For the week of May 4 – 3rd Sunday of Easter
Morning Prayer: God of love, we bring our very selves to worship. Our triumphs. Our failures. Our vulnerabilities. Our greatest joys and our deepest sorrows. In this time set apart, may we hear the voice of Jesus urging us to feed and be fed, to love and be loved. Amen. (Discipleship Ministries)
Opening Hymn: #377 It Is Well With My Soul
- When peace, like a river, attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll;
whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say, It is well, it is well with my soul.
Refrain: It is well with my soul, it is well, it is well with my soul.
- Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
let this blest assurance control,
that Christ has regarded my helpless estate, and hath shed His own blood for my soul.
(Refrain) - My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought! My sin, not in part but the whole,
is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more, praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
(Refrain) - And, Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
the clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
the trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend, even so, it is well with my soul.
(Refrain)
Psalm 30:1-4 (CEB)
30 I exalt You, Lord, because You pulled me up;
You didn’t let my enemies celebrate over me.
2 Lord, my God, I cried out to You for help,
and You healed me.
3 Lord, You brought me up from the grave,
brought me back to life from among those going down to the pit.
4 You who are faithful to the Lord,
sing praises to Him;
give thanks to His holy name!
Prayers of Intercession: Thank You, Lord, for hearing our prayers for those dear to our hearts. We now pray as You have taught us: 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 sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. Lead us, not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
Offering spotlight: Mission focus during the month of May is Dwell Orphan Care. What is Dwell? The staff and volunteers of Dwell Orphan Care defend the cause of the fatherless. There are ways for everyone to contribute to show Christ-like love for children and for foster, adoptive and kinship families. Donate NEW baby items to support these children.
Offering prayer: Holy God, thank You for making Jesus the Author of life, whom You raised from the dead. You still do marvelous miracles of forgiveness, bringing healing and new life in our midst. We know that these gifts don't come from our power or piety, but by Your goodness. As we reach out to people in our community, may they draw closer to You. Let our offerings contribute to the ongoing work of Your servant Jesus, here and now. Amen. (Discipleship Ministries)
Hymn of Preparation: #496 Sweet Hour of Prayer
- Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer! that calls me from a world of care,
and bids me at my Father's throne make all my wants and wishes known.
In seasons of distress and grief, my soul has often found relief,
and oft escaped the tempter's snare by thy return, sweet hour of prayer! - Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
the joys I feel, the bliss I share of those whose anxious spirits burn
with strong desires for thy return!
With such I hasten to the place where God my Savior shows His face,
and gladly take my station there, and wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer!
- Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
thy wings shall my petition bear to Him whose truth and faithfulness
engage the waiting soul to bless.
And since He bids me seek His face, believe His word, and trust His grace,
I'll cast on Him my every care, and wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer!
Scripture: John 21:1-7 (CEB)
21 Later, Jesus Himself appeared again to His disciples at the Sea of Tiberias. This is how it happened: 2 Simon Peter, Thomas (called Didymus[a]), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, Zebedee’s sons, and two other disciples were together. 3 Simon Peter told them, “I’m going fishing.”
They said, “We’ll go with you.” They set out in a boat, but throughout the night they caught nothing. 4 Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples didn’t realize it was Jesus.
5 Jesus called to them, “Children, have you caught anything to eat?”
They answered Him, “No.”
6 He said, “Cast your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.”
So they did, and there were so many fish that they couldn’t haul in the net. 7 Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It’s the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard it was the Lord, he wrapped his coat around himself (for he was naked) and jumped into the water.
Message: Pastor Becky
What do you do when your life becomes uncertain? Maybe it's the loss of a job, a loved one- something big that rattles you to your core. Yet, it doesn’t have to be something big and bad, it could be the birth of a baby, receiving a promotion or a transfer. Something that changes how you navigated yesterday and looking to navigate today; something new and different.
In the disorientation, we look for things that are familiar, we desire to be comforted. It could be eating certain foods that help us find comfort. It could be wearing a certain sweatshirt or wrapping up in a favorite blanket. It may even be calling a trusted friend. We try to regulate our discomfort by reaching for something we know, something we trust. There is something inside of us that moves us to regain some stability and sense of normal.
That is what Peter and some of the disciples decided to do, to gain some sense of normal in the face of all that has happened. They have witnessed the arrest. They have watched the mistreatment of Jesus and the crucifixion. They know their teacher is dead, and yet now know Jesus to be alive. To say they have been on a rollercoaster of emotions would be an understatement.
They are going fishing, returning for just a bit to where they started, where they had some sense of normal. It is a start, after all they had spent at least 8 days behind locked doors. They knew they had to do something, so why not fish? After all, it is something they know and it is something to do before whatever is to come next. They had to begin to prepare for what was to come next whatever that would be. We touched on the mission Jesus gave to them that morning on the lakeshore on Easter. It was to feed and care for Jesus’s sheep, to do the work of what would be later defined as the work of the church.
But for now, it is for them to be busy in the wait. They are preparing for their next encounter with Jesus. We don’t know the exact length of time between the last encounter they had with Jesus and this encounter on the lakeshore. But this fishing trip marks a starting place for them to do something, go somewhere to encounter Jesus.
It is a preparatory time. A time to take inventory of who they are, what they know, and how they will respond to Jesus. A time to prepare their hearts and minds so they can be ready to accept Jesus’s next gift to them, the gift of the fullness of the Holy Spirit.
