+ In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!
Opening Prayer
Gracious God, give me a humble, teachable, and obedient heart, that I may receive what you have revealed, and do what you have commanded. Amen.
Reading: Acts 4:32-37 (NLT)
All the believers were united in heart and mind. And they felt that what they owned was not their own, so they shared everything they had. The apostles testified powerfully to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and God’s great blessing was upon them all. There were no needy people among them, because those who owned land or houses would sell them and bring the money to the apostles to give to those in need.
For instance, there was Joseph, the one the apostles nicknamed Barnabas (which means “Son of Encouragement”). He was from the tribe of Levi and came from the island of Cyprus. He sold a field he owned and brought the money to the apostles.
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Reflection and Prayer:
Holy Spirit: fill us with your presence, that we may be united in heart and mind with our Lord, Jesus Christ.
Heavenly Father: all that we have comes from you; make us wise and gracious managers accountable, in the end, only to you.
Lord Jesus: give us the courage to let go of our worldly security, that we may freely follow you.
Gracious God: give us hearts full of mercy and compassion, that we may give freely and generously to those in need. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
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“Provider” – Urban Rescue
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Concluding Prayer – Psalm 68:19 (NLT)
Praise the Lord; praise God our savior! For each day he carries us in his arms.
__________
+ In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!
+ In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!
Opening Prayer
Gracious God, give me a humble, teachable, and obedient heart, that I may receive what you have revealed, and do what you have commanded. Amen.
Reading: Acts 4:23-31 (NLT)
As soon as they were freed, Peter and John returned to the other believers and told them what the leading priests and elders had said. When they heard the report, all the believers lifted their voices together in prayer to God: “O Sovereign Lord, Creator of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them — you spoke long ago by the Holy Spirit through our ancestor David, your servant, saying,
‘Why were the nations so angry? Why did they waste their time with futile plans? The kings of the earth prepared for battle; the rulers gathered together against the Lord and against his Messiah.’
“In fact, this has happened here in this very city! For Herod Antipas, Pontius Pilate the governor, the Gentiles, and the people of Israel were all united against Jesus, your holy servant, whom you anointed. But everything they did was determined beforehand according to your will. And now, O Lord, hear their threats, and give us, your servants, great boldness in preaching your word. Stretch out your hand with healing power; may miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”
After this prayer, the meeting place shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they preached the word of God with boldness.
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Prayer for Boldness:
“And now, O Lord, hear their threats, and give us, your servants, great boldness in preaching your word. Stretch out your hand with healing power; may miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” – Acts 4:29-30
Merciful God: you have chosen me to be your child; you have adopted me into your family. Once I had no identity; now I am a child of God – “called out of darkness into his wonderful light” – that I may show your goodness to others.
Give me great boldness – that is gentle and kind, that flows from the heart of Jesus:
+ To tell others how I have personally experienced the love and saving power of Jesus Christ.
+ To candidly tell others how my sins have been forgiven through Jesus’ death on the cross.
+ To clearly explain to others that Jesus died for the forgiveness of their sins as well, because he loves them.
+ To speak about what I have seen and heard with personal conviction; how Jesus Christ changed my life.
Holy God: stretch out your hand with healing power; fill me with great boldness in the Holy Spirit. And may miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of your Son, Jesus Christ. Soli Deo gloria!
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“Be Bold, Be Strong” – Maranatha! Promise Band
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Concluding Prayer – Psalm 62:8, 11-12 (NLT)
O my people, trust in him at all times. Pour out your heart to him, for God is our refuge.
_____
God has spoken plainly, and I have heard it many times: Power, O God, belongs to you; unfailing love, O Lord, is yours.
__________
+ In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!
+ In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!
Opening Prayer
Almighty and everlasting God, you have given to us your servants grace, by the confession of a true faith, to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity, and in the power of your divine Majesty to worship the Unity. Keep us steadfast in this faith and worship, and bring us at last to see you in your one and eternal glory, O Father; who with the Son and the Holy Spirit live and reign, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
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“Holy, Holy, Holy” – Audrey Assad
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Reading: John 3:16-18 (NLT)
“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.
“There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son.
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On this Trinity Sunday we have come before you, Lord, to offer our praise and adoration:
You are God the creator, giving us richly all things to enjoy.
You are Christ the Savior of the world, made flesh to set us free.
You are the Spirit of truth and love, willing to dwell in us.
You are holy and blessed. One god, eternal Trinity, be near to us the people formed in your image, and close to the world your love brings to life.
+ Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
Lord, we pray for your church throughout the world, for those that are thriving and those which have lost a sense of direction. We give thanks for our church and its people, and gladly acknowledge all the gifts you have given us through its life:
We ask you to open wide our hearts that we may welcome the stranger and share our faith with others,
Open wide our minds that we may receive new truth and understand your will,
Open wide our doors, that as we have come into worship so we may go out with you to the service of the world,
Open wide our lives that through discipline and prayer we may experience your power in daily living.
Lord you have chosen men and women to serve you in the ministry of your church and given them a perfect example in the person of your son: pour your blessings on your servants today that by word and deed they may proclaim your saving love and so enable us all to grow in your image.
+ Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
Lord of the universe we praise you for your creation, you have provided mankind with everything it needs for life and health. Grant that the resources of the earth may neither be hoarded by the selfish nor squandered by the foolish but that all may share your gifts.
We remember all who bear the responsibility of leadership, for heads of state, ambassadors and political advisers, we think today particularly of the leaders of the different factions in the United States; let your will for our world be accomplished through the decisions they make and give them a vision of peace and reconciliation for you, Lord, can find a way when men and women are lost.
Lord we pray for peace in the world, create in us a love for peace, not peace that is absent from struggle, nor peace that is blind to injustice but peace that makes whole what now is broken.
