Seventh Sunday of Easter | Mother’s Day Service | 5-12-24
+ WE ANNOUNCE THE VICTORY +
OPENING SONG: “Jesus Shall Reign” Tan #289
OPENING RITE FOR EASTER 7 AND THE EASTER PEACE (based on PSALM 1): Pastor Gwen
L We gather this morning in humility and praise, with thankful hearts and jubilant joy.
C We gather to be forgiven, strengthened, and directed by the God who has created us and loves us.
L Life is strange sometimes.
Some people are looking to live LOUD lives and some people are looking to live FAST lives.
Some people will do anything and everything in pursuit of life’s same old fading treasures and fleeting pleasures.
Some people believe and live as if there is NO GOD.
They are like sand in a desert storm or leaves in an autumn wind.
Something is missing. Their lives are without a foundation.
C Happy are those who WON’T walk with sinners, who DON’T hang out with fools.
Happy are those who seek to be God-centered, EVERY day and night, EVERY night and day.
Their lives are not PERFECT but PRODUCTIVE.
They bear the fruit of God’s grace and God’s love, and they do not wither.
They stand fully and faithfully rooted through all the seasons and storms of life like firmly planted trees.
And they do not fail.
L My sisters and my brothers, Jesus prayed for his disciples of every time and place, that we might continue his mission to the world and be protected, safe, and holy. Always we are being called to practice and sent forth to offer the love that our Lord and Savior lived and died for. And always God’s Spirit will guide us to do this, if we will allow it. Let us praise
God for the peace, power, and promises of Jesus!
C Jesus is risen, Jesus is alive, and Jesus is Lord!
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):
Holy God, open our hearts and our lives to that wonderful awareness that you have chosen us to be your new disciples with new ministries in Jesus’ name. We pray to be faithful, responsible, and even courageous. May we be like trees planted by streams of water. Amen.
+ WE PROCLAIM GOD’S SAVING WORD +
FIRST READING: ACTS 1:15-17, 21-26 Madison
[Staying and praying together in readiness. We are here for a purpose.]
1:15 In those days Peter stood up among the believers (together the crowd numbered about one hundred twenty persons) and said,
1:16 “Friends, the scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit through David foretold concerning Judas, who became a guide for those who arrested Jesus —
1:17 for he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry.”
1:21 So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us,
1:22 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.”
1:23 So they proposed two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also known as Justus, and Matthias.
1:24 Then they prayed and said, “Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which one of these two you have chosen
1:25 to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.”
1:26 And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles.
SECOND READING: 1 JOHN 5:9-13 Riana Mathis
[Holding on to the Gospel. We are to hear it, believe it, and live it.]
5:9 If we receive human testimony, the testimony of God is greater; for this is the testimony of God that he has testified to his Son.
5:10 Those who believe in the Son of God have the testimony in their hearts. Those who do not believe in God have made him a liar by not believing in the testimony that God has given concerning his Son.
5:11 And this is the testimony: God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
5:12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
5:13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal 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 17:6-19 Dennis Fortune
[Being “prayed up” by Jesus for unity in faithful discipleship. In our faithful living and fervent loving, we are not alone!]
17:6 “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.
17:7 Now they know that everything you have given me is from you;
17:8 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.
17:9 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.
17:10 All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them.
17:11 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.
17:12 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.
17:13 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.
17:14 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.
17:15 I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one.
17:16 They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world.
17:17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.
17:18 As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.
17:19 And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth.
SONG SELECTION: All Saints Choir
SERMON: Tyesha Love Blackshear, a mother and St. Peter’s member
SONG RESPONSE: “We Will Glorify” Tan #286
AN AFFIRMATION OF OUR FAITH:
L Living in the joy and the power of the Risen Lord, let us boldly confess our faith…
C 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.
THE PRAYERS… We pray that all people might be transformed by the GOOD NEWS of Easter! Beverly Morris
+ WE SHARE GOD’S NOURISHING MEAL +
OFFERING [Today we remember that it is our responsibility to share God’s love with each other and with this broken, confused, and love-starved world. Let us be like trees planted by streams of water, bearing fruit through faithful living and fervent loving.]
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!
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: Tanya Morris
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: Tan #505 Tan #410
THE COMMUNION BLESSING by the Celebrant after all have communed.
POST-COMMUNION PRAYER by the Communion Assistant. Stephanie Fluellen
+ 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: “Revive Us Again” Tan #569