St Ansgar Lutheran Church, London

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Sunday Morning

We invite you to join us for any of the following worship services:

Sundays
10:30 a.m. (September through June)
10:00 a.m. (July and August)
Please see Calendar for communion Sundays.

Reopening for In-Person Worship on Sunday, March 6: Our Church Council has
resumed in-person meetings, with face masks and suitable distancing in Luther Hall.

Our services will be in the sanctuary with distribution of Communion in Luther Hall.
All attendees at our worship services must be fully vaccinated, or provide written proof
of a medical exemption from a doctor or nurse. We still require pre-registration to attend
(email st.ansgar@rogers.com) and face masks are required. We will have some
congregational singing in the service, with our masks on. We are not yet ready to have
our coffee and fellowship time in Luther Hall after the service as we used to do in the
days before COVID.

Registration: We need to know how many are coming and who is coming. This will
help us with setting up for Communion and it is also important for contact tracing if that
should ever become necessary. If you would like to come to the service on a Sunday,
please let us know by email during the previous week, and not later than Friday
morning. The address is st.ansgar@rogers.com and we will send you a reply to confirm
your reservation.

Full Vaccination: To attend an in-person indoor worship service at St. Ansgar, starting
with the service on March 6, you will need to verify for us that you are fully vaccinated,
or provide written proof of a medical exemption from a doctor or nurse. This follows the
advice from the Middlesex-London acting medical officer of health.

Face masks must be worn in the church.

Hand sanitizer will be available at the entrance and other locations in the church for
your use.

Washrooms will be available for use, but there may be only one person, or members of
only one family, in a washroom at any given time.
In the service: We will not be using the pew cushions at this time, but you are welcome
to bring your own cushion and take it home with you after the service. There will be no
hymnals in the pews, but the service will be shown on the screen and we will sing some
of the hymns. The offering will not be gathered and presented, but there will be an
offering plate at the back of the sanctuary where you can put your offering as you enter
or leave. We will continue to use our “no contact” method for distribution of communion
in Luther Hall that we used last fall.

Still no social time in the church: We will not yet be able to have our coffee and
fellowship time in Luther Hall after the service as we used to do in the days before
COVID. We will not be able to gather in the narthex to sit or stand and talk to each other
before the service starts or after it ends. Pastor David will not be standing at the back of
the church to greet people and shake hands with people after the service. We will miss
all these things and we look forward to a time when all these activities, that used to be
such an important part of the life of our St. Ansgar church family, will be safe again.

SUNDAY, MAY 22, 2022

St. Ansgar Lutheran Church, Outline for Worship (with sermon)
Sunday, May 22, 2022 – Sixth Sunday of Easter
ELW Setting Four

BRIEF ORDER FOR CONFESSION AND FORGIVENESS
P: In the name of the Father, and of the ☩ Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
C: Amen.
P: God of all mercy and consolation, come to the help of your people, turning
us from our sin to live for you alone. Give us the power of your Holy Spirit that
we may confess our sin, receive your forgiveness, and grow into the fullness
of Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord.
C: Amen.
P: Let us confess our sin in the presence of God and one another.
P: Most merciful God,
C: we confess that we are captive to sin and cannot free ourselves.
We have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have
done and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our
whole heart; we have not loved our neighbours as ourselves. For the sake
of your Son, Jesus Christ, have mercy on us. Forgive us, renew us, and
lead us, so that we may delight in your will and walk in your ways, to the
glory of your holy name.
Amen.
P: In the mercy of almighty God, Jesus Christ was given to die for us, and for
his sake God forgives us all our sins. As a called and ordained minister of the
church of Christ, and by his authority, I therefore declare to you the entire
forgiveness of all your sins, in the name of the Father, and of the ☩ Son,
and of the Holy Spirit.
C: Amen.

