The Second Sunday of Easter - Online Worship - April 11, 2021

 
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The Lord is risen!
The Lord is risen indeed!

Christ is risen!
Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia!

 
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vs. 1
Alleluia! Jesus is risen!
Trumpets resounding in glorious light!
Splendor, the Lamb, heaven forever!
Oh, what a miracle God has in sight!

refrain:
Jesus is risen and we shall arise:
Give God the glory! Alleluia!

vs. 2
Walking the way, Christ in the center,
Telling the story to open our eyes;
Breaking our bread, giving us glory:
Jesus our blessing, our constant surprise.

(refrain)

 
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Today we celebrate; Alleluia, Jesus is risen, and we, too, arise! God’s grace is alive, we are alive and anew in the living peace, hope and grace in The Risen Christ, so we worship in the name of The Father, and of The Son, and of The Holy Spirit.

Amen.

Friends, today, celebrate the Lord will not hold back his mercy. Today, let us take time to silently confess our sins; those things we have done, and left undone, which keep our hearts from seeing and believing the peace alive in The Risen Christ.

(silence for reflection)

Friends in Christ: You are alive and anew, raised up in God’s living grace in these words: Jesus saves; Jesus forgives you all your sins. Trust The Risen Christ is right here, springing forth for you a living hope, a living peace. Celebrate, make known, live anew, for, “Alleluia! Jesus is risen, and we shall arise!”

 
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Loving God, we celebrate with joy the resurrection of our Lord. Raise us up in new life, to be alive and anew, in your power and peace and grace, right here, in The Risen Christ. By your Spirit, put every one of our doubts aside, and give us faith to see and to believe anew you are alive in our midst. Break this morning wide open once again to trust you, Jesus, have risen and we shall arise, in the living peace, calm, grace and assurance of your presence. In The Risen Jesus, we pray. Amen.

 
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When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, Jesus showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When Jesus had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” But Thomas, who was called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But Thomas said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.” A week later, his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then Jesus said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and My God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name. 

(New Revised Standard Version)

 
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ACTS 4:32-35; 1 JOHN 1:1-2:2; JOHN 20:19-31

ACTS 4:32-35; 1 JOHN 1:1-2:2; JOHN 20:19-31

Have you ever seen the wind blowing through the trees, crashing the waves against the shore, and suddenly everything goes still?  Have you ever watched someone you love rushing around the house or overcome with concern and emotion, and suddenly the one you love is calm?  Have you ever been outside, walking down the street, out in the woods, out for a day on the water, or maybe you have been in the office or house, and you cannot hear a sound?  The disciples were uneasy and full of fear that first Easter night in the upper room.  The Risen Christ gave them, gives us, what we need the most, - new peace, real peace, living peace!  When your busy life and pounding heart fills you with pace, worry, brokenness, and demands keep crashing, banging and breaking your spirit; trust The Risen Christ breaks into your midst, too, to raise you up, for you are alive and anew in peace, real peace, living peace in the grace of The Risen Christ! 

1. We all know what worry, fear, stress sound like.  Thanks to the grace of The Risen Christ, we are alive and anew in grace and living peace. 
Acts 4:32; 1 John 1:5; John 20:19-20, 25-26, 30-31

A. Have you ever been quieted by the peace on another’s face when peace did not seem possible?

B. May The Risen Christ calm you and quiet you, and raise you up, to be alive and anew in peace, living peace in the grace of Christ!

2. We all know what brokenness, sin, despair and helplessness sound like.  Thanks to the grace of The Risen Christ, we are alive and anew in peace, restored and living peace.
1 John 1:6-10; John 20:19-23, 26-29

A. You know what calm and quiet sound like when all else is crashing.

B. May you hear the hope, power, peace of The One who hears you and speaks peace, The One who is peace, to restore us to be alive and anew in the living peace and grace of The Risen Christ!

