6th Sunday of Easter

Christ is Risen!

He is Risen Indeed!

Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

He gave us new life and hope by raising Jesus from the dead.

He has claimed us as his own.

He called us from our darkness into the light of his new day.

Christ is risen! Alleluia!

He is Risen Indeed! Alleluia!

GATHERING SONG Christ is AliveELW #389

CONFESSION AND FORGIVENESS

In the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Rejoicing in the resurrection, let us seek God's forgiveness, that dying to sin, we may walk in newness of life.

Silence for reflection and self-examination.

Faithful God,

we confess that we have tried to live by our own poor strength,

shunning the earth-shaking power of the resurrection.

We have doubted your promises. We have failed to recognize you in the poor and needy. Have mercy on us, forgive us our sin,

and restore to us the joy of your salvation

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

Christ died to sin once for all, and now, victorious, lives to God. Our Savior has delivered you from the power of darkness and welcomed you into the realm of light. For his sake God grants you pardon and peace, the remission of all your sins. Amen

PRAYER OF THE DAY

Let us pray. O God, you have prepared for those who love you joys beyond understanding. Pour into our hearts such love for you that, loving you above all things, we may obtain your promises, which exceed all we can desire; through Jesus Christ, your Son and our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.


SCRIPTURE SONG "Alelu"

THE FIRST LESSON: Acts 10:44–48

While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard the word. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles, for they heard them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter said, Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have? So he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they invited him to stay for several days.

Word of God, word of life. Thanks be to God.

Psalm 98

Sing a new song to the LORD, who has done marvelous things,

whose right hand and holy arm have won the victory.

O LORD, you have made known your victory,

you have revealed your righteousness in the sight of the nations.

You remember your steadfast love and faithfulness to the house of Israel;

all the ends of the earth have seen the victory of our God.

Shout with joy to the LORD, all you lands; lift up your voice, rejoice, and sing.

Sing to the LORD with the harp, with the harp and the voice of song.

With trumpets and the sound of the horn shout with joy before the king, the LORD.

Let the sea roar, and all that fills it, the world and those who dwell therein.

Let the rivers clap their hands, and let the hills ring out with joy before the LORD, who comes to judge the earth.

The LORD will judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with equity.

THE GOSPEL FOR THE DAY: John 15:9–17

The holy gospel according to Saint John. Glory to you, O Lord.

As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete. This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.

The gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, O Christ.

SERMON “Love One Another” Pastor Phil Wold

HYMN OF THE DAY Jesus Loves Me ELW #595

THE NICENE CREED

THE PEACE IS SHARED

The peace of Christ be with you always. And also with you.

THE OFFERING

OFFERING PRAYER - Blessing of Quilts and Care Kits

Almighty and gracious God, you have so richly blessed us, but we pray for more, much more.

We pray for grateful hearts, for a humble awareness of our abundance amid all the world’s

poverty and pain.

Lord, we pray for more.

We pray for the courage to give generously of our resources - our imaginations, our time and abilities, our material wealth.

We pray yet for more, Lord.

We pray for the strength to reject the rationalizations which lead to indifference and silence

in this climate of entitlement and insatiable desire.

Lord, for much more we pray.

We pray for confident hope, in the presence of such overwhelming needs, to know that each offering of money, quilts, and material resources makes a welcome difference to others,

and to you.

For still more, Lord, we pray.

We pray for lifestyles of justice and mercy, living more simply, being advocates for those

more needful than we, being faithful and compassionate in our role as citizens.

Lord, yet again we pray for more.

We pray for your promised forgiveness for the fears, the selfishness, the thoughtlessness, the suspicions, the self-righteousness which hinder our loving service, and then pray for grateful and greater obedience to mark our thanksgiving.

Yet for one more thing we pray.

We pray you would bless those who labor on our behalf through all the work of Lutheran World Relief and its partners, that we would uphold them with our prayers, our encouragement, our gifts, our willingness to learn and to invite the support of others.

In the name of our Lord who encouraged us to ask boldly when we pray, Amen.

Litany written by Pastor Ed Whetstone, Salem Lutheran Church in Catonsville, Maryland.

THE LORD'S PRAYER

BLESSING

SENDING SONG “Soon and Very Soon ELW #439

SENDING

Go in peace. Share the good news. Alleluia, alleluia!

Thanks be to God. Alleluia, alleluia!

From Sundays and Seasons.com. Copyright 2021 Augsburg Fortress. All rights reserved. Reprinted by permission under Augsburg Fortress Liturgies Annual

License #26385.New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, 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.


POSTLUDE "The River is Here"