Sunday, April 21, 2024

Theme:

How do we know we are loved? Is it by the way someone treats us?  Is it what someone says to us? Is it because someone is “nice” to us?  Is it because we feel cared for? We know love is important … but how do we really know we are loved?

God sets the example for us by loving us unconditionally. God doesn’t love us because of the things we do. In fact, it’s probably more like in spite of the things we do. God loves us period… and God calls us to love the same way. We learn to love this way because of the example God sets for us. We love because God first loved us. We are freed to love because of the example God sets for us.

Come join us as we continue our journey through 1 John and see what we can learn anew about God’s love.

Reflections:

Fourth Sunday of Easter

Introit: “The Lord’s My Shepherd, I’ll Not Want”, paraphrase of Psalm 23 from which comes our Call to Worship; verse 1, from those well-known opening verse.

Opening Hymn: Though it is a hymn of many diverse scriptural references, this ‘southern camp hymn’ does count John 10:18 as one of them; “Brethren We Have Come to Worship”.

Transition Hymn: For the month of April, “The Steadfast Love of the Lord” will be our transition hymn.

Special Music: “I Follow the Thing That Good Is”, by Hank Beebe.

Responsive Hymn: One of the favorite paraphrases of Psalm 23 in the English-speaking word, “The King of Love My Shepherd Is”. The title of ‘King of Love’ evokes for me the theme of the sermon.

Sending Hymn: A third paraphrase of Psalm 23 (hymns 801, 802, and 803) using a shape-note melody that ‘serves as a living stream to carry the text’: “My Shepherd Will Supply My Need”. The imagery of the Lord as shepherd, of course, explicitly ties each of these hymns to Luke 10 as well.

Benediction: Throughout the Easter season, we will sing the first verse of “Christ Is Alive!” as our benediction.