Good morning and Happy Easter!! Even though we are not gathering together this morning for Easter celebrations, may you be reminded of God's love and mercy this day and always. There are many opportunities to participate in Easter "services." Below, there are readings, songs, and a short "reflection" for you to use. You may also find many churches live-streaming or taping services and putting them on Facebook or their websites. Arlene Schmidt from Malta Ridge will be holding a Zoom Easter service for her family and has invited you to join her; you should have received her invitation last night ([email protected]). Please feel free to do so. However you choose to celebrate this glorious day, do so remembering why. We celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, who by rising again, has set us free from spiritual death and sin and brings us into the awesome presence of God Almighty! Christ is risen! Alleluia! Happy Easter!! Pastor Amy Easter Sunday Rejoice! The stone is rolled away, grave clothes neatly folded, no more the smell of death, behold the empty tomb! Hallelujah! (He is risen!) Rejoice! Scripture has been fulfilled, the sting of death is gone, the victory has been won, behold the risen Christ! Hallelujah! (He is risen!) Rejoice! The curtain’s torn in two, our God invites us in, Christ’s sacrifice enough to wash away our sins! Hallelujah! (He is risen!) Christ the Lord Is Risen Today (Charles Wesley) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djU28gx40dU Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) 1 O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his steadfast love endures forever! 2 Let Israel say, “His steadfast love endures forever.” 14 The Lord is my strength and my might; he has become my salvation. 15 There are glad songs of victory in the tents of the righteous: “The right hand of the Lord does valiantly; 16 the right hand of the Lord is exalted; the right hand of the Lord does valiantly.” 17 I shall not die, but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the Lord. 18 The Lord has punished me severely, but he did not give me over to death. 19 Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord. 20 This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it. 21 I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation. 22 The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. 23 This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. 24 This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. He Lives (Alfred Ackley, sung by Alan Jackson) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBTluxqFu_A Matthew 28:1-10 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) 28 After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. 2 And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. 4 For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men. 5 But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.’ This is my message for you.” 8 So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 Suddenly Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.” Up from the Grave He Arose (Robert Lowry) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oN77HjfAc8k John 20:1-18 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) 20 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. 2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” 3 Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. 4 The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, 7 and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. 8 Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9 for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 10 Then the disciples returned to their homes. 11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; 12 and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. 13 They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” 14 When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” 18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her. In the Garden (C. Austin Miles) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WwpGp2dv0g Acts 10:34-43 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) 34 Then Peter began to speak to them: “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, 35 but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. 36 You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ—he is Lord of all. 37 That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. 39 We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; 40 but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, 41 not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42 He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. 43 All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” Who Will Call Him King of Kings (Greg Nelson, Bob Farrell, and Sandi Patty) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gY9idOZBYBU In cold despair They'd laid Him in the tomb The body of their Master fair Third morning came As they returned to pray Light was shining everywhere But Jesus' body was not there And as they gazed at an empty grave The earth around began to shake And they were so afraid But voices of angels filled the air Their shouts proclaimed "He is not here" And you could hear them say Who will call Him King of Kings And who will call Him Lord of Lords Who will call Him Prince of Peace Such a Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God Who will call Him King Their spirits soared As fear was turned to joy Standing there before their eyes Jesus clothed in radiant white And with a voice they'd heard before He told them "Go and tell the world that I'm alive" They ran as fast as feet could fly "The Lord is risen" was their cry And you could hear them say We will call Him King of Kings We Will call Him Lord of Lords We will call Him Prince of Peace Such a Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God We will call Him King of Kings And we Will call Him Lord of Lords We will call Him Prince of Peace Such a Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God Just like He said He is risen from the dead And the people say We will call Him King of Kings We Will call Him Lord of Lords We will call Him Prince of Peace Such a Wonderful Counselor! I will call Him King of Kings And I will call Him Lord of Lords I will call Him Prince of Peace Such a Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God I will call Him King (We will call Him King) I will call Him King (We will call Him King) I will call Him King! So, the day has finally arrived!!! No, not the one where you win the mega-millions. And, sorry, not the one where everything opens up again – but that one will be coming. Today we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! We worshiped at the manger of a newborn king, we’ve watched as this child grew into a man, was baptized with him by John the Baptist, and walked with him among the peoples of Judea. Then we watched in horror as he was betrayed by one of his very own disciples; the guards arrested him and brought him to Pilate. Pilate didn’t know what to do with him, he just wanted to let him go. But the crowds, stirred up by those who hated Jesus’ teachings, shouted, “Crucify! Crucify him!” So, Pilate relented. This man was taken away, beaten and whipped, nailed to a cross and left to die. We cried and wept with Mary and the other women as some men took Jesus’ lifeless body down off the cross and buried it in a tomb. Then we stood, in silence and disbelief. Here was our friend, the great teacher and healer, the one who stood beside the outcast; here was the one who said he was the son of God. Some of us believed him, but here we stood at the tomb as the soldiers rolled a large stone over the doorway. Jesus was dead. Jesus was dead! JESUS WAS DEAD! And there was nothing we could do but hide in fear. If the crowds and other