We welcome everyone to our In-Person and Virtual Worship Service during Eastertide.
If you know anyone who wants to register for the virtual services, they can signup at https://portwallisunitedchurch.ca/virtual as everyone logging in needs their own registration. ALL are welcome!
Masks/vaccinations are highly encouraged for in-person services
Service Documents to view/print at home.
Eastertide 7 May 2023
Port Wallis United Church
is an open Congregation that affirms you as a child of God,
made in God’s Image, and loved by God.
MUSICAL PRELUDE
WELCOME / BIENVENUE / FAILTE / PJILA’DIK
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF LAND
CALL TO WORSHIP
Hallelujah! Christ is risen!
Christ is risen indeed. Hallelujah!
INTROIT (#37 in Voices United)
Gloria, Gloria, in excelsis Deo!
Gloria, Gloria, Alleluia! Alleluia!
LIGHTING OF THE CHRIST CANDLE
Eternal Light born of the Eternal Light.
You are the Light of the Father’s Presence,
God’s Radiance and God’s Glory,
You are the Light of the Heavenly Hosts
and the Light of every person who comes into this World; through Your Resurrection
You bestow new Life on all people
and bring us to the Light of your Father’s Kingdom;
bring us, at the End, to the Light of Your Eternal Day
from which we shall never be again exiled.
We light now this candle
Remembering that Jesus Christ is the Light of the World,
the Light that shines in the darkness
and which the darkness has not overcome.
Blessed is Jesus Christ our Lord, the Light of the World.
Hallelujah! Christ is risen!
Christ is risen indeed. Hallelujah!
Let the mighty chorus resound again! Hallelujah!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Let us echo the everlasting song of the redeemed: Christ is risen! Hallelujah!
HYMN # 664 (VU) WHAT A FRIEND WE HAVE IN JESUS
SCRIPTURE LESSONS
First Lesson: Acts 7: 55 – 60
HYMN RESPONSE: # 59 (MV) ALLELUIA! PRAISE TO GOD
Psalm 31
Be strong and take heart!
All you who hope in the LORD!
1 In You, O LORD, I take refuge, let me never be put to shame;
deliver me, O LORD, in your righteousness.
2 Turn your ear to me, come quickly to my rescue;
be my rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me.
3 Since You are my rock and my fortress,
I know that You will lead and guide me
for the sake of your name.
4 Keep me free from the trap that is set for me,
for You are my refuge.
5 Into your hands I commend my spirit, O LORD;
deliver me for You are faithful, O God.
Be strong and take heart!
All you who hope in the LORD!
6 I reject those who cling to worthless idols;
I trust in the LORD!
7 I am glad and will rejoice in your love,
for You see my affliction
and You know the anguish of my soul.
8 You have not given me into the hands of the enemy
but have set my feet in a spacious place.
9 Be merciful to me, O LORD, in my distress;
my eyes grow weak with tears,
my soul and body are weighed down with worry.
10 My life is consumed by anguish and my future with fears,
my strength fails me, and my bones grow weak.
11 This is all because of all my enemies,
Be strong and take heart!
All you who hope in the LORD!
I am held in utter contempt of my neighbours
I am an object of dread to my closest friends—
those who see me cross the street to get away from me.
12 I am forgotten as though I were dead;
I have become like broken pottery – useless and rejected.
13 I hear the whispers of many around me,
“Look out! Beware!”
They conspire against me and plot to take my life.
Be strong and take heart!
All you who hope in the LORD!
14 I will trust in You, O LORD,
I will say to those around me, “The LORD is my God!”
15 My times are in your hands;
deliver me from the hands of my enemies,
deliver me from the hands of those who pursue me.
16 Let your face shine upon me;
save me in your unfailing love.
17 Let me not be put to shame as I cry out to you;
let the wicked be put to shame,
let the ungodly be silent in the realm of the dead.
18 Let their lying lips be silenced!
Let all be silenced who with pride and contempt
speak arrogantly against the righteous.
19 You have stored up an abundance of good things
for those who revere You,
and You bestow these good things in the sight of all,
You bestow them on all who take refuge in You.
20 In the quiet, calm of your presence, You shelter your children from all human intrigues;
You keep us safe in your sanctuary from accusing tongues.
21 Praise be to the LORD,
who has shown me the wonders of a love
that will not let me go.
when my life was under siege, I said, in my alarm,
“I am cut off from the sight of God!”
Yet you heard my cry for mercy
when I called to You for help.
23 O people of God, O faithful people,
The LORD will preserve all who are true and upright,
but the LORD will scatter the proud and the arrogant!
Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the LORD!
24 Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the LORD!
Be strong and take heart!
All you who hope in the LORD!
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end, Amen.
Epistle Lesson: 1 Peter 2: 2 – 10
HYMN RESPONSE: # 92 (MV) LIKE A ROCK
Gospel Lesson: John 14: 1 – 14
HYMN RESPONSE: # 167 (MV) HUSH! HUSH!
A TEACHING TIME (a time of learning for younger folk)
TEACHING PRAYER
In peace, dear God, I come to You
through Jesus Christ who makes me new
And while I run or play or rest,
be with those whom I love best,
Guide me in your Holy Way,
as You walk with me each day, AMEN.
HYMN # 45 (MV) YOU ARE HOLY
REFLECTION ON THE SCRIPTURE LESSONS – SERMON
OFFERING HYMN # 191 (MV) WHAT CAN I DO?
PASTORAL PRAYER and the LORD’S PRAYER
HYMN # 684 (VU) MAKE ME A CHANNEL
BENEDICTION
May the blessing of the Maker be yours,
Encircling us, above us and within us.
May the blessing of the Son be yours,
The Wine and the water, the Bread and the stories,
to feed us and remind us.
May the blessing of the Spirit be yours,
The wind and the fire, the still small voice of calm,
to comfort us and disturb us.
May the blessing of God, Three-in-One and One-in-Three,
be yours, this day and every day,
To protect us, defend us, encourage us and strengthen us.
And may we bless each other,
A blessing rooted in our common pilgrimage,
the blessing of a friend.
EXCHANGING OF THE PEACE OF CHRIST
CHORAL PARTING PRAYER # 212 (in More Voices)
Sent out in Jesus’ Name Our hands are ready now
To make the world the place In which the Kingdom comes.
Sent out in Jesus’ Name Our hands are ready now
To make the world the place In which the Kingdom comes.
The Angels cannot change A world of hurt and pain
Into a world of love, of justice and of peace.
The task is ours to do To set it really free
O, help us to obey And carry out your will.
ROYAL ANTHEM
then
O CANADA
ANNOUNCEMENTS FOR THE CHURCH COMMUNITY