Bulletin – Sunday, April 25, 2021

Sunday, April 25, 2021
Fourth Sunday of Easter

Approach

Lighting the Candle

This is the season of Easter. It is the season when the light of resurrection shines brightly in our lives. As we light this candle we remember the story of Jesus. We remember all that he did in this world to bring hope, peace, love, mercy, and light to a world of darkness. As we gather in the glow of this candle, we commit to being resurrection people, living in the light of resurrection, loving as Christ loved, living as Christ lived, bringing light to a world of darkness.

Call to Worship

Peace be with you.
And also with you.

Come and see the love God has given to us.
Come and see what it means to be children of God.

Come with this hope, that Christ’s presence is real.
With joy, we come to see the Lord.

Come and worship with hope.
We come together to worship with joy.

Hymn – “Come, Children, Join to Sing”

Come, children, join to sing: Hallelujah!
Praise to our Servant King: Hallelujah!
Let all with heart and voice, saved by God’s gracious choice,
Now in this place rejoice: Hallelujah!

Come, lift your hearts on high: Hallelujah!
Let Praises fill the sky: Hallelujah!
Christ calls his people friends, the helpless he defends,
A love that never ends: Hallelujah!

Praise yet our Christ again: Hallelujah!
Raise high the joyous strain: Hallelujah!
The whole creation o’er let all God’s love adore,
Singing for evermore: Hallelujah!

Prayer of Approach

Miraculous God, come to us now, even as your Son came to those first disciples on the shores of Galilee. Speak your peace to our hearts. Touch us with your Holy Spirit. Reveal your word, that we may hear your message this day, and live as your disciples in the days and years to come.

But Miraculous God, you have told us to trust in you with all of our hearts. You have told us not to lean on our own understanding. And so we try to trust, but we get very nervous when we don’t understand. We don’t understand why someone would ever want to betray you or what that will mean for us. We don’t understand how death can ever by victory. We don’t understand post-resurrection life—yours or ours. We don’t understand why you ask to stay here, and we’re afraid we will somehow miss the power when it comes down from on high. We don’t’ understand so much and yet you ask us to trust, to believe.

Give us the courage to truly trust in all that you have promised. Give us the courage to trust that we truly are your children. Give us the courage to believe, to live into our faith not only today while in worship, but every day of our lives. Amen.

 (adapted from Joanna Harader)

Words of Assurance

Response

He is Lord, He is Lord.
He is risen from the dead and He is Lord.
Every knee shall bow, every tongue confess
That Jesus Christ is Lord.

Time for All Ages

Hymn – “Open Our Eyes, Lord”

Open our eyes, Lord,
We want to see Jesus,
To reach out and touch him,
And say that we love him.
Open our ears, Lord,
And help us to listen.
Open our eyes, Lord,
We want to see Jesus.

The Word

Scripture Reading:          1 John 3:1-7

1 See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. 3 And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.
4 Everyone who commits sin is guilty of lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. 5 You know that he was revealed to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. 6 No one who abides in him sins; no one who sins has either seen him or known him. 7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Everyone who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous

Scripture Reading:          Luke 24:36-48

36 While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 37 They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. 38 He said to them, “Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39 Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” 40 And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. 41 While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” 42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43 and he took it and ate in their presence.
44 Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.” 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, 46 and he said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things.

Hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church.
Thanks be to God!

Meditation – “To Touch”

Anthem – “Faith”

The Response

Prayer

You come to use in unexpected places, in a crowded room, on a journey on a dusty road, in conversation, in the stillness. You come in the midst of our doubt, our fear, our sorrow, you come in the power of the resurrection. No pain and suffering is unknown to you. You bring us peace and we pray for the places where there is no peace: countries torn by war, refugees seeking homes, prisoners facing torture. Bring your peace to the world now.
Hear our prayer.

You bring peace. Peace to the tensions and conflicts within us. To the regrets, the failure, the broken relationships, the lost friendships. Bring your peace to the world now.
Hear our prayer.

You bring peace. Peace to the struggles that affect the lives of so many. Those who are hungry, who long for a safe home to lay their heads. Those who are marginalized, ostracized. Those who face discrimination and hatred. Bring your peace to the world now.
Hear our prayer.

You bring peace. For you are a friend to us when we are alone, when we are lonely, unseen you are there. Bring your peace to the world now.
Hear our prayer.

You bring peace. Peace to the soul, peace to the body. Peace to those who suffer. Peace to those whom we lift up to you this day…Bring your peace to the world now.
Hear our prayer.

You bring us peace and we pray that we too may become peacemakers, as we continue to pray in the words that Jesus taught us;
Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.

 Hymn – “Sing of One Who Walks Beside Us”

Sing of one who walks beside us, and this day is living still,
One who now is closer to us than the thoughts our hearts distill,
One who once upon a hilltop, raised against the power of sin,
Died in love as his own creatures crucified their God and King!

Strangers, we have walked beside him the long journey of the day,
And have told him of the darkness that has swept our hope away.
He has offered words of comfort, words of energy and light,
And our hearts have blazed within us as he saved us from the night.

Stay with us, dear lord, and raise us, once again the night is near.
Dine with us and share your wisdom, free our hearts from every fear.
In the calm of each new evening, in the freshness of each dawn,
If you hold us fast in friendship, we will never be alone.

Benediction

As you go into this week remember that you are God’s beloved, you are one of God’s blessed children. Remember that the peace of God, which goes beyond all understanding, is with you. That the love of Jesus, God Incarnate, is alive in your hearts, and the blessing of God all-loving, the Creator, Redeemer and Counsellor, will be with you now and always. Amen!

Response

Christ is alive and comes to bring good news to this and every age,
Till earth and sky and ocean ring with joy, with justice, love and praise.

Categories: General News, Sunday Bulletin and Announcements, Worship