Seventh Sunday of Easter Worship, May 24, 2020

May 24, 2020
​ Heart of the Matter

Prelude / Thayer French

We continue with our Easter Season because Easter isn’t just one day. This week we are invited to keep Jesus’ commandments–to love one another is to keep each other in our hearts. Every week we remind ourselves why we gather. We are forming a habit of spending time together, breaking bread together, praising God together and having goodwill for all the people. In the account of the early church, they did just that:

“Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people.”  (Acts 2: 46-47a)

We create a “temple” of worship in our hearts that connects us across boundaries, distance and time. But as we share this worship, we will stay connected. At the “heart of the matter,” we are connected through the Spirit that makes us one in love.

Opening Act of Centering Our Hearts as One

We are going to center our hearts as one to begin.
Let’s take a deep breath together [everyone breathes together].

I invite you to place your hand on your heart and
let’s lightly tap together in a slow heartbeat rhythm

Holy Living God,
Heartbeat of Creation,
help us to take this time to center on you,
for you made us,
you gave us life,
and you continue to be with us
every moment…
[wait a couple of beats]
every breath…
[wait a couple of beats]
every step.

Let us pick up our heart stone, sometimes called a “worry stone,”
and let our touch on its surface remind us that God’s touch is
within us, between us, and around us.
As close and real as this object is in our hands right now,
is how close Love is to us always.
Let us imagine letting go of our worries for now into God’s heart of love.

Opening Song / UMH#158  Come, Christians, Join to Sing ​

​Scripture Reading

Today we commemorate the moment when the disciples witnessed Jesus’ leaving this physical world. He had spent some quality time with them, helping them understand more about their faith and the continued mission that they must now carry on in the world. He asked them to encourage people to a change of heart–to believe in hope and life and love that was his message on earth. As we often do when we take our leave from someone we love, Jesus blessed his followers.

Reader: 
Jesus said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the Law from Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures. He said to them, “This is what is written: the Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and a change of heart and life for the forgiveness of sins must be preached in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. Look, I’m sending to you what my [Abba, God] promised, but you are to stay in the city until you have been furnished with heavenly power.”

He led them out as far as Bethany, where he lifted his hands and blessed them. As he blessed them, he left them and was taken up to heaven. They worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem overwhelmed with joy. And they were continuously in the temple praising God. - Luke 24: 44-53

Let us Pray:

O God, Holy One, our altar, our cloud
In the resurrection of your Son you have brought us into your temple.
Accept the sacrifices we offer, and draw us into the fire of your spirit;
through Christ our Lord. Amen. Alleluia

As we continue to worship from our homes and on our computers, let us Trust that this crisis will actually bring us closer to each other and Jesus.

Anthem / “Trust in the Lord” by Mark Hayes

Trust in the Lord--Mark Hayes--March 18, 2018 from Common Ground UMC on Vimeo.

To be the “body of Christ” as the church is to see the world through the eyes of Jesus–to see through the eyes of love. As Christ’s body here on earth, we try to create the same conditions of love that he did while he was here on earth. We hope that “the eyes of our hearts” can be continually opened, as the disciples’ were that day of Jesus’ ascension, so that we can be the best representation of his love here on earth. Perhaps we can see “ascension” with Christ as an “elevation” or “heightening” of our gratitude and of our commitment to do good in the world.

Message / Pastor Gil

Closing Song / UMH 454 Open my Eyes That I May See

​
Benediction

L: Joy to the world!
P: The Lord has come to earth.
L: Joy to the world!
P: Christ has risen from death itself.
L: Joy to the world!
P: Christ’s glory is ours to share.