Church Service on Sunday, April 18th, 2021 Third Sunday of Easter

 

Welcome to the CHS Vientiane Worship Service Resources

We invite you to take time this Sunday, in families or very small groups of friends, to responsibly share space to worship God together.

If you are on your own, please be assured we are together in the Spirit and if you have needs, or just want to share concerns, please don't be afraid to reach out and share these with the CHS community.  Contact details can be found on our church website at:  http://www.thechs.org/

~ Pastor Tony
 



 
Duccio, di Buoninsegna, d. 1319. Christ Appears to the Disciples at the Table after the Resurrection, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=49184 [retrieved April 11, 2021]. Original source: www.yorckproject.de.
Attribution:  Duccio, di Buoninsegna, d. 1319. Christ Appears to the Disciples at the Table after the Resurrection, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=49184 [retrieved April 11, 2021]. Original source: www.yorckproject.de.

Scripture Sentence 
 
"I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty."
                                                      (John 6: 35)


 
The Collect
God of life and love,
your Son made himself known to his disciples
in the breaking of bread.
Open the eyes of our faith,
that we may see him in his redeeming work,
who is alive and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen



Call to Worship 
 
Come trust in the Creator,
who transforms our distress and anger
with silence and searching.
 
We meet in the light of a new day,
welcoming the Word of God.

The Presence of heaven brings peace to this space and time

and our hearts and minds awaken for heaven’s purpose to be revealed.

Amen
 

Opening Hymn of Praise

Our God reigns (MP249)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n82_H4yabC4

1  How lovely on the mountains are the feet of him

who brings good news, good news,

proclaiming peace, announcing news of happiness,

our God reigns, our God reigns!

Our God reigns, our God reigns,

our God reigns, our God reigns!

 

Confession

Our heavenly Father
thank you that you love us 
and care for us all the time.
We know that this week 
we have not always lived the way you tell us.
We have done wrong things 
and not done all the good things we should have done.
Only you can save us,
so please forgive us
and help us to live as your friends.
We ask this in Jesus’ name.
Amen
 
Silence
 
Lord have mercy,
Christ have mercy,
Lord have mercy.
 
As children of God,
we are known by You,
and long for your presence
to turn us around with forgiveness
and place our feet upon Christ’s path
of holiness and love.
We ask these prayers in Jesus' name,
Amen







Creed
 
We believe in God the Father,                 
Maker of all things.
We believe in his Son Jesus Christ,
Lord and Saviour of the world.
We believe in the Holy Spirit,
giver of life and light.    
We belong to the Church,
God’s family everywhere.
Amen


Bible Readings

Psalm:  Psalm 4
First Reading:  Acts 3:12-19
Second Reading:  1 John 3:1-7
Gospel:  Luke 24:36b-48

Song: 
 
Refiner's Fire (MP 921)

1  Purify my heart,
let me be as gold and precious silver;
purify my heart,
let me be as gold, pure gold.
        Refiner’s fire, my heart’s one desire
is to be holy,
set apart for You, Lord;
I choose to be holy,
set apart for You, my Master,
ready to do Your will.

2  Purify my heart,
cleanse me from within and make me holy;
purify my heart,
cleanse me from my sin, deep within.
Refiner’s fire . . .


Prayer with and for the children

Life-giving God,
maker of the stars in the sky,
that shine so brightly in our night sky
and make us wonder at why they are there.

Designer of all people, young and not so young, who are part of our life and who make us wonder at how different we all are.

You sent Jesus into the world
to show us how much you love us,
to be the link between heaven and earth.

In him we discover
the meaning of life,
and are invited
to join him and help others to come to know him

and love him as we do.

We wonder at the life
Jesus lived,
at how he chose to treat people, and at how he freely
gave his life for us,
and how he rose again,
and is alive today.

Take away our doubts and grow our faith
in the risen Christ
who we choose to follow. So be it.

Amen

Sermon 
 
Song
 
Love Divine all loves excelling (MP 449)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGGcqhKShQ8

1  Love divine, all loves excelling,
    joy of heaven, to earth come down:
    fix in us Thy humble dwelling,
    all Thy faithful mercies crown.
    Jesus, Thou art all compassion,
    pure, unbounded love Thou art;
    visit us with Thy salvation,
    enter every trembling heart.

2  Breathe, O breathe Thy loving Spirit
    into every troubled breast;
    let us all in Thee inherit,
    let us find Thy promised rest.
    Take away the love of sinning,
    Alpha and Omega be;
    end of faith, as its beginning,
    set our hearts at liberty.

3  Come, almighty to deliver,
    let us all Thy grace receive;
    suddenly return, and never,
    never more Thy temples leave.
    Thee we would be always blessing,
    serve Thee as Thy hosts above,
    pray, and praise Thee without ceasing,
    glory in Thy perfect love.

4  Finish then Thy new creation:
    pure and spotless let us be;
    let us see Thy great salvation,
    perfectly restored in Thee:
    changed from glory into glory,
    till in heaven we take our place,
    till we cast our crowns before Thee,
    lost in wonder, love, and praise.   



