You can watch the sermon here, or scroll down to read the rest of the Sunday prayers and content, and watch this video at the point it occurs during worship.
WELCOME
We at Engadine Uniting are working towards being a more open, diverse and caring community. We welcome everyone joining us today in the church or on zoom , valuing and affirming every person exactly as they are regardless of race, gender identity or sexual orientation, age, ability, nationality or faith. No matter where you are in your journey, no matter what your story is, you are welcome here. The story of God is bigger, wider, more inclusive and welcoming, and filled with more love than we could ever imagine. There is room here for everyone; there is room here for you
WELCOMING SONG – Come in Come and Sit down
CHORUS
Come in, come in and sit down,
you are a part of this family.
We are lost and we are found,
and we are a part of this family
You know the reason why you came,
yet no reason can explain;
so share in the laughter and cry in the pain,
for we are a part of this family.
God is with us in this place,
like a family’s warm embrace.
We’re all forgiven by God’s grace,
for we are a part of this family.
Chorus
There’s life to be shared in the bread and the wine
We are the branches, Christ is the vine
This is God’s temple its not yours or mine,
But we are a part of this family,
There’s rest for the weary and health for us all
There’s a yoke that is easy and a burden that’s small
So come in and worship and answer the call
For we are part of this family
Chorus
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY
From before recorded time, the First Peoples of the Dharawal community lived and cared for this land. We praise God for the beauty of this land we live on, and honour those who have tended it
We acknowledge the Elders and community who have told the sacred stories and nurtured faithfulness to the Creator.
We ask God’s blessing on those who continue to work for the healing and restoration of our homeland. We all need to belong.
LIGHTING THE CANDLE The risen Lord is part of us today and forever. Let us carry this love and light into the world.
PRAYER OF APPROACH
Dear God, you are astounding!
At the end of all your surprises you send among us the One who was crucified, dead and buried, and risen into glory.
He comes now as a living Lord, defying our locked doors, banishing our fears, greeting us with peace, and overwhelming us with awe and wondering love.
How small is our boasted knowledge, how pathetic our cultured doubts, when our souls are confronted with this risen Christ!
How blessed are those who believe him, and how happy are those who receive him.
Please receive our thanks, our praise and our worship, and continue to bless us beyond our deserving, as we lift up our voices in celebration.
In the name of this same Christ Jesus whose presence makes this occasion. Amen!
HYMN
Faith will not grow from words alone,
From proofs provided, scripture known:
Our faith must feel its way about,
And live with question marks and doubt.
The pattern Jesus showed, we share:
Life comes through death, hope through despair,
God is made known in brokenness,
And faith feeds on God’s emptiness.
The church still tells how Jesus came
Through death to glorious life again –
The strangest story! Yet, maybe,
Our faith will thrive on mystery.
Faith takes the little that we know,
And calls for hope, and tells us: Go!
Love and take courage, come what may:
Christ will be with us on the way.
CONFESSION AND ASSURANCE
Christ has not risen to condemn us, but that we might be set free from evil. Let us pray.
Most holy God, our ways are not like your ways, our thoughts are not as your thoughts, and our deeds do not reflect your deeds.
We are the low achievers who need uplifting,
the timid who need encouraging,
the clumsy who need correcting,
the proud who need humbling,
the rebellious who need recapturing,
the lost who need much saving,
and sometimes we are the faithful who need your smile of approval.
Please beautiful God our Friend, may the risen Christ assert his presence in our midst, unhindered by the walls of this church, or by the half-closed doors of our minds.
May he assert his presence and reclaim his family from everything that corrupts, degrades, and alienates us from your joy and salvation.
May he give us the kiss of life, breathing your forgiveness and renewal into every corner of our being. For your love’s sake. Amen!
FORGIVENESS
It is written: Jesus breathed on them and said: “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven. If you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
By the grace of Christ Jesus I find I can declare to you: Your sins truly are forgiven! Really, absolutely forgiven!
Thanks be to God!
Now then, it’s up to us to forgive one another even as Christ has forgiven us. Amen!
PASS THE PEACE
The peace of the Lord Jesus be always with you!
And also with you!
