Easter 2B
Apr. 8
This ministry of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in West Virginia is supported by your gifts to Disciples Mission Fund.
Support Our Work … read how you can help keep lifeinliturgy.org available for use without subscription charges.
Scripture (from the Revised Common Lectionary, with links provided by TextWeek.com – a source for thoughtful worship and preaching throughout the year):
Click on Scripture Lessons below for study links and resources:
Psalm 133 1 John 1:1 – 2:2 John 20:19-31
Suggested Hymns from Chalice Hymnal
Any of the Easter hymns are appropriate.
More hymn suggestions, as well as helpful references for use of the arts in worship, are available from the United Church of Christ website.
Hymn of the Day from Rev. William Flewelling (© 2018, William Flewelling; All rights reserved)
On John 20:19-31
Barred within the Upper Room
this first day’s evening settling:
there, appearing in the midst,
Jesus offers peace to all.
Hands are shown in wounded form,
side as sliced for all to know.
‘Peace be’ is the Savior’s stake,
presses holy peace to each.
There he sends them as he’s sent,
there his confirmation stamps.
All is ready at his call
for these gathered from the pall.
Barred again within the Room,
Thomas come as well to share,
there does Jesus show again
all his presence, all this wounds.
There articulating joy,
Jesus owns the opening hour.
Thomas, in his bravest find,
knows as all the rest this truth.
O my Lord, and O my God
cries he into the gloom.
Yes, indeed, we answer well
here to know the Savior dwells.
7.7.7.7.7.7. Suggested tune: Heathlands
Dealing with the Psalm of the Day:
Since Chalice Hymnal does not provide a complete Psalter, there will be occasions when suggestions may be made for alternate Psalm use (or hymn equivalent). A metrical version of the Psalter, for those Psalms not provided in Chalice Hymnal, is being prepared by Rev. David Chafin. Where practical, these may be offered here as well. You may also want to visit http://lectionarypsalms.org/
This week: Psalm 133 is on p. 764
Concerning the Following Items: Except where otherwise noted, items are created or adapted by the editor. If you are aware of source notations which are missing, please bring them to his attention. No copyright infringement is intended, but is sure to happen.
Call to Worship
L: Christ is risen.
P: Christ is risen, indeed.
L: God is alive..
P: New birth is given.
L: Hope is alive…
P: A new age is dawning.
L: Joy is alive…
P: Redemption is here.
L: Love is alive
P: Death cannot harm us.
L: We are alive…
P: New life is within us.
L: The church is alive…
P: God’s spirit is within us.
God of life, we worship you.
God of creation, we praise you.
God of revelation, we learn from you.
God of resurrection, we come to celebrate you.
OR
L: Come, let us praise the Lord, let us worship our risen Savior, for death has given away to life, despair has been overwhelmed by hope;
P: Grief has been replaced by joy, and darkness has been dispelled by light!
L: Alleluia! Christ is risen!
P: He is risen, indeed! Alleluia!
Invocation or Prayer of Approach
Gracious God, Power of Life, we praise you that you have not abandoned us to the living death of sin and despair, but that with Jesus Christ, you have lifted us up from the grave. Grant that we might ourselves know the power of the resurrection, now and in the world to come; for it is in the name of the risen Christ that we pray (even as he taught us saying, “Our Father…”)
OR
L: Come, let us praise the Lord, let us worship our risen Savior, for death has given away to life, despair has been overwhelmed by hope;
P: Grief has been replaced by joy, and darkness has been dispelled by light!
L: Alleluia! Christ is risen!
P: He is risen, indeed! Alleluia!
Pastoral Prayer – Prayers of the People – Intercessions
Lord of life, hear us as we lift to you our hopes and prayers for the church and the world. Let your grace empower us as people of faith to better serve you in the common places of our lives, and in the people we meet on our faith journeys. Open our eyes to the living Christ as we pray for and work with the poor, the broken-hearted, the sick and the bereaved. Hear our prayers for those who are close to our hearts. In your resurrecting power, lift them up and give them renewed strength and hope; and give to us all new faith by which to live our days with you. Then will our lives be living witness to your resurrection, made whole by your love and care. In Christ’s Spirit we pray.
Prayers from Common Worship*
Collect
Almighty Father,
you have given your only Son to die for our sins
and to rise again for our justification:
grant us so to put away the leaven of malice and wickedness
that we may always serve you
in pureness of living and truth;
through the merits of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Post Communion
Lord God our Father,
through our Saviour Jesus Christ
you have assured your children of eternal life
and in baptism have made us one with him:
deliver us from the death of sin
and raise us to new life in your love,
in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit,
by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Additional 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
.
Collect of the Day (from Book of Common Prayer, 1979**)
Almighty and everlasting God, who in the Paschal mystery
established the new covenant of reconciliation: Grant that all
who have been reborn into the fellowship of Christ’s Body
may show forth in their lives what they profess by their faith;
through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you
and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Collect of the Day from Rev. William Flewelling (© 2018, William Flewelling; All rights reserved)
John 20:19-31
Your peace, O God, is given unto us.