3. We all know what it is like to try and hold onto peace.  Thanks to the grace of The Risen Christ, we are raised to be alive, anew in peace, held by The One who is living peace.
Acts 4:33; 1 John 2:1-2; John 20:20-23

A. You know when others have the peace you are longing for.

B. Peace, true peace, is being held by The One who is living peace, being held in the grace of The Risen Christ! 

4. Have you ever known the unrest of trying to tell another about The Risen Christ?  Have you ever tried to tell another about the peace you know?  Have you ever wished you could share the power and grace you live in, that you could find the secret to telling them the living peace we live in, is no secret?
Acts 4:33; 1 John 1:2-3; John 20:25, 28, 30-31

A. You are witnesses to the peace of witnessing, the peace of telling another The Good News, being alive and anew in Christ!

B. Peace, new peace, real peace, living peace, being alive and anew in the peace of God’s grace has been spoken, for Christ is risen!  Christ is risen indeed!  Alleluia!

 
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Offering is available for our indoor services. Find a Lord of Life with a volunteer bucket to deposit offering in person as you leave worship today. If you find yourself wanting to offer your gifts to Lord of Life, you can do so online using the link below. You can also drop offering at anytime in our secure mailbox at Lord of Life located in the parking lot.

 
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He is exalted,
The King is exalted on high;
I will praise Him.
He is exalted,
Forever exalted,
And I will praise His name!
He is the Lord,
Forever His truth shall reign.
Heaven and earth
Rejoice in His holy name.
He is exalted,
The King is exalted on high!

(repeat)

He is exalted,
The King is exalted on high!

 
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Lord, you know what consumes our hearts these days, and yet, we join the words of old,
"Hear my cry, O God; listen to my prayer from the ends of the earth.  I call to you when my heart is faint.  Lead me to the rock that is higher than I, for you are my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy."

Loving God, life’s events often open our hearts to how vulnerable and fragile life is. Life is uncertain for us and our loved ones. Today we share the words God spoke through the prophet, “Comfort, o comfort my people.” God still sends words of comfort and hope.
We trust God says to us again today, “Do not fear. I have created you and formed you, and I have called you by name. You are mine and I am with you.”

Dear friends, God says, “I will make with them a covenant of peace. I will make them and the region one of blessing. They shall be secure, and I will break the bars of their yoke, and save them from the hands that hurt them. They shall live in safety and, no one shall make them afraid.” Trust Jesus Christ is risen, and lives to fulfill the covenant!
But Lord we are afraid. We wait and pray for your promises to be fulfilled. At times our voices join those of the psalmist, those of our Savior, and we too, cry out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning? My God, I cry to you by day, but you do not answer; I cry to you by night, and I find no rest.”

Lord, in the midst of our anger and fear, keep us calm, comforted and assured, for the psalm continues: “In you alone our ancestors put their trust, and you delivered them. To you alone they cried, and they were saved, and in you alone they trusted, and they were not disappointed.”
Lord, your power alone rules all creation, yet at times we weep, and we cry out the words of long ago, “I lift my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come?” Trusting in you alone, we announce with unwavering conviction, “My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.”

Lord, when confidence is shaken, when we are not sure where to turn, what to do, what to hold onto, speak to us, assure us as you did Paul, “Your grace is sufficient; your power is made perfect in weakness.”
As we search to hold onto peace and order, increase in us such faith to trust what is true; “The light shines in the darkness and the darkness will not ever overcome it.”

Creator of life and peace: Give us faith and courage to trust you when you say, “The day is coming when swords will be beaten into plowshares, and spears into pruning hooks, and nation will no longer lift up sword against nation, and war will be no more.”
Give us the peace only you can give, that all might see and realize and hold fast to your promised Word, for “the wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them.”

At times we feel alone or isolated. Today we give thanks, Lord, you are the tie that binds us together. We trust Jesus continues “to pray on our behalf that all people may be one people.”
Even in times of despair, Jesus, you are faithful, and we remember you “are with us always, to the close of the age.”

