5th Sunday of Easter
Worship Leaders
- Accompanist: Ann Willard
- Music Leader: Allen Foster
- Liturgist: Mary Leopold
- Elder: John Swan
- Preacher: Lizzy Beach
- Communion Provider: John Swan
- Acts 11:1-18
- Psalm 148
- Revelation 21:1-6
- John 13:31-35
Hymns
- All Creatures of Our God and King, CH #22
- They'll Know We Are Christians, CH #494
- In Remembrance of Me, CH #403
Call to Worship
Praise God, all people!
Praise the Lord, all creation!
whales doing backflips in the air, squid and octopi dancing on the ocean floor;
Giant redwoods stretching to the sky, tomato vines cuddling around a stake.
Mountains blocking the sunrise, moles tunneling through our front lawns;
5-year-olds sitting in a story-time circle, grandparents singing 'their song.'
Redbuds decorating our backyard, grass growing faster than our children;
seals getting a suntan on the rocks, teenagers knotted together at church.
Praise the Lord, all creation!
Praise God, all people!
Prayer of Approach
Vision-Giving God,
when you put bandaids
on skinned knees;
when you hold the hand
of a teenager
grieving unrequited love;
when you wipe the tears
of parents at graduation day:
you show us
your new creation.
Brother to little children,
when you hang out
with the world's outcasts;
when you stay a little longer
with those we rush past;
when you will not take sides
in our petty little games:
you show us
the new earth.
Holy Spirit,
when you turn on the
'no vacancy' sign
as death comes our way;
when mourning becomes
a distant memory;
when pain is found
only in dusty history books:
you show us
the new heaven.
God in Community, Holy in One,
make us new,
as we pray...
