Welcome to our service - 16 April 23
This service sheet can be used individually or with households.
We would encourage you to say (or even sing) hymns and songs out loud.
Prayers, other liturgy or readings can be said out loud or silently, corporately or individually.
Alleluia, alleluia.
Jesus said, ‘I am the resurrection and the life.
Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.’
Alleluia, alleluia.
SONG: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuMh_ept-Js
Crown Him with many crowns,
the Lamb upon His throne;
Hark! how the heav’nly anthem drowns
all music but its own:
awake my soul, and sing
of Him who died for thee,
and hail Him as thy chosen King
through all eternity.
2. Crown him the Son of God,
Before the worlds began,
And ye who tread where He hath trod,
crown him the Son of Man,
who e’vry grief hath known
that wrings the human breast,
and takes and bears him for His own,
that all in Him may rest.
3. Crown him the Lord of life,
Who triumphed o’er the grave,
And rose victorious in the strife,
For those He came to save:
His glories now we sing.
Who died and rose on high,
Who died eternal life to bring,
And lives that death may die.
4. Crown Him the Lord of years,
The Potentate of time,
Creator of the rolling spheres,
Ineffably sublime:
All hail Redeemer hail!
For Thou hast died for me;
Thy praise shall never,
never fail throughout eternity.
CONFESSION
In baptism we died with Christ, so that as Christ was raised from the dead, we might walk in newness of life. Let us receive new life in him as we confess our sins in penitence and faith.
Like Mary at the empty tomb,
we fail to grasp the wonder of your presence.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Like the disciples behind locked doors,
we are afraid to be seen as your followers.
Christ, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Like Thomas in the upper room,
we are slow to believe.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
ASOLUTION
May the God of love and power
forgive us and free us from our sins,
heal and strengthen us by his Spirit,
and raise us to new life in Christ our Lord. Amen.
COLLECT
Risen Christ,
for whom no door is locked, no entrance barred:
open the doors of our hearts,
that we may seek the good of others
and walk the joyful road of sacrifice and peace,
to the praise of God the Father. AMEN
SING: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16KYvfIc2bE
In Christ alone my hope is found.
He is my light, my strength, my song;
this Cornerstone, this solid ground,
firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
when fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My Comforter, my all in all,
here in the love of Christ I stand.
2. In Christ alone! - who took on flesh,
Fullness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness,
scorned by the ones He came to save:
till on that cross as Jesus died,
the wrath of God was satisfied -
for ev’ry sin on Him was laid;
here in the death of Christ I live.
3. There in the ground His body lay,
Light of the world by darkness slain:
then bursting forth in glorious Day
up from the grave He rose again!
And as He stands in victory
sin's curse has lost its grip on me,
for I am His and He is mine -
bought with the precious blood of Christ.
4. No guilt in life, no fear in death,
this is the power of Christ in me;
from life's first cry to final breath;
Jesus commands my destiny.
No power of hell, no scheme of man,
can ever pluck me from His hand;
till He returns or calls me home,
here in the pow’r of Christ I'll stand!
Words: Stuart Townend
Music: Keith Getty
© 2001 Kingsway's Thankyou Music.
READINGS
Acts 2.14a, 22 – 32
Then Peter stepped forward with the eleven other apostles and shouted to the crowd, “Listen carefully, all of you, fellow Jews and residents of Jerusalem! Make no mistake about this.
“People of Israel, listen! God publicly endorsed Jesus the Nazarene by doing powerful miracles, wonders, and signs through him, as you well know. But God knew what would happen, and his prearranged plan was carried out when Jesus was betrayed. With the help of lawless Gentiles, you nailed him to a cross and killed him. But God released him from the horrors of death and raised him back to life, for death could not keep him in its grip. King David said this about him:
‘I see that the LORD is always with me.
I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me.
No wonder my heart is glad,
and my tongue shouts his praises!
My body rests in hope.
For you will not leave my soul among the dead
or allow your Holy One to rot in the grave.
You have shown me the way of life,
and you will fill me with the joy of your presence.’
“Dear brothers, think about this! You can be sure that the patriarch David wasn’t referring to himself, for he died and was buried, and his tomb is still here among us. But he was a prophet, and he knew God had promised with an oath that one of David’s own descendants would sit on his throne. David was looking into the future and speaking of the Messiah’s resurrection. He was saying that God would not leave him among the dead or allow his body to rot in the grave.
“God raised Jesus from the dead, and we are all witnesses of this.