leaders wanted Jesus dead, they would soon come for us and haul us out to die on crosses, as well. The day of Sabbath was a quiet day, nobody really said much. We kind of just sat around, still thinking about what had happened the day before, stunned and silent, weeping and questioning God – why? Some of the women went out to the tomb come the first day of the week. You see, Jesus was buried in such a hurry that we really didn’t have time to properly prepare his body for burial. Burial!?! Oh, my! Who would think we’d be talking like this about Rabbi Jesus? Anyway…the women went out with spices and everything they needed, but when they got there, they thought they were in the wrong place. The stone, that huge boulder the soldiers had put in front of the door, was not there anymore. Surely, this was the right place, but they looked around and no one – no guards, nobody nosing around, and no body. No body! Where was Jesus body?!?! Someone took him, someone moved him; they must have put him in another tomb somewhere else. Then the ladies saw an angel telling them that Jesus wasn’t there. Well, yeah, we can see that! But then the angel said something weird – Jesus isn’t here because he’s risen. Risen?? What in the world does that mean?? A dead body can’t come back to life – it’s dead!! What was that angel talking about??? The women ran back to us to share with us what they’d just seen and experienced. Of course, none of us believed them. I mean, really, they saw an angel? And Mary even said she saw Jesus himself disguised as a gardener. Seriously?!?! An angel and Jesus the gardener! What?!?!... I don’t know what happened on the way to the tomb, but I think these women had too much of that leftover Passover wine!! Now Peter and John were skeptical, but they decided they might as well go and check it out, to see if the women were telling a fish-tale, like we all used to do before we started following Jesus. They ran down to the tomb and found nothing – no guards, no angel, no gardener. No nothing! That wasn’t helping the women’s story any, let me tell you. No evidence of anything they told us. But then Peter went into the tomb – he actually stepped foot into the tomb, eww! What he saw, though, was something beyond explainable; it was extraordinary. Instead of Jesus’ body laying there, the only thing he saw was the burial cloths they had wrapped him in. That’s it! Nothing else – just the cloths! Weird – huh?!? When Peter and John came back and told us what they had seen – how it kind of matched up with what the women had seen – we were dumbfounded! How do you explain that – no body, just cloths? Then we remembered what the women had, about how the angel said Jesus had risen from the dead, and we started putting it together with all the other hints that Jesus had given us while we followed him around the countryside. He said things like, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up;” “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised;” “I am going to be betrayed and killed and three days later will return to life again.” Jesus told us these things a few times, but I don’t think anyone really understood what he was saying, let alone believe him - - until now. Now everything was beginning to make sense; it was all coming together. Jesus sayings, the women and Peter and John, and the angel and the gardener. Oh, and then these two guys – Cleopas and one of his friends – were walking down to Emmaus; they ran back as fast as they could to tell us that Jesus has appeared to them and was walking with them talking about everything that had just happened. They were beside themselves, believing but not believing – but it just fit right in. The cloths were just laying there in the empty tomb because Jesus was not dead; he had arisen just as he said! WOW!!! We still couldn’t believe it; we didn’t dare. We didn’t want to get too excited; what if these were just some hallucinations or visions or something else? Jesus couldn’t be alive, could he? As if on cue – Jesus entered the room, even though it was locked, and stood there among us. Our mouths open-wide and our eyes full of tears, we stood in awe, stunned; we were paralyzed! “Peace be with you,” he said as he showed us his wounds. Then we knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt. All those prophecies in the Torah, all those hints that Jesus gave us as we traveled, the witness of the women and the experience of Peter, John, and Cleopas – all these things had come true!! Jesus, the Christ, the Messiah had been crucified and died but now he stood in front of us alive. Jesus is alive! Jesus is ALIVE! JESUS IS ALIVE!!!!!!! Now, obviously, the story doesn’t end there; there were lots of other times Jesus appeared to us over the course of forty days. Then he ascended – we watched him – back to Yahweh God. And us…well, we have retold this story – the whole story – many times over to many, many peoples far and wide. You see, that’s what Jesus told us to do as he ascended – “Go to all peoples everywhere and make them my disciples.” So we went – all over. Some stayed here in Jerusalem, some went out to some of the same places we visited with Jesus, some went to Samaria and then up into Damascus and Corinth and Philippi; some even when down toward Egypt. We spread out all over the place, sharing Jesus’ story. And so, still today, we spread out all over this world, sharing and showing Jesus’ story: out of great love, God in Jesus came as one of us, a tiny human baby; he walked among us, taught us, healed us, showed us how to live, and how to love. Then he was arrested and condemned to die a horrible death hanging on a cross. When he died, he was buried in a borrowed tomb. But, as he said, Jesus didn’t stay dead; he rose again from the grave and ascended back unto Yahweh God. Through his death and resurrection, Jesus has destroyed the hold that spiritual death and evil have over us, has reconciled us back to God Almighty and offers us life for all eternity in God’s glorious presence. All we have to do is to truly believe – “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” They Could Not (Ron Harris and Claire Cloninger) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jx6RP2P25DI Benediction: When others dismiss your story as an idle tale, who will you be? Resurrection people with Easter in our hearts. When the world seems to be crumbling around you, remember who you are: Resurrection people with Easter in our hearts. When despair would seem to squelch all hope, believe in who you have become: Resurrection people with Easter in our hearts. When it is hard to persevere against all odds, trust in God who names you: Resurrection people with Easter in our hearts. As we follow Christ into the world, may God help us remember who we are . . . resurrection people with Easter in our hearts. Happy Easter!!
May you feel God's blessings surrounding you this day and always. Rejoice! by John Birch, http://www.faithandworship.com/ as found on https://re-worship.blogspot.com/2017/04/easter-call-to-worship-rejoice.html Scriptures from biblegateway.com Empty tomb picture from Pinterest Benediction by Sharlande Sledge, as found on https://re-worship.blogspot.com/2011/04/easter-sending-benediction.html Comments are closed.
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SUNDAY @ 11 AM To join by phone, dial (929) 205-6099 and enter the meeting ID and password below: Meeting ID: 876 1875 9099 Password 333 PrayerGracious Loving Lord, please keep all of your children safe in these trying times. Guide us. Open our ears to hear, our eyes to see, our minds to understand and our hearts to know and be your love to others. We pray this in Jesus' name, Amen. Want to support RLUMC and our missions? Donate Today
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September 2023
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