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Sixth Sunday Of Easter

Worship
Lectionary Worship Workbook
Series IV, Cycle B
Call To Worship
These two Calls To Worship are based on the theme of Psalm 98 -- "Sing to the Lord a New Song."
Leader: Play your music now, O Lord.
People: Use your servants to strum the strings of your Word that your song would come to life in us.
Leader: We ask in the name of the Maestro himself, Jesus Christ.

(Moment of silence)

Leader: God of music, we come to celebrate you,
People: To praise you with song, and hymn,
Leader: To rejoice with lips and voices,
People: To raise hands and hearts,
Leader: And be raised up ourselves.
People: You are greatly to be praised, Yahweh,
Leader: Lord of lords,
People: King of kings,
Leader: The one and only God.
People: We love you.
Leader: We thank you.
People: Amen.
Leader: Hallelujah.
People: Amen.

Another Call To Worship.
Leader: Grace: People: A generous attitude toward another,
Leader: Forgiveness: People: Acceptance in spite of,
Leader: An ability to overlook flaws and mistakes.
People: Kindness.
Leader: This is the nature of our God.
People: And this is the reason we sing.
Leader: Let us praise him.
People: Amen.

Loosely based on 1 John 5:1-6.
Leader: Grace and Truth are twin sisters. The slightly older Grace always makes sure people know God loves them no matter what. She reminds people that no sin is so great that the work of Jesus on the cross of Calvary is not greater. Her sister, Truth, makes sure that people know that God is always holy, no matter what.
People: Grace provides the energy needed to forget the past, with its sin and pain, and to press on toward the future.
Leader: Truth shows us what that future ought to look like.
People: Grace and Truth,
Leader: Twin sisters revealing the nature of our God,
People: A God who is to be praised.
Leader: Let us praise God!


Prayer Of Confession
Too little grace and too much legalism in too many Christian circles. This prayer confesses our penchant toward the Pharisaical.
Leader: Grace we forget, O Lord; by judging ourselves to be better people or better Christians than others;
People: By focusing on their problems, rather than our own.
Leader: Truth we forget, O Lord; by envisioning a future that is centered on us and our needs, rather than on you;
People: By being self-serving, rather than serving others.
Leader: Forgive our forgetting.
People: Remind us to remove our own sin first.
Leader: Give us a vision of your thrilling future.
People: We ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.

More on how we judge and prejudge.
Leader: For focusing on skin color,
People: Style differences,
Leader: Theological nuances,
People: Unfamiliar cultural practices,
Leader: And all of our other differences;
People: And allowing those differences
Leader: To come between us in Christ,
People: Father, forgive us.
Leader: And turn our eyes
People: And hearts
Leader: To the truth that there is one God,
People: One Lord,
Leader: One baptism,
People: One Body of Christ,
Leader: Of which we are all a part. Amen.

Finally a unison offering.
All: This morning we make a simple confession: We have not loved as we ought. We have been impatient and unkind. We have been arrogant and rude. We have been so busy demanding our rights that we have neglected our families and friends. Lord, teach us to love for we do not know how. Amen.


Assurance Of Pardon
Sometimes we find it important to remind ourselves and our people that forgiveness is not without its price. It requires repentance. This Assurance Of Pardon reminds us.
Forgiveness comes only with repentance. Know this: God is faithful to forgive if we sincerely turn away from our sin, from our prejudice. Let us turn and receive his freely given forgiveness.


Prayer Of Dedication
Jesus said, "Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy." May our offering be an act of gratitude given from merciful hearts.


Prayer For Illumination
Father of life, may all of us have ears to hear your word in scripture, song, and sermon. Speak to us words that affirm who we are; remind us of who we ought to be; and encourage us to continue our sojourn from one to the other. Amen.


Pastoral Prayer
A common misconception among Christians is that if we just try harder we could fix all the world's problems. This prayer points out that saving the world is not our task, just being faithful in whatever God has shown us to do.

Lord, when I was young, I thought that if we only tried a little harder we could make peace and bring unity to this world. I have since discovered that it is infinitely more difficult and complicated than I thought. Lord, show us the way only you know. Show us the way to a world without tyrants; without hatred; without violence; without war and death. Show us the way to thy kingdom come on earth as in heaven, and strengthen us to live the way you show. Help us to begin with the smaller tasks of loving the people in our midst who are in need. Today we pray not only for them, but for ourselves, to do something for them! Amen.


Benediction
John 15:12
My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.


Hymns

He Is Lord

He Lifted Me

I Gave My Life For Thee

I Heard The Voice Of Jesus Say

In His Cross I Glory

It Took A Miracle

Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee

Let's Just Praise The Lord

Make A Joyful Noise

My Savior's Love

My Tribute

Now I Belong To Jesus

O, How He Loves You And Me

O The Deep, Deep Love Of Jesus

Since I Have Been Redeeemed

Sometimes "Alleluia"

Under His Wings


Contemporary Choruses

Change My Heart, O God, Eddie Espinosa

Let My Words Be Few, Matt Redman

Power Of Your Love, The, Geoff Bullock

We Bring The Sacrifice Of Praise, Kirk Dearman
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John Jamison
Object: This is a role play activity.

