Long Green Valley Church of the Brethren
Long Green & Kanes Rds., near Glen Arm, Md.
April 20, 2014
Worship 10:00 am          Sunday School 11:10am

Easter

  Beginning with Praise (9:50 am)                      “Who are these”                      270
  Announcements
  Prelude                                      “Christ arose”                                    Lowery

  Call to Worship                                                                      (back of bulletin)

*Hymn                           “Christ the Lord is risen today”                              280

*Unison Invocation                                                                  (back of bulletin)

  The Gospel Story, part 1            John 20:1-10

  Chorus                                          “Alleluia”                                         (insert)

  The Gospel Story, part 2            John 20:11-18

  Chorus                                          “Alleluia”                                         (insert)

  For Children                  “Catching the Rhythm”

  Hymn                                     “Christ has arisen”                                       267

  From the Prophets                   Jeremiah 31:1-6

  Sharing a joy, a concern, a word of testimony or praise
                                 (please be brief, and aware of God's listening presence)

  Chorus                                          “Alleluia”                                        (insert)

  Pastoral Prayer

  Returning our Tithes and Offerings

  Offertory                          “Meditation at the Cross”                             Lorenz
                              (Please sign the attendance pad and pass it on)

  From the Apostles                   Colossians 3:1-4

  Message                    “Expressing the Inexpressible”

*Hymn                         “Proclaim the tidings near and far”                           282

*Benediction

*Postlude                              “Proclaim the Tidings”                               Filmore

*Rise in body or in spirit

#'s are from Hymnal: A Worship Book

Worship leaders - see basic guidelines

Call to Worship

Leader:  The Lord promised to prepare a feast of the finest foods when sin, evil, and injustice are swallowed up.

All:        There will be no more room for sadness; tears will give way to laughter. God's people will rejoice!

Young Adult:  And God said, "A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you."

Child:     We will have love for one another. Youth: Everyone will live with dignity!

Leader:  So God sent Jesus to live among us, to teach us, to prepare us for choosing a different kind of life.

Elder:     But the religious and political leaders were scared and angry. The crowds became unreasonable: "Crucify him!"

All:       On the third day following his death, the women went to his tomb, and they found it empty.

Young Adult: Out of fear and great joy, they ran to tell the news!

Leader:  Still today, the Easter message continues to be shared in hundreds of nations around the world by millions of people, like you and me.

All:       Go and tell. Christ the Lord is risen. Alleluia!

by Jan Glass King, pastor
Woodbridge, VA Church of the Brethren
Church of the Brethren Living Word Bulletin
Anchor/Wallace, Sleepy Eye MN 56085, "The Living Word Series
     

Opening Prayer

             Today, O God, earth and heaven are joined, and your kingdom has come in the form of a risen Savior. Alleluia! May the mystery and majesty of Easter dwell deep within us, filling the world with renewed hope and light. Inspire us to live faithfully, and to share relentlessly the good news of the resurrected Christ, who lives and reigns forever. Amen.

by Jan Glass King, pastor
Woodbridge, VA Church of the Brethren
Church of the Brethren Living Word Bulletin
Anchor/Wallace, Sleepy Eye MN 56085, "The Living Word Series
     

The Gospel Story, part 1
John 20:1-10

1 - Early on the first day of the week,

2 - while it was still dark,

1 - (it was as yet still night)

2 - Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw

1 - (Do your eyes play tricks on you in the dark?)

2 - she saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb.

1 - So she ran

2 - (Wouldn’t you run? This was not what she expected to find!)

1 - she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple,

2 - the one whom Jesus loved,

1 - (the one John’s gospel does not name,)

2 - and Mary said to them,

1 - “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.”

2 - Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb.

1 - The two were running together,

2 - but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first.

1 - He

2 - (the other disciple)

1 - he bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in.

2 - Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb.

1 - He saw the linen wrappings lying there,

2 - (Even in that dark tomb he saw. Had the day dawned by now?)

1 - and he saw the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head.

2 - It was not lying with the linen wrappings but was rolled up in a place by itself.

1 - Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed;

2 - He believed.

1 - for as yet they did not understand the scripture,

2 - that Jesus must rise from the dead.

1 - Rise from the dead.

2 - Then the disciples returned to their homes.

adapted from The New Revised Standard Version,
copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the
National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
  

The Gospel Story, part 2
John 20:11-18

1 - But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb.

2 - (She must have followed them.)

1 - As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb;

2 - and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet.

1 - They said to her,

2 - “Woman, why are you weeping?”

1 - She said to them,

2 - “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.”

1 - When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus.

2 - Jesus said to her,

1 - “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?”

2 - Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him,

1 - “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.”

