My dearest Hope Family- Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
Amelia Earhart once said; “A single act of kindness throws out roots in all directions, and the roots spring up and make new trees.” Wow! I love that! In other words, a single act of kindness begets other acts of kindness. Kindness breeds kindness.
~~~I have been spending a great deal of time thinking about kindness over these past weeks and months. There are times when it feels like our society has lost the art of kindness-that ugly words and behavior have been so normalized that kindness is hard to find. I even heard today that there is an increase in passenger disruptions on airlines because folks just freak out and act out for the simplest of things. It’s like everyone is on their last nerve and the world is stamping on it.
~~~But then…but then I see you and the kindness you show me and others. I see the kindness in the support of the Craft Fair and the kindness in the volunteering we had two weeks ago. I see the kindness in invitations extended to others. I see the kindness in the food pantry and the need for re-stocking of the shelves because people are being fed out of your kindness. I see the kindness of those who volunteer to usher and count and serve on altar guild, and build pantry closets, and clean carpets, and provide altar flowers and so much more. I see prayers lifted up for others because of the kindness and concern you have for those in need. I see such kindness in you and it is a true joy.
~~~There are some ideas swirling about how we can harness the kindness and the love to be shared more broadly in the months to come-to share intentional kindness and love with others. If you have any ideas, please share them with me! Let’s let love and kindness be the visible proof that we are followers of Jesus at Hope Lutheran Church. Let’s let love and kindness guide our every thought, word, and deed as we fulfill our purpose to be led by the Spirit to serve God and share Christ’s love with all. Let’s be known for our kindness and love! Let’s spread kindness so that it can grow and overcome everything else that causes pain and hurt in our community, our country, our world. Let’s bear Christ’s love and kindness to a world that desperately needs it! Together, let’s be kind.
A blessed week of Easter 6 and a blessed Mother’s Day be with you all! Love, Pr. Jen Schaefer+
A blessing for Mothers: Gracious God, in love you have given us the gift of mothers and those who provide motherly guidance and love. Grant to each of them your power and grace. Strengthen them in their mothering with tenderness and understanding, with compassion and joy. Endow them with wisdom and knowledge so that they might teach their children how to live and how to love; how to seek and pursue that which is right and true; how to turn away from all that is hurtful and wrong. Deepen their own faith so that they might instill in their children a love for you that will sustain and keep them their whole life long. We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Set out and light a candle, perhaps the one you used last night at the Vigil. You may wish to have a bowl of water as a reminder of your baptism into the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The Prayer of the Day O God, you have prepared for those who love you joys beyond understanding. Pour into our hearts such love for you that, loving you above all things, we may obtain your promises, which exceed all we can desire; through Jesus Christ, your Son and our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Gospel : John 15:9-17 On the night of his arrest, Jesus delivers a final testimony to his disciples to help them in the days ahead. Here, he repeats the most important of all his commands, that they love one another. [Jesus said:] 9“As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. 10If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. 11I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.
12“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. 16You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. 17I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.” The gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, O Christ.
12“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. 16You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. 17I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.” The gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, O Christ.
HOMILY, I remember from my childhood listening to Andy Williams croon “Love is a many splendored thing” from the movie of that same title starring William Holden (be still my heart) and Jenifer Jones. If you want to check out just how many splendored love really is, check out some of the titles of books offered on Amazon that feature the word love in their titles…. the five love languages, love is the way, love yourself, a return to love, teachings on love, letters to my love, meditations on self-love, love happens, crazy, stupid love, love on the rocks, keep your love on, down on love, holding onto love, love rules, and countless more.
~~~We don’t need to go so far as to check out Amazon, because right here in our Gospel today, we hear a lot about love. Nine times in these few short verses Jesus speaks the word love or loved. Our Gospel today is literally loaded with love! Jesus is saying to us and the rest of his disciples is that, as his followers, people of God called in Baptism, the love to which we are called is not simply something we think or talk about or say or sing. As our prayer of the day said: “Pour into our hearts such love for you that, loving you above all things, we may obtain your promises which exceed all we can desire…”
~~~The fact is, love words are hollow, empty and useless unless we translate them into love works. We can’t just talk the talk of love-we must also walk the walk of love. The love to which Jesus calls us, the love of God, is not a concept, a principle, a value that exists in some rarified, purified, isolated state. In Scripture, no sooner do we read of God in the beginning, in Genesis, as God’s Word of love, that Word of Love becomes God’s creative works of love. The love of God is a love that is active and moving, a perpetual motion of creating, protecting, saving, forgiving, warning, leading, feeding, giving to the objects of God’s love-namely, US!
