Sunday Service:
Holy Eucharist
at 9:30 am
Child care is available
Church of Our
Saviour
191 Flanagan Way (Rt 153) Secaucus, NJ 07094
Tel: 201-863-1449
Fax: 201-863-1474
Mark A. Lewis, Vicar MLewis@secaucus.org
Dorothy Fowlkes
Pastoral Associate
This page revised 23
Apr 08
http://www.secaucus.org/
oursaviour
The Church of
Our Saviour
in the Town of Secaucus, New Jersey
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Worship
for the Lord's Day
The
Sixth Sunday of Eastertide
27 April 2008
Holy Eucharist - 9:30 am
Almighty God, you have prepared good things for those who
love you that surpass our understanding: Pour into our
hearts such love towards you, that we, loving you in all
things and above all things, may obtain grace that exceeds
all that we can desire. We ask this with confidence in your
love. Amen.
Today's
Lessons
Acts 17:22-31 / Psalm
148:7-14
I Peter 3:8-18 / John 15:1-8
Today's
Hymns
594
- God of grace and God of glory
657
- Love divine, all loves excelling
483
- Fairest Lord Jesus, ruler of all nature
347
- Go forth for God: go forth to the world in
peace
A reading
from
the Acts of the Apostles 17:22-31
Here we see Paul preaching to the Court of Areopagus in Athens, an ancient court of elders, sort of the Supreme Court of Athens. Aeschylus had his tragic hero Orestes tried in this court for the murder of his mother. So Paul is proclaiming the Word at the very center of Greek culture. He does not look like a country bumpkin. He shapes a speech for a sophisticated audience and quotes Greek poets. Paul was a well-educated, cultivated man and a Pharisee (member of the liberal synagogue party). Notice that the sermon concludes with the prediction of an apocalypse. -Arthur Cash
Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, "Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way. For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, `To an unknown god.' What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things. From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him-- though indeed he is not far from each one of us. For `In him we live and move and have our being'; as even some of your own poets have said,
- `For we too are his offspring.'
Since we are God's offspring, we ought not to think that the deity is like gold, or silver, or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of mortals. While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead."
(To be read by Lori Saurborn)
Psalm 148:7-14 Laudate Dominum
Praise the LORD from the earth,
you sea-monsters and all deeps;
Fire and hail, snow and fog,
tempestuous wind, doing his will;
Mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars;
Wild beasts and all cattle,
creeping things and winged birds;
Kings of the earth and all
peoples,
princes and all rulers of the world;
Young men and maidens,
old and young together.
Let them praise the Name of the
LORD,
for his Name only is exalted,
his splendor is over earth and heaven.
He has raised up strength for his
people
and praise for all his loyal servants,
the children of Israel, a people who are near him.
Hallelujah!
(To be read by Mario)
A reading
from
Peter's First Letter 3:8-18
Here the epistoler begins to sum up his teachings about how to bear insult and persecution. Behind was the emperor Nero's dreadful persecution of the Christians at Rome in AD 64-65 in which Paul and Peter probably had died. He may have anticipated what was to come: In AD 175-210 the emperor Marcus Aurelius would undertake a dreadful persecution of Christians, and in 249 another would follow under Decius. The suffering for their faith of our spiritual forebears is not unlike that borne by the Muslims of Kosovo. -Arthur Cash
Now all of you, have unity of spirit, sympathy, love for one another, a tender heart, and a humble mind. Do not repay evil for evil or abuse for abuse; but, on the contrary, repay with a blessing. It is for this that you were called-- that you might inherit a blessing. For
- "Those who desire life
- and desire to see good days,
- let them keep their tongues from evil
- and their lips from speaking deceit;
- let them turn away from evil and do good;
- let them seek peace and pursue it.
- For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
- and his ears are open to their prayer.
- But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil."
Now who will harm you if you are eager to do what is good? But even if you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear, and do not be intimidated, but in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and reverence. Keep your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who abuse you for your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if suffering should be God's will, than to suffer for doing evil. For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit,
(To be read by Lori Saurborn)
The
Gospel According to
John 15:1-8
Jesus said, "I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples."
(To be read by Dorothy Fowlkes)
The Prayers of the People will
be led by Ann Miller
Comments on the Readings
The prefaces to the lessons (above) are composed each week by a literature scholar at Columbia University, Professor Arthur Cash, for use at St. Peter's Church in Chelsea, New York City. Professor Cash has generously offered their use to our congregation.
The Diocese of Montreal additionally offers an attractive and useful guide to the lectionary readings (including the Psalm and Gospel). Because it comes from of the Anglican Church of Canada which follows the Revised Common Lectionary, the readings sometimes may vary from those of the Episcopal Church, but it still can be most helpful. Link
The Sunday Bulletin Link
Reflections on Sermons
Mark Lewis's
sermons have been interpreted for reading on the internet.
They are indexed at the bottom of the Sunday
page.
Link
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