Each of us is created in the image of God. We Believe it!
God’s will for us is GOODWILL always. We Believe it!
Jesus Christ lived to forgive. We Believe it!
He showed us how to connect with God by serving one another. We Believe it!
Jesus’ mission to bind up the broken-hearted and proclaim release to those held captive by this world is our mission too. We Believe it!
Jesus took all of our regrets and our shame and carried them to the cross where he surrendered his spirit to God. We Believe it!
He was buried in a tomb, but on the morning of the third day he was resurrected from the dead! We Believe it!
In his death and resurrection, Jesus revealed God to us in a whole new way leaving his indelible mark upon us. We Believe it!
The Holy Spirit speaks truth to all who have ears to hear. We Believe it!
Loving God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength, and our neighbor as ourselves, is the purpose of the Body of Christ in the world.
We Believe it!
Thanks be to God! Amen.
CONGREGATIONAL PRAYER
Our hearts are triumphant this day, O Lord. Our spirits are full as we rejoice in the news of Christ’s resurrection. As if the event happened today, we shall not be reserved in our response to your promise fulfilled. We are gladder than glad! Christ’s resurrection is your most wondrous, mysterious and wholly unchangeable gift of love and hope. We confess how we held our breath along with the disciples witnessing Jesus’ crucifixion, afraid, paralyzed, waiting to exhale. Today you have revealed what awaits your children beyond grief and mourning. Your message for all the world is clear. The tomb is empty, and life, with all of its ups and downs, has been touched by the promise of eternity. We can breathe again, no longer afraid. Our faith renewed, our spirits ignited, we shall be your witnesses for the world. We’ll shout it from the mountain tops. We cannot claim to comprehend all that you have done for us, but in humbleness and joy we thank you in Jesus’ name. Today you have made all things new! Christ is Risen. Christ is Risen indeed. Amen. Amen.
PREPARING FOR THE OFFERING
I was looking for some artwork to use in our Holy Week newspaper ad and came across this picture of an, obviously abandoned, plastic Easter Egg...emptied of its contents and left on the floor by a young egg hunter. For some reason this silly blue plastic egg spoke volumes to me. It reminded me, not of a bunny rabbit cavorting about with a basket of marshmallow, chocolate and colored eggs, but of the empty tomb. You see, before being opened, the blue egg was a vessel containing a mystery. Nearby — face smeared with chocolate — is a child wondering if there might be something more in the egg. We simply have to find a way to help that child understand that the empty egg is EVERYTHING!
UNISON OFFERTORY PRAYER
Gracious God, there is no clearer message of goodwill; no more graphic demonstration of your love; no greater assurance of your hope for humanity than in Jesus’ resurrection day. The gifts we offer on this morning cannot compare to the gift you have given us, but we hope they will, in some small measure, bring the message of your love and goodwill to those who have never known it. In the name of the risen Christ we pray. Amen.
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