What is the Fruit of Your Ministry?

Good Morning and Welcome to Worship! Worship is often the first place that new people come into contact with this growing community of faith. And so if you are joining us for the first time, I say to you what is said every Sunday: You are welcome here. Here is a place where all are welcome. For such is the love of God for God’s Very Good Creation.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow; praise God, all creatures here below; praise God above, ye Heav'nly host: praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

In the Word of God, the good news gives light. Seek us out, O God, and fill us with understanding. Seek us out, O God, and give us yourself. Amen.

Let us join with all creation in praying for the good of the earth, saying, God, who makes us one, hear our prayer.

O God, we give you thanks for your Holy Spirit whose work at creation continues in us.

Through Christ Jesus you have shown your love for this earth you made. We pray that all the world may know your power and goodness

O God, we give you thanks for your Holy Spirit whose work at creation continues in us.

Word of life, reveal the wonder of your world to all people. Show us anew what lives around us, over us, beneath us, within us. Enliven the church with your Spirit, that we may honor your earth with responsible care.

O God, we give you thanks for your Holy Spirit whose work at creation continues in us.

Almighty God, uphold our sisters and brothers who endure disasters caused by weather, war, famine, sickness, or greed. Strengthen all who are in peril, especially the people of Ukraine and Gaza. You are our refuge and strength, a very present help in time of trouble.

O God, we give you thanks for your Holy Spirit whose work at creation continues in us.

Creator of all good things, bring trust and sympathy to the nations of the world. Let peacemakers reign wherever there is conflict. Give wisdom to leaders to bring your love to the poor.

O God, we give you thanks for your Holy Spirit whose work at creation continues in us.

Good healer, we pray for all who are in need of comfort. Comfort those who mourn; uphold those who are sick, or holding vigil, or awaiting words of hope, especially those we name now silently [30 seconds of silence].

O God, we give you thanks for your Holy Spirit whose work at creation continues in us.

Trusting in your mercy, we commend to you all those we have named and those whose needs are known only to you, in the name of your Son, Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Come, Holy Spirit, that through your word we may be guided into the love of God for all the world. Amen.

²⁶Then 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.) ²⁷So he got up and went. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of her entire treasury. He had come to Jerusalem to worship ²⁸and was returning home; seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. ²⁹Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over to this chariot and join it.” ³⁰So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” ³¹He replied, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to get in and sit beside him. ³²Now 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. ³³In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth.” ³⁴The eunuch asked Philip, “About whom, may I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” ³⁵Then Philip began to speak, and starting with this scripture, he proclaimed to him the good news about Jesus. ³⁶As 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?” ³⁸He commanded the chariot to stop, and both of them, Philip and the eunuch, went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. ³⁹When 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. ⁴⁰But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he was passing through the region, he proclaimed the good news to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.

Jesus speaks of being the vine in the Gospel of John this morning and describes God as the vine grower who prunes in some areas and allows other areas to grow to produce the best fruit. As we look around the country today the number of people who claim to be Christian continues to dwindle, leaving us to wonder if we have pruned the right things. The story of Philip with the Eunuch to the Candace of Ethiopia continues the trend that we have seen with Peter in his dreams discovering that God shows no partiality. Indeed, the passage from Isaiah that the eunuch is reading prophesies a time when those who have been shorn will also be accepted as children of God.

Offering what we have for the sake of others is a discipline of pruning — letting go of our possessions, our time, and even ourselves — to extend the gospel witness into the world. Be generous in your ministry of giving. You need not fear; you abide in the vine.

Through our offerings, O God, give your loving Spirit to a world in need of comfort. Make our many gifts one offering for the world; in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Go out with joy that you have been fed and healed, securely abiding as branches of the true vine. Go and tell the story of faith that is given to you by the One who never lets you go. Seek out those who abound with sacred questions and be ready to answer a mystery with love. May your story feed those around you. Amen.