ORDER OF WORSHIP - EASTER SUNDAY, APRIL 20, 2025

ORDER OF WORSHIP

**Kindly stand if you are able

We begin this Easter morning in silence and darkness. The ushers will enter with the

First Fire of Easter. As the candles are lit, the cross is undraped and the Pastor

declares: CHRIST IS RISEN!

Congregation Responds: “JESUS CHRIST IS RISEN INDEED!”

PRELUDE Performed by Owen Wissner, Trumpet, Choral Ensemble, and Mary Lee Farris

“Christ the Lord is Risen Today!”

WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

CALL TO WORSHIP (Adapted from Psalm 113)

Leader: Praise, O servants of the Lord; praise the name of the Lord.

PEOPLE: Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time on and forevermore.

Leader: From the rising of the sun to its setting the name of the Lord is to be praised.

PEOPLE: The Lord is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens.

Leader: Who is like the Lord our God, who is seated on high,

PEOPLE: Who looks far down on the heavens and the earth?

Leader: He raises the poor from the dust, and lifts the needy from the ash heap,

PEOPLE: He gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children. Praise the Lord!

INVOCATION

Dear Lord, this is your doing: Christ has passed through the gates of death, but today you have brought him through the gates of life. Now, you open those gates even for us, who nailed him to a tree. Let the gates swing wide that all might enter with praise and thanksgiving, this day and forevermore. This we pray in Jesus’s name, Amen.

CALL TO CONFESSION

In the joy of this Easter Sunday, let us draw nearer to our Gracious God’s love and understanding in our lives and in those around us: Join with me in our prayer for a greater understanding.

PRAYER FOR UNDERSTANDING

Compassionate God of All, we realize our regrettable tendencies to live as though we are still under the covering and veil of death, rather than as those who share in your victory with Christ over death and all its powers. Forgive us, we pray. Make us once again witnesses to your miraculous garden gift of Easter even as we struggle to know you better. Fill us with eternal life that sprang forth on that wonderful morning as we pray in His name, Amen.

(a moment for silent personal confession)

ASSURANCE OF FORGIVENESS

Friends, even as he defeated death Jesus brings us a new hope for our lives. By the grace of God and the Love of Jesus, we are forgiven.

**GLORIA PATRI (Avery & Marsh, back cover of the Red Hymnal)

**PASSING OF THE PEACE

**AFFIRMATION OF FAITH – A New Creed

I believe in God the Father Almighty, Creator of earth and the eternal heavens and in Jesus Christ his only Son our Messiah, who was with the Lord since before creation began and was sent to walk and dwell among us to show the way to Heavenly Grace and Eternal Life. He suffered at the hands of his fellow Jews and under the decree of Pontius Pilate as he was crucified, died, and buried.

He arose at the moment of Resurrection in defeat of death to show the way to our Lord’s Forgiveness, the Communion of sharing our love for others, under the healing wings of the Holy Spirit and lighting a pathway to the Life Everlasting through that mystery that we know as faith. Amen.

**HYMN OF PRAISE “The Day of Resurrection” Red #247

PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION

Gracious God, as we turn to your Word for us, may the Spirit of God rest upon us. Help us to be steadfast in our hearing, in our speaking, in our believing, and in our living Amen

SCRIPTURE READINGS

OLD TESTAMENT READING Isaiah 25: 6-9 John Safran

NEW TESTAMENT READING: Acts 10: 34-43

GOSPEL READING: LUKE 24:1-12

SERMON MESSAGE AND AT THAT MOMENT … John Redman, CRE

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE AND THE CHURCH

And Lord we pray for those in our own hearts whose names you already know, for their own healing and comfort, in your name and that of our redeemer Jesus Christ, who taught to pray, saying:

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

OUR TITHES AND OFFERINGS:

We can hoard the gifts with which you bless us, God of generosity, or we can share them with others. May what we offer in these moments be the very blessing, the very hope, the very peace others need. This we pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

OFFERTORY “Thine is the Glory”

**DOXOLOGY Traditional

** PRAYER OF THANKS

Lord God, we thank you for these gifts. As we follow in faith, may we find ways to honor you by giving of our treasure, our time and our talents to glorify you and our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

HYMN OF PARTING “He Lives!” Red #248

BENEDICTION

POSTLUDE “The Heavens Declare the Glory of God”

Owen Wissner, Trumpet and Mary Lee Farris, Organ