Note: You will need to select six children to play roles in this activity. If you have a smaller group, you might ask some older youth or even adults to play the parts of the two attackers and the man being attacked. I will give suggestions for how they can play their roles, but feel free to help your children make the story as fun and memorable as you can. I have used boys and girls in the various roles, but you can change those however you want to change them.

* * *

The Immediate Word

Dean Feldmeyer
Katy Stenta
Thomas Willadsen
Christopher Keating
George Reed
Mary Austin
Nazish Naseem
For July 13, 2025:
  • Samaritans Among Us by Dean Feldmeyer based on Acts 2:1-21. Samaritans were despised and dismissed by the original audience who first heard Jesus tell this parable. Who are the Samaritans in our lives and how does this parable apply today?
  • Second Thoughts: The Helpers by Katy Stenta based on Amos 7:7-17.

StoryShare

Frank Ramirez
I say, “You are gods,
    children of the Most High, all of you;
nevertheless, you shall die like mortals
    and fall like any prince….”
(vv. 6-7)

There have been any number of brother-sister acts that achieved a measure of fame. Take the Carpenters, famed for their singing, musicianship, and songwriting skills. Also worthy of mention are John and Joan Cusack who have acted together in over sixteen films.

Emphasis Preaching Journal

Wayne Brouwer
An ancient legend tells of a remote mountain village where people used to send their senior citizens out into the woods to die. The villagers had an eye to the future; they felt that those beyond a certain age would only slow down progress or use up valuable resources to no economically profitable end. Those who reached a certain age weren’t “put out to pasture” or “put out of their misery”; they were simply put out of other people’s way.
Mark Ellingsen
Bill Thomas
Frank Ramirez
Amos 7:7-17 and Psalm 82
The tallest building in the world is the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. It is more than 2,700 feet high—over half a mile tall. It has 160 floors and is twice as tall as the Empire State Building in New York City. It is home to the world’s fastest elevator which reaches speeds of forty miles an hour. The Burj Khalifa also hosts the world’s highest outdoor observation deck (on the 124th floor) and the world’s highest swimming pool (on the 76th floor).

The Village Shepherd

Janice B. Scott
Mabel hummed a familiar hymn tune as she made her way to church. She always enjoyed her Sunday morning walk. It was one of the few times she felt safe to walk alone through the inner city, for she knew nobody would be up at 7.45 in the morning. Today was a particularly beautiful morning, with blue sky, warm sunshine, and the song of a few intrepid blackbirds who still inhabited the city.

SermonStudio

James Evans
Often, a distinction is made between the pastoral or priestly work of the church and the prophetic work. Pastoral care has to do with the care of souls, the offering of comfort in times of loss. The priestly character of pastoral work seeks to mediate the presence of God to those who are hurting.

Schuyler Rhodes
Trusting is never easy. Even in the best of relationships, people step into trust slowly. There is wariness -- questioning -- worry. What happens if trust is betrayed? What if this doesn't work? Sometimes it's like a dance. We step in and out of trust, moving to the rhythms of fear. For many, the routine is achingly familiar. Indeed, it's not easy to trust.
John Jamison
It was back in the days when the railroad was the most common mode of transportation. There were automobiles, and some airplanes, but the steam locomotive was the way most folks traveled and the way that most of the goods were distributed around the country. After dinner, people sat in the drawing room and listened to the radio programs, fading in and out from some faraway location, over the magical broadcasting signal.
Robert Leslie Holmes
Not many tourists to Washington, D.C., look for the Federal Bureau of Standards offices. It's the Capitol and the White House, the Supreme Court Building or the Smithsonian most of us want to see when we go there. Yet, at the Bureau of Standards offices something very important is stored, something that impacts your life and mine every single day. Have you ever bought the materials for a new project? When you did, most likely you purchased so many inches or feet or yards. Or, you stopped to buy gasoline for your car and purchased it at a certain price per gallon.
David O. Bales
I have the two best jobs in the world. I teach social studies at Leon Griffith Junior High School (a fairly small junior high) and I am Sunday School Superintendent at Calvary Presbyterian Church (an enormous church school). Each job is my vocation. I tell people that at school they'll find my room where the halls cross. At church they can look but probably won't find me. I'll be in someone's classroom. At each job I practice what I most deeply believe: it's how you see the world that determines how you respond to it. I'll give you an example, actually, two examples.
Erskine White
O Lord my God! When I in awesome wonder,
Consider all the worlds Thy hands have made,
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed,
Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!
(Stuart K. Hine)

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