May 21, 2017 Sunday Service and Bulletin

The Bulletin is at: 05-21-2017 BULLETIN

The Service in PDF format is at: 05-21-2017 Sixth Sunday of Easter

or the service is as follows:

SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER

May 21, 2017

PRE-SERVICE MUSIC

AS WE GATHER……..Today Jesus continues to prepare His disciples for His departure. He will leave them again at His ascension. Yet He wants us to know and believe that He never really leaves us. He tells us that He will be with us always. He calls the Holy Spirit “another Helper”. This Helper is by our side at worship and as we go from this place.

RINGING OF THE BELL……..After the ringing of the bell we take a moment in silence to prepare our hearts and minds for today’s worship.

WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

OPENING PRAYER

Pastor: Almighty God, send Your Holy Spirit into our hearts in worship today that He may rule, direct and comfort us. We humbly ask that the Holy Spirit would go with us today so that we can be strengthened to do good works for others. We pray this in the name of Jesus, Your Son, our Lord.

People: Amen.

WE CONFESS OUR SINS

Pastor: Dear friends, Jesus said, “I will be with you always.” Let us take Him at His word and come into His presence, sharing our great need as we confess our sins and ask for forgiveness.

People: I confess to almighty God all my sins with which I have offended You, especially the sin of trying to go it alone without You. On my own, I am weak, and sin so easily makes me forget Your will for my life. Because of Your merciful death on the cross and in the power of Your resurrection from the dead, let me hear from You the words of Your grace and forgiveness and new life. Amen.

RECEIVE GOD’S FORGIVENESS

Pastor: In keeping with His promise, the Lord sends another helper to deliver His own words of forgiveness. So now, as a called and ordained servant of Christ and by His authority, I forgive you all your sins, in the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.

People: Amen.

SONG OF PRAISE “You are My All in All”

You are my strength when I am weak,

You are the treasure that I seek.

You are my all in all.

Seeking you as a precious jewel,

Lord, to give up, I’d be a fool,

You are my all in all.

Jesus, Lamb of God, worthy is Your Name

Taking my sin, my cross, my shame.

Rising again, I bless Your name.

You are my all in all.

When I fall down, You pick me up.

When I am dry, You fill my cup.

You are my all in all.

Jesus, Lamb of God, worthy is Your Name

Jesus, Lamb of God, worthy is Your Name.

PRAYER OF THE DAY

Pastor: We pray together.

People: Come to us, Holy Spirit, and teach us the way, the truth, and the life. Help us to keep Your commandments and to love You with our whole heart and our neighbor as ourselves. You live and reign with the Father and the Son, one God, now and forever. Amen.

SCRIPTURE LESSONS

First Lesson: Acts 17:16-31 Paul in Athens

While Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols. So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there. Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him. And some said, “What does this babbler wish to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities”–because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection. And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? For you bring some strange things to our ears. We wish to know therefore what these things mean.” Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new.

So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for

” ‘In him we live and move and have our being’;

as even some of your own poets have said,

” ‘For we are indeed his offspring.’

Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

Epistle: I Peter 3:13-22 Suffering for righteousness’ sake

Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. Baptism, which corresponds to this, 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, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.

CHILDREN’S MESSAGE

GOSPEL: John 14:15-21 Jesus promises the Holy Spirit.

[Jesus said:] “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”

SERMON HYMN “On Eagle’s Wings”

You who dwell in the shelter of the Lord, who abide in His shadow for life,

Say to the Lord: “My refuge, my rock in whom I trust!”

And He will raise you up on eagle’s wings, bear you on the breath of dawn,

Make you to shine like the sun, and hold you in the palm of His hand.

The snare of the fowler will never capture you, and famine will bring you no fear:

Under His wings your refuge, His faithfulness your shield.

And He will raise you up on eagle’s wings, bear you on the breath of dawn,

Make you to shine like the sun, and hold you in the palm of His hand.

You need not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day;

Though thousands fall about you, near you it shall not come.

And He will raise you up on eagle’s wings, bear you on the breath of dawn,

Make you to shine like the sun, and hold you in the palm of His hand.

For to His angels He’s given a command to guard you in all of your ways;

Upon their hands they will bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.

And He will raise you up on eagle’s wings, bear you on the breath of dawn,

Make you to shine like the sun, and hold you in the palm of His hand.

And hold you, hold you in the palm of His hand.

SERMON “Using the Force”

APOSTLE’S CREED

People: I believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and was born of the virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead. 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.

OFFERING

(We offer our thanksgiving for what God has first given us—ourselves, our time, our possessions.)

OFFERTORY

PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH

Pastor: We give You praise and thanksgiving, almighty God, that You do not leave us or forsake us, but come to us and all the world by Your Holy Spirit. By His help, we worship and glorify You, and take continual refuge in Your great mercy and grace. Abide with us and keep us close to You that we may share in Your great life and love. Lord, in Your mercy,

People: hear our prayer.

Pastor: Lift up Your whole Church in the Spirit of Christ and especially the churches of Philomath. Be with us always with Your mercy, protection, and love. Lord, in Your mercy,

People: hear our prayer.

Pastor: Grant Your blessings to all in the authority of government in our nation and throughout the world, that we may lead peaceful and quiet lives, godly and dignified in every way. Lord, in Your mercy,

People: hear our prayer.

Pastor: Comfort all who are in sorrow or need, sickness or adversity, (especially…….). Have mercy on those to whom death draws near. Bring consolation to those in sorrow. Lord, in Your mercy,

People: hear our prayer.

Pastor: Show forth Your heart of mercy to the mentally impaired. Grant them compassionate family members and caretakers to watch over and assist them. Help us at Peace to provide opportunities to celebrate their gifts, and grant Your Church the burning desire to share the love of Jesus with them. Lord, in Your mercy,

People: hear our prayer.

Pastor: Into Your hands, O Lord, we commend all for whom we pray, trusting in Your mercy through Jesus, Your Son, our Lord.

People: Amen.

PREFACE

Pastor: The Lord be with you.

People: And also with you.

Pastor: Lift up your hearts.

People: We lift them to the Lord.

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

People: It is right to give Him thanks and praise.

WORDS OF INSTITUTION

LORD’S PRAYER

CHOIR ANTHEM “Come Find Forgiveness and Love” By Don Besig and Nancy Price

DISTRIBUTION

DISTRIBUTION HYMNS

Red Book 126 “Let Us Break Bread Together”

Let us break bread together on our knees;

When I fall on my knees, with my face to the rising sun,

O Lord have mercy on me.

Let us drink wine together on our knees;

When I fall on my knees, with my face to the rising sun,

O Lord have mercy on me.

Let us bow ‘round the altar on our knees;

When I fall on my knees, with my face to the rising sun,

O Lord have mercy on me.

Let us praise God together on our knees;

When I fall on my knees, with my face to the rising sun,

O Lord have mercy on me.

Red Book 119 “Just As I Am”

Just as I am, without one plea,

But that thy blood was shed for me,

And that thou bidd’st me come to thee,

O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, and waiting not

To rid my soul of one dark blot,

To thee, whose blood can cleanse each spot,

O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, though tossed about

With many a conflict, many a doubt,

Fightings and fears within, without,

O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, poor, wretched, blind;

Sight, riches, healing of the mind,

Yea, all I need, in thee to find,

O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, thou wilt receive,

Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve;

Because thy promise I believe,

O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Red Book 106 “It Is Well With My Soul”

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,

When sorrows like sea billows roll;

Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say,