Welcome
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Below you will find prayers, songs, readings, and a message to help you experience worship. You can light a candle to remind you of the presence of the Holy Spirit, or you can have a bowl of water in the vicinity to remind you of your baptism. Whether you are alone or with others, we hope that you can feel each other’s presence, and the presence of God, as we worship together, even though we are not in the same building.
Thanksgiving for Baptism
Alleluia! Christ is risen. United in the life we share in Christ, let us give thanks for the gift of baptism.
We thank you, risen Christ, for these waters where you make us new, leading us from death to life, from tears to joy. We bless you, risen Christ, that your Spirit comes to us in the grace-filled waters of baptism, like rains that nourish our earth, like streams that remind us of your presence, like cups of cool water shared with strangers. Breathe your peace on your church when we hide in fear. Clothe us with your mercy and forgiveness. Send us companions on our journey as we share your life. Make us one, risen Christ. Cleanse our hearts. Shower us with life. To you be given all praise, with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God, now and forever. Amen.
Opening Song
Alleluia! Jesus is Risen!
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Alleluia! Jesus is risen! Trumpets resounding in glorious light! Splendor, the Lamb, heaven forever! Oh, what a miracle God has in sight! Jesus is risen and we shall arise. Give God the glory! Alleluia!
Walking the way, Christ in the center telling the story to open our eyes; breaking our bread, giving us glory: Jesus our blessing, our constant surprise. Jesus is risen and we shall arise. Give God the glory! Alleluia!
Jesus the vine, we are the branches; life in the Spirit the fruit of the tree; heaven to earth, Christ to the people, gift of the future now flowing to me. Jesus is risen and we shall arise. Give God the glory! Alleluia!
Weeping, be gone; sorrow, be silent: death put asunder, and Easter is bright. Cherubim sing: O grave, be open! Clothe us in wonder, adorn us in light. Jesus is risen and we shall arise. Give God the glory! Alleluia!
City of God, Easter forever, golden Jerusalem, Jesus the Lamb, river of life, saints and archangels, sing with creation to God the I AM! Jesus is risen and we shall arise. Give God the glory! Alleluia!
Prayer of the Day
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Let us pray. Holy and righteous God, you are the author of life, and you adopt us to be your children. Fill us with your words of life, that we may live as witnesses to the resurrection of your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Reading
1 John 3:1-7
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1See 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. 2Beloved, 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. 3And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.
4Everyone who commits sin is guilty of lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. 5You know that he was revealed to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. 6No one who abides in him sins; no one who sins has either seen him or known him. 7Little children, let no one deceive you. Everyone who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.
Children’s Moment
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Gospel and Message
Luke 24:36b-48
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36bJesus himself stood among [the disciples] and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 37They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. 38He said to them, “Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39Look 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.” 40And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. 41While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” 42They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43and he took it and ate in their presence.
44Then 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.” 45Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, 46and he said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, 47and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48You are witnesses of these things.”
Hymn of the Day
Amazing Love
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My Lord, what love is this that pays so dearly; That I, the guilty one may go free. Amazing love, O what sacrifice, The Son of God, given for me; My debt He pays and my death He dies, That I might live, that I might live.
And so they watched Him die, despised, rejected; But O, the blood He shed flowed for me. Amazing love, O what sacrifice, The Son of God, given for me; My debt He pays and my death He dies, That I might live, that I might live.
And now this love of Christ shall flow like rivers; Come wash your guilt away, live again. Amazing love, O what sacrifice, The Son of God, given for me; My debt He pays and my death He dies, That I might live, that I might live.
Apostles’ Creed
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With the whole church, let us confess our faith.
I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, 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, he is seated at the right hand of the Father, and he will come 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.
Prayers
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Held together in one body by the Spirit of Christ, let us pray for the church and the world, and all who are in need.
Holy and righteous God, for the church, we pray: for our own congregation and for all churches around the globe. Lord, hear our prayer.
For peace we pray: for the end of war, violence, terrorism, and cruelty, for a respectful treatment of refugees and all who are incarcerated. Lord, hear our prayer.
For justice we pray: for the liberation of all who are oppressed, for an end to ethnic and economic prejudice, for an end to racism, for wisdom for judges, attorneys, and juries. Lord, hear our prayer.
For all who are sick and suffering, for those who have no access to the coronavirus vaccines, for the children afflicted with the virus variants, for everyone who fears receiving medical advice and assistance, for those who are lonely, those who live with chronic pain, and for those whose pain is known only to you. Lord, hear our prayer.
We remember before you all the witnesses of the resurrection, the saints who rest eternally in your care. Lord, hear our prayer.
Receive these prayers into your mercy for the sake of the holy and righteous one, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Redeemer. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
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Gathered into one by the Holy Spirit, let us pray as Jesus taught us.
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and forever. Amen.
Blessing
May the One who brought forth Jesus from the dead raise you to new life, fill you with hope, and turn your mourning into dancing. Almighty God, Creator, Sustainer and Redeemer, bless you now and forever. Amen.
Dismissal
Christ is risen! Go in peace. Share the good news. Alleluia! Thanks be to God. Alleluia!
Sending Hymn
Christ is Alive! Let Christians Sing
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Christ is alive! Let Christians sing. The cross stands empty to the sky. Let streets and homes with praises ring. Love, drowned in death, shall never die.
Christ is alive! No longer bound to distant years in Palestine, but saving, healing, here and now, and touching ev’ry place and time.
In ev’ry insult, rift, and war, where color, scorn, or wealth divide, Christ suffers still, yet loves the more, and lives, where even hope has died.
Women and men, in age and youth, can feel the Spirit, hear the call, and find the way, the life, the truth, revealed in Jesus, freed for all.
Christ is alive, and comes to bring good news to this and every age, till earth and sky and ocean ring with joy, with justice, love, and praise.
Worship Assistants
Music: Lori
Message: Pastor Kristin
From Sundays and Seasons.com. Copyright 2005 Augsburg Fortress. All rights reserved. Reprinted and streamed by permission under Augsburg Fortress Liturgies Annual License #SAS002432. New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Hymns reprinted and streamed with permission. CCLI#1162147.