Liturgy for April 19, 2020
April 19th, 2020 | April Karli
Hills & Valleys
by Tauren Wells
I’ve walked among the shadows
You wiped my tears away
And I’ve felt the pain of heartbreak
And I’ve seen the brighter days
And I’ve prayed prayers to heaven from my lowest place
And I have held the blessings
God, you give and take away
No matter what I have, Your grace is enough
No matter where I am, I’m standing in Your love
On the mountains, I will bow my life
To the one who set me there
In the valley, I will lift my eyes to the one who sees me there
When I’m standing on the mountain, I didn’t get there on my own
When I’m walking through the valley, I know I am not alone!
You’re God of the hills and valleys! Hills and Valleys!
God of the hills and valleys
And I am not alone!
I’ve watched my dreams get broken
In you I hope again!
No matter what I know ‘m safe inside Your hand
Father you give and take away, every joy and every pain
Through it all you will remain, over it all
Father you give and take away, every joy and every pain
Through it all you will remain, over it all
Call to Worship
This Easter Season let’s join together
As participants and hosts,
Whether passionate believer or hopeful skeptic,
We gather today, to celebrate our joy that death ends in the resurrection.
If you are new to our liturgy,
we welcome you to be a full participant or a thoughtful observer.
Let’s pause together for a moment of quiet.
(Wait for a short moment of silence)
Joy is loose,
In the wiggles of the children,
The whispers of the youth,
The smiles of the adults.
We praise God for this glorious day,
Let the praise break forth in the most unlikely places and in silly ways.
Joy and praise fills our hearts and in our songs
Let the laughter be deep, for we are God’s people.
On Easter evening the disciples were assembled behind closed doors
when suddenly You entered, O Jesus our almighty God.
You stood in their midst, and gave them Your peace;
You breathed the Holy Spirit on them.
Glory to You,
our resurrection,
our light,
our hope,
our joy,
and our peace!
And so we gather as one body,
one church with one unified voice
to worship in love and peace
Amen!
Kids Song
(led by Karen Jordan)
King of Glory (You Restore My Soul)
by All Sons & Daughters
I know a place where I can find You
Here in the valley of the shadow
Give me eyes to see where You’re leading me
I know a place where I can feel you
Here in the freedom of forgiveness
Give me strength to hold fast to what I know
You restore my soul
I’m Yours alone, Oh King of glory
When dark gives way to light
Your hope will rise, Oh King of glory
I know a place where I can hear You
Your truth is a whisper in the chaos
Give me faith to stand strong in this rushing wind
Surely goodness and mercy follow me
Every moment I will dwell with You
Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing
by Robert Robertson
Come, Thou Fount of every blessing
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace
Streams of mercy, never ceasing
Call for songs of loudest praise
Teach me some melodious sonnet
Sung by flaming tongues above
Praise the mount, I’m fixed upon it
Mount of Thy redeeming love
Here I raise my Ebenezer
Here there by Thy great help I’ve come
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure
Safely to arrive at home
Jesus sought me when a stranger
Wandering from the fold of God
He, to rescue me from danger
Interposed His precious blood
O to grace how great a debtor,
daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness like a fetter,
bind my wandering heart to Thee
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it;
Prone to leave the God I love
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it
seal it for Thy courts above.
Prayer of Confession
Confession allows us a moment to honestly reveal our hopes and pains.
Let us cry out to God as a community.
Our response will be in bold.
In the light of the resurrection
we are still troubled by this world.
That even though you have conquered death
there is still brokenness around every corner.
May the light of Christ shine in this world.
In the light of the resurrection
we have hope for those who are hopeless,
we grieve with those who are grieving
in their loss, conflict and pain
May the light of Christ shine upon them.
In the light of the resurrection,
we are heartbroken by the reality
that war, poverty and racism still destroys the lives of so many
and that we haven’t nearly done enough.
May the light of Christ shine upon them.
In the light of the resurrection
we bring the headline news this year.
we are saddened that so many let fear into their hearts
and we refuse to be controlled by the lies we hear.
May the light of Christ strengthen us.
In the light of the resurrection
we bring ourselves, our struggles, our fears
the heart’s yearnings, the hidden dreams,
the unfulfilled potential.
and we give those things over to death,
May the light of Christ shine upon us.
Amen.
Prayers of the People
We now invite you into a time of prayer. This is an opportunity for us to support one another and participate by sharing our prayer requests.
Many may need to share. Please keep your prayers to a sentence or two so that everyone who wishes to share is able to.
We welcome any guests among us and welcome you to pray with us and share a prayer request as well.
If you have a prayer request, let us know in the chat box. We’ll unmute your mic so you can share.
If you have something you’re thankful for, end your prayer with…
“Let us bless the Lord” and we’ll respond together, “Thanks be to God.“
If you have something you’d like prayer for, end your prayer with…
“Let us pray to the Lord” and we’ll respond together, “Lord, have mercy.“
(Then start off with a prayer of your own as an example.)
“With the prayers that have been spoken, and those that are unspoken,
let us finish by praying this prayer together…”
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven 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 and ever. Amen
Eucharist
(We now come to the center of our Liturgy, the Eucharist. Parents may invite your children back into the room at this time. Today we’ll receive the Eucharist in our homes, separated by space, but knitted together by God’s Spirit. Please examine your hearts and pray this prayer with me. Your responses will be in bold.)
