Worship
Service for April 26, 2026
Prelude
Announcements:
Call to Worship
L: Make a joyful noise to the Holy One, all
the earth.
P: We come with glad hearts, ready to worship
and sing
L: Enter God’s gates with thanksgiving and
God’s courts with praise.
P: We bring our whole selves – our joy and
our longing.
L: Give thanks and bless God’s holy name.
P: For God is good, God’s steadfast love
endures forever.
Opening
Hymn – All People That On Earth Do
Dwell #220/101 4vs.
Prayer of Confession
Gracious and Loving God, we come before You aware
of the ways we fall short—in what we have done and in what we have left undone. We confess the moments we have chosen comfort
over courage, silence over truth, and self-interest over compassion. Forgive us for the times we have overlooked
the needs of others, turned away from injustice, or forgotten the sacred worth
of those around us. Renew in us a spirit
of humility and grace. Open our hearts
to love more deeply, to act more justly, and to walk more faithfully in your
way. In your mercy, receive us, restore
us, and guide us forward. (Silent prayers are
offered) AMEN.
Assurance of Pardon
L: Jesus said, “I have come that you may have
life and have it abundantly. In our
confession, we return to the shepherd, the guardian of our souls who welcomes
us with open arms and a glad heart.
P: We know that the Good Shepherd never
abandons us, is always calling our name, and unfailingly loves and forgives
us. Thanks be to God. AMEN!
Gloria Patri
Affirmation of Faith/Apostles’
Creed
I believe in God the Father
Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth; And in Jesus Christ His only Son our Lord;
who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under
Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into hell; the
third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sitteth on
the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge
the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Ghost,
the holy catholic Church; the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins; the
resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. AMEN
Pastoral Prayer and Lord’s
Prayer
Gracious
and ever-present God, we come to you this day carrying all that we are; our
joys and our worries, our gratitude and our grief, our hopes for the world and
our questions that linger in the quiet places of our hearts.
You
meet us here, just as we are. Not as we
pretend to be, not as we wish we were, but as we truly are; beloved, fragile,
and held in your care. We thank you for
the signs of new life that surround us—for the greening of the earth, the
lengthening of days, and the subtle reminders that renewal is always possible.
In
this Easter season, awaken in us again the courage to trust that life can rise even
in places we thought were finished. God
of compassion, we lift before you those who are hurting this day; those who
carry illness in their bodies, weariness in their spirits, or sorrow that feels
too heavy to name. Be near to them with
comfort and healing. Surround them with
your peace and with people who embody your love. We especially pray today for:
We
pray for those burdened by injustice; for communities facing violence, for
those whose voices are ignored or silenced, for all who long for dignity and
fairness. Stir in us a holy restlessness
that refuses to accept a broken world as it is. Give us courage not only to pray for change, but
to become part of it.
We
hold in prayer our own community, this congregation, its ministries, and its
relationships. Strengthen us to be a
place of welcome and belonging, where all are seen, valued, and embraced. Teach us to listen deeply, to forgive freely,
and to serve generously.
And
in the quiet of this moment, we name before you those people and situations that
rest most heavily on our hearts…
We
offer all this in the spirit of Christ, who teaches us to live and to love
boldly, saying together.… 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. Forgive us our debts as we
forgive our debtors. And lead us not
into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. AMEN.
Hymn –
Rock of Ages Hymn #342
Brown Hymnal
Scripture
Reading(s):
First Scripture Reading – Psalm
100
Second Scripture Reading – Acts
2:42-47
Sermon They Devoted Themselves
(based
on Acts 2:42-47)
We are living in an era when we have never been more
connected, yet we have perhaps never felt more alone. We have devices in our pockets that can beam
our faces across the globe in a millisecond.
We can curate our lives on feeds, comment on a stranger’s breakfast, and
order groceries without ever looking another human being in the eye. We have mastered the mechanics of
communication, but we are slowly losing the art of connection.
We are experiencing an epidemic of isolation. The Surgeon General has warned us about
it. Sociologists write books about
it. But we don't need experts to tell
us. The most recent adult generations,
Millennials, Gen X, and Gen Z have all said it in various surveys: a deep,
aching hunger for genuine belonging. Not
the kind of belonging where you are tolerated because you fit the right
demographic, or you vote the right way, or you dress the right way. But the kind of belonging where you are
known, deeply known, and wildly loved.
