Second Sunday of Easter Order of Service | 4-7-24
04-07-2024 10:00AM “Hybrid” Worship
+ WE ANNOUNCE THE VICTORY +
OPENING SONG: “Alleluia! Jesus Is Risen!” Brown #91
OPENING RITE FOR EASTER 2 AND THE EASTER PEACE:
L Alleluia, Christ is risen from the dead!
C Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia!
L Glory to God! Death, despair, and the devil don’t have the last word!
C We are EASTER PEOPLE, always rising!
L But let us confess this morning that there are times when we aren’t so strong in believing this Easter message.
C Gracious God, we all have our graves of depression, desolation, and despair.
Sometimes we have shut our doors to hope and locked our hearts to new life out of fear.
Sometimes we doubt that Christ really did win a victory over sin, death, and hell.
Sometimes we want more visible proof in our lives that everything will be alright.
Break into our lives and bring us back to life. Amen.
L Brothers and sisters, we have a message to hear and a story to tell! Christ comes through our barricades of doubt and fear and into our locked minds and shadowed hearts to resurrect our spirits and to breathe into us new life. In the name of (+) Jesus Christ, know that – by the gift of grace – you are loved, forgiven, and empowered. Because HE died, you are alive!
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:
O God, we were not there to see the empty tomb, to hear the angel’s words, to touch those holed hands and that pierced side, and to feel the warm breath of the One who was crucified. But we are here together – in person and online. We pray that you might breathe your Holy Spirit upon us, open our minds, unlock our hearts, and use our lips and our lives to share your love and to offer the new life of CHRIST ALIVE. Amen.
+ WE PROCLAIM GOD’S SAVING WORD +
FIRST READING: ACTS 4:32-35
[After Easter and Pentecost, the Christians in Jerusalem are a sharing community of grace and love, offering radical testimony in word and deed of Christ’s resurrection reality.]
4:32 Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common.
4:33 With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.
4:34 There was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold.
4:35 They laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.
SECOND READING: 1 JOHN 1:1 – 2:2
[The letter tells the truth about our sickness of sin and the salvation that has come from Christ’s self-sacrifice.]
1:1 We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life–
1:2 this life was revealed, and we have seen it and testify to it, and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us–
1:3 we declare to you what we have seen and heard so that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.
1:4 We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.
1:5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all.
1:6 If we say that we have fellowship with him while we are walking in darkness, we lie and do not do what is true;
1:7 but if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
1:9 If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1:10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
2:1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous;
2:2 and he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.
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: JOHN 20:19-31
[The risen Christ returns to his disheartened disciples and offers them his peace, power, and promises.]
20:19 When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”
20:20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
20:21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”
20:22 When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
20:23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
20:24 But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came.
20:25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”
20:26 A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”
20:27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.”
20:28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”
20:29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”
20:30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book.
20:31 But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.
SONG SELECTION: All Saints Choir
THE SERMON: Pastor Gwen or Pastor Neil
RESPONSE SONG: “Open Our Eyes, Lord” Brown #98
AN AFFIRMATION OF OUR FAITH:
We believe that God graciously revealed himself in Jesus Christ,
the Light of the world,
the Word of life made flesh
God’s own Son living among us,
and yet a human just like us.
We believe that Jesus Christ willingly
shared our life, its joys and sorrows;
taught us how to love God and each other;
allowed himself to be broken at the hands of humanity;
and met his death on a cross.
We believe, even beyond our understanding, that Jesus
was resurrected from the dead;
disarmed and conquered death;
cancelled out the power of sin;
and wiped the smile forever off of Satan’s face.
We believe that Jesus Christ is alive and well
in the Church that proclaims him;
in our lives that serve him;
in our world that needs him;
and everywhere that God’s love reaches, now and forever. Amen.
THE PRAYERS… We pray that all people might be transformed by the GOOD NEWS of Easter!
+ WE SHARE GOD’S NOURISHING MEAL +
OFFERING [The book of Acts tells us that the first Christians were of one heart and soul… held all their possessions in common… and distributed to each as any had need. Let us also give gladly and generously!]
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: Brown #249 Brown #220
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: “I Love to Tell the Story” Brown #228