FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER

Use the scroll bar on the right side of the window below to read along with the service.

HE IS RISEN!!!!

May 8, 2022

The Lord Is Our Shepherd So We Shall Not Want

It is Good Shepherd Sunday, and the familiar twenty-third Psalm is echoed throughout our worship. Our Lord went through the valley of the shadow of death in our place, leading from death to eternal life. There is work to do before we get to eternity, for following our Shepherd entails confessing our faith even when death’s shadow falls on us. It means vigilance against wolves attacking amid Christ’s flock, as Paul warns in the First Reading. But in his vision, John tells us that Christ is now the victorious Lamb on His eternal throne. We can be confident that what we believe by faith we shall know by experience in the unending joy of the Father’s house.

+ Preparation +

OPENING HYMN: #482 – This Joyful Eastertide

INVOCATION

Pastor: In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.

People: Amen.

EASTER ACCLAMATION

Pastor: Alleluia! Christ is risen!

People: He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

OPENING SENTENCES Psalm 23:1, 6b; Revelation 7:17

Pastor: The Lord is my shepherd;

People: I shall not want.

Pastor: For the Lamb in the midst of the throne

People: will be their shepherd,

Pastor: and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

People: And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION

Pastor: Our help is in the name of the Lord,

People: who made heaven and earth.

Pastor: I said I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord,

People: and You forgave the iniquity of my sin.

Pastor: Lord, our God,

People: we confess that we have strayed from hearing the voice of Your Son, our Shepherd, who went through death to eternal life for us. We have failed to trust in You fully. We have sinned in our thoughts, words, and deeds. Forgive us and renew in us faith and trust. Grant us to hear anew our Shepherd’s voice and to follow wherever He leads, until we see Him with You in Your eternal house.

Pastor: Fellow sheep within Christ’s fold, our Lord Jesus was God’s sacrificial Lamb and has gone through death, paying for the sins of all people, and He now reigns in eternity. Therefore, in His stead and by His command, I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.

People: Amen.

+ WORD +

INTROIT Psalm 78:70–72; 79:13; antiphon: John 10:14, 15b

Pastor: I am the good shepherd. I know My own and My own know Me, and I lay down My life for the sheep.

Pastor: He chose David His servant and took him from the sheepfolds;

People: from following the nursing ewes He brought him to shepherd Jacob His people, Israel His inheritance.

Pastor: With upright heart he shepherded them

People: and guided them with his skillful hand.

Pastor: But we Your people, the sheep of Your pasture, will give thanks to You forever;

People: from generation to generation we will recount Your praise.

Pastor: Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

People: I am the good shepherd. I know My own and My own know Me, and I lay down My life for the sheep.

KYRIE

Pastor: Lord, have mercy on us.

People: Lord, have mercy on us.

Pastor: Christ, have mercy on us.

People: Christ, have mercy on us.

Pastor: Lord, have mercy on us

People: and grant us Your peace. Amen.

SALUTATION and PRAYER OF THE DAY

Pastor: The Lord be with you.

People: And also with you.

Pastor: Lord Jesus, our Good Shepherd, who has gone victoriously through death and into eternity for us, lead us through whatever trials may befall us here in time until we join to praise You in our Father’s house; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

People: Amen.

FIRST READING Acts 20:17–35

(Paul commends the word of grace to the church overseers as they care for the flock.)

¹⁷Now from Miletus [Paul] sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church to come to him. ¹⁸And when they came to him, he said to them:

“You yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia, ¹⁹serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews; ²⁰how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house, ²¹testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. ²²And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, ²³except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me. ²⁴But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. ²⁵And now, behold, I know that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom will see my face again. ²⁶Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all of you, ²⁷for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. ²⁸Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. ²⁹I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; ³⁰and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. ³¹Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish everyone with tears. ³²And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. ³³I coveted no one’s silver or gold or apparel. ³⁴You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities and to those who were with me. ³⁵In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

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

Pastor: Christ has risen from the dead.

People: God the Father has crowned Him with glory and honor,

Pastor: He has given Him dominion over the works of His hands;

People: He has put all things under His feet.

EPISTLE Revelation 7:9–17

(On the heavenly throne, John sees the Lamb who has conquered death and become the Shepherd.)

⁹After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, ¹⁰and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” ¹¹And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, ¹²saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”

¹³Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” ¹⁴I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

¹⁵“Therefore they are before the throne of God,
     and serve him day and night in his temple;
     and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.
¹⁶They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore;
     the sun shall not strike them,
     nor any scorching heat.
¹⁷For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd,
     and he will guide them to springs of living water,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

Lector: This is the Word of the Lord.

People: Thanks be to God.

VERSE Romans 6:9; John 10:14

Pastor: Alleluia. We know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over Him.

People: Alleluia. I am the good shepherd. I know My own and My own know Me. Alleluia.

HOLY GOSPEL John 10:22–30

(Jesus affirms that no one following His voice can be snatched from Him. He and the Father are one.)

Pastor: The Holy Gospel according to St. John, the tenth chapter.

People: Glory to You, O Lord.

²²At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, ²³and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon. ²⁴So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” ²⁵Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me, ²⁶but you do not believe because you are not part of my flock. ²⁷My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. ²⁸I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. ²⁹My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. ³⁰I and the Father are one.”

Pastor: This is the Gospel of the Lord.

People: Praise to You, O Christ.

HYMN OF THE DAY: #709 – The King of Love My Shepherd Is

SERMON: Because the Lord Is Our Shepherd We Shall Not Want

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

Pastor: Let us pray for ourselves, the Church around the world, and all people in their various conditions.

We pray for those who do not listen to the voice of the Good Shepherd, asking the Holy Spirit to give them opportunity to come to faith and join us in saying:

People: The Lord is my shepherd.

Pastor: We pray for all who lack the food, clothing, and shelter that they need for a fully human life, asking our Father in heaven to meet their needs using His caring people, including ourselves, for we are confident:

People: I shall not want.

Pastor: We pray for those falsely imprisoned or denied true justice, asking our Lord to free them and open doors of opportunity for them, as He so graciously has done for us:

People: He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.

Pastor: We pray for all who are depressed in spirit or unsure of God’s will for them, asking the Holy Spirit to lift them up and guide them, that with us they may rejoice to say:

People: He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.

Pastor: We pray for those who are facing sudden crises or long-term ills, and all who are grieving the loss of loved ones, [including . . .], asking our risen Lord to lift their eyes to His eternal home so that they may each declare:

People: Even 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.

Pastor: We pray for first responders and police at home and for armed forces deployed, asking our Father in heaven to guide and protect them, and for all who grow crops and tend herds that He would bless them with bountiful harvests so that they may thank Him, praying:

People: You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

Pastor: Finally, we pray for ourselves and all who gather around Word and Sacrament, that the Holy Spirit would keep us firm in the faith so that we may joyfully profess:

People: Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. 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.
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.

BENEDICTION

Pastor: The blessing of God Almighty—the Father who sent His own Lamb to rescue us, the + Son, whose voice we hear as our Good Shepherd, and the Holy Spirit, who nourishes our faith and trust in all the promises of God—be upon you, now and forever.

People: Amen.

EASTER ACCLAMATION

Pastor: Alleluia! Christ is risen!

People: He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

CLOSING HYMN: #725 – Children of the Heavenly Father

DISMISSAL

Pastor: Go in peace as you serve the Lord.

People: Thanks be to God.