The Holy Trinity/Pentecost 1 Worship Order of Service
St. Peter’s Evangelical Lutheran Church
THE HOLY TRINITY/ PENTECOST 1 – Coronavirus
05-30-2021 10:00AM Zoom Worship
THE OPENING RITE FOR HOLY TRINITY SUNDAY (based on Psalm 29):
L There is reason for rejoicing! Let’s give credit where credit is due!
There is no god like the God who has given us life and new life!
BREAK IT OUT! DANCE AND SHOUT! GIVE GOD THE GLORY!
C God is fully alive and deserves our praise and our gratitude!
Even the ends of the earth are talkin’ and tweetin’ about it!
LORD, YOU ARE MAGNIFICENT… LORD, YOU ARE MIGHTY!
L God’s beauty is revealed in the skies and the forests.
God’s power is represented in the sweep of the oceans.
God’s majesty is displayed in the gigantic bodies suspended in the universe.
DON’T HOLD BACK! GIVE GOD THE PRAISE!
C The wind and the rain,
the lightning and the thunder,
the creatures that swim and crawl and walk and fly,
the flowers that brighten our lives –
IT ALL COMES FROM GOD’S VOICE, IT’S ALL FROM GOD’S HAND!
L The glory is God’s, not ours.
Even the achievements of human hand, mind, and machine come by way of God’s wisdom and God’s power.
So let’s give credit where credit is due!
GIVE A SHOUT-OUT TO GOD! DANCE A RHYTHM OF JOY!
C We give up our “HALLELUJAH!” and can’t hold back on “GLORY!”
We praise God with our humble “HOLY, HOLY, HOLY!”
And we step into “AMAZING GRACE!” to live faithfully and love fervently!
There is reason for rejoicing! OUR GOD IS AN AWESOME GOD! HEY!
OPENING SONG: “Holy, Holy” Brown #289
- 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. - Gracious Father, gracious Father,
we’re so blessed to be your children, gracious Father;
AND WE LIFT OUR HEADS BEFORE YOU AS A TOKEN OF OUR LOVE,
gracious Father, gracious Father. - Precious Jesus, precious Jesus,
we’re so glad that you redeemed us, precious Jesus;
AND WE LIFT OUR HANDS BEFORE YOU AS A TOKEN OF OUR LOVE,
precious Jesus, precious Jesus. - Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit,
come and fill our hearts anew, O Holy Spirit;
AND WE LIFE OUR VOICE BEFORE YOU AS A TOKEN OF OUR LOVE,
Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit. - Hallelujah, hallelujah,
hal – le – lu – jah… hallelujah;
AND WE LIFT OUR HEARTS BEFORE YOU AS A TOKEN OF OUR LOVE,
hallelujah, hallelujah.
PRAYER OF THE DAY:
Almighty God, here we are, flesh and blood, spirit and life – created, redeemed, and empowered by your love.
Don’t let us forget our destiny or fail to hear your call.
Lead us out of the ways of slavery and death to freedom and new life as your daughters and sons.
Help us to stand steadfast in our faith and to be witnesses here, now, always, and in all ways. Amen.
FIRST READING: ISAIAH 6:1-8 [An awesome God who shows us mercy, calls us into service. Are we willing to go?]
6:1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple.
6:2 Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew.
6:3 And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.”
6:4 The pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house filled with smoke.
6:5 And I said: “Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!”
6:6 Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs.
6:7 The seraph touched my mouth with it and said: “Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out.”
6:8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I; send me!”
SONG SELECTION
SECOND READING: ROMANS 8:12-17 [A loving God who adopts us. Life in the Spirit is different from life in the flesh.]
8:12 So then, brothers and sisters, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh–
8:13 for if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
8:14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.
8:15 For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, “Abba! Father!”
8:16 it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God,
8:17 and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ–if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.
GOSPEL VERSE: “Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.
Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.
Break me, melt me, mold me, fill me.
Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.”
THE HOLY GOSPEL: JOHN 3:1-17 [A God of grace who gives us new and abundant life – if we are willing. Jesus invites us to be born from above by the Spirit.]
3:1 Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews.
3:2 He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.”
3:3 Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.”
3:4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?”
3:5 Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit.
3:6 What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.
3:7 Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’
3:8 The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
3:9 Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?”
3:10 Jesus answered him, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?
3:11 “Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony.
3:12 If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?
3:13 No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.
3:14 And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
3:15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
3:17 “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
SONG SELECTION
THE SERMON: Pastor Gwen or Pastor Neil
SONG SELECTION
THE APOSTLES’ CREED:
We confess our faith in the Triune God, the eternal Creator, the risen Savior, and the dynamic Spirit…
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… Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so let us help lift up God’s Son – Jesus Christ – that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. It is our time and our turn to share in God’s plan of grace.
OFFERING SONG: “Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine! O what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God, born of his Spirit, washed in his blood.
THIS IS MY STORY, THIS IS MY SONG,
PRAISING MY SAVIOR ALL THE DAY LONG! [sing the chorus 2 times]
We are God’s people, we are Christ’s Church, called by God’s Spirit into the world.
We have God’s power from heaven above, we’ll share God’s justice, mercy and love!”
OFFERING PRAYER:
O Lord our God, if your Spirit is alive within us, then stretch our time and abilities, our money and our mouths, all that we are and all that we have, to testify to your amazing grace in Jesus Christ. Someone somewhere is in need of your Good News. Amen.
MUSIC SELECTION: Dennis Fortune
THE PRAYERS… We pray for NEW LIFE in the Spirit and for the MISSION of the Church to the world! If we aren’t faithful in our daily living and fruitful in witnessing to others the good news of Jesus Christ, then we aren’t really the Body of Christ!
THE LORD’S PRAYER
SONG SELECTION
THE BENEDICTION