Introduction & Welcome
Alleluia! Christ is risen.
Christ is risen indeed. Alleluia!
The gospel for the third Sunday of Easter is always one in which the risen Christ shares food with the disciples, meals that are the Easter template for the meal we share each Sunday. In today’s gospel, Jesus both shares the disciples’ food and shows them the meaning of his suffering, death, and resurrection through the scriptures, the two main elements of our Sunday worship.
Thanksgiving for Baptism
Alleluia! Christ is risen.
Christ is risen indeed. Alleluia!
Refreshed by the resurrection life we share in Christ,
let us give thanks for the gift of baptism.
We thank you, risen Christ,
for these waters where you make us new,
leading us from death to life, from tears to joy.
We bless you, risen Christ, that your Spirit comes to us
in the grace-filled waters of rebirth,
like rains to our thirsting earth,
like streams that revive our souls,
like cups of cool water shared with strangers.
Breathe your peace on your church when we hide in fear.
Clothe us with your mercy and forgiveness.
Send us companions on our journey as we share your life.
Make us one, risen Christ.
Cleanse our hearts.
Shower us with life.
To you be given all praise,
with the Holy Spirit,
in the glory of God,
now and forever.
Amen.
Confession and Forgiveness
All may make the sign of the cross, the sign marked at baptism, as the presiding minister begins.
Blessed be the holy Trinity, ☩ one God,
the keeper of the covenant,
the source of steadfast love,
our rock and our redeemer.
Amen.
God hears us when we cry, and draws us close in Jesus Christ. Let us return to the one who is full of compassion.
Silence is kept for reflection.
Fountain of living water,
pour out your mercy over us.
Our sin is heavy, and we long to be free.
Rebuild what we have ruined and mend what we have torn.
Wash us in your cleansing flood.
Make us alive in the Spirit to follow in the way of Jesus,
as healers and restorers of the world you so love.
Amen.
Beloved, God’s word never fails.
The promise rests on grace:
by the saving love of Jesus Christ,
the wisdom and power of God,
your sins are ☩ forgiven, and God remembers them no more.
Journey in the way of Jesus.
Amen.
Prayer of the Day
Holy and righteous God, you are the author of life, and you adopt us to be your children. Fill us with your words of life, that we may live as witnesses to the resurrection of your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen.
First Reading: Acts 3:12-19
After healing a man unable to walk, Peter preaches to the people, describing how God’s promises to Israel have been fulfilled in Jesus. Through the proclamation of Christ’s death and resurrection, God is offering them forgiveness and restoration in Jesus’ name.
12[Peter] addressed the people, “You Israelites, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we had made him walk?13The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our ancestors has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and rejected in the presence of Pilate, though he had decided to release him. 14But you rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer given to you, 15and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. 16And by faith in his name, his name itself has made this man strong, whom you see and know; and the faith that is through Jesus has given him this perfect health in the presence of all of you.
17“And now, friends, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. 18In this way God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, that his Messiah would suffer. 19Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out.”
Psalm: Psalm 4
The Lord does wonders for the faithful. (Ps. 4:3)
1Answer me when I call, O God, defender of my cause;
you set me free when I was in distress; have mercy on me and hear my prayer.
2“You mortals, how long will you dishonor my glory;
how long will you love illusions and seek after lies?”
3Know that the Lord does wonders for the faithful;
the Lord will hear me when I call.
4Tremble, then, and do not sin;
speak to your heart in silence upon your bed.
5Offer the appointed sacrifices,
and put your trust | in the Lord.
6Many are saying, “Who will show us any good?”
Let the light of your face shine upon us, O Lord.
7You have put gladness in my heart,
more than when grain and wine abound.
8In peace, I will lie down and sleep;
for you alone, O Lord, make me rest secure.
Second Reading: 1 John 3:1-7
God has loved us in order to make us children of God. Though we do not yet know the full details of our future existence, we trust that God will reveal it just as God revealed Jesus to take away our sins.
1See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. 3And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.
4Everyone who commits sin is guilty of lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. 5You know that he was revealed to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. 6No one who abides in him sins; no one who sins has either seen him or known him. 7Little children, let no one deceive you. Everyone who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.
Gospel Acclamation
Alleluia. Our hearts burn within us* while you open to us the scriptures. Alleluia. (Luke 24:32)
Gospel: Luke 24:36b-48
In this account of an appearance after his resurrection, Jesus opens the minds of the disciples to understand him as Messiah. Jesus convinces them that he has been raised and sends them on a mission to proclaim the message of repentance and forgiveness.
36bJesus himself stood among [the disciples] and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 37They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. 38He said to them, “Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” 40And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. 41While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” 42They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43and he took it and ate in their presence.
44Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.” 45Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, 46and he said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, 47and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48You are witnesses of these things.”