Today, in our scripture reading, we are looking at a
snapshot of a community that figured this out; 2,000 years ago. No, they didn’t have Smartphones, the
internet, or Google. But they were very
isolated from one another in a different way.
There were pockets of community, but they were politically,
economically, and even religiously forced to regard one another with suspicion
and paranoia.
In reading Acts 2:42-47 this morning from the lectionary
readings we skip a bit ahead of the story chronologically. In this telling of events, the Holy Spirit
has just happened at Pentecost. We’ll
read that in the earlier part of Chapter 2 in a couple of weeks. Peter has just preached a sermon that turned
the world upside down. Thousands of
people have suddenly found themselves swept up in this new movement called
"The Way." We’ve had these
moments in history in the past – In the 16th Century we had The Reformation, in
the 18th Century The First Great Awakening, in the 19th Century the Second
Great Awakening, later in the 19th Century just before the Civil War was the
Great Prayer Meeting Revival, in the beginning of the 20th Century about 50
years after the Civil War, The Azusa Street Revival which spawned the
Missionary Movement, and finally in the mid 20th Century we had The Jesus
Movement, begun by Bill Bright at college campuses and Billy Graham at large
secular venues.
But Luke, gives us this beautiful, breathless summary of
what day-to-day life actually looked like for 1st Century Christians. When we read this passage today, in our
modern, hyper-individualized, capitalist society, it almost sounds like a fairy
tale. It sounds like a utopian dream
that couldn't possibly exist in the real world.
But this isn't a fairy tale. It’s
a blueprint. It’s a radical alternative
to the empire of isolation that we currently inhabit.
Luke tells us they devoted themselves to four things: the
apostles’ teaching, fellowship, the breaking of bread, and prayer. Let’s talk about that second word:
fellowship. In the original Greek, the
word is koinonia. In modern church
culture, we’ve watered down "fellowship" to mean drinking coffee and
eating donuts in the church fellowship hall while making small talk about the weather. But koinonia is not small talk. It means deep, intimate, vulnerable
partnership. It implies a shared life. It means your well-being is intrinsically
tied to my well-being.
This early community realized that you cannot follow Jesus
in a vacuum. Faith is not simply a
private transaction between you and God; it is a communal reality. They devoted themselves to the teaching of
the apostles—which was the teaching of Jesus—which was a curriculum of radical
grace for everyone, for love of neighbor as well as strangers in your midst and
for the person you disagree with even on a fundamental level, and the
overturning of oppressive systems. They
grounded all of this in prayer, recognizing that they did not have the strength
to do this on their own.
But then, the text takes a turn that makes modern Western
Christians very uncomfortable. Verse 44:
"All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold
property and possessions to give to anyone who had need."
Let’s be honest: we like gloss right over this part. We don’t like it. So, we spiritualize it. We say, "Well, they were just being really
generous." But Luke means exactly
what he says. They liquidated their
capital. They recognized that the
accumulation of wealth by a few while others went hungry was completely
incompatible with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
For some reason we like to put political labels on this and call it
Socialism or Communism. But, that’s not
the concept here at all.
In our modern context, we are conditioned to believe that
our security comes from our bank accounts, our property, and our individual
safety nets. We are taught to climb the
ladder, hoard our resources, and maybe, if we have a little left over, drop
some change in the charity bucket.
Charity is good, but charity still maintains the power dynamic between
the giver and the receiver.
The early church wasn't practicing charity; they were
practicing something called mutual aid.
Mutual aid says, "I don't just feel bad for your poverty; I am
going to dismantle the systems that keep you poor, I’m going to address not
just my own financial abundance, but I’m going to address the largest systems
that keep you poor. In the meantime, my
home is your home. My bread is your
bread." It is a progressive
economic vision rooted not in a political ideology, but in the theological
conviction that everything belongs to God, and we are simply stewards meant to
ensure everyone has enough. Yes, that is
radical. Yes, that is extremely
controversial. But, it is also extremely
biblical.
