Fifth Sunday of Easter | 4-28-24 – St. Peter's Evangelical Lutheran Church

04-28-2024 10:00AM “Hybrid” Worship

+ WE ANNOUNCE THE VICTORY +

OPENING SONG: “Oh, How I Love Jesus” Brown #250

OPENING RITE FOR EASTER 5 AND THE EASTER PEACE:

L Alleluia! Christ is risen!

C Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia!

L If Jesus is the True Vine,

C then let us be the branches.

L If we are the branches,

C then let us abide in him!

L If we abide in him,

C then let us bear much fruit!

L And if we do not abide in him,

C then let us tremble in fear!

L Dear friends, God’s love has been revealed through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

Love is who God is. Love is what Jesus has done for us. And love is who we are called to be.

Because HE died, you are alive!

C Christ is the Vine, we are the branches, commanded to love.

Once we were no people, but now we are God’s people, AMEN AND ALLELUIA!

SONG OF PRAISE:

“Lord, I lift your name on high, Lord, I love to sing your praises.

I’m so glad you’re in my life, I’m so glad you came to save us.

You came from heaven to earth to show the way;

from the earth to the cross, my debt to pay;

from the cross to the grave, from the grave to the sky; Lord, I lift your name on high!”

THE PRAYER OF THE DAY (together):

Lord Jesus Christ, you are the Vine and we are the branches.

Without YOU, we cannot keep on living! Without YOU, we cannot keep on loving!

So we pray that we stay firmly connected… please feed your people with your love, joy, and peace.

We also pray that we might bear fruit… show us how to extend your love to others. Amen.

+ WE PROCLAIM GOD’S SAVING WORD +

FIRST READING: ACTS 8:26-40
[God’s mercy and love are intentionally branched out to a person who is an “outsider”.]

8:26 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.)

8:27 So he got up and went. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of her entire treasury. He had come to Jerusalem to worship

8:28 and was returning home; seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah.

8:29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over to this chariot and join it.”

8:30 So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?”

8:31 He replied, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to get in and sit beside him.

8:32 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.

8:33 In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth.”

8:34 The eunuch asked Philip, “About whom, may I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?”

8:35 Then Philip began to speak, and starting with this scripture, he proclaimed to him the good news about Jesus.

8:36 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?”

8:38 He commanded the chariot to stop, and both of them, Philip and the eunuch, went down into the water, and Philip baptized him.

8:39 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.

8:40 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.

SECOND READING: 1 JOHN 4:7-21
[God is love… and so must God’s people always be and become love.]

4:7 Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.

4:8 Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.

4:9 God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him.

4:10 In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.

4:11 Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another.

4:12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us.

4:13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.

4:14 And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world.

4:15 God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God.

4:16 So we have known and believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.

4:17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world.

4:18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love.

4:19 We love because he first loved us.

4:20 Those who say, “I love God,” and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen.

4:21 The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.

GOSPEL VERSE:

“Oh, how He loves you and me. Oh, how He loves you and me.

He gave His life, what more can He give?

OH, HOW HE LOVES YOU; OH, HOW HE LOVES ME;

OH, HOW HE LOVES YOU AND ME!

Jesus to Calv’ry did go, His love for this world to show.

What He did there brought hope from despair…”

GOSPEL READING: JOHN 15:1-8
[The branches need the True Vine to live and to bear fruit. Without Jesus, we can do nothing.]

15:1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower.

15:2 He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit.

15:3 You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you.

15:4 Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me.

15:5 I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.

15:6 Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.

15:7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

15:8 My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.

SONG SELECTION: All Saints Choir

SERMON: Pastor Gwen or Pastor Neil

SONG RESPONSE: “Lord, Be Glorified” Brown #248

AN AFFIRMATION OF OUR FAITH:

L We confess our FAITH in the God who has given us love and new life…

I trust in God who has made me his own. I know that God loves me. To God I am as precious as his own Son, Jesus Christ, who lived and died in obedience to his Father’s will. Jesus suffered our pain, and through his suffering and death has brought us into fellowship with God.

I believe that God through his Spirit will give me strength when I am oppressed and weary… will give me love when I am afraid and lonely… and will guide his Church to make people free at last.

I believe that God lives in the fellowship of those who trust him, and that God wants all people to be brought into that fellowship.

I believe that nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

THE PRAYERS… We pray that all people might be transformed by the GOOD NEWS of Easter!

+ WE SHARE GOD’S NOURISHING MEAL +

OFFERING [We love because God first loved us. Those who say they love God and hate their brothers or sisters are liars. So let us abide in Christ and bear much fruit in our world by compassionate caring and grateful giving.]

Those in the Sanctuary can put their offering in the offering plate to share their gratitude and their generosity in response to Christ’s love. Those who are farther away might:

mail a check or money order to St. Peter’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, 2169 74th Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19138…
contribute online through bit.ly/stpetersgiving and set up a one-time donation or a recurring weekly gift to selected categories…
or text Give+ at 833-914-0896 and follow the instructions to register and record your contribution. God has blessed us to be a blessing!

SONG SELECTION: All Saints Choir

THE OFFERTORY SONG:

“Get all excited, go tell ev’rybody that Jesus Christ is King!

Get all excited, go tell ev’rybody that Jesus Christ is King!

Jesus Christ is still the King of kings, the King of kings!”

OFFERING PRAYER led by the Communion Assistant:

O God, it is only by your amazing grace that we are Easter-alive today! Now give us the bold confidence and the passionate love to dry tears, to lift up broken hearts, and to testify with our gifts and our lives that there is NEW LIFE IN CHRIST. Amen.

THE PREFACE… We prepare to celebrate the LORD’S SUPPER with humble joy!

L The Lord be with you. C And also with you.

L Lift up your hearts! C We lift them up in love for God!

L Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. C It is right to give God our thanks and praise.

L The Lord delivers us from sin and death… C … and grants us salvation and eternal life!

L [continues the Preface]… to praise your name and to sing with Easter joy:

C [singing…] “Holy, holy, holy, holy,

holy, holy, Lord God Almighty!

and we lift our hearts before you as a token of our love,

holy, holy, holy, holy.

Precious Jesus, precious Jesus,

We’re so glad that you redeemed us, precious Jesus…

Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit,

come and fill our hearts anew, O Holy Spirit…”

THE EUCHARISTIC WORDS by the Celebrant, who recalls and re-enacts Jesus’ Holy Meal.

THE LORD’S PRAYER

COMMUNION AND BLESSINGS… All believers in Christ are welcome at the Lord’s Table! We will have “continuous distribution” with wafers and the option of wine or grape juice. TO GIVE US LIFE, HE WAS WILLING TO DIE!

COMMUNION SONGS: Brown #275 Brown #73

THE COMMUNION BLESSING by the Celebrant after all have communed.

POST-COMMUNION PRAYER by the Communion Assistant.

+ WE ARE SENT TO SHOW AND TELL +

THE BENEDICTION… Leave with a message upon your heart, on your lips, revealed through your daily living: I have seen the Lord!

CLOSING SONG: “HALLELUJAH! We Sing Your Praises” Brown #158