4th Sunday of Easter – May 3rd Service

The Fourth Sunday of Easter May 03, 2020

WELCOME/ANNOUNCEMENTS

This past Tuesday (April 28) was Call Day at Concordia Seminary. The service can still be viewed on Youtube: Search “Concordia Seminary St Louis Call Day 2020”

Kyle Will received his call from Epiphany Lutheran Church in Lake Worth, FL. Kyle was in what we call a “convertible” vicarage so that at the end of his vicarage he would be installed as the sole pastor.

Brian & Michelle Doel received their calls from Our Savior Lutheran Church in Minot, ND. Brian will be serving as their Associate Pastor and Michele as their Deaconess.

PJ & Melanie Aarsvold will be at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Lakewood, CO during their 1 year vicarage. PJ had initially planned to do missionary work in Argentina for a year before going on vicarage but Covid-19 temporarily put a stop on all missionary work abroad.

As of this recording the Governor Pritzker has kept the quarantine order in place until May 31. The Presidential Task Force for the Covid-19 pandemic has suggested that social distancing should remain in place throughout the summer. We’re still trying to figure out what all that means for the assembling of the church.

For now, we pray that the services online are a blessing to you. We have been emailing the Announcements and encourage you to pray for and keep in touch with those who are on the Prayer list. We will keep you posted with any updates that might affect the church. Please call Pastor Vern or me, or the church office if you have a need or prayer request.

INVOCATION

P: In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
C: Amen.

OPENING SENTENCES

Psalm 95:1, 7
P: Oh come, let us sing to the LORD;
C: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!

P: For He is our God,
C: and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand!

CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION

Micah 6:6–8
P: Let us come before God in true repentance, seeking forgiveness and amendment of our lives as we follow the Lord.
C: With what shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before God on high?

P: Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
C: Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

P: He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

(Moment of silent reflection on our brokenness and the promise of our redemption through our Lord Jesus Christ)

P: Merciful God and Father,
C: we confess that we are indeed a broken people and without Your help we are depleted of any spiritual resources to change our fallen nature. We agree with You that we have done the evil You forbid and have not done the good You demand. And that gap between what we should be and what we truly are brings us deep sorrow, anxiety, depression and shame. Without Your saving grace, we are forever trapped in this sinful body of death.

Forgive us, almighty God, and grant us the new nature of Your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, so that, by the working of Your Holy Spirit, we may follow where our Good Shepherd leads and live out our daily lives empowered by the same Spirit faithfully keeping Your command to “do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with our God” until that time when we, by Your saving grace, come to dwell in Your house forever.

P: Jesus said to His disciples and now to us: “Peace be with You.” Our God is merciful and has promised forgiveness to those who turn to Him for mercy. My fellow redeemed, receive His divine favor. Jesus, God’s exalted Son, now declares to us all: “Your sins, though they are many, are forgiven,” in the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
C: Amen.

P: Let us walk together in peace with our Good Shepherd and with one another. We take a moment now to share God’s peace

SONG OF PRAISE

PRAYER OF THE DAY

P: Let us pray.
Almighty God, merciful Father, since You have wakened from death the Shepherd of Your sheep, grant us Your Holy Spirit that when we hear the voice of our Shepherd we may know Him who calls us each by name and follow where He leads; through the same Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
C: Amen.

The FIRST LESSON

Acts 2:42–47
And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

L: This is the Word of the Lord.
C: Thanks be to God.

The EPISTLE

1 Peter 2:19–25
For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

L: This is the Word of the Lord.
C: Thanks be to God.

HOLY GOSPEL

John 10:1–10 (Jesus is the gate of the sheep.)
P: The Holy Gospel according to St. John, the tenth chapter.
C: Glory to You, O Lord.

“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

P: This is the Gospel of the Lord.
C: Praise to You, O Christ.

HYMN No. 709

“The King of Love My Shepherd Is”
The King of love my shepherd is,
Whose goodness faileth never;
I nothing lack if I am His
And He is mine forever.

Where streams of living water flow,
My ransomed soul He leadeth
And, where the verdant pastures grow,
With food celestial feedeth.

Perverse and foolish oft I strayed,
But yet in love He sought me
And on His shoulder gently laid
And home rejoicing brought me.

In death’s dark vale I fear no ill
With Thee, dear Lord, beside me,
Thy rod and staff my comfort still,
Thy cross before to guide me.

Thou spreadst a table in my sight;
Thine unction grace bestoweth;
And, oh, what transport of delight
From Thy pure chalice floweth!

And so through all the length of days
Thy goodness faileth never.
Good Shepherd, may I sing Thy praise
Within Thy house forever.

SERMON

“The Abundant Life”
John 10:10b
Pastor Vern

CONFESSION OF FAITH

THE NICENE CREED

Please stand
I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth and of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of his Father before all worlds,
God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made;

Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary and was made man; And was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried.

And the third day rose again according to the Scriptures and ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father. And he will come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead, whose kingdom will have no end.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets. And I believe in one holy Christian and apostolic Church,

I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins, and I look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.

OFFERING

P: Blessed Savior family, thank you for recognizing the importance of your offerings. You have not given gifts to the church begrudgingly or under compulsion, but out of pure joy for the love God has planted in your hearts. Each week that we have been under the quarantine you have faithfully demonstrated the principle of Christian stewardship: Freely you have received… freely give. May God continue to bless you with His abundant grace.

PRAYER OF THE CHURCH

Pastor: Let us pray for the whole people of God in Christ Jesus and for all people according to their needs.

Pastor: We pray for the whole Church, that through it the goodness of God be shared and the Good News of salvation joyfully be proclaimed throughout all the world. Lord, in Your mercy,
People: hear our prayer.

Pastor: We pray for those who are in need, assured of the Shepherd’s care for all of His sheep. Help us to meet the needs of those who travel with us through life as we are led by our Good Shepherd day by day. Lord, in Your mercy,
People: hear our prayer.

Pastor: We pray for the nations of the world, asking that still waters of peace flow around the globe and that there be goodness and kindness among all peoples. Lord, in Your mercy,
People: hear our prayer.

Pastor: We pray for our families and everyone in them. Together help us to follow the Good Shepherd as one flock in which all dwell together in love and unity. Lord, in Your mercy,
People: hear our prayer.

Pastor: We pray for those whose tables are set in difficult or challenging places, whose lives know want or discord or sadness or continuing illness. Gently guide them with Your rod and staff, Good Shepherd, and keep them ever with You. Lord, in your mercy,
People: hear our prayer.

Pastor: With gratefulness we remember those who already dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Inspire us to pass throughout our earthly journeys with faith and hope as we heed the voice of our Good Shepherd and follow in His ways. Lord, in Your mercy,
People: hear our prayer.

LORD’S PRAYER

(Matthew 6:9-13)
P: Remember us in Your kingdom, Lord, and teach us to pray:
All: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.

BLESSING OF THE LORD

Numbers 6:24–26
P: The LORD bless you and keep you.
The LORD make His face shine on you and be gracious to you.
The LORD look upon you with favor and + give you peace.
C: Amen.

SENDING

P: Go in Peace to love and serve the Lord.
C: Thanks be to God!

CLOSING

“Dance Your Shoes Off”
Nearly 10 years ago when Flash Mob Videos were popular we used this uplifting song to celebrate the Lord’s resurrection. The current quarantine has robbed us of our ability to move about freely with each other, but it cannot take away our ability to move our bodies in praise to our “Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body…” (Philippians 3:21). If space allows join the celebration. If mobility is an issue… at least kick off your shoes and enjoy the video.