Sermon Tone Analysis

*WELCOME*

* *

*CALL TO WORSHIP*

“/How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those/ /who /*bring good news*, /who *proclaim peace*/, /who/* bring good tidings*, /who /*proclaim salvation*/, who say to //Zion//, /*‘Your God reigns!’”*

/        /     

*~*HYMN OF PRAISE                         *#550    “When Morning Gilds the Sky”

               

*~*INVOCATION (*the Lord’s Prayer) Eternal God, in whom we live and move and have our being, who has created us for yourself, give us such purity of heart and strength of character that no selfish passion will hamper us from knowing your will.

May this hour of worship empower us for service.

May we find in you perfect peace and freedom.

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.

And 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.

* *

*~*GLORIA PATRI (*Sung together)*                     *                                     #575

*~*PSALM FOR TODAY*                                                            *Psalm 30 */(NRSV)  /

1/I will extol you, O Lord, for you have drawn me up, and did not let my foes rejoice over me/.

2*O Lord my God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me*.

3/O Lord, you brought up my soul from Sheol, restored me to life from among those gone down to the Pit./

4*Sing praises to the Lord, O you his faithful ones, and give thanks to his holy name.*

5/For his anger is but for a moment; his favor is for a lifetime.

Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning.

/

6*As for me, I said in my prosperity, “I shall never be moved.”

*

7/By your favor, O Lord, you had established me as a strong mountain; you hid your face; I was dismayed.

/

8*To you, O Lord, I cried, and to the Lord I made supplication: *

9/“What profit is there in my death, if I go down to the Pit?

Will the dust praise you?

Will it tell of your faithfulness?

/

10*Hear, O Lord, and be gracious to me! O Lord, be my helper!” *

11/You have turned my mourning into dancing; you have taken off my sackcloth /

/and clothed me with joy, /

12*so that my soul may praise you and not be silent.

O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever.

*

*CHOIR                                                                         *

*SCRIPTURE READING                                 Revelation 5:11-14*/ (NRSV)  /

11 Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels surrounding the throne and the living creatures and the elders; they numbered myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, 12 singing with full voice, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slaughtered to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might

and honor and glory and blessing!”

13Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, singing, “To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might  forever and ever!”

14 And the four living creatures said, “Amen!”

And the elders fell down and worshiped.

*OFFERING TO GOD                          *“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Cor.

15:58 KJV).

*~*DOXOLOGY (*Sung together)                                                              #572

          

*~*PRAYER OF DEDICATION**  *Lord, help us to become unobstructed channels through which your love and light can be channeled to a world in need.

May these gifts be used for preaching the good news of Jesus Christ to all persons everywhere.

* *

*~*HYMN OF PRAYER                         *# 321   “Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us”

 

*PASTORAL PRAYER *

/"But [Jesus] would withdraw to deserted places and pray."

Luke 5:16/

*P*raise God for... for Easter services around the country, for the non churchgoers who were touched by the love and grace of salvation in Jesus Christ.

*A*sk God for... provision and peace for those going through a very tough time due to legal and financial issues.

*T*hank God for... a new homeless shelter opening on April 23 in Richland County, Wisconsin.

*H*ealing for... Madonna, who is gradually recovering from serious heart surgeries.

Loving God, we give thanks for the gift of the Holy Spirit that you have sent to us, drawing us into the body of Christ and making holy the commonplace.

The fresh winds of your Spirit are like a cool, refreshing breeze that flows over our hungry souls.

You bestow upon us a variety of gifts that we might carry on the work of Christ in this hurting world.

We confess, O God, that often we have difficulty even recognizing and acknowledging our gifts.

We confess that sometimes we misuse the gifts you grant us.

And we confess that, at times, we are reluctant to use our gifts to build up the body of Christ, thinking others will carry on your work in our place.

And so, this morning, we recommit ourselves to be Christ’s body in the world.

We recommit ourselves to seek healing in relationships—mind, body, and spirit.

We recommit ourselves to speak the words of justice and compassion.

We recommit ourselves to work for unity and reconciliation in difficult situations.

We lift up and remember those who have gone before us, who have fought the good fight, who have finished the race and who now celebrate life eternal.

And we recommit ourselves to move forward in their memory, to make the vision of your Kingdom a reality for all of your children.

We pray that you would come to us and empower us with your Spirit, which unites your people everywhere— people of every color and of every nation.

May the mighty winds of your Spirit lift all of us to higher visions, to greater dreams, and to a renewed strength to make those dreams a reality in this world.

May we be open today to the new creation you seek to bring about within and among us, through Jesus Christ our Lord.—Susan

Gregg-Schroeder

 

*~*HYMN OF PRAISE               *#200   “The Church’s One Foundation”

 

*Scripture Text    *                                                                Acts 9:1–20 /(NRSV)/

Meanwhile Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

3 Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” 5 He asked, “Who are you, Lord?”

The reply came, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.

6 But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.”

7 The men who were traveling with him stood speechless because they heard the voice but saw no one.

8 Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; so they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus.

9 For three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

10 Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias.

The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.”

He answered, “Here I am, Lord.” 11 The Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul.

At this moment he is praying, 12 and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.”

13 But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem; 14 and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who invoke your name.”

15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is an instrument whom I have chosen to bring my name before Gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel; 16 I myself will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.”

17 So Ananias went and entered the house.

He laid his hands on Saul and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on your way here, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

18 And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and his sight was restored.

Then he got up and was baptized, 19 and after taking some food, he regained his strength.

For several days he was with the disciples in Damascus, 20 and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.”

*      *

*MESSAGE                                                                                  *Rev.

Esther Irish

Makeover

I. Paul was such an incredible apostle that we tend to overlook his humanity.

He was such an amazing disciple that we can forget he was a person.

Renewed awareness of how, with his flesh-and-blood humanity, he became a “new creation in Christ” inspires and instructs us to trust that God re-creates us through discipleship.

Paul felt what he wrote: “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation.”

Paul had been saved from his sinfulness, including his self-righteousness and his need “to control” other people, as well as himself.

His self-righteousness caused him to participate in the murder of the Lord’s disciples.

On his way to Damascus, “breathing murderous threats,” motivated to kill others through his ever-growing hunger for power, the saving grace of the Lord Jesus Christ blazed into his life.

Paul was saved from himself, and followers of the Way were saved from his blind ambition.

Paul was never ashamed of what saved him.