Bulletin – Sunday, April 27, 2025 – Second Sunday of Easter
Sunday, April 27, 2025
Second Sunday of Easter
We Gather as People of Faith
Welcome
Good morning and welcome. Please know that Windsor Park United Church is an inclusive community, and all are welcome as you are. If you are new or returning it is an honour to be together today to worship God together in fellowship with one another.
Announcements
Minute Person(s)
Candle Lighting
Call to Worship
One: Let us come together to worship God bringing all our fears and doubts.
All: We come hoping God, our Creator is with us.
One: Let us come to worship Christ the risen one bringing all our joys and hopes.
All: We come knowing the Risen Christ is with us.
One: Let us come together to worship the Holy Spirit—love eternal with us fully here and fully now.
All: We come in faith of God’s eternal presence with us now and always. Amen.
Hymn – “Draw the Circle Wide” (MV #145)
Draw the circle wide. Draw it wider still.
Let this be our song, no one stands alone,
Standing side by side, draw the circle wide.
God the still-point of the circle,
‘Round whom all creation turns;
Nothing lost, but held forever,
In God’s gracious arms.
Draw the circle wide. Draw it wider still.
Let this be our song, no one stands alone,
Standing side by side, draw the circle wide.
Let our hearts touch far horizons,
So encompass great and small;
Let our loving know no borders,
Faithful to God’s call.
Draw the circle wide. Draw it wider still.
Let this be our song, no one stands alone,
Standing side by side, draw the circle wide.
Let the dreams we dream be larger
Than we’ve ever dreamed before;
Let the dream of Christ in us,
Open every door.
Draw the circle wide. Draw it wider still.
Let this be our song, no one stands alone,
Standing side by side, draw the circle wide.
Prayer of Approach and Confession
Oh loving Creator, through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus the Christ you showed us the way of peace even unto death on a cross and into new life. Your peace was embodied in our very beings at our creation and through the breath of the Risen One.
Yet, we still too often hold personal doubts and fears in our hearts about our lives and the world around us. We know that our failure to trust makes it hard to follow the peace that you have gifted us. The weight is heavy, and the load often feels like too much.
Words of Assurance
Oh Peace Giving Creator we come to you today and always to share with you all that we are. Give us the assurance of the peace that only you bring, that our doubts and fears will subside. Remind us that when we lean into your arms, bringing all we carry, you take up all our burdens. Renew our hope, trust, and faith in you that we may be ever greater bearers of your peace here and for the world around us. Amen.
Sung Response – “Alleluia” (MV #50)
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Alleluia! Alleluia!
A Time for All
We Hear God’s Word
Scripture Reading: John 20:19-31
19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
24 Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
May God speak to us through these readings of scripture.
Thanks be to God!
Hymn – “The Doors Were Locked”
The doors were locked, the voices hushed, confusion filled the air,
When suddenly the risen Christ appeared among them there.
“Peace be with you,” he greeted them. “Come see my hands and side.
I send you now as I was sent, the Spirit as your guide.”
Now one was absent from the room, for Thomas was away.
When others told what they had seen his judgement would not sway.
“Unless I touch his wounded side and feel the marks of nails,
Unless I see with my own eyes, my skeptic’s mind prevails.”
Another night in that same room, disciples standing by,
“Peace be with you,” Christ said, and then looked Thomas in the eye.
“Come see the nail marks on my hands, reach out and touch my side” –
An invitation to his friend to put his doubts aside.
Did Thomas know the world had changed one morning in a tomb?
He simply said, “My Lord, my God,” within that silent room.
Christ did not chide his doubting friend, but offered him instead
God’s boundless and redemptive grace. “Peace be with you,” he said.
Sermon “Living with Peace and Mysticism in a Time of Doubt and Fear”
Anthem – “Love Over Hate”
Love over hate, our sacred song.
Sing in our hearts our voices strong.
All of the earth, each place, faith, each one belongs.
You of my heart, You of my soul.
You are the Love that makes us whole.
