The next two Sunday's I'll be away on vacation and the pulpit will be filled by guest pastors. You can join us at Bethesda on May 24 at 11:15am and at Olivet on May 31 at 9:45am.
Worship
Service for May 17, 2026
Prelude
Announcements:
Call to Worship
L: Let praise to God resound in the heavens!
P: Let praise to God fill the earth!
L: Let all God’s angels offer praise and
rejoicing!
P: Let all God’s creatures sing praise and
joy!
L: Open your hearts and spirits today.
P: Let us praise the Lord today always! AMEN
Opening
Hymn – Holy, Holy, Holy Hymn #138/3
Prayer of Confession
Patient God, sometimes we are
just too busy for our own good. We
pledge ourselves to hectic schedules, demands on time, energy, and resources
that erode all too quickly. We seem to
be rushing through life. The cries of
those in need often go unheeded in our blur of activities which sap our energy,
our resources, our spirits. Slow us down
a bit, Lord. Remind us again that we are
responsible for the care of this world, for reaching out and offering Your
healing love. Help us hear the words of
patient love that You have for us.
Remind us again of Jesus’ words to his disciples when he told them that
they should love one another as He loved them.
May we take time to bear witness to that love in all that we do. For we ask this in Jesus’ name. (Silent prayers are offered) AMEN.
Assurance of Pardon
L: Wherever you are, Christ is with you. You are beloved of God and God’s care will
always surround you.
P: With this assurance, we are at peace and
we rejoice! 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
God of resurrection and renewal, on this Sunday
morning we gather again as people longing for hope, for healing, and for the
steady assurance of your presence in a world that so often feels uncertain and
weary. We come carrying the stories of
this past week: moments of joy and celebration, moments of disappointment and
grief, moments when we felt deeply to one another, and moments when we felt
painfully alone. Yet through all of it,
you remain faithful, walking beside us in quiet ways we do not always recognize
at first.
We thank you for
the beauty of spring continuing to unfold around us, for trees budding into
life again, for the warmth returning to the earth, and for the reminder that
resurrection is not merely an ancient promise but an ongoing reality woven into
creation itself. Open our eyes to signs
of new life where despair has tried to settle in. Teach us to trust that even small acts of
compassion, justice, mercy, and courage can become seeds of your kingdom.
Loving God, we pray
for your church throughout the world. Strengthen congregations that are
discouraged, renew pastors and leaders who are tired, and inspire your people
to embody the love of Christ not only in worship but in daily living. Help us to be communities where strangers are
welcomed, where differences are honored, where wounds are tended gently, and
where all people may discover that they are beloved children of God.
We pray for the
nations of the world and for all places burdened by violence, fear, poverty,
and division. Bring wisdom to leaders,
courage to peacemakers, and protection to all who are vulnerable. Where hatred grows loud, let compassion speak
more clearly. Where systems oppress and
exclude, raise up people committed to justice and reconciliation. Remind us
that peace begins not only in governments and treaties, but also in our own homes,
our neighborhoods, and our everyday relationships.
We lift before you
those who are struggling today: those facing illness or recovery, those
grieving losses both recent and long carried, those wrestling with anxiety,
loneliness, addiction, uncertainty, or financial strain. Be near to caregivers, medical workers,
counselors, teachers, and all whose labor brings comfort and stability to
others. Surround each hurting heart with
your grace and remind them that they are never abandoned. We especially prayer for…
We pray also for
this congregation, for the unspoken prayers carried silently this morning, for
the hopes we scarcely dare to name aloud, and for the burdens too heavy for
words. Receive them all, O God, with tenderness and mercy in this time of
silence…
Lord, we pray these
things in the spirit of the risen Christ, who taught us to pray together,
saying: 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 – How Firm a Foundation Hymn #361/408
Scripture Reading(s):
Isaiah
45:1-7
John
17:1-11
Sermon – One in Jesus
Christ
(based
on John 17:1-11)
John 17 is one of the most intimate
moments in all of scripture. In the Gospel of John, Jesus has finished
teaching, washing feet, sharing bread, and preparing the disciples for what is
about to come. And now, before the
arrest, before the trial, before the cross, Jesus prays. Not a quick prayer. Not a polished public performance. But a deep, heartfelt conversation with
God. It is often called the High
Priestly Prayer because Jesus stands in that sacred space between heaven and
earth, praying not only for himself, but for the disciples and for all who
would come after them — including us.
