Alleluia; AmenMuskoka Lakes Ministry of Knox, Port Carling & Zion, Torrance
Sunday April 4, 2021
Easter Sunday ~ Alleluia; Amen
Reverend Glynis Faith

WELCOME
Friends, welcome. Welcome to our Easter worship service. Welcome and may God bless you throughout this time of worship. It is a joy to celebrate the resurrection with you. COVID has taken away our ability to come together to worship, but NOTHING can take away the love of God poured out upon us in the Jesus Christ. AND absolutely nothing can take away the HOPE found in an empty tomb. The JOY of the resurrection is ours. Christ has risen – hallelujah – AMEN

ANNOUNCEMENTS
1) Music in the Sanctuary 1st and 3rd Tuesday of each month – Come, sit, listen, pray, welcome the Holy Spirit and enjoy. Please be sure to pre-register with Edie Bard.
2) Lectio Divina will resume April 15.

CALL TO WORSHIP/Christ Candle
Christ the Lord has risen today – hallelujah, AMEN (we light the Christ Candle) Please pray with me:
God of mystery and promise, we celebrate the gift of Your Son, Jesus Christ – the fulfilment of Your promise to redeem Your created ones.
Jesus, you are Lord. Precious Saviour, Lamb of God, we confess You as our Lord, singing praises to Your Name.
Holy Spirit of the Living God, fill us with hope and joy as we worship Jesus Christ our King, in whose name we pray. AMEN

SCRIPTURE ~ Isaiah 25:6-9 (NIV)
On this mountain the LORD Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples,
a banquet of aged wine — the best of meats and the finest of wines.
On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples,
the sheet that covers all nations; he will swallow up death forever.
The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from all faces;
he will remove his people’s disgrace from all the earth.
The LORD has spoken.
In that day they will say, “Surely this is our God;
we trusted in him, and he saved us.
This is the LORD, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.”

MEDITATION
God speaks promises through the prophet Isaiah. There is the promise of a feast. Not just any feast, but the finest of foods and the finest of wines. Only the best for the family of God.
Who of us gathers our family together for a special occasion and feeds them Kraft dinner or bologna sandwiches. Not that there is anything wrong with either choice, but these are not our best. When our family comes at Easter or Christmas or Thanksgiving, we cook up a delicious meal and top it off with scrumptious desserts. If we would set our families table with our very best, why would we think God would do any less?
As wonderful as this promised banquet prepared by God is, it pales in comparison to the other promises. Isaiah foretells that death will be swallowed up forever; a promise brought to fruition in the resurrection of Jesus.
Friends, God keeps His promises (remember the 4 wine glasses in the Passover meal that remind us of this), and because He does, we can rejoice – hallelujah. AMEN
Join me in this prayer…
Through the prophets you promised us a Saviour. Through the prophet Isaiah you promised to swallow death forever – to prepare for us a banquet of the finest foods and the finest wines. Your promises are rich and true, and we lift our hearts to you in deep gratitude and joyful celebration. AMEN

HYMN ~ The Day of Resurrection
The day of resurrection: earth, tell it out abroad,
the Passover of gladness, the Passover of God!
From death to life eternal, from earth unto the sky,
our Christ hath brought us over with hymns of victory.

Our hearts be pure from evil, that we may see aright
the Lord in rays eternal of resurrection light,
and, listening to his accents, may hear, so calm and plain,
his own 'All hail!' and, hearing, may raise the victor strain.

Now let the heavens be joyful; let earth its song begin;
let the round world keep triumph, and all that is therein;
invisible and visible, their notes together blend,
for Christ the Lord hath risen, our joy that hath no end.

SCRIPTURE ~ Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24 (NIV)
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.
Let Israel say: “His love endures forever.”
The LORD is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation.
Shouts of joy and victory resound in the tents of the righteous:
“The LORD’s right hand has done mighty things!
The LORD’s right hand is lifted high; the LORD’s right hand has done mighty things!”
I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the LORD has done.
The LORD has chastened me severely, but he has not given me over to death.
Open for me the gates of the righteous; I will enter and give thanks to the LORD.
This is the gate of the LORD through which the righteous may enter.
I will give you thanks, for you answered me; you have become my salvation.
The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone;
the LORD has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes.
The LORD has done it this very day; let us rejoice today and be glad.

MEDITATION
Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, His love endures forever.
The Psalmist speaks of the Lord’s right hand – our salvation – the cornerstone – the gate through which the righteous can enter – the one who is victorious over death. The Psalmist speaks of what he could only have known through the promise of God, for it would be over a thousand years before Jesus would come.
Jesus is the cornerstone – the gate through with we enter eternity – victorious over death – our salvation – and according the Gospel writer, Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father.
Please pray with me
God of promise, we give you thanks. Your love does indeed last forever, and we give You our praise.
Lord, we give you thanks, trusting in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. We put our faith in You, and through our faith You give us hope. Hallelujah, AMEN

HYMN ~ Rejoice, the Lord is King
Rejoice, the Lord is King; your sovereign Lord adore;
give thanks, O mortals, sing and triumph ever more.
Lift up your heart; lift up your voice; rejoice, again I say, rejoice.

For Christ the Saviour reigns, the God of truth and love;
when Jesus purged our stains, he took his seat above.
Lift up your heart; lift up your voice; rejoice, again I say, rejoice.
His reign can never fail; he rules o'er earth and heaven:
the keys of death and hell are to our Saviour given.
Lift up your heart; lift up your voice; rejoice, again I say, rejoice.

