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LITURGY FOR WORSHIP AT HOME

Reformed Church of Port Ewen

Fifth Sunday in Easter

Sunday, May 10, 2020

+ You are encouraged to light a candle as you begin this service. When you light the candle

you may say: “Christ, you are the light of the world. In you, there is no darkness at all.

Amen.”

+ You are encourage to pour water in a bowl after the Prayer of Confession. Dip your hand

fingers in the water and make a sign of the cross on your forehead. In this way, you are not

re-baptizing yourself but you are reminding yourself of your baptism, of being washed clean

in Christ, of being claimed by God as His own forever.

+ If you are alone, you are encouraged to speak aloud all the readings and sayings, italicized and

bold, that follow.

+ If you are together with family or friends, you may designate one person to be the leader

(reading aloud the italicized words) while the rest of those gathered may respond (saying aloud

the words in bold).

+ A prayer list has been included at the bottom, generated from requests of those in our

community.

+ All the hymns and songs include links above the sheet music to recordings made by organist

and choir director Linda Bresnahan-McCarthy, with the assistance of her husband Harry.

The link will take you to Youtube.com so that you can listen and sing along!

+ There is a link below that will also take you to an audio recording of an Easter meditation by

Pastor Kevin.

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OPENING SENTENCES & CALL TO WORSHIP

God calls us into worship with these words:

Alleluia! Christ is Risen!

Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed.

Therefore, let us keep the feast!

— 1 Corinthians 5:7-8

HYMN OF PRAISE

“Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise” vv. 1, 3, 4,

Click this link to listen: https://youtu.be/Iq8R4khhDWQ

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CONFESSION & ASSURANCE

CALL TO CONFESSION

Scripture reminds us:

In repentance and rest is your salvation,

in quietness and trust is your strength,

but you would have none of it.

Yet the LORD waits to be gracious to you;

he rises to show compassion.

For the LORD is a God of justice;

blessed are all those who wait for him!

— Isaiah 30:15, 18

Let us repent from our endless wanderings and searchings, let us return home and find our rest in

God. For God is waiting with open arms to show us His grace and mercy.

PRAYER OF CONFESSION

Almighty God,

you have raised Jesus from the grace

and have crowned him Lord of all.

We confess that we have not bowed before him,

and have instead worshipped before idols.

We do not always acknowledge his rule in our lives,

instead giving our allegiance to other rulers and powers.

We have gone along with the ways of the world,

and have failed to give him the glory.

Forgive us and raise us from the death of our sin,

that we would be your faithful people,

obeying the commands of our Lord Jesus Christ,

who rules the world and is the head of his body, the church. Amen.

ASSURANCE OF FORGIVENESS

Hear this assurance of our forgiveness in Jesus Christ:

“Death has been swallowed up in victory.” “Where, O death, is your victory?

Where, O death, is your sting?”

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to

God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

— 1 Corinthians 15:54b-57

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GLORIA PATRI

Click this link to listen: https://youtu.be/MRs8_tXETZ0

SCRIPTURE LESSONS

PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION

As we prepare to hear God’s Word let us pray for God’s help:

God, like the disciples on the road to Emmaus, we do not always recognize

you when you are among us. Send your Holy Spirit this morning to open our

eyes to see and our ears to hear, that we would recognize you as we read your

holy word. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

PSALM 24

1 The earth is the LORD's and the fullness thereof,

the world and those who dwell therein, 2 for he has founded it upon the seas

and established it upon the rivers.

3 Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD?

And who shall stand in his holy place? 4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart,

who does not lift up his soul to what is false

and does not swear deceitfully. 5 He will receive blessing from the LORD

and righteousness from the God of his salvation. 6 Such is the generation of those who seek him,

who seek the face of the God of Jacob. Selah

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7 Lift up your heads, O gates!

And be lifted up, O ancient doors,

that the King of glory may come in. 8 Who is this King of glory?

The LORD, strong and mighty,

the LORD, mighty in battle! 9 Lift up your heads, O gates!

And lift them up, O ancient doors,

that the King of glory may come in. 10 Who is this King of glory?

The LORD of hosts,

he is the King of glory! Selah

RESPONSE TO READING OF SCRIPTURE

“Celtic Alleluia”

Click here to listen: https://youtu.be/lCgNQQeFrOc

MEDITATION ON PSALM 115

Click here to listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBmAKnQkOyA&list=PLz-

nShzrI4F93BrPVTSfcP-y0XZIMtlDv

(There are three short videos total!)

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CONFESSION OF THE FAITH: THE APOSTLES’ CREED

Let us confess together the faith that has been handed down to us through centuries:

I believe in God, the Father almighty,

creator of heaven and earth;

And in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord;

who was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit,

born of the virgin Mary,

suffered under Pontius Pilate,

was crucified, died, and was buried;

he descended to the dead.

On the third day he rose again;

he ascended into heaven,

he is seated at the right hand of the Father,

and he will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

the holy catholic Church,

the communion of saints,

the forgiveness of sins,

the resurrection of the body,

and the life everlasting. Amen.

PRAYERS OF THANKSGIVING AND INTERCESSION

+ During the following prayer, when prompted, you are invited to name specific things that you are thankful to

God for, or specific things and persons who are in need of prayer (intercession).

Father,

We praise you for you have created all things,

and all things belong to you.

Because of Jesus, in you we find a place to belong,

a home where we experience rest and peace,

a family to be a part of where we are loved and can love.

We praise you.

