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Seventh Sunday of Easter May 17, 2026
Prayer of the Day
O God of glory, your Son Jesus Christ suffered for us and ascended to your right hand. Unite us with Christ and each other in suffering and in joy, that all the world may be drawn into your bountiful presence, through Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Gospel: John 17:1-11
1 After Jesus had spoken these words [to his disciples,] he looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, 2 since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. 4 I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. 5 So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed.
6 “I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me is from you, 8 for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you, and they have believed that you sent me. 9 I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. 10 All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I have been glorified in them. 11 And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.”
SERMON
Years ago, the journal Spirituality and Health reported that just knowing someone is praying for you has physical and psychological benefits. Many of us have folk who pray for us every day. Just knowing that might make us feel more connected and cared for.
There is a downside—my brother tells me that when he visits corporate headquarters for the airline he works for-in the Southern U.S.- he hears folk say “I will pray for you”. In that region of the country, “I will pray for you” can convey condescension and ‘judginess’.
When I read about a public official offering thoughts and prayers in the aftermath of a school shooting or other incident of gun violence, I wonder if the gesture is performative. Folk from Minnesota often say, “sometimes those prayers need feet too”. So what about this lengthy prayer Jesus prays on our behalf? Considering it was written down nearly 100 years after Jesus lived on the planet, and that transcription services and voice-to-text apps weren’t available we might want a bit more perspective.
The prayer reads like a sermon. We don’t know where the disciples were in the garden when Jesus prayed. The words even seem to bend in on themselves (a trait of John’s Gospel writing style) and what we mistake for repetition is actually taking us to other layers of meaning. For now, let’s attend to one theme—-God with us in hard times.
Immediately before Jesus prays, he warns his followers that hard times are coming. So Jesus prays on behalf of his first followers and those who are part of the community that John’s Gospel is written for. Jesus also prays for us; especially the community of faith. We overhear that God has given Jesus as the Word made flesh…that Jesus has taught and given a life giving word and that the followers hang on to those words—they are entrusted to us.
The Gospel readings for the last two Sundays set the stage for the season of Pentecost; in which we anticipate the Spirit of God—The Spirit of the risen Christ. We attune our hearts to listen what the Spirit has to say to the community of faith. We keep going back to the words of Jesus and to Jesus himself as God’s Word enfleshed and among us…and how that Spirit of God comes along side us to continue teaching, comforting and calling us into God’s work of blessing and saving the world.
If office is closed, please put your envelope through the office door mail slot – Thank you!
If office is closed, please put your envelope through the office door mail slot – Thank you!
Attendance today ->12 – last year 17
Sermon 🔊 (audio only)
Sixth Sunday of Easter May 10, 2026
Prayer of the Day
Almighty and ever-living God, you hold together all things in heaven and on earth. In your great mercy receive the prayers of all your children, and give to all the world the Spirit of your truth and peace, through Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Gospel: John 14:15-21 [Jesus said to the disciples:] 15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. 17 This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him because he abides with you, and he will be in you.
18 “I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. 19 In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. 21 They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me, and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.”
SERMON
“When the power of love replaces the love of power, the world will know peace.”. Those words have been said by people ranging from Eastern mystics to members of British Parliament to Jimmy Hendrix. Pick your provenance.
The idea behind these words pairs nicely with Jesus’ words that love produces obedience to God’s design—It’s best to read those words about commandment keeping as since/then more than if/then.
The world we live in like that of Hendrix, Gladstone, the first disciples revolves around love of power. Jesus forms and shapes a community aspiring toward the power of love—and he promises that the Spirit of God will come along side us.
We can make a connection between Jesus’ promise to his followers to the Creed we have spoken together over the Easter Season.
That Third section might sound like a laundry list of stuff we believe. Imagine if we reframe those words around what the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Jesus…the Spirit always with us DOES when we say we believe in one Holy Catholic and apostolic church.
To put it in Luther’s words, the Spirit will call, gather and enlighten and bring wholeness to the Christian church. Let’s unpack a bit more and while we do think about that word love, mentioned some fifty times in John’s Gospel.
The idea of holiness isn’t dashboard saint squeaky cleanliness. Holiness has always meant whole-ness or integrated completeness. My experience has been that holiness often means at least as much UN-learning as learning. The church became more holy in my lifetime when it repudiated teachings that put others down…like the infamous doctrine of discovery that held that only with the arrival of white European colonizers did God’s presence come to where we now live. The observing of Red Dress day is one small step toward solidarity with our indigenous siblings—the long and hard work of reconciliation may well be the church’s life long journey of repentance and of growing holy and in love.
We say we believe in a catholic church which means a people of all places and times. And an apostolic church literally means a church sent to carry on Jesus’ work of being present in the world and loving it and blessing it.
For now, let’s conclude where we began…Jesus says that love produces obedience to the commandments….and scripture also says the greatest commandment is love. Love of God. Love for neighbour. May God’s presence in the church and among us lead us all toward a life where a love of power is replaced by the power of love. Amen.
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Fifth Sunday of Easter May 3, 2026
Prayer of the Day
Almighty God, your Son Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life. Give us grace to love one another, to follow in the way of his commandments, and to share his risen life with all the world, for he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Gospel: John 14:1-14 [Jesus said to the disciples:] 1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. 4 And you know the way to the place where I am going.” 5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”
8 Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, but if you do not, then believe because of the works themselves. 12 Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.”
