Quotes for Reflection:

But the end is reconciliation; the end is redemption;

the end is the creation of the Beloved Community.
It is this type of spirit and this type of love
that can transform opposers into friends.
It is this type of understanding goodwill that will transform
the deep gloom of the old age into the exuberant gladness
of the new age. It is this love which will bring about
miracles in the hearts of men.
Martin Luther King
from Facing the Challenge of a New Age, 1956

Soon and Very Soon

706

CALL TO WORSHIP
God is the Vine- grower. Jesus is the Vine.
We are the branches.
When we give with joy, when we welcome others,
when we rest in Gods love,
We are the branches.
When we reach out in love, bearing spiritual fruit;
Gods love is made real.
We are the branches.
Jesus is the Vine.
We are the branches.
PRAISE

Bring Forth the Kingdom

O Lord, Our Lord

-We Listen for Gods WordPsalm 22:25-31

2190
2023

YOUNG PEOPLES MESSAGE

SGH

-We Respond to Gods Word-

REFLECTION

753, resp. 2

GOSPEL LESSON
John 15:1-5
I am the true vine, and Abba is the vinegrower. God removes every
branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit is
prune 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.
ACTS LESSON
Acts 8:26-40
Then an angel of the Lord said to Philip, Get up and go toward the
south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. (This is a
wilderness road.) So he got up and went.

PASSING THE PEACE

OPENING TO GOD
Christ, my vine, you are my life.
I am your branch.
Your life flows through me, your love flows through me.
My life is the fruit of your presence,
my thoughts the vessels of your grace,
my deeds the movements of your spirit.
I am one with you and with all your branches.
I receive the life that all receive.
Our life endures only in our oneness.

As they were going along the road, they came to some water; and
the eunuch said, Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from
being baptized? He commanded the chariot to stop, and both of
them, Philip and the eunuch, went down into the water, and Philip
baptized him. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the
Lord snatched Philip away; the eunuch saw him no more, and went
on his way rejoicing.

Christ, living vine, you are my life,

and I am your living branch, your life-giving fruit.
Vine and branch.
Life and fruit.

TEHILLIM

-We Gather as Gods PeopleHYMN

Prune all of me that does not bear your fruit;

though I cry out, I willingly surrender it.
Bear fruit in me as you desire,
though I disbelieve or resist, bear fruit.

Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Kandake,

queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of her entire treasury. He had
come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning home; seated in his
chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. Then the Spirit said to
Philip, Go over to this chariot and join it. So Philip ran up to it and
heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked, Do you understand what you are reading? He replied, How can I, unless someone guides me? And he invited Philip to get in and sit beside him.
Now the passage of the scripture that he was reading was this: Like
a sheep he was led to the slaughter, and like a lamb silent before its
shearer, so he does not open his mouth. In his humiliation justice
was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is
taken away from the earth.
The eunuch asked Philip, About whom, may I ask you, does the
prophet say this, about himself or about someone else? Then Philip
began to speak, and starting with this scripture, he proclaimed to
him the good news about Jesus.

HYMN

How Then Shall We Live?

The Beloved Community
Walk with Me

Part 4 of 6
2242

COMMUNION
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE & THE LORDS PRAYER
OFFERING
DOXOLOGY

Nepal Advance #982450

-We Are Sent Into Gods World-

ANNOUNCEMENTS
BENEDICTION
RESPONSE

Halle, Halle, Halleluja

2026a

Announcements

Imagine No Malaria Bike-a-thon Barb and Mitch are making plans

to bicycle the 180 or so miles to New England Annual Conference in
Manchester, NH in mid-June, to raise funds for the Imagine No
Malaria campaign. Would you like to throw checks at them?
Crafting and Conversation: The Crafters meet every other week to
begin making things for the Holiday Bazaar in November. Please
contact Patty Mitchell or Maureen Wiegner.
Plant Swap- on Sunday May 17. Bring your perennials that you have
split and hopefully take home something different. Please label your
plants as to what they are. If the plants are not chosen you will need to
take them home afterward, too.

Birthdays & Anniversaries

May 3 - Dale Thompson

May 5 - Ben Duff

Below are people, places, & concerns that folk have lifted up.
Please keep them in your prayers at home.
Please call or email the church office to add to the prayer list.

May Essex Eats Out Schedule

May 8 - Holy Family

May 22 - EUMC

May 15 - St James
May 29 - St Pius

Calendar

Mon, 4 May: Monday Companions 7:00 pm Eves House.

Please read ch. 4 of If It Werent for Buddha, I
Couldnt Be Christian by Paul Knitter
Tue, 5 May:

Office Hours
Church: 9-10:30am
Phoenix Books 10:35 am-noon
Bible Study 1:30-2:30 pm at Mansfield Place.
Choir, 6:30 pm

Wed, 6 May

Green Mountain Nursing Home 2:30 pm

Thu, 7 May:

Food Shelf Set Up, GSLC, 6:30 pm

Sat, 8 May:

Food Shelf Distribution, GSLC, 9:00 am.

Tue, 12 May: Office Hours

Church: 9-10:30am
Phoenix Books 10:35 am-noon

Ongoing Prayers, cont.

Ongoing Prayers
Judy & Diezela
Zachary Roy
John Bartlett
Carol Johnson
Bob Brooks (Hirst)
Michael Parker
Jill & Doug Griffin
Stan Komecki
Jenna Roy
Paul
Dick Shepard
Robin
Jaylene
Mary
Jake Greg
DJ
Chris
Gloria




Anne
Michael Paradee
John Young IV
Brenda
Lenore
Lifted Up Last Sunday
Wesley - Dave LaRoe, cancer
Kims mom, cancer
Anne - Burlington Emergency
Shelter & halfway houses
Nancy - thankful that father-in-laws
heart surgery went well
Fred - those affected by earthquake
in Nepal
Mary - Neddie
Ellie- Johns life, thankful for
support
Bill - Marge, radiation treatment

Bible Study 1:30-2:30 pm at Mansfield Place.

Ad Board 7:00 pm
Sun, 17 May Church Birthday Bash following Service
Plant Swap following Service
Mon, 18 May: Monday Companions 7:00 pm Eves House.
Please read ch. 5 of If It Werent for Buddha, I
Couldnt Be Christian by Paul Knitter
Tue, 19 May: Trustees, 7:00 pm
Fri, 22 May: Essex Eats Out 5:30 pm
Tue, 26 May: Pastor Parish Relations 7:00 pm
Wed, 27 May: Wednesday Prayer Services Begin 8:00 pm
Fri, 28 May: Mens Breakfast 8:00 am
Sun, 31 May: Church Has Left the Building!

Essex Center United Methodist Church

essex_umc@comcast.net
tel. 878-8304
www.essexumc.com
Ministers: the entire congregation
Equipping Pastor: Rev. V. Mitchell Hay
home tel. 878-3778 (feel free to call)
mitchellhay@comcast.net
Office Manager: Heidi Evans
Organist: Kathryn Parker Pianists: June Packard, Ellie Uckele
Djembe: Barbara Lemmel
Guitar: Richard Randazzo
Song Leader: Dana Thomas Projection: Sam Evans
Greeter - Sherry Marcoux
Ushers - Roger & Kathy Dodge, Judy Wright

Essex Center United Methodist Church

3 May 2015

Fifth Sunday of Easter