Welcome

Opening Litany[1]:
We gather in the name of the risen Lord.

We gather as sisters and brothers of the resurrected one.

We gather to share our faith and to worship God.

We gather to proclaim the good news of Easter!
Christ is risen! Alleluia! 

God of the resurrection, we gather this morning
as a community of believers.

We come with joy to greet one another and to tell again and again the amazing news:
Christ is risen!  Love is victorious over death!
You have given us new life in the name of your Son!

May our praying, listening, and proclaiming be a testimony to the power of your love to make us a new creation as a community of faith.

Thanksgiving for Baptism:
Refreshed by the resurrection life we share in Christ, let us give thanks for the gift of baptism.

We thank you, risen Christ, for these waters where you make us new, leading us from death to life, from tears to joy.

We bless you, risen Christ, that your Spirit comes to us in the grace-filled waters of rebirth, like rains to our thirsting earth, like streams that revive our souls, like cups of cool water shared with strangers.

Breathe your peace on your church when we hide in fear. Clothe us with your mercy and forgiveness. Send us companions on our journey as we share your life.

Make us one, risen Christ. Cleanse our hearts. Shower us with life.

To you be given all praise with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God, now and forever.
Amen.

Prayer of the Day:
Let us pray.
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 witnesses 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.

First Reading: Acts 3:12-19
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. ¹⁶ And 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.
Thanks be to God.

Gospel: Luke 24:36-48

This is the Holy Gospel according to Luke, the 24th chapter.
Glory to you, O Lord.

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.

This is the Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, O Christ.

Children’s Sermon

Sermon

Hymn of the Day

Apostle’s Creed:
Let us confess our faith using the Apostle’s Creed:
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
            creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord,
            who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
            born of the virgin Mary,
            suffered under Pontius Pilate,
            was crucified, died, and was buried;
            he descended to the dead.*
On the third day he rose again;
            he ascended into heaven,
            he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
            and he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.

Prayers of Intercession:
Alive in the risen Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit, we bring our prayers before God who promises to hear us and answer in steadfast love.

Prayers continue with each petition ending:

. . . Hear us, O God.
Your mercy is great.

In the hope of new life in Christ, we raise our prayers to you, trusting in your never-ending goodness and mercy; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Sharing of the Peace

Announcements

Offering
https://tithe.ly/give_new/www/#/tithely/give-one-time/468062

Sending Litany[2] & Lord’s Prayer:
When we are blinded by anger, you pour out your love for all to see; when we wonder what tomorrow will bring, you call us to trust in you; when sadness fills our lives, you plant gladness in our hearts. God of Easter: touch us with your grace.

You show us your hands, so we may reach out to mend the broken; you show us your feet, so we may walk with those the world passes by; you show us your face, so we may know what our sisters and brothers look like. Risen Christ: touch us with your compassion.

You open our eyes, so we may see God’s love; you open our minds, so we may welcome God’s Word; you open our lips, so we may be God’s witnesses. Spirit of Hope: touch us with your peace.

God in Community, Holy in One, open us to your presence, as we pray as Jesus has taught us, saying:
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.

Benediction:
May our glorious God grant you a spirit of wisdom to know and to love the risen Lord Jesus.

The God of life, Father, + Son, and Holy Spirit, bless you now and forever.
Amen.

Dismissal:
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Go in peace. Share the good news. Alleluia!
Thanks be to God! Alleluia!

 

Prayer Requests:
Ken Noll Jr., Martha Ketchem, Brooke Houpt, Mary Baker, family and friends of Helen Barsh, Jim, Cole Felker, Marilyn Gresh, family and friends of Mary Kay Harper, Annette Baker, Larry Erb, family and friends of Judy Connolly, family and friends of Clifford Fry, Glen Van Dyke, Kay Hilkert, Darv Krouse, Brenda Krouse, family and friends of Pete Shearer, Tom Burns, Megan Brodsky, family and friends of Frank Danowsky, Bob Keifer, Peg Swinehart.

 

Portions reprinted from Evangelical Lutheran Worship, copyright 2006.  Used by permission of Augsburg Fortress, license #SBL09796L.  Music reprinted from the ELW, by permission of OneLicense, license #A712349.  Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America.   Used by permission.

[1] Adapted from The Abingdon Worship Annual 2009, © 2008 Abingdon Press.  Posted on the Worship Elements page of the Ministry Matters website.

[2] Written by Thom Shuman, and posted on his excellent Lectionary Liturgies blog.