Home Church 2nd Sunday of Easter April 11, 2021

Home Church 2nd Sunday of Easter April 11, 2021, Guest Presider Rev. Dr. Linda St. Clair

We acknowledge these lands upon which we worship are the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the Snuneymuxw First Nation.

Whoever you are and wherever you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here! Welcome if you are gathering on zoom or if you are worshipping at home with the bulletin. We are one community and all part of the body of Christ. I invite you to prepare the space around you so that for the next hour you can be fully in this worship experience, not to keep out the realities of the world, rather to focus us in the midst of it all on God. If you need to go and get something or shift something around you, feel free.

Welcome

Announcements

Preparing the Space within Us

Let us prepare now the space within us for a time of worship. I invite you to sit quietly, perhaps with feet on the floor, taking a couple of deep breaths and bring yourself into this moment. Open yourself to the presence of God who is with us and within us . . . as you intentionally open yourself to God, open yourself also to what you need from this time of worship.

Opening Hymn: Yours Be The Glory   CP #210

1 Yours be the glory,

risen, conquering Son:

endless is the victory

over death you won.

Angels robed in splendor

rolled the stone away,

kept the folded grave-clothes

where the body lay.

Refrain:

Yours be the glory,

risen, conquering Son,

endless is the victory

over death you won.

2 See! Jesus meets us,

risen from the tomb;

lovingly he greets us,

scatters fear and gloom.

Let the church with gladness

hymns of triumph sing,

for the Lord is living;

death hath lost its sting! [Refrain]

3 No more we doubt you,

glorious Prince of life;

what is life without you?

Aid us in our strife;

make us more than conquerors

through your deathless love;

bring us safe through Jordan

to your home above. [Refrain]

Greeting
One:    We meet in the name of God, creator of the universe;

            source of true humanity, mother and father of all. Amen

All:      We meet in the name of Jesus Christ,

            who rose to be with us always. Amen

One:    We meet in the name the Holy Spirit, Lord and Giver of life,

            midwife of new humanity, inspirer of all. Amen

All:      Come then, eternal God, be present here, befriend us here,

            renew us here. Amen

Collect

One:  Let us pray.

All:      Almighty and eternal One, the strength of those who believe and the hope of those who doubt, may we, who have not seen have faith and receive the fullness of Christ’s blessing, who is alive with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.         

Prayer of Confession          

One: Knowing Christ’s presence with us, let us join together in naming

         our brokenness and seeking Gods renewing peace.

All:   You have called us into communion with you and to join in

         this fellowship by following in the footsteps of Jesus. But

         too often we have not noticed those who have need of our

         supportive advocacy or service.  We have chosen not to see    

         their suffering nor hear their cries of pain.

Silence for Reflection

Assurance of Grace

One:  Divine one, you seek out the lost and offer us all your

          unconditional love.

All:    You came to be among us to show your love and compassion   for all.  Continue to give us the strength and insight to do your      will and walk your ways. Amen

Peace

One:    Christ is with us now and always.  So, let us greet one another       today with his Peace in our hearts.

All:      Thanks be to God

The Proclamation of the Word David Soy

First Reading: 1John 1:1-2:2                                                             

Listen to the word of God to you this morning …

We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life—this life was revealed, and we have seen it and testify to it, and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us—we declare to you what we have seen and heard so that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete. This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him while we are walking in darkness, we lie and do not do what is true; but if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

One:  Here what the Spirit is saying to the Church          

All:    Thanks be to God

Psalm 133    (a version of Psalm 133 by Jim Cotter *) Susan Brockley

At oases on the pilgrims' way we rest together,

Sharing the stories and meals that refresh us.

We remember we are called to be holy, not good,

to do what God requires, to delight in God’s blessing.

   May we be one in the exchange of love,

   in the look of the eyes between lover and loved.

Brothers and sisters, friends of God,

How joyful and pleasant a thing it is—

like the gathering of a mountain range-

when we dwell together in unity.

   May we be one in the exchange of love,

   in the look of the eyes between lover and loved.

It is like a precious and fragrant oil,

Like the dew of early morning,

or the scent of summer in the forest-

gifts beyond all expectation.

   May we be one in the exchange of love,

   in the look of the eyes between lover and loved. Amen

Gospel Reading    Susan Brockley

One:  God be with you

All:     And also with you

One:  The Good News of Jesus Christ according to John

All:    Glory to you, Lord Jesus Christ

John 20:19-31 When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’ When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’ But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, ‘We have seen the Lord.’ But he said to them, ‘Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.’ A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.’ Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.’

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.

One:  This is the Gospel of Christ

All:    Thanks be to Jesus Christ

Reflection: Saved by Doubt Through Faith Rev Dr Linda St Clair        

Silence

Hymn: Now the Green Blade Rises  CP #237                            

1 Now the green blade riseth, from the buried grain,

Wheat that in dark earth many days has lain;

Love lives again, that with the dead has been:

Love is come again like wheat arising green.

2 In the grave they laid Him, Love who had been slain,

Thinking that He never would awake again,

Laid in the earth like grain that sleeps unseen:

Love is come again like wheat arising green.

3 Forth He came at Easter, like the risen grain,

Jesus who for three days in the grave had lain;

Quick from the dead the risen One is seen:

Love is come again like wheat arising green.

4 When our hearts are wintry, grieving, or in pain,

Jesus' touch can call us back to life again,

Fields of our hearts that dead and bare have been:

Love is come again like wheat arising green.

Prayers of the People   Angela Nutter

One: Risen God,

All:      Hear our Prayer. 

The Lord’s Prayer                                                            

Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins

as we forgive those who sin against us.

Save us from the time of trial

and deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power,

and the glory are yours

now and for ever. Amen.

Offering   Catherine Woodward                                                                        

Offering Prayer

Blessing

One:  Let us bless one another as we go forth rejoice in the power of the   Risen Christ!

Female: May you rejoice in the mystery of the Incarnation, in the    humanity of God and in the wonder of the Word made flesh.

Male:   May you rejoice that the best name of God is Love, a love that draws us like a magnet, that nothing can defeat, neither evil nor pain nor death.

One:  May we have courage to continue change our lives so that the hungry may be fed, the poor achieve dignity and the oppressed go free. 

All:      Thanks be to God. Alleluia!

Closing Hymn: Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah  CP #565

1 Guide me, O my great Redeemer,

pilgrim through this barren land;

I am weak, but you are mighty;

hold me with your powerful hand.

Bread of heaven, bread of heaven,

feed me now and evermore,

feed me now and evermore.

2 Open now the crystal fountain,

where the healing waters flow.

Let the fire and cloudy pillar

lead me all my journey through.

Strong Deliverer, strong Deliverer,

ever be my strength and shield,

ever be my strength and shield.

3 When I tread the verge of Jordan,

bid my anxious fears subside.

Death of death, and hell's Destruction,

land me safe on Canaan's side.

Songs of praises, songs of praises

I will ever sing to you,

I will ever sing to you.

*Jim Cotter, Towards the City, A version of Psalms 101-150. Cairns Publications, 1993.