April 21, 2019 (Easter Sunday)

April 21, 2019

Worship Resources for
the Center for Faith and Giving

Easter – Resurrection Day!

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Acts 10:34-43 

 Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24

I Corinthians 15:19-26 

 John 20:1-18 


Call to Worship 

Leader: Christ is risen!
All: Christ is risen indeed!
Women: God wins!
Men: Alleluia!
All: The Lord has done great things!
Leader: Jesus shows us “I am the resurrection!”
All: So we lift our voices to rejoice:  “ALLELUIA!”

Opening Prayer 

God of LIFE, what a morning!
You raised your Son, defeating death! The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone for our lives. Today we rejoice as we hear this GOOD NEWS and marvel at all it means.
As we celebrate, may we find new wonder as we sing and proclaim Christ’s resurrection. Make us more fully alive in this great “getting up” day. Amen.

Moment for Stewardship 

The greatest offering comes from God, whose love is unending.
The work of ministry to which this congregation is called
is not to build a shrine to a dead God,

but to spread this good news:
Jesus Christ is alive, inviting us to follow him!

Our offerings—financial and other—help us share that news so people longing to connect to a God who brings LIFE may come join in the Way of Jesus Christ.

Give, that we might share that great news with our words, our ministry, and our lives.

Prayer of Thanksgiving

Bless, O God, all we now return to you, that in our seeking and our serving,
your work through this congregation might illumine paths and make the Way clear for each one of us, and for all who seek you.

Guide us to use these gifts to show your presence to the world you love;
the world for which Jesus was resurrected.   Amen.

 Invitation to Communion 

Was it just last Thursday we called to mind that Upper Room where Jesus gathered with his disciples?  That meal which began as a festival meal but saw Judas leave to betray Jesus?

That meal, which launched the night of prayer, betrayal, conviction and on to crucifixion is now reversed!  This is the joyful feast of the people of God, rejoicing as if this is a wedding banquet table to which we are all invited.

This is a time of rejoicing with the bread of life and the cup of salvation.
This is a table of anticipation with food that never goes stale, never runs out, where we can never leave hungry.

Come! Take your fill of the joyous feast of our Risen Lord!