05/05/24

As We Gather 

The hymn text “Abide with Me,” by English clergyman Henry Lyte, has a history that assists in making the words of hope and comfort in the text memorable. Yet, in reflecting on the true importance of the hymn, it is not the circumstances surrounding why it was written that gives it beauty but the words themselves that the author wrote. In timeless poetry, Lyte underscores the meaning of God’s presence in the life of the Christian as he writes: “I fear no foe with Thee at hand to bless” (LSB 878:5). Our Lord abides with us not only at eventide, but at all times and in all places. Here and now let us bring to this caring God our thanks and praise! 

Family Room & Children Activity Bags- Children Activity Bags- We value children in our worship services. If needed, there is a family room available for families with children. The family room has a diaper changing table, a closed-circuit TV to watch the worship service, toys and books for children. The family room is located across from the kitchen in the long hallway, the first door on the right, just past the bathrooms. There are “King’s Kids” bags with activities for children to help them worship. They are near the usher’s station on a small rack. Please return the bag to the rack after the service.

Holy Communion- The Scripture teaches the Lord’s Supper is a precious gift of God in which Christ gives us His true body and blood (in a miraculous way), together with the bread and wine, for the forgiveness of our sins and the strengthening of our faith. Because the Bible teaches that this Sacrament may also be spiritually harmful if misused the LCMS ordinarily communes only those who have been instructed in the teachings of our church and who have confessed their faith in these teachings. Please speak to Pastor Ralph before the service if you have a question about this. For those who prefer a non-alcoholic alternative, there is grape juice at the center of each tray. Those not receiving the Sacrament, including children, are invited to come to the altar, cross their arms over their chest, and receive a special blessing.

The Friendship in a Class All By Itself “Christ says: “Formally you were enemies; but now you are friends because I regard you as friends, not because you do many good things to Me. For this latter reason the world considers people friends. But you are those to whom I have done nothing but good. I die for the sort of friends who have done me no good; I have just loved them and made them My friends. In a word you did not make yourselves My friends; but I turned you, who by nature were friends of the devil, from enemies into friends… I have sacrificed my body and life for you; and you are precious friends to Me, earned and purchased through my blood, and you shall have everything through Me.   What Luther Says # 1594

Sixth Sunday of Easter

May 6, 2024

Welcome

Opening Hymn                    Word of God, Come Down on Earth                              LSB 545                   

Invocation, Confession and Absolution    (Psalm 146:1–2, 5, 10)

P:   We gather in the name and at the invitation of our great and gracious triune God:

C:   In the name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

P:   Praise the Lord!  Praise the Lord, O my soul!

C:   I will praise the Lord as long as I live;   I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.

P:   Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,

C:   whose hope is in the Lord his God.

P:   The Lord will reign forever, your God, O Zion, to all generations.

C:   Praise the Lord!

P:   Let us now confess our sin to God, our merciful Father.

C:  Gracious God, we admit and confess our sinfulness. We are sin-stained people by nature. Each day we have done things we ought not to have done and have not done that which we are to have been doing as Your servants. We have not seen people in the loving way that You see them. We have not always been ready to care and quick to help. Trusting in Your mercy, we proclaim our trust is in the merits of Your Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ alone. Abide with us dear Lord and cleanse of all our sins. By the power of the Holy Spirit at work within our hearts and lives, lead us into ways that reflect Your goodness and love. Amen

(Silence for Meditation)

P:   God is loving and merciful. He sees us with loving eyes and graciously hears our supplications. By the command of our Lord and as His called and ordained servant, I forgive you all of your sins in the name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit.

C:   Amen.

Hymn of Praise                Dear Christians, One and All, Rejoice           LSB 556  1, 5-7

Prayer of the Day

All:   Lord Jesus Christ, while we were still in our sins You chose us, laid down Your life for us, and called us friends. By Your great love for us, inspire us to love one another that we may abide in Your grace and may bear fruit according to Your promise; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

First Reading              (People from every nation are accepted by God.)        Acts 10:34–48

Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism ³⁵ but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right. ³⁶ You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, telling the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. ³⁷ You know what has happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached— ³⁸ how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him. ³⁹ “We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a tree, ⁴⁰ but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. ⁴¹ He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen—by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. ⁴² He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. ⁴³ All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” ⁴⁴ While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. ⁴⁵ The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. ⁴⁶ For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God. Then Peter said, ⁴⁷ “Can anyone keep these people from being baptized with water? They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.” ⁴⁸ So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked Peter to stay with them for a few days.

Psalm                                                     Psalm 98

All:   Oh sing to the Lord a new song, for He has done marvelous things! His right hand and His holy arm have worked salvation for Him.

Women:   The Lord has made known His salvation; He has revealed His righteousness in the sight of the nations.

Men:   He has remembered His steadfast love and faithfulness to the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

All:   Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises!

Women:   Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre, with the lyre and the sound of melody!

Men:   With trumpets and the sound of the horn make a joyful noise before the King, the Lord!

All:   Let the sea roar, and all that fills it; the world and those who dwell in it!

