Bulletin – Sunday, May 12, 2024 – Seventh Sunday of Easter

Sunday, May 12, 2024
Seventh Sunday of Easter

We Gather as People of Faith

Welcome

Announcements

Lighting the Christ Candle

No matter what kind of believers we may be, let us all feel comfortable here at church and among our church family. There is a place for each of us. As we pause and reflect, let us remember that Jesus is always with us.

Call to Worship

One:   Let us sing…
All:      Praise be to God!

One:   Who dared to take on human flesh and dwell among us.
All:      Praise be to God!

One:   Who did not turn back in the face of evil and death.
All:      Praise be to God!

One:   Who continues to dance through our lives even now.
All:      Let all that have breath sing praise to God.

Hymn – “All Things Bright and Beautiful” (VU # 291)

All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful: in love, God made them all.

Each little flower that opens, each little bird that sings,
God made their glowing colours, God made their tiny wings.

All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful: in love, God made them all.

The purple headed mountains, the river running by,
The sunset and the morning that brightens up the sky;

All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful: in love, God made them all.

The cold wind in the winter, the pleasant summer sun,
The ripe fruits in the garden: God made them every one.

All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful: in love, God made them all.

The rocky mountain splendor, the lone wolf’s haunting call,
The great lakes and the prairies, the forest in the fall;

All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful: in love, God made them all.

God gave us eyes to see them, and lips that we might tell
How great is God our maker, who has made all things well.

All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful: in love, God made them all.

Prayer of Approach and Confession

Holy One, Maker and Keeper of Creation, Life of Life, we praise you! We sing joy! Open us to the new life you are creating in us. Forgive us when we choose our ways instead of your ways.

Forgive us when we let our world get so mall that there is no room for strangers or new ways. Free us from the fear that keeps us stuck, but do it gently, Lord—we like our routines. We like our security and our comfortable habits. Show us a new way, Loving God.

As your Spirit moves among us, prune us where we have not been fruitful. Drive out fear that blocks us from confidence. Take root in us and help us to grow in love and in peace, until we are complete in your care. Amen.

Words of Assurance

Hear the good news! God’s Spirit has been poured out upon all flesh, and we have been made one. We are no longer scattered or divided, but gathered together to build up the kingdom on this earth. Thanks be to God!

Sung Response – “Alleluia” (MV #50)

Alleluia! Alleluia!
Alleluia! Alleluia!

Decommissioning of the Pews

One:   Let us pray. Almighty God, you are the great builder of the worlds and the great architect of our lives and our salvation. For calling us to be Windsor Park United Church, in this place,
All:      we give you thanks, O Lord.

One:   For giving us this beautiful house of prayer and worship for these 63 years,
All:      we give you thanks, O Lord.

One:   For providing a holy place in which to bring our prayers, and find your presence,
All:      we give you thanks, O Lord.

One:   For providing an empowering place to hear your word, grow in faith, and be challenged in mission,
All:      we give you thanks, O Lord.

One:   For inspiring those who came before us with the vision to build and the means to accomplish it,
All:      we give you thanks, O Lord.

One:   For blessing those whose knowledge and gifts, who’s sweat and labour, made this place all that it is,
All:      we give you thanks, O Lord.

One:   God, most of us were not here when the visioning and plans for this building were originally made, but we know they were made with for the future and trust in your guidance. Some of us remember a time of excitement, change and hope for the future with other building projects as well – the building expansion, lift, and parking lot. Today, as we enter a time of change in this sanctuary, help us to again trust in you. We thank you for the pews we sit on today, which have held our hymn books, communion cups, and attendance books and whose seats have held generations of families in the congregation. Inspire us by our continued presence in our lives and in this house of worship.
All:      We dedicate our lives to your service.

One:   Continue to guide and nurture us as our building changes and moves forward in a new way, knowing that the building itself is not our faith, but only a tool to help us and others grow in faith.
All:      We dedicate our lives to your service.

One:   Inspire us by your continued presence in our lives and in this house of worship.
All:      We dedicate our lives to your service.

One:   Continue to guide and nurture us as our building changes and moves forward in a new way, knowing that the building itself is not our faith, but only a tool to help us and others grow in faith.
All:      We dedicate our lives to your service.

One:   Empower us to reach out to our neighbours and welcome them into this beautiful space.
All:      We dedicate our lives to your service.

One:   Creator God, you bless us in so many ways with your gifts, and in particular you bless us with the gift of this house of worship. As times of change come and go, and as we ourselves come and go from this place, may we know your presence always, find consolation for our weary hearts, and be empowered by your Holy Ward and Sacraments to go forth to serve you in the world.
All:      Amen.

Sung Response – “One More Step Along the World We Go” (VU #639)

One more step along the world we go,
One more step along the world we go,
From the old things to the new,
Keep us travelling along with you:
And it’s from the old we travel to the new;
Keep us travelling along with you.

We Hear God’s Word

Scripture Reading:        Acts 1:15-17, 21-26

¹⁵ In those days Peter stood up among the brothers and sisters (together the crowd numbered about one hundred twenty persons) and said, ¹⁶ “Brothers and sisters, the scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit through David foretold concerning Judas, who became a guide for those who arrested Jesus, ¹⁷ for he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry.”

²¹ “So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, ²² beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these must become a witness with us to his resurrection.” ²³ So they proposed two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also known as Justus, and Matthias. ²⁴ Then they prayed and said, “Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which one of these two you have chosen ²⁵ to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” ²⁶ And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was added to the eleven apostles.

