Starling Avenue Baptist Church Sixth Sunday of Easter May 14, 2023 ╬ 11:00 a.m.
TheWorshipofGod
Sixth Sunday of Easter
May 14, 2023 ╬ 11:00 a.m.
*We invite you to stand as you are able.
Gathering at God’s Invitation
Welcome AngelaZimmerman
The peace of Christ be with you. And also with you.
CalltoWorship
Let the righteous be joyful! Let them rejoice before God.
Let us all be jubilant with joy!
Sing to God, all peoples of the world. Sing praises to God most high. God gives life and renews the face of the earth.
Let the righteous be joyful! Let them rejoice before God.
Let us all be jubilant with joy!
LightingoftheChristCandle
AngelaZimmerman
We light the Christ candle as a reminder that Christ is the one who has drawn us to this place, abides with us now, and is with us to the end of the age.
Prelude Jesus, the Very Thought of Thee
LifeoftheCommunity
Offering Ourselves to God
JohnDykes,arr.FredBock
AnneStultz
*Hymn#261 Onward, Christian Soldiers ST.GERTRUDE
ScriptureReading Psalm68:1-10
The Word of God for the People of God
Thanks Be to God.
PrayerofConfession
AngelaZimmerman
AnneStultz
It is in our confession where we realize our desire for God and our hope for God’s mercy. It is in admitting the truth of our lives that we take the first step toward wholeness and healing. So let us make our confession.
God of all the saints, God of all the sinners, Hear our prayer. We would be saintlike – holy, good, patient, loving. But we end up feeling more like sinners – full of failures of morality, selfish, mean. Perhaps You see us simply as human – as beloved, and flawed, and trying, and failing, and succeeding.
In all of this, forgive the wrong that we have done, and the bless the good we have accomplished.
Keep on loving us, and helping us, and molding us more and more into the image of Christ. Amen.
AssuranceofPardon
Friends, hear this Good News: the love of God is beyond measure, and you are included in that love. Know that you are forgiven and thus freed to love and serve. Alleluia! Amen.
*Hymn
#639 Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus
GivingourTithesandOfferings
WEBB
OffertoryPrayer WilliamFain
Offertory In Times Like These RuthCageJones,arr.FredBock
*Doxology(Hymn#706)
Praise God from whom all blessings flow; praise Him, all creatures here below; praise Him above, ye heavenly host, praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Amen.
Listening to God
AMother’sDayPrayerLitany
Like a mother eagle teaching her young to fly, you push us to stretch our wings and risk falling, yet you do not abandon us but lift us up protecting us from evil.
We thank you, loving God.
Like a mother bear, furious when her cubs are in danger, you bring justice on those who oppress the young.
We thank you, loving God.
Your Spirit comforts us as one whom a mother comforts.
We thank you, loving God.
Holy Spirit, you are everywhere the Lord and Giver of life. We praise you for the gift of mothers through whom you give us life.
We thank you for their willingness to nurture life, for their trust in you to guide them through the labor of childbirth, the uncertainties of youth, the letting go of young adulthood.
We thank you for all those women, who did not give us birth, but through whom you give us abundant life.
We thank you for school teachers, aunts, grandmothers, sisters, pastors, deacons, Sunday School teachers, supervisors, and friends who share wisdom.
We ask your loving care for those who feel despair and brokenness because their dreams of motherhood were not fulfilled.
Grant them your love and healing.
We ask your tender mercies on all those whose mothers now sing with the heavenly chorus, for those whose tears are not yet dry.
Grant them your peace, which passes understanding.
We ask for your comforting presence on those mothers who have buried sons and daughters.
Grant them the grace to trust their loved ones to your never-ending care.
We pray for those who are alienated from their mothers by harsh words, distance, misunderstanding.
Grant them your grace to forgive and to love again.
We pray for mothers whose children met a violent death.
Deliver them from anguish.
We pray for mothers who work but cannot earn enough to feed and clothe and educate their children. Wake us to our responsibility for common welfare.
We pray for mothers who are dying of AIDS, cancer, and other diseases for which we know no cure. Raise up among us caregivers for their children and expand our compassion. We pray for mothers who are guardians for grandchildren whose parents are unable or unwilling to care.
Grant them courage and strength and patience for the living of each day.
We pray for mothers whose children face limitations of intelligence, emotional, or physical ability. Deliver them from hovering; grant them wisdom to encourage each child’s full potential with you.
We pray for mothers whose sons and daughters defend our way of life as firefighters, officers of the law, and in the military.
Grant them confidence in your presence with their children in life, in death, in life beyond death.
And now with the bold confidence of beloved children, we pray as Jesus taught his friends to pray: 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. Amen.
Anthem “I Worship Only at The Feet of Jesus”
*ScriptureReading
John17:1-11
arr.DonSchlosser
AngelaZimmerman
For the Word of God in Scripture, for the Word of God among us, for the Word of God within us.
Thanks be to God
Sermon
“JesusPraysforus”
Responding to God’s Word
DisciplineofSilence
AngelaZimmerman
To be in God’s presence is to be changed. During this moment of silent reflection, consider the change God wishes to make in you.
*Hymn#553
When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder
ROLLCALL
If you sense God calling you today, we invite you to respond during this time of invitation. If God is calling you to follow Jesus for the first time, to rededicate yourself as a Christ-follower, or as a faithful Christian, to join the fellowship of our church, we encourage you to come forward to speak to our pastor during this closing hymn.
Sending Into God’s World
Benediction
AngelaZimmerman
Postlude Crown Him with Many Crowns/My Faith Looks Up to Thee GeorgeL.Elvey, arr.LowellMason
