April 18, 2027 – Fourth Sunday of Easter

Lectionary Readings

Acts 4:5–12
Filled with the Spirit, Peter challenges those who have arrested him.

Psalm 23
The Lord is my shepherd, leading, protecting, and feeding me.

1 John 3:16–24
Love means laying down one’s life for those who are in need.

John 10:11–18
Jesus says: I am the good shepherd; I lay down my life for my sheep.

— Gathering —

Call to Worship

The Good Shepherd lays down his life
for the sheep.
Alleluia! Christ is risen!

Before he was risen, he was love poured out.
Alleluia! Christ is risen!

God’s love abides in us when we love one another.
Alleluia! Christ is risen!

Prayer of the Day

Providing God,
in our journey of faithfulness,
we graze in the pastures you lead us to each day.
As we move along,
our steps may seem aimless,
yet you keep watch and never leave.
When we are tired,
you prepare for us a table.
When we are thirsty,
your cup of goodness and mercy overflows.
When we are lost,
you seek us out.
And oh, how our hearts leap when you call to us,
for we know your voice and feel your love.
Dearest God, we are so grateful
that your staff of righteousness leads us home. Amen.

Hymn, Psalm, or Spiritual Song

Thanksgiving For Baptism

At the baptismal font:
The Lord be with you. And also with you.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.

O Lord our God, we give you thanks
for the new life you raise up in us
through the mystery of our baptism—
the sorrow of the heavy cross,
the surprise of the empty tomb,
the love that death could not destroy.
By the power of your Holy Spirit,
poured out upon us in baptism,
fill us with the joy of resurrection,
so that we may be a living sign
of your new heaven and new earth;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Confession and Pardon

At the baptismal font:
The Spirit of God helps us in our weakness,
interceding with sighs too deep for words.
Romans 8:26

Trusting in God’s grace, let us confess our sin.

O God, you have called us to love,
not in word or speech, but in truth and action.
You have laid down your life for us
and commanded us to lay down our lives for one another.
Still, O Lord, we offer empty thoughts and prayers
when the world needs our hands and our feet.
Still, O Lord, we fail to share our lives with the world,
hiding behind a myth of independence.
Forgive us, we pray, and by your forgiveness,
raise us to new life in you.

Lifting water from the font:
Hear the good news of God’s promise:
I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh.
Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord
will be saved.
Acts 2:17, 21

In the name of Jesus Christ, we are forgiven!
Thanks be to God.

— Word —

Prayer for Illumination

At the lectern or pulpit:
Living God, with joy we celebrate
the presence of your risen Word.
Enliven our hearts by your Holy Spirit
so that we may proclaim the good news
of eternal and abundant life;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Scripture

Before the readings:
O dry bones,
hear the world of the Lord.
Ezekiel 37:4

After the readings:
This is the good news
which we have received,
in which we stand,
and by which we are saved.
Thanks be to God.
1 Corinthians 15:1–2

Sermon

Ascription of Praise

After the sermon:
All authority and power and dominion
to the name that is above all names—
Jesus Christ our Lord—
now and in the age to come. Amen.
Ephesians 1:21

Hymn, Psalm, or Spiritual Song

Affirmation of Faith

Season of Easter, Ascension of the Lord
New life in Christ takes shape in a community
in which people know
that God loves and accepts them
in spite of what they are.
They therefore accept themselves
and love others,
knowing that no one has any ground
on which to stand,
except God’s grace.
Adapted from the Confession of 1967, 9.22