Scripture Reading:         John 17:6-19

⁶ “I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. ⁷ Now they know that everything you have given me is from you, ⁸ for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you, and they have believed that you sent me. ⁹ I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. ¹⁰ All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I have been glorified in them. ¹¹ And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. ¹² While I was with them, I protected them in your name that you have given me. I guarded them, and not one of them was lost except the one destined to be lost, so that the scripture might be fulfilled. ¹³ But now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves. ¹⁴ I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. ¹⁵ I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. ¹⁶ They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. ¹⁷ Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. ¹⁸ As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. ¹⁹ And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth.

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

Hymn – “As Comes the Breath of Spring” (VU #373)

As comes the breath of spring with light and mirth and song,
So does your Spirit bring new days brace, free, and strong.
You come with thrill of life to chase hence winter’s breath,
To hush to peace the strife of sin that ends in death.

You come like dawning day with flaming truth and love,
To chase all glooms away, to brace our wills to prove
How wise, how good to choose the truth and its brave fight,
To praise it, win our lose, and live on your delight.

You come like songs at morn that fill the earth with joy.
Till we, in Christ newborn, new strength in praise employ.
You come to rouse the heart from drifting to despair,
Through high hopes to impart life with an ampler air.

You breathe and there is health; you move and there is power;
You whisper, there is wealth of love, your richest dower.
Your presence is to us like summer in the soul;
Your joy shines forth and then life blossoms to its goal.

Meditation – “Working Out and Struggling”

Anthem – “My Saviour Loves Me”

Each day I live, I trust my Saviour to take my hand and be my guide.
My faith is strong; I will not waver. I know the Lord is always at my side.
He gives me hope to face tomorrow and helps me be the servant I should be.
He keeps me calm through pain and sorrow.
I feel His light come shining down on me.

Jesus loves me, this I know.
Every day He helps me grow.
All I have to Him belongs.
He’s the rock who keeps me strong.

My heart is filled, my soul rejoices in all the gifts God gives to me.
I’ve heard Him call; I’ve made my choices to follow Him and show that I believe.
Each day I live, I’ll serve my Saviour in all I do and every word I say.
I’ll be a friend; I’ll be a neighbour and share His love with all who pass my way.

Yes, Jesus loves me.
My Saviour loves me.
Yes, Jesus loves me (He loves me).
That’s all I need to know.

We Respond to God’s Word

Invitation to Share

We praise God here where we are by offering some of the blessing we have received. Praise is not just a spoken word or phrase; it is a life lived in thanksgiving. Because of this we bring our gifts this morning as an act of praise.

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

Generous and Loving God, you gave us this world and all that we have. Jesus, you gave us all of you, even to the point of laying down your life for us. Now we give what we have decided in our hearts to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, but cheerfully as an act of worship. For you, God, love a cheerful giver. Receive and bless our tithes and offering. Amen.

Prayers of the People

Our gracious, eternal God, we thank you for the challenges which life brings. It also brings changes which sometimes throws us into crisis. Be with us in such times in our Christian community. Like the early disciples help us in our common life to find your guidance in our collective decisions.

Help us to approach our decisions seeking your guidance through prayer. Help us to examine our own hearts for any unseemly motives. Help us to focus on the common good and not be driven by our own selfish interest. Help us to seek consensus and never be satisfied with power plays and divisiveness. Help us all to share in our mutual ministry. We ask you keep the larger world and our own little corner of the earth in the palm of your hand, especially…

Lead us forward and help us to create a community where love, acceptance, and mutuality are expressed, where joy abounds, and where results are achieved because we are all working hand and hand together.

We ask that you save us from ever being an isolated community which seeks escape from our world. Instead, open the windows of our souls to the world and its needs. Send us forth to herald the good news of Jesus, to be your servants to those in need, to visit the sick and the imprisoned, to remember the forgotten in our society, and work for justice and peace. Use our varied gifts to that as Peter suggested, we might do our fair share in this ministry. Bolster us in moments when we feel inadequate for the task and give us courage. Amen.

We Go Into God’s World

Hymn – “Would You Bless Our Homes and Families” (VU #556)

Would you bless our homes and families,
Source of life who calls us here;
In our world of stress and tensions
Teach us love that conquers fear.
Help us learn to love each other
With a love that constant stays;
Teach us when we face our troubles,
Love’s expressed in many ways.

When our way is undemanding,
Let us use the time that’s ours
To delight in simple pleasures,
Sharing joys in gentle hours.
When our way is anxious walking
And a heavy path we plod,
Teach us trust in one another
And in you, our gracious God.

From the homes in which we’re nurtured,
With the love that shapes us there,
Teach us, God, to claim as family
Every one whose life we share.
And thro’ all that life may offer,
May we in your love remain;
May the love we share in families
Be alive to praise your name.

Let us reach beyond the boundaries
Of our daily thought and care
Till the family you have chosen
Spills its love out everywhere.
Help us learn to love each other
With a love that constant stays;
Teach us when we face our troubles
Love’s expressed in many ways.

Benediction

May our loving God companion you. May our sheltering God keep you safe. May our joyful god fill your heart. May our powerful God give you strength. Amen.

Response – “Amen! Amen! Hallelujah, Amen!” (VU #974)

Amen! Amen! Hallelujah, amen!
Amen! Amen! Hallelujah, amen!