Welcome to Trinity Lutheran Church

501 S. Washington, Albert Lea MN | 507-373-2466

website: www.tlc-al.org e-mail: [email protected]
facebook: www.facebook.com/tlcal

Pastor Eileen Woyen | email: [email protected]

Sunday, May 17, 2020
Sixth Sunday of Easter
Jesus does not abandon his followers. Through the Holy Spirit, Jesus comes to abide with his
disciples of every generation. As Pentecost draws near, we are reminded that the risen Christ
dwells in us as the Spirit of truth. We receive this Spirit in baptism and pray that in our
gathering around the Lord’s Table the Spirit will transform us to be the body of the risen Christ
in the world.
GATHERING
Bells
Opening Hymn
“Christ is Alive! Let Christians Sing” ELW 389
Christ is Alive! Let Christians sing.
The cross stands empty to the sky.
Let streets and homes with praises ring.
Love, drowned in death, shall never die.
Chirst is alive! No longer bound
To distant years in Palestine,
But saving, healing, here and now,
And touching ev’ry place and time.
In ev’ry insult, rift, and war,
Where color, scorn, or wealth divide,
Christ suffers still, yet loves the more,
And lives, where even hope has died.
Women and men, in age and youth,
Can feel the Spirit, hear the call,
And finds the way, the life, the truth,
Revealed in Jesus, freed for all.
Christ is alive, and comes to bring
Good news to this and ev’ry age,
Till earth and sky and ocean ring
With joy, with justice, love, and praise.
Easter Announcement
Alleluia! Christ is risen.
Christ is risen indeed. Alleluia!
Invocation
We begin in the name of the  Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Call to Worship
(inspired by Psalm 66)
Come and see the works of God,
God's awesome deeds among us.

Come and hear, all who revere God,

God's still speaking voice in our weary world.
Come and touch the sacred, extraordinary in the ordinary,
God's presence in water, bread and wine.
~ written by Katherine Hawker. Posted on Liturgies Outside. http://liturgyoutside.net/

Apostolic Greeting
P: The grace of our Lord  Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy
Spirit be with you all!
C: And also with you!
Kyrie
Refrain
Kyrie eleison, on our world and on our way.
Kyrie eleison, ev’ry day.
For peace in the world, for the health of the church, for the unity of all;
For this holy house, for all who worship and praise,
Let us pray to the Lord, let us pray to the Lord. Refrain.
That we may live out your impassioned response to the hungry and the poor;
That we may live out truth and justice and grace,
Let us pray to the Lord, let us pray to the Lord. Refrain.
For peace in our hearts, for peace in our homes, for friends and family;
For life and for love, for our work and our play,
Let us pray to the Lord, let us pray to the Lord. Refrain.
For your Spirit to guide; that we center our lives in the water and the Word;
That you nourish our souls with your body and blood,
Let us pray to the Lord, let us pray to the Lord. Refrain.
Hymn of Praise
Refrain.
This is the feast of vict’ry for our God,
For the Lamb who was slain has begun his reign. Alleluia.
Worthy is Christ, the Lamb who was slain,
Whose blood set us free to be people of God.
Power, riches, wisdom, and strength,
And honor, blessing, and glory are his. Refrain.
Sing with all the people of God,
And join in the hymn of all creation;
Blessing, honor, glory, and might
Be to God and the Lamb forever. Amen. Refrain.

