Here are worship materials for the 3rd Sunday of Eastertide.
Call to Worship 1 John 1 Adapted
One: We declare what was from the beginning,
All: what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes,
One: what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life—
All: this life was revealed, and we have seen it and testify to it;
One: this eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us—
All: we declare these things so that our joy may be complete.
One: This is the message we have heard from him and now proclaim,
All: that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all.
One: If we say that we have fellowship with him while we are walking in darkness,
we lie and do not do what is true.
All: But if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another.
One: If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
All: If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins
and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
One: And when we do sin, we have an advocate with the Father,
Jesus Christ the righteous.
All: He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins,
and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.
One: So, it will be, and is now in our greeting one another,
“The peace of God be with you.”
All: And also with you.
Prayer of Invocation
Incarnate and Resurrected Lord, we gather in the hope seeing you and recognizing you that we might follow you from life to life; that until the day is done, all our days passed, we might walk with you in eschatological anticipation, your glorious final day, whose light never sets, enlightening all our living, filling us with joy complete.
So, visit our worship, we pray, with your incarnate presence. Grant that, as on the first resurrection day, you might arrive among us simply in our speaking of you. Grant that word of you, in our hearts, on our lips, let loose in our witness, might indeed continue to speak and to work, making manifest: “Love. Grace. Salvation. Eternal life,” these durable goods that are more insistent than fleeting, ephemera though they might seem.
We know we have often fallen short in this regard, and in many others as well. We confess that we have sinned against you—in thought, word, and deed. We neglect ourselves and others; we plunder your creation for our own comfort and convenience; we are short-sighted and long in our grasp. We are violent, which shocks us and enervates us. We are exhausted by our own folly.
For this and much else, we pray your forgiveness, your renewal, and your persistence about us. Save us, for we cannot save ourselves. Free us to live in peace and the sufficiency of your provision. Free us to live the Resurrected Life starting now, this morning, this moment. In Jesus’ name, amen.