WIEST MEMORIAL CHURCH
Serving Our Community
48 South King Street
Schoeneck, Pa 17578
www.wiestchurch.org
email:
Pastor Lyle: (Home) 610-777-2294 or (Cell) 610-507-2750
EASTER SUNDAY April 16, 2017
The reason the stone was rolled away on Jesus's tomb was not so that Jesus could get out, but so that we could get in. - Timothy Keller
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Combined SPR/SALT meeting – Wednesday, April 19th – 7 PM
Church Tour – April 22nd – 10 AM – 3 PM
Community Meal – Thursday, April 27rd 430 – 645 PM
Mother-Daughter Tea- Saturday, April 29th,2-430 PM , Mt Zion UMC, Akron
WELCOMING/GREETING ONE ANOTHER:
I invite you to exchange signs of peace with one anotherusing these traditional words that have been spoken byEaster Christians throughout the centuries:
Christ is risen!
Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia!
9 AM Praise & Worship
*Worship Music Here I am to Worship
*Worship Music I am Free
*OPENING HYMN Christ the Lord is Risen Today Verses 1-4 #302
Prayer to God
Call to Worship
Pastor: Don’t weep! Don’t mourn! There is great Good News!
People: Christ the Lord is risen today!
Pastor: Put away your garments of mourning; let the light of God’s love flood into your lives.
People: Christ the Lord is risen today!
Pastor: No more do we have to fear the darkness; it has been overcome by God’s light.
People: Christ the Lord is risen today. ALLELUIA!
Call to Confession:
As we celebrate Easter morning, when Jesus proves the power of the resurrection, let us confess our own weaknesses before our God. Let us pray.
Unison Prayer of Confession:
Merciful God, we confess that like the disciples of old, we ran and hid, in our hearts, from the terror and sadness of the crucifixion. We didn’t want to be there. We found ways of avoiding the scene and pretending that it was all a bad dream. But it wasn’t a dream. Jesus our Lord was crucified. That’s a fact. And we were numbed by the news. But now we have been given the most blessed gift of forgiveness for our stupidity and stubbornness; we have been given the gift of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. New Light has shined in our deep darkness. Restore us again to your presence. Soften our hard hearts. Brighten our spirits, for we ask this in the name of the Resurrected One, Jesus Christ. AMEN.
Celebration of the Written Word
THE OLD TESTAMENT LESSON Psalm 118: 1-2, 14-24
Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24
118:1 O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his steadfast love endures forever!
118:2 Let Israel say, "His steadfast love endures forever."
118:14 The LORD is my strength and my might; he has become my salvation.
118:15 There are glad songs of victory in the tents of the righteous: "The right hand of the LORD does valiantly;
118:16 the right hand of the LORD is exalted; the right hand of the LORD does valiantly."
118:17 I shall not die, but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the LORD.
118:18 The LORD has punished me severely, but he did not give me over to death.
118:19 Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the LORD.
118:20 This is the gate of the LORD; the righteous shall enter through it.
118:21 I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation.
118:22 The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.
118:23 This is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.
118:24 This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE Lois Wood
The 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 sins, as we forgive those who sin against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever. Amen
SHARING OF OUR TITHES AND OFFERINGS
OFFERTORY INVITATION:
The offering you make each week provides for ministry within our congregation and in response to the needs of our community. It also helps support the work of ministries beyond the local church that reach people who are in desperate need to feel the touch of God’s love and reconciliation. Through our connectional giving, we help create new life and hope where it is needed.
OFFERTORY
*DOXOLOGY #95 #95
*OFFERTORY PRAYER
Most Gracious God, you proclaimed your powerful love by raising Jesus from death to eternal life. We are grateful that you forgive our sins and bring peace to all who trust in you. Help us to offer your forgiveness and reconciliation in relationships with people in our lives. May we respond to your tremendous love with glad and generous hearts. We dedicate these gifts and offerings in the name of Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. Amen.
Special Music Tracy Finefrock
THE LORD’S LITTLE PEOPLE
An empty tomb
Easter Day
Object: an empty plastic Easter egg
Happy Easter! Christ the Lord is risen today! Alleluia! (hold up the Easter egg) Inside this egg I have something that will help us understand Easter. This egg has special meaning for this day.
Jesus was crucified on Good Friday. They took a cross and hammered his hands and feet onto it. Then they left him to die. After he was dead, his followers took his body, wrapped it in cloth and placed it in a tomb. They buried him in a kind of cave and rolled a big stone in front of the door. How do you think Jesus' followers felt? (get responses) That's right. They must have been very sad.
His followers loved Jesus so much! I'm sure they couldn't imagine a world without him. He had taught them so much about how to love God and love others -- what would they ever do without him? Those days after Jesus died were very hard and his followers must have felt very alone. Even though Jesus had told them he would come back, I'm sure they had a hard time believing it.
