The Fifth Sunday of Easter
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Prelude, Welcome, and Information Hymn
#359 Where Charity
and Love Prevail |
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Christ is risen! He is risen
indeed! 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. Psalm: Psalm 148 Hallelujah!
Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise him
in the heights! Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his
host! Praise him,
sun and moon; praise
him, all you shining stars! Praise him,
you highest heavens, and you
waters above the heavens! Let them
praise the name of the Lord, for he
commanded and they were created. He
established them forever and ever; he fixed
their bounds, which cannot be passed. Praise
the Lord from the earth, you sea
monsters and all deeps, fire and
hail, snow and frost, stormy
wind fulfilling his command! Mountains
and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars! Wild
animals and all cattle, creeping
things and flying birds! Kings of
the earth and all peoples, princes
and all rulers of the earth! Young men and women alike, old and young together! Let them
praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exalted; his glory
is above earth and heaven. He has
raised up strength for his people, praise for all his faithful, for the
people of Israel who are close to him. Hallelujah! |
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The Lord be with you. And
also with you. Let us pray. O Lord God, you teach us that
without love, our actions gain nothing. Pour into our hearts your most
excellent gift of love, that, made alive by your Spirit, we may know goodness
and peace, through your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and
reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. |
Reading:
Acts 11:1-18
A reading from the book of the Acts of the Apostles
Now the apostles and the believers who were in Judea heard that the
Gentiles had also accepted the word of God. So when Peter went up to
Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him, saying, “Why did you
go to uncircumcised men and eat with them?” Then Peter began to explain it
to them, step by step, saying, “I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in
a trance I saw a vision. There was something like a large sheet coming down
from heaven, being lowered by its four corners; and it came close to
me. As I looked at it closely I saw four-footed animals, beasts of prey,
reptiles, and birds of the air. I also heard a voice saying to me, ‘Get
up, Peter; kill and eat.’ But I replied, ‘By no means, Lord; for nothing
profane or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ But a second time the voice
answered from heaven, ‘What God has made clean, you must not call
profane.’ This happened three times; then everything was pulled up again
to heaven. At that very moment three men, sent to me from Caesarea, arrived
at the house where we were. The Spirit told me to go with them and not to
make a distinction between them and us. These six brothers also accompanied me,
and we entered the man’s house. He told us how he had seen the angel
standing in his house and saying, ‘Send to Joppa and bring Simon, who is called
Peter; he will give you a message by which you and your entire household
will be saved.’ And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them
just as it had upon us at the beginning. And I remembered the word of the Lord,
how he had said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the
Holy Spirit.’ If then God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we
believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder
God?” When they heard this, they were silenced. And they praised God,
saying, “Then God has given even to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to
life.”
The Word of the Lord
Reading:
Revelation 21:1-6
A reading from the book of Revelation
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the
first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy
city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a
bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne
saying, “See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them as
their God; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; he
will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and
crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed
away.” And the one who was seated on the throne said, “See, I am making
all things new.” Also he said, “Write this, for these words are trustworthy and
true.” Then he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the
beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the
spring of the water of life.
The Word of the Lord.
Gospel
Verse:
Alleluia! Everyone will know
that you are my disciples if have love for one another. Alleluia! (John 13:35)
Gospel Reading: John 13:31-35
Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!
A reading from the Gospel of John
When (Judas) had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man has been
glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in
him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at
once. Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look
for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, ‘Where I am going, you
cannot come.’ I give you a new commandment, that you love one another.
Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this
everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one
another.”
This is the Gospel of the Lord. Praise
to you, O Christ.
Sermon
(added at the end of the document)
Hymn
#367 Now All the Vault of Heaven Resounds
Thanks and Offertory
Prayers of the Church:
Lord God, we trust in your promise to be with us. So,
we offer our prayers for the world, the church, and for all people according to
their needs.
[Short
pause]
God of love,
we may not be able to come where you have gone. Bless us with your love to
share and we will find you there. Lord, in your mercy, Hear
our prayer.
God of love, we
trust that you will grant us the repentance that leads to life. Let that be our
response to your love. Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
God of love, your
love leads us. Let our love for one another be the real sign of your presence
in the world. Lord, in your mercy, Hear our prayer.
God of love,
watch over our homes and families and watch over all those in need, both far
and near. Lord, in your mercy, Hear our prayer.
