Online Worship Text April 25, 2021

Online Worship Text
April 25, 2021

Fourth Sunday of Easter Season

Before we begin, gather a candle or small light, your Bible, a cross,  a piece of bread and a cup of juice or water. Place them at the center of a calm area in your home and gather comfortable seating for all who will join you. Place your phone, tablet  or computer where you can see and hear it. You may want to connect a charger, rather than rely on battery.   

Welcome

Lighting the Christ Candles  We light our candles or lights.
Voice One: In the beginning, God said,
Voice Two: Let there be light, and there was light!
Voice One: We light these candles today,
Voice Two: Because God is with us in this time and in all these places!


Call to Worship (based on Psalm 100)
Shout with joy to the Lord!
Worship the Lord with gladness.
Come before him, singing with joy!
Know that the Lord is God!

God made us, and we belong to the Lord.
We are God's people,
the sheep of God's pasture.

Enter the gates of the Lord with thanksgiving;
go into God's courts with praise.
Give thanks tothe Lord  and bless God's holy name.

For the Lord is good.
God's unfailing love continues forever,
and God's faithfulness continues
to each generation.
-Adapted from a piece written by Christine Longhurst, https://re-worship.blogspot.com/2011/05/worship-resourches-for-may-15-2011.html




Invocation
We gather together to worship you, O God, the Shepherd of our souls.
You have created us, You sustain us, You redeem us,
You walk beside us in good times and bad,
and You call us to follow.
You are our God and we worship You together,
in Jesus' name, Amen.
-Adapted from a piece written by Christine Longhurst, https://re-worship.blogspot.com/2011/05/worship-resourches-for-may-15-2011.html


Scripture: I John 3:16-24

I John 3:16-24
We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us—and we ought to lay down our lives for one another. How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?
Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action. And by this we will know that we are from the truth and will reassure our hearts before him whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have boldness before God; and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commandments and do what pleases him.

And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. All who obey his commandments abide in him, and he abides in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit that he has given us.

-New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.


Dramatic Monologue:
Introduction            Kathy Sharp

 “The Innkeeper”    Troy Price
 Voices From the Upper Room, 1971, Contemporary Drama Service, Used with permission with Church CCLI

Conclusion            Kyle Sowers


Meditation

Invitation to the Table The bread and cup and placed on the table for the Lord’s Supper.

Prayer of Communion Elders this month are Kyle Sowers and Judy Halstead.

Words of Institution  We break the bread and lift the cup as the words are spoken.

The Lord's Supper We share in the bread and cup as we hear the music.

Prayer of Thanksgiving: 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.

 

Prayers of the People
O Lord, our Shepherding God,
come close to us now
Come near us in our time of need.

Shepherding God,
we need you in our time of anxiety.
We need you in our time of economic uncertainty.
We need you in a time of a globe-trotting disease.
We need you to bind our wounds,
    and pour your healing ointment on our heads .
We need the briars, and brambles, and burrs
    pulled out of our fleece and skin.

O Lord, our Shepherding God,
come close to us now
Come near us in our time of need.

Shepherding God.
you guide us with your voice,
Help us to listen and follow no matter where your voice leads.
Help us to trust you.
Thank you for your son
who lay down his life for those who follow him
and for those who are not in the fold yet.

O Lord, our Shepherding God,
come close to us now
Come near us in our time of need.

Lord we pray for those who need a good shepherd
but don't know you.
We pray that by our actions, our behavior,
and our reaching out into the community,
they may come to know you.
renew us, guide us with your love
and renew us with your peace.

O Lord, our Shepherding God,
come close to us now
Come near us in our time of need. Amen

~ adapted from a prayer written by Rev. Abi and posted on her Long and Winding Road blog. http://vicarofwadley.blogspot.ca/

Challenge for Discipleship

Blessing     We speak in unison.


The Light that was in one place and at one time, is now in all places and all times, for God has placed the light in us.   We abide in peace!  And we go forth into the world as children of God!