Order of Service / Easter Sunday / March 31, 2024

*Gathering Hymn Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Give Thanks (#179 VU)

Welcome & Land Acknowledgement

Lighting the Christ Candle

Call to Worship

One: Christ is risen! What a glorious day!

  All: Christ is risen, indeed! Our lives are forever changed!

One: New life is all around us. Stop and experience the beauty.

  All: Where once there was death, now there is life!

One: Christ is risen!

All: Christ is risen, indeed! Hallelujah!

*Laura J. Turnbull. Gathering L/E 2024, page 36.

Opening Prayer (Unison)

We gather this holiest of days, Living God, to remember one moment in time that changed
everything. Thousands of years ago, your Spirit burst out of the grave and placed into our
hands the promise of resurrection. Through Jesus’ resurrection, you gifted us with freedom,
not just from death, but from sin, fear, uncertainty, and loneliness. You moved and shattered
the shadows of death. Today we rejoice! Even though we so often forget, today we remember.
We remember you are here among us. We remember you are more than just a story. We remember
that, in you and because of you, we are not alone. Move among us and lift our hearts as we praise
your name this glorious Easter morning. Amen

*Nora Vedress. Gathering L/E 2024, page 36.

*Opening Hymn Welcome, Happy Morning (#161 VU | vs. 1,2,3)

Prayer of Confessional and Renewal (Unison)

Loving God, forgive us, for we have not always followed your commandment to love one another

as you love us. It is not easy for us to love those who display characteristics we don’t like. Though

we may try, we often fail. Forgive us, Loving God. Teach us to be generous with our love and to

feel your love for those we meet. (a time of silent confession) Amen.

*Cheryl Henry. Gathering L/E 2024, page 47.

Words of Assurance

One: The good news of Easter is that death is turned into new life.

All: God The promise we have from God is that when we acknowledge our brokenness,

God will acknowledge us with grace and forgiveness. We are a forgiven people. Thanks

be to God.

*Peter Chynoweth. Gathering L/E 2024, page 47.

Announcements and Minute for Mission

Time for God’s Children (Draw the Circle Wide (MV 145), Refrain)

Draw the circle wide, draw it wider still.

Let this be our song: no one stands alone.

Standing side by side, draw the circle.

Prayer for Illumination

Proclaiming the Scriptures

Acts 10:34-43 Peter preaches, "God shows no partiality."

Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24 (VU p. 837 P 1,2,3) God is my strength and my song.

John 20:1-10 Peter sees the tomb empty.

This is the Good News from the Bible.

  Thanks be to God.

Anthem

Sermon

*Hymn Who Is There on This Easter Morning (VU 176)

*Offering

*Offertory Hymn (#541 VU| Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow)

Praise God from whom all blessings flow;

praise God, all creatures high and low;

give thanks to God in love made known:

Creator, Word, and Spirit, One.

*Offertory Prayer (Unison)

Take these gifts we offer, O God, and bless them as our hallelujahs! May they become

hallelujahs for people near and far, our discipleship lived in answer to fear, to separation,

and to inequity. In our giving, may we become hallelujahs for each other and for people

we encounter, living signs of your love in the world. Amen.

*Gord Dunbar. Gathering L/E 2024, page 48.

Prayers of the People and Lord’s Prayer

*Closing Hymn Christ Is Alive (#158 VU)

*Commissioning

One: We go forth as a people eager to make a difference in the world wherever we go.

All: In all that we do, we proclaim our thanks to God, who gives us new life.

One: May God’s love radiate through you. May the glory of the risen Christ be revealed within

you. May the mystery of the Holy Spirit guide you, this day and always. Amen.

* Bill Steadman. Gathering L/E 2022, page 50. & Laura J. Turnbull. Gathering L/E 2024, page 49.

*Commissioning Song God Now in Peace (#211 MV)

Go now in peace, guided by the light of Christ.

So you may be, nourished by the Word of Life. (x2)


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Message: Like Mom's Food / Luke 6:17-26

He came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon. They had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. And all in the crowd were trying to touch him, for power came out from him and healed all of them.  Then he looked up at his disciples and said:      “Blessed are you who are poor,      for yours is the kingdom of God.      “Blessed are you who are hungry now,      for you will be filled.      “Blessed are you who weep now,      for you will laugh.  “Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the...
Read more

Message: Fragrance of Love / John 12:1-8

Have you ever smelled something and, all of a sudden, it reminded you of a special memory? Maybe it was the smell of cookies baking, and it made you think of your grandmother’s kitchen. Or maybe the smell of grass after it was cut reminded you of summertime when you played outside as a child. Or perhaps the smell of fresh coffee made you feel calm, like a slow and peaceful morning. Smell is powerful. It does not just enter our nose; it reaches into our heart. This happens because, unlike our other senses, smells go directly to the part of the brain that stores emotions and important memories. In this way, a scent can take us back to moments we have experienced before. This is known as the Proust Phenomenon. The term comes from the French writer Marcel Proust and his novel In Search of Lost Time. In one scene, the main character, Marcel, dips a small madeleine cookie into warm tea and takes a bite. At that moment, a vivid memory of his childhood at his grandmother’s house suddenly retur...
Read more

Message: Dance of the Wind / Acts 2:1-21

Today is Pentecost Sunday. This is the day we remember when the earliest followers of Jesus were filled with the Holy Spirit and the Church came into being. It is the day when a new community of faith was born through the breath of God. It is a day full of mystery, courage, and hope. According to the book of Acts, on the 40th day after the resurrection, Jesus ascended into heaven. Before he left, he told his followers not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of God. He said, “This is what you have heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now” (Acts 1:4–5). So they stayed. About 120 people remained in Jerusalem. They waited and prayed. They did not know what would happen, but they trusted what Jesus had told them. Several days later, it was the day of Pentecost. This was a Jewish festival when people from many different places came together in Jerusalem to worship and celebrate. The city was filled wit...
Read more