The vision of the risen Lord attests your joy
and tests the wonder in our midst.
O God, by your intention we approach
that by your opening of peace we recognize
our Lord, our God,
and find of life the satisfactory release.
Service of Table
While all of our congregations navigate the Sacred Board in a different way, it seems, there are common elements in most, which are provided here. We would love to hear if your congregation has variations to these elements which we might address in the future.
Offertory / Invitation to Give
God is at work in the world, renewing, remaking, resurrecting, bringing hope through the faith, the gifts, and the work of the church. We trust in God, and together we work for peace and justice through God’s Spirit as we offer our tithes and gifts. Let us rejoice in our God-given opportunity to share in God’s work.
Offertory Prayer
In these gifts, O God, we acclaim you as our Lord. May they be useful to you in bringing your kingdom into full flower through the ministries of your church, we pray in Christ’s name.
OR
We know, O God, that the good news of the resurrection is not to be kept a secret, hidden away as the private promise to a few. Rather, it is to be universal communication of hope and joy to all people; and to that worldwide proclamation we dedicate our gifts today.
Invitation to the Table (adapted from Rev. Teri Peterson at LiturgyLink)
Jesus met his disciples—women and men, young and old—
and invited them into his new life.
Jesus still meets his disciples—women and men, young and old—
and invites us into his new life.
That new life begins, as any life begins, with water and bread.
At this table, we receive the bread of new life.
At this table, we are called together from many individuals into one body.
At this table, we are strengthened to go answer Christ’s call.
This table is not mine, and it does not belong to this church.
This is not a [sectarian] table.
All of us, no matter who we are, or what we have done, or where we are on life’s journey, are as welcome here as Peter and Joanna and Mary and James were at the first table.
The risen Christ is the host, and he bids us come and celebrate the feast,
to know the power of resurrection, the joy of heaven, the glory of God’s grace.
Prayer of Thanksgiving (Prayers for Bread and Cup)
(The following may be offered as one prayer, or broken between two Elders, if that is the tradition to be followed)
Eternal One, who cares for each one of us as if you had no one else to care for, and who cares for all of us even as you care for each, we come here because you have invited us. We recognize at the deepest levels of our beings that it is at this table that we are affirmed and made whole. Send forth your Holy Spirit upon these gifts of bread and wine. In receiving them, enable us to know the presence of the living Christ who reveals himself yet again, the one who calls us to be family, the one in whose presence no other can be called a stranger. Enable us to celebrate the truth that we are members of one another, that we are family with all of your creation, and that we are all loved by you. We pray these things in the name of the Christ who has called us to you.
OR
Gracious God, who sees through the gloom of our fears and the shades of our doubts, we seek today to see Christ among us here, at the table where he gathers all who hunger and thirst for new life. Today we proclaim our faith anew in Jesus, and look to you for a deeper understanding of how we are to live as people of faith. Pour out your Spirit upon us as we break this bread and as we receive this cup, that in them we may know him afresh, and be revived to serve him not only with our lips, but with our lives. Through him, with him, and in him, in the power of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor be to you, O God, now and forever. Amen.Conclusion: Through him, with him, and in him, in the power of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor be to you, O God, now and forever. Amen.
If not previously offered: “And now with the confidence of your children, we offer the prayer our Savior taught us, ‘Our Father…’”
MORE…
Resources from the Jubilee Fund: This stewardship ministry serving the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) offers weekly emails for each Sunday’s service. Visit http://www.thejubileefund.com/ to learn more.
Rev. Tim Graves offers Liturgy Bits with valuable, culturally sensitive and creatively contemplative works, well worth your time.
You may also want to visit Worship Connection at MinistryMatters.com, which offers numerous helps, including electronic versions of print resources for worship and preaching planning.
Intercessions and other helpful planning materials geared to the Lectionary (using Roman Catholic version, but normally quite useful for all traditions) for preaching and worship are supplied for several weeks in advance at The Sunday Website of St. Louis University.
Common Worship Almanac and Lectionary for the year beginning Advent Sunday 2017. Compiled by Simon Kershaw August 2016 from the Common Worship Calendar and Lectionaries using Almanac Maker; compilation © Simon Kershaw 2017; Almanac Maker © Simon Kershaw 2010. The Revised Common Lectionary is copyright © the Consultation on Common Texts 1992. The Daily Eucharistic Lectionary is adapted from the Ordo Lectionum Missae of the Roman Catholic Church reproduced by permission of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy. Adaptations and additions to the RCL and the DEL, together with Second and Third Service lectionaries and the Weekday Lectionary for Morning and Evening Prayer are copyright © the Archbishops’ Council 1997-2010. http://almanac.oremus.org/lectionary
Book of Common Prayer (1979), Public domain.
NOTE: We hope you return to this posting often (and are subscribed to the feed by email, on Facebook or your favorite reader), since the content of each week’s posting may change several times before Sunday. We’d also like to include your content, even after the fact, since everything will roll around again in 3 years, and your contributions may find new life in the great cycle of the lectionary. Send your comments or content here.
Life in Liturgy 