Unexpected – Mark 16.1-8
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GATHERING
Announcements:
With the number of vaccines being distributed and the rate of test-positivity decreasing, we are looking into the possibility of reopening for limited in-person worship. If you have been vaccinated, or will soon be vaccinated, and are available to help with in-person worship, please contact the church office via cokesburyumc@gmail.com
Until then, will continue to offer worship online only and we will continue to offer mid-week prayers, live videos, and email devotionals. Online giving can be made on our About page on the church website, cokesburyumc.church which will be linked in the video description for live worship as well as checks through the mail.
Hymn 249 – Turn Your Eyes upon Jesus:
Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in his wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of his glory and grace.
Prayer:
O Lord God, our Father through Jesus Christ your Son in the power of the holy Spirit! Give light to our eyes, we pray, that we may see your light, the brightly shining light of resurrection. Take away our sins and our shortcomings, from all who celebrate this day in the right or even in the wrong spirit, and from all people everywhere. Bless whatever efforts are made to bear witness to your name, your kingdom, and your will in our church as well as in other churches. Govern all honest efforts on the part of the those who lead us. Strengthen teachers in the their commitment to the high task of educating the coming generations; Give peace and wisdom to the doctors and nurses in their faithful work of alleviating the pain of those entrusted to their care. Make up by your comfort our failure to provide for so many of the last, least, lost, little, and the dead. Show compassion to all people in all places. Into your had we commend ourselves and our needs. In you we hope. In you we trust.
Our own joys and concerns…
And as you taught us, so now we pray… 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. Amen.
PROCLAIMING
Mark 16.1-8:
When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome brought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. They had been saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.” So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.
Hymn 318 – Christ Is Alive:
V1. Christ is alive! Let Christians sing. His cross stands empty to the sky.
Let streets and homes with praises ring. His love in death shall never die.
V2. Christ is alive! No longer bound to distant Palestine,
He comes to claim the here and now and dwell in every place and time.
V3. Not throned afar, remotely high, untouched, unmoved by human pains,
But daily, in the midst of life, our Savior in the Godhead reigns.
V4. In every insult, rift, and war, where color, scorn, or wealth divide,
He suffers still, yet loves the more, and lives, though ever crucified.
V5. Christ is alive, and comes to bring good news to this and every age,
Till earth and all creation ring with joy, with justice, love, and praise.
Sermon: Unexpected
RESPONDING
Prayer:
O God, who made this day to shine with the glory of the Lord’s resurrection: Stir up in your Church that Spirit of adoption which is given to us in Baptism, that we, being renewed both in body and mind, may worship you in sincerity and truth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Offering – Reminder for online giving, through the mail, or the drop slot at the church.
Apostles’ Creed:
I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth; And in Jesus Christ his only son our Lord: who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; the third day he rose from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
SENDING FORTH
Blessing and Benediction