Welcome:
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Opening Litany[1]:
God, our Holy Parent, watches over us
with love and deep compassion.

Because we have not been abandoned.

Jesus, our brother and the pioneer of our faith,
leads us by truth, in word and deed.

Because we have not been abandoned.

The Holy Spirit, our Advocate, Guide, and constant companion,
breathes with us day and night.

Because we have not been abandoned.

The community of the faithful exists
beyond time and space.

Because we have not been abandoned.

The Word of Hope recedes into the past
and marches forward into the future,
carrying us through life on its way.

Thanks be to God.

Confession and Forgiveness:
In the name of the Father,
and of the + Son,
and of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

God of all mercy and consolation,
come to the help of your people,
turning us from our sin to live for you alone.
Give us the power of your Holy Spirit
that we may confess our sin,
receive your forgiveness,
and grow into the fullness
of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.

Amen.

Let us confess our sin in the presence of God and of one another.

Silence for personal reflection.

Most merciful God,

we confess that we are captive to sin and cannot free ourselves. We have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. For the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ, have mercy on us. Forgive us, renew us, and lead us, so that we may delight in your will and walk in your ways, to the glory of your holy name.
Amen.

God, who is rich in mercy, loved us even when we were dead in sin, and made us alive together with Christ. By grace you have been saved.

In the name of + Jesus Christ, your sins are forgiven.

Almighty God strengthen you with power through the Holy Spirit, that Christ may live in your hearts through faith.

Amen.

Prayer of the Day:
Let us pray.
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 reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Amen.

First Reading: Acts 17:22-31
22 Then Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, “Athenians, I see how extremely religious 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 nations 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 grope 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.”

The word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

This is the Holy Gospel according to John, the 14th chapter.
Glory to you, O Lord.

Gospel:
[Jesus said:] 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.”

This is the Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, O Christ.

Children’s Sermon

Sermon

Hymn of the Day: Love Divine, All Loves Excelling

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.

Prayers of Intercession:
http://www.pilgrimpaths.co.uk/Finger%20Labyrinth%20and%20Prayer%20Guide%20Leaflet.pdf

Uplifted by the promised hope of healing and resurrection, we join the people of God in all times and places in praying for the church, the world, and all who are in need.

. . . Lord, in your mercy

hear our prayer.

With bold confidence in your love, almighty God, we place all for whom we pray into your eternal care; through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Sharing of the Peace

Announcements

Offering
https://tithe.ly/give_new/www/#/tithely/give-one-time/468062

Sending Prayer[2]:
Let us pray.
God of all time and space,
you initiated the relationship of love and generosity with creation at a time before and beyond all knowing. Through the Word and the Spirit, you continue in eternal love for all beings. Fill us with a deep and abiding awareness of your presence, your call, and your grace in our lives and in our world. Shape us to into the people you have made us to be – poured out in creative mercy for the sake of Jesus Christ in all creation.

Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer:
Gathered into one by the Holy Spirit, we are bold to pray as Jesus taught us saying:

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.

Benediction:
Listen to the promise Jesus makes:
“I will never abandon you as orphans—
I will come to you.
Even though the world will not be able to see me,
I will never vanish from your sight.
And since I live, you will also live.”
Go from here in the knowledge
that you do not go alone:
the power and presence of God goes with you.
May the blessing of Almighty God, the Father, + Son, and Holy Spirit, be with you and remain with you forever.

Amen.

Dismissal:
Alleluia, Christ is risen!

He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Christ is risen, just as he said.
Go in peace. Share the good news. Alleluia!

Prayer Requests:
Frank Danowsky, Marie Tanner, Sonja Noll, Irene Stark, Peg Swinehart, Alice Snyder, Greg Seibert, Harold Snyder, family and friends of Bill Krause, Colette Richards, Carlie Shaffer and baby Abi, Pat Thomas, family and friends of George Guffey, Gladys Guffey, Terry Funk, Darv Krouse, Rosemary Fernsler, Rob Lockwood, Kevin Hosey, Terry Smith, Rodney Heckert, Barbara Neilson, and Rebecca Otuszewski.

 

Portions reprinted from Evangelical Lutheran Worship, copyright 2006. Used by permission of Augsburg Fortress, license #SBL09796L. Music reprinted from the ELW, by permission of OneLicense, license #A712349. Scripture quotations are from the 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.

[1] Adapted from Lutheran Julia, and posted on RevGalBlogPals. http://revgalblogpals.org/

[2] Written by Lutheran Julia, and posted on RevGalBlogPals. http://revgalblogpals.org/