The Easter season continues for 7 weeks and we’re on to week two. We’ll be worshipping online only this week but all the words that you need for worship are below. Or, you can download a copy to print here.

PRELUDE                     I Want Jesus To Walk With Me

GREETINGS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

CALL TO WORSHIP – Psalm 57

Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me,
   for in you my soul takes refuge;
in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge,
   until the destroying storms pass by.
I cry to God Most High,
   to God who fulfils his purpose for me.
He will send from heaven and save me,
   he will put to shame those who trample on me.
God will send forth his steadfast love and his faithfulness.
Be exalted, O God, above the heavens.
   Let your glory be over all the earth.
My heart is steadfast, O God,
   my heart is steadfast.
I will sing and make melody.
   Awake, my soul!
Awake, O harp and lyre!
   I will awake the dawn.
I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples;
   I will sing praises to you among the nations.
For your steadfast love is as high as the heavens;
   your faithfulness extends to the clouds.
Be exalted, O God, above the heavens.
   Let your glory be over all the earth.

*HYMN #607                                                                                 Beautiful One

PRAYER OF CONFESSION

Most High and holy God, there are days that we feel trampled upon, either by the circumstances we face or people who have crossed our paths. There are days we feel trapped; tangled as in a net or sinking deeper into a hole. There are days we feel threatened, as if surrounded by lions on the prowl. We need your mercy; the mercy of strength, the mercy of release, the mercy of protection. We know that there are days when we take it for granted, but we ask once again for the presence of your Holy Spirit so that you might be exalted in our lives. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

HYMN #207                                                       Come to Us, Beloved Stranger

please remain seated

ASSURANCE OF PARDON

We have been buried with Christ by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.

For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 

We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. 

For whoever has died is freed from sin. And, if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.

ANTHEM                                                    All the Earth Will Sing Your Praises

SCRIPTURE                                                                                     Luke 24:13-35

SERMON                                                

*HYMN #187                                                                          Thine Is the Glory

PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION & THE LORD’S PRAYER

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.

Forgive us our sins

as we forgive those who sin against us.

Lead us not into temptation

But deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever, Amen.

OFFERTORY                 I Want Jesus To Walk With Me                   (see #363)

*BENEDICTION

*SENDING SONG #931                                               We Will Walk With God

Unfortunately, we’ve had a member of the worship team test positive for Covid. To be cautious, we are going to worship online only this week. If you’re not feeling well, we encourage you to get tested. Thank you for your patience and understanding. We look forward to worshipping in person again soon.

We gather around the Lord’s table this Sunday to celebrate our communion with a risen savior! All the words that we’ll be using in worship are below, but you can also download them and print a copy here.

PRELUDE                           Christ the Lord Is Risen Today

GREETINGS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

CALL TO WORSHIP – I Peter 1

May grace and peace be yours in abundance.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!

By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!

and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!

In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith—being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!

Although you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, 

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!

for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!

*HYMN #182     Christ the Lord Is Risen Today

PRAYER OF CONFESSION

Most High and holy God, for us you sent your Son into the world. For us, he died. Through him you have delivered us from the grief of death. Because of him we can be saved from the pains of sin. We have found faith because Jesus died and you raised him from the grave. We can hold on to hope because Jesus died and you raised him from the dead. We continue to learn what it means to love because Jesus died and you raised him from the grave. Bless us all with your Holy Spirit so that we may do all these things more and more. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

ANTHEM            Long Live The King

please remain seated

ASSURANCE OF PARDON

Listen, I will tell you a mystery! We will not all die, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. When this perishable body puts on imperishability, and this mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will be fulfilled:
‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.’
‘Where, O death, is your victory?
   Where, O death, is your sting?’
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 

But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

*HYMN #610     Lord, I Lift Your Name On High

SCRIPTURE                        Luke 24:1-12

But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in, they did not find the body. While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them. The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, ‘Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.’ Then they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb, they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles. But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; then he went home, amazed at what had happened.

SERMON             “He Is Risen!”

*HYMN #770                    In Christ Alone

CELEBRATION OF THE LORD’S SUPPER

The Lord be with you.

AND ALSO WITH YOU.

Lift up your hearts.

WE LIFT THEM TO THE LORD.

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

IT IS RIGHT TO GIVE OUR THANKS AND PRAISE.

O Holy God… we lift our hearts in joyful praise:

HOLY, HOLY, HOLY LORD, GOD OF POWER AND MIGHT, HEAVEN AND EARTH ARE FULL OF YOUR GLORY. HOSANNA IN THE HIGHEST. BLESSED IS THE ONE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD, HOSANNA IN THE HIGHEST.

COMMUNION #207        Come to Us, Beloved Stranger

PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION & THE LORD’S PRAYER

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.

Forgive us our sins

as we forgive those who sin against us.

Lead us not into temptation

But deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever, Amen.

