Welcome

Opening Litany[1]:
Mysterious God,
You reveal yourself in Jesus, your Beloved Child who gives us a glimpse your glory and invites us to share in the unity of all that is Holy: the holiness that is You, your creation, your people, united in the Spirit that breaks through all boundaries of fear and injustice.

Meet us here today, O Unity, and teach us to be one: One in love for each other One in understanding with all who find in Jesus the Way to you One in peace with all who find other paths to your Truth. We ask all this in the name of Jesus, whose fervent prayer was ever: “May they all be one.”

Thanksgiving for Baptism:
Refreshed by the resurrection life we share in Christ, let us give thanks for the gift of baptism.

We thank you, risen Christ, for these waters where you make us new, leading us from death to life, from tears to joy.

We bless you, risen Christ, that your Spirit comes to us in the grace-filled waters of rebirth, like rains to our thirsting earth, like streams that revive our souls, like cups of cool water shared with strangers.

Breathe your peace on your church when we hide in fear. Clothe us with your mercy and forgiveness. Send us companions on our journey as we share your life.

Make us one, risen Christ. Cleanse our hearts. Shower us with life.

To you be given all praise with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God, now and forever.
Amen.

Prayer of the Day:
Let us pray.
Almighty God, your blessed Son, our Savior Jesus Christ, ascended far above all heavens that he might fill all things. Mercifully give us faith to trust that, as he promised, he abides with us on earth to the end of time, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen.

First Reading: Acts 1:1-11
¹In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning ²until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. ³After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. ⁴While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. “This,” he said, “is what you have heard from me; ⁵for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

⁶So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” ⁷He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. ⁸But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” ⁹When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. ¹⁰While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. ¹¹They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

The word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Gospel: John 17:6-19

This is the Holy Gospel according to John, the 17th chapter.
Glory to you, O Lord.

⁶“I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. ⁷Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; ⁸for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. ⁹I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. ¹⁰All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them.

¹¹And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. ¹²While I was with them, I protected them in your name that you have given me. I guarded them, and not one of them was lost except the one destined to be lost, so that the scripture might be fulfilled. ¹³But now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves. ¹⁴I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. ¹⁵I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. ¹⁶They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. ¹⁷Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. ¹⁸As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. ¹⁹And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth.

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

Children’s Sermon

Sermon

Hymn of the Day

Apostle’s Creed:
Let us confess our faith using the 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:
Alive in the risen Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit, we bring our prayers before God who promises to hear us and answer in steadfast love.

Prayers continue with each petition ending:

. . . Hear us, O God.
Your mercy is great.

In the hope of new life in Christ, we raise our prayers to you, trusting in your never-ending goodness and mercy; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Sharing of the Peace

Announcements

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

Sending Litany[2]:
Because Jesus ascended and sits at the right hand of God, a new world has broken into ours—a world in which justice does come for the poor, freedom comes for the prisoners, and healing for the sick.

Because Jesus ascended and sits at the right hand of God, a new community has been formed—a community that loves and cares for all members, a family that welcomes all who are abandoned and rejected, a place where all find a place of belonging.

Because Jesus ascended and sits at the right hand of God, a new creation has begun— all that was distorted is being restored, all that is corrupted is being renewed, all that was broken is being made whole.

Because Jesus ascended and sits at the right hand of God, God’s new world has begun.

Lord’s Prayer:
Gathered into one by the Holy Spirit, let us 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:
May our glorious God grant you a spirit of wisdom to know and to love the risen Lord Jesus. The God of life, Father, + Son, and Holy Spirit, bless you now and forever.
Amen.

Dismissal:
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Go in peace. Share the good news. Alleluia!
Thanks be to God! Alleluia!

 

Prayer Requests:
Mason Peluso, family and friends of Bill Criswell, Kay Hilkert, Kay Keister, Bryce Warren, Ken Noll Jr., Martha Ketchem, Brooke Houpt, Mary Baker, family and friends of Helen Barsh, Jim, Cole Felker, Marilyn Gresh, family and friends of Mary Kay Harper, Annette Baker, Larry Erb, family and friends of Judy Connolly, Glen Van Dyke, Tom Burns, Megan Brodsky, Bob Keifer, Peg Swinehart.

 

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] From One in Love and Mission, written by Rev. Susan A. Blain (adapted).  Posted on the United Church of Christ’s Worship Ways archive. http://www.ucc.org/worship/worship-ways/

[2] Written by Christine Sine, and posted on Godspace. http://godspace-msa.com/2014/05/13/ascension-day-what-is-it-all-about/