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Next Sunday, April 24, 2022 we will have a joint service at Bethesda United Presbyterian Church at 11:15 and will have the first of five programs based on Rev. Walt's Sabbatical Project called - Breaking Bread with our Ancestors: our connection to food, faith, family, and fellowship. Next Sunday we will concentrate on Food in Generosity and taste just a sampling of some foods from Spain and Portugal during our lunch together where we will prepare the food taught by Gaynor Grant, a cooking school instructor, and join one another "at table". The luncheon is by reservation only, so you will need to contact Pastor Walt if you wish to be included - revwaltp@gmail.com
Worship
Service for Easter - April 17, 2022
Prelude
Announcements:
Call to Worship
L: Why do you look for the living among the
dead? He is not here; the Lord has
risen!
P: He has risen indeed!
L: The Lord has risen!
P: He has risen indeed!
L: Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? Death has been swallowed up in victory!
P: Christ has risen indeed!
L: Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the
life. He who believes in me will live,
even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.”
P: Thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord
Jesus Christ.
L: The Lord has risen!
P: He has risen indeed! Alleluia!
Opening Hymn – Jesus Christ is Risen Today Hymn #123/360
Prayer of Confession
Gracious
God, our sins are too heavy to carry, too real to hide, and too deep to
undo. Forgive what our lips tremble to
name, what our hearts can no longer bear, and what has become for us a
consuming fire of judgment. Set us free
from a past that we cannot change; open to us a future in which we can be
changed; and grant us grace to grow more and more in your likeness and image;
through Jesus Christ, the light of the world. (Silent prayers are offered) AMEN.
Assurance of Pardon
L: Hear the Good News! The saying is sure and worthy of full
acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross,
that we might be dead to sin, and alive to all that is good. Friends, in the name of Jesus Christ, our
sins are forgiven.
P: Thanks be to God! Amen.
Gloria Patri
Affirmation of Faith/Apostles’
Creed
I believe in God the Father
Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth; And in Jesus Christ His only Son our Lord;
who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under
Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into hell; the
third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sitteth on
the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge
the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Ghost,
the holy catholic Church; the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins; the
resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. AMEN
Choir: Alleluia!
Pastoral Prayer and Lord’s
Prayer
Gracious God, how magnificent is the message we receive today! And our place of worship even feels a bit
different with the colors and shapes dancing with joy at the news of the
Resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Easter Lilies which represent the coming of
spring and resurrection. We, too, rise
in hope and celebration at this good news. The journey has been long, and it does not end
here, but rather we are given new “marching orders” to go forth in confidence
for You, O God, to witness to the good news of the resurrection and the power
of Your love in Jesus Christ. We are
called to be bearers of the light and hope to areas in which darkness still
stands. Lord, keep us open to the needs
and hearts of other people. Help us not
to be so quick to condemn as we are to love. Help us reach out in kindness and compassion
whenever and wherever we can for healing and hope. Remind us again of the many ways in which You
have and continue to bless our lives.
We pray today for those who do not feel that same blessing
right not for whatever reasons. We pray
for the sick….
We pray for the lonely….
We pray for those affected by policies and political strategies
that silence their voice…
We pray for the citizens of the world that are under constant
threat of violence, especially Lord, we continue to pray for the people in
Ukraine…
For we ask these things in the name of the Resurrected Christ and lift our heartfelt prayers to You in this moment of silence…
Hear all we have to give and offer with
grace and mercy, O God, as we gather our voices as one voice, 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. Forgive us our debts as we forgive our
debtors. And lead us not into
temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. AMEN.
Hymn – Christ
the Lord is Risen Today Hymn #113 in
Blue Hymnal
Scripture Reading(s):
First Scripture Reading – Isaiah
65:17-25
Second Scripture Reading – Luke 24:1-12
Sermon “The
Empty Tomb”
(based on the
story of the Empty Egg and all the gospel accounts of the Resurrection)
Jeremy was born with a twisted body
and a slow mind. At the age of 12 he was
still in the second grade, seemingly unable to learn.
His
teacher, Doris Miller, often became exasperated with him. He would squirm in his seat, drool, and make
grunting noises. At other times, he
spoke clearly and distinctly, as if a spot of light had penetrated the darkness
of his brain. Most of the time, however,
Jeremy just irritated his teacher.
One
day she called his parents and asked them to come in for a consultation.
As
the Forresters entered the empty classroom, Doris said to them, “Jeremy really
belongs in a special school. It isn’t
fair to him to be with younger children who don’t have learning problems. Why, there is a five year gap between his age
and that of the other students.”
Mrs.
Forrester cried softly into a tissue while her husband spoke.
“Miss
Miller,” he said, “there is no school of that kind nearby. It would be a terrible shock for Jeremy if we
had to take him out of this school. We
know he really likes it here.”
Doris
sat for a long time after they had left, staring at the snow outside the
window. Its coldness seemed to seep into
her soul. She wanted to sympathize with
the Forresters. After all, their only
child had a terminal illness. But it
wasn’t fair to keep him in her class.
She had 18 other youngsters to teach and Jeremy was a distraction.
Furthermore,
he would never learn to read and write.
Why waste any more time trying?
As
she pondered the situation, guilt washed over her. Here I am complaining when my problems are
nothing compared to that poor family, she thought. “Lord, please help me to be more patient with
Jeremy,” she prayed.
From
that day on, she tried hard to ignore Jeremy’s noises and his blank
stares. Then one day, he limped to her
desk, dragging his bad leg behind him.
