Following two days of grief and sorrow, the women who follow Jesus—Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Susanna, Mary the mother of James, and others— go to the tomb early on the first day of the week. They find the tomb empty, and two mean in dazzling clothing (angels) tell them that Jesus is not here, he is risen. When they return to tell the men what they have seen and heard, their words are dismissed as rubbish. But Peter ran to the tomb, and he was amazed.
Join us throughout for the first two Sundays in †he Easter Season as we participate in the Sanctified Art Series “Wandering Heart: Figuring out faith with Peter.” Join us in our beautiful sanctuary, or right here online. Worship is live-streamed; videos are available here or on Youtube following the service.
Wandering Heart
Easter Sunday
And I Hope…
Psalm 118:1-2; 14-24; Luke 24:1-12
Union Presbyterian Church
March 31, 2024
Sharing the Light of Christ, Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow
Liturgist: Joan Kellam Preacher: Rev. Pat Raube
Prelude Colin DeLap, Chris Bartlette
“All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name,” Larry Shackley
©2012, Lorenz Publishing Company, All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.
License #A-728112. All rights reserved.
Introit Choir, Tower Ringers
“Hear the News This Easter Morn,” Joel Raney
©2008, Hope Publishing Company, All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.
License #A-728112. All rights reserved.
Listen, listen, hear the news this Easter morn;
Listen, listen, sound the trumpet, sound the horn.
Listen, listen, hear the news and hear it well,
Listen, listen, sound the trumpet, ring the bell!
Choirs are singing, news is spreading all around,
Bells are ringing; listen to the joyful sound!
Christ is risen!
Let all creation sing alleluia, alleluia,
Eternal Lord, Redeemer, King!
Listen, listen, hear the news this Easter morn;
Listen, listen, sound the trumpet, sound the horn.
Listen, listen, hear the news and hear it well,
Listen, listen, sound the trumpet, ring the bell!
Listen, listen, Jesus Christ is risen.
Alleluia, alleluia!
* Call to Worship (responsive) Joan Kellam
Yesterday we thought death had won.
Yesterday we thought all was lost.
Yesterday we thought Christ was gone.
But not today.
Today we know that love has won.
Today we know that hope is real.
Today we know that Christ is here.
We have a reason to hope.
We have a reason to sing!
Alleluia!
Alleluia!
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
Christ is risen indeed, Alleluia!
* Hymn #288 W & R
“Christ the Lord Is Risen Today”
(Public Domain)
Christ the Lord is risen today, Alleluia!
All creation, join to say Alleluia!
Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia!
Sing, ye heavens, and earth reply, Alleluia!
Love's redeeming work is done, Alleluia!
Fought the fight, the battle won, Alleluia!
Death in vain forbids him rise, Alleluia!
Christ has opened paradise. Alleluia!
Lives again our glorious King, Alleluia!
Where, O death, is now thy sting? Alleluia!
Once he died our souls to save, Alleluia!
Where thy victory, O grave? Alleluia!
Soar we now where Christ has led, Alleluia!
Following our exalted Head, Alleluia!
Made like him, like him we rise, Alleluia!
Ours the cross, the grave, the skies. Alleluia!
* Call to New Life
In the Gospel of Luke, the women come to the tomb, and to their surprise, instead of finding Jesus, they find angels. The angels tell the women, “Jesus is not here,” and when that answer is met with confusion the angels say, “Remember what he told you.” Remember. It’s one of the words Jesus used at his last supper, and it’s one of the first words we hear at the empty tomb. Remember.
This call to remember is why we need this prayer, and these words of forgiveness every single week. It’s not enough to hear of God’s grace once. We need to hear it over and over again, week after week. We need to reminded that God’s grace and mercy will never run out.
So friends, let us run to God like the women ran to the tomb.
Let us tell the truth of our lives so that once again we can be reminded that our God is a God of grace, mercy, and love. Let us pray so that we can remember.
Let us lift our hearts in our prayer for Wholeness and Peace.
* Prayer for Wholeness and Peace (responsive)
The stone is rolled away!
We assume it was a mistake.
The angels say, “He is not here!”
We assume their news is fake.
The women tell their story,
but we do not want to hear it.
Peter runs to the tomb,
but we do not understand.
Forgive us, God, for thinking an empty tomb
is nothing more than a prank.
Forgive us for seeing discarded burial cloths
and still holding tight to death.
Forgive us for pushing away reasons to hope
when you are alive and well in the world.
Teach us to see what you see.
Unravel the threads of our unbelief.
Amen.
* Words of Assurance
The angels tell the women, “Remember what Jesus told you.”
So, church, proclaim and remember this:
We are seen.
We are forgiven and made whole.
We are held in God’s peace and grace.
All of this is true.
Grace and mercy abound for us!
Remember this!
Amen!
* Sharing of the Peace
God opens up our minds, so that the mystery and joy of Easter might be in reach.
The God of the empty tomb is with us now,
with the hope and peace only Easter morning can bring.
May the peace of God be with you.
And also with you.
Let us share a sign of God’s peace with one another.
Scripture Psalm 118:14-24
A responsive reading from the Book of Psalms, selected verses from Psalm 118.
Give thanks to the Lord, for the Lord is good;
God’s mercy endures forever!
Let Israel now declare,
“God’s mercy endures forever!”
The Lord is my strength and my song,
and has become my salvation.
Shouts of rejoicing and salvation
echo in the tents of the righteous:
“The right hand of the Lord acts valiantly!”
The right hand of the Lord is exalted!
The right hand of the Lord acts valiantly!”
I shall not die, but live,
and declare the words of the Lord.
The Lord indeed punished me sorely,
but did not hand me over to death.
Open for me the gates of righteousness,
I will enter them and give thanks to the Lord.
