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| photo by Shauna Meek |
SUNDAY SERVICE of WORSHIP – Gary Johnson
April 12, 2020 GOOD FRIDAY
Let us worship together as we read!
Let us worship together as we read!
You can follow along with today’s sermon with Gary & Verna on Unity United Church and Evesham Community Church page:
https://www.facebook.com/Unity-United-Church-and-Evesham-Community-Church-233687243347894/
https://www.facebook.com/Unity-United-Church-and-Evesham-Community-Church-233687243347894/
or Gary Johnson's page:
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1654663852
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1654663852
GOOD MORNING AND WELCOME… to our Easter Sunday Service. Wherever you are joining us from, whether you’re alone or with someone you love...or with someone who may be ‘testing you’ because you have no where else to be. Our hope is that in the midst of all the chaos and uncertainty you will take time to draw closer to the One who never leaves us nor forsakes us. The Risen Christ that is the source; the very essence at the centre of our very being.
Our hope and prayer is that our Easter Service will help bring balance to your life. For some of us, life has become more hectic and stressful, yet for others loneliness has compounded, giving isolation and distancing a new meaning, quite literally meaning. “Now I feel really alone!”.
Our hope and prayer is that our Easter Service will help bring balance to your life. For some of us, life has become more hectic and stressful, yet for others loneliness has compounded, giving isolation and distancing a new meaning, quite literally meaning. “Now I feel really alone!”.
As we transition into our time of worship, let’s take a few deep breaths, to bring ourselves into the present moment.
Letting thoughts of isolation and separation float by.
Imagine yourself sitting at the feet of Jesus; in your loneliness and connectedness, your sadness and optimism, your sorrow and your joy.
Letting thoughts of isolation and separation float by.
Imagine yourself sitting at the feet of Jesus; in your loneliness and connectedness, your sadness and optimism, your sorrow and your joy.
We are not alone.
OPENING PRAYER:
We gather together as a community of faith, separated from one another, but together in spirit; for this we say Hallelujah.
The gift of your “Amazing Grace”, that’s been displayed through the death and resurrection of Jesus, so that we may have life, we say Hallelujah.
May our time of worship open us to your presence, and transform us into people of God.
Open our ears to a new way of hearing.
Open our eyes to a new way of seeing.
Un-clench our tight fists to a new way of being.
Renew our love for you and each other through our worship of you we pray. Amen
We gather together as a community of faith, separated from one another, but together in spirit; for this we say Hallelujah.
The gift of your “Amazing Grace”, that’s been displayed through the death and resurrection of Jesus, so that we may have life, we say Hallelujah.
May our time of worship open us to your presence, and transform us into people of God.
Open our ears to a new way of hearing.
Open our eyes to a new way of seeing.
Un-clench our tight fists to a new way of being.
Renew our love for you and each other through our worship of you we pray. Amen
OPENING HYMN: VU#155 “Jesus Christ Is Risen Today”
Scripture: Matthew 28:1-10
Reflection: Easter Brings Us Wings!
HYMN: Now the Green Blade Rises
Now the green blade rises from the buried grain,
Wheat that in the dark earth many years has lain;
Love lives again, that with the dead has been:
Love is come again, like wheat that springs up green.
Now the green blade rises from the buried grain,
Wheat that in the dark earth many years has lain;
Love lives again, that with the dead has been:
Love is come again, like wheat that springs up green.
In the grave they laid Him, Love Whom we had slain,
Thinking that He’d never wake to life again,
Laid in the earth like grain that sleeps unseen:
Love is come again, like wheat that springs up green.
Thinking that He’d never wake to life again,
Laid in the earth like grain that sleeps unseen:
Love is come again, like wheat that springs up green.
Up He sprang at Easter, like the risen grain,
He that for three days in the grave had lain;
Up from the dead my risen Lord is seen:
Love is come again, like wheat that springs up green.
He that for three days in the grave had lain;
Up from the dead my risen Lord is seen:
Love is come again, like wheat that springs up green.
When our hearts are saddened, grieving or in pain,
By Your touch You call us back to life again;
Fields of our hearts that dead and bare have been:
Love is come again, like wheat that springs up green.
By Your touch You call us back to life again;
Fields of our hearts that dead and bare have been:
Love is come again, like wheat that springs up green.
CLOSING PRAYER:
Let us pray.
We thank you Lord that we can gather this Easter Sunday to praise and worship you, to be uplifted and comforted, by your compassionate presence that resides in the recesses of our soul. Where darkness lives your light shines through, where doubts exists, your calmness breathes.
On this Easter Sunday when we normally would be with our loved ones, help us to give thanks for good health, for shelter and for food.
Fill the longings in our hearts with treasured memories of times spent together and good times yet to come.
We are your Easter people, filled with hope, and resurrection power to conquer the void and the darkness we feel because of limited interactions with others.
Let us pray.
We thank you Lord that we can gather this Easter Sunday to praise and worship you, to be uplifted and comforted, by your compassionate presence that resides in the recesses of our soul. Where darkness lives your light shines through, where doubts exists, your calmness breathes.
On this Easter Sunday when we normally would be with our loved ones, help us to give thanks for good health, for shelter and for food.
Fill the longings in our hearts with treasured memories of times spent together and good times yet to come.
We are your Easter people, filled with hope, and resurrection power to conquer the void and the darkness we feel because of limited interactions with others.
We thank you for our health-care workers, support staff, and scientists who work around the clock to try and save lives, and to come up with a remedy for the deadly pandemic that’s making its way around the world. Uplift them, uphold them, strengthen them.
Fill us with wisdom, discernment and understanding to be kind and grateful to essential service workers, whatever capacity they serve in.
We pray for patience and love for the parents who have to home school. For safety for the children who are at risk in their own homes.
We pray for patience and love for the parents who have to home school. For safety for the children who are at risk in their own homes.
We lift up to you, teachers, and EA’s who are figure out new ways of teaching from a distance which can be frustrating and straining.
We pray for those who experience loneliness which has been exacerbated during this time of physical distancing.
We pray for comfort and due care for those who live in senior homes, the elderly, the shut-in...the ill...and the dying...the broken hearted and the downcast. May they feel your arms of love encircle them, lifting them up onto higher ground.
We pray for comfort and due care for those who live in senior homes, the elderly, the shut-in...the ill...and the dying...the broken hearted and the downcast. May they feel your arms of love encircle them, lifting them up onto higher ground.
We surrender all that we are to the mercy of your divine love. May your resurrection power and the gift of Eternal life be ever present now and always Amen.
Let’s unite our voices and pray the LORDS PRAYER together.
OFFERING:
Over the past couple of weeks, we have seen significant changes in our lives. One thing that has remained a constant is operating costs of buildings, like our church. Although the thermostat has been turned down and the lights haven’t been turned on in our church, bills still keep coming in.
Over the past couple of weeks, we have seen significant changes in our lives. One thing that has remained a constant is operating costs of buildings, like our church. Although the thermostat has been turned down and the lights haven’t been turned on in our church, bills still keep coming in.
For Kerrobert United Church donation inquiries please call Sandra 306-834-7735 or Brenda 306-834-5556. You can mail your cheque to Box 626 Kerrobert, SK S0L 1R0
We thank you for any donation you are able to make.
We thank you for any donation you are able to make.
BENEDICTION:
We bring to God your acts of kindness, your caring, and your resources to help your neighbour, your country and the world. Amen.
We bring to God your acts of kindness, your caring, and your resources to help your neighbour, your country and the world. Amen.
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