The Sixth Sunday of Easter
**Please note this service is based on the format of the Anglican Church of Canada. Unless otherwise indicated, all prayers come from the Book of Alternative Services (BAS) and the hymns from the Book of Common Praise (BCP). Other hymns and prayers have been sourced to give appropriate credit.
**NRSV translation used for the readings, unless otherwise stated.
**This is for personal use at home as the church is unable to gather in our houses of worship but together we can worship in our own homes.
Introduction
Lord God, we
see your righteous rule in all your works, and we join our voices with the song
of your whole creation in praising you, in and through Jesus Christ our
Saviour. Amen.
Opening Hymn – Come and Journey with a Saviour (BCP #482)
Gathering
The grace of
our Lord Jesus Christ,
and the love
of God,
and the
fellowship of the Holy Spirit,
be with you
all.
And also with you.
Collect for Purity
The Gloria
Collect of the Day
Let us pray.
Merciful God,
you have prepared for those who love you riches beyond imagination. Pour into
our hearts such love toward you, that we, loving you above all things, may
obtain your promises, which exceed all that we can desire; through Jesus Christ
our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now
and forever. Amen.
Readings
A reading from
the Book of Acts 10:44-48
While
Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard the word. The
circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astounded that the gift of
the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles, for they heard them
speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter said, “Can anyone withhold
the water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as
we have?” So he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then
they invited him to stay for several days.
This is the word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Psalm 98
O sing to the Lord a new song,
for he has done marvelous things.
His right hand and his holy arm
have gotten him
victory.
The Lord has
made known his victory;
he has revealed his vindication in the
sight of the nations.
He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness
to the house of
Israel.
All the ends
of the earth have seen
the victory of our God.
Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth;
break forth into
joyous song and sing praises.
Sing praises
to the Lord with the lyre,
with the lyre and the sound of melody.
With trumpets and the sound of the horn
make a joyful
noise before the King, the Lord.
Let the sea
roar, and all that fills it;
the world and those who live in it.
Let the floods clap their hands;
let the hills
sing together for joy
at the
presence of the Lord, for he is coming
to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness,
and the peoples
with equity.
A reading from the First Letter of John 5:1-6
Everyone
who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who
loves the parent loves the child. By this we know that we love the children of
God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For the love of God is this,
that we obey his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome, for
whatever is born of God conquers the world. And this is the victory that
conquers the world, our faith. Who is it that conquers the world but the one
who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
This is the one who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ, not with the water only but with the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one that testifies, for the Spirit is the truth.
This is the
word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Gradual Hymn – Ubi Caritas et Amor (BCP #553)
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
The Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John 15:9-17
Glory to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
As
the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my
commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s
commandments and abide in his love. I have said these things to you so that my
joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.
“This
is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has
greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my
friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer,
because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called
you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from
my Father. You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and
bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you
ask him in my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one
another.
The Gospel of Christ.
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
Sermon
May only truth be spoken and only truth
received. Amen.
I would like to continue with our examination of Acts from last week. The technical lectionary text for today is Acts 10:44-48, but it doesn’t really make sense if you haven’t read the entire chapter of Acts 10.
Here’s a highlight reel:
- Scene 1: We meet Cornelius, a Roman army officer. He’s not Jewish, but he respects God deeply, gives to charity, and has a robust prayer life. And he’s having dreams.
- Scene 2: Peter, the leader of the apostles, is seeing things, too. There’s a white sheet that descends from heaven containing every known animal, clean and unclean. Peter is told to “get up, kill and eat”.
- Peter rebels — what?! I don’t do that! We can’t do that! How will we maintain our religious identity if we don’t separate ourselves by our unique practices?
- Scene 3: Messengers from Cornelius arrive seeking Peter. Peter is not sure where he’s going, only sure that God is directing him. He’s not driving this bus after all.
- Scene 4: Peter arrives at Cornelius’ house. The two men talk openly, sharing their dreams.
- Scene 5: Peter preaches one of the most powerful sermons in history: “I now know that God knows no partiality.” It was a shocking declaration then. Truthfully, it may be just as shocking today for those who have been on the business end of Christianity’s judgment stick — and for those who have wielded it.
- Scene 6: The Holy Spirit rests on Cornelius and his family, showing everyone that these Gentiles are full members of the family of faith. Cornelius invites Peter to stay the night at his house: hospitality seals their friendship and their kinship.
To give an even quicker recap, chapter
10 is the story of Peter and Cornelius where Peter has this vision about unclean
things coming down from the sky. God tells Peter not to call anything that God
has made unclean. And then Cornelius shows up, and Peter goes to Cornelius’s
house, and all of the people get anointed with the Holy Spirit, and Peter
decides to baptize them.
Whew! You may want to go and read chapter 10 for some more details, but that is the gist of the story. You can certainly tell that the Day of Pentecost is coming with all this talk about the Holy Spirit coming down and what not.
Anyway, back to the lesson for today…
Last week, I asked the question “Who are we to deny someone the joy of living a life in communion with God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit?”
