Sixth Sunday of Easter
May 6, 2018
Holy Communion at 8:30 and 11am


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.
 
Scripture readings
Acts 10:44-48
Psalm 98:1–10
1 John 5:1-6
John 15:9-17

Sermon 
Text: John 15:9-17
Whenever we affirm our baptism, as we do this morning, we take a certain ownership of the new life that baptism brings. We are laying claim to this new life and saying out loud that it means something to us. In a sense, we are choosing to recommit to it. The gift of baptism itself, however, never relies on our choice; even if we were older when we were baptized and did make a choice about it, we did not have a choice as to how or why the Holy Spirit would come upon us and change our lives forever. Jesus reminds us today, "You did not choose me but I chose you." May we never forget the order of those words--that Jesus, the one who chooses us, gives us a new and redeeming identity as chosen ones.

Hymns

In our prayers we remember the Lithuanian Lutheran Church in Diaspora.

Education hour at 9:45am

Sunday School, Pre-Confirmation and 7th grade Confirmation classes meet  in their usual classrooms.  Teen Talk meets in the Youth Room. 

Our 8th-grade confirmands will affirm their baptismal vows today in the Rite of Confirmation during the 11am worship service. 

Download the 2017-2018 Sunday School and Confirmation Schedule.

Adult Education

There are no Adult Education classes on this Sunday.

The Sunday morning Bible study group meets in the lower-level conference room.

The Grace Church Library is open and staffed on Sundays from 8:15 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Look for books related to Adult Ed topics as well as many other subjects. The library is also open for self-service during the week.