12.05.06 Easter 5B English

Prelude:  Prelude and Fugue in A Major, BWV 536 (J. S. Bach)
Hymn:  Easter Gloria (Marty Haugen and EM/O FILII ET FILIAE, traditional French) GC

My verse:
Christ, the true vine, your branches are we,

cleansed by your word that we fruitful may be,

abiding in you eternally.

Alleluia!

Call to Worship

One:  God is the True Vine,
All:  And we are the branches.
One:  Connected to God;
All:  Connected to bear fruit!
One:  Connected to God;
All:  Or we wither away.
One:  Connected to God;
All:  Or useless!
One:  We come to worship God, who is the True Vine.
All:  God, teach us how to remain connected so that we might bear good fruit!

Song:  I am the vine (Shirley Erena Murray/Ron Klusmeier) NS
Prayer of Confession

One:  Jesus said: “I am the vine, you are the branches.” Let us pray.

One:  We thank you, gracious God, for Jesus Christ the true vine, with his roots eternally grounded in you. We rejoice that by grace we have been grafted into him, to be branches on a vine which bears the loveliest of all the fruits of earth. Yet we confess that all is not well with the way we live.

All:  Please forgive us for the occasions when we have been the ones to introduce disease into the vine, preferring its contamination to the vigor of health.

Forgive us for neglecting to draw deeply on the sap of Life, for our tendency to wander instead of growing on the framework your provide, for being content, and sometimes even proud of, a few sparse or undersized fruits, for the apathy which lets us to go through some seasons without bearing any fruit.

One:  Have mercy on us. Please do not lose patience or sever us completely from the true vine. Rather heal our diseases, discipline and train our wandering tendrils, prune our unfruitful branches and cut away our diseased ones. May we remain in Christ and he in us, through all the changing seasons of life. Let us delight in bearing the fruits of love which are our true purpose and joy. For your Name’s sake.

All:  Amen!

—Silent reflection—

One:  Jesus said: “If you reside in me, and my words reside in you, ask whatever you will and it shall be done for you.”  Friends, we have asked for forgiveness and correction. It has been truly done for us. It is being done for us. And it will be done for us.

All:  Thanks be to God!

Song of Praise:  Psalm 34, verse 1 (adapted John Bell/TALLA CRIOSDH, traditional Scots Gaelic) *
Prayer of the Day VU

Creator of the universe,
you made the world in beauty,
and restore all things in glory
through the victory of Jesus Christ.
We pray that, wherever your image is still disfigured
by poverty, sickness, selfishness, war and greed,
the new creation in Jesus Christ may appear in justice, love, and peace,
to the glory of your name. Amen.

Sh'ma Israel (Max Helfman)
Reading from Hebrew Scripture:  Isaiah 27:2-6 (non-lectionary)

Alleluia (Indonesia)
Gospel Reading:  John 15:1-11
Sermon
Song:  God, bless your church with strength (John A. Dalles/DIADEMATA, George J. Elvey)

Affirmation of Faith BDP

I believe in God, Source of all things seen and unseen:

in a universe where the basic reality is Spirit-Mind,

present in human beings as a reflection of this hidden Spirit,

         

I believe in Christ Jesus, God’s only true Son:

in grace which surpasses all our ideas of justice,

in suffering that redeems the previously unredeemable,

in life that bursts free from graves and all captivity.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, our immanent Friend:

in a world where no human being is ever alone,

in an inner light that opens our eyes to truth,

in a sap which makes the fruitless become fruitful.

I put my trust in God.

I put my trust in Christ.

I put my trust in Spirit.

Amen!

Prayer Song:  Psalm 34, verse 3 (adapted John Bell/TALLA CRIOSDH, traditional Scots Gaelic) *
Prayers of the People
Announcements
Song:  I am the vine (Shirley Erena Murray/Ron Klusmeier) NS

*A cappella, the congregation singing the two supporting parts and the soprano cantor singing the melody.
**Sung by the music team in Spanish.

Forces:
Soprano
Tenor/Guitar
Tenor/Bass Guitar
Organ/Piano