Sunderland Sermons: Seventh Sunday of Easter 2020

Sunday 24 May: Seventh Sunday of Easter, Sunday after Ascension

Today, we meet from our own homes, from 10.20 a.m. for a 10.30 a.m. start via Zoom meeting ID: 664-485-330. You’ll also need a password code, which you can get from Revd Andrew Dowsett in advance by calling or texting him on 07783-760-012.

The Greeting

God has gone up with a shout,

the Lord with the sound of a trumpet.

In the name of the Father,

and of the Son,

and of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

Grace, mercy and peace

from God our Father

and the Lord Jesus Christ

be with you.

and also with you.

We join in the Prayer of Preparation, acknowledging that God knows the desires of our hearts, including those that are temporarily on hold, and those that through the circumstances of our lives may never be fulfilled.

Almighty God,

to whom all hearts are open,

all desires known,

and from whom no secrets are hidden:

cleanse the thoughts of our hearts

by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit,

that we may perfectly love you,

and worthily magnify your holy name;

through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

We join in singing a hymn.

We confess our sins and receive God’s forgiveness.

What God has prepared for those who love him,

he has revealed to us through the Spirit;

for the Spirit searches everything.

Therefore, let us in penitence open our hearts to the Lord,

Who has prepared good things for those who love him.

You raise the dead to life in the Spirit:

Lord, have mercy.

Lord, have mercy.

You bring pardon and peace to the broken in heart:

Christ, have mercy.

Christ, have mercy.

You make one by your Spirit the torn and divided:

Lord, have mercy.

Lord, have mercy.

Almighty God,

who forgives all who truly repent,

have mercy upon you,

pardon and deliver you from all your sins,

confirm and strengthen you in all goodness,

and keep you in life eternal;

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

The Collect prayer for today, the Seventh Sunday of Easter:

Risen, ascended Lord,

as we rejoice at your triumph,

fill your Church on earth with power and compassion,

that all who are estranged by sin

may find forgiveness and know your peace,

to the glory of God the Father.

Amen.

We listen to God’s word to us.

Reading Acts 1:6-14

So when they had come together, they asked him, ‘Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?’ He replied, ‘It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’ When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up towards heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up towards heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.’

Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day’s journey away. When they had entered the city, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying, Peter, and John, and James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers.

This is the word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Alleluia, alleluia.

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful people

and kindle in them the fire of your love.

Alleluia.

Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John.

Glory to you, O Lord.

Gospel reading John 17:1-11

After Jesus had spoken these words, he looked up to heaven and said, ‘Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed.

‘I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.

This is the Gospel of the Lord.

Praise to you, O Christ.

We reflect together on what we have heard, in the context of our own shared lives.

We respond to God’s word, joining in this Affirmation of Faith.

Let us declare our faith in God.

We believe in God the Father,

from whom every family

in heaven and on earth is named.

We believe in God the Son,

who lives in our hearts through faith,

and fills us with his love.

We believe in God the Holy Spirit,

who strengthens us

with power from on high.

We believe in one God;

Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Amen.

We pray for the Church and the world.

Almighty God, our heavenly Father,

you have exalted your Son Christ Jesus to your right hand,

and made him the head over all things for his body the Church:

hear us as we pray for the Church throughout the world …

Make us and all your people receptive to the gifts he pours upon us,

that we may use them to your glory,

and the building up of the body of Christ.

Lord, in your mercy:

hear our prayer.

Lord God Almighty, the Ancient of Days,

you have given your Son all authority in heaven and on earth:

hear us as we pray for the world he came to redeem …

Grant that we may know even in this time the things that make for peace,

and may strive for the reconciliation of all people

in his kingdom of justice and love.

Lord, in your mercy:

hear our prayer.

Father of all, whose Son has promised to be with us always,

to the end of the age:

hear us as we pray for those among whom we live and work …

Grant that we may be so aware of his presence with us,

that people may take note of us, that we have been with Jesus.

Lord, in your mercy:

hear our prayer.

O God our Redeemer, whose Son ever lives to make intercession for us:

hear us as we pray for those in any kind of need …

May he who has borne our infirmities strengthen and heal them,

that they may find grace to help in time of need,

and rejoice in his salvation.

Lord, in your mercy:

hear our prayer.

Heavenly Father, whose Son has borne our humanity into the heavenly realms,

and gone before us to prepare a place for us:

hear us as we remember before you those whose earthly sojourn is over,

and whose life is now hidden in him with you …

Make us joyful and expectant, that at his coming with all his own

we too may go forth to meet him, and share in his eternal joy.

Merciful Father,

accept these prayers

for the sake of your Son,

our Saviour Jesus Christ.

Amen.

We join in singing a hymn.

Our service concludes with the Blessing and Dismissal.

As we wait in silence,