Service Sunday April 7, 2024

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All are Welcome!

Watch a video recording of the whole service using Youtube below.

The Gathering

Welcome and Announcements.
Focusing Moment.

Acknowledgement of Land

Highland Hills United Church acknowledges that we are situated on the traditional lands of the Anishinaabe nation. We acknowledge the enduring presence of First Nation, Metis, and Inuit people on this land. We are committed to moving forward in the spirit of reconciliation and respect.

Written by Jeff Werner, while at Wasaga Beach U.C., Wasaga Beach, Ont.

Gathering, Pentecost 2, 2023, p.29. Used with permission.

Call to Worship:

One: Today, throughout the world, Christians are called to worship.

ALL: They may be called by the carillon of the chimes in a large city.

One: They may be called by a single tolling bell, drifting over the snowy prairie landscape.

ALL: They may be called by the cool, sun-bespeckled glade.

One: They may be called by a sunrise or sunset over an expanse of water.

ALL: They may be called by the towering majesty of a mountain.

One: They may be called by a crocus peeking through the snow.

ALL: They may be called by the harmony of violin and guitar.

One: Whenever and however, people throughout the world are called to a place and an attitude of worship. Let us join in worshipping the Divine.

Written by Mary Grant, Forest Hill U.C., Fredericton, N.B.

Gathering, Lent-Easter 2024, p.42. Used with permission.

HYMN: “Jesus, Stand Among Us” VU #396

1 Jesus, stand among us

in your risen power;

let this time of worship

be a hallowed hour.

2 Breathe the Holy Spirit

into every heart;

bid the fears and sorrows

from each soul depart.

3 Lead our hearts to wisdom

till our doubting cease,

and to all assembled

speak your word of peace.

A NEW CREED: Read In Unison

We are not alone; we live in God’s world.

We believe in God: who has created and is creating,

who has come in Jesus, the Word made flesh,

to reconcile and make new, who works in us and others by the Spirit.

We trust in God.

We are called to be the church: to celebrate God’s presence,

to live with respect in Creation, to love and serve others,

to seek justice and resist evil, to proclaim Jesus crucified and risen,

our judge and our hope. In life, in death, in life beyond death, God is with us. We are not alone. Thanks be to God.

MINISTRY OF MUSIC TIME FOR THE YOUTHFUL

HYMN: “You Tell Me That the Lord Is Risen” VU #185

1 You tell me that the Lord is risen,

that you have seen his face.

Then tell me why you crouch in fear

and hide within this place.

You say that he spoke words of peace

and stood just as before.

But 'til I touch his very flesh

I will not trust your joy.

2 You claim a resurrection here,

that God has broken death.

No easy words like these will soothe

the pain that tears my breath.

How well do I recall his face,

compassion, strength in fear.

How deep my grief that he should die.

Spare me your words of cheer!

3 'Now peace be with you. Come, my friend,

my wounded body see.

Let the rich courage of your doubt

bring you to fresh belief.

Fear not to wonder at the Word,

to search the depths of grace.

Reach out and touch, here is my hand.

Receive the gift of faith.'

4 'How blest are they, how fortunate

who know without the sight.

But Thomas, you are favoured too,

for searching yields its light.'

So may each pilgrim in the Way,

each road to Christ be blest,

'til lips declare, 'My Lord and God!',

Christ's body one at last.

THE WORD

Scripture: John 20:19 - 31

Leader: Hear and listen to what the Spirit is saying to the church.

ALL: Thanks be to God.

MESSAGE

“Jesus Is With Us!”

Listen to an audio recording of the message below or read the whole message at the bottom of this page.

**OUR RESPONSE PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE and THE LORD’S PRAYER: spoken VU #914**

HYMN: “Thine Is the Glory” VU #173

1 Thine is the glory, risen, conquering Son:

endless is the victory thou o'er death hast won.

Angels in bright raiment rolled the stone away,

kept the folded grave-clothes where the body lay.

Refrain Thine is the glory, risen, conquering Son:

endless is the victory thou o'er death hast won.

2 Lo, Jesus meets us, risen from the tomb!

Lovingly he greets us, scatters fear and gloom.

Let the church with gladness hymns of triumph sing,

for the Lord now liveth: death hath lost its sting. Refrain

3 No more we doubt thee, glorious Prince of life;

life is nought without thee: aid us in our strife;

make us more than conquerors, through thy deathless love;

bring us safe through Jordan to thy home above. Refrain

PRESENTATION OF OUR OFFERINGS

Offertory Prayer (In Unison)

God of questions and answers, of doubt and belief, these gifts we bring are our response to the queries about your way. As you invite us to share in all the mysteries of life, we give thanks that you bless us continually. Receive all that is presented—assurances, questions, answers, blessings, and longings. May our gifts be a source of new life in this world. Amen.

Written by Laura J. Turnbull, Pentiction, B.C.

