The Third Sunday of Easter
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Prelude, Welcome, and Information n Hymn #367 Now All the Vault of
Heaven Resounds |
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The grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you
all. And also with
you. Christ is risen! He
is risen indeed! O Lord, open our eyes to behold your presence. O Lord, open our ears to hear your voice. O Lord, open our hearts to receive your love. O Lord, open our lips and our mouth shall declare your praise. Glory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit; As it was
in the beginning, is now and shall
be forever. Amen. This is
the feast of victory for our God.
Alleluia. Power, riches, wisdom and strength, Sing with all the people of God For the Lamb who was slain This is the feast of victory for our God, |
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The Lord be with you. And
also with you. Let us pray together. Holy and righteous God, you are
the author of life and you adopt us to be your children. Fill us with your
words of life, that we may live as witness to the resurrection of your Son,
Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy
Spirit, one God now and forever. Amen. |
Reading:
Acts 3:12-19
A reading from the book of the Act of the Apostles
12When Peter saw it, he addressed the people, “You Israelites, why do you
wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety
we had made him walk? 13The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God
of Jacob, the God of our ancestors has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you
handed over and rejected in the presence of Pilate, though he had decided to
release him. 14But you rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked to
have a murderer given to you, 15and you killed the Author of life, whom
God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. 16And by faith in his
name, his name itself has made this man strong, whom you see and know; and the
faith that is through Jesus has given him this perfect health in the presence
of all of you. 17“And now, friends, I know that you acted in ignorance, as
did also your rulers. 18In this way God fulfilled what he had foretold through
all the prophets, that his Messiah would suffer. 19Repent therefore, and
turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out,
The Word of the Lord
Reading:
1 John 3:1-7
A reading from the first letter of John
3See 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. 2Beloved, 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. 3And all who have this
hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.
4Everyone who commits sin is guilty of lawlessness; sin is
lawlessness. 5You know that he was revealed to take away sins, and in him
there is no sin. 6No one who abides in him sins; no one who sins has
either seen him or known him. 7Little children, let no one deceive you.
Everyone who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.
The Word of the Lord.
Gospel
Verse:
Alleluia! Our hearts burn
within us as you open to us the scriptures. Alleluia! (Luke
24:32)
Gospel Reading: Luke 24:36b-48
36While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and
said to them, “Peace be with you.” 37They were startled and
terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. 38He said
to them, “Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39Look
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.” 40And
when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. 41While
in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, “Have
you anything here to eat?” 42They gave him a piece of broiled
fish, 43and he took it and ate in their presence. 44Then
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.” 45Then he opened their minds to
understand the scriptures, 46and he said to them, “Thus it is
written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third
day, 47and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be
proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48You
are witnesses of these things.
Sermon
(added at the end of the document)
n Hymn #535 Hallelujah!
We Sing Your Praises
Thanks and Offertory
Prayers
of the Church:
n Trusting that new life is ours today through the
risen Jesus, we offer our prayers to God.
n [Short pause]
n Gracious God of resurrection, in the risen Jesus we
discover authentic humanity. Give us the
faith to trust that your promise is indeed given to us. God of new life
Hear our prayer.
n Gracious God of resurrection, in the midst of death,
you bring new life. In the midst of
division, you bring reconciliation. Open
our eyes to see you among us. God of new
life, Hear our prayer.
n Gracious God of resurrection, you reveal the image
of God in the risen Jesus, but also in us.
Enable us, not only to see it, but to actively look for it in the people
around us. God of new life, Hear our prayer.
n Gracious God of resurrection, we trust your Easter
promise, but we live in a Good Friday world which denies the image of God, in
each other and in ourselves.
Strengthen the resolve of your church to engage with this hurting world,
that we may be numbered among those who are struggling for life, peace and
justice. God of new life, Hear our prayer.
n Gracious God of resurrection, use your people to
extend your healing in this world: bringing food to the hungry, shelter to the
homeless, welcome to the stranger, support to the addict, and care for the
isolated. We especially pray that we may
be your healing presence for those we name before you. [Silence for prayer)
God of new life, Hear our prayer.
n Fill our bishops, Susan and Michael, with your
wisdom. Bless the people of Peace Christian Fellowship, Chatham and their
pastor, Pr. Paul Sodtke. God of new life,
Hear our prayer.
n Hear us, gracious and loving God, for the sake of
our gracious and living Saviour, Jesus the Christ.