Throughout Acts Chapter 10, Peter begins to see that he needs to ask this question of himself,
“I really am learning
that God doesn’t show partiality to one group of people over another. Rather,
in every nation, whoever worships him and does what is right is acceptable to
him. This is the message of peace he sent to the Israelites by proclaiming the
good news through Jesus Christ.” (34-36)
“God doesn’t show partiality”?
I know a few people who would protest that statement.
People are fleeing the church left and right because of its partiality. We know very well that “the church” uses scripture to support its reasoning for forbidding certain people.
- Does the church have a right to keep gay men and lesbian women out, given what the Bible says?
- What about people of faith who acknowledge, through their advocacy of birth control as medical necessity, that they are having non-procreative pre-marital sex? Are they in or out?
- Can the church keep out those who are disruptive of worship — for example, little children making noise or running in the aisle?
- How welcome are returning soldiers in liberal anti-war congregations?
“God doesn’t show partiality”? Hmmm…
Well God doesn’t, but we certainly do.
We humans, both individually and as a whole, structure our lives around “who’s in and who’s out.” It’s hardwired within us.
But there are times when God cracks our biases, opening us to see how God is very much working in the lives of those who seem so different from us, but who are also very much God’s beloved people.
When Peter declared, “God shows no partiality,” he opened the possibility that anyone — everyone — is welcome in the family of faith.
He also put us on warning: the rules were changed for you, so that you could come in — who are you, then, to prevent God from blessing the whole human family? Who are you to stand in the way of God’s love?
Pause
Last week, the Ethiopian Eunuch asked “what is to stop me from being baptized?”
Well, now this week, Peter asks, “Surely no one can stop them from being baptized with water, can they?”
There seems to be a pattern over the last few chapters.
- Ch. 8 - Ethiopian encounters the Holy Spirit and is baptized
- Ch. 9 - Saul encounters the Holy Spirit and is baptized
- Ch. 10 - Cornelius
and his household encounter the Holy Spirit and are baptized.
Each time, there is preaching, teaching, and the mentoring of one who is experienced.
Each time, the Holy Spirit descends upon the one hearing the message and they ask to be baptized.
And, as I said last week, each time this happens, the circle of inclusion gets wider.
Not only that, Peter is an example of what it means to continue to be open to the guiding of the Holy Spirit, and to allow yourself to be challenged and changed.
Peter starts off so rigid, declaring that his faith will not be tested. When he states, “I really am learning that God doesn’t show partiality to one group of people over another”, Peter’s understanding of God is evolving.
Peter is proof that changing your understanding of God is actually a sacred thing to do, especially when it comes to understanding that God is at work in all people, not just a select few.
In line 45, we hear that “The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles.” Those who travelled with Peter thought that Gentiles could not be part of their circle because they were different, they were the other.
But the Holy Spirit came to the Gentiles because God was already a part of them, the Gentiles were already connected to the divine.
Peter is coming to the realization that it was not that God was allowing Peter to baptize these people, it was that God was showing Peter his circle will be enriched by the inclusion of the Gentiles.
That is something that we, as the present church, need to remember. We are only hurting ourselves by denying those who are seeking to be part of our circle of faith.
Instead of being close-minded, we need to be open to the infinite possibilities of God. Our understanding of God is not the only way.
We need to summon the ability to see the world, the church, and our lives from God’s perspective. We need to pray for that. And then work to make it happen.
If Peter can do it, certainly we can, too.
Amen.
Apostle’s Creed
Let us confess
the faith of our baptism, as we say,
I believe in God,
the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.
He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit
and born of the Virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again
to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
Prayers of the People
Let us pray
with confidence to the Lord, saying, Lord hear our prayer.
O Lord, guard and direct Your Church in the way of unity, service and praise.
Lord, hear our prayer.
Give to all nations an awareness of the unity of the human family.
Lord, hear our prayer.
Cleanse our hearts of prejudice and selfishness, and inspire us to hunger and thirst for what is right.
Lord, hear our prayer.
Teach us to use your creation for your greater praise, that all may share the good things you provide.
Lord, hear our prayer.
Strengthen all who give their energy or skill for the healing of those who are sick in body or mind.
Lord, hear our prayer.
Set free all who are bound by fear and despair.
Lord, hear our prayer.
Grant a peaceful end and eternal rest to all who are dying and your comfort to those who mourn.
Lord, hear our prayer.
Eternal God, present with us when our minds drift far from You, forgive us when we fail to focus on Your goodness, when we allow our minds to wander, when we worry rather than worship here.
Open our eyes of faith to see You, know You, experience You, as we sing, pray, reflect, and affirm our faith.
We pray for those not here, whose minds are troubled by some problem, whose bodies are stressed by pain, whose spirits are depressed by events of life. Across the distance that separates us from them, bring the ministry of our prayers, to mend the mind, heal the body, lift the spirit.
Please take time to offer your own intercessions or to pray in silence.
We pray that this week, we will be instruments of Your grace and goodwill. In the heat of the day or of the night, when tempers flare and patience is not to be found, we pray to be understanding and forgiving.
In the times of deep differences that divide, when disagreements dominate and conflicts confound, we pray to be good listeners, bringing down emotional temperatures, creating the climate for agreements.