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As we hear God's Word which restores us and gives us hope, we remember how God restored and called the Apostle Paul.  Paul wrote words of great conviction, even in the midst of trials and uncertainties.  Let us state our faith today, trusting and announcing the foundation of faith we hold onto and the promises of God, neither of which will ever fail us.

"What then are we to say about these things?  If God is for us, who is against us?  He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else?  Who will bring any charge against God's elect?  It is God who justifies.  Who is to condemn?  It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us.  Who will separate us from the love of Christ?  Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?  .....  No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.  For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."  Amen.

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Though the world reminds us we are vulnerable, The Risen Jesus invites us to live today in confidence and hope. “Do not worry about your life. If God clothes the grass of the field, will He not much more clothe you?” And “not one sparrow falls to the ground apart from The Father. Do not be afraid, for you are of more value to him than the sparrows.” When we are troubled, “God gives us peace that passes all understanding, he keeps our hearts guarded and our minds in Christ Jesus.” Therefore, “let us love one another as he has loved us” for peace comes in knowing “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that all who believe would not die, but have eternal life.” In grace and peace and hope, we pray anew the prayer of St. Francis:

Lord, make us instruments of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let us sow love;
where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, union;
where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy.
Grant that we would not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.

 
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...as we pray to you, living Jesus,
Risen Savior, raise us to live anew, in your living hope and peace and grace.

All these things and whatever else you see we need, grant to us we pray, for into your hands, O Lord, we commend all for whom we pray, trusting in your mercy, through your Son, Jesus Christ, our Risen Lord and Savior.
Amen.

The peace of The Risen Christ be with you always.
And also with you.

 
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Holy Communion will take place after the closing Benediction. If you are not worshipping with us in person but would like to receive Communion, we will be offering Drive Through Communion at our building at 16200 Dodd Lane, Lakeville, Minnesota, following our indoor service. Drive Through Communion will be available between 10:15am & 10:30am.

In order to better serve you in this troubling times, the way we receive Communion has changed slightly. You will be offered a self-contained Communion serving. Each capsule has two layers. The first layer is a thin, clear, cellophane layer which reveals the host. Under the second layer you will find the alcohol free juice. Volunteers will be happy to take you waste after you receive Communion.

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The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” Again after supper, he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

 
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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,
Forever and ever. Amen.

 
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The Risen Lord bless you and keep you. The Risen Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you. The Risen Lord look upon you with favor and give you peace, for you are alive and anew, right here, in the living grace of Jesus Christ. In the name of The Father, and of The Son, and of The Holy Spirit.
Amen.

Christ is risen!
Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Let us go in the peace of the living Christ, alive and anew, celebrating the love of God, and serving The Risen Lord of life.
Thanks be to God! Alleluia!

 
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vs. 1
When peace, like a river,
Attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot,
Thou hast taught me to say,
“It is well, it is well with my soul.”

refrain:
It is well with my soul,
It is well, it is well,
With my soul.

vs. 3
My sin – O,
The bliss of this glorious thought,
My sin – not in part,
But the whole;
Is nailed to the cross,
And I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
O my soul!

(refrain)

vs. 4
And Lord, haste the day
When my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trumpet shall sound
And the Lord shall descend,
Even so – it is well with my soul.

(refrain)

 
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Your only Son, no sin to hide,
But you have sent Him from your side,
To walk upon this guilty sod,
And to become the Lamb of God.

Your gift of love they crucified;
They laughed and scorned Him as He died
The humble King, they named a fraud,
And sacrificed the Lamb of God.

O Lamb of God,
Sweet Lamb of God,
I love the holy Lamb of God.
O wash me in His precious blood,
My Jesus Christ,
The Lamb of God.

I was so lost, I should have died,
But you have brought me to your side,
To be led by, Your staff and rod,
And to be called a lamb of God.

O Lamb of God,
Sweet Lamb of God,
I love the holy Lamb of God.
O wash me in His precious blood,
My Jesus Christ,
The Lamb of God.