How does the preparation time of the disciples align with our preparation time? How does it inform our rhythm as a Body of Christ as we live our lives together? I think we have to start with the question, when was our last encounter with Jesus? Can we point to one? Then if we can, do we expect to see Jesus again, not in the dying and going to heaven way, but that we are living as disciples and we will see Jesus on the loose in the world kind of way.
We may all start from different encounters and that is to be expected and cherished, but the point is – Have we encountered Jesus? Can we name or pinpoint a sighting of Jesus in our midst? Did we see Him at Easter Community dinner? What about at the coat distribution? Did you witness Jesus in conversation with Nsiah on Palm Sunday as he spoke of the well-being of the students at Withrow College? Did you receive an answer to a prayer or a quiet moment of assurance of God’s love for you? Have you experienced an encounter with Jesus?
Now the next question is, are you expecting to encounter Jesus again? Do you believe you will encounter Jesus again? You realize if you believe you will, you will encounter Him. You will be attentive to seeing Jesus and recognizing your encounter. We act as we believe. This can be good news and damning news because the reverse is true as well. What we believe will dictate how we act.
The good news is, we can take some guidance from the disciples here. We can do what they did and what they did was stick together. They stayed connected to each other in the disorientation. This is important for them and for us because it yields much more than mere comfort and companionship. In their togetherness, they could remind each other and point out to each other when Jesus is, was, and will be present.
Peter is fishing. A stranger on the shore begins shouting directions to him regarding fishing. It isn’t Peter that recognizes Jesus, it is John. Had they not been together, Peter could have missed the encounter. But John knew. He had witnessed this exchange before. It is identical to Peter’s calling as a disciple by Jesus. It is recorded in Luke 5:1-11:
One day Jesus was standing beside Lake Gennesaret when the crowd pressed in around Him to hear God’s word. Jesus saw two boats sitting by the lake. The fishermen had gone ashore and were washing their nets. Jesus boarded one of the boats, the one that belonged to Simon, then asked him to row out a little distance from the shore. Jesus sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. When He finished speaking to the crowds, He said to Simon, “Row out farther, into the deep water, and drop your nets for a catch.”
Simon replied, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and caught nothing. But because you say so, I’ll drop the nets.”
So they dropped the nets and their catch was so huge that their nets were splitting. They signaled for their partners in the other boat to come and help them. They filled both boats so full that they were about to sink. When Simon Peter saw the catch, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Leave me, Lord, for I’m a sinner!” Peter and those with him were overcome with amazement because of the number of fish they caught. James and John, Zebedee’s sons, were Simon’s partners and they were amazed too.
Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid. From now on, you will be fishing for people.” As soon as they brought the boats to the shore, they left everything and followed Jesus.
It wasn’t that Peter forgot about his call into discipleship, it was that his mind was clouded with sadness and confusion. John could remind Peter of what they had already experienced with Jesus and make the connection to that moment on the lakeshore. And we need each other to do that for us as well.
Our experiences with Jesus, our personal and assembled experiences, become a collective memory and a collective experience that helps us see Jesus. And we have to share those with each other and tell the stories of where we have met Jesus so that we can all benefit from the encounters and we can build a foundation outside of scripture. These encounters remind us of Jesus’ love for us and for the world, especially when we are the most prone to forget. We carry each other and we are to point to the Jesus moments. Yet, this can only happen when we share them with each other.
This sharing can happen over a meal, a mission project, in worship, or any time we are together with another person in fellowship. I try to be light hearted about praises and joys, but honestly they are the most important part of our worship together with the exception of the sacraments – communion and baptism. In sharing our praises and joys, we add to this collective narrative of God’s love for us. Those God moments sustain us and encourage us. I want to know where you have encountered Jesus, how you have seen God moving in your life, to know how the Holy Spirit has encouraged you this past week, not because I am nosy, but to build on the proven faithfulness of God. We can point to each other’s experiences and be assured God still acts, still reigns, and is still with us.
We can speak these experiences back to each other in times of sadness, loneliness, and discomfort as reassurances of God’s love. No experience is too small to share and you don’t have to wait for some grandiose experience to happen. It builds our bond together and builds community. It shows how we are more alike than different.
When things happen that we can’t explain, yet feel very familiar, it takes another from the Body of Christ to name God’s presence when we can’t. It takes all of us to connect the dots when one of us is feeling lost. We are the keepers of each other’s stories and we are to be pointing to the encounters so others will experience them also.
Sharing our personal God moments encourages us to keep watching, to keep expecting, and to keep preparing to see Jesus in our world because our Savior lives! Christ is risen, He is risen indeed!
Closing Hymn: #261 Lord of the Dance
And I danced in the moon and the stars and the sun,
And I came down from heaven and I danced on the earth. At Bethlehem I had My birth.
Refrain: Dance, then, wherever you may be; I am the Lord of the Dance, said He.
And I’ll lead you all wherever you may be, and I’ll lead you all in the dance, said He.
- I danced for the scribe and the Pharisee,
but they would not dance and they would not follow Me;
I danced for the fishermen, for James and John;
they came to Me and the dance went on.
- I danced on the Sabbath when I cured the lame,
the holy people said it was a shame;
They whipped and they stripped and they hung Me high;
and they left Me there on a cross to die.
- I danced on a Friday and the sky turned black;
it’s hard to dance with the devil on your back;
They buried My body and they thought I’d gone,
but I am the dance and I still go on.
- They cut Me down and I leapt up high, I am the life that’ll never, never die;
I’ll live in you if you’ll live in Me; I am the Lord of the Dance, said He.
The blessing: May the Lord bless you and keep you and make His face shine upon you this week.
