Sixth Sunday of Easter Order of Service | 5-5-24
05-05-2024 10:00AM “Hybrid” Worship
+ WE ANNOUNCE THE VICTORY +
OPENING SONG: “Woke Up This Morning” Tan #566
OPENING RITE FOR EASTER 6 AND THE EASTER PEACE:
L Alleluia! Christ is risen!
C Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia!
L Death, despair, and the devil don’t have the last word.
C We are EASTER people, always rising!
L Today let us remember that love is patient, love is kind.
C It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
L Love is not rude; it is not self-seeking.
C It is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
L Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices in the truth.
C It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
L If I do not practice love, then I sound like, show forth, and achieve NOTHING!
C Love is always – ALWAYS! – the most excellent way!
L My sisters and brothers, Jesus says that no one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. Christ’s sacrificial love for us, his friends, forgives us our sins and resurrects us from death.
C And we are truly his friends when we obey his one commandment: to love one another as he has loved us. 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, help me to know, to grow, and to show your dying and life-giving love –
to love first and always,
to love with both my words and my deeds,
to love beyond the boundaries and the barriers that seek to divide and separate,
to love sacrificially and joyfully,
to love because there is nothing greater than God’s love in all the world. Amen.
+ WE PROCLAIM GOD’S SAVING WORD +
FIRST READING: ACTS 10:44-48
[Prejudice shattered, ethnic barriers removed, the gift of the Spirit, the gift of baptism.]
10:44 While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard the word.
10:45 The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles,
10:46 for they heard them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter said,
10:47 “Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?”
10:48 So he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they invited him to stay for several days.
SECOND READING: 1 JOHN 5:1-6
[Our faith is the victory that conquers the world as we receive and bear God’s love.]
5:1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the parent loves the child.
5:2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments.
5:3 For the love of God is this, that we obey his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome,
5:4 for whatever is born of God conquers the world. And this is the victory that conquers the world, our faith.
5:5 Who is it that conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
5:6 This is the one who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ, not with the water only but with the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one that testifies, for the Spirit is the truth.
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 15:9-17
[We are friends with Jesus when we love others as he loves us!]
15:9 As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love.
15:10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.
15:11 I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.
15:12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.
15:13 No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
15:14 You are my friends if you do what I command you.
15:15 I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father.
15:16 You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name.
15:17 I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.
SONG SELECTION: All Saints Choir
SERMON: Pastor Gwen or Pastor Neil
SONG RESPONSE: “The Gift of Love” Tan #522
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!
+ WE SHARE GOD’S NOURISHING MEAL +
OFFERING [God has loved us and blessed us, and now God calls us and sends us with the power of the Holy Spirit to love others in word and deed, to reach out to others with love that changes lives, with love that brings joy and hope. Let’s not ignore the opportunities, let’s not dismiss the possibilities, let’s not refuse the mission command. We love because God first loved us.]
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:
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 #686 Tan #341
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: “At the Cross”