Prelude

Lighting the Christ Candle

Call to Worship:
Like trees planted by streams of water, we are nurtured and strengthened, as we gather in community, in person and online, to celebrate God's love and grace. As we come together to worship, study and pray; as we come together to work and to play, we come to know who we are and that, by faith and in faith, we are continually and constantly nourished. We bear fruit in its season, and our leaves do not wither. We come with listening ears and hearts.

Opening Hymn: “Jesus Calls Us' ” # 562 VU (Vs. 1, 2 & 5)
1. Jesus calls us; o'er the tumult of our life's wild restless sea,
day by day his clear voice sounding, saying, “Christian, follow me.”

2. Long ago apostles heard it by the Galilean lake,
turned from home and toil and kindred, leaving all for Jesus' sake.

5. Jesus calls us: by your mercies, Saviour, may we hear your call,
give our hearts to your obedience, serve and love you best of all.

Opening Prayer and the Lord's Prayer: # 921 VU
Every day, everywhere God, God who is love, we come to worship this day gathered together in person or online as a community called Third Avenue United Church. On this last Sunday of the Easter season, we celebrate the gifts of Easter and the resurrection, the new life and hope that are a part of being an Easter people. We come to celebrate the gifts and the wonder of creation and of springtime. May what we share this day renew our sense of wonder and of awe. As we lift our voices in praise may our spirits be open to love and grace. As we open our minds to learn may we come to see and to know our place and our purpose in the scheme of the universe; as we open our hands and our lives to service may we be open to mystery, Holy Mystery. We pray in Jesus' name joining to pray the prayer that Jesus taught, saying or softly singing, “Our Father, who art in heaven, . . . .”    Amen.

A Reading from the Book of Acts: 1: 15 - 17, 21 - 26
In those days Peter stood up among the believers (together the crowd numbered about one hundred twenty persons) and said, “Friends, the scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit through David foretold concerning Judas, who became a guide for those who arrested Jesus- for he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry.” So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us-one of these must become a witness with us to his resurrection." So they proposed two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also known as Justus, and Matthias. Then they prayed and said, “Lord, you know everyone's heart. Show us which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles.

Time with the Young and the Young at Heart:

Hymn:“I, the Lord of Sea and Sky” # 509 VU (Vs. 1 & 2)
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.

1. I, the Lord of sea and sky, I have heard my people cry.
All who dwell in deepest 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

2. 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? Refrain

A Time of Reflective Confession:
Questions for reflection are based on John 17: 6 - 19

Jesus prayed a prayer for his followers, that they may be one.
What divisions must we lay aside? ( silence)

Jesus prayed a prayer for his followers, that they may be protected.
What must we do to guard and keep each other? (silence)

Jesus prayed a prayer for his followers, that joy may be complete.
What holds us back from complete joy? (silence)

Jesus prayed a prayer for his followers, that they may be sanctified in truth. What truth do we need today? (silence)
     (Seasons of the Spirit , SeasonsFusion Lent - Easter 2012 p 180)

Words of Assurance
Let us receive the assurance of these prayers, and may unity, caring, joy and truth be the fruit we bear in the world. Amen.
     (Seasons of the Spirit , SeasonsFusion , Lent - Easter 2012 page 180)

Halle, Halle, Halle: Sing Twice  # 958 VU {Please Stand}
HALLE, HALLE, HALLELUYAH, HALLE, HALLE, HALLELUYAH
HALLE, HALLE, HALLELUYAH, HALLELUYAH, HALLELUYAH.

A Reading from the Psalms: 1 Pg. 724 VU   
Refrain: Blessed are those who follow the law of God.

Blessed are those who do not follow the counsel of the wicked, or linger in the way of sinners, or sit down among those who mock.
But their delight is in the law of God, and on that law they meditate day and night.
They are like trees planted beside streams of water, yielding their fruit in due season.
Their leaves do not wither, and whatever they produce shall prosper.   Refrain
As for the wicked, it is not so with them,
but they are like the chaff, driven away by the wind.
Therefore the wicked shall not be able to stand when judgement comes, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
For God watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.   Refrain

A Reading from the Gospel of John:  17: 6 - 19
I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them in your name that you have given me. I guarded them, and not one of them was lost except the one destined to be lost, so that the scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth. This is the one who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ, not with the water only but with the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one that testifies, for the Spirit is the truth.