ENTRANCE HYMN - Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee (ELW #836)

GREETING
P: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion
of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
C: And also with you

KYRIE
A: In peace, let us pray to the Lord.
C: Lord, have mercy.
A: For the peace from above, and for our salvation, let us pray to the Lord.
C: Lord, have mercy.
A: For the peace of the whole world, for the well-being of the Church of God,
and for the unity of all, let us pray to the Lord.
C: Lord, have mercy.
A: For this holy house, and for all who offer here their worship and praise,
let us pray to the Lord.
C: Lord, have mercy.
A: Help, save, comfort, and defend us, gracious Lord.
C: Amen.

PRAYER OF THE DAY
P: Let us pray.
P: Bountiful God, you gather your people into your realm, and you promise us
food from your tree of life. Nourish us with your word, that empowered by your
Spirit we may love one another and the world you have made, through Jesus
Christ, our Saviour and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.
C: Amen

WORD

FIRST READING: Acts 16:9-15
9 During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading
with him and saying, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." 10 When he had
seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being
convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them. 11 We set
sail from Troas and took a straight course to Samothrace, the following day to
Neapolis, 12 and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of
Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city for some days. 13 On
the sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed
there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and spoke to the women who had
gathered there. 14 A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was
listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth.
The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul. 15 When
she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, "If you have judged
me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home." And she prevailed
upon us.
A: The word of the Lord.
C: Thanks be to God.

PSALM: 67
1 May God be merciful to us and bless us;
may the light of God’s face shine upon us.
2 Let your way be known upon earth,
your saving health among all nations.
3 Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you.
4 Let the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for you judge the peoples with equity and guide all the nations on earth.
5 Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you.
6 The earth has brought forth its increase;
God, our own God, has blessed us.
7 May God give us blessing,
and may all the ends of the earth stand in awe.

SECOND READING: Revelation 21:10, 22--22:5
10 And in the spirit he carried me away to a great, high mountain and showed
me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God.
22 I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and
the Lamb. 23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the
glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24 The nations will walk by its
light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. 25 Its gates will never
be shut by day--and there will be no night there. 26 People will bring into it the
glory and the honor of the nations. 27 But nothing unclean will enter it, nor
anyone who practices abomination or falsehood, but only those who are written
in the Lamb's book of life.
1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal,
flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 through the middle of the
street of the city. On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds
of fruit, producing its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the
healing of the nations. 3 Nothing accursed will be found there any more. But the
throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him; 4
they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 And there will
be no more night; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be
their light, and they will reign forever and ever.
A: The word of the Lord.
C: Thanks be to God.

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION
C: Alleluia. Lord, to whom shall we go?
You have the words of eternal life. Alleluia.

GOSPEL
P: The Holy Gospel according to John 14:23-29
C: Glory to you, O Lord.
23 Jesus answered him, "Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father
will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. 24
Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you hear
is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me. 25 "I have said these things to
you while I am still with you. 26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the
Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all
that I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do
not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not
let them be afraid. 28 You heard me say to you, 'I am going away, and I am
coming to you.' If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father,
because the Father is greater than I. 29 And now I have told you this before it
occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe.
P: The Gospel of the Lord.
C: Praise to you, O Christ.