Sermon: If we ask anything in Jesus name, he will do it. As often happens to many people in John’s Gospel, we also frequently get the wrong end of the stick. “fer instance”….. We were visiting a home where the TV was airing a sermon from a glitzy evangelist who was telling the faithful that he believed the Lord wanted him to have a motorcycle. Was it sour grapes on my part to exit the room at that moment muttering under my breath that maybe the Lord could toss in a helmet and protective leather gear as part of the deal? The tv preacher said he prayed in Jesus’ name—so does that a bike to appear in his driveway? By the way, does Jesus approve of Hondas, Ducattis or Harleys?
You might have seen the cartoon where a ravenous bear is chasing a rabbit…the rabbit prays “deliver me from evil” and the bear prays “bless this meal, O Lord”—Whose prayer does God answer? The ones with the words in Jesus’ name?
The levity takes a darker turn when wars are waged and justified as God’s plan—maybe we quote scripture, or the movie Pulp Fiction in hopes God will bring the result we want.
Nearly a quarter century ago, the US voted to declare war in Iraq after the planes crashed into the World Trade Centre. Predictably, the rhetoric was all about “God on our side”. An artist from South America painted a work with scenes of war and a caption reading, “Not in MY name”.
To pray in Jesus’ name doesn’t change God’s mind. It changes ours. It changes our hearts too. When Jesus speaks to his followers, he reminds them that his death is near and that one in their midst would betray him. THEN he says “You all—all y’all, let not your heart be troubled”. In other words, don’t lose your collective sense of purpose. Carry on.
The venerable preacher Fred Craddock outlines three promises Jesus makes to his beleaguered community…one that seemed ready to collapse— Don’t lose heart because…
1. Don’t lose heart, all, y’all, because abiding places Jesus speaks of mean that God guarantees an unbreakable bond with us both now and beyond this life. That bond also holds for the world God so loves.
2. Don’t lose heart, all y’all, because the way to God is sure and clear —God makes it so even when we get lost in double meanings about ways, places and paths.
3.Finally don’t lose heart, all y’all, because the faithful relationship that God establishes and vouchsafes empowers us to carry on the work of Jesus.
These promises become the foundation for our prayers and the actions that come from them. To pray in Jesus’ name means we follow this Good Shepherd—this one who says he is the Way, Truth and Life.
We trust and we learn to pray for things that are consistent what Jesus teaches and how he lived his life.
In times of war we might prayerfully remember Jesus the night he was arrested telling Peter to drop his weapon.
In the face of injustice we might remember Jesus table tossing indignation about abuses of power.
In the face of need we might remember Jesus finding a way to feed the hungry, heal the sick, and welcome the outcast. May we pray and may we prayerfully live in the name of Jesus…the one who embodies love for the world. Amen.
Fourth Sunday of Easter April 26, 2026
Prayer of the Day
O God our shepherd, you know 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 feast prepared in your house, through Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Gospel: John 10:1-10 [Jesus said:] 1 “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. 2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.” 6 Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.
7 So again Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who came before me are thieves and bandits, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”
SERMON
Some religious people speak about God’s maddening penchant for being indirect— Jesus shares a family trait here. My brother would call such indirection “taking the long way around the barn”. Jesus’ opponents express exasperation when they press him on whether or not he’s the Messiah—-“just tell us plainly, already”, they say.
Jesus’ followers like Nicodemus (well, eventually) and the disciples don’t get all the figures of speech Jesus relies on to describe who he is and what he’s about.
The occasional pastor, like this morning’s preacher, gets a bit flummoxed too— Are we talking shepherds here or are we talking gates? Who are these thieves and robbers?
Since we’re in the season of Easter, let’s look at Jesus’ words through the lens of the resurrection. After Jesus has been raised from the dead his people don’t recognize him. Hardly surprising because in our experience the dead stay. The last person people expect to see is Jesus.
Mary Magdalene’s new life as the first preacher and evangelist comes when she hears Jesus call her by name.
Jesus walks through a locked door and breathes a spirit of peace upon his fearful followers.
Jesus shows Thomas his wounds—well he offers to. We really don’t know if Thomas takes him up on that.
On the road to Emmaus (the story from Luke’s Gospel) Jesus teaches two of his followers—they figure he’s not from these parts so isn’t up on current events. That night he accepts their kind offer of hospitality—and he breaks bread and blesses it and suddenly the travellers know exactly who this companion is.
What Jesus says and does after the resurrection might remind us of things he did and said before the resurrection.
He calls Lazarus by name and the man comes back to life.
If you were to read today’s Gospel reading and leaf back a page or two you would find the story of Jesus healing this person blind from birth. Jesus speaks, saying “wash the paste from your eyes and you will see”. The person might have thought someone was pranking him. Instead he hears and follows. When some religious experts grill him about who did the healing the person doesn’t really know; all he knows is some guy put a mud paste on his eyes, told him to wash it off—All he knows is that he started they day like every other in his life with unseeing eyes. Now he sees. Go figure. How truly sad that in response the religious experts write him off calling him an irredeemable sinner.
Jesus words about shepherding, thievery and about being the gate to abundant life immediately follow the healing story story, which ends with a dust up between Jesus and these judgy religious leaders—the ones who don’t see newly sighted person as a person—they just slap the label “sinner” on him and effectively swipe left so they don’t have to deal with him. Jesus sees a human being made in God’s image who suffers, who is excluded and judged—Jesus heals the person’s brings him into his community.
A few years back a Christian denomination in the U.S. called the United Church of Christ put out banners saying “God still speaks”. More now than ever we pray that God still speaks. We pray that the risen Christ still speaks, summoning us by name and calling us to follow in God’s work of blessing and loving the world.
St. Matthew's Evangelical Lutheran Church, Welland, Ontario, Canada 
Love it Rona. Thanks On Sat, Mar 7, 2026, 11:20 a.m. St. Matthew's Evangelical Lutheran Church,