Sunday April 3, 2016
Year C, Second Sunday of Easter
Second Sunday of Easter :: White ::
Acts 5:27-32 :: Psalm 150 :: Revelation 1:4-8 :: John 20:19-31
Call to Worship (Responsive)
Adapted from Psalm 150
L: Praise the LORD! Praise God with trumpet sound;
P: Praise God with the lute and harp!
L: Praise God with tambourine and dance;
P: Praise God with strings and pipe!
L: Praise God with clanging cymbals;
P: Praise God with loud clashing cymbals!
L: Let everything that has breath praise the LORD!
P: Praise the LORD!
Invocation:
We come again to worship you O God for the marvelous things you have done. As we enter your gates with praise, accept our songs. As we offer of up our prayers, shower us with your blessing. As we bring our gifts to your table, receive them in love. As we celebrate your feast of remembrance, enjoin us in grace. We come in love and adoration, and offer you ourselves. Receive us, we pray.
Stewardship Moment:
What would you give if money had no value? We tend to come to this time of offering talking about things like treasure, and tithing; but what would you bring before the Lord if there was no such thing as money? Would you bring vouchers for your trade or business? Maybe they would be worth 4 hours of your 40 hour work week. Would you bring products you have made? Perhaps you would bring food or drink. Maybe you would bring a promise of work or labor. What would you bring to celebrate and give thanks for all God has provided and given for you? What would it be worth?
When we bring our tithes and offerings, we are bringing all of those things. Perhaps I should ask the question the other way: Since we do have money, would you bring less than you would if we didn’t?
Offertory Prayer:
Almighty, wonderful, and generous God, we come before you offering our gifts. We pray you will use them to renew your church. We ask your blessing upon these tithes and offerings in hopes they will help transform the world. We bring them out of love for and in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Communion Meditation:
We are the ones Jesus was talking about when Jesus said to Thomas “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” We know the story of Thomas placing his finger in Jesus’ hands, and touching his side; and perhaps we have come to quell our skepticism through Thomas. And yet, here we are around this table: a body of believers who have not seen; and yet we believe. Truly we are blessed.
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Scripture Quotations from the New Revised Standard Version Online Scripture links a service of the Jean and Alexander Heard Divinity Library, of Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN