Hybrid Worship, April 28, 2024, EASTER V

Hybrid Worship, April 28, 2024 EASTER V

Rev. Suzanna Bates

Music Director: Dorothy Dittrich

We acknowledge these lands upon which we worship are the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the Snuneymuxw First Nation.

Whoever you are and wherever you are on life’s journey,

you are welcome here!

Words for Worship

Words in bold italics, please say together

Prelude: The Little Prelude       JS Bach

Gathering

Call to Worship

Christ, you are the vine and we are your branches.

      Our life flows from you, and we give you thanks.

You are the vine and we are your branches.

      Your love flows through us, and we praise you.

You are the vine and we are your branches.

      We are one in you, and as one we worship you. Alleluia!

Lighting the Candle

      We are here. God is here.

      This space is holy ground.

Hymn: Love Divine                                                                     VU #333

Acknowledgement of the Land

Prayer of Reconciliation

The grace of God be with you.

      And also with you.
Trusting in God’s tender mercy, 

let us confess our sin to God with one another.

God of life, you are the vine and we are your branches.
But we confess that we have tried to live separate from you.
When we have not rooted ourselves in you, 

or opened ourselves to your life and your spirit and your power flowing through us, your love and your beauty blossoming in us.          

Our lives become dry and fruitless.
God of life, we desire to be rooted in you, 

joined to you, part of you.
Return us; forgive us, fill us again with your life.

Amen. 

Hymn: Long Before The Night                                                  VU #282

Scripture                                                                  Reader: Paddy Waymark

Acts 8:26–40 (The Message) 

Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch 

Later God’s angel spoke to Philip: “At noon today I want you to walk over to that desolate road that goes from Jerusalem down to Gaza.” 

He got up and went. He met an Ethiopian eunuch coming down the road. The eunuch had been on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and was returning to Ethiopia, where he was minister in charge of all the finances of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. He was riding in a chariot and reading the prophet Isaiah. The Spirit told Philip, “Climb into the chariot.” Running up alongside, Philip heard the eunuch reading Isaiah and asked, “Do you understand what you’re reading?” He answered, “How can I without some help?” and invited Philip into the chariot with him. The passage he was reading was this: As a sheep led to slaughter, and quiet as a lamb being sheared, He was silent, saying nothing. He was mocked and put down, never got a fair trial. But who now can count his kin since he’s been taken from the earth?

The eunuch said, “Tell me, who is the prophet talking about: himself or some other?” Philip grabbed his chance. Using this passage as his text, he preached Jesus to him. As they continued down the road, they came to a stream of water. The eunuch said, “Here’s water. Why can’t I be baptized?” He ordered the chariot to stop. They both went down to the water, and Philip baptized him on the spot. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of God suddenly took Philip off, and that was the last the eunuch saw of him. But he didn’t mind. He had what he’d come for and went on down the road as happy as he could be. Philip showed up in Azotus and continued north, preaching the Message in all the villages along that route until he arrived at Caesarea.

Gospel Reading                                                              Reader: Don Moser                                 

As is your custom, please stand or sit for the reading of the gospel. 

God be with you. 

And also with you 

The Good News of Jesus the Christ according to John. 

Glory to you, Christ Jesus.

John 15:1–8 (The Message)

Jesus is the true vine 

Jesus said, I am the Real Vine and my Father is the Farmer. He cuts off every branch of me that doesn’t bear grapes. And every branch that is grape-bearing he prunes back so it will bear even more. You are already pruned back by the message I have spoken. “Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you. In the same way that a branch can’t bear grapes by itself but only by being joined to the vine, you can’t bear fruit unless you are joined with me. “I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you’re joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can’t produce a thing. Anyone who separates from me is deadwood, gathered up and thrown on the bonfire. But if you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon. This is how my Father shows who he is—when you produce grapes, when you mature as my disciples.

This is the Gospel of Christ

We give thanks for Good News today.

Word: Connection

Hymn: Loving Spirit                                                                   VU #387

Holy Communion

God is with you.

And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.

We lift them up to God.

Let us give thanks to the Holy One, our God.

It is good and beautiful to give God our praise.

Christ, you are the vine and we are your branches.
Eternal Love, we spring from you.
Nothing can separate us from your love, for we are part of you.
You hold us when we stray and when we falter.
As the scattered seeds are made into one loaf,
as the many branches grow from the one vine:
we are one with you and with all your beloved.
You set us free from all that oppresses us,
from all that diminishes love or the wholeness of life. 

You prune what is unloving in us, so that in us your love may flourish and bear fruit. We come to this table to feast on the fruit of your love in Christ. In one voice with all Creation we sing your praise.

Holy, holy, holy One, God of power and might,
Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of God.
Hosanna in the highest                                                                   4

Blessed are all who come in your name and blessed is Jesus who loved us so that we may love. He forgave us so that we may trust.
His perfect love casts out our fear.
He made us into one Vine, one Body, in your Spirit,
a community of love and forgiveness that includes everyone of every race and nation, every gender and identity, every place on the journey of life. He was crucified and buried; the vine was cut down. But you raised him to new life, and the vine lives on in us.
As long as we break this bread and share this cup
we remember his death and resurrection,  until he comes again.
Therefore, remembering these your mighty acts in Jesus Christ, we offer our lives to your purpose, in joyful union with Christ’s offering for us, as we proclaim the mystery of our faith:
Christ has died. 
Christ is risen. 
Christ will come again.
                     
Pour out your Holy Spirit on these gifts, O God,
that they may be for us symbols of life and nourishment, 
connection and blessing.
Pour out your Spirit on us, that we may be renewed as your people, 
the Vine of your Love, the Body of Christ.
You are the vine and our lives are the fruit of the vine. 
May your spirit flow through us as sap through the vine, 
that we may bear the fruit of your love in this world.
By your Spirit in us may we be made whole in your love. 
Make us one with you, one with each other and one with all Creation,
for the sake of the wholeness of the world,
in the name and the Spirit of Christ.
Amen.

Prayers of the People       Tim Leadem
We pray to the Lord,

      Hear our Prayers.    

On the night in which he gave himself for us
Jesus took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to his disciples, 

saying, “Take and eat. Share in my life and living”
In the same way, after the supper he took the cup,
blessed it with thanks and gave it to them, saying,
“Drink of this, all of you. Share in my love poured out in a new Covenant. As long as we break this bread and share this cup we remember his death and resurrection, until he comes again.

Sharing the Bread and Wine

Prayer of Thanksgiving after Communion
      Gracious God, we thank you for this mystery in which you have    given yourself to us. 

May your love flow through us, and your beauty blossom in us. 

By your Spirit may we bear your fruit in this world and offer your love to all in the name and the Spirit of Christ. Amen.

Hymn: He Came Singing Love                                                  VU #359

Blessing

We leave this place reconnected:

reconnected to our community,

reconnected to our faith,

reconnected to the God of grace.

We go out as people who are strengthened by our connections

Ready to love and to serve. 

Ready to carry God's love to the world.

As you journey through the ups and the downs of the coming week,

let us remember that God, who has invited us into relationship, 

is always with us.

Go with God, as the people of God.

So be it! Amen

The peace of Christ be always with you.

And also with you. 

Postlude: Minuet in G                                                                  G. Bohm