St. Mark Lutheran Church

Sixth Sunday of Easter

April 27, 2008

8:15 and 11:00 AM

Prelude Prelude in Fugue C Major-J.S. Bach

Stand

BRIEF ORDER FOR CONFESSION AND FORGIVENESS

The minister leads the congregation in the invocation. The sign of the cross may be made by all in remembrance of their Baptism.

V: In the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

C: Amen

V: Almighty God, to whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid: Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you and worthily magnify your holy name, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

C: Amen

V: If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, God who is faithful and just will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Kneel Silence for reflection and self-examination.

V: Most merciful God,

C: we confess that we are in bondage to sin and cannot free ourselves. 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 neighbors as ourselves. For the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ, have mercy on us. Forgive us, renew us, and lead us, so that we may delight in your will and walk in your ways, to the glory of your holy name. Amen

The minister stands and addresses the congregation.

V: In the mercy of almighty God, Jesus Christ was given to die for you, and for his sake God forgives you all your sins. To those who believe in Jesus Christ he gives the power to become the children of God and bestows on them the Holy Spirit.

C: Amen

Stand

Apostolic Greeting

P: The grace of Our Lord, Jesus Christ, the love of God and the Communion of

the Holy Spirit be with you all.

C: And also with you.

Kyrie

Hymn of Praise

Salutation

Prayer of the Day In unison

O God, from whom all good things come: Lead us by the inspiration of your Spirit to think those things which are right, and by your goodness help us to do them; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen

Congregation is seated

First Lesson: Acts 17:22–31

²²Then Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, "Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way. ²³For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, 'To an unknown god.' What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. ²⁴The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, ²⁵nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things. ²⁶From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, ²⁷so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him — though indeed he is not far from each one of us. ²⁸For 'In him we live and move and have our being'; as even some of your own poets have said, 'For we too are his offspring.' ²⁹Since we are God's offspring, we ought not to think that the deity is like gold, or silver, or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of mortals. ³⁰While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent, ³¹because he has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead."

L: The word of the Lord.

C: Thanks be to God.

Anthem Children and Youth Choirs

PSALM: 66:8-20 Sung-responsively by whole verse

⁸Bless our ^| God, you peoples;

let the sound of ^| praise be heard.

⁹Our God has kept us a- ^| mong the living

and has not allowed our ^| feet to slip.

¹⁰For you, O God, have ^| tested us;

you have tried us just as sil- ^| ver is tried.

¹¹You brought us in- ^| to the net;

you laid heavy burdens up- ^| on our backs.

¹²You let people ride over our heads; we went through ^| fire and water,

but you brought us out into a place ^| of refreshment.

¹³I will enter your house ^| with burnt offerings

and will pay ^| you my vows—

¹⁴those that I promised ^| with my lips

and spoke with my mouth when I ^| was in trouble.

¹⁵I will offer you burnt offerings of fatlings with the ^| smoke of rams;

I will give you ox- ^| en and goats.

¹⁶Come and listen, all you ^| who believe,

and I will tell you what God has ^| done for me.

¹⁷I called out to God ^| with my mouth,

and praised the Lord ^| with my tongue.

¹⁸If I had cherished evil ^| in my heart,

the Lord would ^| not have heard me;

¹⁹but in truth ^| God has heard me

and has attended to the sound ^| of my prayer.

²⁰Blessed be God, who has not reject- ^| ed my prayer,

nor withheld unfailing ^| love from me.

Second Lesson: 1 Peter 3:13–22

¹³Now who will harm you if you are eager to do what is good? ¹⁴But even if you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear, and do not be intimidated, ¹⁵but in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; ¹⁶yet do it with gentleness and reverence. Keep your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who abuse you for your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame. ¹⁷For it is better to suffer for doing good, if suffering should be God's will, than to suffer for doing evil. ¹⁸For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, ¹⁹in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, ²⁰who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water. ²¹And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you — not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, ²²who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him.

L: The word of the Lord.

C: Thanks be to God.

Alleluia Verse

P: “The Holy Gospel according to John the fourteenth chapter”.

Stand

The Holy Gospel: John 14:15–21

¹⁵If you love me, you will keep my commandments. ¹⁶And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. ¹⁷This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you. ¹⁸I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. ¹⁹In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. ²⁰On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. ²¹They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them."

P: "The Gospel of the Lord"

Congregation is seated

Sermon Pastor Erdos

Stand

Nicene Creed

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty,

maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God,

eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light,

true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father.

Through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation

he came down from heaven; by the power of the Holy Spirit

he became incarnate from the virgin Mary, and was made man.

For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;

he suffered death and was buried.

On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures;

he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,

and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,

who proceeds from the Father and the Son.

With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified.

He has spoken through the prophets.

We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.

We acknowledge one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins.

