Sunday: The 3rd Sunday of Easter Date: April 19, 2015 First reading: Acts 3:11 21 Second reading: 1 John 3:1 7 Gospel Reading: Luke 24:36 49 Greetings: Introduce yourselves and ask everyone s name. Opening Prayer (Read together): Dear heavenly Father, we are so thankful that you have brought us together again, for this time of worship and meditation in your Word. The Bible tells us how good and pleasant it is, when brothers and sisters live together in unity. As we gather together Lord, we are reminded that we are here because You have called us out of darkness into Your wonderful light. Assure us Lord, of Your mercy and ever present forgiveness. Help us to look to the cross and remind us that Your Son Jesus Christ died and rose again, to give us the victory over our sins, over the devil and over this evil world. Help us to walk in Your path, the path You have set before us in Jesus Christ. Keep us close to You and close to one another. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Absolution: Dear friends, God s Word tells us that if we are in Christ, we are a new creation, the old has gone and the new has come. Because of Jesus sacrifice on the cross, His death and resurrection, God assures you that your sins are forgiven. In the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. 475 Good Christian Friends, Rejoice and Sing 1 Good Christian friends, rejoice and sing! Now is the triumph of our King! To all the world glad news we bring: Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
2 The Lord of life is ris n this day; Bring flow rs of song to strew His way; Let all the world rejoice and say: Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia! 3 Praise we in songs of victory That love, that life which cannot die, And sing with hearts uplifted high: Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia! 4 Your name we bless, O risen Lord, And sing today with one accord The life laid down, the life restored: Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia! 1958, renewed 1986 Hymns Ancient and Modern Ltd.; admin. Hope Publishing Co. Used by permission: LSB Hymn License.NET, no. 100012209. FIRST READING: Acts 3:11 21 11 While the man held on to Peter and John, all the people were astonished and came running to them in the place called Solomon s Colonnade. 12 When Peter saw this, he said to them: Fellow Israelites, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? 13 The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go. 14 You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. 15 You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this. 16 By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus name and the faith that comes through him that has completely healed him, as you can all see.
17 Now, fellow Israelites, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders. 18 But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Messiah would suffer. 19 Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, 20 and that he may send the Messiah, who has been appointed for you even Jesus. 21 Heaven must receive him until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets. 725 Children of the Heavenly Father 1 Children of the heav nly Father Safely in His bosom gather; Nestling bird nor star in heaven Such a refuge e er was given. 2 God His own doth tend and nourish; In His holy courts they flourish. From all evil things He spares them; In His mighty arms He bears them. 3 Neither life nor death shall ever From the Lord His children sever; Unto them His grace He showeth, And their sorrows all He knoweth. 4 Though He giveth or He taketh,
God His children ne er forsaketh; His the loving purpose solely To preserve them pure and holy. Augsburg Publishing House. Used by permission: LSB Hymn License.NET, no. 100012209. SECOND READING: 1 John 3:1 7 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears,[ a ] we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 3 All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure. 4 Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. 5 But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. 6 No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him. 7 Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. 461 I Know That My Redeemer Lives 1 I know that my Redeemer lives; What comfort this sweet sentence gives! He lives, He lives, who once was dead; He lives, my ever-living head. 2 He lives triumphant from the grave; He lives eternally to save; He lives all-glorious in the sky; He lives exalted there on high. 3 He lives to bless me with His love;
He lives to plead for me above; He lives my hungry soul to feed; He lives to help in time of need. 4 He lives to grant me rich supply; He lives to guide me with His eye; He lives to comfort me when faint; He lives to hear my soul s complaint. 5 He lives to silence all my fears; He lives to wipe away my tears; He lives to calm my troubled heart; He lives all blessings to impart. 7 He lives and grants me daily breath; He lives, and I shall conquer death; He lives my mansion to prepare; He lives to bring me safely there. 8 He lives, all glory to His name! He lives, my Jesus, still the same; Oh, the sweet joy this sentence gives: I know that my Redeemer lives! Public domain GOSPEL READING: Luke 24:36 49 36 While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, Peace be with you. 37 They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. 38 He said to them, Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? 39 Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have. 40 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. 41 And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, Do you have anything here to eat? 42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43 and he took it and ate it in their presence. 44 He said to them, This is what I told you
