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Mhm. >> Oh, wait a minute. Christ is risen.

Christ is risen indeed. Alleluia. Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne and to the lamb.

Amen. Let us give thanks for the gifts of baptism. Merciful God, you are the one who was, who is, and who is to come.

You lead us beside still waters. We thank you for the waters of creation, morning dew, gentle rain, roaring waves. We thank you for the waters that nourish us.

Blessed are you. You guide us to springs of the water of life. Jesus Christ, you are the faithful witness who accompanies us on our journeys.

We give you thanks for your life-giving death and resurrection. We praise you for joining us in joy and sorrow. Blessed are you.

You guide us to springs of the water of life. Holy Spirit, you anoint our head with oil and our cup overflows. Break down barriers that divide us.

Fill us with the breath of peace. Blessed are you. You guide us to springs of the water of life.

Holy One, we thank you for the gifts and grace of baptism and for making us a new creation. We join with saints and angels giving you honor and praise now and forever. Amen.

Hark the herald angels sing, Jesus light of the world. Glory to the newborn king, Jesus light of the world. We walk in the light, in your holy light.

Come with your drops of mercy our guide. bright. Shine all around us by day and by night.

night. Jesus, the light of the world. Show forth your holy nations, rise.

Jesus, the light Join the triumph of the skies. Jesus, the light of We walk in the light, beautiful light. Come where the dew drops of mercy are bright.

Shine all around us by day and by night. Jesus, the light Christ, my highest heaven adored. Jesus, the light Christ, my ever lasting Lord.

Jesus, the light of the We walk in the light, beautiful light. Come where the dew drops of mercy are bright. Shine all around us by day and by night.

Jesus, the light Christ, my highest Jesus, the light of Hail the sun of righteousness. Jesus, the light We walk in the light, beautiful light. Come where the dew drops of mercy are bright.

Shine >> Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. And also with you. Glory to you, God, for yours is the earth.

Yours is the promise, the blessing, the word. Ours the rejoicing for word given in praise. Ours the thanksgiving to your holy name.

Ours be the telling of deeds greatly done. Yours be the glory of God, yours alone. Glory to you, God, for yours is the earth.

Yours the harvest, ours the dying, rebirth. Ours the rejoicing for nature reclaimed. Ours the thanksgiving to your holy name.

Ours be the telling of deeds greatly done. Yours be the glory of God, yours Glory to you, God, for yours is the earth. Yours the anointing, the radiant word.

Ours the rejoicing for seeing your >> The Lord be with you. And also with you. Let us pray together.

O God, our Shepherd, you know that your sheep by name and lead us to safety through the valleys of death. Guide us by your voice that we may walk in certainty and security to the joyous pastures prepared in your house. Through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and one God, now and forever.

Amen. Please be seated for the children's message. >> There we go.

There we go. There we go. There we go.

>> A reading from the book of Acts of the Apostles. The baptized devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. All came upon everyone because many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.

All who believed were together and had all things in common. They would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. Day by day, they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all people.

And day by day, the Lord added to their number those who were being saved. The word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

We continue with the psalm. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. The Lord makes me lie down in green pastures and leads me beside still waters. You restore my soul, Lord, and guide me along right pathways for your name's Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil.

For you are with me, your rod and your staff, they comfort me. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.

You anoint my head with oil and my cup is running over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not fear. A reading from the first letter of Peter. It is a commendable thing if being aware of God, a person endures pain while suffering unjustly.

If you endure when you are beaten for doing wrong, what credit is that? But if you endure when you do good and suffer for it, this is a commendable thing before God. For to this you have been called because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example so that you would so that you should follow in his steps.

He committed no sin and no deceit was found in his mouth. When he was abused, he he did not return abuse. When he suffered, he did not threaten.

But he entrusted himself to the one who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross so that having died to sins, we might live for righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

For you were going astray like sheep. But now you have returned to the shepherd and the guardian of the souls. The word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.

Hallelujah. Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.

Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.

The holy gospel according to St. John, the 10th chapter. Glory to you, oh Lord.

Jesus said, "Very truly I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate, but climbs in by another way, is a thief and a bandit. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice.

He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers." Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

So again, Jesus said to them, "Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and bandits, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate.

Whoever enters by me will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and to kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." The Gospel of the Lord.

