WORSHIP WITH US on Sunday, April 26, at 10:15 a.m.
WE LIVE STREAM OUR WORSHIP SERVICES AT 10:15 ON SUNDAY MORNING. You can join us online in real time at https://vimeo.com/event/1424751. This streaming address is the same each week.
The video of Sunday’s worship service will be posted after worship at https://vimeo.com/channels/1547852.
You can view and download the bulletin here.
This fourth Sunday of Easter is observed in many places as “Good Shepherd Sunday.” We do this some years, as we are today. This is a day to hear scripture lessons like those from Ezekiel and John. Sometimes we sing and hear music based on the 23rd Psalm, with its familiar words of comfort: “The Lord is my shepherd.”
The image of God as a shepherd is ancient, yet it still speaks powerfully to our modern hearts, wandering and lost, looking for a home in the universe. Even in our technological age, we want to believe Jesus when he says, “I am the good shepherd.”
This morning, this shepherd image comes to us as more than a source of bucolic comfort. It speaks to our tumultuous times.
Jesus, the prophet Ezekiel, and the Psalmist were interested in shepherds because they were concerned about the sheep.
This is to say, they were concerned about leaders because they were concerned about the people.
They understood that the well-being of the people was directly connected to the functioning of as the leaders.
As followers of the God of the prophets, as followers of the One who called himself the good shepherd, we, too, should be concerned about leaders out of concern for the people.
SCRIPTURE LESSONS: Ezekiel 34:1-6, 11-16; John 10:7-14
SERMON: “Shepherds, Leaders, and the Common Good”
The Rev. Bill Lovin preaching
ANTHEM: “I Know That My Redeemer Liveth” Flor Peeters
No matter who you are or where you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here.