Bulletin – Sunday, May 2, 2021

Sunday, May 2, 2021
Fifth Sunday of Easter / Communion

Approach

Lighting the Candle

This is the season of Easter. It is the season when the light of resurrection shines brightly in our lives. As we light this candle we remember the story of Jesus. We remember all that he did in this world to bring hope, peace, love, mercy, and light to a world of darkness. As we gather in the glow of this candle, we commit to being resurrection people, living in the light of resurrection, loving as Christ loved, living as Christ lived, bringing light to a world of darkness.

Call to Worship

I AM the good shepherd.
The one who tends us, guides us into pastures, who recognizes the sounds of our names.

I AM the good shepherd.
The one who bends to heal us, travels through the deepest valleys with us, who gives up everything for us all.

I AM the good shepherd.
The one whose rod and staff comfort us, whose strength and love holds us, whose cup of love runneth over.

I AM the good shepherd and we will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Let us gather here God’s people, in God’s love, for God’s world.

Hymn – “My Shepherd is the Living Lord”

My shepherd is the living Lord, nothing therefore I need;
In pastures fair, near pleasant streams you settle me to feed.
You bring my wandering spirit back when I forsake your ways,
And lead me for your mercy’s sake in paths of truth and grace.

When I walk thro’ the shades of death, your presence is my stay;
A word of your supporting breath drives all my fears away.
Your hand, in sight of all my foes, does still my table spread;
My cup with blessings overflows, your oil anoints my head.

The sure provisions of my God attend me all my days;
O may your house be mine abode, and all my work be praise.
There would I find a settled rest, while others come and go –
No more a stranger or a guest, but like a child at home.

Prayer of Approach

Loving God, like a shepherd, you never stop searching for your people; your care for us anticipates our need. Before we recognized we needed your grace, in love, Jesus gave his life to show us the love and care, the grace and mercy, that you have given for us, that all our sins can be forgiven, that we are loved.

We confess that we need your forgiveness, we confess our sins: you are the shepherd and we are your flock, but we admit the times we have tried to take your place and take control of everything in our lives, including ourselves. We admit that we have not always trusted your good news to be good for us. At times we have pleaded with you to care for us, but we have held back from caring for others and ignored the needs of others. Help us to live as you call us to live. Help us to truly be members of your flock not just in our community but in the world. Amen.

 Words of Assurance

Response

He is Lord, He is Lord.
He is risen from the dead and He is Lord.
Every knee shall bow, every tongue confess
That Jesus Christ is Lord.

Celebration of Baptism

Hebrew Benediction

The Lord bless thee and keep thee.
The Lord make His face shine upon thee
And be gracious unto thee.
The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee
And give thee peace. Amen.

The Word

Scripture Reading:          1 John 3:16-24

¹⁶ We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us—and we ought to lay down our lives for one another. ¹⁷ How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?

¹⁸ Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action. ¹⁹ And by this we will know that we are from the truth and will reassure our hearts before him ²⁰ whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. ²¹ Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have boldness before God; ²² and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commandments and do what pleases him.

²³ And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. ²⁴ All who obey his commandments abide in him, and he abides in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit that he has given us.

Scripture Reading:         John 10:11-18

¹¹ “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. ¹² The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. ¹³ The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. ¹⁴ I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, ¹⁵ just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. ¹⁶ I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. ¹⁷ For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. ¹⁸ No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”

Hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church.
Thanks be to God!

Meditation – “Love!”

Anthem – “I Will Love the Lord”

The Response

Communion

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 God our Creator!
With joy we give our thanks and praise!

Before anything was created, you were God. You spoke into the darkness and called forth light from darkness; by your Word you called order and beauty out of chaos. You created us out of ordinary dust, claimed us as beloved children made in your image and breathed into us the breath of life. You delivered us from captivity and made visible a path through the waters, making a way where there was no way, sending nourishment where none could be seen, and leading us through wilderness, so we could un-learn the way of injustice and oppression. When we turned away, and our love failed, your love remained steadfast. When we have needed reminders of your love, your grace, your truth, your desire for justice, you have sent signs and wonders, judges and prophets, people who have spoken your Word, who have proclaimed your vision for creation, who have taught us again and again to see with your eyes. And so, with your people on earth and all the company of heaven we praise your name and join the unending hymn:

Holy, holy, holy God, our life, our mercy, our strength, heaven and earth are full of your glory. Praise and glory to our god, who saves us! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest!

Holy are you, and blessed is Jesus, who revealed to us your face, your nature, your love. Your Spirit anointed him to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives and recover of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, and to announce that the time had come when your kin’dom was emerging within us, among us, and through us. He saw those who had been outcast and invited them to the feast; he healed those who had been kept outside the circle and lifted up the humble and lowly. He ate with all and taught us to see in each person the image of God, the Belovedness of Christ, and the movement of the Holy Spirit. We gather today in knowing that in Christ we are called back to God. We lift up to you, O God, those in this community whom we pray know your presence in their lives…It is Jesus, God incarnate, the Risen Christ, who joins us together as a community of broken but hopeful believers:

On the night before Jesus died, he shared a meal with his friends. And taking the bread, he gave thanks, broke it and gave it to this disciples, saying, “Take, eat, this is my body which is given for you. Even when we are broken, God blesses us with nourishment and new life. Do this in remembrance of me.”

When the supper was over, he took the cup, gave thanks, gave it to his disciples, and said: “Drink from this, all of you: as the covenants of old were sealed with blood, so my life’s energy and love have been poured out as a sign of a new covenant of forgiveness and healing available to all. Do this, as often as your drink it, in remembrance of me.”

And so, in remembrance of these your mighty acts in Jesus Christ, we offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving as a holy and living sacrifice, in union with Christ’s offering of love, as we proclaim the mystery of faith.

Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again. Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here, and on these gifts of bread and the cup. Make them be for us the body and love of Christ, visible signs of your invisible grace, a sacred mystery that we carry with us that unites us with you, with Christ, and with each other as we pour ourselves out in love to proclaim your Good news throughout the world. Through your Beloved Child Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit in your holy Church, all honour and glory is yours, all-loving God, now and forever. Amen.

The gifts of God for the people of God. All has now been prepared, all are welcome at Christ’s table. Thanks be to God!

Communion Distribution

The body of Christ, the bread of life.

The lifeblood of Christ, the cup of blessing.

Prayer After Communion

Thank you, O Christ, for this feast of life. We are fed by your love; we are strengthened by your life. We are sent forth into this world to live into the visions God has laid on our hearts. We are now commissioned to: feed as we have been fed, forgive as we have been forgiven, love as we have been loved. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Hymn – “Now Let Us From This Table Rise”

Now let us from this table rise
Renewed in body, mind and soul;
With Christ we die and live again,
His selfless love has made us whole.

With minds alert, upheld by grace,
To spread the word in speech and deed,
We follow in the steps of Christ,
At one with all in hope and need.

To fill each human house with love,
It is the sacrament of care;
The work that Christ began to do
We humbly pledge ourselves to share.

Then give us grace, Companion God,
To choose again the pilgrim way
And help us to accept with joy
The challenge of tomorrow’s day.

Benediction

Go now with your trust in the good shepherd, and let us love, not just in words, but in truth and action.

Believe in the life and work of Christ Jesus, and love one another, just as he has commanded us.

And may God be at your side, even in valleys of death.

May Christ Jesus be the cornerstone of your life.

And may the Holy Spirit abide in you and tend you with love and mercy all the days of your life.

Response

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.