Crandall United Methodist Church

Worship Guide

April 28, 2024

Fifth Sunday of Easter

Creating Disciples of Jesus who Transform the World

ENTRANCE WITH PRAISE

Greetings:

Minister: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you!

People: And also with you!

Special Music: “Blessed Assurance” Charles

Centering Words:

The promise of love calls. They will know we are Christians by our love.

*Call to Worship:

Leader:    Snares of death surround us.

People:   Call on the name of the Lord and be saved.

Leader:    Pangs of suffering and grief enfold us.

People:   Call on the name of the Lord and be saved.

Leader:    Bonds of distress and anguish bind us.

People:   Call on the name of the Lord and be saved.

Leader:    Come! Let us worship the God of our salvation as we pray.

ALL: Your love calls us here, Gracious One, calling us to dine with you and to be instruments of your love. Gather us in Jesus’ name, that we may offer him the full measure of our devotion. Amen.

Hymn: “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling”

Love divine, all loves excelling,

joy of heaven to earth come down;

fix in us thy humble dwelling;

all thy faithful mercies crown!

Jesus, thou art all compassion,

pure unbounded love Thou art;

visit us with thy salvation;

enter every trembling heart.

Breathe, O breathe thy loving Spirit,

into every troubled breast!

let us all in thee inherit;

let us find that second rest.

Take away our bent to sinning;

Alpha and Omega be;

end of faith, as its beginning,

set our hearts at liberty.

Come, Almighty to deliver,

let us all thy life receive;

suddenly return and never,

never more thy temples leave.

Thee we would be always blessing,

serve thee as thy hosts above,

pray and praise thee without ceasing,

glory in thy perfect love.

Finish, then, thy new creation;

pure and spotless let us be.

Let us see thy great salvation

perfectly restored in thee;

changed from glory into glory,

till in heaven we take our place,

till we cast our crowns before thee,

lost in wonder, love, and praise.

PROCLAMATION OF THE WORD

Words of Assurance

The Lord is the cup of our salvation.

All who call on the name of the Lord will be saved.

Praises be to God! Amen

*Gospel Reading: John 15:1-8

¹ “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. ² He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. ³ You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. ⁴ Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. ⁵ I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶ Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. ⁷ If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸ My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.

WORD AND RESPONSE

Time with Young Friends: “Jesus Loves Me”

Children’s Message:  “Produce Produce”

Special Music: “Remember” Meagan

Sermon: “We Bear Fruit” 1 John 4:7-21

⁷ Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. ⁸ Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. ⁹ God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. ¹⁰ In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. ¹¹ Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. ¹² No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us.

¹³ By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. ¹⁴ And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world. ¹⁵ God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God. ¹⁶ So we have known and believe the love that God has for us.

God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. ¹⁷ Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world. ¹⁸ There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. ¹⁹ We love because he first loved us. ²⁰ Those who say, “I love God,” and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. ²¹ The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.

 RESPONSE TO THE WORD  

Special Music: “Your Great Name” Stefanie

Psalter: A Modern Affirmation

Where the Spirit of the Lord is,

   there is the one true church,

   apostolic and universal,

   whose holy faith let us now declare:

We believe in God the Father,

   infinite in wisdom, power, and love,

   whose mercy is over all his works,

   and whose will is ever directed

   to his children's good.

We believe in Jesus Christ,

   Son of God and Son of man,

   the gift of the Father's unfailing grace,

    the ground of our hope,

   and the promise of our deliverance

   from sin and death.

We believe in the Holy Spirit

   as the divine presence in our lives,

   whereby we are kept in perpetual

   remembrance of the truth of Christ,

   and find strength and help in time of need.

We believe that this faith should manifest itself in the service of love

   as set forth in the example of our blessed Lord,

   to the end that the kingdom of God  

   may come upon the earth. Amen

Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;

praise him, all creatures here below;

praise him above, ye heavenly host;

praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Amen

Prayers of the People: Joys and concerns

   Silent Prayer, Pastoral Prayer   

SENDING FORTH

Hymn: “Oh, How I Love Jesus”

There is a name I love to hear,

I love to sing its worth,

it sounds like music in the ear,

the sweetest name on earth.

O how I love Jesus, O how I love Jesus,

O how I love Jesus, because he first loved me.

It tells me of a Savior's love,

who died to set me free;

it tells me of his precious blood,

the sinner's perfect plea.

O how I love Jesus, O how I love Jesus,

O how I love Jesus, because he first loved me.

It tells of one whose loving heart

can feel my deepest woe;

who in each sorrow bears a part

that none can bear below.

O how I love Jesus, O how I love Jesus,

O how I love Jesus, because he first loved me.

Benediction