The Seventh Sunday of Easter

June 1, 2025 10:30 am

Prelude

Opening Welcome & Announcements

Processional Hymn: #191 Alleluia, alleluia! Hearts and voices (v1-4)

Opening Acclamation and Collect for Purity

Alleluia. Christ is risen.
The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia.

Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid: Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy Name; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Gloria: S-278

Collect of the Day

The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Let us pray.

O God, the King of glory, you have exalted your only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven: Do not leave us comfortless, but send us your Holy Spirit to strengthen us, and exalt us to that place where our Savior Christ has gone before; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

The Word of God

First Lesson: Acts 16:16-34

With Paul and Silas, we came to Philippi in Macedonia, a Roman colony, and, as we were going to the place of prayer, we met a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners a great deal of money by fortune-telling. While she followed Paul and us, she would cry out, "These men are slaves of the Most High God, who proclaim to you a way of salvation." She kept doing this for many days. But Paul, very much annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, "I order you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her." And it came out that very hour.

But when her owners saw that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities. When they had brought them before the magistrates, they said, "These men are disturbing our city; they are Jews and are advocating customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to adopt or observe." The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates had them stripped of their clothing and ordered them to be beaten with rods. After they had given them a severe flogging, they threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to keep them securely. Following these instructions, he put them in the innermost cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.

About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was an earthquake, so violent that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's chains were unfastened. When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors wide open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, since he supposed that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted in a loud voice, "Do not harm yourself, for we are all here." The jailer called for lights, and rushing in, he fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them outside and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" They answered, "Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household." They spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. At the same hour of the night he took them and washed their wounds; then he and his entire family were baptized without delay. He brought them up into the house and set food before them; and he and his entire household rejoiced that he had become a believer in God.

Reader: The Word of the Lord. People: Thanks be to God.

Psalm 97

1 May God be merciful to | us and | bless us, *

show us the light of his | counte | nance and | come to us.

2 Let your ways be | known up • on | earth, *

your saving | health a | mong all | nations.

3 Let the peoples | praise you, • O | God; *

let | all the | peoples | praise you.

4 Let the nations be glad and | sing for | joy, *

for you judge the peoples with equity and guide all the | nations | upon | earth.

5 Let the peoples | praise you, • O | God; *

let | all the | peoples | praise you.

6 The earth has brought | forth her | increase; *

may God, our | own God, | give us • his | blessing.

♰7 May God | give us • his | blessing, *

and may all the ends of the | eärth | stand in | awe of him.

Second Lesson: Revelation 22:12-14,16-17,20-21

At the end of the visions I, John, heard these words:

"See, I am coming soon; my reward is with me, to repay according to everyone's work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end."

Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they will have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by the gates.

"It is I, Jesus, who sent my angel to you with this testimony for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star."

The Spirit and the bride say, "Come."
And let everyone who hears say, "Come."
And let everyone who is thirsty come.
Let anyone who wishes take the water of life as a gift.

The one who testifies to these things says, "Surely I am coming soon."

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!

The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints. Amen.

Reader: The Word of the Lord. People: Thanks be to God.

Sequence Hymn: #204 Now the green blade riseth

The Gospel:  John 17:20-26

Gospeller: The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John.
People: Glory to you, Lord Christ.

Jesus prayed for his disciples, and then he said. "I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.

"Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent me. I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them."

Gospeller: The Gospel of the Lord. People: Praise to you, Lord Christ.

The Homily: Guest Preacher, Kathleen Mulhern

The Nicene Creed

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father, God from God,
Light from Light, true God from true God,
begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven: 
by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; 
he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

Prayers of the People

Let us offer our intentions and prayers to our resurrected Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Risen Christ, we ask that you give rest to the weary, bless the dying, soothe the suffering, pity the afflicted, shield the joyous, and all for your love’s sake. 
Hear us and be with us, Risen Lord. 

Risen Christ, you have called each of us by name into relationship with you, pour out the Holy Spirit upon us that we might desire more deeply to be your whole-life disciples for the world.
Hear us and be with us, Risen Lord.

Risen Christ, create in us the hunger and thirst to be with you. 
Hear us and be with us, Risen Lord.

Risen Christ, we surrender ourselves to you. By the power of the Holy Spirit, transform us into reflections of yourself that we might become like you in every aspect of our lives.
Hear us and be with us, Risen Lord.

Risen Christ, we offer you our lives, animated by the Holy Spirit, so that you might bless the world through us as we strive to live like you in the world.
Hear us and be with us, Risen Lord.