Women:   Let the rivers clap their hands; let the hills sing for joy together before the Lord, for He comes to judge the earth.

Men:   He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity.

All:   Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; 

          as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

NT  Lesson                 (The victory of Christ overcomes the world.)                  1 John 5:1–8

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. ² This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. ³ This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, ⁴ for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. ⁵ Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. ⁶ This is the one who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. ⁷ For there are three that testify: ⁸ the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement.

Gospel Lesson     (Obeying Christ’s commands and remaining in His love)  John 15:9–17

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. ¹⁰ If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. ¹¹ I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. ¹² My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. ¹³ Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. ¹⁴ You are my friends if you do what I command. ¹⁵ I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. ¹⁶ You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. ¹⁷ This is my command: Love each other.

Message Song                     Shout to the North                                     Martin Smith

Men of faith rise up and sing Of the great and glorious King
You are strong when you feel weak  In your brokenness complete

Chorus:       Shout to the north and the south Sing to the east and the west
              Jesus is Savior to all  Lord of heaven and earth

Rise up women of the truth Stand and sing to broken hearts
                Who can know the healing pow’r  Of our glorious King of love     Chorus

We’ve been through fire  We’ve been through rain
We’ve been refined  By the pow’r of His name
We’ve fallen deeper  In love with You     You’ve burned  The truth on our lips

Rise up church with broken wings  Fill this place with songs again
                    Of our God who reigns on high  By His grace again we’ll fly      Chorus

Lord of heaven and earth,   Lord of heaven and earth  Lord of heaven and earth

CCLI Song # 1562261© 1995 Curious? Music UK  For use solely with the SongSelect®  

Terms of Use. All rights reserved. www.ccli.comCCLI License # 11390779

Message                                      An Overcoming Child of God

1. Overcoming separation from God through the blood of Christ for our salvation.

2. An Overcoming life is the fruit of faith as faith is fed so that our doubts are starved to death!    Proverbs 4

3. An Overcoming joy as Christ’s friends by remaining in His love as we serve in His Kingdom work. 

Notes:

Explanation to the Third Article of the Apostles Creed

P:  The First Reading today tells how the gift of the Holy Spirit was given to Gentiles as well as to Jews—which includes all the peoples of the world. Sharing words of faith confessed around the world, we speak together the words of the Apostles’ Creed regarding the work of the Holy Spirit as confessed in the Small Catechism words of Martin Luther.

C: I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

P: What does this mean?C: I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith. In the same way He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith. In this Christian Church He daily and richly forgives all my sins and the sins of all believers. On the Last Day He will raise me and all the dead, and give eternal life to me and all believers in Christ. This is most certainly true.

Offering

Offertory                                    O Bless the Lord, My Soul       LSB 814  vs 1, 5-6

Prayers of the Church  

 After each petition:

 P:  Lord, in your mercy,

 C:  hear our prayer.

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 and ever. Amen.

The Lord’s Supper

Preface                                                                       page 160 in the hymnal

P:  The Lord be with you.

C:  ♪ And also with you.

P:   Lift up your hearts.

C:  ♪ We lift them to the Lord.

P:   Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

C:   ♪ It is right to give Him thanks and praise.

P:   It is truly good, right, and salutary …. And ever more praising You and singing:

Sanctus — Holy, Holy, Holy                                         page 161 in the hymnal

C:  ♪ Holy, holy, holy Lord God of pow’r and might: Heaven and earth are full of Your glory. Hosanna. Hosanna. Hosanna in the highest.  Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.

The Words of Institution    (Jesus Institutes the Lord’s Supper)

Pax Domini—The Peace of the Lord                                               page 163 in the hymnal

P:   The peace of the Lord be with you always.C:   ♪ Amen.

Agnus Dei – Lamb of God                                                              page 163 in the hymnal

C:  ♪ Lamb of God, You take away the sin of the world; have mercy on us.

         Lamb of God, You take away the sin of the world; have mercy on us.

         Lamb of God, You take away the sin of the world; grant us peace.

Distribution of Communion

Distribution Hymn                             What a Friend We Have in Jesus               LSB 770

Post Communion Canticle                                                               page 164 in the hymnal

C:  ♪ Thank the Lord and sing His praise; tell ev’ryone what He has done.  Let all who seek the Lord rejoice and proudly bear His name.  He recalls His promises and leads His people forth in joy with shouts of thanksgiving. Alleluia, alleluia. 

Post Communion Thanksgiving

All:  Lord Jesus Christ, once again You have welcomed us at Your Table of grace. Grant that this Sacrament that we have now received may strengthen us so that we may abide in loving service day by day. As we have shared in the blessings of Your Table, grant that we live each day as Your people who see people around us as You see them and love them as You love them. This we ask in the name of Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Benediction  

P:   The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. The Lord look upon you with favor and ✠ give you peace.

C:   Amen.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     
Sending Hymn                               Christ the Eternal Lord                         LSB 829

Announcements

Dismissal 

P:   Go in peace as you serve our living Lord.

C:   Thanks be to God.

Postlude