SERMON
John 14:23-29
Let us pray: May the words of my mouth, and the prayers of our hearts, always
be acceptable in Thy sight O Lord, our Strength, and our Redeemer. AMEN
There is a trail in eastern Turkey that winds its way through the rocky barrens to
the squalor of a refugee camp. Here thousands of people are housed in
makeshift tents, tattered blanket homes. If you were able to take that road and
visit those camps, you would feel as if you just hiked into hell. Sickness and
disease are rampant there. Death is a frequent visitor. Fresh water and food are
scarce and sanitary conditions are unheard of in the camps. The people who
live in these camps are trapped. They are unable to move forward into Turkey
and, because of the war and fighting behind them, are unable to return to their
homes.
In our so-called modern world, which is supposed to be undergoing a revolution
of change in the direction of a “new world order,” so many of its roads lead not
up, or forward, into the future, but back and down into places of evil. In fact, all
over our world there are streets and stairways, elevators and super-highways,
that lead to places of evil where people are trapped in boredom, bigotry,
loneliness, serious illness, poverty, mental illness, despair, covid, and death.
Trouble is all around us, and the words of St. Paul in his second letter to the
Corinthians ring true when he wrote, “So we do not lose heart. Even though our
outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day.”
And Jesus speaks to us this morning saying, “Peace I leave with you; my peace
I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be
troubled, and do not let them be afraid.”
In our Gospel lesson, Jesus was preparing his disciples for challenging times.
He was about to ascend to the Father and the disciples would be on their own,
left to navigate their way through the world alone. And yet, they would not be
alone, for Jesus would be with them, in the presence of the Comforter, the
Counselor, the Holy Spirit.
Jesus desires to lead us in the same way to a place of peace, as he led his
original disciples. It is Jesus’ hope to direct our feet and steer our lives away
from the paths that would lead to places of evil towards Jesus’ place of peace.
“Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.”
These are still meaningful words today because our world is filled with fearful
people. Psychologist Hugh Missildine wrote that among the earliest emotions
that every human being experiences as an infant is the feeling of fear, and that
fear can be grouped into three distinct categories: a fear of falling, a fear of loud
noises, and a fear of abandonment. As we grow into adults, we are able to deal
fairly well with two of these fears: the fear of falling and the fear of noise. As we
grow older, we regain the fear of falling and breaking a bone, but this is not the
same fear as the fear of falling that a baby experiences. Likewise, as we grow
older, we lose our fear of loud noises, even though we may find them startling
and annoying. Most people learn to deal with these two fears, but the fear of
abandonment, of being left alone, of having no one who cares about us, is a fear
that all people share. Yet, Jesus promises in verse 18 of John, chapter 14, “I will
not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you.” In verse 23 of our lesson Jesus
promises, “Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them,
and we will come to them and make our home with them.” The good news is
that God will not forget us. God tells us that we are someone special, and in
baptism God calls us by name. God puts God’s mark upon us and makes us
God’s own. God sends to us the Holy Spirit to comfort and counsel us in life.
Jesus wanted his original disciples to know that they were his. Jesus gave them
a new identity and a sense of inner peace that the world could never take from
them. As disciples of Jesus, Jesus wants to give us the very same thing. Jesus
wants to give to us a sense of peace, a new identity, and a direction for living so
that we do not wander onto the roads of evil.
Author Alvin Toffler once said, “You’ve got to think about the big things while
doing the small things, so that the small things go in the right direction.” This
statement is so true. If we are to be effective and successful and happy in this
life, we need to have something bigger than ourselves for which to strive. Many
companies encourage their workers to write a mission statement. Our church
has a mission statement. It would be helpful for each of us to have a personal
mission statement. When writing our mission statement, we should consider a
couple of questions. What drives our life? What is our purpose for living?
Possible answers include: To live my days making my life and the lives of those
around me more pleasing to God. To enrich someone else’s life with the love
that God gives me. To use my gifts, abilities, and opportunities to the utmost
good for God’s glory. Yes, our mission statements change over time, but
mission statements can and need to be amended according to where we are in
our lives. Think about what a difference a personal mission statement would
make in each of our lives.

In 1991 an Air Canada flight ran into trouble. Passengers were enjoying an in-
flight movie on the Boeing 767 when the jumbo jet’s massive engines abruptly
stopped. It soon became apparent to the passengers that the jet was in trouble.
The pilot announced that they would be making an emergency landing. The 69
people on board were trapped in an agonizing slow but inescapable descent to
earth.
For several minutes a desperate silence hung over the cabin. Then fear gave
way to screams of anxiety as the landing neared. All the latest technology could
not keep the jumbo jet in the air. What happened was this. The electronic digital
fuel gauge was out of order. So, the flight crew depended on the figures given
them by the refueling crew before takeoff. But someone on the refueling crew
had confused pounds with kilograms. Therefore, eight hundred miles short of its
destination, the jumbo jet simply ran out of fuel and was forced to make an
emergency landing. Fortunately, no one was injured.
A multimillion-dollar airplane, headed in the right direction, ran out of fuel. That
is what is happening to a lot of people today. They have everything going for
them, a new car, a wonderful home, a good education, and a good job, and one
day they wake up out of fuel. At the centre of their lives is an emptiness. They
do not know why they are living. There is nothing outside themselves to live for.
We cannot let that happen to us. Jesus tells us that the fuel for successful living
comes from God. This is the promised gift that Jesus offers to us. “Peace I leave
with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not
let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.” Jesus’ words are
words of peace and promise for us, and for all time. AMEN

