Bulletin – Sunday, April 28, 2024 – Fifth Sunday of Easter
Sunday, April 28, 2024
Fifth Sunday of Easter
We Gather as People of Faith
Welcome
Announcements
Lighting the Christ Candle
Call to Worship
One: Come celebrate the Good News!
All: The Lord lives!
One: God rises with every sunrise in the heavens.
All: And God rises with every moon.
One: The light of Christ shines through all the universe,
All: on every day and through every night.
One: Come. Let us praise this glorious gift we have been given.
All: Come. Let us worship our God.
Hymn – “Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Give Thanks” (Voices United #179)
Hallelujah, hallelujah.
Give thanks to the risen Christ;
Hallelujah, hallelujah!
Give praise to God’s name.
Jesus is Lord of all the earth,
First born of all creation.
Hallelujah, hallelujah.
Give thanks to the risen Christ;
Hallelujah, hallelujah!
Give praise to God’s name.
Spread the good news o’er all the earth,
Jesus has died and is risen.
Hallelujah, hallelujah.
Give thanks to the risen Christ;
Hallelujah, hallelujah!
Give praise to God’s name.
We have been crucified with Christ,
Now we shall live for ever.
Hallelujah, hallelujah.
Give thanks to the risen Christ;
Hallelujah, hallelujah!
Give praise to God’s name.
Come let us praise the living God,
Joyfully sing to our Saviour.
Hallelujah, hallelujah.
Give thanks to the risen Christ;
Hallelujah, hallelujah!
Give praise to God’s name.
Opening Prayer
Dear Creator God, we are filled with trust in your guidance. Nothing is possible without you. Our life journeys continue with you at our sides. Fears are scarce and worries few when we trust your presence. Guide us to a place of comfort when we feel forsaken and alone. Inspire us with hope when we start believing that the world is becoming a bad place. Let our confidence in your love overcome our fears. Your grace surrounds all people. Your love benefits everyone. Your mercy is infinite. Your compassion is unquestioning. Help us to reflect this understanding to each other when doubt fills us. In Christ’s name, we pray. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
God of Love, God of the Vine, we are a work in progress. We are not always the fruit-bearing branches you would have us be. Sometimes we wither away. Our withered branches are good for nothing but to be gathered and thrown into the fire. Help us, God of all living things! Show us how to bend to the source of nourishment. Help us become strong branches of the vine, fruit-bearing branches that are pruned and productive.
Loving God of the Vine, we give thanks for your patience in our growth . You accept us as we are. Some of us are gnarly, twisted vines, some young and robust, others bent and struggling, yet you prune away that which is holding us back. You make us strong and fruitful. Knowing that we are loved, we give thanks, God of the Vine. And in the name of Jesus, the vine-keeper, we pray. Amen.
Words of Assurance
Sung Response – “Alleluia” (MV #50)
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Alleluia! Alleluia!
We Hear God’s Word
Hymn – “Draw the Circle Wide” (More Voices #145)
Draw the circle wide. Draw it wider still.
Let this be our song, no one stands alone,
Standing side by side, draw the circle wide.
God the stillpoint of the circle,
‘Round whom all creation turns;
Nothing lost, but held forever,
In God’s gracious arms.
Draw the circle wide. Draw it wider still.
Let this be our song, no one stands alone,
Standing side by side, draw the circle wide.
Let our hearts touch far horizons,
So encompass great and small;
Let our loving know no borders,
Faithful to God’s call.
Draw the circle wide. Draw it wider still.
Let this be our song, no one stands alone,
Standing side by side, draw the circle wide.
Let the dreams we dream be larger,
Than we’ve ever dreamed before;
Let the dream of Christ be in us,
Open every door.
Draw the circle wide. Draw it wider still.
Let this be our song, no one stands alone,
Standing side by side, draw the circle wide.
Scripture Reading: Psalm 22 (VU #746)
One: Give praise, all you who fear God! Proclaim God’s greatness, all you children of Jacob;
All: stand in awe, all you children of Israel!
One: For God has neither despised nor scorned the poor in their distress.
All: You, O God, have not hidden your face from them. You heard them when they called you.
Sung Response: In the presence of your people I will praise your name.
One: You are the theme of my praise in the great assembly.
All: I will keep my promise in the presence of those who fear you.
One: Let the poor eat to satisfaction; let those who seek you praise you.
All: May they be in good heart forever!