What strikes me every time I read
this passage is the honesty of it. Jesus
knows what is coming. He knows the pain
ahead. He knows betrayal is already
unfolding. And yet his focus is not
fear. His focus is completion. “I glorified you on earth by finishing the
work that you gave me to do.”
There is something powerful about
those words: finishing the work. Most of
us live surrounded by unfinished things.
Unfinished projects on kitchen tables.
Unanswered emails. Goals we once
had but quietly abandoned. Relationships
that need healing. Dreams deferred
because life became complicated or exhausting.
We know what it feels like to leave things undone. And perhaps that is why these words from
Jesus feel so holy. At the very end of
his earthly ministry, he can say with clarity and peace: “I finished the work.”
But what exactly was that work? The Gospel tells us it was not about power or
prestige. Jesus did not measure success
the way the world does. He did not build
an army. He did not gain wealth. He did not establish political
dominance. In fact, by worldly
standards, the ending of Jesus’ life looked like failure. Arrested.
Rejected. Crucified. That doesn’t sound very successful to
me. Was he really called to that? Was that really the work he came to
complete? John’s Gospel insists this is
precisely where glory is revealed.
That certainly turns our
understanding of glory upside down.
Because we often think glory means recognition, achievement, applause,
influence. We live in a culture obsessed
with visibility. People build entire
identities around being noticed. Success
is measured by followers, promotions, possessions, and public approval. But Jesus speaks of glory while walking
toward the cross. The glory of God is
revealed not in domination but in self-giving love. It is revealed in compassion, humility,
sacrifice, and truth.
And maybe that is something we, as
the church, desperately need to hear today.
Because Christianity was never supposed to be about winning culture wars
or proving moral superiority. Jesus did
not say the world would know us because we were louder than everyone else. He said the world would know us by love. The work Jesus completed was the work of
revealing the heart of God to the world.
A heart that touched lepers.
A heart that welcomed children.
A heart that sat at tables with sinners.
A heart that listened to the rejected.
A heart that challenged religious hypocrisy.
A heart that forgave even from the cross.
Jesus completed the work of showing
humanity who God truly is. Many people
still carry distorted images of God.
Some imagine God as angry, distant, judgmental, or eager to condemn. Many people have walked away from church not
because they stopped longing for God, but because what they encountered
did not look anything like Jesus. Yet
when we look at Christ, we see a God who heals, restores, includes, and loves
with reckless grace. Are we, in our
daily lives, revealing that God? Do
people see Christ in us?
Jesus says eternal life is this: to
know God and Jesus Christ whom God has sent.
Eternal life is not simply something that begins after death. In John’s Gospel, eternal life begins
now. It is a way of living awakened to
the presence of God here and now. It is
knowing that our lives are connected to something deeper than consumption,
fear, and survival. It is discovering
that love is stronger than death.
And then Jesus turns his attention
toward the disciples. You can almost
feel the tenderness in his words. I’ve
said it over and over again; he knows they are frightened and confused. He knows they will stumble. He knows Peter will deny him and the others
will scatter. Yet he still entrusts the
future to them. Imperfect people. Fragile people. Human beings who do not always get it
right. Why do I say that over and over
again? I think I say it because that’s
what gives me hope.
Because sometimes we imagine God
only works through polished and perfect people.
But the Gospel has never been about perfection. The church began with anxious disciples
hiding behind locked doors. And still
the Spirit moved through them.
Jesus prays that they may be one.