We remember those who struggle against injustice, for men and women who have to establish love’s supremacy in violent and oppressive societies, and for those whom war and famine have robbed of homes, families and friends, may they be filled with your strength and wisdom and grant that where the love of man has failed your divine compassion may heal.
+ Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
We remember this morning those who are sick, sad or lonely and those who are brave and patient when things are going wrong.
We pray that they may be aware of your comforting presence and know that in your hands they are safe and loved.
We pray for all whose life is saddened by the death of a loved one, be with them in their loneliness and let them know that Jesus Christ is the light of the world a light which no darkness can quench.
We remember those who have died; you, Lord, turn our darkness into light; in your light shall we see light.
+ Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
Lord we ask you to lead us into the coming week, Help us to believe that you are close by us, keep us from making mistakes and help us never to disappoint you. When we face hard decisions or difficult work, when we enjoy ourselves and have fun with others may we know that you share these times with us.
+ Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
Through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
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“This I Believe” (The Creed) – Hillsong Worship
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Concluding Prayer – Psalm 150 (NLT)
Praise the Lord!
Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heaven! Praise him for his mighty works; praise his unequaled greatness! Praise him with a blast of the ram’s horn; praise him with the lyre and harp! Praise him with the tambourine and dancing; praise him with strings and flutes! Praise him with a clash of cymbals; praise him with loud clanging cymbals. Let everything that breathes sing praises to the Lord!
Praise the Lord!
__________
+ In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!
+ In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!
Opening Prayer
Guide us, O God, by your Word, and Holy Spirit, that in your light we may see light, in your truth find freedom, and in your will discover peace; through Christ our Lord.
Reading: Acts 4:13-22 (NLT)
The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men with no special training in the Scriptures. They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus. But since they could see the man who had been healed standing right there among them, there was nothing the council could say. So they ordered Peter and John out of the council chamber and conferred among themselves.
“What should we do with these men?” they asked each other. “We can’t deny that they have performed a miraculous sign, and everybody in Jerusalem knows about it. But to keep them from spreading their propaganda any further, we must warn them not to speak to anyone in Jesus’ name again.” So they called the apostles back in and commanded them never again to speak or teach in the name of Jesus.
But Peter and John replied, “Do you think God wants us to obey you rather than him? We cannot stop telling about everything we have seen and heard.”
The council then threatened them further, but they finally let them go because they didn’t know how to punish them without starting a riot. For everyone was praising God for this miraculous sign—the healing of a man who had been lame for more than forty years.
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O Word of Grace and Challenge, I pray for each one who preaches this coming Sunday:
+ For the preacher who gets up full of inspiration and energy, give him grace and humility.
+ For the one who enters the pulpit with pain in body and spirit that must be overcome, give him healing and courage.
+ For the preacher who faces the challenge of a congregation that is splintered and fractious, give him peace from his own anxiety and from theirs.
+ For the preacher whose faithful presence is still met with mistrust and judgement, give him trust and confidence in Your power in him.
+ For the preacher to a community that is devastated by trauma–flood, tornado, government closure, violence – give him hope and give him strength.
+ For the preacher who longs to cast a vision of justice and mercy for the city, the nation, the world, give him imagination and passion.
+ For the preacher whose own well of Spirit is dry and dusty, give him life giving streams of love and energy.
+ For the one who is weary of well doing, give him fresh grace and bread for this day.
+ For those who long to preach, but have no place to do so formally, may they find that along with St. Francis that there are many ways to preach, even without words.
+ And for all hearers of the Word this coming Sunday, provide them with eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts to receive good news, hidden things that they have not known.
By your Spirit, I commend these all to you, Amen.
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“”Salvation Has Been Brought Down”” – Praise And Harmony
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Concluding Prayer – 1 Corinthians 9:16-17 (NLT)
Preaching the Good News is not something I can boast about. I am compelled by God to do it. How terrible for me if I didn’t preach the Good News! …I have no choice, for God has given me this sacred trust.
__________
+ In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!
+ In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!
Opening Prayer
Guide us, O God, by your Word, and Holy Spirit, that in your light we may see light, in your truth find freedom, and in your will discover peace; through Christ our Lord,
Reading: Acts 4:1-12 (NLT)
While Peter and John were speaking to the people, they were confronted by the priests, the captain of the Temple guard, and some of the Sadducees. These leaders were very disturbed that Peter and John were teaching the people that through Jesus there is a resurrection of the dead. They arrested them and, since it was already evening, put them in jail until morning. But many of the people who heard their message believed it, so the number of men who believed now totaled about 5,000.
The next day the council of all the rulers and elders and teachers of religious law met in Jerusalem. Annas the high priest was there, along with Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and other relatives of the high priest. They brought in the two disciples and demanded, “By what power, or in whose name, have you done this?”
Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers and elders of our people, are we being questioned today because we’ve done a good deed for a crippled man? Do you want to know how he was healed? Let me clearly state to all of you and to all the people of Israel that he was healed by the powerful name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, the man you crucified but whom God raised from the dead. For Jesus is the one referred to in the Scriptures, where it says,
‘The stone that you builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.’
There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.”
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Reflection & Prayer:
Dear God,
I know I’m a sinner, and I ask for your forgiveness.
I believe Jesus Christ is Your Son. I believe that He died
for my sin and that you raised Him to life.
I want to trust Him as my Savior and follow Him as Lord,
from this day forward. Guide my life and help me to do your will.
I pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen.
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“No Other Name” – Hillsong Worship
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Concluding Prayer – Psalm 118:1, 22-23, 29 (NLT)
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.
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The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone. This is the Lord’s doing, and it is wonderful to see.
_____
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.
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+ In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!
The Peanut Gallery 