Worship Resources for April 25th

The Fourth Sunday of Easter

Gathering

Call to Worship

The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
He is risen, indeed! Alleluia!

On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples
a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines,
of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear.
And he will destroy on this mountain
the shroud that is cast over all peoples,
the sheet that is spread over all nations;
he will swallow up death forever.
Then the LORD God will wipe away the tears from all faces,
and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth,
for the LORD has spoken.
It will be said on that day,
Lo, this is our God;
we have waited for him, so that he might save us.
This is the LORD for whom we have waited;
let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.
-Isaiah 25:6-9

Song

Give thanks to God for all his goodness: “His love forever is the same.”
Give thanks to God, O holy nation: “His love forever is the same.”
Give thanks to God, O holy priesthood: “His love forever is the same.”
Give thanks to God, all those who fear him: “His love forever is the same.”

Brought low, I cried to God; he heard me. He answered me and set me free.
The LORD with me, no one can hurt me. He is my strength, my victory.
Put not your confidence in princes. When enemies against me came,
God’s strength provided my salvation: “His love forever is the same!”

The stone the builders had rejected is now the foremost cornerstone.
The LORD has done it, we have seen it— his ways confound what we had known.
This is the day of days: God made it! And we are glad, we praise his name:
“Save us and let us know your blessing. Your love forever is the same.”

Our voices join in glad confession: “God’s love forever is the same.”
Blest is the one in our procession who comes triumphant in God’s name.
Let branches mark the festal highway. Bring to the altar glad acclaim:
“You are my God, and I will praise you: Your love forever is the same!”

Greeting

Grace to you and peace
from him who is and who was and who is to come,
and from the seven spirits who are before his throne,
and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead,
and the ruler of the kings of the earth.
—Revelation 1:4-5

Prayer of Adoration

O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth.
We give thanks to you for all your goodness.
You have set your glory above the heavens.
When we look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
We give thanks to you for all your goodness.
You have made us a little lower than the heavenly beings
and crowned us with glory and honor.
You have given us dominion over the works of your hands,
and put all things under our feet.
We give thanks to you for all your goodness.
O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth.
You are worthy to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and praise! Amen.
-Psalm 8 & Revelation 5:12

Song

Confession & Assurance

Call to Confession Romans 6:1-3, 7, 11

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? For one who has died has been set free from sin. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Therefore, we approach the throne of grace with confidence:
to confess our sin, to put it to death,
to receive forgiveness, and to walk in newness of life.

Prayer of Confession

Almighty God,
in raising Jesus from the tomb
you have given us the sure sign of your power
to deliver us from sin and death
and to renew your whole creation.
We confess that we still fall into doubt and fear.
We continue to cling to selfish ways
and doubt your power to make all things new.
Forgive our lack of faith.
Have mercy on our weakness.
Raise us from the death of sin
that we may live with Christ in the joy of his resurrection,
now and forever. Amen.

Assurance of Pardon 1 Corinthians 15:20; Romans 8:38-39

But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead,
the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

So I am convinced that neither death nor life,
neither angels nor demons,
neither the present nor the future,
nor any powers,
neither height nor depth,
nor anything else in all creation,
will be able to separate us from the love of God
that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The Peace

The peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
And also with you.

Nicene Creed

Brothers and sisters in Christ, together with the church around the world and down through the ages, what do you believe?

We believe in one God,
the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only Son of God,
begotten from the Father before all ages, God from God,
Light from Light,
true God from true God, begotten, not made;
of the same essence as the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven;
he became incarnate by the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary,
and was made human.
He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered and was buried.
The third day he rose again, according to the Scriptures.
He ascended to heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again with glory
to judge the living and the dead.
His kingdom will never end.

And we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life.
He proceeds from the Father and the Son,
and with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified.
He spoke through the prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church.
We affirm one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look forward to the resurrection of the dead,
and to life in the world to come.
Amen.

Word

Prayer for Illumination

Blessed are you, God of all creation.
In the beginning, you spoke and all things came to be.
As time passed, you spoke by the prophets,
calling all things back to yourself.
But now, in the fullness of time,
you have spoken to us by your Son,
setting all things to rights.

Bless this time when we hear you speak.
Bless this time when we hear your story.
Bless this time when we hear your gospel.
As we listen, drown out all that distracts,
and attune our ears to you,
so that all we hear may lead us to you.
Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Scripture Reading

A reading from the book of 1 Corinthians 15:20-28

15 20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. 24 Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27 For he “has put everything under his feet.” Now when it says that “everything” has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. 28 When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all.

This is the word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Sermon

The Defeat of Death

Response

Song

Story of God

Prayers of the People

This morning for our prayers of the people, we lift before God all in our congregation who are in the “middle third” of life, and all the blessings and challenges that come during this season of life.

Gracious God, who stands outside of time, yet walks the sojourn of life with us, we lift before you all in our church family who find themselves halfway along life’s journey.

For all who are caught in long patterns of sin, and despair of ever being free.