~~~And on the final night of his earthly life, it isn’t an accident that Jesus tells us “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” Please note—Jesus does not say “Please”…he does not say “I think it would be a good idea if…” or “I would really appreciate it if you…” It is a commandment—there’s no wiggle room here—it is his command. We are to love one another AS HE HAS LOVED US. Jesus tells us in no uncertain terms “Don’t just talk about love, sing about love, think about love. Rather, share love, accomplish love, bring about love, carry out love, do love, give love, live in love. “
~~~The best example of that kind of love to which we are called is in Holy Communion, in the Eucharistic as we share in his very Body and Blood. Jesus’ love looks like this-laying down his life for his friends—dying for you and me—and it is all done out of love. There is nothing Jesus wants more than to give us his love, so that we might be so filled with it, so overwhelmed by his love, that we are bursting with it and can’t wait to go out and share his love with others. ~~~This active, working love is shown here at Hope through the Food Pantry and the daily discipleship shown as we are led by the Spirit to serve God and share Christ’s love with all. It is active love when we boldly make Jesus known to others by being kind or thoughtful, supportive and compassionate, empathetic and helpful, welcoming, inviting, when we work for justice and mercy, and are honest and decent, treating others and all creation as God’s created beings just as we are, loving in Jesus’ name here at Hope, in our community, and in our world. Jesus says to us today that we are to love one another as he has loved us.
~~~As another preacher once said; “Love is less a rhyme and more an action. Love is seldom words alone, but gestures too. Love is loving as God has loved us, forgiving, helping, encouraging, caring, and sharing. Love is emulating Jesus, being as zealous as Paul, as confident as Peter, as curious as Thomas, as perceptive as John. It is in being a constant and consistent disciple of Jesus that you become a perpetual and pleasing lover to the world. The better word for “One who loves” is simply that of being a “Christian”. And that says it all.” Love one another. Amen.
Prayers of Intercession
Alive in the risen Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit, we bring our prayers before God who promises to hear us and answer in steadfast love. A brief silence.
Loving God, you call us to be your fruit—bearing church. Strengthen the bonds among all Christian churches. Hear us, O God. Your mercy is great.
Creating God, the earth praises you. The seas roar and the hills sing for joy. Fill the earth with your love so that by their song, all creatures of land and sea and sky, burrowing and soaring, may call us to join with them in praise. Hear us, O God. Your mercy is great.
Faithful Savior, you conquer the world not with weapons but with undying love. Plant your word in the hearts of the nations’ leaders and give them your Spirit, so that the peoples of the world may live in peace. Hear us, O God. Your mercy is great.
Caring Healer, you forget no one and accompany the lonely. Be present with those who are sick or suffering (especially)…. Provide for those needing homes or medical care and point us towards life-changing responses to these needs in our own communities. Be with the dying. Hear us, O God. Your mercy is great.
Gracious God, as a mother comforts her child, you comfort us. Bless mothers and mothering people in our lives. Comfort those who miss their mothers, mothers who grieve, those who grieve because they cannot be mothers, and those who have never known a loving mother. Hear us, O God. Your mercy is great.
Gentle Redeemer, all who die in you abide in your presence forever. We remember with thanksgiving those who shared your love throughout their lives. Keep us united with them in your lasting love. Hear us, O God. Your mercy is great.
In the hope of new life in Christ, we raise our prayers to you, trusting in your never-ending goodness and mercy; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Save us from the time of trial, and deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and forever. Amen.
The blessing of the living God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, surround and sustain us, keep us from harm, and fill us with courage. Amen.
Alleluia! Christ is Risen! Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia! Let us go out into the world in peace, sharing the Good News of Jesus and his rising from the dead, as together we are led by the Spirit to serve God and share Christ’s love with all! Thanks be to God!
HOPE HAPPENINGS . We welcome all who worship with us today. Please complete one of the visitor cards at our guest table. If you would like to make Hope your church home, please speak to Pastor Jen. Everyone is welcome at Hope Lutheran Church.
