Order of service: Sunday 17 May 2020

The Greeting

The light and peace of Jesus Christ be with you.

And also with you.

The glory of the Lord has risen upon us.

Let us rejoice and sing God’s praise for ever.

Alleluia. Christ is risen.

He is risen indeed. Alleluia.

Words of Welcome and Introduction

Hymn

Thou, whose almighty word
chaos and darkness heard,
and took their flight;
hear us, we humbly pray,
and, where the gospel-day
sheds not its glorious ray,
let there be light.

Thou, who didst come to bring
on thy redeeming wing,
healing and sight,
health to the sick in mind,
sight to the inly blind,
O now to all mankind
let there be light.

Spirit of truth and love,
life-giving, holy Dove,
speed forth thy flight;
move on the water’s face
bearing the lamp of grace,
and, in earth’s darkest place
let there be light.

Holy and blessèd Three,
glorious Trinity,
Wisdom, Love, Might;
boundless as ocean’s tide
rolling in fullest pride,
through the earth far and wide,
let there be light.

Prayers of Penitence

In baptism we died with Christ,
so that as Christ was raised from the dead,
we might walk in newness of life.
Let us receive new life in him
as we confess our sins in penitence and faith.

cf Romans 6.4

We have lived by our own strength,
and not by the power of your resurrection.

In your mercy, forgive us.

Lord, hear us and help us.

We have lived by the light of our own eyes,
as faithless and not believing.

In your mercy, forgive us.

Lord, hear us and help us.

We have lived for this world alone,
and doubted our home in heaven.

In your mercy, forgive us.

Lord, hear us and help us.

May the Father of all mercies
cleanse us from our sins,
and restore us in his image
to the praise and glory of his name,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Collect

(for The Sixth Sunday of Easter)

Let us pray.

God our redeemer,
you have delivered us
from the power of darkness
and brought us into the kingdom of your Son:
grant, that as by his death he recalled us to life,
so by his continual presence in us he may raise us to eternal joy;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

Amen.

Reading(s) from the Bible

A reading from the Acts of the Apostles.

Then Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, ‘Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way. For 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.
The 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, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things.
From 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 so 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.
For “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.” Since 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.
While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because 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.’
Acts 17: 22-31

This is the Word of the Lord

Thanks be to God.

Hymn

I, the Lord of sea and sky,
I have heard my people cry.
All who dwell in dark and sin
my hand will save.

I who made the stars of night,
I will make their darkness bright.
Who will bear my light to them?
Whom shall I send?

(Refrain)

Here I am, Lord. Is it I, Lord?
I have heard you calling in the night.
I will go, Lord, if you lead me.
I will hold your people in my heart.

I, the Lord of snow and rain,
I have borne my people’s pain,
I have wept for love of them.
They turn away.

I will break their hearts of stone,
give them hearts for love alone.
I will speak my word to them.
Whom shall I send?

Here I am, Lord…

I, the Lord of wind and flame,
I will tend the poor and lame.
I will set a feast for them.
My hand will save.

Finest bread I will provide
till their hearts be satisfied.
I will give my life to them.
Whom shall I send?

Here I am, Lord…

Gospel

Alleluia, alleluia.

Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life.

Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.’

John 6.40

Alleluia.

Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John.

Glory to you, O Lord.

Jesus said to his disciples:
‘If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you for ever. This 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. I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.
They 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.’
John 14.15-21

This is the Gospel of the Lord.

Praise to you, O Christ.

Sermon

An Easter Acclamation

Christ our passover has been sacrificed for us:

so let us celebrate the feast,

not with the old leaven of corruption and wickedness:

but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

1 Corinthians 5.7b, 8

Christ once raised from the dead dies no more:

death has no more dominion over him.

In dying he died to sin once for all:

in living he lives to God.

See yourselves therefore as dead to sin:

and alive to God in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Romans 6.9–11

Christ has been raised from the dead:

the first fruits of those who sleep.

For as by man came death:

by man has come also the resurrection of the dead;

for as in Adam all die:

even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

1 Corinthians 15.20–22

Glory be to God who made us
and to Christ who saved us
and to the Holy Spirit who keeps us in faith,

as it was in the beginning is now
and shall be for ever. Amen.

The risen Christ came and stood among his disciples
and said, ‘Peace be with you.’
Then were they glad when they saw the Lord. Alleluia.

John 20.19, 20

The peace of the risen Lord be always with you.

And also with you.

Hymn

Love is his word, love is his way,
feasting with all, fasting alone,
living and dying, rising again,
love, only love, is his way.

(Refrain)

Richer than gold is the love of my Lord:
better than splendour and wealth.

Love is his way, love is his mark,
sharing his last Passover feast,
Christ at the table, host to the twelve,
love, only love, is his mark.