 
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vs. 1
Let there be peace on earth,
And let it begin with me;
Let there be peace on earth,
The peace that was meant to be.
With God as our Father,
Family all are we.
Let me walk with my neighbors,
In perfect harmony.

vs. 2
Let peace begin with me,
Let this be the moment now.
With ev’ry step I take,
Let this be my solemn vow:
To take each moment
And live each moment
In peace eternally.
Let there be peace on earth,
And let it begin with me.

To take each moment
And live each moment
In peace eternally.
Let there be peace on earth,
And let it begin with me.

 
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Join us next Sunday, April 18, 9:30 a.m., as we celebrate, The Third Sunday of Easter, “Alive And Anew, Filled With Living Grace!” Worship to include a Children’s Message and a Sermon from Pastor Jamie! Worship to be 30 minutes, and to conclude with Holy Communion!
Join us in-person or via our live stream efforts on our Facebook page.

As we share worship in this new way, we are seeking volunteers to assist with greeting, ushering, serving communion, live streaming, AV ministry, set up, clean up, worship leaders, and more! You can access details and ways to sign up on our website and Facebook page! Thank you!

All who proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, are welcome to God’s table of grace as we share Holy Communion. Communion will be offered to you as you exit the sanctuary, as we share pre-packaged single servings of communion, including a wafer and grape juice. Carefully pull back the first tab to expose the host, the body of Christ, given for you; then pull back the second tab to expose the blood of Christ, shed for you! Please ask for assistance or clarification as you are served!

For those sharing their generosity today, we thank you for your faithful giving! Offering is collected in baskets by the ushers as you exit the building.

For those who are not able to join us for worship, you are invited to receive drive-through communion, available Sundays, 10:15-10:30 a.m. at the front curb near the church entrance.

We hope having the service provided for you in this way, will touch you, comfort you, reassure you, and grace you in some way! If you believe others you know would be blessed to receive this bulletin, the sermon notes, or our live stream links, please forward these to them.

In this time when we are committed to safety and social distancing, please trust we are equally committed to keeping us socially and spiritually connected! On behalf of the Kingdom of God, thank you for the ways you make God and neighbor first!

From everyone on every level of leadership and service, we continue to pray for you and to give thanks to God for each of you! Please contact Pastor Jamie if he can serve you in any way: jamie.thompson@lordoflifemn.org

We pray The Holy Spirit breathes anew on us to be God’s people and to be God’s Church, as together we make known and we trust anew God’s gifts of hope, peace, justice, clarity, calm, and comfort forever break forth in new ways for you and your loved ones, today, and as we share every gift of God’s light, love, and grace!

 
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Acknowledgments for today’s service include:

Litany Alive & Anew In The Living Peace of The Risen Christ, written based on Psalm 40. “Prayer of The Day,” “Lord’s Prayer,” “Post-Communion Blessing, Prayer, & Benediction,” based on the LBW. © 1978 Lutheran Book of Worship (LBW) and With One Voice Hymnal Supplement © 1995 Augsburg Publishing House, Minneapolis & Board of Publication, Lutheran Church In America, Philadelphia; and Evangelical Lutheran Worship © 2006 Augsburg Fortress, Minneapolis, MN. Used with permission. “Alleluia! Jesus Is Risen” Music © 1969 Contemporary Worship 1, Text © 1995 Augsburg Fortress OL #01600 “Jesus Loves Me” © Words and Music Public Domain, CCLI #4771887 “He Is Exalted” © 1985 Mountain Spring Music CCLI #17827 “When Peace, Like a River (It Is Well with My Soul)” Words and Music Public Domain “Lamb of God” © 1985 Mountain Spring Music, CCLI #16787 Let There Be Peace on Earth” © 1955, Renewed 1983 Jan-Lee Music CCLI #93690 All rights reserved. All songs used with permission. CCLI License #1380826 & OneLicense #A-724016.

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