I invite your petitions and intercessions on behalf of others and the world.

Almighty God, in this Easter season, as we celebrate with joy the triumph of your Son Jesus Christ over sin and death, we pray for grace to be continually at work within us, that we might become whole-life disciples––to be with, become like, and life like Jesus in our everyday lives––bearing witness to our resurrection hope in word and deed. For this and all the cares and concerns we lift up before you, we pray: Amen.

The Holy Communion

The Peace and Offertory Sentence

Birthday Prayer

O God, our times are in your hand: Look with favor on these your servants as they begin another year. Grant that they may grow in wisdom and grace, and strengthen their trust in your goodness all the days of their lives: and the blessing of God Almighty, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, be upon each of you this day and in the days to come. Amen.

Wedding Anniversary

O gracious and everliving God, look mercifully upon those who come to renew the promises they have made to each other. Grant them your grace and assist them with your power, that with true fidelity and steadfast love they may honor and keep their promises and vows; through Jesus Christ our Savior, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen

Offertory Music: Forever

Doxology

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 him thanks and praise.

It is right, and a good and joyful thing, always and everywhere to give thanks to you, Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. But chiefly are we bound to praise you for the glorious resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord; for he is the true Paschal Lamb, who was sacrificed for us, and has taken away the sin of the world. By his death he has destroyed death, and by his rising to life again he has won for us everlasting life.

Therefore we praise you, joining our voices with Angels and Archangels and with all the company of heaven, who for ever sing this hymn to proclaim the glory of your Name:

Holy and gracious Father: In your infinite love you made us for yourself, and, when we had fallen into sin and become subject to evil and death, you, in your mercy, sent Jesus Christ, your only and eternal Son, to share our human nature, to live and die as one of us, to reconcile us to you, the God and Father of all.

He stretched out his arms upon the cross, and offered himself, in obedience to your will, a perfect sacrifice for the whole world.

On the night he was handed over to suffering and death, our Lord Jesus Christ took bread; and when he had given thanks to you, he broke it, and gave it to his disciples, and said,

"Take, eat: This is my Body, which is given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me."

After supper he took the cup of wine; and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and said, "Drink this, all of you: This is my Blood of the new Covenant, which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink it, do this for the remembrance of me."

Therefore we proclaim the mystery of faith:
Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.

We celebrate the memorial of our redemption, O Father, in this sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving. Recalling his death, resurrection, and ascension, we offer you these gifts.

Sanctify them by your Holy Spirit to be for your people the Body and Blood of your Son, the holy food and drink of new and unending life in him. Sanctify us also that we may faithfully receive this holy Sacrament, and serve you in unity, constancy, and peace; and at the last day bring us with all your saints into the joy of your eternal kingdom.

All this we ask through your Son Jesus Christ: By him, and with him, and in him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit all honor and glory is yours, Almighty Father, now and forever. AMEN.

And now, as our Savior Christ has taught us, we are bold to say,

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, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Breaking of the Bread

Celebrant breaks Bread; silence is kept.

Alleluia. Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us; Therefore let us keep the feast. Alleluia.

Invitation to Communion

The Gifts of God for the People of God. Take them in remembrance that Christ died for you and feed on him in your hearts by faith, with thanksgiving.

Communion Music

Jesus I Come

Resurrecting

Post-Communion Prayer

Let us pray.

Eternal God, heavenly Father,
you have graciously accepted us as living members
of your Son our Savior Jesus Christ,
and you have fed us with spiritual food
in the Sacrament of his Body and Blood.
Send us now into the world in peace,
and grant us strength and courage
to love and serve you
with gladness and singleness of heart;
through Christ our Lord.Amen.

Sending Forth of the Eucharistic Visitors

Will the Lay Eucharistic Visitors please come forward.

In the name of this congregation, we send you forth bearing these holy gifts, that those to whom you go may share with us in the communion of Christ’s Body and Blood. 

We who are many are one body, for we all share one bread, one cup.

The Blessing

May the author of life, the risen Lord Jesus, pour out the Holy Spirit upon you this day so that you will live a new resurrected life all of your days, and on the last day rise to eternal life in God’s kingdom. And the blessing of God Almighty, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit be with you and remain with you always. Amen.

The Dismissal

Recessional Hymn: #535 Ye servants of God

Dismissal & Closing Announcements

Postlude:

Musicians for Today’s Service:
Dan Dufford, Director of Music
Elizabeth Arons, Kayla Fore, & Alex Wilkins