Call to Celebration
God, as we gather today, we are reminded You are present to all people at all times.
Thank you for the gift of Your presence in our lives.
Holy One, You sent Jesus to show us Your love.
Thank you for the gift of Jesus.
Just as Jesus breathed the Holy Spirit into the disciples, The Spirit is available to us.
Thank you for the gift of the Holy Spirit.
God, may we use these gifts to be Your hands, feet, and voice. May we be your presence in the world.
Amen.
Offertory
God, it is with gratitude that we receive all you have provided. May the offerings we bring today be used to share Your love, make a difference in the world and establish your loving kin-dom on earth. Amen.
Service April 24
Scripture Lesson
Celebration of Earth Day
After sharing the Parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus asks the question: “Who is my neighbor?”
The Samaritan, the outcast, the enemy?
Yes, but who is else my neighbor? Jesus understood God’s compassion without restriction and neighbor as a limitation, but an opportunity for inclusive love.
The dolphin, manatee, insects, birds, the reefs and plants, and the rainforest.
Thank you for the gift of the Holy Spirit. God, may we use these gifts to be Your hands, feet, and voice.
May we be your presence in the world.
Amen.
Earth Day Prayer
We now turn our thoughts to the Creator Spirit and send greeting and thanks for all the gifts of creation. Everything we need to live a good life is here on Mother Earth. For all the love that there is still around us, we gather our mins together as one an send our choicest words of greetings and thanks to the Creator. The generosity of the land comes to us as one bowl, one spoon. We are all fed from the same bowl that Mother Earth has filled for us. It is not just about the berries, but also about the bowl. The gifts of the earth are to be shared. The moral covenant of reciprocity calls us to honor our responsibilities for all we have been given, for all we have taken…. Whatever our gift, we are called to give it and to dance for the renewal of the world.
Amen.
John 20:19-31 NIV
Jesus Appears to His Disciples
19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
Jesus Appears to Thomas
24 Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
The Purpose of John’s Gospel
30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.