John 20. 19 - end
That Sunday evening the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them! “Peace be with you,” he said. As he spoke, he showed them the wounds in his hands and his side. They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord! Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
One of the twelve disciples, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), was not with the others when Jesus came. They told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he replied, “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side.”
Eight days later the disciples were together again, and this time Thomas was with them. The doors were locked; but suddenly, as before, Jesus was standing among them. “Peace be with you,” he said. Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!”
“My Lord and my God!” Thomas exclaimed.
Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.”
The disciples saw Jesus do many other miraculous signs in addition to the ones recorded in this book. But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name.
This is the word of the Lord
Thanks be to God.
Talk by Alistair Stevenson
It is over 12 years since 33 miners were trapped 2,300 feet underground when a section of the San Jose copper mine in Northern Chile collapsed - you may remember it being in the news. It was an extraordinary story.
For seventeen days all rescue attempts failed. There was no sign or sound of life. The miners had enough food for about three days and little water and the prospect of any of them surviving seemed impossible. They were trapped - locked in - with little chance of escape.
One of the men - Jose Henriquez - believed in God and believed in the impossible. He began to pray and soon most of the other 33 miners joined him. In that trapped place - God met them there. He was in their midst.
On the 22 August - having managed to extend their food to last them those 17 days - a drill broke through into the tunnel where they were trapped. They hammered the drill with iron rods. They sprayed paint on it. And then they sent a message - the message read this:
‘We’re fine. The 33 in the shelter’.
In total, all of the men survived a record 69 days underground before they were brought to the surface. More than a billion people watched the rescue live on television. There were amazing scenes of celebrated, joy and thankfulness.
The men who were lost - had been found.
Our passage this morning proceeds immediately from Jesus’ meeting with Mary that we were looking at last week on Easter Sunday. And now in our passage from John, we read that the disciples, verse 19, had locked the doors for fear of the Jewish leaders.
The disciples, remember had heard from Mary that she had seen the Lord - but they had not experienced the risen Jesus for themselves.
You may remember that last week we explored how the resurrection has no power for our lives unless we experience and know the resurrected Jesus for ourselves. This was the case for the disciples. They had heard of but not experienced the resurrection.
Their fear had caused them to lock the doors. They were feeling trapped. Not able to leave for fear of being be seen in public.
At one level, fear is healthy. ‘Fear’ is an emotion produced by a threat – whether that fear is real or not. It is a natural human emotion and sometimes needed for basic survival. It protects us from danger.
However, there is such a thing as unhealthy fear. I wonder whether the disciples, in that locked room were experience healthy or unhealthy fear. That’s difficult to answer – however, there fear is understandable. They were fearful of the Jewish leaders. Jesus’ body had gone from the tomb and no doubt the Jesus authorities to trying to find his followers to figure out whether they had stolen the body and what they had done with it.
The disciples had seen their leader – their rabbi – crucified on a cross. Could the same happen to them?
As the disciples gather in that locked room Jesus came into their midst - the resurrection Jesus came and stood among them. They encountered the resurrected Jesus for themselves. And what does Jesus speak into the midst of their fear? He speaks PEACE!
And like the miners who started to pray in the depth of the despair - God came into their midst and HOPE was kindled.
The truth is that Jesus transcends the locked places of our world. He transcends the locked places of our lives and hearts, possibly created by the fear we hold and carry. He comes and stands amongst us - in the midst of our fear and our hopelessness - we can encounter the risen Jesus.
I wonder how much of the decisions we make are influenced by fear? Fear of what others might think. Fear of losing something dear to us. Fear of not having enough. Fear of losing the positive opinion of others.
As I think about decisions made by politicians and leaders and often wonder how much they are influenced by fear. Fear of public opinion. Fear of the reaction of the press. Fear of losing their positive reputation. Fear of losing the next election.
Decision my out of fear are very rarely good decisions.
Do you know that is the most repeated commend in the Bible? It’s not about sex, or money, or power. It is, you can probably now guess, ‘Do not fear’.
But there is not limit to the fear that Jesus can overcome and step into. When fear creates lock doors in our lives – Jesus steps in. He speaks those most profound words: ‘peace be with you!’
You see the antidote for fear is the presence of the risen Jesus amongst us. And what does Jesus do, verse 22: ‘Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.’
Notice the link back to Genesis 2 where we read: “He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person.”
The Holy Spirit is the breath of new life that comes when we have new life in Jesus made possible through his resurrection.
Today – would you experience the breath of the Holy Spirit being breath out upon you. Would you feel his Spirit and may it give you new life.
But you might feel like Thomas this morning.
I always feel for Thomas - slightly unfairly he gets the title ‘doubting Thomas’. But he probably represents so many of us.