Next Week’s Readings: Acts 1:15-17, 21-26; 1 John 5:9-13; John 17:6-19
The April thru June Word in Season Devotionals are available on the narthex table.
LAY SERVANTS FINANCIAL INFO APRIL 2021
Altar Guild: Candy Ogden INCOME $10,654.27
Usher: Alan Beicht EXPENSE $13,071.83
Counters: INCOME LESS EXPENSE $-2,417.56
PRAYER LIST Please call the church office or email Pr. Jen with any prayer requests you may have so they may be shared with the congregation.
Please continue to hold in prayer:
Family of Frank Pereone as he joined the Lord in heaven.
Pat Hinton for ongoing healing.
Kim & Buce, family of Jill Mead, in need of healing.
Cyndi and Fred for healing
Ken Zwara for healing
Vinny for healing
Ian for sure and strong presence of God’s healing grace
Doris Puerner for healing
Marirose for a healthy pregnancy
Helen for healing
Kristin, Ron and Carolyn Rasmussen’s daughter, for healing after surgery
Dawn Seibert for healing
Carol for healing, hope, and God’s will.
Laura Everill, daughter of Phyllis and Tom Agness, residing in a healthcare facility.
Walter Crowley, husband of Kathryn and father of Ginger Toomire recovering from pneumonia.
Joyce, sister-in-law of Elaine Dougan, recovering from brain cancer surgery.
John Greene, Millie’s husband, for strength and healing
Cheryl Burke who is in need of healing
Larry and Barbara Brady, as they focus on healing.
Jason and family for healing
NEW AT HOPE
KIWANIS SHOES FOR KIDS PROJECT –will begin the week of June 20 and run through July 25, 2021.
THE CRAFT SALE raised $1,420 for Hope’s Love Pantry. Special thanks to Linda and Jack Kraigenow for all their hard work in creating the gorgeous gemstone jewelry and making the Craft Sale a huge success. Linda will be selling her jewelry at the North Port Craft Fair on July 17 between 10:00 and 3:00 at the George Mullen Center Gymnasium, 1602 Krame Way, North Port, FL.
WONDERFUL WEDNESDAY evenings will be returning this summer. Get ready for some socialization and game playing. If you have ideas or suggestions, please contact Pr. Jen or Fran
SAVE THE DATE – Hope Lutheran Bazaar scheduled for December 4, 2021.If you know of any vendors that would like to rent a table, please contact Fran Kostrowsky.
ASCENSION THURSDAY WORSHIP – Please join us on Ascension Thursday, May 13 th as we celebrate the risen Christ’s ascension into heaven at 10:00 AM or 4:30 PM. Both will be held n the sanctuary.
HOPE LOVE PANTRY – The pantry could use canned meat, fruits, juice, juices, toiletries and snack items or monetary donations. Thank you for your continued support and donations. This is our opportunity to serve God and share Christ’s love with all.
MONDAY BIBLE STUDY on God sightings every Monday at 10:00 AM in the Fellowship Hall.
HYMN REQUESTS If there are any particular hymns that you would like to hear at worship, please submit the names to Pastor Jen at hopeluthern1@comcast.net. If our licensing agreement permits, look forward to hearing them soon.
HOPES AND DREAMS FOR HOPE – If you have a suggestion for a Hope or Dream for Hope Lutheran Church, Pastor Jen and your council would love to hear it. Please feel free to place any Hope or Dream in the mailbox in the hallway leading to the Fellowship Hall. All requests will be kept confidential, and you will receive a timely response.
2021 HOPE LUTHERAN COUNCIL MEMBERS
Pastor Jennifer Schaefer 813.391.2027 hopeluthern1@comcast.net
President Jill Mead 941.350.5209 jillmead3059@gmail.com
Vice President Linda Kraignow 941.623.9188 lindak41549@gmail.com
Secretary Roberta Balint 941.830.2381 roberta.in.paradise@gmail.com
Treasurer Karl Kaukis 405.334.1511 karl@kaukis.comFinancial Secretary Lorraine Maass 540.419.5961 yar0227@ymail.com
Pr. Cheryll Armstrong-Kaukis 405.762.0564 cheryll.kaukis@gmail.com
Fran Kostrowsky 813.316.5295 fkostrowsky@gmail.com
Candy Ogden 217.899.7086 roncandyogden92@gmail.com
Donna Turner 941.276.4696 jag01@embarqmail.com
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