Meditation by David O’Brien
Alleluia! Christ is risen.
Christ is risen indeed. Alleluia!
If today’s Gospel sounds like a repeat of last weeks, there’s a good reason for that. This is Luke’s telling of the story of Christ coming to the disciples after His resurrection. It’s such a good story, we tell it two weeks in a row! I thought it was an interesting difference that in Luke’s story He asks the disciples for something to eat, proving that He is in fact risen. After all, would a ghost want something to eat? This is also part of the basis for our celebration of the Holy Eucharist, a meal with Christ. I also think it’s important that the risen Lord discusses how the suffering He endured and His resurrection had been foretold and proclaimed them to be witnesses if these events. Christ also instructs them “that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in His name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem”.
In our first reading, Peter had just healed a man while he was among some of his fellow Jews and he speaks to them directly, in ways that they could identify with. For example, he speaks of “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, the God of our ancestors” which was often the way the Jews spoke of God. In fact, this is the way that God introduces Himself to Moses at the burning bush. This way of referring to God is seen in several places throughout the Old Testament. Elijah referred to Him this way in 1 Kings 18:36 when presenting an offering to God. When praying for his son, Solomon, David also referred to God in this manner in 1 Chronicles 29:18. I think he was doing this to try to make a firmer connection with the people he was speaking to, the Jews.
Peter makes reference to Jesus being “God’s servant”. This was probably reminiscent of Isaiah 53:13 which begins “my servant will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted”. He also makes reference to the fact that his Jewish brethren had rejected Him and had Him handed over to Pilate for execution. Peter is careful to tell them that this healing was not done via his righteous or his own merit, but by the name of Jesus, “whom God raised from the dead”. Peter even gave his fellow Jews an out, saying that he knows they “acted in ignorance” and invites them to repentance, so that they might turn to God and have their sins wiped out.
Why is Peter making this extraordinary effort to reach out to the Jews in a way that they can relate to? First of all, he was told by Christ to proclaim repentance and forgiveness in His name to all nations and to start with Jerusalem. I also think it’s just another example of how God’s mercy extends to all people, even the people who “killed the Author of life”, meaning Jesus Christ. What a miraculous thing that is! God loves us! He loves us enough that He has made us His children. That love extends to all people and is greater than the sins that they have committed. May we try to emulate Peter when we reach out to people in our community and speak to them in ways they can understand and try to reach them where they are.
Prayers of Intercession
Alive in the risen Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit, we bring our prayers before God who promises to hear us and answer in steadfast love.
A brief silence.
Living God, in the midst of Easter joy we are still filled with questions and wondering. Inspire Daniel and Elizabeth, our bishops, and Howard, our pastor to help us to feel the touch of the Holy Spirit and open our hearts and minds as we encounter the scriptures, so that the church embodies repentance and forgiveness in the name of Jesus to all nations. Hear us, O God.
Your mercy is great.
Creating God, like a master artist you have fashioned the universe out of your love and delight. Heal your creation where it is in need of restoration. Teach us to appreciate and protect the natural wonders that You have blessed us with. Provide all the inhabitants of earth a peaceful and sustainable home. Hear us, O God.
Your mercy is great.
God of all, the nations hunger and thirst for your righteousness. Many call on you for guidance and strength. Answer their hopes with the peace of Christ and give your loving kindness to national, state, and local leaders of people. Hear us, O God.
Your mercy is great.
Healing God, you hear the cries of those in need and answer them in their distress. Grant to those who are sick and suffering your compassion and nurse them back to health and wholeness, especially those affected by political or civil unrest and all those on our prayer list. Be close to the hearts of the lonely, especially those in hospitals or other institutions, who suffer in separation from those they love, and those they have been separated from. Hear us, O God.
Your mercy is great.
Loving Parent, you have given us such love that we should be called the children of God. Reveal yourself to us so that we in this community of faith will become more and more like you in our mutual love and bold witness. Hear us, O God.
Your mercy is great.
God of all times and ages, those who have died in you now see you as you are. We thank you for their lives among us. Assure us of the peace you have promised, that we may join them in everlasting life. Hear us, O God.
Your mercy is great.
In the hope of new life in Christ, we raise our prayers to you, trusting in your never-ending goodness and mercy; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Together, let us profess our faith using the words of the Apostles Creed:
I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to the dead.* On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the Father, and he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.
Amen.
And now, as our Savior, Christ is teaching us, we boldly pray:
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 trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever.
Amen.
Blessing
May our glorious God grant you a spirit of wisdom
to know and to love the risen Lord Jesus.
The God of life,
Father, ☩ Son, and Holy Spirit,
bless you now and forever.
Amen.
Dismissal
Alleluia! Christ is risen.
Christ is risen indeed. Alleluia!
Go in peace. Share the good news. Alleluia!
Thanks be to God. Alleluia!
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