while I was still with you:everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms. 45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46 He told them, This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high. Devotion Written by Tori Kidd I have to see it to believe it. This phrase gets tossed around all of the time in our daily lives. I think that I use this phrase way more often than I should. Especially when someone says they are going to change after letting me down. I have to see it to believe, is always said right after they say they will change. Having faith in people is hard when we have sin and will continually let people down when promises are kept. This phrase was more haunting when I wasn t a Christian. As someone who wasn t a Christian, understanding a God that wasn t tangible like the person next to me was mind boggling. We hear phrases of hope that Christ is with us, but when you don t know Christ and don t understand what faith is, that concept doesn t make any sense. Sometimes the feeling of Thomas is all too familiar to us in our lives. Think about the first thing that Jesus says to his disciples as he walks through the door in verse 36, Peace be with you. How startling it must have been to be mourning the loss of your dear friend, and then all of the sudden he is standing before you ready to show you that His promises actually mean something, and that He keeps them. What I find the most interesting is that they were standing at the foot of the risen Christ, and their hearts were still filled with doubt and confusion. They wer still thinking the same phrase that we all do: I have to see it to believe it. The thing is: our God knew what they needed and showed them the holes in His hands
and His feet. He was still willing to prove that it was Him; that He came to be with them, and give them His Spirit. Even with that assurance in our lives of being able to read and know the promise of His spirit in verse 49, And now I will send the Holy Spirit, just as my Father Promised, doubt still creeps into our lives to this very day. I think that we fall into this for a few reasons. First, we compare God to the people around us. We fall into the trap of thinking that because we are surrounded by empty promises in this world that He too is like that. We bring God down to a level that we are at. Sometimes it s because we pray and pray and pray, and we think that nothing is changing. But sometimes the answer that we are searching for is what we want and not what God is saying to us; we fall into the trap of having a preconceived idea of what His answer will be, and when it s not that then we wonder if He is there or even listening. Another reason that we doubt is because we want Him to walk in our front door and show Himself to us. We have a hard time seeing God in our everyday lives because we are surrounded by darkness, and sometimes we have blinders on to the light that is in our lives. We want God to come in a booming voice or a burning bush and speak to us, and tell us what to do. But that is where faith comes in. God gives us this gift to have faith in Him. It s beautiful that He does that for us. With that gift, we need to open our eyes to how He is working in our lives. When we are hungry, all we end up seeing and thinking about is food. When we are thirsty, all we can see and think about is something to quench our thirst. But if we start to be hungry and thirsty for Christ, we will start to see the light that is all around us in our dark world. We see that God can be found in all sorts of places, like a sunset over a beach or the love that is given to you from a friend. God is working in our lives through the things around us. We have to have faith that He is pursuing us, and wanting to give us His peace and love that He offers. Through our Baptism, God claims us as His children. Through The Lord s Supper, we can continually find comfort in knowing that we are sharing that meal with Him when we eat His body and drink His blood. It s comforting to know that our Father in Heaven provides these ways for Him be near to us. We just celebrated the fact that our loving and forgiving Father fulfilled His promise to save us. He sent His one and only Son to not only die for us, but to rise again so that we can live in a relationship with Him. God doesn t want us to stay
apart from Him, ever. He wants us to have faith that His promises are eternal, that they are saving promises. He is not of this world, and he doesn t fall short. The interesting thing about all of this is that we are still living in hope of the coming Christ; we aren t going to be left in this world. He is going to come back so that Heaven and earth can be one again. We are still left with the sinful thought of I have to see it to believe it. But our faith tells us that just like Christ came bursting through the doors after He had risen from the dead, He is going to come again giving us that same peace and freedom. We may have doubts in our lives still, but know that Christ wants you to take those doubts and pursue His love because He is pursuing you at every moment of each day. He calls you by name, and knows your thoughts, and loves the person you are. Let your doubts lead you to Christ, instead of running away. PRAY TOGETHER: 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 and ever. Amen. Benediction: The Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, the Lord lift his countenance upon you, and give you peace. Visit! Get to know one another and remind people that they are blessed in the Lord!