May 24th, 2020
Seventh Sunday of Easter

 

Prelude                       Faith of Our Fathers                      Arr. David Johnson                                                                                                              Corinne Adkins, organ

Greeting

Choral Introit            O Come, Let Us Sing Unto the Lord                 Charles Callahan
        
*Responsive Call to Worship                                                                      
Leader: Clap your hands, all you people!
People: Shout to God with loud songs of joy!
Leader: Sing praises to God, sing praises!
People: Sing praises to our sovereign Lord!
Leader: God is sovereign over all the earth!
People: Sing praises to God, sing praises!
Leader: Let everything that has breath sing praises.
People: Shout to God with loud songs of joy!
 
*Opening Hymn        O Love, How Deep (v. 1,2,5,6)                                          UMH 267
1. O love, how deep, how broad, how high,
it fills the heart with ecstasy,
that God, the Son of God, should take
our mortal form for mortals' sake!
 
2. For us baptized, for us he bore
his holy fast and hungered sore,
for us temptation sharp he knew;
for us the tempter overthrew.
 
5. For us he rose from death again;
for us he went on high to reign;
for us he sent his Spirit here,
to guide, to strengthen, and to cheer.
 
6. All glory to our Lord and God
for love so deep, so high, so broad:
the Trinity whom we adore,
forever and forevermore.
 
*Prayer of Confession
Lord Jesus Christ, in you we see awesome power.
You triumph over death and bring forth new life.
You stand over all earthly powers.
You are the head of the church.
Yet, we often fail to acknowledge this power in our lives.
We see violence in the world.
We see injustice in our communities.
We see hunger and need among our neighbors.
We see longing for something more.
We see failures and faults in our lives.
In all these things, we feel powerless.
Forgive our hesitance to call upon you.
Forgive our propensity to rely upon ourselves.
Forgive our reluctance to acknowledge your power.
Speak your words of power again.
May your will may be done on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.
 
* Words of Assurance                
May God give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation, that the power of Jesus Christ may be visible in your life. By the grace of Jesus Christ we are forgiven and empowered to serve. Amen.

*Passing the Peace                              
Leader: The peace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you!    
People: And also with you!

PROCLAMATION

New Testament Lesson         Acts 1:6-14
6 So when they had come together, they asked him, ‘Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?’ 7He replied, ‘It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. 8But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’ 9When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10While he was going and they were gazing up towards heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. 11They said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up towards heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.’
12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day’s journey away. 13When they had entered the city, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying, Peter, and John, and James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. 14All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers.
Leader: Hear what the Spirit is saying to the church.          
People: Thanks be to God.  

Children’s Message

Offering                      Easter Jubilee                                                                    Brad Nix

*Doxology                  Praise God, From Whom All Blessings Flow                      UMH 94
Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
Praise God, all creatures here below: Alleluia! Alleluia!
Praise God, the source of all our gifts!
Praise Jesus Christ, whose power uplifts!
Praise the Spirit, Holy Spirit! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

*Prayer of Thanksgiving                  

Prayer Hymn             O Jesus, I Have Promised (v.1,4)                          UMH 396
1 O Jesus, I have promised
to serve thee to the end;
be thou forever near me,
my Master and my Friend;
I shall not fear the battle
if thou art by my side,
nor wander from the pathway
if thou wilt be my guide.
 
4 O let me hear thee speaking
in accents clear and still,
above the storms of passion,
the murmurs of self will.
O speak to reassure me,
to hasten or control;
O speak and make me listen,
thou guardian of my soul.
 
Community Announcements     

Prayers of the People    

The Lord’s Prayer              
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.                

Gospel Lesson            John 17:1-26 
17After Jesus had spoken these words, he looked up to heaven and said, ‘Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, 2since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 4I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. 5So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed.
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. 7Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; 8for 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. 9I 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. 10All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. 11And 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. 12While 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. 13But 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. 14I 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. 15I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. 16They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. 17Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. 18As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth.
20 ‘I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, 21that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, 23I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. 24Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.
25 ‘Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent me. 26I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.’
            Leader: The Word of God for the people of God.
            People: Thanks be to God.

Sermon                       I pray that all of them may be one.                       Rev. Scott Shaffer

RESPONSE
 

*Closing Hymn                      In Christ There Is No East or West                        UMH 548
1. In Christ there is no east or west,
in him no south or north;
but one great fellowship of love
throughout the whole wide earth.
 
2. In Christ shall true hearts everywhere
their high communion find;
his service is the golden cord
close binding humankind.
 
3. In Christ is neither Jew nor Greek,
and neither slave or free;
both male and female heirs are made,
and all are kin to me.
 
4. In Christ now meet both east and west,
in him meet south and north;
all Christly souls are one in him
throughout the whole wide earth.
                   

SENDING FORTH
 

*Benediction

*Benediction Response         Amen, Amen                                                      Brad Nix

Postlude                                  In Christ There Is No East or West          Arr. Dale Wood