(Hold up the egg again) Inside this egg is the mystery of Easter. Jesus died and was put in a tomb. On Easter morning some of his followers went to the tomb and do you know what they found? (open the egg and show them the inside) Nothing! The tomb was empty. Jesus was alive again! The empty tomb is the miracle of Easter. The empty tomb is proof that God's love is stronger than anything -- even death. God proved his love for us by conquering the power of death. The empty tomb is a reminder of that. Christ the Lord is risen today!
Prayer: Father, thank you for the miracle of the empty tomb. Your love is stronger than anything else in the world. Amen.
Celebration of the Spoken Word
HYMN OF PREPARATION Christ the Lord is Risen Today Verses 5-6 #302
THE GOSPEL LESSON John 20: 1-18
John 20:1-18
20:1 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb.
20:2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him."
20:3 Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb.
20:4 The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first.
20:5 He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in.
20:6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there,
20:7 and the cloth that had been on Jesus' head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself.
20:8 Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed;
20:9 for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead.
20:10 Then the disciples returned to their homes.
20:11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb;
20:12 and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet.
20:13 They said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him."
20:14 When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus.
20:15 Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?" Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away."
20:16 Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to him in Hebrew, "Rabbouni!" (which means Teacher).
20:17 Jesus said to her, "Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'"
20:18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord"; and she told them that he had said these things to her.
MORNING MESSAGE The Questions of Easter
Pastor Lyle
4/16/17-
Turn on Recorder
The Questions of Easter
There is a story told of an individual who appeared at the Pearly Gates and asked Saint Peter for entrance. Saint Peter said, "All right, tell me, what is Easter?" The individual replied, "Oh, that's the day that some fellow discovered America, isn't it?" "No, that's wrong, and you'll have to go below," said Peter. Another man came along, asking to enter heaven. Saint Peter asked him, "What's Easter?" This man replied, "Oh, that's the day the big, fat jolly man with a big bag of toys comes around." "No, you're wrong," said Peter. "You can't come inside." Then a third man came and he almost made it. He wanted to get into heaven also, and when Peter asked him, "What's Easter?" he said, "Easter? Isn't that the story about the man who died, was buried, and on the third day came alive, rolled the stone from his grave, looked out and saw his shadow, then went back inside for six more weeks of winter?"
The story may be for many today a sign of the times. Fewer and fewer people attend worship services every year. So, this story may indicate a changing degree of knowledge (and belief) in the tenets of our faith. So when questioned, they seem to be either ignorant of the faith or at the very least have questions.
Now you would think that this story, which had been predicted for over 1000 years wouldn’t you?
God’s plan was told in olden days. In Psalms we heard that he was our strong protector. The psalmist says that “I won’t die –no, I will live.” He will declare what the Lord has done.
Even though he has been disciplined by the Lord, he will not be handed over to death.
He asks that the gates of righteousness be opened for him; the Lord’s gate, where the righteous will enter.
He is our saving help. The cornerstone rejected by the builder will become the main foundation stone.
This is the day that the Lord has acted; we can rejoice and celebrate in it.
Does that sound like a prediction to you? It certainly does to me.
With that as a background, let us look at the testimony of Mary.
I have titled this morning’s message “The Questions of Easter”.
As we do so, imagine the questions that she or you might have.
It is odd that we know so little about a woman whose testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus is so central. Both Matthew and Mark mention her by name as coming to the tomb on Easter morning, and John's resurrection account is essentially her testimony. What do we really know of this woman? Since St. Augustine in the fifth century, the "sinner" woman of Luke 7 has been identified by many with this Mary. Is this "sinner" also the woman from whose life Jesus cast seven devils, and who joined that group of disciples following Jesus? Since the "sinner" woman—Mary Magdalene—and Lazarus's sister Mary both anointed Jesus' feet with perfume, are these women one and the same? Is Mary Magdalene the quiet, devoted Mary of the Mary and Martha stories?
She had the honor of being present at the death of Jesus; she stayed at the sepulchre when all the disciples went away; and Jesus appeared to her first and made her an apostle to the apostles. Nobody has a testimony like hers to the life, the love, the death, and the resurrection of Jesus—and of herself. But then, nobody has a testimony like yours or mine, either. Each Christian has a unique testimony of what Jesus' resurrection has meant to him or her. The tragedy is that we do not share more of the difference Jesus has made in our lives and our love for him. But look with me step by step at Mary Magdalene's testimony of Jesus' resurrection.
I. She Came to Easter with Questions
In John 20 , we note that Mary Magdalene came to Easter with questions. She must have had dreams of a glorious new kingdom, of Jesus taking the throne of David and sending the Romans packing. What of those dreams now? Jesus had been crucified and buried. He was dead.