 
Dedication of our Offering
   
Gracious and loving God, 
if we have gifts to bring, 
it is of your free mercy;
for all things are yours,
and what we have comes from you.
 
Accept the offerings we make,
and grant that gifts which can never be worthy may yet be hallowed by your blessing
and used in your service;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
 
Amen

    

Prayers of Approach,Thanksgiving and Intercession

Approach and Thanksgiving
 
Stepping into the turmoil of life,
You bring peace,
Risen presence.
Your calm voice chases away the darkness and distress
of doubt and fear,
bringing new light and insight
to life and death.
In an upper room,
You make the extraordinary experience of resurrection
an everyday encounter,
and in the passage of all living things
through birth, growth and death,
we notice the possibility of new beginnings.
Your words of peace still our hurry.
Your story is to be savoured,
to fill imaginations,
to dream of what is possible.
In the peace Your passion for creation is revealed,
as Your love heals the division humanity creates
between one another,
amidst the world around,
between heaven and earth.
With Your woundedness
we are made whole,
and prepared to be the witnesses
of Christ’s continuing purpose in our time.
 
Our mouths are full of songs of praise,
Lord of life,
for You meet our every need.
Our hunger is fed.
Our thirst is quenched.
Your in-dwelling in the whole of life
inspires our thoughts
and encourages the gifts within each of us
to be used for the glory of Your kingdom.
Your risen presence provides the sustenance
our inner spirits crave.
We meet You in the relationships we form,
as You call our hidden skills and talents to the fore
so that they speak of You
and Your love for all creation.
In all we do,
may we reveal Your presence
as we discover old and new ways
of being Christ’s people.

Amen


Intercessions

Risen Christ,
Your living presence is celebrated
at city gates and market squares,
by those in need of healing and those who are amazed,
in heart and minds.
In moments of wonder and unexpected changes,
our senses are disrupted by the extraordinary,
so that suddenly we see You
standing in our midst
speaking words of peace
and inspiring Your world to discover the possibility
of the kingdom of heaven
in the ordinary of the world.
Help us to enjoy our moments of wonder.
In a world where explanation and logic could chip away at faith,
may we marvel at the growing knowledge of science,
and the wonder it creates
from starlit skies,
to molecules and atoms,
giving intimate knowledge of a creation
so full of opportunities
to delve into discovering more of God.
Thrill us with the mystery of what we are yet to know
so that it expands our desire
to notice You in unexpected ways and places.
 
In this journey through a pandemic,
we give thanks for all those who have offered signs of resurrection
in their work and commitments.
We pray for doctors, nurses and support staff
who tirelessly care for those who enter their view,
at times with potential harm to themselves.
We pray for the scientific community
as it continues research and development
in care and prevention.
 
We pray for those who are the recipients of care,
and notice the wide range of people
whose health has been affected
by being unable to receive treatment and support.
Help us to recognise that while the virus has world-wide impact,
we are not equal in immunisation programmes.
Help us to notice those communities
who will be the last to receive the support they need
and to work towards the fairer share of wealth and resource,
so that Your risen Presence reveals the kingdom in every land.
 
In a moment of silence, we lift before you our prayers for people and situations: those known to us personally and others known only from fragments of information we see, hear or read on the news... 

Christ of life and death and resurrection,
we celebrate those who have shared this life with us,
allowing us to meet you in simple words and actions.
We grieve with those
who mourn the death of loved ones.
May we be those who share the memories and love
that allows hope to rise from loss.
Hear our prayers, 
through Jesus Christ, our risen Saviour.

Amen


Lord’s Prayer
 
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come, 
your will be done on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins as we forgive those
who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation, 
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours
now and for ever.

Amen
 
Closing Song 
 
 
Thine be the glory (MP689)

1  Thine be the glory, risen, conquering Son,
    endless is the victory Thou o’er death hast won;
    angels in bright raiment rolled the stone away,
    kept the folded grave-clothes where Thy body lay.
        Thine be the glory, risen, conquering Son,
        endless is the victory Thou o’er death hast won.

2  Lo! Jesus meets us, risen from the tomb;
    lovingly He greets us, scatters fear and gloom;
    let the Church with gladness hymns of triumph sing,
    for her Lord now liveth; death hath lost its sting.
        Thine be the glory . . .

3  No more we doubt Thee, glorious Prince of life;
    life is nought without Thee: aid us in our strife;
    make us more than conquerors, through Thy deathless love:
    bring us safe through Jordan to Thy home above.
        Thine be the glory . . .

 

Prayer of Blessing and Sending

May we go from here, full of hope and joy.

May we go from here,
knowing that through the resurrection, we are forgiven, loved and free. 

Christ is risen in our world,
alive in our hearts, our conversations, and our activities.
He bears God’s love ready for the world to share.
We will share all we know as Christ’s people.


And the blessing of God Almighty,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit
be with us all,
now and always.
Amen


Go in peace to love and serve the Lord,
in the name of Christ.
Amen 
 

 

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