One: Let all the ends of the earth remember and turn to you, O God. Let all the families of the nations bow down before you.
All: For yours is the dominion, O God, you rule over the nations.
Sung Response: In the presence of your people I will praise your name.
One: Even all who sleep in the grace shall worship you; those who go down into the dust shall bow before you.
All: I too shall live for you.
One: Our children shall serve you, and tell generations yet to come about you.
All: To a people yet unborn, they shall make known the saving deeds you have done.
Sung Response: In the presence of your people I will praise your name.
Scripture Reading: Acts 8:26-40
26 Then an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Get up and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a wilderness road.) 27 So he got up and went. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Candace, the queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of her entire treasury. He had come to Jerusalem to worship 28 and was returning home; seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over to this chariot and join it.” 30 So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31 He replied, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to get in and sit beside him. 32 Now the passage of the scripture that he was reading was this: “Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter, and like a lamb silent before its shearer, so he does not open his mouth. 33 In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth.”
34 The eunuch asked Philip, “About whom, may I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” 35 Then Philip began to speak, and starting with this scripture he proclaimed to him the good news about Jesus. 36 As they were going along the road, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized?” 38 He commanded the chariot to stop, and both of them, Philip and the eunuch, went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; the eunuch saw him no more and went on his way rejoicing. 40 But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he was passing through the region he proclaimed the good news to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.
Hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church
Thanks be to God!
Hymn – “We Meet You, O Christ” (Voices United #183)
We meet you, O Christ, in many a guise;
Your image we see in simple and wise.
You live in a palace, exist in a shack.
We see you, the gardener, a tree on your back.
In millions a live, away and abroad;
Involved in our life you live down the road.
Imprisoned in systems you long to be free.
We see you, O Jesus, still bearing your tree.
We hear you, O Man, in agony cry.
For freedom you march, in riots you die.
Your face in the papers we read and we see.
The tree must be planted by human decree.
You choose to be made at one with the earth;
The dark of the grave prepares for your birth.
Your death is your rising, creative your word:
The tree springs to life and our hope is restored.
Sermon – “And Speaking of Sheep”
Anthem – “I Will Love the Lord”
I will love the Lord,
I will love the Lord with all my heart,
Mind, soul, and strength;
And my neighbour,
My neighbour as myself.
Let no wall divide us now.
Let nothing come between.
In difference our strength be found;
The bonding love of Christ be seen.
I will love the Lord,
I will love the Lord with all my heart,
Mind, soul, and strength;
And my neighbour,
My neighbour as myself.
We Respond to God’s Word
Invitation to Share
Offering Response – “Grant Us, God, the Grace” (VU #540)
Grant us, God, the grace of giving, with a spirit large and free,
That ourselves and all our living we may offer faithfully.
Offering Prayer
Prayers of the People
We Go Into God’s World
Hymn – “Let Us Build a House” (MV #1)
Let us build a house where love can dwell and all can safely live;
A place where saints and children tell how hearts learn to forgive.
Built of hope and dreams and visions, rock of faith and vault of grace;
Here the love of Christ shall end divisions:
All are welcome, all are welcome, all are welcome in this place.
Let us build a house where prophets speak, and words are strong and true,
Where all God’s children dare to seek to dream God’s reign anew.
Here the cross shall stand as witness and as symbol of God’s grace;
Here as one we claim the faith of Jesus:
All are welcome, all are welcome, all are welcome in this place.
Let us build a house where love is found in water, wine and wheat;
A banquet hall on holy ground, where peace and justice meet.
Here the love of God, through Jesus, is revealed in time and space;
As we share in Christ the feast that fees us:
All are welcome, all are welcome, all are welcome in this place.
Let us build a house where hands will reach beyond the wood and stone
To heal and strengthen, serve and teach, and live the Word they’ve known.
Here the outcast and the stranger bear the image of God’s face;
Let us bring an end to fear and danger:
All are welcome, all are welcome, all are welcome in this place.
Let us build a house where all are named, their songs and visions heard
And love and treasured, taught and claimed as words within the Word.
Built of tears and cries and laughter, prayers of faith and songs of grace;
Let this house proclaim from floor to rafter:
All are welcome, all are welcome, all are welcome in this place.
Benediction
Response – “Amen! Amen! Hallelujah, Amen!” (VU #974)
Amen! Amen! Hallelujah, amen!
Amen! Amen! Hallelujah, amen!
