Liturgy w/communion for April 15, 2018 (Easter 3 - B)

Texts: Acts 3:12-19; Psalm 4; 1 John 3:1-7; Luke 24:36b-48

Call to Worship
When fear and doubts stroll through our doors:
God stands beside us, whispering of peace.
When we toss and turn late at night:
God sits by our beds, singing lullabies of love.
When we stumble through the shadows of sin:
God illuminates the paths of goodness and joy.

Prayer of the Day
When we are blinded by anger,
you pour out your love
for all to see;
when we wonder
what tomorrow will bring,
you call us to trust in you;
when sadness fills our hearts,
you plant gladness in our hearts.
God of Easter:
touch us with your grace.

You show us your hands,
so we may reach out
to mend the broken;
you show us your feet,
so we may walk with
those the world passes by;
you show us your face,
so we may know who our
sisters and brothers look like.
Risen Christ:
touch us with your compassion.

You open our eyes,
so we may see God's love;
you open our minds,
so we may welcome God's Word;
you open our lips,
so we may be God's witnesses.
Spirit of Hope:
touch us with your peace.

God in Community, Holy in One,
open us to your presence,
as we pray as Jesus has taught us, saying,
(The Lord's Prayer)

Call to Reconciliation
If our actions mirrored our words, if our hands were mentored by our hearts, if we walked the talk - we would be God's children.  But too often, it is our silence, our doubts, our fears which tell others who we truly are.  Let us confess to God how we have not been as faithful as we hope, as we pray, saying,

Unison Prayer for Forgiveness
   God of empty tombs: Peter speaks with power and clarity of his faith, while we remain silent.  The psalmist speaks of trusting in you, while our doubts overwhelm us.  Jesus is read to come and grace us with peace, but our fears keep our hearts shuttered and locked.
   God of full hearts: your love can change us from scared people to children of grace.  You can weed doubts from our hearts and plant seeds of joy in their place.  You can silence the panic of our souls with the peace Jesus offers to each of us.  Transform us into Easter people, through the power of Jesus Christ, our risen Lord and Savior.

Silence is kept

Assurance of Pardon
What marvelous love, what wondrous grace, what abundant mercy God offers - to us!  We really are God's people - that is exactly who we are!
We are God's children - those whose lives have been changed by the One who loves us and forgives us.  Thanks be to God!  Amen.

Prayer of Dedication/Offering
What will be done with the gifts we offer in these moments has not been revealed to us, Holy God, but knowing you through Jesus, and trusting in you by the power of the Holy Spirit, we do know they will be used to bring hope, to bring healing, to bring justice to all those people and places who long for these blessings.  And so we offer these gifts with gratitude to you, in Jesus' name.  Amen.

Great Prayer of Thanksgiving
May the God of mornings be with you!
May the God of evenings be with your!
See what love God has for us, as we open our hearts to Easter's joy.
Our hearts overflow with peace and grace.
Let us sing praises to God, Children of Easter.
We join our voices in songs of gladness and wonder.

     Birds building nests in fresh-blooming branches,
     snow glistening on mountain ridges,
     little children splashing in autumn's leaf piles,
     sipping hot tea in front of a roaring fire:
we see what love you have for us, Ingenious God,
for you reached into the hollows of chaos
and brought forth goodness, beauty, and wonder.
All these gifts were shaped and given to those
who were created in your image, so we might trust in you,
     but we were frightened of your gentleness
     and doubted your graciousness, and so
     acted in ignorance as we chased after sin's lies.
Through the voices and hopes of the prophets,
you continued to offer us your heart as a guest room,
     but we did not fear their words
     and continued to make our beds in death.
So your sent Jesus to us, to stand among us
and to offer your peace to our discordant natures.

With those children who trust in your promises,
with those who have known your joy in shadowed moments,
with our sisters and brothers in this place,
we offer our songs of praise to you:

Holy, holy, holy are you, God who hears our deep longings.
Creation joins in glad songs of resurrection joy.
Hosanna in the highest!

Blessed is the One who stands in our midst offering peace.
Hosanna in the highest!

We see what love you have for us, God of Holiness,
in your Child, Jesus, who reveals you as you are.
He could have stared at our foolish lives
shaking his head in disbelief at our choices,
     but opened our eyes so we might see
     your hopes for us in his gentleness.
He could have turned a deaf ear
to our angry voices and hurtful words
hurled at our friends and families,
     but heard the unspoken cries of our hearts
     for forgiveness and healing.
He could have wondered if it was worth it,
the struggle, the pain, the death, the grave,
but as your resurrection love reached out
and brought him from death's grasp,
     gladness filled his heart as he rejoiced
     in all that you had done for us.

As we have this hope made known at the Table,
as we seek to trust you in all moments,
we proclaim that mystery we call faith:

Walking to his death, Christ entrusted his life to you;
raised from the grave, Christ glorified in your love for him;
standing in our midst at the end, Christ will gather us at your Table.

See what love God has for us
as we are gathered around this Table of grace,
and the Spirit of joy is poured out upon us
and the gifts of the bread and the cup.
As we come to the feast of reconciliation,
we stand among our sisters and brothers,
seeking to live out this hope that
we are indeed God's children.
As we take the broken bread and share it,
we would go to be with the oppressed around us,
seeking to make justice our sacrifice
as we offer our trust in God to them.
As we pass the cup of community to one another,
we would go to stand beside the lonely and the longing,
to pour God's gladness into their hearts.

And when all is revealed to us, as we are gathered
with our sisters and brothers with the One
whom we will be like for all time to come,
we  will sing our songs of thanksgiving to you,
God in Community, Holy in One.  Amen.

Sending
Go now, to be God's children in the world.
We will open our minds to understand the needs around us.
Go now, to be Christ's servants in the world.
We will open our hands to share our blessings with all.
Go now, to be the Spirit's hope for the world.
We will open our hearts to welcome those who have no one to care for them.

(c) Thom M. Shuman