In times of perplexity over problems when no solutions are in sight, we pray for new ways of seeing, bringing us to new ways of responding.
As we continue here in our worship, keep us grateful for each other, for the ministry of music, for the insights of Holy Scripture, for the renewal of strength for the journey.
Amen
Confession and
Absolution
Dear friends
in Christ,
God is
steadfast in love and infinite in mercy;
God welcomes
sinners and invites them to the table.
Let us confess
our sins, confident in God’s forgiveness.
Most merciful
God,
We confess that we have sinned against you
in thought, word, and deed,
by what we have done,
and by what we have left undone.
We have not loved you with our whole heart;
we have not loved our neighbours as ourselves.
We are truly sorry and we humbly repent.
for the sake of your Son Jesus Christ,
have mercy on us and forgive us,
that we may delight in your will,
and walk in your ways,
to the glory of your name. Amen.
As we speak the truth of our lives, God who is faithful and just, restores us and brings us home again and again.
Almighty God have mercy upon you,
pardon and
deliver you from all your sins,
confirm and
strengthen you in all goodness,
and keep you
in eternal life;
through Jesus
Christ our Lord.
Amen.
The Peace
The peace of
the Lord be always with you.
And also with you.
Offertory Hymn – This is the Table of Christ
Prayer over the Gifts
**Although not physically at our church buildings to share
our offering together I would encourage you to set your offering of money aside
so that it can be dropped off or placed in the church once services resume, to
mail your offering to the church, or to make donations online. Please remember
ministry is still taking place.
Let us pray.
God of glory,
accept all we offer you this day, and bring us to that eternal city of love and
light, where Christ is King. We ask this in his name. Amen.
This service was created for live worship on Zoom. For those worshiping on your own, you may either read the Eucharistic prayer, or skip ahead to the Lord's Prayer and then the Doxology.
Eucharistic Prayer 2
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
We give you thanks and praise, almighty God,
through your
beloved Son, Jesus Christ,
our Saviour
and Redeemer.
He is your
living Word
through whom
you have created all things.
By the power
of the Holy Spirit
he took flesh
of the Virgin Mary
and shared our
human nature.
He lived and
died as one of us,
to reconcile
us to you,
the God and
Father of all.
In fulfilment
of your will
he stretched
out his hands in suffering,
to bring
release to those who place their hope in you;
and so he won
for you a holy people.
He chose to
bear our griefs and sorrows,
and to give up
his life on the cross,
that he might
shatter the chains of evil and death,
and banish the
darkness of sin and despair.
By his
resurrection he brings us into the light of your presence.
Now with all
creation we raise our voices
to proclaim
the glory of your name.
Holy, holy, holy Lord,
God of power and might,
heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed are they who come in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.
Holy and
gracious God,
accept our
praise,
through your
Son our Saviour Jesus Christ;
who on the
night he was handed over
to suffering
and death,
took bread and
gave you thanks,
saying, “Take,
and eat:
this is my
body which is broken for you.”
In the same
way he took the cup,
saying, “This
is my blood which is shed for you.
When you do
this, you do it in memory of me.”
Remembering,
therefore, his death and resurrection,
we offer you
this bread and this cup,
giving thanks
that you have made us worthy
to stand in
your presence and serve you.
We ask you to
send your Holy Spirit
upon the
offering of your holy Church.
Gather into
one
all who share
in these sacred mysteries,
filling them
with the Holy Spirit
and confirming
their faith in the truth,
that together
we may praise you
and give you
glory
through your
Servant, Jesus Christ.
All glory and
honour are yours,
Father and
Son,
with the Holy
Spirit
in the holy
Church,
now and for
ever.
Amen.
And now, as our Saviour Christ has taught us,
we are bold to
pray,
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial,
and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours,
now and for ever. Amen.
Breaking of the Bread
This is the
body of Christ.
Behold what
you are.
Become what
you receive.
Amen.
Communion
This is the
table of Christ. It is made ready for those who love him, and for those who
want to love him more. Come, whether you have much faith or little, have tried
to follow, or are afraid that you have failed. Come. Because it is Christ's
will that those who want to meet him, might meet him here.
These are the gifts of God for the People of God.
Thanks be to God.
Share in the Eucharist
Prayer After Communion
As we have
feasted around the table, let us pray.
O God, you
restored us to life by raising your son from death. May we who receive this sacrament
always be strengthened to do your will, in the name of Jesus Christ the risen
Lord. Amen.
As a congregation, we declare our doxology, as we say together,
Glory to God,
whose power, working in us,
can do infinitely more
than we can ask or imagine.
Glory to God from generation to generation,
in the Church and in Christ Jesus,
for ever and ever.
Amen.
Blessing
The peace of
God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in the
knowledge and love of God, and of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord: and the
blessing of the Creator, the Redeemer, and the Sanctifier be among you and
remain with you always. Amen.
Sending Song – Sing a New Song Unto the Lord (BCP#312)
Dismissal
Go forth into
the world,
Rejoicing in
the power of the Holy Spirit. Alleluia!
Thanks be to God. Alleluia!
