Fifth Sunday of Easter
St. Peter’s Evangelical Lutheran Church
5TH SUNDAY OF EASTER – Coronavirus
05-15-2022 10:00AM Zoom Worship
INTRODUCTION TO OUR WORSHIP:
Easter celebrates the triumph of RESURRECTION LOVE. The world views LOVE in terms of emotional feeling, sexual attractiveness and physical gratification, and general fondness for or appreciation for something. Oh, how we overuse that word! For Christians, genuine LOVE is a reflection of the forgiving and selfless LOVE that Jesus showed to his
disciples and commanded his disciples to practice with others. LOVE is an action word. Try giving yourself away. IT IS CHRISTLIKE SERVANT LOVE THAT MARKS US AS TRUE DISCIPLES! We have a message to hear and a story to tell!
+ WE ANNOUNCE THE VICTORY +
OPENING SONG: “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore You” Tan #120
OPENING RITE FOR EASTER 5 AND THE EASTER PEACE:
L Alleluia, Jesus is risen, Jesus is Lord, Christ is alive!
C Death could not hold him, the Devil could not disrupt him, and this world cannot stop him!
L The Son of God commands us to put our faith into action:
C LOVE one another!
L In the midst of the best and the worst situations of life:
C LOVE one another!
L Even when faced with rejection and persecution:
C LOVE one another!
L My brothers and sisters, it is cozy comfort to love only people who are just like us, or only people that we like…
C It might be cozy, but it is not Christian!
L And it is reckless courage to love beyond boundaries, to reach out to strangers and even traditional enemies…
C It might be reckless, but it is the way of Christ!
L I tell you, Jesus was dying to love us…
C And his sacrifice gives us life and new direction!
L Sisters and brothers, we are (+) forgiven and reconciled by the love of God for our own failures to love. Each and all of us. This is God’s gift through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, a gift that we have not deserved or earned. Transformed by God’s love, we are also commanded to show that same love to one another. Because “practice makes perfect”, let us practice passing on the peace, power, and promise of God’s love in Christ right here and right now by making the sign of the cross on the forehead and repeating the good news to one another or to our self:
“Receive [+] the sign of the cross. Because HE died, YOU are alive!”
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:
Dear God, so full of love toward us, we are grateful for the life and love of Jesus given for us, and we are grateful for the peace and power of your Spirit shared among us. We can truly do that same depth of loving, if we are humble, grateful, obedient, and willing. Amen.
+ WE PROCLAIM GOD’S SAVING WORD +
FIRST READING: ACTS 11:1-8 [Like Peter, do you now understand and commit yourself to the inclusiveness of God’s love?]
11:1 Now the apostles and the believers who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also accepted the word of God.
11:2 So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him,
11:3 saying, “Why did you go to uncircumcised men and eat with them?”
11:4 Then Peter began to explain it to them, step by step, saying,
11:5 “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.
11:6 As I looked at it closely I saw four-footed animals, beasts of prey, reptiles, and birds of the air.
11:7 I also heard a voice saying to me, ‘Get up, Peter; kill and eat.’
11:8 But I replied, ‘By no means, Lord; for nothing profane or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’
11:9 But a second time the voice answered from heaven, ‘What God has made clean, you must not call profane.’
11:10 This happened three times; then everything was pulled up again to heaven.
11:11 At that very moment three men, sent to me from Caesarea, arrived at the house where we were.
11:12 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.
11:13 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;
11:14 he will give you a message by which you and your entire household will be saved.’
11:15 And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as it had upon us at the beginning.
11:16 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.’
11:17 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?”
11:18 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.”
SONG SELECTION
SECOND READING: REVELATION 21:1-6 [[Easter celebrates a new day and anticipates a new heaven and earth.]
21:1 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.
21:2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
21:3 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;
21:4 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.”
21:5 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.”
21:6 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.
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 13:31-35 [Obeying Jesus means loving others.]
13:31 When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him.
13:32 If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once.
13:33 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.’
13:34 I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.
13:35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
THE SERMON: Pastor Neil or Pastor Gwen
SONG SELECTION
AN AFFIRMATION OF OUR FAITH:
Living in the joy and the power of the Risen Lord, we boldly confess our faith…
I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
OFFERING [Jesus gives us that new commandment – “Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.” Opened hands are the appropriate response of opened hearts as we we respond with our lives and our love!]
THE OFFERTORY SONG:
“Get all excited, go tell ev’rybody that Jesus Christ is King! [sing this line 3 times]
Jesus Christ is still the King of kings, the King of kings!”
OFFERING PRAYER:
We praise you and thank you, O God, for giving us amazing joy, grace, and hope in the resurrection of Jesus our Lord! 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 Jesus Christ. Amen.
MUSIC SELECTION: “Lead Me to Calvary” Dennis Fortune Tan #253
THE PRAYERS… We pray that THE WAY OF THE CROSS will continue to impact our lives and transform the world!
THE LORD’S PRAYER
+ WE ARE SENT TO SHOW AND TELL +
THE BENEDICTION:
In a world where sin leads to sep / a / ra / tion among us,
JESUS confronts and commands us: “LOVE one another.”
May God who has made you a new creation in (+) Jesus give you the grace to grow in faith, hope, love, and justice.
Amen.
CLOSING SONG: “When We All Get to Heaven” Tan #594