God of love,
Grant that your love will make a difference for the peoples of Ukraine and
Russia and wherever there is war and struggle. Give your wisdom and your
concern for justice and peace to all the leaders and negotiators. Lord, in your
mercy, Hear our prayer.
God of love, give
health where it is needed. Keep all who work in the medical field or who work for
the good of the community in health and strength. Lord, in your mercy, Hear
our prayer.
God of love, be close to the people of Buffalo, NY. Give them hope in this terrible situation and wipe away their tears. Lord, in your mercy, Hear our prayer.
God of love, may the prayers we keep in our hearts be inspired by the love you have given us… * … Lord, in your mercy, Hear our prayer.
{*Rose Gotzmeister, Gail Mauer, Bill Ungar,
Deb Kirschner, Diane Corns}
Gracious
God, you make all things new. Holding to that promise, we commend all for whom
we pray, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Hymn #708 Jesu, Jesu, Fill Us With Your Love
The
Lord’s Prayer
Finally let
us pray for all things as our Lord would have us ask:
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.
Closing prayer & Benediction
Almighty and ever-living God,
you sealed a covenant of reconciliation with us in the mystery of
Christ’s passing from death to life.
May we come to everlasting joy in a holy keeping of these Easter
festivities.
We ask this
through Christ our risen Lord. Amen.
Hymn
#389 Christ Is Alive!
Let Christians Sing
Sending
May the Lord
bless us and keep us.
May the
Lord’s face shine upon us with grace and mercy.
May the Lord
look upon us with favor and X give us peace.
Amen.
Go in peace.
Walk humbly with God. Thanks be to
God.
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Services
for the next few months will be on YouTube and accessible from an email link
or our church Facebook page. Services for the months of May and June are as
below: May 22 No service – Pastor’s vacation May 29 Communion, Church, 11:00am June 5 Virtual Service on YouTube June
12 Communion, Saxonia Hall,
11:00am June
19 Communion, Church,
11:00am June 26 No service – Pastor’s vacation |
I give you a new commandment,
that you love one another.
“See, I am making all things new.”
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I have to
admit that I’m torn over what Scripture passage to use for my sermon. The
verses from John’s Gospel are central to our lives as disciples and we could
probably never exhaust any discussion of them. On the other hand, the passage
from Revelation happens to be one of my favourite passages in the Christian
Scripture. (By the way, “Revelation” is a translation of the Greek, Apocalypse, which means simply
“Revelation” or “Showing.” It may include strange visions and images, but the
intent –believe it or not- is to encourage those to whom it was written.) So
here we go…
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Our reading
from John’s Gospel returns to the Last Supper and Jesus’ words that follow his
washing of the disciples’ feet. He even washed Judas’ feet without distinction
or blaming, although he was very disturbed by what was about to take place. I
think we all would be.
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What Jesus
does do is give a new commandment,
that you love one another. He even says that this love will be the
distinctive sign to the world around of discipleship and what it means to be a
disciple. Love one another
is to be the sign, not race, gender, identity, or birthplace. Language will not
matter, nor will the clothes the disciples wear, the foods they eat (or don’t
eat), the songs they sing, or even their politics. The love they have for one
another will be what the world will remark on and will ultimately be their way
of life. Jesus’ call is to live in a new relationship with other believers could
be so strong and extraordinary to the eyes of the world that the world cannot
ignore it and cannot help but see it.
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Have we done
that? I know I haven’t, not consistently. Maybe you have; I’ll leave that to
you. Let’s agree to say that we all may need to renew our efforts to love one
another as Jesus would want us to.
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Imagine now
what the human world would be like if Christians did their best to love one another each and
every day. Would history and politics and relationships of all kinds look
different? In any such discussion, we would have to admit that such a thing as
sin had entered into behavior. Things have not been perfect and love one another includes
forgiveness and reconciliation. Maybe that’s why this commandment might be the
hardest to obey completely.
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I say that
because who can say if we’ve loved enough. Abusive relationships aside, what
are the limits of love? How do we know when love has been fulfilled? I can’t
say.
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If love is
both the centre and the goal of the disciple’s life, this would be part of
God’s promise to make all things new.
That crazy book was written to encourage hope and provide come comfort to the
struggling Christian Church in the early days. I’ve said before that it seems
like a bad dream at times, but the final chapters tell of God making God’s home
among the people and comforting them, in the end making all things new.
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That is
something to look forward to. It is God’s own promise and it is the fulfillment
of the command of Jesus to us right here and right now: I give you a new commandment, that you love one another.
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