Hymn: “Will You Come and Follow Me”# 567 VU (Vs. 1, 4 & 5 )
1. Will you come and follow me if I but call your name?
Will you go where you don't know and never be the same?
Will you let my love be shown, will you let my name be known,
will you let my life be grown in you and you in me?

4. Will you love the "you" you hide if I but call your name?
Will you quell the fear inside and never be the same?
Will you use the faith you've found to reshape the world around,
through my sight and touch and sound in you and you in me?

5. Christ, your summons echoes true when you but call my name.
Let me turn and follow you and never be the same.
In your company I'll go where your love and footsteps show.
Thus I'll move and live and grow in you and you in me.

Invitation to the Offering:
May the gifts we make today express our gratitude for the gifts of love and grace with which we are blessed. Together with these gifts we offer ourselves and our service.

Offertory

Doxology: “Grant Us, God, the Grace” (Tune # 540 VU)
Grant us, God, the grace of giving, with a spirit large and free,
that ourselves and all our living we may offer faithfully.

Prayer
We have a wonderful world in which we live and from which we learn. We have gifts of love and grace, tasks to do, "Good News" to share. We have prayers to pray, scripture to read and to contemplate, worship to share in community. So, in gratitude and faithfulness we make this offering. Amen.

Sharing our Joys and Concerns  (if the joy or concern you wish to bring is not your own please seek the agreement of the person to whom it belongs before bringing it on their behalf )

Prayers of the People: (# 400 VU Lord Listen to Your Children Praying)
Lord, listen to your children praying,
Lord, send your Spirit in this place;
Lord, listen to your children praying,
send us love, send us power, send us grace!

God who is love, Holy Mystery, Source of life, Creator of all, we give thanks that we are together whether we have come in person or have joined on line. We come with praise, celebration and hope for renewal. We give thanks for believers everywhere, for that great cloud of witnesses that have gone before us. May we each and all know your presence and be touched by your love at the point and in the time of our need. We lift and offer our hurts, our disappointments, our hopes and our dreams. We come seeking guidance for decisions about our relationships and our living. We come with concerns about our health and the health of others round the world as we continue to face the challenges of the covid-19 corona virus pandemic. We come in grief and sorrow about the losses, the suffering. O God, hear our prayers. May we find the wisdom we need to sort out the different influences and opportunities in our lives as we strive to live as disciples, faithful followers of Christ. We pray that our words and deeds are such that we are numbered among the blessed, that we are and will be among the humble and poor in spirit, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, those who show and are shown mercy, the pure in heart, and the peacemakers. We think we know what is asked of us and we pray in faith and hope for the coming of your kin-dom. May we truly love one another as we are loved by the One, who first loved us. Amen.
     (Seasons of the Spirit , SeasonsFusion , Lent - Easter 2021 page 181)

Closing Hymn: “We Meet You, O Christ” # 183 VU (Vs.1 - 3)
1. We meet you, O Christ, in many a guise;
your image we see in simple and wise.
You live in a palace, exist in a shack.
We see you, the gardener, a tree on your back.

2. In millions alive, away and abroad,
involved in our life you live down the road.
Imprisoned in systems you long to be free.
We see you, O Jesus, still bearing your tree.

3. We hear you, O Man (or Christ), in agony cry.
For freedom you march, in riots you die.
Your face in the papers we read and we see.
The tree must be planted by human decree.

Commissioning and Benediction:
And so, on this last Sunday of the Easter season we say, Hallelujah! Christ is risen! Christ is risen indeed. Hallelujah! Now we are an Easter people! Now we are the people of the risen Christ! Now we are disciples. Now we are the people who go out into the world living the love of God, sharing the peace of Christ, being the community of the Holy Spirit as we bring the new life of Easter to everyone we meet. Now we are disciples. Christ is risen. Hallelujah!
     Written by Fern Gibbard Gathering, Lent/Easter 2021, page 38 adapted Used with permission.

Choral Amen - Postlude  (We ask that people remain standing (those that are able) until the Christ candle is extinguished.)

Lectionary Reading for Day of Pentecost Whitsunday, May 23, 2021
     Acts 2:1-21;  Psalm 104:25-35, 37;  Romans 8:22-27;  John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15.

May 15, 2021