(silent prayers of thanksgiving for the ways God’s love has been made known to you may be offered)

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(silent prayers of intercession for those who long for the loving home of God but are marginalized,

ignored, told they don’t belong, or have not yet heard of Jesus’ love for them may be offered);

We praise you for the work of the Holy Spirit in us.

Help us to be attentive to see and to know where you are at work in us,

sanctifying us and making us more like Jesus,

calling us to lives of repentance and obedience.

Help us to be good stewards of our bodies,

which are not our own but belong to you,

that we would be faithful.

(silent prayers of thanksgiving for the gift of your body may be offered);

Help us to love one another in mutual love and care,

respecting the bodies and lives of others as those that belong to you.

Help us, your people, to especially pursue justice and to reject the sin of

racism, in which attempts are made to sinfully exert power and control over

black bodies and lives.

(silent prayers of intercession and repentance may be offered);

And now as our Savior Jesus Christ has taught us, we are bold to pray . . .

THE LORD’S PRAYER

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 debts,

as we forgive our debtors;

and lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom,

and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.

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HYMN OF SENDING

“Christ Arose!”

To listen click here: https://youtu.be/n-EqKKLnzjM

BENEDICTION

God sends us on our way with these words of comfort and peace:

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,

the love of God,

and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be ours now and forevermore. Amen.

— 2 Corinthians 13:14

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DOXOLOGY

To listen click here: https://youtu.be/eZdl1FqGCM8

Prayer List

World — The Coronavirus, governments, scientists and public health officials around the world

responding to the crisis, all those who put themselves at risk to care for the sick (church family); An

end to the coronavirus, A solution for the refugee crisis around the world, esp. Syria (K. Lamb;

Phyllis & Janet Hutton); Environmental protection and clean-up, (V. Rubeo); for all the homeless

(Phyllis & Janet Hutton).

Nation — President Donald J. Trump; Governor Andrew Cuomo; U.S. Senators Gillibrand and

Schumer; U.S. Representative Antonio Delgado

Church Worldwide — Persecuted Church (China, Nigeria, North Korea)

RCA — Oman Protestant Church and Bode Family, Al-Amanda Center

Mid-Hudson Classis — Rev. Eric Titus and St. John’s Reformed (Red Hook)

Petitions of healing, protection, and deliverance — Bea Hogan, Colleen Janssen, Elnora

McSpirit (Church Family); Neil Shah, Nancy Brinckerhoff (Glenn Knickerbocker); Jackie Reynolds

(B. Schlichting); Ian McKellar, Adrienne Dykeman, all essential workers and those who’ve lost their

jobs (Rhoda family); Bob Holmes (Jayne Holmes); Frank Auringer (Van Aken family); Fran Hagan

(B. Lalor); Adriene Kelley, Don Every, Bill Loughlin (Kinsch family); Joseph Sutton (C. Sutton);

Katie and Randy Allwardt (K. Slusher); Rev. Eric Titus & family (J. Nolting); Family of Kevin (S.

Goodrich); Linda Beatty, Cathy & Jerry Every (E. McSpirit); Tom Bauer, Patty Van Voorhis (J.

Pade); Cathy Schoonmaker, LeeAnne Hunlock, Taylor Block, Fred Rhoda (Bresnahan-McCarthy

family); Mary Van Deusen, Stevie, Gordon Still, Ginny Clark (C. Van Deusen); Blake Parker

(Stickley family)

Homebound/nursing homes/institutions — Pauline Wyre, Verna Allen, Lucille Van

Steenburgh, Bea Hogan, Dan Terpening, Martha Koelli, Marie Klippel

Grieving — Family & friends of: Cathy Seimer, Rosemary Becker, Jeff Westfall, Rev. Allan

Janssen, Karen Ashline, Jon Michael Hutton, Jacqueline Helmer.

Praise & Thanksgiving — Jackie Reynolds is off ventilator and is home recovering (B.

Schlichting); Randy Allwardt being released from the hospital; Birth of Ila Blair Noel Banks (J.

Loring).

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A Prayer for Mother’s Day

God,

you tenderly nurture and care for us,

gathering us under your wings of shelter and protection,

as a mother hen gathers her chicks (Psalm 91:4; Matthew 23:37).

We praise you for all the mothers in our lives

who have faithfully reflected your love to us,

who have nurtured, protected, and sheltered us,

and most importantly, who have taught us the faith.

We praise you for their love, their sacrifice.

We also know that your family — the family of God —

is not bound by biological blood, but is bound by the blood of the lamb.

Jesus said whoever does your will is our mother, brother, and sister (Matthew 12:50).

So we thank you for all the mothers in our spiritual family,

those saints who have taught us the faith,

gathering us in your love and your way —

Pastors and Sunday School teachers,

teachers and mentors,

and the women with no children of their own but who have given their lives to the church.

You call us to rejoice with those who rejoice,

and to mourn with those who mourn (Romans 12:15).

Today, as we rejoice and celebrate our mothers,

we also mourn this year that so many are spending this day apart due to Covid-19.

We mourn also with those whose mothers have died,

or those mothers who have buried a child

and for whom this day will always carry pain and emptiness.

We mourn with those who have desired to have children and a family of their own,

but for whatever reasons have not had that dream realized.

Comfort them and speak to them the promise and hope of their future:

“Sing, O barren one who did not bear;

burst into song and shout,

you who have not been in labor!

For the children of the barren woman will be more

than that of her that is married, says the Lord.” (Isaiah 54:1)

We mourn with those for whom today is a painful day

due to estranged and broken relationships,

For those whose mothers were abusive — emotionally, mentally, physically, spiritually.

For all the things of joy, we give you praise.

And for all that is not, we lament and long for your healing.

In the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.