A Brief Note from Pastor David

 

This will be the last week that we provide these published online services with a mixture of text and embedded video. I am so grateful to Merideth Sullivan for working diligently every single week of this pandemic to provide these incredible online services.

 

Presently, we have transitioned to both onsite worship, and beginning next Sunday, will be offering a live stream of the onsite services on our website. If you are unable to view the service in real time, the services will be uploaded and available to watch throughout the week. The same passion and energy that Merideth provided in these published services has gone into the live-stream!

 

Let us begin our worship!

 

Call to Worship Adapted from John Leach

 

Thanks and praise to you,
Jesus Christ, King and Lord of all,
given the name above every other name

 

Jesus, King and Lord of all,
we worship and adore you.

 

King of righteousness, King of peace,
enthroned at the right hand
of Majesty on high

 

Jesus, King and Lord of all,
we worship and adore you

 

Great high priest,
living for ever to intercede for us;

 

Jesus, King and Lord of all,
we worship and adore you.

 

Pioneer of our salvation,
you bring us to glory
through your death and resurrection;

 

Jesus, King and Lord of all,
we worship and adore you.

 

Every knee bows to you;
every tongue confesses,
you are King of kings
and Lord of Lords,
to the glory of God the Father.

 

Song – Build my Life

 

Scripture Reading- 1 Peter 1:3-5

 

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

 

Song – Lord I Need You

 

 

Prayer For Others by Ann Siddall

 

People of God, as we come to prayer
let us remember that we do not
have to twist the arm of a reluctant God
to seek good things for this world,
nor find ways to persuade a distant God
to come near and listen to us.

 

Let us remember that as we pray
we kneel alongside Jesus Christ,
in the presence of God,
with the help of the Spirit.

 

So let us bring to mind now
those people who are in need of our prayers:
those who are ill, or anxious;
those who are lonely or sad;
those who are despairing or defeated;
those who are hungry or homeless;
those whose relationships are breaking apart;
those who are bullied or abused;
those who cannot find work;
and those who are over-worked.
In silence now, let us make our own specific prayers
for those on our hearts and minds today.

 

(silence)

 

In the presence of God,
alongside Jesus Christ,
with help from the Spirit
may we go into this week
to live out our prayers through our lives.

 

Amen.

 

Scripture Reading Acts 1:12-26

 

12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away. 13 And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James. 14 All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.

 

15 In those days Peter stood up among the brothers (the company of persons was in all about 120) and said, 16 “Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. 17 For he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry.” 18 (Now this man acquired a field with the reward of his wickedness, and falling headlong he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out. 19 And it became known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the field was called in their own language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) 20 “For it is written in the Book of Psalms,

 

“‘May his camp become desolate,
and let there be no one to dwell in it’;

 

and

 

“‘Let another take his office.’

 

 

21 So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22 beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection.” 23 And they put forward two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also called Justus, and Matthias. 24 And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen 25 to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” 26 And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

 

 

Sermon

 

 

Prayer of Intercession Adapted from Richard Einersen

 

Our gracious, eternal God, we thank you for the challenges which life brings. It also brings changes which sometimes throws us into crisis. Be with us in such times in our Christian community. Like the early disciples help us in our common life to find your guidance in our collective decisions.

 

Help us to approach our decisions seeking your guidance through prayer.
Help us to examine our own hearts for any unseemly motives.
Help us to focus on the common good and not be driven by our own selfish interests.
Help us to seek consensus and never be satisfied with power plays and divisiveness.
Help us all to share in our mutual ministry.
Lead us forward and help us to create a community where love, acceptance, and mutuality are expressed, where joy abounds, and where results are achieved because we are all working hand in hand together. May it be said of us as it was said of old: “See how those Christians love one another.”

 

We ask that you would save us from ever being a cloistered cell which seeks escape from our world. Instead, open the windows of our souls to the world and its needs. Send us forth to herald the good news of Jesus, to be your servants to those in need, to visit the sick and the imprisoned, to remember the forgotten in our society, and to work for justice and peace. Use our varied gifts so that as Peter suggested we all might do our fair share in this ministry. Bolster us in moments when we feel inadequate for the task and give us courage. Amen.

 

Song- Stand in Your Love

 

Benediction

 

Peter stood up, and began the work of assembling the first apostles. May we stand in the love of God, eager to continue the ministry Jesus has called us into.