HYMN
I danced in the morning when the world was begun
And I danced in the moon and the stars and the sun
And I came down from heaven and I danced on the earth
At Beth-le-hem I had my birth
Chorus
Dance then wherever you may be
I am the Lord of the dance said he
And I’ll lead you all wherever you may be
And I’ll lead you all in the dance said he.
I danced for the scribe and the pharisee
But they would not dance and they wouldn’t follow me
I danced for the fishermen for James and John
They came with me and the dance went on
Chorus
I danced on the Sabbath and I cured the lame
The holy people said it was a shame
They whipped and they stripped
And they hung me high and they left me there on a cross to die
Chorus
I danced on a Friday when the sky turned black
It’s hard to dance with the devil on your back
They buried my body and they thought I’d gone
But I am the dance and I still go on
Chorus
They cut me down and I leapt up high
I am the life that’ll never never die
I’ll live in you as you live in me
I am the Lord of the dance said he
Chorus
BIBLE READINGS
Psalm 33
What a wonderful happiness there is
when Christians share God’s harmony!
It is like precious water from the Font
flowing down across a face;
the living baptismal waters
poured by the hand of God’s servant.
It is like dew on mountain slopes,
falling from the heights of God.
Our God has commanded this blessing;
the life that will last forever.
John 20 19 – 31
19 The disciples were afraid of the Jewish leaders, and on the evening of that same Sunday they locked themselves in a room. Suddenly, Jesus appeared in the middle of the group. He greeted them 20 and showed them his hands and his side. When the disciples saw the Lord, they became very happy.
21 After Jesus had greeted them again, he said, “I am sending you, just as the Father has sent me.” 22 Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, they will be forgiven. But if you don’t forgive their sins, they will not be forgiven.”
Jesus and Thomas
24 Although Thomas the Twin was one of the twelve disciples, he wasn’t with the others when Jesus appeared to them. 25 So they told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But Thomas said, “First, I must see the nail scars in his hands and touch them with my finger. I must put my hand where the spear went into his side. I won’t believe unless I do this!”
26 A week later the disciples were together again. This time, Thomas was with them. Jesus came in while the doors were still locked and stood in the middle of the group. He greeted his disciples 27 and said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and look at my hands! Put your hand into my side. Stop doubting and have faith!”
28 Thomas replied, “You are my Lord and my God!”
29 Jesus said, “Thomas, do you have faith because you have seen me? The people who have faith in me without seeing me are the ones who are really blessed!”
30 Jesus worked many other miracles[a] for his disciples, and not all of them are written in this book. 31 But these are written so that you will put your faith in Jesus as the Messiah and the Son of God. If you have faith in[b] him, you will have true life.
POEM
Let’s pray
Most holy God, patient Friend of doubters, our human eyes have not seen, nor have our hands touched, the risen Christ.
Keep fresh and alert in us your gift of faith, which though not seeing, glories in following the living Lord wherever he leads.
By this faith, enable us to love others not measuring the cost, nor expecting any pay-back except that of knowing we are participants in an Easter drama which has no end.
In the name of this very same Jesus, who with you and the Holy Spirit, are the joy of hearts’ desiring, and object of all our purest loving and adoring, now and ever more.
Amen
REFLECTION – John McKinnon
ANNOUNCEMENTS
PRAYERS FOR GIVING
We thank you Lord for the ability you have given us to share our talents, resources and time. May the givers and receivers be blest by these gifts
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
HYMN – Christ the Lord is Risen Today
Christ the Lord is risen today:
Hallelujah
Let the whole creation say:
Hallelujah
Raise your joys and triumphs high:
Hallelujah
Sing now, heaven and reply:
Hallelujah
Loves redeeming work is done:
Fought the fight the battle won;
Vain the stone, the watch, the seal;
Christ has burst the gates of hell.
Lives again our glorious king;
Where O death, is now your sting?
Once he died our souls to save;
Where your victory, O grave?
Sour we now where Christ has led,
Following our exalted Head;
Made like him, like we rise:
Ours the cross, the grave, the skies.
BENEDICTION
Christ is risen.
Christ is risen indeed!
There is now no negative force that can finally defeat us,
and no power on earth or in the heavens that can ultimately destroy us.
Leave this house of prayer confidently, walk purposefully, and travel joyfully,
love generously, serve gladly, and arrive safely.
For all things are ours, and we are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.
Let’s go out with thanks
HYMN – Give thanks
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