Easter Week | Friday 14 Apr 2023
+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Opening:
Almighty Father,
who gave your only Son to die for our sins
and to rise for our justification:
Give us grace so to put away the
leaven of malice and wickedness,
that we may always serve you in purity of life;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Let me now remind you,
dear brothers and sisters,
of the Good News I preached to you before.
You welcomed it then,
and you still stand firm in it.
(1 Corinthians 15:1)
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From Psalm 16 (Keep Me Safe) – Sons of Korah
Ed Sullivan
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OT Reading: Song of Solomon 5:9-6:3 (NLT)
Young Women of Jerusalem
5:9 Why is your lover better than all others,
O woman of rare beauty?
What makes your lover so special
that we must promise this?
Young Woman
5:10 My lover is dark and dazzling,
better than ten thousand others!
His head is finest gold,
his wavy hair is black as a raven.
His eyes sparkle like doves
beside springs of water;
they are set like jewels
washed in milk.
His cheeks are like gardens of spices
giving off fragrance.
His lips are like lilies,
perfumed with myrrh.
His arms are like rounded bars of gold,
set with beryl.
His body is like bright ivory,
glowing with lapis lazuli.
His legs are like marble pillars
set in sockets of finest gold.
His posture is stately,
like the noble cedars of Lebanon.
His mouth is sweetness itself;
he is desirable in every way.
Such, O women of Jerusalem,
is my lover, my friend.
Young Women of Jerusalem
6:1 Where has your lover gone,
O woman of rare beauty?
Which way did he turn
so we can help you find him?
Young Woman
6:2 My lover has gone down to his garden,
to his spice beds,
to browse in the gardens
and gather the lilies.
I am my lover’s, and my lover is mine.
He browses among the lilies.
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ᴍᴏsᴛ ᴀɴᴄɪᴇɴᴛ ʟᴏᴠᴇ ᴘᴏᴇᴍ: 𝑺𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒇 𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒔 | نَشِيدُ الأَنَاشِيدِ | שִׁיר הַשִּׁירִים – 𝑯𝒂𝒅𝒂𝒓 𝑵𝒆𝒉𝒆𝒎𝒚𝒂
12 Tribes Music
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NT Reading: 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 (NLT)
The Resurrection of Christ
15:1 Let me now remind you, dear brothers and sisters, of the Good News I preached to you before. You welcomed it then, and you still stand firm in it. It is this Good News that saves you if you continue to believe the message I told you—unless, of course, you believed something that was never true in the first place.
I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said. He was seen by Peter and then by the Twelve. After that, he was seen by more than 500 of his followers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then he was seen by James and later by all the apostles. Last of all, as though I had been born at the wrong time, I also saw him. For I am the least of all the apostles. In fact, I’m not even worthy to be called an apostle after the way I persecuted God’s church.
But whatever I am now, it is all because God poured out his special favor on me—and not without results. For I have worked harder than any of the other apostles; yet it was not I but God who was working through me by his grace. So it makes no difference whether I preach or they preach, for we all preach the same message you have already believed.
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Oh, How He Loves You And Me | George Beverly Shea
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+ O God, the light of the minds that know you, the life of the souls that love you, and the strength of the wills that serve you: Help us so to know you that we may truly love you, and so to love you that we may fully serve you, whom to serve is perfect freedom; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
+ O God of peace, who has taught us that in returning and rest we shall be saved, in quietness and in confidence shall be our strength: By the might of your Spirit lift us, we pray, into your presence, where we may be still and know that you are God; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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Closing: FaithandWorship.com | John Birch
When faith is weak,
temptation strong
and courage fails,
forgive us, Lord
and once again
become that risen presence
within our hearts.
+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
4:2 Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart. Pray for us, too, that God will give us many opportunities to speak about his mysterious plan concerning Christ. That is why I am here in chains. Pray that I will proclaim this message as clearly as I should.
Come, see where his body was lying. And now, go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and he is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there. Remember what I have told you.”
And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.
3:5 So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world. Because of these sins, the anger of God is coming. You used to do these things when your life was still part of this world. But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language. Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds. Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him. In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us.
The Peanut Gallery 