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Wherever and whenever we gather, we are the body of Christ… WE’RE GLAD YOU ARE HERE! Settle in and engage the spirit. Here is some helpful information-
Help us support our ministry - Give here Easter Sunday April 20th, 2025 Seeing God’s Presence Watered Rev. Sarah Are Every plant needs three things to grow: Soil, light, and water. I wish I could be so simple. I need a space to belong, and space to plant roots. I need stars to wonder at and sunsets to make me feel small. I need hands to hold, and another heartbeat to fall in rhythm with. I need music like I need air, and air that smells like trees. I need food that tastes like home, and a home that feels like Sabbath. I need a place at the table, and a table to remind me of my place in this world. So water me with the stories of Jesus. Cover me in hope, which looks like light, And bury me in the promise that love is stronger than death. For with those three things, I am sure to bloom. Maybe it is just that simple. Building Community… WELCOME PRELUDE & PASSING OF THE PEACE CALL TO WORSHIP ONE: They went to the cross, MANY: And watched you breathe your last. ONE: So they ran to the upper room, And locked the door in fear. ONE: Then, on this day so many years ago, some women went to the tomb, MANY: But you were not there. ONE: You were not there. MANY: You were already set loose in the world—spreading a holy type of love. ONE: So find us here. MANY: Spread love here. ONE: Family of God, Christ is risen! MANY: Alleluia! HYMN “Christ the Lord is Risen Today” #233 PRAYER OF TRANSFORMATION ONE: Easter is a story of transformation— Death to life; despair to hope; betrayal to forgiveness. We need that type of transformation—every day and all the time. So join me in the prayer of confession, for in our truth-telling with the divine, we are transformed. Let us pray— MANY: God of new life, We need Easter like the desert needs rain. For you give us unending love, and we turn it into a commodity. You give us mystery, and we force it into certainty. You give us community, and we set rules about who is in and who is out. You give us grace, but we hold grudges against our neighbors. You give us light and we ration it out to those we believe deserve it. God of grace, Forgive us for our shortcomings. Dwell among us like rain in the desert—holy and unexpected—until new life grows here. Gratefully we pray, Amen. WORDS OF ASSURANCE Jesus Christ experienced almost every type of hardship humans can inflict on one another—isolation, abandonment, physical and emotional abuse, shame, betrayal. You name it, he faced it. And still—and still—He came back for us. Friends—No matter what you have done or left undone, you are known and loved by a God of unimaginable grace. Like rain in the desert, you are washed clean. So on this Easter day, hear and believe the good news of the gospel: You are forgiven. Thanks be to God. HYMN “We Are Not Our Own” v. 1&2 #564 Message for Younger Disciples (Kids, families, those young at heart, are encouraged to come forward to the steps to spend a few minutes together.) HYMN “We Are Not Our Own” v. 6 #564 Opening to the Spirit’s Call… PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE God of love, There are so many words in a day—To-do lists and stress, self-talk and notifications. There are so many words, and yet the only words we really need are yours. So today we pray—drown out every voice but your own. Drown out every voice but your own, and speak to us through this text, for we are craving good news. We are desperate for your risen love. We grieve with the family of...Brian Smith-(uncle of Robyn Rhoads) You are like the sun—for just as the sun never stops rotating around the earth, you never stop running toward us. And God, you are like the wind—for we can’t see you, but we can feel you. We feel you when we come together, when joy escapes our bones in the form of laughter, and when we hold a newborn. And God, you are like the feeling of coming home—for no matter how long we are away, or how much time has passed, the doormat still says, “welcome,” and there is still a place for us at the table. So today we join hearts in prayer, hoping to feel you as strongly as we feel nostalgia and fear, or love and loss, which permeate our bones. We hope to feel you as strongly as the wind and the sun, for faith and doubt have always been intertwined for us. Wonder stands at the heels of praise and joy has the memory of suffering. MANY: So God of the grave, we pray— Be among us in our darkest moments. We seek health and healing with… Katie Hoover-torn ACL knee-surgery 4/25,Gary Cole, Jim Anderson-Greenover, Becky Quail-recovery after surgery, Jenny Twyman-health issues, Jeanne-surgery, Brad and friend recovering from surgery, Evan-medical issues, Dan Brouse– diagnosed with atrial fibrillation, Yvonne, Shirley Welch-shingles, Denice-multiple medical problems-especially heart problems, Kelly, Nancy Bingaman, John Hoover– eye surgery scheduled for 4/29, Sue, Bruce C, also for wife Cindy, David Lever, Christine We continue to pray with… Mary Lohr, Bob Brandis, Carol Ann Simpson, Jan Mindish, Becki, Pam, Deb, Debbie Husser, Hunter Leisey, John, Brad & Amy Epps, Tammy Smith, Tom Ordille, Kelly K, Sue Mannello, Bryce and family, Peggy Anderson-finished final radiation treatment-receiving physical therapy to regain strength, Daulton Snowden We pray for… the Hesch Family, families of the deported, all those who serve in the armed forces, compassion and advocates for love, families who have lost their homes. Be among us in our miscarriages and divorce, in our stress and anxiety, in our fear and doubt. Be among us in our loneliness and grief, in our isolation and our regret. Be among us in our addictions and depression, in bullying and self-doubt. Be among us when Easter feels far away and the grave feels too close. MANY: God of life after death— Enable us to be Easter people. LORD'S PRAYER Many: Our Creator/Mother/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. ANNOUNCING MISSION & MINISTRY CENTERING ON OUR GENEROSITY MUSICAL REFLECTION ON OUR GIFTS SUNG RESPONSE (Tune #780) Praise God from whom all blessings flow Praise God all creatures