The Fifth Sunday of Easter

AN ORDER OF SERVICE FOR USE AT HOME

THE FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER

APRIL 28, 2024

THE WORD OF GOD

Opening Hymn:              Awake, Arise, Lift Up Your Voice                  #212

The Opening Acclamation                                                                            BCP p. 355

  Presider:    Alleluia, Christ is risen.

  People:       The Lord is risen indeed.  Alleluia.

Collect for Purity                           BCP p. 355

The Collect of the Day

Almighty God, whom truly to know is everlasting life: Grant us so perfectly to know your Son Jesus Christ to be the way, the truth, and the life, that we may steadfastly follow his steps in the way that leads to eternal life; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen

The First Reading                                                                                              Acts 8:26-40

An angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Get up and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a wilderness road.) So he got up and went. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of her entire treasury. He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning home; seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over to this chariot and join it.” So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” He replied, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to get in and sit beside him. Now the passage of the scripture that he was reading was this: “Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter, and like a lamb silent before its shearer, so he does not open his mouth. In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth.” The eunuch asked Philip, “About whom, may I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” Then Philip began to speak, and starting with this scripture, he proclaimed to him the good news about Jesus. As they were going along the road, they came to some water; and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized?” He commanded the chariot to stop, and both of them, Philip and the eunuch, went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he was passing through the region, he proclaimed the good news to all the towns until he came to Caesarea. 

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

Psalm 22:24-30

    24  My praise is of him in the great assembly; 

          I will perform my vows in the presence of those who worship him.

    25  The poor shall eat and be satisfied,

          and those who seek the Lord shall praise him: 

          “May your heart live for ever!”

    26  All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, 

          and all the families of the nations shall bow before him.

    27  For kingship belongs to the Lord; 

          he rules over the nations.

    28  To him alone all who sleep in the earth bow down in worship; 

          all who go down to the dust fall before him.

    29  My soul shall live for him;

          my descendants shall serve him; 

          they shall be known as the Lord’s for ever.

    30  They shall come and make known to a people yet unborn 

          the saving deeds that he has done.  

The Second Reading:                                                                  1 John 4:7-21

Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world. God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God. So we have known and believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. We love because he first loved us. Those who say, “I love God,” and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.

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

Sequence Hymn               In Christ There is No East or West                           #529 

The Holy Gospel                                   John 15:1-8 

Jesus said to his disciples, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.”

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE

Rejoicing in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we pray for the witness of the church, the wholeness of creation, and all who are in need.

For ministries that nurture faith formation. For Michael our Presiding Bishop, for Craig our Bishop, and for the ministries of the ECMN.  For missionaries and Bible study leaders. For those who are seeking, questioning, or curious. For seminarians, campus ministers, and the newly baptized, let us pray.

Have mercy, O God.

For the beauty and health of the earth. For vineyards and orchards, groves and plains. For rainforests and arctic tundra. For oceans deep and rivers wide, let us pray.

Have mercy, O God.

For spears to be beaten into pruning hooks. For harsh words to be reformed into loving speech. For acts of cruelty and terrorism to cease. For justice and peace in every land, let us pray.

Have mercy, O God.

For homeless youth and rejected children. For isolated grandparents and lonely nursing home residents. For the shamed, the slighted, and the disregarded members of our communities. For all the sick, especially Barb & Ray, Cathy, Deon, Don, Helena, Jeanne, Judy, Louise, Lyndon, Miriam, Nancy, Ray, Ron, Theresa, and others? (pause), let us pray.

Have mercy, O God.

For all who live with post-traumatic stress disorder and post-partum depression. For all who struggle with eating disorders and anorexia. For all who suffer in silence and all who suffer alone, let us pray.

Have mercy, O God.

In thanksgiving for all who live eternally with you. For those we mourn and grieve. For the fulfilment of your will on earth as it is in heaven, let us pray.

Have mercy, O God.

We entrust all our prayers to you, gracious God. Receive them by the power of the Holy Spirit and the love of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer                                                                                             BCP p. 364

A Prayer for Spiritual Communion When We Cannot Receive The Sacrament

In union, O Lord, with your faithful people

at every altar of your Church

where the Holy Eucharist is now being celebrated:

I desire to offer you praise and thanksgiving.

I remember your death, Lord Christ,

I proclaim your resurrection,

and I await your coming in glory.

and since I cannot receive you today

in the Sacrament of your Body and Blood,

I ask you to come into my heart.

Cleanse and strengthen me with your grace, Lord Jesus,

and let me never be separated from you.

May I live in you, and you in me,

in this life, and in the life to come.

Amen

Closing Hymn                            God Is Love, Let Heaven Adore Him                    #379

The Blessing

May God the Father, by whose power Christ was raised from the dead

strengthen us to walk with him in his risen life;

and may the blessing of God Almighty: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit

be with us, and remain with us always.  Amen.

The Dismissal

Presider:     Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.  Alleluia, Alleluia.

People:        Thanks be to God. Alleluia, Alleluia.