Call to Worship |
Leader
(James) |
We look for light, but find darkness
for brightness, but walk in gloom |
People |
We grope like those who have no eyes;
we stumble at noon as in the twilight. |
Leader |
If I say, "Let only darkness cover me,
and the light about me be night," |
People |
even the darkness is not dark to You, |
Leader |
the night is as the day, |
People |
for darkness is as light with You. |
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Leader |
Blessed be Your name, O God, for ever. |
People |
You reveal deep and mysterious things; |
Leader |
You are light, and in You is no darkness. |
People |
Our darkness has passed away,
Behold the True Light is shining. |
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Leader |
The Lord is Risen! |
People |
The Lord is Risen Indeed! |
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Message |
Katie -
We’re going to be using the song Lord of the Dance now, so please turn to
# 261 in your hymnal. For each verse, we’ll look at the story being
told, we’ll look at our windows that tell that same story, and we’ll read
some scripture to bring it all together.
What we want to see this morning – this Easter morning – is
What brings us Joy?
What makes us Celebrate?
What can make us Dance?
Just like David when he brought the ark of God into Jerusalem, what could
make us dance with all our might before the Lord?
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Scripture
2
Samuel 6:14 |
We all sing verse 1, then stop
(Katie continues)
Right, the Beauty of Creation and Christmas. There’s a couple of pretty Joyful
things; and Who is at the center of that Joy? Jesus!
Look at the 1st window on each side of the sanctuary: Creation and
the Nativity |
Scripture
John
1:1-4,
Genesis
1:1-4,
Luke
2:9-12 |
We all sing verse 2, then stop
Mark -
OK, knowing God brings Joy, and James and John got to know Jesus personally.
We don’t have that Joy, but we can know Him by reading the Bible. But
sometimes we can miss the Forest for the Trees, just like the Scribes and
Pharisees missed out on the dance when Jesus called them, but not James and
John!
Look at the 4th window over here: Moses & the Law |
Scripture
Exodus
19:3-9,
Isaiah
9:1-3,
Matthew
4:17-23 |
We all sing verse 3, then stop
Christian -
Still, knowing God is such a great Joy, but sometimes we can get so caught
up in what we shouldn't do, that we miss out on what we should do. The
“holy people” said that Jesus shouldn’t have been doing good – not because
they didn’t want anything good to be done, they were too concerned about
not doing the wrong thing to let themselves do the right thing.
Look at the 4th window over here, now, Jesus’ Healing / Teaching Hands |
Scripture
Exodus
20:8-11,
John
5:2-9, 15-17,
Matthew
12:6-8 |
We all sing verse 4, then stop
Sarah -
We celebrate Heroes! People who look for others' good before their own, who
make sacrifices for others. and what greater sacrifice could anyone give
than giving His own life for ours – to pay for our sins?
Look at the 5th window over here representing the Crucifixion.
When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, He came to live as one of us – He gave
up the Joys of Heaven, and came to die as one of us, to die for all of us. |
Scripture
Luke
23:33-47 |
We all sing verse 5, then stop
Ross -
Surprises can bring Joy! and Easter is the Greatest surprise of ALL!
Not only is Jesus not dead, we're not dead either!
Through Him we now have Eternal Life.
Look at all the windows around you in the sanctuary. They all
tell the story of the same God – the God who was willing to come live and
die as one of us. But the best part of the story is the surprise ending
– He died on the cross, but that wasn’t the end of the story. His Resurrection
was the surprise ending to that story, and the surprise beginning of ours!
He didn't just die for us - He rose again so we can have eternal life with
Him! |
Scripture
Matthew
28:1-10, 16-20 |
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