here below Praise God for all that love has done Creator Christ and Spirit, One. PRAYER OF DEDICATION Many: God of Hallelujahs— You have given us purpose and hope, forgiveness and grace, a place to belong and a job to do. You have given us all that we could need and more, so we wonder—how do you repay someone for that? How do you repay someone who died for you? The obvious answer is that we could try living for you. So today we lift up this offering as a gesture of our love for you. We pray that you can use it to bring about your promised day where all are known, all are loved, and all are safe—where swords are beaten into plowshares and justice runs like a river. In your name we live, and in your name we pray. Amen. Centering on God’s Table… HYMN “Now the Green Blade Rises” #238 INVITATION TO THE TABLE We have a way of saying, “I love you,” on autopilot. Chances are, some of you have accidentally told your doctor or a colleague that you love them as you hang up the phone—a mortifying mistake that can happen because these words feel like muscle memory. The night before Jesus was arrested, he gathered with his friends for a meal. This was not their first meal together. These disciples had eaten with tax collectors and on mountainsides. They’d had fish and loaves in mixed company and meals on the road. For them, this was another night with another meal—and it might have felt like muscle memory. But on this night, Jesus took bread and fed his friends. And in doing so, he said to them, you matter to me. You belong here. No matter what you do or leave undone, this seat is saved for you. Friends, that same promise exists for us today. No matter where you are in your journey of love and faith, you are welcome here. For Jesus Christ who died and yet defies death to rise today shows us that you matter. You belong here. There is a seat saved for you. So come to this Table with your fears and your hopes and your heart on your sleeve; for this is God’s Table, and God’s love is never on autopilot. It is real, and it is strong, and it is for you. All of all of you is welcome here. God of life after death— Enable us to be Easter people. So rise again in our suffering, and rise again in our joy. Hear our songs of praise today and know that we love the way you love and long to live the way you lived. And while you linger here, pour out your Spirit on this Table so that this ordinary bread and cup can remind us of your love. Pour out your Spirit on this Table so that in this meal we get a glimpse of your promised day—where all are welcomed, all belong, and all are fed. And pour out your Spirit on us, for we long to be your Easter people. SHARING OF THE ELEMENTS This is the bread of new life, This is the cup of a new covenant PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING MANY: God of Grace—There are simply not enough ways to say thank you. We want to thank you for the way you designed joy to be contagious, for sunsets and sunrises, and for the air in our lungs. We want to thank you for summer rains, starry nights, and home-cooked meals shared together. We want to thank you for this sacred space, this Table, and for this day—which all hold the promise that love is enough. God, you give us new life, beautiful life, full life— and there are not enough ways to say thank you. So we start by acknowledging that our gratitude overflows. Amen. Discerning through Story… HEBREW SCRIPTURE Isaiah 65:17-25 For I am about to create new heavens and a new earth; the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I am creating, for I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy and its people as a delight. I will rejoice in Jerusalem and delight in my people; no more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it or the cry of distress. No more shall there be in it an infant who lives but a few days or an old person who does not live out a lifetime, for one who dies at a hundred years will be considered a youth, and one who falls short of a hundred will be considered accursed. They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat, for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be, and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labor in vain or bear children for calamity, for they shall be offspring blessed by the Lord— and their descendants as well. Before they call I will answer, while they are yet speaking I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall feed together; the lion shall eat straw like the ox, but the serpent—its food shall be dust! They shall not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain, says the Lord. GOSPEL John 20:1-18 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, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. The two were running together, 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. 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’s head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed, for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples returned to their homes. 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, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” 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, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, "Do not touch 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.’ ” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and she told them that he had said these things to her. SERMON A New Creation Pastor Beth Rogers Going Forth with God’s Love! CLOSING HYMN “Because You Live O Christ” #231 BENEDICTION Go from here renewed and strong, knowing that God is alive, God is love, and God is present! Weep with those who weep. Rejoice with those who celebrate. Tell the story of hope. May the truth of the empty tomb— the astonishing reality of renewal, Jesus’ resurrection— keep you fearless and sure that you will see the Resurrected One again and again in this life. May the power of God’s endless love surround you and guide you, this day and always. Amen POSTLUDE Today in Worship Usher/Greeter: Tom Kinser, Jim Landvater Liturgist: Kris Landvater Tech: Elspeth Williams Acolyte: Tylah Peterson   
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