HE IS RISEN!
FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER
April 25, 2021
Love In Deed and In Truth
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HE IS RISEN!
+ PREPARATION +
OPENING HYMN: I Am Jesus’ Little Lamb
INVOCATION
Pastor: In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
People: Amen.
OPENING SENTENCES 1 John 3:16a, 24; John 10:11, adapted
Pastor: Alleluia! Christ is risen!
People: He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
Pastor: By this we know love,
People: that He laid down His life for us.
Pastor: “I am the good shepherd,” says the Lord.
People: The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.
Pastor: Whoever keeps His commandments abides in God, and God in him.
People: And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.
CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION Psalm 23; John 10:11
Pastor: The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures.
People: Lord Jesus, our Good Shepherd, we confess to You that we have been ungrateful for all You give us to sustain our bodies and lives. Like sheep, we are distracted and tend to wander and scatter. We forget who we are as baptized children of God and fail to respond to Your shepherding in our lives. We confess that in difficult times of life, we sometimes struggle to be confident in Your presence and protection, seeking to find our own comfort. As we journey through this sinful world, we overlook the goodness and mercy that flow into our lives from You.
Pastor: Jesus, our Good Shepherd, hears our cries and says to us, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.” Receive the forgiveness won for You through Christ’s laying down His life and rising from death in victory. As a called and ordained servant of Christ, and by His authority, I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
People: Amen. Thanks be to God.
+ WORD +
PSALM Psalm 23
1The Lord is my shepherd;
I shall not want.
2He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
3He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
4Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil, for you are with me;
your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
5You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
6Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
KYRIE
Pastor: Christ, the Lamb of God, who saved us while we were still sinners,
People: have mercy on us.
Pastor: Christ, the Lamb of God, once lifted upon the tree of the cross,
People: have mercy on us.
Pastor: Christ, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world,
People: have mercy on us and grant us Your peace. Amen.
SALUTATION and PRAYER OF THE DAY
Pastor: The Lord be with you.
People: And also with you.
Pastor: Let us pray.
Almighty God, merciful Father, since You have wakened from death the Shepherd of Your sheep, grant us Your Holy Spirit that when we hear the voice of our Shepherd we may know Him who calls us each by name and follow where He leads; through the same Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
People: Amen.
FIRST READING Acts 4:1–12
(Peter and John witness before the council.)
1As they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, 2greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. 3And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. 4But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand.
5On the next day their rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem, 6with Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family. 7And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, “By what power or by what name did you do this?” 8Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, 9if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, 10let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. 11This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. 12And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
Lector: This is the Word of the Lord.
People: Thanks be to God.
GRADUAL adapt. from Matthew 28:7; Hebrews 2:7; Psalm 8:6
Christ has risen from the dead.
God the Father has crowned Him with glory and honor,
He has given Him dominion over the works of His hands;
He has put all things under His feet.
EPISTLE 1 John 3:11–24
(Love one another.)
11For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. 12We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous. 13Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you. 14We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. 15Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
16By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. 17But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? 18Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.
19By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; 20for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. 21Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; 22and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. 23And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. 24Whoever keeps his commandments abides in him, and he in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.
Lector: This is the Word of the Lord.
People: Thanks be to God.
VERSE –Romans 6:9; John 10:14
Alleluia. We know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over Him. Alleluia. I am the good shepherd. I know My own and My own know Me. Alleluia.
HOLY GOSPEL John 10:11–18
(Jesus the Good Shepherd)
Pastor: The Holy Gospel according to St. John, the tenth chapter.
People: Glory to You, O Lord.
11[Jesus said:] “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 14I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 18No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”
Pastor: This is the Gospel of the Lord.
People: Praise to You, O Christ.
HYMN OF THE DAY: The King of Love My Shepherd Is
SERMON: Love In Deed and In Truth
NICENE CREED
I believe in one God, the Father Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth
and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the only-begotten Son of God,
begotten of His Father before all worlds,
God of God, Light of Light,
very God of very God,
begotten, not made,
being of one substance with the Father,
by whom all things were made;
who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven
and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary
and was made man;
and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate.
He suffered and was buried.
And the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures
and ascended into heaven
and sits at the right hand of the Father.
And He will come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead,
whose kingdom will have no end.
And I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord and giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified,
who spoke by the prophets.
And I believe in one holy Christian and apostolic Church,
I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins,
and I look for the resurrection of the dead
and the life + of the world to come. Amen.
PRAYER OF THE CHURCH
After each petition:
Pastor: … Lord, in Your mercy:
People: hear our prayer.
At conclusion:
Pastor: … You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
People: Amen.
LORD’S PRAYER Matthew 6:9–13
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 and ever. Amen.
CLOSING PRAYER
Pastor: Let us pray.
Risen Lord, You are the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for the sheep. They are Yours, and nothing will snatch them from Your hand. In the love You’ve shown and the perfect love we know through Your Spirit, empower Your flock to reach others, that all may be guided by Your shepherding grace; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
People: Amen.
BENEDICTION 1 John 3:16a; John 10:11; Hebrews 13:20; Numbers 6:24–26
People: that He laid down His life for us.
Pastor: “I am the good shepherd,” says the Lord.
People: The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.
Pastor: Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever.
People: Amen.
Pastor: The Lord bless you and keep you.
The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you.
The Lord look upon you with favor and + give you peace.
People: Amen.
Pastor: Alleluia! Christ is risen!
People: He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
CLOSING HYMN: Savior, like a Shepherd Lead Us
Creative Worship for the Lutheran Parish, Series B, Quarter 2. Copyright © 2020 Concordia Publishing House. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
