May 2 @ St. Paul's UMC: Worship

Fifth Sunday of Easter

Today’s Meditation Verse: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vineyard keeper.”     — John 15:1 (CEB)

Prelude: “Morning Has Broken,” (arranged by Don Husted)— Louise C.

Call to Worship (Psalm 22:25, 27, 30-31 CEB)—Pastor Charles (Leader) and Tim C. (People)

Leader: I offer praise in the great congregation because of You;

People: I will fulfill my promises in the presence of those who honor God.

Leader: Every part of the earth will remember and come back to the Lord;

People: Every family among all the nations will worship you.

Leader: Future descendants will serve Him; generations to come will be told about my Lord.

People: They will proclaim God’s righteousness to those not yet born, telling them what God has done.

Hymn: “All Glory, Laud, and Honor” Verses 1 & 2 led by Louise C. and Tim C.

“The May Magnificat" Gerald Manley Hopkins (1844-1889)—Tim C.

May is Mary’s month, and I Muse at that and wonder why: Her feasts follow reason, Dated due to season— Candlemas, Lady Day; But the Lady Month, May, Why fasten that upon her, With a feasting in her honour? Is it only its being brighter Than the most are must delight her? Is it opportunist And flowers finds soonest? Ask of her, the mighty mother: Her reply puts this other Question: What is Spring?— Growth in everything— Flesh and fleece, fur and feather, Grass and greenworld all together; Star-eyed strawberry-breasted Throstle above her nested Cluster of bugle blue eggs thin Forms and warms the life within; And bird and blossom swell In sod or sheath or shell. All things rising, all things sizing Mary sees, sympathizing With that world of good, Nature's motherhood. Their magnifying of each its kind With delight calls to mind How she did in her stored Magnify the Lord. Well but there was more than this: Spring’s universal bliss Much, had much to say To offering Mary May. When drop-of-blood-and-foam-dapple Bloom lights the orchard-apple And thicket and thorp are merry With silver-surfed cherry And azuring-over greybell makes Wood banks and brakes wash wet like lakes And magic cuckoocall Caps, clears, and clinches all— This ecstasy all through mothering earth Tells Mary her mirth till Christ’s birth To remember and exultation In God who was her salvation.

Community prayer requests, concerns, and celebrations—Pastor Charles Pastoral Prayer—Pastor Charles

Gospel Lesson: John 15:1-8—Tim C.

Musical Offering: “I Love You, Lord” (by Laurie Klein) — Louise C.

                   

Epistle Lesson: Acts 8:26-40—Pastor Charles

Sermon: “Road trip!”—Pastor Charles

Communion/The Lord’s Prayer

Receiving Together

Hymn: “This Is the Day” led by Louise C. and Tim C.

Words for the Journey—Pastor Charles 

Postlude: “This is the Day” — Alpha & Omega