Third Sunday of Easter Order of Service | 4-14-24
+ WE ANNOUNCE THE VICTORY +
OPENING SONG: “They Crucified My Savior” Tan #280
OPENING RITE FOR EASTER 3 AND THE EASTER PEACE:
L Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia! Jesus is risen from the dead!
C Death could not hold him!
L Be not afraid, trust that HE IS ALIVE, receive his peace!
C This is only the beginning!
L Be a witness, tell the story, declare his victory!
C This is only the beginning!
L Oh, may Jesus be your good news, your joy, and your salvation!
C CHRIST IS RISEN, CHRIST IS ALIVE!
Let weeping turn to laughing,
let sorrow turn to joy,
let death turn to life,
let uncertainty turn to assurance,
let hesitation turn to proclamation,
let there be hope when hope is gone!
L Hallelujah, glory to God, death, despair, and the devil don’t have the last word!
We are – only by God’s grace – EASTER people, always rising!
C Once we were no people.
But now we are God’s people, AMEN AND ALLELUIA!
SONG OF PRAISE: “Lord, I lift your name on high, Lord, I love to sing your praises.
I’m so glad you’re in my life, I’m so glad you came to save us.
You came from heaven to earth to show the way;
from the earth to the cross, my debt to pay;
from the cross to the grave, from the grave to the sky; Lord, I lift your name on high!”
THE PRAYER OF THE DAY (together):
O God, what will it take to convince us that Jesus, who suffered and died, is resurrected and victorious? Continue to stir our hearts with your love and to change our bewilderment into trusting faith. Then send us out to speak the Word of life and to share the Risen Christ with others in ordinary and bold ways. Lord, I want to be more loving in my heart. Amen.
+ WE PROCLAIM GOD’S SAVING WORD +
FIRST READING: ACTS 3:12-19
[You killed him, God raised him. The GOOD NEWS of God’s forgiveness and restoration.]
3:12 When 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?
3:13 The 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.
3:14 But you rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer given to you,
3:15 and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses.
3:16 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.
3:17 “And now, friends, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers.
3:18 In this way God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, that his Messiah would suffer.
3:19 Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out,
SECOND READING: 1 JOHN 3:1-7
[By Jesus we are God’s children. The GOOD NEWS of God’s present + future love.]
3:1 See 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.
3:2 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.
3:3 And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.
3:4 Everyone who commits sin is guilty of lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.
3:5 You know that he was revealed to take away sins, and in him there is no sin.
3:6 No one who abides in him sins; no one who sins has either seen him or known him.
3:7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Everyone who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.
GOSPEL VERSE:
“Oh, how He loves you and me. Oh, how He loves you and me.
He gave His life, what more can He give?
OH, HOW HE LOVES YOU; OH, HOW HE LOVES ME;
OH, HOW HE LOVES YOU AND ME!
Jesus to Calv’ry did go, His love for this world to show.
What He did there brought hope from despair…”
GOSPEL READING: LUKE 24:36b-48
[No longer dead! The GOOD NEWS of the Crucified Messiah.]
24:36b While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
24:37 They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost.
24:38 He said to them, “Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts?
24:39 Look 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.”
24:40 And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet.
24:41 While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?”
24:42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish,
24:43 and he took it and ate in their presence.
24:44 Then 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.”
24:45 Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures,
24:46 and he said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day,
24:47 and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
24:48 You are witnesses of these things.
SERMON: Pastor Neil or Pastor Gwen
SONG SELECTION: “Because He Lives” Tan #281
AN AFFIRMATION OF OUR FAITH (Apostles’ Creed):
L Living in the joy and the power of the Risen Lord, let us boldly confess our faith…
C I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He 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, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again 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.
THE PRAYERS… We pray that all people might be transformed by the GOOD NEWS of Easter!
+ WE SHARE GOD’S NOURISHING MEAL +
OFFERING
[Jesus opened the disciples’ minds to understand the scriptures, and he opened their hearts, their voices, and their hands to be witnesses of God’s amazing love. Let us continue that mission!]
Those in the Sanctuary can put their offering in the offering plate to share their gratitude and their generosity in response to Christ’s love.
Those who are farther away might: mail a check or money order to St. Peter’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, 2169 74th Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19138… contribute online through bit.ly/stpetersgiving and set up a one-time donation or a recurring weekly gift to selected categories… or text Give+ at 833-914-0896 and follow the instructions to register and record your contribution. God has blessed us to be a blessing!
SONG SELECTION: All Saints Choir
THE OFFERTORY SONG:
“Get all excited, go tell ev’rybody that Jesus Christ is King!
Get all excited, go tell ev’rybody that Jesus Christ is King!
Get all excited, go tell ev’rybody that Jesus Christ is King!
Jesus Christ is still the King of kings, the King of kings!”
OFFERING PRAYER led by the Communion Assistant:
O God, it is only by your amazing grace that we are Easter-alive today! Now give us the bold confidence and the passionate love to dry tears, to lift up broken hearts, and to testify with our gifts and our lives that there is NEW LIFE IN CHRIST. Amen.
THE PREFACE… We prepare to celebrate the LORD’S SUPPER with humble joy!
L The Lord be with you. C And also with you.
L Lift up your hearts! C We lift them up in love for God!
L Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. C It is right to give God our thanks and praise.
L The Lord delivers us from sin and death… C … and grants us salvation and eternal life!
L [continues the Preface]… to praise your name and to sing with Easter joy:
C [singing…] “Holy, holy, holy, holy,
holy, holy, Lord God Almighty!
and we lift our hearts before you as a token of our love,
holy, holy, holy, holy.
Precious Jesus, precious Jesus,
We’re so glad that you redeemed us, precious Jesus…
Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit,
come and fill our hearts anew, O Holy Spirit…”
THE EUCHARISTIC WORDS by the Celebrant, who recalls and re-enacts Jesus’ Holy Meal.
THE LORD’S PRAYER
COMMUNION AND BLESSINGS… All believers in Christ are welcome at the Lord’s Table! We will have “continuous distribution” with wafers and the option of wine or grape juice. TO GIVE US LIFE, HE WAS WILLING TO DIE!
COMMUNION SONGS: Tan #438 Tan #276
THE COMMUNION BLESSING by the Celebrant after all have communed.
POST-COMMUNION PRAYER by the Communion Assistant.
+ WE ARE SENT TO SHOW AND TELL +
THE BENEDICTION… Leave with a message upon your heart, on your lips, revealed through your daily living: I have seen the Lord!
CLOSING SONG: “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore You” Tan #120