PRELUDE: Andante Grazioso by Gaston M. Déthier; David Conrad, clarinet
WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
CALL TO WORSHIP
HYMN: There’s a Sweet, Sweet Spirit [Sweet, Sweet Spirit]
PRAYER OF PRAISE
INTROIT: Good News by Robert Leaf
Good News we are bringing, good news of a living Savior. We are bringing joyful praises, Good news we bring of Christ the King of kings. God so loved the world he gave his Son, that all who know and trust in him shall have everlasting life. We sing of a coming glory, to a happy people who belong to God’s great kingdom. We sing a song of joy to all the world. We bring good news with a song of joy! [Barbara Leaf, based on John 3:16]
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
ASSURANCE OF FORGIVENESS
SONG OF GRATEFUL PRAISE: Surely, It is God Who Saves Me[First Song]
PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION
SCRIPTURE LESSON: John 21:1-14
HYMN: Christ Be Beside Me [Bunessan]
SERMON: “Surprise!”
ANTHEM: Look Who Gathers at Christ’s Table by John Ferguson; David Conrad, clarinet
Look who gathers at Christ’s table! Hear the stories that they bring. Some are weeping, some are laughing, some have songs they want to sing. Others ask why they’re invited, burdened by the wrong they’ve done. Christ insists they all are welcome. There is room for everyone. Clouds of light surround the table; ancient followers appear. Saints confessing how they wrestled with their guilt, their doubt, their fear. Peter tells of his denying Christ was ever in his sight; Paul relates his fruitless efforts to obliterate the light. Their sad stories are repeated in a thousand different ways, but they share one thing in common: They all end in thanks and praise, praise for the host who has invited north and south and east and west to converge around this table, where all life is fed and blest. Bring your joy and bring your sadness, and prepare to be surprised by the host whose hands are wounded, who will open wide your eyes when he blesses bread and breaks it, truth and manna from above! And then passes wine that wakens in your heart the taste of love. [Thomas H. Troeger]
CELEBRATION OF HOLY COMMUNION
INVITATION
WORDS OF INSTITUTION AND PRAYER
PARTAKING OF THE FEAST
PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING
HYMN: You Are Before Me, Lord [Sursum Corda (Smith)]
BENEDICTION
CHORAL RESPONSE: Verses for the Sundays of Easter by David M. Cherwien
Alleluia! Christ being raised from the dead will die no more; death has no more dominion over him. Our hearts burn within us as he opens to us the Scriptures! Alleluia! [Romans 6:9, Luke 24:32]
POSTLUDE: Rondeau (from “Sinfornies de Fanfares”) by Jean Joseph Mouret
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