Seeing New Promise
Seekers Church
A Christian Community
In the Tradition of the Church of the Saviour
Easter 2006 – Seeing New Promise
CIRCLE TIME
ENTRANCE
REFLECTION
Sometimes we become so focused on sustaining what we've been given and wanting to honor the traditions of the past that we miss the new thing that God might be trying to do today, something that will build on all that has come before. We miss the surprises that lie in store for us. To be channels of that playful Spirit of eternal newness, we must always be ready to let go of what is in order to receive what will be.
Gordon Cosby
"Becoming the Authentic Church," 2004, pg 15
CALL TO WORSHIP
Leader: Alleluia! Christ is risen!
People: Christ is risen indeed!
Leader: We gather here to celebrate God's promise kept:
Voice 1: God has handed us a mystery:
the risen Christ is here again,
calling us to something new.
Voice 2: We may not understand, but we are not alone.
The air is alive with the fresh scent of new beginnings.
Leader: We come to pour out our spirits
into this vessel that is the church
so we can offer fresh Good News to everyone.
All: Alleluia! Christ is Risen!
Christ is risen indeed! Amen.
INVOCATION
HYMN
WORD FOR THE CHILDREN
SILENCE
RESPONSIVE READING
Leader: Christ is the source of illumination.
People: We see Christ in light, as light, as our light.
Leader: Jesus' life was enclosed by darkness,
the night of his birth and the eclipse at his death.
People: Those who see in Christ the light of God
are illumined by faith.
All: Through faith, the world,
the renewed community and the self
are seen anew in the light of God.
SILENCE
PRAYERS
CONFESSION
Leader: Like Mary Magdalene,
we fear that they have taken you away
to a place unknown.
People: We see, we might believe,
but we do not understand.
Leader: Like Thomas, we doubt, even as you stand before us.
People: We see, we might believe,
but we do not understand.
Leader: Like the hired hand, we turn and run
when the wolves of our culture come near.
People: We see, we might believe,
but we do not understand.
ASSURANCE
Leader: God loves each of us:
Let us love one another.
God chooses us.
Alleluia!
All: Amen.
PRAYERS OF THE COMMUNITY
JESUS PRAYER
HYMN
THE WORD
SCRIPTURE
SERMON
SILENT REFLECTION
OFFERING
The first Sunday of each month we switch to a Communion Liturgy here.
SHARED REFLECTIONS
ANNOUNCEMENTS
HYMN
BENEDICTION
Leader: Christ is risen as God's new promise
to a troubled world.
Let us share the good news.
All: Alleluia! Amen.
WORSHIP RESOURCES
Responsive reading: Based on Gail Ramshaw, "Words around the Fire," pp 3-4.
