Worship - April 5, 2015

Worship Order for Sunday

Long Green Valley Church of the Brethren
Long Green & Kanes Rds., near Glen Arm, Md.
April 5, 2015
Worship 10:00 am Sunday School 11:10am

Easter

“For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures.” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4)

Beginning with Praise (9:50 am) “Every morning is Easter morning” (insert)
Announcements
Prelude

*Call to Worship

*Hymn “Come, ye faithful, raise the strain” 264

*Unison Invocation

The Easter Story according to John 20:1-18

Response “Who are these” 270

For Children “Hallelujah”

Hymn “Christ the Lord is risen today” 280

Responding with our Tithes and Offerings

Offertory (Please sign the attendance pad and pass it on)

Scripture Psalm 118:14-24

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

Hymn “In the bulb there is a flower” 614

Pastoral Prayer (mp3)

Scripture 1 Corinthians 15:1-11

Message “What makes an Easter Song?” (mp3)

*Hymn “Proclaim the tidings near and far” 282

*Benediction

*Postlude

*Rise in body or in spirit

#'s are from Hymnal: A Worship Book

Worship leaders - see basic guidelines

Call to Worship

Leader: Christ is arisen!

All: Lord, have mercy.

Leader: Christ is risen, indeed!

All: Alleluia!

Leader: Let us raise our joy in song. Alleluia!

by Nancy Faus-Mullen
Richmond, IN Church of the Brethren
© 2015 Brethren Press. www.brethrenpress.com
Church of the Brethren Living Word Bulletin
Anchor/Wallace, Sleepy Eye MN 56085,
"The Living Word" Series

Opening Prayer

We come rejoicing, O God, for we are filled with endless joy. Our sorrow has turned to gladness, our darkest night to the light of Jesus’ resurrection. Thanks be to God. Alleluia!

The Easter Story according to John 20:1-18

(in four voices:
      1 is narrator and Peter – stands at lectern,
     2 is Mary, stands at bottom of the steps in first and third segment, and sits on the steps in the second
      3 is the beloved disciple and an angel, stands on the organ side of the front
      4 is Jesus, comes and stands at the top of the steps in segment 3)

1 - Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all tell the Easter story, each from a different perspective. Today we follow John’s account of that resurrection morning, which comes to us in three segments. To help us enter into the story, we will sing a response after each portion is read. Please turn to #270 in your hymnal, a chorus we learned last year. In case we have forgotten the tune, let’s sing it again twice before we enter the gospel story.

(response) “Who are these” #270 *

1 - Now, the first time you sing those words, be filled with the question, “Who are these?” Fear filled surprise, even shock is the first reaction to the news of the empty tomb. The second time you sing, allow a sense of wonder touched with doubt to slip into your voice, for that was the second reaction. Third time through, almost shout the words as you sing, allowing the splendor of your “Alleluia” to ring out… So now, let us together tell the Easter story, with word and song.

(pause)

1 - Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them,

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

(response) “Who are these” #270 *

1 - Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. The two were running together,

3 - but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in.

1 - Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself.

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

1 - for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead.

3 - Then the disciples returned to their homes.

(response) “Who are these” #270 *

1 - But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; 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. They said to her,

3 - “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. Jesus said to her,

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

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

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

1 - Jesus said to her,

4 - “Mary!”

1 - She turned and said to him in Hebrew,

2 - “Rabbouni!”

1 - (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her,

4 - “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.’”

1 - Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples,

2 - “I have seen the Lord”;

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

(response) “Who are these” #270 *

* "Who are these who are believers now?
These are they who have been shouting 'Alleluia!'
They have seen the Savior
and have been filled with splendor.
Alleluia, Alleluia."
This song (of which this is the refrain) was written in Polish
© 1989, Jacek Gafuszka. English translation © 1991 The Hymnal Project.
You can listen to the tune sung enthusiactically by a Polish young adult choir here.

scripture text is 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
“Hallelujah”

Would you help me? We have decorated the front of our sanctuary with flowers, but I’d like to add something to the walls around us. If you haven’t noticed, this is a day when we get to sing and say “alleluia” a lot. In the old, old language of the Bible, this is actually 2 words: “Hallel” (which means “praise”) and “Yah” (which is a name for “God”). Put them together, “Hallel” and “Yah,” and you get “Hallelujah” or “Praise God.” Of course, there are many ways of saying “Praise God” in the many languages people speak around the world. I collected some of them, and I thought it would be fun to put them up on our walls. I don’t know how to pronounce them all, but somewhere today somebody in this world is singing or saying each one of these words that mean “Praise God.” So, if you are willing to help me, while the congregation sings “Christ the Lord is risen today” (#280) we will tape these words all over the place. Are you ready? Kay, would you take the lead?

הללויה - Αλληλούια - Hallel Yah - Praise God

Praise ye the Lord - Hallelujah - Alleluia - हॅलेलुह्या

ハレルヤ - Аллилуйя - อัลเลลูยา - Aleliuja

할렐루야 - هله‌لویا - هللويا - Алілуя - 哈利路亞

Responding with our Tithes and Offerings

read Isaiah 25:6-9, then:

Let us put our “Alleluia” in an offering of praise, in response to the salvation of God. Ushers?

Benediction

Go now as God’s chosen witnesses
to testify that Christ has been raised
and that we are raised with him.
Do not look for him among the dead,
but be glad and rejoice in his salvation.

And may God raise you from all that would entomb you;
May Christ Jesus call you by name and go ahead of you;
And may the Holy Spirit empower you for all that is good.

by Nathan Nettleton (©2003)
pastor, South Yarra Community Baptist Church
(near Melbourne, Australia)
from the Laughing Bird resources