The traditional Christian church calendar is comprised of seasons, We’ve reached the season of Easter, the most joyous time on the Christian calendar. For Christians we celebrate our whole reason for being, the Gospel, but strangely it’s really not about us. It is how we live the good news to everyone we meet.
Brief Order For Confession and Forgiveness
Music to accompany this worship is on Spotify at:
Entrance Hymn
Shepherd Me, O God
Kyrie
Hymn of Praise
Prayer of the Day
O Lord Christ, good shepherd of the sheep, you seek the lost and guide us into your fold. Feed us, and we shall be satisfied; heal us, and we shall be whole. Make us one with you, for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
The First Lesson
Acts 4:5-12
5 The next day their rulers, elders, and scribes assembled in Jerusalem,
6 with Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family.
7 When they had made the prisoners stand in their midst, they inquired, “By what power or by what name did you do this?”
8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders,
9 if we are questioned today because of a good deed done to someone who was sick and are asked how this man has been healed,
10 let it be known to all of you, and to all the people of Israel, that this man is standing before you in good health by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead.
11 This Jesus is “the stone that was rejected by you, the builders; it has become the cornerstone.’
12 There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved.”
Psalm
Psalm 23 (1)
1 The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters;
3 he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff— they comfort me
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long.
The Second Lesson
1 John 3:16-24
16 We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us—and we ought to lay down our lives for one another.
17 How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?
18 Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action.
19 And by this we will know that we are from the truth and will reassure our hearts before him
20 whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.
21 Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have boldness before God;
22 and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commandments and do what pleases him.
23 And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us.
24 All who obey his commandments abide in him, and he abides in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit that he has given us.
The Gospel Acclamation
Alleluia. Jesus says, I am | the good shepherd.*
I know my own and my | own know me. Alleluia. (John 10:14)
The Gospel
John 10:11-18
11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
12 The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.
13 The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep.
14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,
15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep.
16 I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.
17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again.
18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”
The Sermon
It is our actions, not our words, that demonstrate our love for another.
The Hymn of the Day
The Lord Is My Shepherd
The Creed
The Peace
An Instrument of Your Peace
The Prayers
The Offering
Communion
The Lord’s Prayer
Communion Hymns
I Know That My Redeemer Lives
Communal Blessing
Dismissal
The Bible readings are from the New Revised Standard Version. I wish to thank the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, ELCA, and its predecessor bodies for all their teaching throughout the years. I’ve used the Lectionary published on the ELCA website at elca.org in preparation of this worship.