April 26, 2026
FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER
A Service of Prayer, of Song, and of Relishing Spring
“"A physician once said, “The best medicine for humans is love.”….someone asked him, “What if it doesn’t work?”…he smiled and said, “Increase the dose.”
Lead Minister: The Rev. Jope Langejans
Music Director: Cody Obst
Minister Emeritus: Rev. Gerry Scharff
Honorary Associate Ministers: Rev. Clint Mooney & Rev. Kelley Warner
Licensed Lay Worship Leaders: Bob Gibbenus & Fiona Hayes
Chair of Council: Vacant
Reader: Beth Elliot
Gathering
(*Indicates that you may stand if you are able…)
PRELUDE
INTROIT MV # 79 “Spirit, Open My Heart”
WELCOMING & ANNOUNCEMENTS
LIGHTING of THE CHRIST CANDLE
ACKNOWLEDGING OUR TERRITORY (Rev. Jope)
Let us be reminded that as we, as settlers, embarked on a journey of non-understanding of the spirituality of our indigenous brothers and sisters, destroyed their ways of life and had relegated them to non-citizens of the human world. With this, our hearts are sore, and we work diligently to the work of reconciliation and to upholding their lives as beloved children of God. Hey, hey!
CALL TO WORSHIP (Coming Together)
Rev. Jope: This morning, in mystery and grandeur, we see the face of God in those who are here, worshiping together. God’s glory is in all of us and is all around us.
ALL: In earthiness and the ordinary, we know the love of Christ. We will rejoice and give thanks as the whole world celebrates!
Rev. Jope: In heights and depths and life and death, the Spirit of God is moving among us. We will rejoice and give thanks!
ALL: Light dawns for the righteous and joy for the upright in heart. God guards the lives of the faithful. We will rejoice and give our deepest and heartfelt thanks!
Rev. Jope: Let us praise God with all of our hearts, our minds, and our spirits and let us worship together.
ALL: Gracious God, we are ready. Accept this time of worship as our gift to you as we feel so gifted by your presence among us.
*OPENING HYMN MV # 87 “Water Flowing from
the Mountains”
Leader: As I have mentioned throughout the Easter season and in four more weeks, entering into the season of Pentecost, it is my hope for each of you that you will trust the resurrection of your spirit, believe that joy and new life will come for you, even though it may not be there for you now. If you are one of the fortunate ones whose soul sings with happy alleluias during these seasons, may you turn often to those who are still awaiting the greening and walk hopefully, with all of them. Let us now share in this affirmation of our faith and prayer of St. Francis of Assisi:
AFFIRMATION of OUR FAITH (Unison)
We believe that God is present in the darkness before dawn; in the waiting and uncertainty where fear and courage join hands, conflict and caring link arms, and the sun rises over barbed wire. We believe in a with-us God who sits down in our midst to share our humanity. We affirm a faith which takes us beyond the safe place: into action, into vulnerability and into the streets. We commit ourselves to work for change and put ourselves on the line; to bear responsibility, take risks, live powerfully and face humiliation; to stand with those on the edge; to choose life and be used by the Spirit for God’s community of hope…
OPENING PRAYER (Unison)
Lord, make us instruments of your peace:
where there is hatred, let us sow love,
where there is injury, pardon,
where there is doubt, faith,
where there is despair, hope,
where there is darkness, light,
where there is sadness, joy.
O divine master, grant that we may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and in dying that we are born to eternal life…..Amen.
HYMN VU # 684 “Make Me a Channel of Your Peace”
Engaging
(Reader: Beth Elliot)
ACTS 2:42-47 (886) The believers share everything in common…
Parts of PROVERBS 31 The ‘Spinning Wheel’….
HYMN of ILLUMINATION MV # 90 “Don’t Be Afraid”
JOHN 10:1-10 (872) Jesus the Good Shepherd and the Gate…
MESSAGE “Sitting at the City Gate of ‘Abundant Life’”
*HYMN VU # 703 “In the Bulb There Is a Flower”
Responding
OFFERING INVITATION (Rev. Jope)
May what we offer this morning in our offering time be a prayer:
that we may be blessed as living testimony to your good news,
that our offerings may be blessed as good news to use in the world,
and that your word may live within us in spirit and in truth. Our offerings will be taken up…
OFFERTORY MUSIC
OFFERING DEDICATION PRAYER (Rev. Jope)
PRAYERS of the PEOPLE (Unison)
Titled: “The Shadow of the Dove”
(This ‘prayer’ is taken from ‘Dare to Dream: A Prayer & Worship Anthology from Around the World’…written by: Kate McIlhagga, Eng.)
ALL: When dawn’s ribbon of glory around the world returns and the earth emerges from sleep –
May the shadow of the dove be seen, as she flits across moor and city. Over the warm breast of the earth she flies, her shadow falling on the watcher in the tower, the refugee in the ditch, the weary soldier at the gate.
May the shadow of peace fall across the all-night sitting of council, across the tense negotiations round a table.
May the shadow of hope be cast across the bars of a hostage cell filling the momentary light rooms tense with conflict, bringing a brief respite: a slither of gold across the dark.
May she fly untiringly across fields, across a city divided by hate and fear, across a town wreathed in smoke.
May the shadow of reconciliation, the dove of peace with healing in her wings, be felt a nd seen and turned towards as she makes righteousness shine like the dawn – the justice of her cause like the noonday sun. (Psalm 37:6)
Rev. Jope: Holy Spirit of Love…
ALL: Bring Healing…Bring Peace!
LORD’S PRAYER
Blessing
*COMMISSIONING (unison)
May God come close to us as we take the journey to the centre, seeking to know the ultimate, to encounter the awe-inspiring. May God bless us in the heart of prayer, spirit meeting spirit -- searching, questing, discovering. May God be alongside us in the times of drought, in the experience of thirst, in the longing for refreshing water. May God enliven us as we feel the heat of the day, as we pause to drink deep, as we draw from spiritual wells. May God fill us as we learn to leave the old self, as we cease to depend on props, as we lay aside the crutches of dependence, as we learn to walk freely, to breathe the air of divine encounter. May God go with us to the still centre and enable us to find true fulfillment and deep inward peace… Amen.
*CLOSING HYMN VU # 556 “Would You Bless Our Homes and Families”
*BLESSING
RECESSIONAL
POSTLUDE MUSIC
SCRIPTURE PASSAGES for SUNDAY, MAY 3
ACTS 7:55-60
PSALM 31:1-5, 15-16
1 PETER 2:2-10
JOHN 14:1-14