2 - Jesus said to her,

1 - “Mary!”

2 - She turned and said to him in Hebrew,

1 - “Rabbouni!”

2 - (which means Teacher).

1 - Jesus said to her,

2 - “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

2 - Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples,

1 - “I have seen the Lord”;

2 - and she told them that he had said these things to her.

adapted from The New Revised Standard Version,
copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the
National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
  

For Children
“Catching the Rhythm”

             When I was in Nigeria, visiting the Brethren there, I thoroughly enjoyed listening to their marching women’s choirs. They don’t use pianos or organs or guitars. They sing using drums. Now, I didn’t understand the words they sang, for they were singing in a language called “Hausa.” But, five years later, I can still hear the sound of their drums. It’s like the rhythm of those drums is in my very bones.
            Now, we just listened to the Easter story of Mary and Peter and the beloved disciple going to the empty tomb where Jesus was alive, risen from the dead. We don’t fully understand the words, but we feel the rhythm of it all deep within. It’s like the gospel is in our very bones.
            I brought some drums and other rhythm instruments with me, and I asked if our experienced drummer, Shawn, would help us catch the rhythm of an African Easter song that is in our hymnal. It doesn’t come from Nigeria, however. It’s from Tanzania, and was originally in a language called “Swahili.” With Shawn’s help, you will provide the rhythm to help the rest of us sing it (to the congregation: “it’s #267 in your hymnal”). Meghan will help me lead the singing, once you catch the rhythm. Let this gospel song be in your very bones.

(here is the rhythm with the melody)

Pastoral Prayer

             It was for all people that Christ Jesus died and rose from the grave. Let us pray for some of them. For this prayer, when you hear me say, “Living Christ,” follow my words with “comfort and redeem your people.”

Let’s practice that once:
                        Living Christ, comfort and redeem your people.

Let us pray.

             Most loving God, we bring to you our concern and compassion for those whose lives are subject to acute sorrow, evil or disease.
                        Living Christ, comfort and redeem your people.

             For those who over this Easter face an untimely, sudden death, we pray: Victims of war, terrorism, murder, and the carnage on our roads.
                        Living Christ, comfort and redeem your people.

             For those who are enduring a lingering death: from cancer or aids, kidney or heart disease, or because of inadequate hospital care and inadequate medicinal supplies.
                        Living Christ, comfort and redeem your people.

             For those who care for the dying and the bereaved: family and friends, nurses and doctors, pastors, counsellors, and funeral directors.
                        Living Christ, comfort and redeem your people.

             For those who are confronted by blatant evil, we pray: peacemakers and arbitrators, UN workers, peace keepers, aid agencies and prison chaplains.
                        Living Christ, comfort and redeem your people.

             For those who are must deal with more insidious evil, we pray: teachers and ministers, psychiatrists, censorship boards, mothers and magistrates.
                        Living Christ, comfort and redeem your people.

             For those who fight suffering, handicap and disease, we pray. hospitals and research facilities, ambulance staff, flying doctors, physiotherapists, community nurses and  kindly neighbours.
                        Living Christ, comfort and redeem your people.

             Great living Lord of love and joy be also with each of us gathered here for this Easter service. You know our needs better than we do. You have answers that do not occur to us. Bless us we pray, that we may not get the answers we want but the help that will lead to your greater glory. Through Jesus Christ our Saviour. Amen!

slightly adapted from Resources: Based on the Revised Common Lectionary.
Prayers, Collects and Litanies by Bruce Prewer, Uniting Church in Australia.
   

Returning our Tithes and Offerings

             New life abounds. Jesus has been raised from the dead. Through the resurrection, God offered the world the greatest gift imaginable. What can we give in return as an act of gratitude for everything God has done — and is doing — through Jesus? Let us dig deep within our hearts (and within our wallets) so that the collective ministry of this congregation may share the light of the resurrection with a world that relies on, and shudders at, graveyard shadows.

             While the ushers pass the plates, would you also sign and pass the attendance pad located by the center aisle of each pew? Thank you.

the first paragraph is from Bread for the Journey (a .pdf)
written by the Rev. Dr. John Tamilio III, PhD, 2011.
  

Benediction

We have gathered to celebrate
                       and to proclaim a mystery
                               which cannot fully be understood,
                                       and yet the rhythm of its truth
                                               is in our very bones.
            Christ is risen! He is risen indeed.
            And we have been raised with Him.

Now go out from this place and share this news.
      Don’t force it.
      Simply allow it to come from within.
      Those who know you will recognize its authenticity.
      God will help them to catch the rhythm, also,
                because our Lord is already out there ahead of you.

So, be blessed by your Creator,
           held by the Love of Christ, and
           propelled by the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen