Thursday 31 March 2016

Sunday Service Marsden Road Unitng Church 27 March 2016



Call to worship Based on Isaiah 65

I am making a new heaven and a new earth.

The events of the past will be completely forgotten, they will never come to mind. ​​

This is the same God who raised Jesus Christ,

whose Spirit is making all things new.

Christ is risen!

Christ is risen indeed! Hallelujah

Hymn TIS 380 Yours be the glory, risen conquering Son In this hymn we praised God for his glorious victory which continues day by day in our lives.

Prayers of Praise and Thanksgiving

Yours is the glory, O God, for raising Jesus from the dankness of death.

Risen Lord, we worship and adore you.

Alleluia! Christ is risen.

Prayer of Confession/Words of Assurance

A confession that we have not returned the goodness God has offered us. We have not protected the weak and suffering. Help us Father.

Friends believe the good news of the gospel!

Give thanks to God for he is good - for his love lasts forever!

Hymn TIS 242   Lord of the Dance He is the One who directs our lives and this creation in ways we cannot ever anticipate.

Bible Readings Lyn read to us: John 20:1-18 and ​​​Acts 10:34-43 both these readings refer to the Resurrection. John tells us of Mary's encounter with the risen Lord and in Acts we are told this message of victory over the forces of darkness is for everyone. We don't have to be Aristocracy or amazingly talented or to have achieved great success for this gracious God to reach out to us with His promise of eternal life, starting now.

Sermon  The empty tomb - sign of hope and transformation After considering Jan's message a second time, I decided that a section toward the end was worth recording in detail.

Jan asked us: What's does the resurrection of Jesus mean to you? How do you understand what Jesus has done for us? She added: As we have travelled along the path leading to the cross, we were aware that Jesus knew that his time had come, to give his life up, that his death would bring about a new beginning in our relationship with God.

If we don't take up the promises offered to us, this has been all for nothing. It was out of love for us that all these events took place but we have to offer our lives to God so that they can be transformed by Him. Those chains will just fall off. But this is not going to be forced upon us. Anyone reading this will have probably made a commitment, asking for God to transform their lives. But what happens if, each day, we take back part of our lives to control ourselves. God is not going to push his way in there either. Leave it all with him.

Hymn TIS 209 And can it be, that I should gain Voices swelled as we brought to mind all that we have gained through God's mercy and Grace.

Musical interlude while we thought upon the many issues that we need to hold up to God.

Prayers of Intercession- Val prayed for the leaders of this country and of our Church. She prayed for Jan as she leads us at Marsden Road. She turned our thoughts to those suffering in different parts of the world and the victims of recent violence.  Then she led us in prayer for the personal concerns of members of our congregation before we joined in The Lords Prayer

Hymn TIS 392 At the dawning of salvation We praised God for the confidence we can have in His triumphant love.

Blessing

Christ is alive! We will never be alone and this, our church, can be raised to a new day.

May the life of Christ be found among us, walking beside us as we go.

May God the Creator gift us with creativity and the courage to be true disciples of Jesus.

May the Holy Spirit enrich us to bring resurrection life born of love.

Song TIS 720 Halle, halle, hallelujah

We concluded with this song full of joy reflecting the eternal freedom we have been given and reminded of today.

We added just a little more to our celebrations through fellowship together at Morning Tea, where hot cross buns were served in the Hall.

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