We Gather Together to Worship Our God
Prelude: All Glory, Laud & Honor/ Melchior Teschner
Gathering Hymn: Songs of Faith #35 Resurrection Hymn
Announcements:
Today:
- 9 am- 10 am, pancake breakfast served by the youth as a fundraiser for their trip to the Creation Museum/Ark in August. If you would like to support the high schoolers’ upcoming trip, indicate on the memo line of your check that it is for the Ark Trip.
- 10:30 Worship in the sanctuary.
- There is no Nursery, Toddlers’ or Children’s church today.
This Week:
- 4:30 pm, Wednesday, Music Practice.
- 5:00 pm, Wednesday, Son Light Puppeteer practice.
- 5:30 pm, Wednesday, Kids’ Quest for grades pre-k-4th and the Middle School Youth for grades 5th-7th begin. Meal provided.
- 6:15 pm, Wednesday, High School Youth Group at the Community Center for grades 8th-12th. Meal provided.
- 6:15 pm, Wednesday, “The Study of Eschatology”
- 6 am, Thursday, Men’s Prayer-time and Bible Study.
- 8:45 am, Friday, MOPS meets at the church.
- 8 am, Saturday, Men’s Prayer-time and Bible Study.
General:
- Following worship, April 7th, Communicants’ Class begins. Meal will be provided.
- 6:00 pm, April 7th, Piedmont Area “Who Is the Holy Spirit?” community group.
- 6:00 pm, April 12th, Men’s Evening.
- 5:30 pm, April 14th, Young Adult Bible Study at Jay and Kayla’s. (Address in bulletin) Meal provided.
- 5:30 pm, April 14th, “Who Is the Holy Spirit?” community groups at the church. We will enjoy a fellowship potluck together and sing as a large group. Then we will break into smaller groups for study and prayer.
- 6:00 pm, April 15th, Session Meeting.
- April 21st, we will celebrate the Lord’s Supper.
- 6:00 pm, April 21st, Kids’ Quest Program.
- April 24th-26th, Presbytery.
- 9 am – noon, June 3rd-6th, Vacation Bible School for ages pre-k –7th! Please register ahead of time.
- Women, Please Join Us: Janet LaRocque will be sharing “The Titus 2 Tapestry” which will include covenantal discipleship, intergenerational gospel culture through Titus 2 discipleship ministry models, and all the ways women’s ministry foundations strengthen the church at presbytery:
Women of FCC, you are invited to come be a part of these gatherings on Wednesday, April 24th: 5:30 – 8:00 Dinner, worship, and Session I (Please RSVP with your name to the church office or Carey N.) and Thursday, April 25th: 9:00 – Noon, Worship, & Session II
Responsive Call to Worship: The Lord Has Risen (from Luke 24: 5; 1 Corinthians 15: 53 – 57; John 11: 25)
Leader: Why do you seek the living among the dead. He is not here. He has risen!
All: He has risen indeed!
Leader: The Lord has risen!
All: He has risen indeed!
Leader: O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory? Death is swallowed up in victory!
All: Christ has risen indeed!
Leader: Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whoever lives and believes in me shall never die.”
All: Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through the Lord Jesus Christ!
Hymn: Songs of Faith #9 Come People of the Risen King
Prayer of Adoration
Leader: The Lord has risen!
All: He has risen indeed! Alleluia!
Hymn: Hymnal #277 (verses 1 – 4) Christ the Lord Is Risen Today
Responsive Reading: From 1 Corinthians 15: 1 – 8; 1 Timothy 1: 14 – 17
Leader: Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received
All: That Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.
Leader: Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
All: The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners,
Leader: Of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.
All: To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
Hymn of Praise: Alleluia! Alleluia!
We Confess Our Sin
Responsive Reading: Westminster Shorter Catechism Q 14
Leader: What is sin?
All: Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of God.
Call to Confession: Romans 5:5, 8; Hebrews 4:16
Leader: God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the gift of the Holy Spirit. The proof of God’s amazing love is this: While we were sinners Christ died for us. Because we have faith in him, we dare to approach God in confidence to find grace and mercy in our time of need.
Silent Confession of Sin
Corporate Prayer of Confession
All: Heavenly Father, we praise You for Your grace. Once dead in our sins, You extended Your merciful love to us and we are now made alive together in Christ. Yet we confess that we are still prone at times to follow the desires of our own flesh, and for this we are sorry. Please forgive our forgetfulness of Your gracious love. On this Resurrection Sunday, we are grateful that You do not judge us according to our sins, for we would not stand the scrutiny of Your absolute holiness. Because Christ died for us, He has been judged in our place and punished for our sins. May we now, in faith, fully identify with Christ’s perfect righteousness, simply by trusting in Him. We gratefully pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Responsive Assurance of Pardon: Heidelberg Question 29; Colossians 2: 13 – 15
Leader: Why is the Son of God called “Jesus,” meaning “savior”?
All: Because he saves us from our sins, and because salvation should not be sought and cannot be found in anyone else.
Leader: When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ.
All: He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.
Leader: And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
Hymn of Assurance: Songs of Faith #15 In Christ Alone
We Give Thanks To The Lord
Tithes and Offerings
Offertory: Hallelujah Chorus/ G.F. Handel—his most successful oratorios, completed in 24 days. This is the only composition from the Baroque Era that has been continuously performed since its first appearance in 1742. In the Baroque Era, Major and minor keys were invested with psychological properties, the Hallelujah Chorus is written in the key of D Major, which was associated with power and glory, because it was the key of natural trumpets and a good key for the violin. The tradition of standing began when King George II, upon hearing it for the first time stood, recognizing that he, the King of England, was subject to the King of Kings, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Doxology
We Hear God Speak
Small Talk
Prayer of God’s People
The Lord’s Prayer
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 debts, As we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, The power, and the glory, forever. Amen.
Satan Crushed Romans 16: 20
A copy of the sermon notes is available: 3-31-24 sermon notes
Audio Only:
Hymn of Response: Hymnal #276 Up From The Grave He Arose
We Are Dismissed with God’s Blessing
Benediction
Hymn: He Lives (verse 3)
Postlude: Christ the Lord Is Risen Today/ Lyra Davidica