SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER
May 9, 2021
Victorious through Faith
The Lord Jesus Is with His Church in the Apostolic Ministry of the Gospel
The crucified and risen Lord Jesus is with His Church through the word of His apostles, who “are witnesses of all that he did.” He was anointed by God “with the Holy Spirit and with power,” and “he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil,” and so He was with those whom He sent “to preach to the people” (Acts 10:38–42). The Holy Spirit is bestowed on those who hear that apostolic preaching, who are “baptized in the name of Jesus Christ,” so that “everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name” (Acts 10:43–44, 48). For as He came by the water of His Baptism, even to the blood of His Passion, so the Spirit testifies to the truth with “the water and the blood” in the apostolic ministry of the Gospel (1 John 5:6–7). By these means, Christ Jesus speaks to us, that His joy may be in us and that our “joy may be full.” For this purpose, He appointed the apostles to “go and bear fruit” in order to make known His divine friendship to us (John 15:11, 15–16).
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+ PREPARATION +
OPENING HYMN: #660 –Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus
INVOCATION
Pastor: In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
People: Amen.
OPENING SENTENCES Psalm 146:1–2, 5, 10
Pastor: Praise the Lord!
People: Praise the Lord, O my soul!
Pastor: I will praise the Lord as long as I live;
People: I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.
Pastor: Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
People: whose hope is in the Lord his God.
Pastor: The Lord will reign forever, your God, O Zion, to all generations.
People: Praise the Lord!
CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION
Pastor: As penitent people, we ask God for His grace and mercy. Let us now confess our sin to God, our merciful Father.
People: Gracious God, in heartfelt repentance we admit and confess our sinfulness. We are sin-stained people by nature. Each day we have sinned and done things we ought not to have done and have not done that which we are to have been doing as Your servants. We have not seen people in the loving way that You see them. We have not always been ready to care and quick to help. We do indeed deserve Your punishment in this life and for eternity. Trusting in Your mercy, we come to You for forgiveness. Our trust is in the merits of Your Son, our Savior Jesus Christ. Have mercy on us, O God. Grant us forgiveness of all our sins, and by the power of the Holy Spirit at work within our hearts and lives, lead us into ways that reflect Your goodness and love.
Pastor: God is loving and merciful. He sees us with loving eyes and graciously hears our supplications. By the command of our Lord and as His called and ordained servant, I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
People: Amen.
+ WORD +
PSALM Psalm 98
1Oh sing to the Lord a new song,
for he has done marvelous things!
His right hand and his holy arm
have worked salvation for him.
2The Lord has made known his salvation;
he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations.
3He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness
to the house of Israel.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation of our God.
4Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth;
break forth into joyous song and sing praises!
5Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre,
with the lyre and the sound of melody!
6With trumpets and the sound of the horn
make a joyful noise before the King, the Lord!
7Let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
the world and those who dwell in it!
8Let the rivers clap their hands;
let the hills sing for joy together
9before the Lord, for he comes
to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness,
and the peoples with equity.
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.
Risen and ascended Lord, while we were still in our sins, You chose us, laid down Your life for us, and called us friends. By Your great love for us, inspire us to love one another and to go out into the world to bear fruit according to Your promise; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
People: Amen.
FIRST READING Acts 10:34–48
(People from every nation are accepted by God.)
34Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, 35but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. 36As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all), 37you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: 38how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. 39And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, 40but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear, 41not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. 43To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
44While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. 45And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles. 46For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared, 47“Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” 48And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days.
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 5:1–14
(The victory of Christ overcomes the world.)
1Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. 2By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. 3For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. 4For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 5Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
6This is he who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. 7For there are three that testify: 8the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree. 9If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son. 10Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. 11And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
13I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life. 14And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.
Lector: This is the Word of the Lord.
People: Thanks be to God.
VERSE – Romans 6:9; John 16:33b
People: Alleluia. We know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over Him. Alleluia. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world. Alleluia.
HOLY GOSPEL John 15:9–17
(Obeying Christ’s commands and remaining in His love)
Pastor: The Holy Gospel according to St. John, the fifteenth chapter.
People: Glory to You, O Lord.
9[Jesus said:] “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. 11These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.
12“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13Greater love has no one than this, that someone lays down his life for his friends. 14You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. 16You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. 17These things I command you, so that you will love one another.”
Pastor: This is the Gospel of the Lord.
People: Praise to You, O Christ.
HYMN OF THE DAY #686 – Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing
SERMON – Victorious through Faith
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 T 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: … 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.
O God, the giver of all that is good, by Your holy inspiration grant that we may think those things that are right and by Your merciful guiding accomplish them; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
People: Amen.
BENEDICTION Numbers 6:24–26
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.
CLOSING HYMN: #478 – The Day of Resurrection
Creative Worship for the Lutheran Parish, Series B, Quarter 2. Copyright © 2020 Concordia Publishing House. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
