SERVICE FOR THE LORD’S DAY
Easter Sunday,
April 20th, 2025 Ten Thirty in the morning
Minister: The Rev. Dr. Martha Robson
Liturgist: Bill Bottomley
Please silence all cell phones.
Bold face indicates congregational participation.
Please stand, in body or spirit
GATHERING
PRELUDE
Opening Sentences:
Leader (from the back): Christ is risen!
People: He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
PROCESSIONAL HYMN (Blue #123; GTG#232) Jesus Christ is Risen Today!
WORDS OF WELCOME
ANNOUNCEMENTS
MINUTE FOR MISSION: One Great Hour of Sharing
PROCLAMATION OF EASTER
Leader: Christ is risen!
People: He is risen indeed!
In Jesus Christ, God has given the light of life
to all the world.
and inflame us with a desire to shine forth
with the brightness of Christ’s rising,
until we feast at the banquet of eternal light.
Rejoice, heavenly powers!
Sing, choirs of angels!
Jesus Christ our King is risen!
May the Morning Star which never sets
find this flame still burning:
Christ, that Morning Star,
who came back from the dead,
and shed his peaceful light on all creation,
your Son, who lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen.
Rejoice, heavenly powers!
Sing, choirs of angels!
Jesus Christ our King is risen!
HYMN (Blue #105, GTG#249) Because You Live O Christ
THANKSGIVING FOR BAPTISM
The Lord be with you. And also with you.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
O Lord our God, we give you thanks
For the new life you raise up in us
Through the mystery of our baptism –
The sorrow of the heavy cross,
The surprise of the empty tomb,
The love that death could not destroy.
By the power of your Holy Spirit,
Poured out upon us in baptism,
Fill us with the joy of resurrection,
Of your new heaven and new earth;
Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
In penitence and faith, let us confess our sins in the silence of our hearts.
ASSURANCE OF PARDON
Hear the good news!
The grace bestowed on you in baptism
is sufficient because it is God’s grace. By God’s grace we are saved, and enabled to grow in the faith and to commit our lives in ways which please God.
Discipleship is both a gift and a commitment,
an offering and a responsibility.
It is marked by change, growth, and deepened commitment. It is lived out of a renewing sense of God’s calling to us, and of God’s claim upon us made in our baptism.
Let us remember our baptism and rejoice.
Anyone who is in Christ is a new creation.
The old life has gone; a new life has begun. Alleluia! Amen.
GLORIA PATRI [Blue#579[ [GTG581]
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen.
ANTHEM Ring the Easter Bells arr. Joseph Martin
THE WORD READ AND PROCLAIMED
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.
2ND SCRIPTURE 1 Corinthians 15:50-57
What I am saying, brothers and sisters, is this: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.
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. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised
imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable body must put on imperishability, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 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.
SERMON “Lighting the New Fire” Rev. Martha Robson
RESPONSE
AFFIRMATION OF FAITH Good News, See 1 Cor. 15:1-6; Mark 16:9(16:1-9); Matt. 16:16; Rev. 22:13; John 20:28
This is the good news which we have received,
in which we stand,
and by which we are saved,
if we hold it fast:
that Christ died for our sins
according to the scriptures,
that he was buried,
that he was raised on the third day,
and that he appeared
first to the women,
then to Peter, and to the Twelve,
and then to many faithful witnesses.
We believe that Jesus is the Christ,
the Son of the living God.
Jesus Christ is the first and the last,
the beginning and the end;
RECEIVING OF TITHES AND OFFERINGS
OFFERTORY
DOXOLOGY [GTG#609]
Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
Praise God, all creatures here below;
Praise God above, ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen
PRAYER OF DEDICATION
THE SACRAMENT OF THE HOLY COMMUNION
Invitation to the Lord’s Table Isaiah 25:6-9
THE GREAT PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING
Children: Why do we give thanks and praise before this table?
Congregation: We give thanks for God’s work of creation and salvation.
Presider: It is our greatest joy, creator God, to give you thanks in every time and place. You made the heavens and the earth and all that is in them—moon, and stars, mountains, rivers, and trees, animals and people. You even made us in your own image to love and serve you, and you show us your mercy every day. Therefore with all people and all creation, we shout your praise:
MANY: Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.
Children: Why do we eat bread at this table?
Presider: On the night before he died, Jesus took bread. After giving thanks, he broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying: Take, eat. This is my body, given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.
Children: Why do we drink from the cup at this table?
Presider: The same night, Jesus took the cup, saying: This cup is the new covenant sealed in my blood, shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this in remembrance of me.
Children: What do we remember at this table?
Presider: We remember God’s gracious love for us, Christ’s death and resurrection for us, and the Spirit’s tender care for us. And remembering, we offer ourselves and our gifts for the world. According to our Lord’s commandment:
Congregation:
We remember his death, we proclaim his resurrection, we await his coming in glory.
Children: What do we ask at this table?
Congregation: Through Christ, all glory and honor are yours, almighty God, with the Holy Spirit in the holy church, now and forever. Amen.
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; and 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.
Breaking the Bread, Sharing the Cup
Because there is one loaf,
we, many as we are, are one body;
for it is one loaf of which we all partake.
When we break the bread,
is it not a sharing in the body of Christ?
When we give thanks over the cup,
is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ?
The gifts of God for the people of God.
The Elders serve the People, the Pastor serves the Elders, an Elder serves the Pastor. Please hold the bread and cup as you receive them so that we may eat and drink together.
PARTING PRAYER
Gracious God, you have made us one with all your people in heaven and on earth. We have remembered your mighty acts in holy history. We have seen your power in sending light to conquer darkness, water to give us life, and the bread of heaven to nourish us in love. Send us out now with the good news of salvation
HYMN [GTG#248] Christ is Risen! Shout Hosanna!
1 Christ is risen! Shout Hosanna! Celebrate this day of days!
Christ is risen! Hush in wonder: all creation is amazed.
In the desert all-surrounding,
see, a spreading tree has grown.
Healing leaves of grace abounding
bring a taste of love unknown.
2 Christ is risen! Raise your spirits
from the caverns of despair.
Walk with gladness in the morning.
See what love can do and dare.
Drink the wine of resurrection, not a servant, but a friend.
Jesus is our strong companion. Joy and peace shall never end.
3 Christ is risen! Earth and heaven
nevermore shall be the same.
Break the bread of new creation
where the world is still in pain.
Tell its grim, demonic chorus: “Christ is risen! Get you gone!”
God the First and Last is with us. Sing Hosanna everyone!
BENEDICTION – from the back
Christ is risen! Do not be afraid.
Go, and tell this good news to all.
Benediction Response #295 Go to the World 1st verse
Go to the world! Go into all the earth.
Go preach the cross where Christ renews life’s worth,
baptizing as the sign of our rebirth.
Alleluia. Alleluia.
POSTLUDE
*Note: the hymn lyrics in the bulletin and on the projection screen are from the Glory To God Hymnal (© 2013 Westminster John Knox Press), which we are transitioning to. Words in the “Blue” Presbyterian Hymnal (© 1990) in your pew may differ slightly. The Scripture quotations contained herein are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. Used by Permission. All Rights Reserved.
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