We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

Congregation is seated

Announcements

Prayers (Kneel)

After each portion of the prayers:

V: Lord, in your mercy,

C: hear our prayer.

The prayers conclude:

P: Into your hands, O Lord, we commend all for whom we pray, trusting in your mercy; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

C: Amen.

Sharing of Peace (Stand)

P: The peace of the Lord be with you always.

C: And also with you.

The ministers and congregation may greet one another in the name of the Lord.

Congregation is seated

Offering (Please sign ALL names of your family present today and pass the Friendship Register)

Anthem Awake Now Wintery Earth-J.S.Bach Adult Choir

Offertory

Prayer

V: Let us pray. Blessed are you,

C: O Lord our God, maker of all things. Through your goodness you have blessed us with these gifts. With them we offer ourselves to your service and dedicate our lives to the care and redemption of all that you have made, for the sake of him who gave himself for us, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

Great Thanksgiving

P: It is indeed right and salutary that we should at all times and in all places offer thanks and praise to you, O Lord, holy Father, through Christ our Lord; who on this day overcame death and the grave, and by his glorious resurrection opened to us the way of everlasting life. And so, with the Church on earth and the hosts of heaven, we praise your name and join their unending hymn:

Eucharistic Prayer

P: You are indeed holy, O God, the fountain of all holiness;

you bring light from darkness, life from death, speech from silence.

We worship you for our lives and for the world you give us.

We thank you for the new world to come and for the love that will rule all in all.

We praise you for the grace shown to Israel, your chosen, the people of your promise:

the rescue from Egypt, the gift of the promised land,

the memory of the fathers, the homecoming from exile,

and the prophets' words that will not be in vain.

In all this we bless you for your only-begotten Son,

who fulfilled and will fulfill all your promises.

In the night

In which he was betrayed,

our Lord Jesus took bread, and gave thanks; broke it,

and gave it to his disciples, saying: Take and eat; this is my body, given for you.

Do this for the remembrance of me.

Again, after supper,

he took the cup, gave thanks,

and gave it for all to drink, saying: This cup is

the new covenant in my blood, shed for you and for all people

for the forgiveness of sin.

Do this for the remembrance of me.

For as often as we eat

of this bread and drink from this cup,

we proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

C: Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.

P: Therefore, O God, with this bread and cup we remember the incarnation

of your Son: his human birth and the covenant he made with us.

We remember the sacrifice of his life:

his eating with outcasts and sinners,

and his acceptance of death.

But chiefly in this Easter season we remember

his rising from the tomb,

his ascension to the seat of power,

and his sending of the holy and life-giving Spirit.

We cry out for the resurrection of our lives,

when Christ will come again in beauty and power

to share with us the great and promised feast.

C: Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

P: Send now, we pray, your Holy Spirit,

that we and all who share in this bread and cup

may be united in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit,

may enter the fullness of the kingdom of heaven,

and may receive our inheritance with all your saints in light.

C: Amen. Come, Holy Spirit.

P: Join our prayers with those of your servants of every time and every place, and unite them with the ceaseless petitions of our great high priest until he comes as victorious Lord of all.

P: And now as our Savior Christ has taught us, we are bold to say,

C: 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

Congregation is seated

Distribution We believe our Lord’s real presence is in the sacrament of Holy Communion. If you are a baptized Christian, we invite you to commune with us. Extend your hands over the rail to receive the bread. To receive the wine, wait for the chalice or take an empty glass from the tray, which will be filled from a pouring chalice. The prefilled glasses contain grape juice for those that can not receive the wine. We encourage you to bring non-communing children forward to receive a blessing. Please be seated following the distribution.

Communion Music

Stand

P: The body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ strengthen you and keep you in his grace.

C: Amen

The Post-Communion Canticle

Post Communion Prayer

V: Almighty and everliving God, we thank you for feeding us with the spiritual food of the most precious Body and Blood of your Son our Savior Jesus Christ; and for assuring us in these holy mysteries that we are living members of the Body of your Son, and heirs of your eternal kingdom. And now, Father, send us out to do the work you have given us to do, to love and serve you as faithful witnesses of Christ our Lord. To him, to you, and to the Holy Spirit, be all honor and glory, now and forever. Amen.

Benediction

Stand

Dismissal

V: Go in peace. Serve the Lord.

C: Thanks be to God.

8:15 Worship Assistants 11:00

Kevin Buss	ACOLYTE	Aaron Taminger
Erich Buss, Tammy Held, Judy Theodosakis	COMMUNION	Martha Edwards, Karen Marchlewski
Tammy Held	LECTOR	Louise Lund Vaa
Una Shurtleff	NURSERY	Una Shurtleff
	GREETERS
Gail Teigeler, Charles Rossi	TELLERS	Gail Teigeler, Charles Rossi
Jerry Held, Bob Johnson	USHERS	Michael Cummings, Doug Opp