The Order of Worship – April 27, 2025

This is the 117th Day of 2024.
There are 248 days remaining in 2024.

Filled with the Holy Spirit,
we are a people of prayer
committed to love one another
and equipped to share Christ’s love throughout the world.

Second Sunday of Easter

Prelude:

Welcome & Announcements:

This month’s mission focus is the Delta State Wesley Foundation
Bible Study is at afaithtalk.com
Five Loaves tonight.

Call to Worship: Dona Nobis Pacem (Grant Us Peace)

Responsive Reading:  Psalm 150
Let everything praise the Lord

¹ Praise the LORD! Praise God in his sanctuary; 
praise him in his mighty firmament!

² Praise him for his mighty deeds; 
praise him according to his surpassing greatness!

³ Praise him with trumpet sound; 
praise him with lute and harp!

⁴ Praise him with tambourine and dance; 
praise him with strings and pipe!

⁵ Praise him with clanging cymbals; 
praise him with loud clashing cymbals!

⁶ Let everything that breathes praise the LORD! 
Praise the LORD! 

Opening Hymn: Holy, Holy, Holy…No. 64 (1-4)
Verse 1

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall rise to thee.
Holy, holy, holy! Merciful and mighty,
God in three persons, blessed Trinity!

Verse 2

Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore thee,
casting down their golden crowns
around the glassy sea;
cherubim and seraphim falling down before thee,
which wert, and art, and ever more shalt be.

Verse 3

Holy, holy, holy! Though the darkness hide thee,
though the eye of sinful man thy glory may not see,
only thou art holy; there is none beside thee,
perfect in power, in love and purity.

Verse 4 

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
All thy works shall praise thy name, in earth and sky and sea.
Holy, holy, holy! Merciful and mighty,
God in three persons, blessed Trinity! 

Affirmation of Faith:
The Apostle’s Creed..No. 881

I believe in God the Father Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth;
and in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord:
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified,
dead,
and buried;
the third day he rose from the dead;
he ascended into heaven,
and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
from thence he shall come to judge
the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.

Gloria Patri…Page 70

Glory be to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen. Amen.

Praise Song: Grace Like Rain
Verse 1

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound,
that saved a wretch like me
I once was lost but now I’m found
was blind but now I see so clearly

Chorus

Hallelujah grace like rain falls down on me
Hallelujah all my stains are washed away
Hallelujah grace like rain falls down on me
Hallelujah all my stains are washed away
They’re washed away

Verse 2

’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear
And grace my fears relieved
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed

Chorus

Hallelujah grace like rain falls down on me
Hallelujah all my stains are washed away
Hallelujah grace like rain falls down on me
Hallelujah all my stains are washed away
They’re washed away

Verse 3

When we’ve been there ten thousand years
Bright shining as the sun
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
Than when we’d first begun

Chorus

Hallelujah grace like rain falls down on me
Hallelujah all my stains are washed away
Hallelujah grace like rain falls down on me
Hallelujah all my stains are washed away
They’re washed away

Chorus

Hallelujah grace like rain falls down on me
Hallelujah all my stains are washed away
Hallelujah grace like rain falls down on me
Hallelujah all my stains are washed away
They’re washed away 

Pastoral Prayer
Contact us here to add your concern to our prayer list.

The Lord’s Prayer:

Our 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 trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory,
forever. Amen.

Anthem: Now the Green Blade Riseth…#311
Verse 1

Now the green blade riseth, from the buried grain,
wheat that in the dark earth many days has lain;
Love lives again, that with the dead has been:
Love is come again, like wheat that springeth green.

Verse 2

In the grave they laid him, Love who had been slain,
thinking that he never would wake to life again,
laid in the earth like grain that sleeps unseen:
Love is come again, like wheat that springeth green.

Verse 3

Forth he came at Easter, like the risen grain,
Jesus who for three days in the grave had lain;
quick from the dead my risen Lord is seen:
Love is come again, like wheat that springeth green.

Verse 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 that springeth green.
Love is come again, like wheat that springeth green.

Offertory

Doxology:

Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heavenly hosts;
Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Amen

Children’s Moment
Children’s Song (Raise a Hallelujah)

Verse 1

I raise a hallelujah
In the presence of my enemies
I raise a hallelujah
Louder than the unbelief
I raise a hallelujah
My weapon is a melody
I raise a hallelujah
Heaven comes to fight for me

Chorus

I’m gonna sing in the middle of the storm
Louder and louder, you’re gonna hear my praises roar
Up from the ashes hope will arise
Death is defeated, the King is alive

Verse 2

I raise a hallelujah
With everything inside of me
I raise a hallelujah
I will watch the darkness flee
I raise a hallelujah
In the middle of the mystery
I raise a hallelujah
Fear, you lost your hold on me

Chorus

I’m gonna sing in the middle of the storm
Louder and louder, you’re gonna hear my praises roar
Up from the ashes hope will arise
Death is defeated, the King is alive
I raise a hallelujah
I raise a hallelujah
I raise a hallelujah
I raise a hallelujah

Prayer for Illumination
Lord, open our hearts and minds by the power of your Holy Spirit, that as the Scriptures are read and your Word is proclaimed, we may hear with joy what you say to us today. Amen.

Gospel Reading: John 20:19-31
Beholding the wounds of the risen Christ

¹⁹ 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.” ²⁰ After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.

²¹ Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” ²² When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³ If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

²⁴ But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. ²⁵ 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.”

²⁶ 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.”

²⁷ 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.”

²⁸ Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”

²⁹ 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.”

³⁰ Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. ³¹ 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.

Leader: The Word of God for the people of God
All: Thanks be to God

Acts of the Apostles: Acts 5:27-32
The God of our ancestors raised up Jesus

²⁷ When they had brought them, they had them stand before the council. The high priest questioned them, ²⁸ saying, “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and you are determined to bring this man’s blood on us.”

²⁹ But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than any human authority. ³⁰ The God of our ancestors raised up Jesus, whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree. ³¹ God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior that he might give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. ³² And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.”

Leader: The Word of God for the people of God
All: Thanks be to God

Sermon Text: Revelation 1:4-8
Jesus Christ, firstborn of the dead

⁴ John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, ⁵ and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, ⁶ and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

⁷ Look! He is coming with the clouds; every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail. So it is to be. Amen.

⁸ “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Leader: This is The Word of God for the people of God
People: Thanks be to God.

Sermon:  “Look! He is Coming”

Closing Hymn: Rejoice the Lord is King…No. 715 (D) (1&4)

Verse 1

Rejoice the Lord is King! Your Lord and King adore;
mortals, give thanks and sing, and triumph ever more.
Lift up your heart, lift up your voice;
rejoice again I say rejoice

Verse 4

Rejoice in glorious hope! Jesus the Judge shall come,
and take his servants up to their eternal home.
We soon shall hear th’archangel’s voice;
the trump of God shall sound, rejoice!

Filled Up and Poured Out

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