Gathering, Lent-Easter 2024, p.48. Used with permission.

SUNG BLESSING: VU# 703 vs 1

1 In the bulb there is a flower;

in the seed, an apple tree;

in cocoons, a hidden promise:

butterflies will soon be free!

In the cold and snow of winter

there's a spring that waits to be,

unrevealed until its season,

something God alone can see. ©

Sending Forth:

One: May you feel our Creator lovingly rush toward you in answered prayer. May you notice the banquet of spring that the resurrecting Christ lays out before you. And may you know by the Spirit that new lie has begun.

ALL: Amen!

Written by Karen Boivin, Osgoode-Kars U.C., Ottawa, Ont.

Gathering, Lent-Easter 2024, p.49. Used with permission.

A Time of Fellowship

Sermon 7th April 2024

“Jesus Is With Us!”

John 20:19-31

Gracious God, be with us today in this place, in the Scriptures and in our words.

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts praise your Holy name. Amen.

I want us to imagine for a moment that we are not here.

You may say, “Well, preacher that is usually what I do during the sermon on Sunday morning.”

I don’t want you to imagine that you are on the lake, or sitting in your easy chair.

Instead I want us to imagine we are in the room that I just read about in John.

That each of us is one of those Disciples.

First of all, forget that you are in a well-lit room.

The room that the disciples were in was dark.

The sun was shining outside, it was probably a beautiful spring day, but the doors and shutters are shut tight.

You see today is the first day of the week, only three days ago Jesus was crucified.

And we were there.

We were all watching as they hammered the nails into Jesus hands and feet.

After what they did to the teacher, Lord only knows what they will do to us his disciples.

They may arrest us and scourge us like they did him.

They may even crucify us like they did him.

We had seen Jesus die but the trouble he started was still going on.

Some people just want to stir up trouble you know.

First, they killed Jesus now it appears that someone has stolen his body.

On top of all this fear, we are still trying to deal with the grief.

Poor Mary who discovered this morning that Jesus was stolen has been doing nothing but babbling on about seeing him alive and thinking he was the gardener.

And Peter and John haven’t said a thing since they got back from the tomb.

So the disciples were hiding in the upper room for fear of what the Romans would do to them.

Then all of a sudden, they were not alone.

Jesus appeared in the midst of them.

They probably thought they were seeing things.

But everybody was staring at him so they must see him too.

Then they began to wonder if this was Jesus’ ghost come back to haunt them.

If they had been afraid before they were probably more afraid now.

Jesus knew of their fear and so the first thing he said was “Peace be with you.”

Then he showed them his hands and side.

It was not his Ghost, he was alive and he had blessed them!

Then Jesus told them to go out into the world.

Just as the Father had sent him, so he was sending them.

Then we hear about Thomas.

Thomas was out at the time.

He didn’t believe their story when he had returned.

But who could blame Thomas for not believing.

He hadn’t been there to see Jesus.

I know that if I were Thomas I would have had a hard time believing their story.

The other disciples had not believed he was alive when Mary told them she had seen him.

Why should he believe just because there were a few more people saying the same thing?

Things have not changed that much since then.

In some places in the world Christians still hide from the authorities.

Most of us can gather freely without fear of being killed.

But we still live in a hostile world.

A world that ridicules our values.

A world that attacks us for our belief in marital fidelity and the human rights of all people.

A world that degrades us because we try to help those who the world says are not worth helping.

A world that ignores us when we say that life comes out of death through Jesus.

So many times we Christians cower in our churches and refuse to go out into the streets for fear that someone will recognize us and ridicule us for what we are.

Like the disciples, we close the doors and shutters tight so that no one will discover us.

But Jesus knows our fear just as he knew the disciples’ fear.

And so, just as he was in the presence of them in that upper room, he is with us here.

And now just as then he says to us “Peace be with you.”

Do not fear the world outside for I am with you.

But that is not all, we are strengthened by Christ’s presence.

In our Gospel lesson there is a curious statement.

It says that Jesus breathed on the disciples.

I wondered what that meant and this is what I found out.

The Greek word for spirit is pnewma and the Hebrew word is ruach.

They both also mean wind or breath.

In the Old Testament this word is used when God breathed the breath of life into the first human.

So here Jesus is breathing the breath of new life into the disciples.

In the same way Jesus is breathing on us the breath of new life and that enables us and empowers us.

Jesus is with us.

We live in a hostile world.

The people outside may want to crucify us just like they did to Jesus.

But we are not alone.

Jesus is present with all who worship in his name.

And he is giving all of us new life.

The world outside may ridicule us if we try to live our Christianity outside these walls.

They may call us names and they may shun us.

Christ sends us out into the world.

He sends us to proclaim the good news of his resurrection.

We do not go alone.

We go with the power of the one through whom all things were created.

We go with the strength of the one who was raised from the dead and lives forever.

We go with the one who breathed the breath of new life.

Thanks be to God. Amen.