Praise to you, oh Christ. The girls in the school dorm, the reporter wrote in early May 12 years ago, heard the sound of gunshots from a nearby town. So, when armed men in uniforms burst in and promised to rescue them at first, they were relieved.

"Don't worry, we're soldiers." One 16-year-old girl recalls them saying, "Nothing is going to happen to you." The gunmen commanded the hundreds of students at the Chibok Government Girls Secondary School to gather outside. The men went into a storeroom and removed all the food. Then they set fire to the room.

They started shouting, "Allahu Akbar! God is great!" The 16-year-old student said, "And we knew." What they knew was chilling. The men were not government soldiers at all.

They were members of the ruthless Islamic extremist group called Boko Haram. They kidnapped the entire group of girls and drove them away in pickup trucks into the dense forest. The voices we hear in the world around us today can bring us great danger.

They can also bring blessings, spoken or unspoken. When his wife Carol was hospitalized 30 miles away, Chad Trainer nearly closed their Hudson, Wisconsin bistro. He didn't expect that their 30 employees, nearly all of them ages 14 to 18 would step in and keep the business going for 8 months.

But the teens prep- prepped food at dawn, covered shifts, managed bills, and concocted daily specials. Though Carol died in May last year, Trainer's close ties with those teenagers have sustained that restaurant. "I love them," he said, "like they are my own kids." "Without them," he said, "the restaurant would not exist." They knew him.

They trusted him. And when the time came, they stepped forward in a Christ-like way to support Carol and Chad in their time of great need. He cared for them.

They cared for him. And the mutual relationship produced a blessing in time of great need. That's the witness and the message of Holy Scripture today.

Millions of Americans today claim to be spiritual, but not religious. Some say, "I really don't need the church." But they do. They really do.

You can't be spiritual without being religious. In other words, you can't be a powerful person of faith by yourself. It's all about relationship.

Jesus said, "You need the church far more than we think we do." The church, the body of Christ on Earth, can't save us. God alone can and does. Being a member of Christ's body, the church is not a guarantee that bad things won't happen to us.

Bad things really do happen to good people. Being a member of Christ's church, however, is not about us. Jesus didn't call the church into existence to meet our needs, to satisfy our deepest desires, or our latest whims, to entertain our children, or us.

Our Lord Jesus called the church, the ecclesia, into being in his ministry on earth, empowered the church after his resurrection, that we might be changed, that we might be transformed from self-seeking, self-absorbed consumers into faithful disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, people young and old, through whom God almighty is changing this world. That's why youth Sunday matters here at Grace. As this community of faithful disciples of all ages, look with me at holy scriptures for this fourth Sunday in Easter.

Hear the good news of a good shepherd and of a spirit-filled body of believers about 2 months after Jesus' resurrection that is learning to know well the risen Lord's voice and to follow his call. The two are vitally linked. It's only in the body of believers, the church, gathered in places like Grace for worship and study that we learn to distinguish our good shepherd's voice from all that clamors for our attention today.

Only here where cell phones are quiet, can we be present and attentive to one another and to the still small voice of our Lord Jesus Christ. Today's gospel text follows immediately after that detailed account that took all of chapter 9 about the man born blind and his who received his sight as an unexpected, unrequested gift of Jesus. In Jesus' day, you may remember a congenital birth defect was a sign of God's punishment for someone's sin, the sufferer or his or her parents.

By the end of John chapter 9, Jesus has attacked and abolished the centuries-old misunderstanding of sin, of suffering, and God's wrath. And the religious leaders were enraged. Only God can forgive sins such as happened can't happen.

Isn't supposed to happen because they have come to believe that's not the way God works in this world. And in teaching and living such beliefs, they have been leading God's people astray. It happened then, and it happens today.

John reports that Jesus responded immediately with his analogy about sheep and shepherds and the doorway, the gate, the entrance to the sheepfold, the pen. "Very truly, amen, amen," he said, "I tell you what follows is an analogy about himself using the well-known image of a shepherd that enters a large enclosure the sheepfold as it was called where several flock of sheep would be held for protection and then gathers his flock by simply calling each animal by name. They recognize his voice as distinct from all the other voices around them and they follow this shepherd out of the sheepfold.