The Lord is with us
He is with us indeed
———
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
———
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give thanks and praise.
———
It is right and good that with hearts and minds and voices
we should praise you, God almighty
—
On that first Easter morning, as the sun was dawning, Jesus rose triumphantly from the dead. The earth shook as the angel rolled the stone away.
No grave could hold his body down. He is risen. He is risen indeed!
—
As Mary Magdalene and the other Mary looked on in fear, the risen Lord revealed himself to them, and they departed with great joy.
Rejoice! And again I say rejoice! For Christ Jesus has broken the curse of death and destroyed the power that it once had over us.
—
The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is now given to those who believe in him.
Let us receive this spiritual power and use it wisely for the liberation of all God’s people!
—
Let us make a joyful noise unto the Lord. For there is none like him who can break the chain of oppression, evil, and the grave. He is risen and is seated at the right hand of God.
“Worthy is the Lamb that was slaughtered to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!”
—
For this is the Passover feast,
when Christ, the true Lamb of God, is slain
whose love consecrates the homes of all the faithful.
Glory to you for ever.
—
For the moment when you first saved our ancestors,
freeing Israel from her slavery and leading her safely through the sea.
Glory to you for ever.
—
For this most blessed of all moments! When hatred is cast out,
peace and justice find a home, and heaven is joined to earth
and all creation reconciled to you.
Glory to you for ever.
—
For Christ the morning star has risen in glory;
Christ is risen from the dead
and this flame of love burns within us!
Christ sheds his peaceful light on all the world!
Christ lives and reigns for ever and ever! Amen.
—
On the night Jesus was betrayed, the nation of Israel was celebrating their deliverance from slavery in Egypt. In the midst of the meal, Jesus took the symbols of the feast and gave them new meaning.
He took the bread, gave thanks, broke it, and gave it to them, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body, which is given for you. Do this for the remembrance of Me.”
(Pause for everyone to take the bread together)
Later, Jesus took the wine. Again, He gave thanks, gave it to them, and said, “Drink this, all of you. This is My blood of the New Covenant, which is shed for you. Do this for the remembrance of Me.”
(Pause for everyone to take the wine together)
After Eucharist
Let us finish our time of communion together with this prayer.
Christ, you are risen from the dead.
We are risen with you.
May our life never deny
this eternal life,
this peace and hope and joy.
Praise and glory to the God of life
who is stronger than all kinds of death.
We have seen with our eyes
and touched with our hands
the bread of life.
Strengthen our faith
that we may grow in love for you and for each other;
through Jesus Christ the risen Lord.
Alleluia, Christ is Risen
He is risen indeed, Alleluia!
Offering
We now come to the time where we remember that nothing in this life is truly ours, but that all is a gift from God.
Giving is an act of love for God and for our community. We encourage you to celebrate God’s generosity and to give back as God has given to us online at austinmustardseed.org/giving).
If you are new or participating in our liturgy for the first time, please be our guest this morning.
We will sing one more song together as we prepare to close. This time is now yours, and we invite you to participate in worship.
We Are Waiting Blessed Saviour
by Fanny Crosby
We are waiting, blessèd Savior,
We are watching for the hour
When in majesty descending,
Thou shalt come in mighty power;
Then the shadows will be lifted,
And the darkness rolled away,
And our eyes behold the splendor
Of the glorious crowning day.
We are waiting, blessèd Savior,
We are watching not in vain
For the cloud that bore Thee upward,
And will bring Thee back again.
We are waiting, blessed Savior,
We are watching not in vain
For the cloud that bore you upward,
And will bring you back again.
Then, among your ransomed people,
We shall tread the shining way,
And our eyes behold the splendor
Of the glorious crowning day.
We are waiting, blessed Savior,
For a union, heart to heart,
With our savior in the garden,
Where we nevermore will part;
Then our sorrows, in a moment,
Like a dream will pass away,
When our eyes behold the splendor
Of the glorious crowning day.
Benediction
Austin Mustard Seed, As you leave today:
Go with this truth firmly placed in your heart
That our story does not end in Death.
But that through death we are invited into new life.
Christ sheds the light of Easter, into the darkest, hidden corners of our lives. He sees us fully but does not turn in shame.
He knows us as we truly are and loves us deeply.
He lives, to fill us with peace,
that we may proclaim the good news of mercy and forgiveness;
that we may forgive as we have been forgiven.
May we go from here as witnesses of what we have seen and heard.
May we share God’s love with all of those we meet.
May we bring hope to those who are in despair.
May we live lives of gratitude and praise.
May the love of God,
the peace of Jesus Christ,
and the ongoing presence of the Holy Spirit
be within us and among us until we meet again.
Alleluia! Christ is Risen!
He is risen indeed Alleluia.
Go in Peace,
Live the Church,
See you throughout the week online at Community Groups and other meetups. Stick around for the Passing of the Peace and say hello before we sign off.
(Eucharist prayers adapted from the African American Lectionary and The Prayer Book of New Zealand)