May 20 Seventh Sunday of Easter
Acts 1:1517, 2126
Matthias is elected as an apostle.
Psalm 1 (VU p. 724)
Blessed are those who delight in Gods law.
1 John 5:913
The testimony of God is greater than human testimony.
John 17:619
Jesus prays That they may be one, as we are one.
Spark
Create the sound and/or have video footage of an orchestra tuning. Also have jigsaw puzzle pieces (ideally made from a photo of a church activity) spread out on a table in the coffee area or in the narthex or a corner of the sanctuary where people can make one picture out of many pieces.
Theme Engagement Question
How does your congregation work as one? Or do they work as a whole bunch of individual ones side by side? Where are you in this?
With Children
Listen to the sounds of an orchestra tuning; then try getting voices tuned, i.e., have a pianist or other musician play a note (or use a tuning fork) and see if, one by one, people can join in to become one voice, one note. It takes effort; it doesnt happen by accident; it requires listeningto the instrument/tuning fork and to one another. As Christians, God is the one who gives us the note. Jesus prayed we would all be able to tune in to it.
Sermon Starter
In what ways are Jesus and God one? What does That they may be one, as we are one mean? Church councils from ancient times have debated and created formulas to describe the relationship between God and Jesus. One contemporary attempt to understand the unity for which Jesus prayed is found in Gods Dream by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Douglas Carlton Abrams. With references to the possibilities of sharing and caring as well as the realities of human ability to cause hurt, Tutu says, God does not force us to be friends or to love one another.... Each of us carries a piece of Gods heart within us. And when we love one another, the pieces of Gods heart are made whole.[1]
Hymns
Book of Acts
VU 387 Loving Spirit
VU 562 Jesus calls us
VU 567 Will you come and follow me
Psalm
Pete Seger We shall not be moved
Gospel
VU 376 Spirit of the living God
VU 402 We are one
VU 468 Let us talents and tongues employ
MV 154 Deep in our hearts
MV 170 Ubi caritas
MV 178 Who is my mother
General/Seasonal
VU 187 The spring has come
MV 2 Come all you people/Uyai mose
[1] Desmond
Tutu and Douglas Carlton Abrams, Gods Dream (Candlewick Press, 2008). Used
with permission.