Fifth Sunday of Easter (2025)

*Opening Prayer

*Call to Worship

(based on Psalm 148)

Leader: Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise Him in the heights!

People: Praise Him, all His angels; praise Him, all His hosts!

Leader: Let them praise the name of the Lord, for His name alone is exalted.

People: His splendor is above earth and heaven. We will praise the Lord!

Leader: Let us worship the One whose love commands our love.

People: We come to love as He first loved us! AMEN

Hymn #262 Holy Holy Holy

Scripture Reading

Acts 11:1-18 - Lydia

New International Version (2011) Chapter 11

The apostles and the believers throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. 2 So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him 3 and said, “You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them.”

4 Starting from the beginning, Peter told them the whole story: 5 “I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision. I saw something like a large sheet being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to where I was. 6 I looked into it and saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, reptiles and birds. 7 Then I heard a voice telling me, ‘Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.’

8 “I replied, ‘Surely not, Lord! Nothing impure or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’

9 “The voice spoke from heaven a second time, ‘Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.’ 10 This happened three times, and then it was all pulled up to heaven again.

11 “Right then three men who had been sent to me from Caesarea stopped at the house where I was staying. 12 The Spirit told me to have no hesitation about going with them. These six brothers also went with me, and we entered the man’s house. 13 He told us how he had seen an angel appear in his house and say, ‘Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. 14 He will bring you a message through which you and all your household will be saved.’

15 “As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the beginning. 16 Then I remembered what the Lord had said: ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ 17 So if God gave them the same gift he gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could stand in God’s way?”

18 When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, “So then, even to Gentiles God has granted repentance that leads to life.”

Children's Message

Scripture Reading

John 13:31–35 NIV

When he was gone, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once. “My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come. “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Sermon

Our text this morning takes us back to Holy Week. Specifically to what we refer to as Maundy Thursday. The night that Jesus took the towel and basin and wiped the disciples’ feet. The night when Jesus and His disciples were celebrating the passover. This is the night where Jesus will foretell Judas’ betrayal and Peter’s denial. It is the night where Jesus will give a deeper meaning to the Jewish passover by His words about the bread and the cup. “This is my body. This is my blood.” And as we heard, it’s where Jesus is going to teach His disciples a new commandment. “Love one another.”

Wait a minute. Did we hear that correctly? Jesus told His disciples He was giving them a “new commandment”? But was this commandment really new? I mean, isn’t this the commandment Jesus used in the gospels of Matthew and Mark? In both of these two gospels, As Jesus was teaching He was challenged to narrow down the greatest commandment. In Luke, Jesus doesn’t quote it but instead asks the one who comes to challenge Him. This religious leader says, “To love Lord your God and to love your neighbor as yourself.”

Now if you study this more closely, you discover this answer comes directly from the Old Testament books of Deuteronomy and Leviticus. Deuteronomy 6:5 says, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” And Leviticus 19:18 says “ ‘Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.”

And now Jesus says, “a new command I give to you?” It doesn’t sound very new to me. How about you? But just like Jesus gave new meaning to the bread and the cup, perhaps, this “new commandment” deserves a second look. How might Jesus have changed this to make it a “new commandment”?

First, He gave us a new standard. Leviticus says, “love your neighbor as yourself”, but here Jesus says, “love your neighbor as I have loved you.” That is a higher level than we might have measured it before. To be honest, some of us might not even love ourselves very much and so we think it’s okay if we don’t love our neighbors very well. Some of us might think our neighbors should love us more than we love ourselves.

But Christ gives us the standard. Love like He loves. His love is a perfect love, a servant’s love, a powerful love.

The second way this is new is the scope. Again, looking at Leviticus, the Jewish mindset of “neighbor” would have been anyone who was Jewish. However, when Jesus tells these disciples they are to “love one another”, He is enlarging the circle to include not only those who are Jewish, but all who are followers of Jesus Christ. And if we love like He loves, we could imagine that circle includes everyone.

And the third way this is new is the power. Let’s just be honest. On our own, we can’t love like this. But the cross and the resurrection give us the power. It is the truth of who Christ is that allows us to love as He calls us to. It is the power of the Spirit that gives us the ability to love as Christ loves.

Praise Song Goodness Of God

Sharing of Joys and Concerns

Hymn #410, v.1 My Faith Looks Up To Thee

Silent Prayer

Pastoral Prayer

Lord's Prayer

Giving of Tithes and Offering

Doxology

Prayer of Dedication

Hymn #284 They'll Know We Are Christians By Our Love

*Benediction

Sanctuary

*Call to Worship

(based on Psalm 148)

Leader: Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise Him in the heights!

People: Praise Him, all His angels; praise Him, all His hosts!

Leader: Let them praise the name of the Lord, for His name alone is exalted.

People: His splendor is above earth and heaven. We will praise the Lord!

Leader: Let us worship the One whose love commands our love.

People: We come to love as He first loved us! AMEN

*Opening Prayer

Hymn #3 Holy Holy Holy Lord God Almighty

Scripture Reading Acts 11:1-18

Acts 11:1–18 NIV

The apostles and the believers throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him and said, “You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them.” Starting from the beginning, Peter told them the whole story: “I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision. I saw something like a large sheet being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to where I was. I looked into it and saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, reptiles and birds. Then I heard a voice telling me, ‘Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.’ “I replied, ‘Surely not, Lord! Nothing impure or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ “The voice spoke from heaven a second time, ‘Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.’ This happened three times, and then it was all pulled up to heaven again. “Right then three men who had been sent to me from Caesarea stopped at the house where I was staying. The Spirit told me to have no hesitation about going with them. These six brothers also went with me, and we entered the man’s house. He told us how he had seen an angel appear in his house and say, ‘Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. He will bring you a message through which you and all your household will be saved.’ “As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the beginning. Then I remembered what the Lord had said: ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ So if God gave them the same gift he gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could stand in God’s way?” When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, “So then, even to Gentiles God has granted repentance that leads to life.”