Why Are You Still Here?

April 9, 2023
Pastor Jacob Lee
Worship

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Service of Worship

Low in the Grave
Arr. Lani Smith
Public Domain

Leader: This is a new day! A day of marvels and miracles! A day to rejoice in what God has done! Yesterday was filled with too many worries and too little faith.
People: On this Easter morning, we hear the old folks saying, “Mary don’t you weep!”
Leader: This is a new day! A day of marvels and miracles! A day to rejoice in what God has done! Yesterday was filled with too much criticism and too little affirmation.
People: Today, Martha, don’t you moan!
Leader: This is a new day! A day of marvels and miracles! A day to rejoice in what God has done! Yesterday was filled with too many questions and too few answers.
People: This is Easter morning: dry your tears and shout for joy! Jesus is not dead. He is Alive! God has conquered death and Jesus has canceled sin. This is, indeed, a new day! Leap for joy! (Applause)

(Sherrie Dobbs Johnson, Dr. Valerie Bridgeman Davis, and Safiyah Fosua, Discipleship Resources)

Opening Hymn — #302 “Christ the Lord Is Risen Today” (v. 1-4)

1. Christ the Lord is risen today, Alleluia!
Earth and heaven in chorus say, Alleluia!
Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia!
Sing, ye heavens, and earth reply, Alleluia!

2. Love’s redeeming work is done, Alleluia!
Fought the fight, the battle won, Alleluia!
Death in vain forbids him rise, Alleluia!
Christ has opened paradise, Alleluia!

3. Lives again our glorious King, Alleluia!
Where, O death, is now thy sting? Alleluia!
Once he died our souls to save, Alleluia!
Where’s thy victory, boasting grave? Alleluia!

4. Soar we now where Christ has led, Alleluia!
Following our exalted Head, Alleluia!
Made like him, like him we rise, Alleluia!
Ours the cross, the grave, the skies, Alleluia!

Christ The Lord Is Risen Today (Easter Hymn)
Charles Wesley
Public Domain

Easter Confession

Leader: Christ, we come to the empty tomb, we meet our own death, we meet our own tomb, we meet our own emptiness. And we remember how we have treated other people—members of our family, friends, and neighbors.
People: Lord, we come to your tomb, we meet a hungry world before us, the pain of starving children, the guilt of war on our hands, and we know that collectively, we share in those injustices.
Leader: Lord, we come to the empty tomb, we search within ourselves, and we cannot escape what we are, people caught up in the pain of our own wrongdoing, for some a deep sense of loneliness and frustration of what we would be but are not.
People: Lord, when we come to the empty tomb, we lay before you our pain, our emptiness and look to you for hope.
Leader: People of God, why do you seek the living among the dead in an empty tomb? Are you afraid, are you uncertain, and are you uncomfortable here?
People: Our wounds are deep, we have turned away from that man, we have broken with him and seek his fellowship.
Leader: Do not dwell on your wounds any longer for he has risen to heal you, he has risen to forgive you; he has risen to change us all and bind us together now Christ has risen to forgive us.
People: Thanks be to God. Amen.

(Adapted from “Easter Confession” excerpted from Service of Holy Communion 2010)

Pastor’s Time With the Children – Rev. Jacob Lee

Singspiration – Rejoice Singers

This Is the Day
This is the day
This is the day
That the Lord has made
That the Lord has made
We will rejoice
We will rejoice
And be glad in it
And be glad in it
This is the day that the Lord has made
We will rejoice and be glad in it
This is the day
This is the day
That the Lord has made

This Is The Day
Les Garrett
© 1967, 1980 Universal Music – Brentwood Benson Publishing
Used by Permission. CCLI License # 656051

Jesus Is in You
Jesus is in you and Jesus is in me
Jesus is in us for He loves us
Jesus is in you and Jesus is in me
Jesus is in us for He loves us

Oh, oh, oh therefore We should be one
Love one another as He loves us
Oh,oh, oh therefore We should be one
Love one another as He loves us

Jesus Is in You
Anonymous
Public Domain

God’s Not Dead
God’s not dead (NO!) He is alive (3x)
I can feel Him all over me
I can feel Him in my hands I can feel Him in my heart
I can feel Him in the church I can feel Him in the street
I can feel Him everywhere I can feel Him all over me
NO NO NO NO NO !!! NO NO NO NO NO!!!
God’s not dead (NO!) He is alive (3x)
I can feel Him all over me (3x)

God’s Not Dead
Anonymous
Public Domain

Joys and Concerns, Pastoral Prayer, 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 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, the power, and glory forever. Amen.