The analogy apparently wasn't as clear as Jesus expected it to be for those who were listening, so he was blunt and direct. I am the gate, he said twice. What we don't hear is what the religious leaders and the poor folk alike heard was the personal divine name God gave Moses at the burning bush.

The great I am Yahweh. I Yahweh am the gate is what he said. I am Yahweh, the good shepherd.

My people know my voice and they respond, he told them. For us today his words take on a meaning that no one grasped that day. That's what discipleship is all about, knowing the Lord's voice and following where he leads.

Today's first reading from Acts 2 shows us a faith community that lived out that gospel truth. Acts 2 today follows Peter's sermon on the first day of Pentecost that we've heard last week. Last week we heard that 3,000 were added to the church as a result of Peter's spirit-filled proclamation.

Today we see the life-changing life-transforming power of God at work in the church where believers gather to learn to know God's voice and to follow and encouraging one another as they follow in trust. They, Luke told us, the newly baptized devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread, the Lord's Supper, and to daily prayers in the temple just as Jesus had done in his earthly ministry. They gathered in homes, not in beautiful sanctuaries like Grace, to listen carefully and prayerfully as Jesus' earliest disciples recalled all that they had heard and all that they saw him do.

That everyone might better learn to hear God's voice amid the clamors for all that's going on in the world of their day. They gathered to encourage one another in their walk of faith. Learning to hear God's voice and to follow in faith and trust.

Luke says that they grew as faithful and generous stewards, generously generously sharing all that they had so that no one might be in need. All this was done in a spirit of worship and praise to God. And so no wonder we heard, "And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.

That's what discipleship is all about. It's knowing our Lord's voice and following where he leads. In the world out there where voices, messages, noise clamors for your attention 24/7 from those you love or friends or strangers how amid all the distractions, the never-ending alerts that signal someone wants your attention how can we learn to recognize and respond to the voice of the Lord God?

Only in sacred spaces like Grace and other sacred settings. If we are to be people of faith whose lives make a difference in this world we must be attentive and intentional about seeking out regular opportunities to come to this gathering of believers here at Grace. We must be intentional about ensuring that our children, our youth, our adults take time away from the clamors of the life around us to be nourished by faith-forming study and worship with God's holy word and God's sacraments.

In these sacred spaces we learn the one voice we can trust and follow amid all that clamors for our attention. In this sacred space we can encourage one another without fear or embarrassment. We can learn from one another what it means to follow Jesus in lives of faith and trust.

I believe the truth of Holy Scripture. If I am to live more faithfully the life God calls me, I must gather regularly in places like this to worship and praise God and together with believers like you encourage one another in our efforts to follow Jesus and to live the life Jesus taught us. It's not the message your children and youth here and the social media to which we're connected.

I'm grateful for the voices of faithful disciples of Jesus who speak openly and boldly today. A fit 70-year-old with a lifetime appointment wrote David Gibson in the New York Times. Pope Leo sees it as his mission to shape the post-Trump global order and help Catholics rediscover the virtues of peace and compassion and common decency over bullying.

Leo's quiet, confident witness is already resonating with American Catholics, said Gustavo Valdero in the Los Angeles Times, giving them the courage to meet the cruelty and the selfishness that's prevalent today. That's what discipleship in the kingdom of God is all about. It's knowing our Lord's voice and following where he leads.

Amen. >> Longing for light, we wait in darkness. Longing for truth, we turn to you.

Make us your own, your holy people, shining for the world to see. Christ, be our light, shine in our hearts, shine through the darkness. Christ, be our light, shine in your church, gathered today.

Longing for peace, our world is troubled. Longing for hope, many despair. Your word alone has power to save us.

Make us your living voice. Christ, be our light, shine in our hearts, shine through the darkness. Christ, be our light, shine in your church, gathered today.

Longing for food, many are hungry. Longing for water, many still thirst. Make us your bread, broken for others, shared until all are fed.

Christ, kin. Christ be our light, shine in our hearts, shine through the darkness. Christ be our light, shine in your church gathered today.

Longing for shelter, many are homeless. Longing for warmth, many are cold. Make us your building, sheltering others, walls of living stone.

Christ be our light, shine in our hearts, shine through the darkness. Christ be our light, shine in your church Many the gifts, many the people, many the hearts that yearn to belong. Let us be servants to one another, sons of your kingdom Christ be our light, shine in our hearts, shine through the darkness.

