Prelude
Come As a Child David Yantis
Welcome & Announcements
*Thanksgiving for Baptism
Blessed be the holy Trinity, the One who was, who is, and who is to come. Amen.
Baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection, and called to live the baptized life, let us give thanks for the gifts of baptism.
Holy God, we give you thanks for the waters of baptism, waters that make a people your own, that restore to wholeness, and empower us to be witnesses in your name.
Baptized into you, O Living One, make us one as you are one.
We give you thanks for the waters of baptism, waters that strengthen believers and give new life to beloved servants of your church; waters that extend your boundless love and cross barriers of our own making.
Baptized into you, O Living One, make us one as you are one.
We give you thanks for the waters of baptism, waters that open the hearts of believers and give a voice in the night to those in captivity; waters that set your people on a new path, rejoicing in the Spirit’s power.
Baptized into you, O Living One, make us one as you are one.
Grant us grace, love, and life, O Living One, that our every day is shaped by these waters that give us our very lives in you. We ask this in the name of Jesus, the Crucified and Risen One. Amen.
Kyrie
In peace let us pray to the Lord.
For the reign of God, and for peace throughout the world,
for the unity of all, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
For your people here who have come to give you praise,
for the strength to live your word, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Help, save, and defend us, O God.
Amen.
Hymn of Praise
*Prayer of the Day
Almighty and ever-living God, you hold together all things in heaven and on earth. In your great mercy receive the prayers of all your children, and give to all the world the Spirit of your truth and peace, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
First Reading Acts 17:22-31
22 Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, “Athenians, I see how extremely spiritual you are in every way. 23 For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, ‘To an unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. 24 The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, 25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things. 26 From one ancestor he made all peoples to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, 27 so that they would search for God and perhaps fumble about for him and find him—though indeed he is not far from each one of us. 28 For ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we, too, are his offspring.’ 29 “Since we are God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the deity is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of mortals. 30 While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”
Word of God, Word of Life. Thanks be to God.
Psalm A Prayer Song David Yantis
Congregation sings refrain; choir sings verses
That I may try to be strong when I’m faced with strife; that I may call on your strength all my life.
When I am all by myself and alone with fear, I know you’re not far from me, you’re so near.
Although my mind knows no rest and I’m sick wiht pain, your healing balm comforts me just the same.
So I may bear patiently with my fellow man; that he may know of your love through my hand.
The Epistle Lesson 1 Peter 3:13-22
13 Now who will harm you if you are eager to do what is good? 14 But even if you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear, and do not be intimidated, 15 but in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you, 16 yet do it with gentleness and respect. Maintain a good conscience so that, when you are maligned, those who abuse you for your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame. 17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if suffering should be God’s will, than to suffer for doing evil. 18 For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, 19 in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, 20 who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight lives, were saved through water. 21 And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you—not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him.
Word of God, Word of Life. Thanks be to God.
*Gospel Acclamation
*Gospel John 14:15-21 Glory to you O Lord
Jesus said to the disciples: 15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. 17 This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him because he abides with you, and he will be in you. 18 “I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. 19 In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. 21 They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me, and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.”
The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, O Christ.
Sermon Pastor Kurt Christenson
*Hymn of the Day Loving Spirit
*Prayers of Intercession
Response to each petition: Merciful God, receive our prayer.
*Apostle’s Creed
I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, 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, he is seated at the right hand of the Father, and he will come 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.
*Exchange of Peace
The peace of the Lord be with you. And also with you.
Offering
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Offering Music I’d Rather Have Jesus
Complete Love David Yantis
Alone, yet we’re not alone; apart, yet we’re not apart from God | And His love made known through His son who for us makes us one. The tears that were shed in vain; the fears and the needless pain are known to the Lord when we in a prayer call on Him; He is there.
*Offering Prayer
Merciful God, accept the fruits of our labor, gathered to give you glory. You have set a table before us, a glimpse of that great day when we will hunger and thirst no more. Nourish us with the body and blood of Jesus, that goodness and mercy may follow us and bless the world you love. In the name of Jesus, Amen.
*The Great Thanksgiving
The Lord be with you. And also with you.
Lift up your hearts. We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. It is right to give our thanks and praise.
*Preface
It is indeed right, our duty and our joy, that we should at all times and in all places give thanks and praise to you, almighty and merciful God, through our Savior Jesus Christ;
who on this day overcame death and the grave, and by his glorious resurrection opened to us the way of everlasting life. And so, with all the choirs of angels, with the church on earth and the hosts of heaven, we praise your name and join their unending hymn:
*Sanctus
*Eucharistic Prayer
You are indeed holy, gracious and merciful God; everything is filled with your glory…
…Remembering his command to love one another, his life and death, his glorious resurrection and ascension, we pray for his coming again even as we cry:
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
Send now, we pray, your Holy Spirit, that all of your promises may come to us and your whole creation. Amen. Come, Holy Spirit. Amen. Come, Holy Spirit.
This we pray through Jesus Christ, our Savior and our friend.
*The Lord’s Prayer
Lord, remember us in your Kingdom and teach us to pray:
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and forever. Amen.
Agnus Dei
Communion Distribution
Communion
Communion Hymn Come As a Child
*Communion Blessing and Prayer
Holy One, through this meal you have made your home among us and are making all things new. Send us now to speak peace to anxious hearts, to love our enemies, and to bring your healing to the nations. In the name of Jesus, Amen.
*Sending Hymn Beyond A Dream
*Blessing & Dismissal
God Almighty, who is the beginning and the end, Jesus Christ, the firstborn of the dead, and the Spirit, our advocate and peace, bless you now and forever. Amen.
Go in peace. Praise the Lord. Alleluia! Thanks be to God. Alleluia!
Postlude
Reprise Christ Is Alive! Let Christians Sing
