Sixth Sunday of Easter Worship Service
St. Peter’s Evangelical Lutheran Church
6TH SUNDAY OF EASTER – Coronavirus
05-22-2022 10:00AM Zoom Worship
INTRODUCTION TO OUR WORSHIP:
Welcome. Many people are troubled and afraid. Jesus offers us assurance that, no matter the size of the struggle, we can trust in the presence, peace, power, and promise of God in Christ Jesus. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. God loves and forgives and embraces you. Facing his own death with courage and trust, Jesus bestows inner serenity and outward strength that the world simply cannot give Joy will rise again. If you are hearing this as a fresh new word, open your life to Christ. If you already know this, think where you might find somebody still searching for true peace and real hope. Be a witness.
+ WE ANNOUNCE THE VICTORY +
OPENING SONG: “I Know that My Redeemer Lives” Tan #276
OPENING RITE FOR EASTER 6 AND THE EASTER PEACE:
L Alleluia, Jesus is risen, Jesus is Lord!
C Death could not hold him, and this world cannot stop him!
L As we continue to journey in this life, Jesus the Living Christ offers us the promise of home…
C HOME with God and with Jesus, HOME with the faithful departed, someday and forever.
L As we continue to journey in this life, Jesus the Living Christ offers us a peace that the world cannot give…
C PEACE when our hearts are troubled, PEACE when our minds are worried and our spirits are afraid.
L As we continue to journey in this life, Jesus the Living Christ offers us the power of the Holy Spirit, the Advocate…
C POWER to live faithfully, POWER to witness courageously, not counting the cost.
L Therefore, do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.
C Christ is alive, and so are his followers!
L Brothers, sisters, even this very moment God in Christ Jesus (+) reaches out to you with an embracing, empowering love to forgive and to reconcile, to comfort and encourage, to direct and to strengthen us in our journey of Christian discipleship. As the Body of Christ gathered together by the Spirit across many miles, let us celebrate the assurance of the peace that passes human understanding and the power that goes beyond human imagination 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:
Generous God, your Son Jesus Christ – who willingly died for us and was miraculously raised – is our peace, only and always. In a world that is sometimes confusing, challenging, and heartbreaking, give us your Spirit, grant us a vision, And enable us to walk in his light and his love. Amen.
+ WE PROCLAIM GOD’S SAVING WORD +
FIRST READING: ACTS 16:9-15 [A vision “nudges” Paul to move his ministry into Greece and a new beginning.]
16:9 During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”
16:10 When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them.
16:11 We set sail from Troas and took a straight course to Samothrace, the following day to Neapolis,
16:12 and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city for some days.
16:13 On the sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there.
16:14 A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul.
16:15 When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home.” And she prevailed upon us.
SONG SELECTION
SECOND READING: REVELATION 21:10, 22 – 22:5 [John has a vision of the everlasting life with God that is promised.]
21:10 And in the spirit he carried me away to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God.
21:22 I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.
21:23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb.
21:24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.
21:25 Its gates will never be shut by day–and there will be no night there.
21:26 People will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations.
21:27 But nothing unclean will enter it, nor anyone who practices abomination or falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
22:1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb
22:2 through the middle of the street of the city. On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.
22:3 Nothing accursed will be found there any more. But the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him;
22:4 they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.
22:5 And there will be no more night; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.
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 14:23-29 [Jesus offers a vision of God’s continued peace, presence, power, and promise.]
14:23 Jesus answered him, “Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.
14:24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me.
14:25 “I have said these things to you while I am still with you.
14:26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.
14:27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.
14:28 You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I am coming to you.’ If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I.
14:29 And now I have told you this before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe.
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 [Paul was given a vision that led him to go preach in Europe, and Lydia, who became the first Christian there, was led by the Spirit to open her heart in love and her home in hospitality. How is God shaping your sense of mission and ministry in service of the Gospel?]
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: “God Will Take Care of You” Dennis Fortune Tan #137
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:
L Alleluia! Christ is risen!
C He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
L Let not your hearts be troubled, sisters and brothers!
Leave with a message upon your heart: I have seen the Lord!
Leave with a message on your lips: I have seen the Lord!
Leave with a message revealed through your daily living: I have seen the Lord!
Go in the faith-filled power of the Risen Lord [+] to love God and to serve your neighbor in all that you do!
C AMEN NOW! AMEN ALWAYS! AMEN!
CLOSING SONG: “It Is Well” Tan #377