Easter Praising – P.A.L.A. Singers

1. There is beyond the azure blue,
a God concealed from human sight,
He tinted skies with heavenly hue,
and framed the worlds with His great might.

Chorus
(Men) There is a God,
(Women) there is a God,
(Men) He is alive,
(Women) He is alive,
(Men) In Him we live,
(Women) in Him we live,
(Men) And we survive,
(Women) and we survive,
(Women) From dust our God,
(Men) from dust our God,
(Women) created man,
(Men) created man,
(Women) He is our God,
(Men) He is our God,
(Women) the ..Great ..I am,
(Men) the.. Great ..I am.

2. There was a long long time ago,
a God whose voice the prophets heard,
He is the God that we should know,
who speaks from His inspired Word.

Chorus

3. Secure is life from mortal mind,
God holds the germ within his hand,
Thou men may search they cannot find,
for God alone does understand.

Chorus

4. Our God whose son upon a tree,
a life was willing there to give,
That He from sin might set man free,
and evermore with Him could live.

Chorus

Our God He Is Alive
A. W. Dicus
© 1966 A.W. Dicus. Assigned 1973 Sacred Selections
Used by Permission. CCLI License # 656051

Prayer of Thanksgiving

How awesome are your ways, O God! With thanksgiving, we offer praise for the work you brought in Christ. In gladness, we thank you for hiding us deeply into his sacred life. We bless you for raising us in and with Jesus Christ, giving us the power to proclaim with Mary Magdalene, the Risen One, not only with our voices, but with our lives. In Jesus’ name, we pray, Amen.

(Written by Valerie Bridgeman Davis, The Africana Worship Book Year A)

For those who are called and able, gifts and tithes can still be made through online giving, by mailing them in, and by dropping them off to the office through the secure mail slot to the left of the double door entry to the church hallway.

Offertory – Chancel Choir

Seek Ye First
Karen Lafferty | Douglas Wagner
Words: © 1972 CCCM Music
Music: © 2000 Hope Publishing
Used by Permission. CCLI License # 656051

Doxology

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;
praise him, all creatures here below;
praise him above, ye heavenly host;
praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow (Old 100th)
Louis Bourgeois | Thomas Ken
Public Domain

Offertory Prayer

Mighty God of Resurrection and Redemption, we offer our gifts alongside our alleluias! We long for Easter to fill us and soak into our bones like those who were confronted in a graveyard by angels announcing, “He is not here, he is risen!” May we run from here, not walk, because we and every corner of the world so desperately need to hear the news the angels share! Before we speak a word, may others see in our faces that the world has been turned upside down. You win; death loses. In the name of the risen Christ, we pray. Amen.

(Matthew 28:1-10)

Scripture Reading — Mark 16:1-8 (NRSV)

1 When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. 2 And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. 3 They had been saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” 4 When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back. 5 As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. 6 But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.” 8 So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

Response
The Word of the Lord:
Thanks be to God.

Choral Anthem — Chancel Choir

This Is the Day
Jay Althouse
© 2001 Alfred Publishing | Jubilate Music Group
Used by Permission. ONE LICENSE # A-401420

Sermon — Rev. Jacob Lee
“Why Are You Still Here?”

Closing Hymn — #310 “He Lives” (v. 1, 3)

1. I serve a risen Savior,
he’s in the world today;
I know that he is living,
whatever foes may say.
I see his hand of mercy,
I hear his voice of cheer,
and just the time I need him,
he’s always near.

Refrain
He lives, he lives,
Christ Jesus lives today!
He walks with me and talks with me
along life’s narrow way.
He lives, he lives,
salvation to impart!
You ask me how I know he lives?
He lives within my heart.

3. Rejoice, rejoice, O Christian,
lift up your voice and sing
eternal hallelujahs
to Jesus Christ the King!
The hope of all who seek him,
the help of all who find;
none other is so loving,
so good and kind.

Refrain

He Lives
Alfred Henry Ackley
Words: © 1933 Homer A. Rodeheaver. Renewed 1961 Word Music, LLC
Used by Permission. CCLI License # 656051

Choral Response

Hallelujah Chorus from “Messiah”
George F. Handel
Public Domain

Benediction

Postlude – Hani

Festival Postlude on “Llanfair”
Arr. Mary McDonald
© 2012 Lorenz Publishing Co.
Used by Permission. ONE LICENSE # A-401420