Sunday, 26 April 2020 – Chris Hancock
Welcome
Welcome to our worship for this week. We are grateful to Hilary and Angela for reading the lessons this week.
Sources of readings and images together with their copyrights are located at the bottom of the page.
Please click the triangle to the left of each soundbar to hear that section.
Call to Worship
Hymn 1 – Singing the Faith – 20 – Be still for the presence of the Lord
Prayers of adoration and confession – The Lord’s Prayer
Hymn 2 – Singing the Faith – 297- Christ is Alive
Readings
1 Peter Chapter 1 verses 17 -23
17 Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear. 18 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. 20 He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. 21 Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.
22 Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart. 23 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.
Luke Chapter 24 v 13 – 35
The Walk to Emmaus
13 On that same day two of Jesus’ followers were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, 14 and they were talking to each other about all the things that had happened. 15 As they talked and discussed, Jesus himself drew near and walked along with them; 16 they saw him, but somehow did not recognize him. 17 Jesus said to them, “What are you talking about to each other, as you walk along?”
They stood still, with sad faces. 18 One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only visitor in Jerusalem who doesn’t know the things that have been happening there these last few days?”
19 “What things?” he asked.
“The things that happened to Jesus of Nazareth,” they answered. “This man was a prophet and was considered by God and by all the people to be powerful in everything he said and did. 20 Our chief priests and rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and he was crucified. 21 And we had hoped that he would be the one who was going to set Israel free! Besides all that, this is now the third day since it happened. 22 Some of the women of our group surprised us; they went at dawn to the tomb, 23 but could not find his body. They came back saying they had seen a vision of angels who told them that he is alive. 24 Some of our group went to the tomb and found it exactly as the women had said, but they did not see him.”
25 Then Jesus said to them, “How foolish you are, how slow you are to believe everything the prophets said! 26 Was it not necessary for the Messiah to suffer these things and then to enter his glory?” 27 And Jesus explained to them what was said about himself in all the Scriptures, beginning with the books of Moses and the writings of all the prophets.
28 As they came near the village to which they were going, Jesus acted as if he were going farther; 29 but they held him back, saying, “Stay with us; the day is almost over and it is getting dark.” So he went in to stay with them. 30 He sat down to eat with them, took the bread, and said the blessing; then he broke the bread and gave it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he disappeared from their sight. 32 They said to each other, “Wasn’t it like a fire burning in us when he talked to us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?”
33 They got up at once and went back to Jerusalem, where they found the eleven disciples gathered together with the others 34 and saying, “The Lord is risen indeed! He has appeared to Simon!”
35 The two then explained to them what had happened on the road, and how they had recognized the Lord when he broke the bread.
Hymn 3 – Singing the Faith – 64 – Hosanna (Praise is Rising)
Reflection from the Emmaus Road
Hymn 4 – Singing the Faith – 156 – From the breaking of the dawn
Sermon
Prayers of intercession
Hymn 6 – Singing the Faith 548 – Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine
Blessing
If you would like to spend some time in quiet reflection following the service here is a piece of music I wanted to include but could not fit in to the service but which speaks to me at this time and gently ends our worship together.
Images are generally sourced from Pixabay.com and are licensed as creative commons.
| Risen Christ on the Road to Emmaus, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=56882 [retrieved April 25, 2020]. Original source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jimforest/15277775371. |
Bible readings from the Good News Translation in Today’s English Version- Second Edition Copyright © 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.
Reflection by Chris Hancock
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CCL number: 4495
