Thank you for joining us for this live stream (or recording, as the case may be) of Sunday worship. May it bless you! You may need to click “Play” to launch the stream, which will be live around 9:50 AM.
Welcome to the live stream of worship from Church of the Holy Cross for Sunday, April 28, 2024. You will find the service outline below, and you may download and print the PDF to follow more easily.
Service of Worship, April 28, 2024
Fifth Sunday of Easter
Rev. Eric S. Anderson, Pastor
WE GATHER TO WORSHIP GOD
Please note that audio and video of this service are being live streamed on the Internet and will be recorded. The right rear section of the sanctuary will not be captured by any cameras. Please be aware that in other sections you may be visible at times.
Prelude: A New Song Rick Mazurowski
Lighting of the Candles
Ringing of the Bell
Welcome Rev. Eric S. Anderson
* Please stand and join me in the Call to Worship: (based on Psalm 22:25-31) Anne Sadayasu
Leader: Let our praise echo that of the Great Congregation.
People: We sing with all who revere the LORD.
Leader: The poor shall eat and be satisfied, the homeless find their place.
People: May the mercy of the LORD live forever!
Leader: May all the ends of the Earth remember and turn to the LORD.
People: Let us proclaim God’s grace to a people yet unborn.
All: Let us worship God!
* Hymn #43: Love Divine, All Loves Excelling (v. 1-4)
* Invocation (based on John 15:1-8) Anne Sadayasu
Jesus, True Vine, hear the prayers we raise today. As grape vines raise their leafy crowns so that the vineyard tender may help them bear more fruit, we invite your care for us today. May we abide in your love, and show by our love that we are your disciples. Apart from you we can do very little; with you all things are possible. Amen.
Please be seated
WE SHARE THE WORD OF GOD
Anthem: Silent Woods Kanako Okita, piano
Kelly Stuart, cello
Time with the Children Rev. Eric S. Anderson
Scripture: Acts 8:26-40 Anne Sadayasu
Then an angel of the Lord said to Philip, ‘Get up and go towards the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.’ (This is a wilderness road.) So he got up and went. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of her entire treasury. He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning home; seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. Then the Spirit said to Philip, ‘Go over to this chariot and join it.’ So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked, ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’ He replied, ‘How can I, unless someone guides me?’ And he invited Philip to get in and sit beside him. Now the passage of the scripture that he was reading was this:
‘Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter,
and like a lamb silent before its shearer,
so he does not open his mouth.
In his humiliation justice was denied him.
Who can describe his generation?
For his life is taken away from the earth.’
The eunuch asked Philip, ‘About whom, may I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?’ Then Philip began to speak, and starting with this scripture, he proclaimed to him the good news about Jesus. As they were going along the road, they came to some water; and the eunuch said, ‘Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized?’He commanded the chariot to stop, and both of them, Philip and the eunuch, went down into the water, and Philipbaptized him. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he was passing through the region, he proclaimed the good news to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.
1 John 4:7-21
Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. 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. 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. Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us.
By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world. God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God. 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. 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. 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. We lovebecause he first loved us. 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. The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.
Sermon: Shouldn’t It Be Simple Rev. Eric S. Anderson
WE RESPOND IN WORD AND DEED
Pastoral Prayer Rev. Eric S. Anderson
Please join me in the Lord’s Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever and ever. Amen
* Hymn #163: Many Are the Lightbeams (v. 1-3, 5)
Call to Offering Anne Sadayasu
God is love, and because God loves us, we love one another. We love one another in words of comfort and deeds of hope, and we love one another by sharing what we have with another who has needs. Whether you share your gift here in the church today, through a gift online, or via an envelope in the mail, let the offering now be received.
Offertory: Be Still, for the presence of the Lord Rick Mazurowski
* Doxology
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
* .Offertory Prayer Anne Sadayasu
You love us, O God, and we are grateful. You love us, O God, and we are your beloved children. You love us, O God, and so we love one another in these gifts and every day of our lives. Amen.
* Hymn #402: De colores (Sing of Colors) (v. 1 Spanish, 1-2)
Please be seated
Announcements Rev. Eric S. Anderson
Benediction Rev. Eric S. Anderson
Postlude: Sing of the Lord’s Goodness Rick Mazurowski
* Please stand if you are able.
Permissions
A New Song
James E. Moore Jr.
Streamed by permission ONELICENSE A-735890
Love Divine, All Loves Excelling
Text by Charles Wesley, 1747
Tune BEECHER by John Zundel, 1855
Public Domain
Silent Woods
Dvořák
Public Domain
Many Are the Lightbeams
Text by Cyprian of Carthage, 252
Swedish para. By Anders Frostenson
Trans. by David Lewis, 1983
© 1972 by Anders Frostenson
Tune LIGHTBEAMS by Olle Widestrand
© 1974 by Olle Widestrand
Streamed by permission ONELICENSE A-735890
Be Still, for the presence of the Lord
Words and music by David J. Evans
Arr. by Richard Shephard
(c) 1986 ThankYou Music
Streamed by permission CCLI License #1595965
De colores (Sing of Colors)
Mexican folk song, trans. New Century Hymnal, 1995
Tune DE COLORES, Mexican folk song
Arr. by Alfredo Morales, 1987
© 1987 World Library Publications,
a division of GIA Publications, Inc.
Streamed by permission ONELICENSE A-735890
Sing of the Lord’s Goodness
Ernest Sands
© 1981, Ernest Sands, Published by OCP
Streamed by permission ONELICENSE A-735890
Dates to Remember
Today—April 28: J’s Mini Mart
Pastor Rev. Eric S. Anderson
Moderator Stefan Tanouye
Lay Reader Anne Sadayasu
Choir Accompanist Kanako Okita
Cellist Kelly Stuart
Choir Director Doug Albertson
Organist Kayleen Yuda
Guest Organist Rick Mazurowski
Hand Bell Director Anna Kennedy
Chapel Decorations Cindy Debus
Projected Imagery Sue Smith
Web Master Ruth Niino-DuPonte
Videographers Eric Tanouye, Eli Yamaki
Ruth Niino-DuPonte, Bob Smith
We welcome you to worship this day. Church of the Holy Cross seeks to help its members, friends, and visitors follow the guidance of God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit, encouraging all people to love one another according to the teachings of Jesus. We live and teach the faith, speak good news, minister to people near and far, and work with other households of faith and helping agencies to improve our community and our world. To support our ministries, please visit our Donate Page.