“I
love you, Miss Miller,” he exclaimed, loud enough for the whole class to hear.
The
other students snickered and Doris’ face turned bright red. She stammered, “Wh-why that’s very nice,
Jeremy. N-now, p-please take your seat.”
Spring
came and the children talked excitedly about the coming of Easter.
Doris
told them the story of Jesus to emphasize the idea of new life springing forth.
Jeremy listened intently; his eyes never
left her face. He did not even make his
usual noises. Had he truly understood
what she had said about Jesus’ death and resurrection, she wondered? She gave each of the children a large plastic
egg. “Now,” she said to them, “I want
you to take this home and bring it back tomorrow with something inside that
reminds you of Spring and shows new life.
Do you understand?”
“Yes,
Miss Miller,” the children responded enthusiastically…all, except for
Jeremy. Did he understand the
assignment? Perhaps she should call his
parents and explain the project to them.
That
evening, Doris’ kitchen sink stopped up.
She called the landlord and waited an hour for him to come by and unclog
it. After that, she still had to shop
for groceries, iron a blouse and prepare a vocabulary test for the next
day. She completely forgot about calling
Jeremy’s parents.
The
next morning, 19 children came to school, laughing and talking as they placed
their eggs in the large wicker basket on Miss Miller’s desk.
After
they completed their math lesson, it was time to open the eggs.
In
the first egg, Doris found a flower. “Oh
yes, a flower is certainly a sign of new life,” she said. “When plants peek through the ground, we know
that Spring is here.”
A
small girl in the first row waved her arm.
“That’s my egg, Miss Miller,” she called out.
The
next egg contained a plastic butterfly, which looked very real. Doris held it up. “We all know that a caterpillar changes and
grows into a beautiful butterfly. Yes,
that’s new life, too.”
Little
Judy smiled proudly and said, “Miss Miller, that one is mine.”
Next,
Doris found a rock with moss on it. She
explained that moss, too, showed life.
Billy
spoke up from the back of the classroom, “My dad helped me,” he beamed.
Then
Doris opened the fourth egg. She
gasped. The egg was empty.
Surely
it must be Jeremy’s, she thought and of course, he did not understand her
instructions. If only she had not
forgotten to call his parents. Because
she did not want to embarrass him, she quietly set the egg aside and reached
for another.
Suddenly,
Jeremy spoke up “Miss Miller, aren’t you going to talk about my egg?”
Flustered,
Doris replied, “But Jeremy, your egg is empty.”
He
looked into her eyes and said softly, “Yes, because Jesus’ tomb was empty,
too.”
Time
stopped! When she could speak again,
Doris asked him, “Do you know why the tomb was empty?”
“Oh,
yes,” Jeremy said, “Jesus was killed and put in there. Then His Father in Heaven raised Him up.”
The
recess bell rang. While the children
excitedly ran out to the school yard, Doris cried. The cold inside her melted completely away.
Three
months later, Jeremy died. Those who
paid their respects at the funeral home were surprised to see 19 eggs on top of
his casket, all of them empty.
I
found this story about Jeremy and his empty egg a long time ago by Ida Mae
Kempel. We all know the story of Easter
and the empty tomb, about Christ’s resurrection and the new life God offers to
us. But have we fully grasped it? Even after all these years.
If you read the resurrection story
in each of the gospels; Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John – all four of them have a
slightly different version such as who went first to the tomb, who saw what, who
greeted them, and what they initially did about it. But all of the gospels agree on the major
points; the stone was rolled away and the tomb was empty. And that is exactly what Jeremy had understood
about the story of Jesus, too.
But,
let me be clear on this Resurrection Sunday, there is some ambiguity in the
emptiness of the tomb. That emptiness
can feel even heavier mixed with a ton of anxiety. Personally, I have felt that way on many a Friday
or even on a Saturday, and on the rare occasion when I’m extremely desperate on
a very early Sunday morning – when I am staring at a blank and empty page and nothing
on it for a Sunday morning sermon. Even
more so, when after my sister’s death last year, packing up her entire
apartment, and staring one last time before walking away at the emptiness. An empty place at the table, an empty side of
the bed where someone used to lie, an empty chair where someone used to
sit. Emptiness like that, or like that
of a tomb can feel like an endless void that will suck you into deep despair
and grief.
But
it can also, from the Resurrection story of Christ, lead to the miracle of
transformation which can happen to every one of us. Every
morning has the potential to be a resurrection morning! Every day holds the possibilities of new
beginnings. And sometimes, perhaps
often, it’s a mix of the two – the old dies out and the new is born. Sometimes these things happen gradually,
sometimes suddenly, and even sometimes catastrophically.
Yet
in all of it, the best news is that God has not left us. God’s Presence is always with us, closer than
our own breathing. For nothing can
separate us from the love of God nor the compassion of Christ – but sometimes
we have to go all the way to the empty tomb to remember it. May God be with you this day. For He is Risen. Yes, risen indeed.
AMEN.
Offertory – Because He Lives (Choir – Congregation joins on 3rd
Verse)
Doxology
Prayer of Dedication
Generous God, we offer these gifts as our testimony to Your glory and
as our commitment as Your disciples.
Bless our gifts to Your work in the world and to Your reign here on
earth. Through Your blessing of our
gifts, may death be destroyed and hope fill all of creation. MEN.
Closing Hymn – Crown Him With Many Crowns Hymn #151/45
Benediction –
Go forth
today in joy! Let your voices ring with
victory; for Christ is Risen! Happy
Easter. AMEN.
Postlude
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