You of my heart, You of my soul,
You are the Love that makes us whole.
Love over fear, our common dream.
Justice that flows, a mighty stream.
Kindness and mercy calling, for you and for me.
You of my heart, You of my soul.
You are the Love that makes us whole.
You of my heart, You of my soul,
You are the Love that makes us whole.
Love over lies, our promise true.
Healing and hope held high anew.
Strengthen our lives with courage to carry us through.
You of my heart, You of my soul.
You are the Love that makes us whole.
You of my heart, You of my soul,
You are the Love that makes us whole.
We Respond to God’s Word
An Invitation to Share
Offering Sung Response – “What Can I Do?” (VM #191)
What can I do? What can I bring?
What can I say? What can I sing?
I’ll sing with joy. I’ll say a prayer.
I’ll bring my love. I’ll do my share.
Offering Prayer
Prayers of the People
One: Bless those who are peacemakers, from all creeds and cultures, all who bring no other agenda that to see neighbour and stranger live together as one community. We ask your blessings to bring peace especially upon the Ukraine and Russia conflict, Israel and Gaza, and in South Sudan and the Congo, and so many more regions of the world in need of your peace and justice for all in Canada and with our neighbours in the way our saviour taught us. Bless the peacemakers.
All: Strengthen and bless us all.
One: Oh Loving Creator, who breathes peace into us bless those who are comforters and healers, shoulder to cry upon, a willing ear to listen, a present help in times of despair and hopelessness. We ask your strength to be caregivers of each others especially in times of sorrow, and pain, doubt and fear. And, we ask that you continue to guide us all to be midwives to your love in the world today. Bless the comforters and healers.
All: Strengthen and bless us all.
One: Oh Loving Creator, who breathes peace within us bless those that reveal hard truths and unveil honest and difficult history to us who are a cry in the wilderness for justice to be brought to the persecuted and who work to set captives free. We ask as we near this time of the 100th Anniversary of the United Church of Canada that you remind us of those places we wronged you and hurt and harmed others falsely in your name. We ask you to help us honestly name our failings even as we celebrate our deep faith, justice seeking, and love we shared in your name. Help us to grow in wisdom, as we go forward to build and live in right relations with all your people. Bless the truth tellers.
All: Strengthen and bless us all.
One: Let us now raise up the names of those in our community in special need of your love and care at this time. We name…Amen.
(adapted from John Birch Peace Prayers)
Passing of the Peace
Prayers of Peace
One: Compassionate and love God,
All: we stand before you today to renew our commitment to peace in our hearts, our homes, and the world. As members of this faith community, we commit ourselves to being peace bearers. Making peace in the land, with humanity, with all creation. Like the prophets of old and the prophets of today, we ask for courage to speak truth to power, to seek alternatives to violence, to build peace based on justice, human rights, and respect for creation. Like countless numbers of people in our global community who refuse to give up hope and live their lives as peace bearers and peacemakers, we ask for your grace to work through us so that we may bear peace and make peace in our communities. We commit to living your love through the great work of nurturing peace with justice, today, tomorrow , and always. Amen.
(adapted from Prayer by Jennifer Watt)
We Go Into God’s World
Hymn – “Christ of Compassion”
Christ of compassion, Christ of all giving,
Our hearts are full with your comfort and care.
Love’s living presence, Spirit of Sharing,
Nourish and strengthen the faith that we bear.
Love for our neighbour, friend to the stranger,
Gently we open a place in our heart.
Peace to the fearful, hope to the lonely,
Spirits renewed through the care we impart.
Travelling companions, friends on the journey,
Sharing our kindness, our joy to increase.
Truth gives our faith its courage and wisdom,
Shaping our world with the love we release.
Love from the heart, the sweetest expression,
Tells of the Spirit alive in this place.
Spreading that love to people around us,
Touching our living with honour and grace.
Benediction
Sung Response – “Amen! Amen! Hallelujah, Amen!” (VU #974)
Amen! Amen! Hallelujah, amen!
Amen! Amen! Hallelujah, amen!
