
Virtual Worship Plan for
the Sixth Sunday of Easter
Sunday, May 17, 2020
GATHERING
Holy Spirit, Truth Divine
Samuel Longfellow
Robert Prester and Adriana Samargia
Introduction to today's service
Jesus does not abandon his followers. Through the Holy Spirit, Jesus comes to abide with his disciples of every generation. As Pentecost draws near, we are reminded that the risen Christ dwells in us as the Spirit of truth. We receive this Spirit in baptism and pray that in our gathering around the Lord’s table the Spirit will transform us to be the body of the risen Christ in the world.
Resources for children:
GATHERING SONG
Christ is Alive! Let Christians Sing
This first video is a "do it yourself." It provides organ accompaniment and you sing!
This next version was also made for these days. It's from a Lutheran church in Lancaster!
Christ is alive! Let Christians sing.
The cross stands empty to the sky.
Let streets and homes with praises ring.
Love, drowned in death, shall never die.Christ is alive! No longer bound
to distant years in Palestine,
but saving, healing, here and now,
and touching ev'ry place and time.In ev'ry insult, rift, and war,
where color, scorn, or wealth divide,
Christ suffers still, yet loves the more,
and lives, where even hope has died.Women and men, in age and youth,
can feel the Spirit, hear the call,
and find the way, the life, the truth,
revealed in Jesus, freed for all.Christ is alive, and comes to bring
good news to this and every age,
till earth and sky and ocean ring
with joy, with justice, love, and praise.
THANKSGIVING FOR BAPTISM
Since it is by our baptism that we are united with Christ, throughout the Easter season we remind ourselves—and give thanks to God—for our baptism.
Alleluia! Christ is risen.
Christ is risen indeed. Alleluia!
Joined to Christ in the waters of baptism,
we are raised with him to new life.
Let us give thanks for the gift of baptism.
We give you thanks, O God,
for in the beginning you created us in your image
and planted us in a well-watered garden.
In the desert you promised pools of water for the parched,
and you gave us water from the rock.
When we did not know the way,
you sent the Good Shepherd to lead us to still waters.
At the cross, you watered us from Jesus’ wounded side,
and on this day, you shower us again with the water of life.
We praise you for your salvation through water,
for the water in this font,
and for all water everywhere.
Bathe us in your forgiveness, grace, and love.
Satisfy the thirsty, and give us the life only you can give.
To you be given honor and praise
through Jesus Christ our Lord
in the unity of the Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen.
GREETING
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God,
and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
And also with you.
PRAYER OF THE DAY
Let us pray. Almighty and ever-living God, you hold together all things in heaven and on earth. In your great mercy receive the prayers of all your children, and give to all the world the Spirit of your truth and peace, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
WORD
READING: 1 Peter 3:13-22
A reading from 1 Peter.
The author of 1 Peter encourages Christians to remain faithful even in the face of defamation and persecution. In baptism we are made clean to act in accordance with what is right.
13Who will harm you if you are eager to do what is good? 14But even if you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear, and do not be intimidated, 15but in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; 16yet do it with gentleness and reverence. Keep your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who abuse you for your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame. 17For it is better to suffer for doing good, if suffering should be God’s will, than to suffer for doing evil. 18For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, 19in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, 20who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water. 21And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you—not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him.
The word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
PSALM: Psalm 66:8-20
8Bless our God, you peoples;
let the sound of praise be heard.
9Our God has kept us among the living
and has not allowed our feet to slip.
10For you, O God, have tested us;
you have tried us just as silver is tried.
11You brought us into the net;
you laid heavy burdens upon our backs.
12You let people ride over our heads; we went through fire and water,
but you brought us out into a place of refreshment.
13I will enter your house with burnt offerings
and will pay you my vows—
14those that I promised with my lips
and spoke with my mouth when I was in trouble.
15I will offer you burnt offerings of fatlings with the smoke of rams;
I will give you oxen and goats.
16Come and listen, all you who believe,
and I will tell you what God has done for me.
17I called out to God with my mouth,
and praised the Lord with my tongue.
18If I had cherished evil in my heart,
the Lord would not have heard me;
19but in truth God has heard me
and has attended to the sound of my prayer.
20Blessed be God, who has not rejected my prayer,
nor withheld unfailing love from me.
GOSPEL:
John 14:15-21
The holy gospel according to John.
Glory to you, O Lord.
In final words to his disciples on the night of his arrest, Jesus encourages obedience to his commandments and speaks of the Spirit, who will be with them forever.
[Jesus said to the disciples:] 15“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. 17This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.
18“I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. 19In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. 20On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. 21They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.”
The gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, O Christ.
SERMON
A Dream Come True
HYMN OF THE DAY
Love Divine, All Love's Excelling
Love divine, all loves excelling,
Joy of heav'n, to earth come down!
Fix in us thy humble dwelling,
all thy faithful mercies crown.
Jesus, thou art all compassion,
pure, unbounded love thou art;
visit us with thy salvation,
enter ev'ry trembling heart.Breathe, oh, breathe thy loving Spirit
into ev'ry troubled breast;
let us all in thee inherit;
let us find thy promised rest.
Take away the love of sinning;
Alpha and Omega be;
end of faith, as its beginning,
set our hearts at liberty.Come, Almighty, to deliver;
let us all thy life receive;
suddenly return, and never,
nevermore thy temples leave.
Thee we would be always blessing,
serve thee as thy hosts above,
pray, and praise thee without ceasing,
glory in thy perfect love.Finish then thy new creation,
pure and spotless let us be;
let us see thy great salvation
perfectly restored in thee!
Changed from glory into glory,
till in heav'n we take our place,
till we cast our crowns before thee,
lost in wonder, love, and praise!
PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION
PEACE
The peace of Christ be with you always.
And also with you.
OFFERING
Please remember, the Church is not Closed (while our building is!)
We are called by God to pray, to care for one another,
and to love God and our neighbors as best we can!
Our offerings not only “pay bills” they help us continue God’s work in the world
You may send your contributions to the church through the mail, directly from your bank,
or by clicking on this secure link.
ANTHEM
Blessed Assurance
Crosby and Knapp; Robert Prester, piano;Adriana Samargia, voice
OFFERING PRAYER
Merciful God,
our ordinary gifts seem small for such a celebration,
but you make of them an abundance,
just as you do with our lives.
Feed us again at this table
for service in your name,
in the strength of the risen Christ. Amen.
LORD’S PRAYER
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 and ever. Amen.
SENDING
Blessing
May the One who brought forth Jesus from the dead
raise you to new life, fill you with hope,
and turn your mourning into dancing.
Almighty God, Father, ☩ Son, and Holy Spirit,
bless you now and forever. Amen.
Dismissal
Christ is risen, just as he said.
Go in peace. Share the good news. Alleluia!
Thanks be to God. Alleluia!
SENDING SONG
Jesus Loves Me!
Jesus loves me! this I know,
for the Bible tells me so;
little ones to him belong,
they are weak, but he is strong.
Refrain
Yes, Jesus loves me,
yes, Jesus loves me,
yes, Jesus loves me,
the Bible tells me so.Jesus loves me! he who died
heaven's gates to open wide;
he will wash away my sin,
let his little child come in. RefrainJesus loves me! he will stay
close beside me all the way;
when at last I come to die,
he will take me home on high. Refrain
Postlude:
God Our Author and Creator
Tune: Jefferson; Southern Harmony
Robert Prester and Adriana Samargia
From sundaysandseasons.com.
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