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 Lord’s 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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