Christ be our light, shine in your churches gathered today. With the whole church, let us confess our faith using the words of the Apostles' Creed. I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, God's only son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again.

He ascended into heaven. He is seated at the right hand of the Father, and will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting.

Amen. Trusting in the power of Christ's resurrection to heal and redeem our broken world, let us pray for the needs of all creation. Shepherding God, draw all people to yourself and lead them in paths of righteousness.

Embolden your church to enter the valleys of the world and guide us beside the water the still waters of your grace. We pray for the military and prison chaplains serving near and far. Merciful God, receive our prayer.

Creator God, by the resurrection of your son, show us your steadfast love and instruct our hearts in your ways. Help us to revere and protect the wonders of your creation. Merciful God, receive our prayer.

Righteous judge, strengthen and uphold those who work for justice and advocate for human rights. Bring an end to oppression and save us from the temptation of violence or vengeance. Merciful God, receive our prayer.

Great physician, walk with those who are grieving and anoint those who are ill or injured. Especially those who we lift before you now, whether silently or aloud. Restore them to health of body, mind, and spirit.

Merciful God, receive our prayer. Good Shepherd, continually seek us out as lambs of your flock and form us into a community where all are honored and cared for. Spread a feast before us and fill our cups to overflowing.

Merciful God, Receive our prayer. Living God, we praise you for the saints who have died in faith and now dwell in your love. At the at our end, bring us with them to our heavenly home.

Merciful God, Receive our prayer. God of resurrection power, use us in these prayers to proclaim proclaim the good news of new life to the all the world through Jesus Christ, our risen savior. Amen.

The peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. And also with you. Share God's peace with the people around you.

>> Let us pray together. Merciful God, accept the fruits of our labor gathered to you give you glory. You have set the table before us, a glimpse of the great day when hunger and thirst are no thirst no more.

Nourish us with the body and blood of Jesus that goodness and mercy may follow us. Bless the Lord our God. In the name of Jesus.

Amen. The Lord be with you. And also with you.

Lift up your hearts. We lift them up to the Lord. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

It is right to give our thanks and praise. It is indeed right, our duty and our joy, that we should at all times and in all places give thanks and praise to you, almighty and merciful God, through our savior Jesus Christ. You called your people to cleanse their hearts and prepare with joy for the paschal feast.

They renewed in the gift of baptism, we may come to the fullness of your grace. And so with all the choirs of angels, with the church on earth and the host of heaven, we praise your name and join their unending hymn. Blessed are you, oh God of the universe.

Your mercy is everlasting and your faithfulness endures from age to age. Praise to you for creating the heavens and the earth. Praise to you for saving the earth from the waters of the flood.

Praise to you for bringing the Israelites safely through the sea. Praise to to for leading your people through the wilderness to the land of milk and honey. Praise to you for the words and deeds of Jesus, your anointed one.

Praise to you for the death and resurrection of Christ. Praise to you for your spirit poured out on all nations. In the night in which he was betrayed, our Lord Jesus took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and gave it to his disciples saying, "Take and eat.

This is my body given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me." Again, after supper, he took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it for all to drink saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood shed for you and for all people for the forgiveness of sin. Do this for the remembrance of me." With this bread and cup, we remember our Lord's Passover from death to life as we proclaim the mystery of faith.

Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.

O God of resurrection and new life, pour out your Holy Spirit on us and on these gifts of bread and wine. Bless this feast. Grace our table with your presence.

Reveal yourself to us in the breaking of the bread. Raise us up as the body of Christ for the world. Breathe new life into us.

Send us forth burning with justice, peace, and love. With your holy ones of all times and places, with the earth and all its creatures, with sun and moon and stars, we praise you, oh God. Blessed and holy Trinity, now and forever.

Amen. Lord, remember us in your kingdom and teach us to pray. 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.

Forgive us our trespasses as we trespass against us. 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. Come to the table of new life. Receive the risen Lord.

And receive God. Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us. Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.

Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, grant us peace. Grant us peace. >> All the while the precious I want to walk as I talk I want to follow Jesus God sent His Son to be a light to the world.

The star of my heart is Jesus. In him there is no darkness at all. The night and the day are both alike.

The light of the city of God shine in my heart, Lord Jesus. I want to see the brightness of God. I want to know as Jesus.