Prayer of the Day

Almighty and ever-living God, you hold together all things in heaven and on earth. In your great
mercy receive the prayers of all your children, and give to all the world the Spirit of your truth
and peace, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the
Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen.
WORD
First Reading Acts 17:22-31
In Athens, Paul faces the challenge of proclaiming the gospel to Greeks who know nothing of
either Jewish or Christian tradition. He proclaims that the “unknown god” whom they worship
is the true Lord of heaven and earth who will judge the world with justice through Jesus, whom
God has raised from the dead.
22
Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, “Athenians, I see how extremely religious you
are in every way. 23For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your
worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, ‘To an unknown god.’ What therefore
you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. 24The God who made the world and everything
in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, 25nor is
he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals
life and breath and all things. 26From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth,
and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would
live, 27so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him—though indeed
he is not far from each one of us. 28For ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even
some of your own poets have said,
 ‘For we too are his offspring.’
29
Since we are God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the deity is like gold, or silver, or
stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of mortals. 30While God has overlooked the
times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31because he has
fixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has
appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”
The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Second Reading 1 Peter 3:13-22

The author of 1 Peter encourages Christians to remain faithful even in the face of defamation
and persecution. In baptism we are made clean to act in accordance with what is right.
13
Who will harm you if you are eager to do what is good? 14But even if you do suffer for doing
what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear, and do not be intimidated, 15but in your
hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands
from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; 16yet do it with gentleness and reverence.
Keep your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who abuse you for your good
conduct in Christ may be put to shame. 17For it is better to suffer for doing good, if suffering
should be God’s will, than to suffer for doing evil. 18For Christ also suffered for sins once for all,
the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh,
but made alive in the spirit, 19in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in
prison, 20who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah,
during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through
water. 21And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you—not as a removal of dirt from the
body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus
Christ, 22who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and
powers made subject to him.
The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Gospel Acclamation
Alleluia. Blessed are those who have not seen* and yet have come to believe. Alleluia. (John
20:29) Alleluia. Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Alleluia.
Alleluia, alleluia. Alleluia. Alleluia, alleluia.
The Holy Gospel John 14:15-21
In final words to his disciples on the night of his arrest, Jesus encourages obedience to his
commandments and speaks of the Spirit, who will be with them forever.
[Jesus said to the disciples:] 15“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16And I will
ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. 17This is the Spirit
of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know
him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.
  18“I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. 19In a little while the world will no
longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. 20On that day you will
know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. 21They who have my commandments
and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I
will love them and reveal myself to them.”
The Gospel of our Lord
Praise to you, O Christ.
Children’s Sermon
Sermon
Hymn
“Jesus Loves Me” ELW 595
Jesus loves me! This is know,
For the Bible tells me so;
Little ones to him belong,
They are weak, but he is strong.
Refrain. Yes, Jesus loves me, yes, Jesus loves me,
Yes, Jesus loves me, the Bible tells me so.
Jesus loves me! He who died
Heaven’s gates to open wide;
He will wash away my sin,
Let his little child come in. Refrain
Jesus loves me! He will stay
Close beside me all the way;
When at last I come to die,
He will take me home on high. Refrain
Apostles’ Creed
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen

Passing of the Peace

Offering
To enroll in online offerings, please go to www.tlc-al.org and click on Online Giving on the left
side. Or you may mail them to Trinity Lutheran Church, 501 S. Washington Avenue, Albert
Lea, MN 56007

Offertory Prayer
Generous God, here are our gifts of time; here are our gifts of talents; here are our gifts of
money; building stones for your Kingdom, awaiting shaping and placing within your loving
purpose. Amen.
~ written by Rev Dr Derek Browning, and posted on the Church of Scotland’s Starters for Sunday website.  http://www.churchofscotland.org.uk/

MEAL
Prayers of the People
P: Lord, in your mercy, C: hear our prayer.
The Lord’s Prayer (Say)
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 trespasses, as we forgive those who
trespass against us 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

SENDING
The Benediction
Mission Statement
People of Trinity, what is our mission?
We are a fellowship of believers in Christ, sustained by God’s Word, led by the Holy
Spirit and committed to God’s vision of caring!
Announcements
Dismissal
Hymn
“Goodness is Stronger than Evil” ELW 721
Sung twice
Goodness is stronger than evil; love is stronger than hate;
Light is stronger than darkness; life is stronger than death;
Vict’ry is ours, vict’ry is ours, through God who loves us.
Vict’ry is ours, vict’ry is ours, through God who loves us.