He says, “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side.”
While the disciples had seen and encountered the risen Jesus - he had not. He needed to encounter Jesus for himself - only then would be believe. Maybe that is how you feel - you have heard of Jesus from others, but only if you encounter Jesus yourself will you believe.
And so, a second time - the disciples are behind locked doors - and Jesus appears amongst them and declares peace upon them.
And then he turns to Thomas:
“Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!”
This is the invitation that Jesus makes to each one of us.
As those miners started to pray together, I wonder whether their fear and doubt started to turn to hope - and belief. As God made himself know amongst them - they stopped doubting and believed.
When the men we eventually rescued and had started to recover they started tell their stories. The told stories of healings - one story they shared was how the prayer one of the men who became ill and the next day he was healed described by the men as ‘doing better than all of us’.
And out of the 33 trapped men - 22 turned to Christ whilst waiting to be rescued. That is extraordinary.
Like Thomas - their fear and doubt turned to belief.
And like Thomas - their response was to declared that Jesus was:
‘My Lord and my God’.
Today - Jesus speaks those words over each one of us - stop doubting and believe. It is an invitation. As invites us to reach out and take hold of him.
Today we might be feeling scared and fearful. Worried for what the future might hold.
Would we encounter the risen Jesus in our midst. Would be encounter his peace and know him as our Lord and our God. Amen.
Let us affirm our faith in Jesus Christ the Son of God:
Though he was divine,
he did not cling to equality with God,
but made himself nothing.
Taking the form of a slave,
he was born in human likeness.
He humbled himself
and was obedient to death,
even the death of the cross.
Therefore God has raised him on high,
and given him the name above every name:
that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bow,
and every voice proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Amen.
PRAYERS - written by
LORD’S PRAYER
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.
Lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours
now and for ever.
SING: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ij8rU2G_aSc
Oh, to see the dawn
of the darkest day:
Christ on the road to Calvary.
Tried by sinful men, torn and beaten,
then nailed to a cross of wood.
This, the pow’r of the cross:
Christ became sin for us.
Took the blame,
bore the wrath -
we stand forgiven at the cross.
2. Oh, to see the pain
written on Your face,
bearing the awesome weight of sin.
Every bitter thought,
every evil deed
crowning Your bloodstained brow.
This, the pow’r of the cross:….
3. Now the daylight flees,
now the ground beneath
quakes as its Maker bows His head.
Curtain torn in two,
dead are raised to life;
‘Finished!’ the victory cry.
This, the pow’r of the cross:…..
4. Oh, to see my name
written in the wounds,
for through Your suffering I am free.
Death is crushed to death,
life is mine to live,
won through Your selfless love.
This, the power of the cross:
Son of God – slain for us.
What a love! What a cost!
We stand forgiven at the cross.
Keith Getty & Stuart Townend
©2005 Thankyou Music
OFFERTORY - Take a moment to consider how you are going to continue to give to the life of the church and support other aid agencies and mission organisations.
SAY:
Yours, Lord, is the greatness, the power,
the glory, the splendour, and the majesty;
for everything in heaven and on earth is yours.
All things come from you,
and of your own do we give you.
HYMN: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rflCCx3QRys
JESUS IS LORD! Creation’s voice proclaims it,
For by His power each tree and flower
Was planned and made.
Jesus is Lord! The universe declares it,
Sun, moon and stars in heaven
Cry, ‘Jesus is Lord!’
Jesus is Lord! Jesus is Lord!
Praise Him with hallelujahs
For Jesus is Lord!
Jesus is Lord! Yet from His throne eternal
In flesh He came to die in pain
On Calvary’s tree.
Jesus is Lord! From Him all life proceeding,
Yet gave His life a ransom
Thus setting us free.
Jesus is Lord...
Jesus is Lord! O’er sin the mighty conqueror,
From death He rose, and all His foes
Shall own His name.
Jesus is Lord! God sent His Holy Spirit
To show by works of power
That Jesus is Lord.
Jesus is Lord...
David J. Mansell.
Copyright © 1982 Authentic Publishing/Adm. by Kingswaysongs
BLESSING
God the Father, by whose love Christ was raised from the dead, open to us who believe the gates of everlasting life.
Amen.
God the Son, who in bursting from the grave has won a glorious victory, give us joy as we share the Easter faith.
Amen.
God the Holy Spirit, who filled the disciples with the life of the risen Lord, empower us and fill us with Christ’s peace.
Amen.
And the blessing of God almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be amongst us and remain with us always.
Amen.