Second Sunday of Easter Worship Service | 4-16-23
St. Peter’s Evangelical Lutheran Church
2ND SUNDAY OF EASTER
04-16-2023 10:00AM “Hybrid” Worship
+ WE ANNOUNCE THE EASTER VICTORY +
EASTER 2 OPENING RITE:
L This is the GOOD news – The grave is empty…
C AND CHRIST IS RISEN, HALLELUJAH!
L This is the GOOD news – The light shines in the darkness…
C AND THE DARKNESS CAN NEVER PUT IT OUT, HALLELUJAH!
L This is the GOOD news – Once we were no people…
C BUT NOW WE ARE GOD’S PEOPLE, HALLELUJAH!
L Glory to God! Death, despair, and the devil don’t have the last word!
C WE ARE EASTER PEOPLE, ALWAYS RISING! THIS IS THE GOOD NEWS!
OPENING SONG: “Alleluia! Jesus Is Risen!” Brown #91
CELEBRATION OF NEW LIFE IN CHRIST:
L Friends, we have a message to hear and a story to tell!
Let sorrow turn to joy and let shadows turn to light,
let fear turn to faith and let doubt turn to assurance,
let cowardice turn to courage and let hesitation turn to proclamation,
let death turn to life, and let there be hope when hope is gone!
I invite you to celebrate the presence, the peace, the power, and the promises of Jesus Christ by making the sign of the cross on your forehead, saying, and believing —
“Receive [+] the sign of the cross. Because HE died, YOU are alive!”
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:
Almighty and eternal God, in the midst of the tragedies, the temptations, and the tribulations of life I look to your crucified and risen Son Jesus Christ for my help, my hope, and my path in life. Amen.
+ WE PROCLAIM GOD’S SAVING WORD +
FIRST READING: ACTS 2:14a, 22-32 [Peter boldly preaches on Pentecost Day to the crowd outside, but his message is pure Easter – the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ.]
2:14a But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them,
2:22 “You that are Israelites, listen to what I have to say: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with deeds of power, wonders, and signs that God did through him among you, as you yourselves know-
2:23 this man, handed over to you according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of those outside the law.
2:24 But God raised him up, having freed him from death, because it was impossible for him to be held in its power.
2:25 For David says concerning him, ‘I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand so that I will not be shaken;
2:26 therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; moreover my flesh will live in hope.
2:27 For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One experience corruption.
2:28 You have made known to me the ways of life; you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’
2:29 “Fellow Israelites, I may say to you confidently of our ancestor David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.
2:30 Since he was a prophet, he knew that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would put one of his descendants on his throne.
2:31 Foreseeing this, David spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, saying, ‘He was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh experience corruption.’
2:32 This Jesus God raised up, and of that all of us are witnesses.
SONG SELECTION: Stephanie Fluellen + Renee Hines
SECOND READING: 1 PETER 1:3-9 [The letter celebrates the living hope that Christ’s resurrection gives to Christians who are experiencing difficult circumstances, hardships, and suffering because of their faith.]
1:3 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,
1:4 and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,
1:5 who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
1:6 In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials,
1:7 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.
1:8 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,
1:9 for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
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…”
THE HOLY GOSPEL: JOHN 20:19-31 [The Easter gift of Christ’s presence, peace, power, 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.
THE SERMON: Pastor Neil or Pastor Gwen
SONG SELECTION: All Saints Choir
AN AFFIRMATION OF OUR FAITH:
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 [Christ opens our hearts and our hands to believe and to share through our gifts and our daily lives!]
SONG SELECTION: All Saints Choir
THE OFFERTORY SONG:
“Get all excited, go tell ev’rybody that Jesus Christ is King! [sing this line 3 times]
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! We dedicate our gifts and our lives to drying tears and sharing good news of peace. Make us bold and eager witnesses to others of 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]… we praise your name and join their unending hymn:
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 Jesus Christ are welcome at the Lord’s Table!
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:
L Leave with a message upon your heart, on your lips, and revealed through your daily living: I have seen the Lord!
Go in the faith-filled power of the Risen Lord (+) to love God and to serve your neighbor in all that you do!
C (singing…) “A-MEN! A-MEN! A—MEN!”
CLOSING SONG: “I Love to Tell the Story” Brown #228