Amen.
n
Hymn
#364 Christ Is Risen! Alleluia!
The
Lord’s Prayer
Finally let us pray for all things as
our Lord would have us ask:
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.
Psalm 4
Answer me
when I call, O God of my right!
You gave me room when I was in distress.
Be gracious to me, and hear my prayer.
How long, you
people, shall my honor suffer shame?
How long will you love vain words, and seek
after lies? (Selah)
But know that
the Lord has set apart the faithful for himself;
the Lord hears when I call to
him.
When you are
disturbed, do not sin;
ponder it on your beds, and be silent.
(Selah)
Offer right
sacrifices, and put your trust in the Lord.
There are
many who say, “O that we might see some good!
Let the light of your face shine on us,
O Lord!”
You have put
gladness in my heart
more than when their grain and wine
abound.
I will both
lie down and sleep in peace; for you alone, O Lord,
make me lie down in safety.
n #537 On Our
Way Rejoicing
Benediction and Sending
The God of hope, who brought again from the dead
that great shepherd of the sheep, Jesus Christ,
fill us with all joy and peace in believing!
Amen.
Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!
Go in peace. Serve the Lord. Thanks
be to God!
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In this time
of pandemic, our futures are all unclear. We wonder when we’ll be able to
gather again, whether that is for worship, for a meal with the extended family
and with friends, or for some other sort of event. We wonder who we know who
might have tested positive for this virus and we wonder if our own health will
be touched by it. These are all realistic concerns.
·
This reading
from John’s first letter tells us of an ultimate future, one that is yet to
come and that involves our relationship with God in Jesus Christ. The details
are not clear of course and John acknowledges that by writing what we will be has not yet been
revealed.
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Personally,
this is one of the most hopeful passages of the New Testament with regard to my
relationship with God in Jesus. To me, it shows that God is not done with us
nor is the ultimate future a roll of the dice. John wrote when he is revealed, we will be like him,
for we will see him as he is. That is an amazing promise.
·
Paul tell us
in his first letter to the Corinthians “What
no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the human heart conceived, what God has
prepared for those who love him” (1 Cor 2:9) However we live in the
present and wondering or fantasizing about what is to come is not a very good
idea; it can even be a distraction.
·
Concentrating
on the life that is to come can be a way of hiding from the call and ministry
we have here and now. Eternity is God’s business and we have no say over it.
The present – in which, if you recall, we have been declared children of God –
is the life we live now, right here in the present time. It is here we live a
life of grace and it is here and now that grace motivates us to action.
·
The grace of
God is our life now as it will be our life when the time comes for Jesus Christ
to be revealed to us. The life of grace we live now could be (and might best
be) called the Gospel life, for it is now that we live out of the Gospel of
Jesus Christ.
·
If we truly
are God’s children here and now, it is both the beginning of the promise of the
Resurrection and the power of God within and among us on this earth. We do not
control the power of God but we reflect it. In the simplest terms, the life we
receive from Jesus in the resurrection is the life we live now. Yet there is
more to come.
·
I might be
repeating myself, but the message is one the bears repeating; 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.
·
We are to
live as God’s children now and show his love and power to the world in what we
do and say. It might not be easy, but we were not promised that it would be
easy. What we were promised is life that if filled with the grace of the living
God. We are called to reflect what God has done in our lives.
·
A Christian
teacher of a few centuries ago said something that has a bearing on our talk
today. Who exactly this quote can be credited to is disputed, but the message
carried in the quote cannot be denied. The quote is: Be careful how you live. You may be the only Bible some person ever
reads. As God’s children now, we may be the point at which another
person encounters God through our lives. THAT is our here and now. What we are
now – God’s children – we will remain; what we will be is yet to be seen
although John reminds us that we will be like Christ. Knowing him and his grace
changes us, here and now and in what is to come.
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.
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