Year C, Fourth Sunday of Easter (Earth Sunday)
Fourth Sunday of Easter :: White :: Acts 9:36-43 :: Psalm 23 :: Revelation 7:9-17 :: John 10:22-30
Call to Worship (Responsive)
Loosely connected to Psalm 23
L: The LORD is my shepherd,
P: Teach us to share in the care of your sheep.
L: He makes me lie down in green pastures;
P: Help us to keep your pastures green.
L: He leads me beside still waters
P: Help us to care for the cleanliness of all your waters.
L: Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,
P: And I shall care for the house of the LORD forever.
Invocation:
Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to you O God, forever and ever. We come as your servants, clothed in the white garment of one washed in the blood of the lamb. We have come to worship you O God, for all you have done for us. Shelter us from the storms of life and guide us to springs of living water. Receive our worship and praise, O God, and wipe away the tears from our eyes. We are your people, the sheep of your pasture. Help us draw nearer to you as we offer ourselves before you.
Stewardship Moment:
It is Earth Day. As we come together preparing to bring our tithes and offerings, you may ask yourself how it ties in to the stewardship moment. Surely we are not taking a special offering for the earth, are we? Let me assure you that we are not. Yet each time we bring our gifts, in a way we are. When we seek to be a community which Reduces, Reuses, and Recycles, we are making an offering for Earth Day. When we seek to make each other aware of concerns for our call to be Stewards of God’s great creation, we are making an offering for Earth Day. When we take action to care for creation, we are making an offering for Earth Day. All of these ministries require some use of the tithes and offerings we bring. Some come, let us bring our gifts before God, that in turn we can help to care for all of God’s creation.
Offertory Prayer:
We come before you O God, bringing our gifts. We bring them not only because we love you, but because you first loved us. Use our gifts not only to grow your reign on earth, but also to seek to care for your creation, and to make your church a blessing to many. We offer them in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Communion Meditation:
We come to this table to remember Jesus and his loving sacrifice for all of us. We come using simple symbols: bread and cup. Perhaps a better way to say what I am getting at is we come to remember with grain from the earth and fruit of the vine. On days like today, Earth Day, it is valuable to remember that when we care for all of creation, we help to assure that what we need for this feast of remembrance is available. So come, enjoy the bountiful yield of God’s great creation as we remember our Lord and Savior.
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