Worship Service – Sunday at 9:30am
Adult Sunday School – Sunday at 8:30am
Children’s Sunday School at 10:45am
Fifth Sunday of Easter – April 28, 2024 – 9:30am
The Common Thread
I used to plug my headphones into my microphone port and wonder why I could not hear anything. It seems simple enough: if I am not plugged in or am not properly plugged in, I will not hear. If we are not plugged into Christ, if we are not abiding in him, we will not hear. Worse, we will not understand. Nor will we worship and receive his blessings. But if we abide in him, his words will abide in us; they will resonate and be understandable, and will we bear the fruit of his love.
First Reading – Acts 8:26-40
Here is the question we should ask of every visitor to our churches: “Do you understand?” Do they believe what they heard and read and sang during the service of worship? What sort of difference might it make if folks who came back were engaged in this way? If an interest in understanding exists, perhaps you could be their guide. If they say they understand, ask a few questions. This is an obvious way to continue preaching the gospel outside of the sanctuary.
Psalm – Psalm 150:1-6
Praise God on the earth and in the heavens. Do so with a variety of instrumentation. Ten times in ten ways, the psalmist exhorts us to praise God. Every living thing should praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Second Reading – 1 John 4:1-11, 12-21
One of the more popular posts in social media — at least in Christian feeds — is about why people are not coming back to church after they visit. There are all kinds of reasons given, from people standing up to greet one other to them not being friendly enough, and from poor signage inside and outside the building to having a lousy website. There are always ways to improve someone’s first visit to church, but a more obvious reason begs consideration.
Maybe they are not listening. Perhaps the gospel is falling on deaf ears. Perchance the Spirit of God has not broken through to folks who are looking for problems. The spirits of this world are always suggesting error when the truth is being proclaimed, even if the only fault is an untidy nursery.
So, clean up your nursery, your website, and your signage, welcome your visitors — even pass the peace. But let us not depend upon such things to keep people coming back. The Spirit does this without our help one way or the other. Above all, love one another and preach the One who is greater than he who is in this world.
Gospel – John 15:1-8
Cut a branch from a vine, bush, or tree and within a day, the results are obvious. The leaves wither and brown, the wood dries out, and soon enough it is fit for one thing: the fire. We must stay attached to the source of life. Otherwise, we, too, will wither and die and be fit only for eternal fire. Staying attached to the vine, abiding in Christ, means that his words live in us. The Church is “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone” (Eph 2:20). Pull out the Word of God or the word of God about Christ and the building collapses and gives no shelter. Pull away the branch from the vine, and the branch dies and bears no fruit. Glorifying God by bearing fruit depends upon abiding in Christ the Vine.