OFFERTORY        See, What a Morning     (see #181)

*BENEDICTION

*SENDING SONG #610   Lord, I Lift Your Name on High

Our Easter Sunrise service will be up on the hill at the foot of the empty cross tomorrow at 6:30am.

Each year we bring bright flowers from our yards and from around the island to decorate the cross. It’s a reminder that God can bring new life from the darkest of places and situations. Bring some for you and some to share if you can. Thank you!

Jesus Washes the Disciples’ Feet

Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, ‘Lord, are you going to wash my feet?’ Jesus answered, ‘You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.’ Peter said to him, ‘You will never wash my feet.’ Jesus answered, ‘Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.’ Simon Peter said to him, ‘Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!’ Jesus said to him, ‘One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you.’ For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, ‘Not all of you are clean.’

After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, ‘Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them. I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But it is to fulfil the scripture, “The one who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.” I tell you this now, before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe that I am he. Very truly, I tell you, whoever receives one whom I send receives me; and whoever receives me receives him who sent me.’

Jesus Foretells His Betrayal

After saying this Jesus was troubled in spirit, and declared, ‘Very truly, I tell you, one of you will betray me.’ The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he was speaking. One of his disciples—the one whom Jesus loved—was reclining next to him; Simon Peter therefore motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking. So while reclining next to Jesus, he asked him, ‘Lord, who is it?’ Jesus answered, ‘It is the one to whom I give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.’ So when he had dipped the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas son of Simon Iscariot. After he received the piece of bread, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, ‘Do quickly what you are going to do.’ Now no one at the table knew why he said this to him. Some thought that, because Judas had the common purse, Jesus was telling him, ‘Buy what we need for the festival’; or, that he should give something to the poor. So, after receiving the piece of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night.

The New Commandment

When he had gone out, Jesus said, ‘Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, “Where I am going, you cannot come.” I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.’

Jesus Foretells Peter’s Denial

Simon Peter said to him, ‘Lord, where are you going?’ Jesus answered, ‘Where I am going, you cannot follow me now; but you will follow afterwards.’ Peter said to him, ‘Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.’ Jesus answered, ‘Will you lay down your life for me? Very truly, I tell you, before the cock crows, you will have denied me three times.

The Plot to Kill Jesus

When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples, ‘You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.’

Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, and they conspired to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him. But they said, ‘Not during the festival, or there may be a riot among the people.’

The Anointing at Bethany

Now while Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very costly ointment, and she poured it on his head as he sat at the table. But when the disciples saw it, they were angry and said, ‘Why this waste? For this ointment could have been sold for a large sum, and the money given to the poor.’ But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, ‘Why do you trouble the woman? She has performed a good service for me. For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me. By pouring this ointment on my body she has prepared me for burial. Truly I tell you, wherever this good news is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her.’

Judas Agrees to Betray Jesus

Then one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, ‘What will you give me if I betray him to you?’ They paid him thirty pieces of silver. And from that moment he began to look for an opportunity to betray him.

Although he had performed so many signs in their presence, they did not believe in him. This was to fulfil the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah:
‘Lord, who has believed our message,
   and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?’
And so they could not believe, because Isaiah also said,
‘He has blinded their eyes
   and hardened their heart,
so that they might not look with their eyes,
   and understand with their heart and turn—
   and I would heal them.’
Isaiah said this because he saw his glory and spoke about him. Nevertheless many, even of the authorities, believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they did not confess it, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved human glory more than the glory that comes from God.

Summary of Jesus’ Teaching

Then Jesus cried aloud: ‘Whoever believes in me believes not in me but in him who sent me. And whoever sees me sees him who sent me. I have come as light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me should not remain in the darkness. I do not judge anyone who hears my words and does not keep them, for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. The one who rejects me and does not receive my word has a judge; on the last day the word that I have spoken will serve as judge, for I have not spoken on my own, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment about what to say and what to speak. And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I speak, therefore, I speak just as the Father has told me.’

Jesus Curses the Fig Tree

On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry. Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see whether perhaps he would find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. He said to it, ‘May no one ever eat fruit from you again.’ And his disciples heard it.

Jesus Cleanses the Temple

Then they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling and those who were buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold doves; and he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. He was teaching and saying, ‘Is it not written,
“My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations”?
   But you have made it a den of robbers.’
And when the chief priests and the scribes heard it, they kept looking for a way to kill him; for they were afraid of him, because the whole crowd was spellbound by his teaching. And when evening came, Jesus and his disciples went out of the city.

The Lesson from the Withered Fig Tree

In the morning as they passed by, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. Then Peter remembered and said to him, ‘Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.’ Jesus answered them, ‘Have faith in God. Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, “Be taken up and thrown into the sea”, and if you do not doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you. So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

‘Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone; so that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.’

Jesus’ Authority Is Questioned

Again they came to Jerusalem. As he was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to him and said, ‘By what authority are you doing these things? Who gave you this authority to do them?’