Second Sunday of Easter, April 24,2022

Home Church, 2nd Sunday of EasterApril 24, 2022, Rev. Karen Hollis

W,e 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!

Preparing the Space Around Us

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. 

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.

Greeting                                                                                                BAS
One:  Alleluia! Christ is risen.

All:    The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia!

One:  May his grace and peace be with you.

All:    May he fill our hearts with joy.

Call to Worship  -   Psalm 150, Inclusive Bible

Alleluia! We praise you, Adonai, in your sanctuary,

          we praise you in your mighty skies!

We praise you for your powerful deeds,

          we praise you for your overwhelming glory!

We praise you with the blast of the trumpet,

          we praise you with lyre and harp!

We praise you with timbrel and dance,

          we praise you with strings and flute!

We praise you with clashing cymbals,

          we praise you with resounding cymbals!

Let everything that has breath

          praise Our God! Alleluia!

Opening Prayer  -  BAS

Almighty and eternal God, 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 now and always. Amen

Hymn: It’s a Song of Praise -   (recording by St. Paul’s UC) MV #30

It’s a song of praise to the Maker,

the thrush sings high in the tree.

It’s a song of praise to the Maker,

the gray whale sings in the sea,

Refrain

And by the Spirit you and I

can join our voice to the holy cry

and sing, sing, sing to the Maker too.

It’s a call of life to the Giver,

when waves and waterfalls roar.

It’s a call of life to the Giver

when high tides break on the shore,(Refrain)

It’s a hymn of love to the Lover;

the bumblebees hum along.

It’s a hymn of love to the Lover;

the summer breeze joins the song, (Refrain)

 

It’s the chorus of all creation;

it’s sung by all living things.

It’s the chorus of all creation;

a song the universe sings, (Refrain)

Prayer of Confession    -    Iona Abbey Worship Book

One:  Let us join together in the prayer of confession, confident in God’s grace.

All:    Before God, 

          with the people of God, 

          We confess to our brokenness: 

          to the ways we wound our lives,

          the lives of others, 

          and the life of the world.

Silent Prayer of Confession

One:  Lord have mercy

All:    Christ have mercy

One:  Lord have mercy

Assurance of Grace

The love of the risen Christ meets you this day with the power of the resurrection and unending love of God.

Peace of Christ 

One:  From our individual lives we come to this grace-filled place where we are called beloved.

All:    The peace Christ offers brings us back to the truth that we belong to one another.

A-M   The Peace of Christ be with you!

N-Z:   And also with you!

First Reading: Acts 2:14a, 36-41 -   Reader: Angela Nutter

But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, "Therefore let the entire house of Israel know with certainty that God has made him both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus whom you crucified." Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and to the other apostles, "Brothers, what should we do?" Peter said to them, "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him." And he testified with many other arguments and exhorted them, saying, "Save yourselves from this corrupt generation." So those who welcomed his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand persons were added.

Gospel Reading  - Reader: Angela Nutter

One:  God be with you.            

All:    And also with you.

One:  The Good News of Jesus Christ according to Luke;

All:    Glory to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Luke 24:13-35 (NRSV)

Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, ‘What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?’ They stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, ‘Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?’ He asked them, ‘What things?’ They replied, ‘The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him.’ Then he said to them, ‘Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?’ Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.

As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. But they urged him strongly, saying, ‘Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.’ So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?’ That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. They were saying, ‘The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!’ Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

One: This is the Gospel of Christ; 

All:   Praise be to Jesus Christ

Reflection - Rev Karen Hollis        

Silent Reflection

New Zealand Creed

Let us affirm our faith . . . 

You, O God, are supreme and holy.

You create our world and give us life.

Your purpose overarches everything we do.

You have always been with us.

You are God.

          You, O God, are infinitely generous,

          good beyond all measure.

          You came to us before we came to you.

You have revealed and proved

your love for us in Jesus Christ,

who lived and died and rose again.

You are with us now.

You are God.

          You, O God, are Holy Spirit.

          You empower us to be your gospel in the world.

          You reconcile and heal; you overcome death.

          You are our God. We worship you.

Prayers of the People   -  Susan Brockley

One:  God of Peace,

All:    Hear Our Prayer

 

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  -  Eric Boulton      

Offering Prayer   -   Enfleshed, adapted

Loving God, we come in celebration and gratitude for all the gifts of this community, both given and received. Plant what we have given in the lush soil of your grace and root this gratitude economy for the flourishing of generations to come. Amen.

Hymn: We Shall Go Out With Hope  -   Strathdee Video

Glory to God whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine. Glory to God from generation to generation, in the Church and in Christ Jesus, for ever and ever. Amen.

Blessing  -  Iona Community

If you are with another person, you’re invited to bless each other, taking every other line.

One:  The Creator’s blessing be yours on your road, on your journey guiding you, cherishing you.

N-Z:   The Son’s blessing be yours, wine and water, bread and stories,  feeding you, challenging you.

A-M:  The Spirit’s blessing be yours, wind and fire, joy and wisdom, comforting you, disturbing you.

All:    The Angel’s blessing be yours, on your house, on your living, guarding you, encouraging you. Let us walk together, a community on a journey, sustained in God’s blessing. Amen!

One:  Let us go now in peace to love and serve the Lord.

All:    Thanks be to God! Alleluia!