Not uniform. Not identical. Not all of them agreeing about everything, but
united in love and purpose. That may be
one of our own hardest challenges. We
live, once again, in an age of division.
Politics divides us. Theology
divides us. Social issues divide
us. Even churches split over worship
styles, traditions, and personalities.
They split over nuances of theology.
Into that fractured reality comes the prayer of Jesus: “that they may be
one.” Not because agreement on every
issue is possible, but because love must be greater than our differences.
Unity does not mean avoiding
truth. Jesus certainly never avoided
truth. But unity means remembering that
every person bears the image of God. It
means refusing to dehumanize those with whom we disagree. It means building communities shaped more by
grace than by fear.
Do you know the story of Johnny
Appleseed? He was an actual human being
whose real name was John Chapman.
Although stories about him planting trees willy-nilly wherever he went
are far exaggerated, he was instead a sound businessman who planted apple trees
in a planned orchard on twelve hundred acres in Pennsylvania and Ohio, then
sold them cheaply or even gave them away to all those moving west. His generosity and offer of tree saplings and
apple seeds inspired the reputation that he simply planted them everywhere he
went. His entrepreneurial spirit of
giving out trees to everyone, never fully seeing the harvest that would come
later across the entire United States, earned him the name Johnny Appleseed. In reality it was small work, not some
monumental trek across the country to plant trees. I think that real image speaks beautifully to
the church today because most of the work we do for the kingdom of God feels
small.
A prayer offered beside a hospital
bed.
A casserole delivered to a grieving family.
Teaching children in Sunday school.
Showing up for someone who feels forgotten.
Speaking kindness in a cruel world.
Standing beside those pushed to the margins.
Offering compassion when anger would be easier.
These acts may never make headlines,
but they are holy work. And perhaps the
question this prayer that Christ offers up to God is not whether we will become
famous or successful, but whether we will be faithful. What is the work God has given you to do?
For some, it may be the work of
healing.
For others, the work of justice.
For some, the work of encouragement.
For others, the work of creating peace in divided spaces.
For some, simply the sacred work of loving family and neighbors well.
There are two important days in a
person’s life: the day you are born and the day you discover why you were
born. I think Jesus knew exactly why he
was here. And because he knew his
purpose, he could face even suffering with courage and peace. The same Spirit that guided Christ now moves
within us. That is why this passage
arrives just before Pentecost in the church calendar. Jesus prepares the disciples (and preparing
us) for what comes next. His earthly
ministry is ending, but their ministry is about to begin. The Spirit will come
and empower ordinary people to continue extraordinary work. And the same is true for us.
The church is not simply a building
where we gather for an hour on Sunday morning.
The church is a people sent into the world carrying hope, compassion,
justice, mercy, and grace. We are called
to continue the work of Jesus in our own generation.
Our calling is not to save the whole
world overnight, but simply to remain faithful in the places where God has
planted us. To keep planting seeds of
compassion. To keep choosing love over
hatred. To keep living the Gospel even
when cynicism feels easier. Because in
the end, glory is not found in power. Glory
is found in love poured out for others.
And maybe one day, when our own journeys draw to a close, we too might
be able to say with humility and gratitude: “I did not do everything perfectly. But by the grace of God, I tried to finish
the work I was given to do.”
Thanks be to God.
Amen.
Offertory –
Doxology –
Prayer of Dedication –
We give you thanks, O God, for the blessings
of this life; for family and friends, for work and play, for health and
healing, for the good that we receive and that we also give. We praise your holy name not only with our
lips, but by returning to you a portion of the gifts that you have so
generously bestowed on us, asking you to use them to build up the body of
Christ here and to the ends of the earth. AMEN.
Closing Hymn – Seek Ye First Hymn #333/713
Benediction –
As our last
hymn rang out, let us seek God first in all that we do, in all that we think,
in all that we say. Go from this place
inspired by the wonder of God and the joy of God’s presence, sharing his love
with everyone. AMEN.
Postlude