This sun of righteousness shine on my path and show me the way to the Father. In him there is no darkness at all. The night and the day are both alike.

The light of the city of God shine in my heart, Lord Jesus. I will keep waiting for the coming of Christ. I want to be with Jesus.

When we are crowned with precious grace, we shall know the joy of Jesus. In him there is no darkness at all. The night and the day are both alike.

The light flowers growing in the city of God. Shine in my heart, Lord Jesus. This little light of mine, I'm going to let it shine.

This little light of mine, I'm going to let it shine. This little light of mine, I'm going to let it shine. Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.

Everywhere I go, I'm going to let it shine. Everywhere I go, I'm going to let it shine. Everywhere I go, I'm going to let it shine.

Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine. Jesus gave it to me, I'm going to let it shine. Jesus gave it to me, I'm going to let it shine.

Jesus gave it to me, I'm going to let it shine. Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine. >> May the Lord bless you and keep you.

And keep you in his grace. Amen. Well, us pray together.

Holy One, who has sent us into the world to proclaim the good news to all the nations and to make all things new. Send us now to speak peace to anxious hearts, to love our neighbors, and to bring your healing to the nations in the name of Jesus. Amen.

God almighty, who is the beginning and the end, Jesus Christ, the firstborn of the dead, and the Spirit, our advocate and peace, bless you now and forever. Amen. Shine, Jesus, shine.

Fill this land with the Father's glory. Blaze, Spirit, blaze. Set our hearts on fire.

Flow in the flow. Flood the nations with grace and mercy. Send forth your word, Lord, and let there be light.

Lord, the light of your life is shining in the midst of the darkness. Shine, Jesus, light of the world, shine upon us. Set us free by the truth and bring us light on Shine on me.

Shine, Jesus, shine. Fill this land with the Father's glory. Blaze, Spirit, blaze.

Set our hearts on fire. >> As we gaze on your kingly brightness, so our faces display your kindness, ever changing from glory to glory. Year after year our lives tell your story.

Shine on me. Shine on me. Shine, Jesus, shine.

All right. Today, on this Youth Sunday, we celebrate our youth members for who they are as God's children and as important members of this congregation. We thank them for their service in worship and for the many ways they are a blessing to others inside and outside of these walls.

Next Sunday, there are several events happening. The Mission Site Profile Task Force requests your presence in the fellowship hall at 9:45 to share your feedback about your experiences, thoughts, and hopes for Grace that will be important to creating the document that will provide prospective pastors their first look at Grace Lutheran Church during the search process. So, we hope you will attend one of the remaining meetings that we'll have in in between services.

There will be a VBS volunteer meeting at 12:15 p.m. and young youth meets at 3:30 p.m. and youth meets at 4:30 p.m.

We are in need of one more voting member to attend this year's South Carolina Senate Assembly on June 11th through 13th in Columbia. This will be an exciting assembly as it will include the election of our new bishop. Please let Council President Andrea Wiegan know today or at the latest tomorrow if you'd like to attend.

I'm going Lori Brown is going and we have one more opportunity for another voting member to go, but let me tell you this as well. It is a wonderful experience to go to one of these Senate Assemblies and we can take an unlimited number of non-voting members. So, please let me know um Thank you.

I asked for that. Yes. All right.

So, two youth who would like to go um please let me know right here. Yeah. Um uh and thank thank you for that cuz I was yeah, exactly.

Good. All right. So, one voting member, two youth.

And if you want to go as a non-voting member, please let me know as well because uh we would love many of us from Grace to go and attend this wonderful event. Um I do need you to let me know quickly though, so do your prayer, you know, today. And then uh tell me by tomorrow, cuz we have to register in a timely fashion.

So, that's your deadline. So, pray fast. All right.

All right, last business uh announcement. We're editing the church directory directory. We do this every year.

Um uh this Sunday and next. So, please see, I believe Teresa and Mary Vetorall in the fellowship hall or call the church office if you don't do this in between services, but that's an easy way, just run out in the fellowship hall and give them your edits for your information for the church directory. This is happening this Sunday and next Sunday.

Um so, and all edits are due by May 10th. Now, let us read or proclaim our mission statement together. We share God's grace by welcoming all people, growing together in faith, and joining God's work in our community.

Thanks be to God. Hallelujah.