Order of Service / Easter 4 / April 26, 2026

# Gathering Hymn This is the Day That God Has Made (#175 VU)

Welcome & Land Acknowledgement

Lighting the Christ Candle

Call to Worship

One: Enter into this sanctuary and know that you will find care and comfort.

  All: That is why we are here.

One: Enter into this your community with a loving heart and with a spirit that is ready to build the kingdom of God.

All: That is why we are here.

One: Accept care when it comes your way, regardless of where your faith journey takes you.

  All: That is why we are here.

One: Even when you encounter trouble, sadness, and rejection, know that you are never alone.

All: That is why we are here! Thanks be to God!

*Éric Hébert-Daly. Gathering LE 2026. Page 40.

Opening Prayer

*Opening Hymn Amazing Grace (#266 VU|vs.1,2,4)

Prayer of Confessional and Renewal (Unison)

Loving God, we have sometimes failed to be the inclusive and welcoming community you call us to be. We have excluded those who are different from us or whose experiences are unfamiliar to us. Forgive us, O God, and by your grace empower us to live more fully into the example of those first followers. Help us to be a community that shares love and hope and works for justice and peace. In silence, we bring to you our own confessions and our hope for a new beginning. (a time of silent confession) Amen.

Words of Assurance

One: God meets us with mercy, forgives us in love, and gives us grace to begin again. In Jesus the Christ, we are set free to live as a welcoming and hope filled community.

All: Thanks be to God, whose mercy renews us, whose love restores us, and whose grace leads us into new life together.

Announcements and Minute for Mission

Time for God’s Children (Little by Little, TLUS 134)

Little by little by little. Little by little by little.

Little by little by little I know, the tiniest seeds will grow.

Prayer for Illumination

Proclaiming the Scriptures

Acts 2:42-47 The believers share everything in common.

Psalm 23 (VU p. 749) God is my shepherd.

John 10:1-10 Jesus the good shepherd and the gate.

This is the Good News from the Bible.

  Thanks be to God.

Anthem

Sermon

*Hymn The Church Is Wherever God’s People (#579 VU)

*Offering

*Offertory Hymn (#541 VU)

Praise God from whom all blessings flow;

praise God, all creatures high and low;

give thanks to God in love made known;

Creator, Word and Spirit, One.

*Offertory Prayer (Unison)
 Gracious God, we offer these gifts with thankful hearts, remembering the first followers who shared what they had and cared for one another. Receive what we bring and use it for your work in the world. May these gifts be a sign of our love for you and our neighbours. Amen.

Prayers of the People and Lord’s Prayer

*Closing Hymn We Shall Go Out with Hope of Resurrection (#586 VU)

*Commissioning

One: Go now to live, breathe, be the new thing that God is doing. Go in the name and in the spirit of the risen Christ.

All: We will go in Christ’s name, anticipating and welcoming his loving presence in every soul God has created.

*Robin Wardlaw. Gathering LE 2023. Page 51.

*Commissioning Song I Am Sending You Light (#99 TLUS)

I am sending you light to heal you, to hold you.

I am sending you light to hold you in love. x2

No matter where you go, no matter where you’ve been;

You’ll never walk alone. I feel you deep within.

I am sending you light to heal you, to hold you.

I am sending you light to hold you in love. x2

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