What would it look like for us to practice this kind of
koinonia today? Even saying this words
and concepts might make me sound political or at least of one brand of
political persuasion, but it is seriously biblical. For it might mean advocating for affordable
housing and working towards universal healthcare because we believe that human
dignity is not something you earn; it is something you are born with as an
image-bearer of God.
Luke goes on to say, "They broke bread in their homes
and ate together..." In the ancient
Near East, who you ate with was a political statement. The table was highly segregated by class,
gender, and religious purity. You did
not eat with people who were "beneath" you, not of your class.
But here, in this new community of Jesus, the walls were
coming down. Masters were eating with
slaves or their employees. Men were
sitting alongside women as equals. Jews
and Gentiles were figuring out how to pass the bread to one another. The table became the great equalizer.
Today, the table is still a place of radical
revolution. When we talk about being a
graceful church, a church full of God’s mercy and love, it means the table is
wide. It means that everyone, and I mean
everyone is not just welcomed to the table, but they are celebrated, affirmed,
and invited to lead at the table. It
means we actively dismantle the white supremacy that tries to segregate our
neighborhoods and our pews.
When we break bread together—whether it's Holy Communion on
a Sunday morning or a potluck on Tuesday night—we are practicing for the
Kingdom of Heaven. We are rehearsing the
reality where everyone has a seat, everyone has a voice, and no one is turned
away because of the color of their skin, the beliefs they hold, how old they
are, who they love, where they come from, or how much money they make.
And what was the result of all this shared life, shared
wealth, and shared tables? Luke tells us
they ate together with "glad and sincere hearts, praising God."
Joy is a profoundly subversive act. We live in a world that profits off our
outrage and our despair. The 24-hour
news cycle and the algorithms on our phones are designed to keep us anxious,
angry, and divided. But this early
church, living under the crushing weight of the Roman Empire, found a way to be
deeply, sincerely joyful.
Their joy wasn't toxic positivity. It wasn't pretending that Rome wasn't
oppressive or that poverty didn't exist.
Their joy was rooted in the knowledge that they were participating in
God’s great rescue mission for the world.
They were experiencing the kingdom of God here and now, in the eyes of
their neighbors and in the taste of shared bread.
When we commit to one another, when we refuse to let the
empire isolate us, we tap into that same well of joy. Praising God in the midst of a broken world
is how we declare that the brokenness will not have the final word. Love will.
So, with knowledge of the 1st Century Christians and how
they lives, where do we go from here?
How do we live out Acts 2 in 2026?
It starts small.
Radical community doesn't happen overnight. It happens when you decide to invite a
neighbor over for dinner or to a fellowship event at the church. It happens when you show up to a city council
meeting to advocate for marginalized voices in your community or to clean up
the neighborhood. When you take pride in
where you live and who you live next to.
It happens when you look at your budget and ask the Spirit, "How
can my resources be used for mutual aid rather than just personal accumulation?"
It happens when we stop treating church as a weekly event
that we attend, and start treating it as a family we are committed to building,
no matter who that person might be and how they might look and who knows, maybe
we help begin the next Spiritual movement for the 21st Century.
The last line of our passage says, "And the Lord added
to their number daily those who were being saved." Notice that they weren't running flashy
marketing campaigns. They weren't trying
to be cool. They were simply living such
beautiful, radically generous, deeply connected lives that the people around
them looked at them and said, "I don't know what they have, but I want
in."
May we be a community like that. May we be a people of the wide table, the
open hand, and the glad heart. May our
love for one another be so vibrant, so disruptive, and so beautiful that the
world cannot help but see the face of Christ among us.
Thanks be to God.
AMEN
Offertory –
Doxology –
Prayer of Dedication –
Holy and most giving God, we who have received
so bountifully of your gifts now offer them, and ourselves, back to you in
love, that the work of faithful discipleship may continue in the world, under
your Mercy. Amen.
Closing
Hymn – The Day of Resurrection Hymn #118
Blue Hymnal
Benediction –
Come through the gate of joy
and hope, moving into the world that needs ot hear the words of peace, the
words of love, the words of hope. Go in
peace to all God’s people, bringing good news of Christ’s abundant love for
them. AMEN
Postlude
