Easter Week | Monday 01 Apr 2024
+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Opening:
Grant, we pray, Almighty God,
that we who celebrate with reverence the Paschal feast
may be made worthy to attain to everlasting joys;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.
But someone will ask,
“How do the dead come back to life?
With what kind of body will they come back?”
(1 Corinthians 15:35)
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From Psalms: Psalm 118: Alleluia | Bob Hurd and Ken Canedo [Official Lyric Video]
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OT Reading: Genesis 1:1-19 (GW)
The Creation
1:1 In the beginning God created heaven and earth.
The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep water. The Spirit of God was hovering over the water.
+ Then God said, “Let there be light!” So there was light. God saw the light was good. So God separated the light from the darkness. God named the light day, and the darkness he named night. There was evening, then morning—the first day.
+ Then God said, “Let there be a horizon in the middle of the water in order to separate the water.” So God made the horizon and separated the water above and below the horizon. And so it was. God named ⌞what was above⌟ the horizon sky. There was evening, then morning—a second day.
+ Then God said, “Let the water under the sky come together in one area, and let the dry land appear.” And so it was. God named the dry land earth. The water which came together he named sea. God saw that it was good. Then God said, “Let the earth produce vegetation: plants bearing seeds, each according to its own type, and fruit trees bearing fruit with seeds, each according to its own type.” And so it was. The earth produced vegetation: plants bearing seeds, each according to its own type, and trees bearing fruit with seeds, each according to its own type. God saw that they were good. There was evening, then morning—a third day.
+ Then God said, “Let there be lights in the sky to separate the day from the night. They will be signs and will mark religious festivals, days, and years. They will be lights in the sky to shine on the earth.” And so it was. God made the two bright lights: the larger light to rule the day and the smaller light to rule the night. He also made the stars. God put them in the sky to give light to the earth, to dominate the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. God saw that it was good. There was evening, then morning—a fourth day.
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Creation Song – Fernando Ortega (Live) / cri
He wraps Himself in Light
As with a garment,
He spreads out the Heavens
And walks on the wings of the wind.
He sends forth the springs from the valleys
The flow between mountains
The birds of the air dwell by the waters,
Lifting their voices in song…
Singing Glory, Glory,
Glory to the Lamb!
All Praises and Honor forever.
He made the moon for its season,
The sun knows it setting
He looks at the Earth and it trembles,
He touches the mountains and they smoke.
I will sing to the Lord all my Life,
I will sing praises to my God –
As long as I live,
Praises to the Lord, oh my Soul…
Singing Glory, Hallelujah!
Glory to our God!
All Praises and Honor forever.
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NT Reading: 1 Corinthians 15:35-49 (GW)
We Will Have Bodies That Will Not Decay
15:35 But someone will ask, “How do the dead come back to life? With what kind of body will they come back?”
You fool! The seed you plant doesn’t come to life unless it dies first. What you plant, whether it’s wheat or something else, is only a seed. It doesn’t have the form that the plant will have. God gives the plant the form he wants it to have. Each kind of seed grows into its own form. Not all flesh is the same. Humans have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds have another, and fish have still another. There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies. Heavenly bodies don’t all have the same splendor, neither do earthly bodies. The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon has another kind of splendor, and the stars have still another kind of splendor. Even one star differs in splendor from another star.
That is how it will be when the dead come back to life. When the body is planted, it decays. When it comes back to life, it cannot decay. When the body is planted, it doesn’t have any splendor and is weak. When it comes back to life, it has splendor and is strong. It is planted as a physical body. It comes back to life as a spiritual body. As there is a physical body, so there is also a spiritual body.
This is what Scripture says: “The first man, Adam, became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. The spiritual does not come first, but the physical and then the spiritual. The first man was made from the dust of the earth. He came from the earth. The second man came from heaven. The people on earth are like the man who was made from the dust of the earth. The people in heaven are like the man who came from heaven. As we have worn the likeness of the man who was made from the dust of the earth, we will also wear the likeness of the man who came from heaven.
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I Will Rise | Easter and Ascension Song | Chris Tomlin | Choir w/Lyrics SATB | Sunday 7pm Choir
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+ Most loving Father, you will us to give thanks for all things, to dread nothing but the loss of you, and to cast all our care on the One who cares for us. Preserve us from faithless fears and worldly anxieties, and grant that no clouds of this mortal life may hide from us the light of that love which is immortal, and which you have manifested unto us in your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
+ Lord of Heaven’s Armies, we pray for swift justice and total victory over all evil in the Holy Land. Deliver the hostages from captivity and restore their souls. Destroy every stronghold of the evil death cult terrorizing the Middle East. And grant your heavenly wisdom to those guiding Israel militarily, politically, diplomatically – and especially to those who will restore Israel spiritually – through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
+ Heavenly Father, you have promised to hear what we ask in the Name of your Son: Accept and fulfill our petitions, we pray, not as we ask in our ignorance, nor as we deserve in our sinfulness, but as you know and love us in your Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Closing: FaithandWorship.com | John Birch
May the risen Christ grant us the joys of eternal life.
+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The Peanut Gallery 