HYMN OF THE DAY – I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light (ELW #815)

NICENE CREED
We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God, begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father; through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven,
was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary
and became truly human.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again in accordance with the scriptures;
he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
who with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen.

PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION
A: Set free from captivity to sin and death, we pray to the God of resurrection for
the church, people in need, and all of creation.
A: God of our church, send forth your Spirit as we pray for our Bishops Susan
and Michael. Empower them with your wisdom to lead the church. We also
pray for the Thames Ministry area, especially Pastor Katherine Gohm and the
people of Redeemer Lutheran Church, London. God, in your mercy,
C: hear our prayer.
A: God of new life, open your church to the unexpected ways your Spirit is at
work. Guide bishops, pastors, deacons, and lay leaders in their visioning,
partnership, and planning. Surround us with your peace. God, in your mercy,
C: hear our prayer.
A: Give a vision of increase and abundant harvest for farmers, labourers, and
gardeners who are beginning their growing season. Join their efforts with the
goodness of creation to feed all living things. God, in your mercy,
C: hear our prayer.
A: Shine your light of wisdom and peace among nations. When those in power
seek to assert dominance over others, confound their ways and make them
yield to your humble authority. God, in your mercy,
C: hear our prayer.
A: Give safe haven to those who seek healing, liberation, or peace. Create
places filled with hospitality where hurting people find your loving presence and
wholeness. God, in your mercy,
C: hear our prayer.
A: Uphold the work of ministries and organizations in our communities who
assist people experiencing homelessness, citizens returning from prison, and all
marginalized people. Accomplish your will through their efforts. God, in your
mercy,
C: hear our prayer.
A: We pray for the people of Ukraine and their leaders. We especially pray for
the innocent children and the families caught in the conflict. Watch over them
and protect them. Guide the leaders of Ukraine in ways that protect the people
and in ways to successfully work for peace. Open the hearts and minds of the
aggressors to the senselessness of war and to the possibility of peace and
coexistence. Bless the efforts of the peacemakers. God, in your mercy,
C: hear our prayer.
A: Assemble your people at rivers, streams, and fonts, where we remember our
baptism and welcome others into the communion of saints. Gather us with those
who have died when we meet together at your river of life. God, in your mercy,
C: hear our prayer.
A: In your mercy, O God, respond to these prayers, and renew us by your life-
giving Spirit; through Jesus Christ, our Saviour.
C: Amen.

PEACE
P: The peace of Christ be with you always.
C: And also with you.

OFFERING PRAYER
A: Living God, you gather the wolf and the lamb to feed together
in your peaceable reign, and you welcome us all at your table.
Reach out to us through this meal, and show us your wounded and risen body,
that we may be nourished and believe in Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord.
C: Amen.

LORD’S PRAYER
P: Lord, remember us in your kingdom and teach us to pray.
C: 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 trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory,
forever and ever. Amen.

SENDING

BLESSING
P: God, the Author of life,
Christ, the living Cornerstone,
and the life-giving Spirit of adoption,

bless you now and forever.C: Amen.

DISMISSAL
A: Alleluia! Christ is risen.
C: Christ is risen indeed. Alleluia!
A: Go in peace. Tell what God has done.
C: Thanks be to God.

DISMISSAL HYMN – Go Now in Peace
Go now in peace, never be afraid.
God will go with you each hour of every day.
Go now in faith, steadfast, strong and true.
Know He will guide you in all you do.
Go now in love, and show you believe.
Reach out to others, so all the world can see.
God will be there, watching from above.
Go now in peace, in faith, and in love.