This is the gate of the Lord;
here the righteous may enter.
I give thanks to you, for you have answered me
and you have become my salvation.
The stone that the builders rejected
has become the chief cornerstone.
By the Lord’s has this been done;
it is marvelous in our eyes.
This is the day that the Lord has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Time for Young Disciples Rev. Pat Raube
Music: “Hallelujah,” G. F. Handel
Anthem Choir
“Easter Festival,” Michael S. Bryson
©2018, Beckenhorst Press, All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.
License #A-728112. All rights reserved.
Christ the Lord is risen today!
All creation, join to say;
Raise your joys and triumphs high;
Sing, ye heavens, and earth, reply:
Christ is risen! Alleluia!
Sing, ye heavens, and earth, reply:
Christ is risen!
Lives again our glorious King.
Where, O death, is now thy sting?
Dying once He all doth save.
Where thy victory, O grave?
Christ the Lord is risen today!
All creation, join to say;
Raise your joys and triumphs high;
Sing, ye heavens, and earth, reply:
Love’s redeeming work is done.
Fought the fight, the battle won.
Death in vain forbids Him rise.
Christ has opened paradise.
Soar we now where Christ has led. Alleluia!
Following our exalted Head. Alleluia!
Made like Him, like Him we rise. Alleluia!
Ours the cross, the grave, the skies. Alleluia!
Christ the Lord is risen today!
All creation, join to say:
Christ is risen! He is risen! Alleluia!
Scripture Luke 24:1-12
A reading from the Gospel according to Luke, beginning at chapter 24, verse 1.
But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body. While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them. The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to the hands of sinners and be crucified and on the third day rise again.” Then they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles. But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; then he went home, amazed at what had happened.
Response Holy Wisdom, Holy Word:
Thanks be to God!
Sermon “And I Hope…”
Statement of Faith Wandering Heart: Easter: And I Hope
We may weep through the longest nights.
We may stare at the empty tomb with more questions than answers.
We may run our fingers over the burial cloths and still long for more.
But today, we are a people of hope.
We believe in new beginnings.
We believe that the God who created the world is stronger than death.
We believe that Jesus abides among us,
healing, teaching, and leaving fingerprints throughout this world.
We believe that a tomb could not hold him.
We believe that the sun does rise.
We believe that Peter was there
with questions, awe, and faith the size of a mustard seed.
We believe that this story is not over yet,
for God is among us.
Today we are a people of hope.
Hymn #311 W & R
“Now the Green Blade Rises,” J.M.C. Crum
©1928, Oxford University Press, All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.
License #A-728112. All rights reserved.
Now the green blade rises from the buried grain,
Wheat that in dark earth many days has lain;
Love lives again that with the dead has been;
Love is come again like wheat arising green.
In the grave they laid him, love by hatred slain,
Thinking that he would never wake again,
Laid in the earth like grain that sleeps unseen;
Love is come again like wheat arising green.
Forth he came at Easter, like the risen grain,
He that for three days in the grave had lain;
Raised from the dead, my living Lord is seen;
Love is come again like wheat arising green.
When our hearts are wintery, grieving, or in pain,
Your touch can call us back to life again,
Fields of our hearts that dead and bare have been;
Love is come again like wheat arising green.
Prayers of the People
The Lord’s Prayer
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.
Prayer Response
“Glory Be to God, Creator,” Richard K. Carlson
©1996, Hark! Publications, Used with permission
Glory be to God, Creator,
Glory be to God the Son,
Glory be to God the Spirit,
Known as Three, yet God the One.
Call for Offering
The Offering
Doxology
“Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow”
(Public Domain)
Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;
Praise him, all creatures here below;
Praise him above, ye heavenly host:
Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost.
Prayer of Dedication
Hymn #287 W & R
“Lift High the Cross,” Kitchin/Newbolt/Nicholson
©1974, Hope Publishing Company, All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.
License #A-728112. All rights reserved.
Lift high the cross, the love of Christ proclaim
Till all the world adore his sacred name.
Come, Christians, follow where our Savior trod,
Our King victorious, Christ, the Son of God.
Lift high the cross, the love of Christ proclaim
Till all the world adore his sacred name.
All newborn servants of the Crucified
Bear on their brow the seal of Christ who died.
Lift high the cross, the love of Christ proclaim
Till all the world adore his sacred name.
O Lord, once lifted on the glorious tree,
Your death has brought us life eternally.
Lift high the cross, the love of Christ proclaim
Till all the world adore his sacred name.
So shall our song of triumph ever be;
Praise to the Crucified for victory.
Lift high the cross, the love of Christ proclaim
Till all the world adore his sacred name.
Benediction
Beloved wanderer,
as you leave this place,
may you carry your curious heart on your sleeve.
May you look for God in every face.
May you find the courage to get out of the boat,
to run to the tomb,
and to speak of your faith.
And when the world falls apart,
may you hear God’s voice deep within,
saying, “Take heart, it is I, be not afraid.”
You are called.
You are blessed.
In both your ups and your downs,
you always belong to God.
Go now in peace.
Go trusting that good news.
Amen.
Postlude Colin DeLap, Chris Bartlette
“Rejoice! Jesus Reigns!” Larry Shackley
©2012, Lorenz Publishing Company, All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.
License #A-728112. All rights reserved.
Where an * is indicated, please rise in body and/or in spirit.
“W & R” ~ the red Worship and Rejoice hymnal.
“PH” ~ the blue Presbyterian Hymnal
“Words for Worship” by the Rev. Sarah Are Speed, some adapted |A Sanctified Art LLC | sanctifiedart./org.
Cover Image: “The Resurrection,” Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church, Grove City, Ohio. Photographer: Nheyob. Published under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en.