He sits at God's right hand till all his foes submit
and bow to his command and fall beneath his feet.
Lift up your heart; lift up your voice; rejoice, again I say, rejoice.

Rejoice in glorious hope, for Christ the judge shall come
and take the faithful up to their eternal home.
We soon shall hear the archangel's voice; the trump of God shall sound: rejoice.

SCRIPTURE ~ Acts 10:34-43 (NIV)
Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right. You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. You know what has happened throughout the province of Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached— how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.
“We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a cross, but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen—by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

MEDITATION
When you think of the apostles, you may be inclined to think of them as this perfect inner circle of individuals trained under the loving instruction of Jesus. We call them saints and we name churches after them.
Peter is a reminder that the apostles were real people, just like you and me. He was prone to emotional outbursts, passionate and sooner or later, he admits his faults. In our passage he says, “I now realize….” He is the disciple many of us can relate to, which is good.
Peter can be a good role model to us. He loved God, loved and respected Jesus, claimed he would died for Jesus, but when the chips were down Peter ran scared. (Can you relate?). BUT, post-resurrection, Peter was emboldened, and he took the message of Christ – the Good News – speaking openly and freely. Peter preached Christ born – Christ died – Christ resurrected, and Christ will return to bring home all who choose to follow His teachings and His example.
Please pray with me,
Lord Jesus, like Peter we sometimes cower from sharing the Good News. We are afraid of what others might say. We fear being ridiculed. We are afraid of what we might lose, so we remain quiet. On this Easter Sunday we confess our weaknesses, praying for Your forgiveness and praying for the Holy Spirit to sweep over us with a keen realization of Your death and resurrection.
Jesus, Your death was the consequence of our sins and Your resurrection is a gift of grace – not something we deserve, but evidence of the depth of Your true love.
Precious Saviour, forgive us and strengthen us we pray. AMEN

HYMN ~ Jesus Christ is Risen Today
(let us step into this day and out into the world sharing the message, Jesus Christ has died, Jesus Christ is risen, and Jesus Christ will come again - - alleluia. AMEN - - with joy in your heart, sing along at home, Jesus Christ is Risen Today)
Jesus Christ is risen today, alleluia!
our triumphant holy day, alleluia!
who did once, upon the cross, alleluia!
suffer to redeem our loss. Alleluia!
Hymns of praise then let us sing, alleluia!
unto Christ our heavenly King, alleluia!
who endured the cross and grave, alleluia!
sinners to redeem and save. Alleluia!
But the pains which he endured, alleluia!
our salvation have procured; alleluia!
now above the sky he’s king, alleluia!
where the angels ever sing. Alleluia!
Sing we to God above, alleluia!
praise eternal as his love, alleluia!
praise him all ye heavenly host, alleluia!
Father, Son and Holy Ghost, alleluia!
SCRIPTURE ~ John 20:1-18 (NIV)

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”
So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.
Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.
They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”
“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”
Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”
Jesus said to her, “Mary.”
She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).
Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.
MEDITATION
Jesus is not in the tomb – death could not hold our Saviour. Where is He then?

‘Tell me where He is’ Mary pleaded. And where was He? Jesus was right there with her.
Friends, Jesus is right there with you! Death could not hold Him and neither can time or space. Throughout this pandemic it has been necessary for us to worship alone, or in small family groups; yet, we are never alone. Christ is with you.
Listen for Him saying your name. Open your eyes and see Him in the beauty and renewal of life. Let His presence fill you with hope – love – goodness – kindness – joy – peace & patience.
Consider what God has done for you through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour. Take that joy that wells up inside you and let out your very best happy dance. Yes, you heard me right – your happy dance!
Read or listen to the words on the screen. Sing with joy my friends, and lets join Jesus in the dance!

HYMN ~ Lord of the Dance
I danced in the morning when the world was begun,
And I danced in the moon and the stars and the sun,
And I came down from heaven and I danced on the earth:
At Bethlehem I had my birth.
Dance, then, wherever you may be, I am the Lord of the dance, said he,
And I'll lead you all, wherever you may be, and I'll lead you all in the dance, said he.
I danced for the scribe and the Pharisee,
But they would not dance and they wouldn't follow me;
I danced for the fishermen, for James and John;
They came with me and the dance went on:
Dance, then, wherever you may be, I am the Lord of the dance, said he,
And I'll lead you all, wherever you may be, and I'll lead you all in the dance, said he.
I danced on the Sabbath and I cured the lame:
The holy people said it was a shame.
They whipped and they stripped and they hung me on high,
And they left me there on a cross to die:
Dance, then, wherever you may be, I am the Lord of the dance, said he,
And I'll lead you all, wherever you may be, and I'll lead you all in the dance, said he.
I danced on a Friday when the sky turned black;
It's hard to dance with the devil on your back.
They buried my body and they thought I'd gone;
But I am the dance, and I still go on:
Dance, then, wherever you may be, I am the Lord of the dance, said he,
And I'll lead you all, wherever you may be, and I'll lead you all in the dance, said he.
They cut me down and I leapt up high;
I am the life that'll never, never die.
I'll live in you if you'll live in me:
I am the Lord of the dance, said he.
Dance, then, wherever you may be, I am the Lord of the dance, said he,
And I'll lead you all, wherever you may be, and I'll lead you all in the dance, said he.

BENEDICTION

Friends, join Jesus in the dance, inviting others to join in.
And as you do…
May the hand of God uphold you, the life of Christ guide you, and the presence of the Holy Spirit fill you with hope. Amen.

*The Candle is extinguished
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DONATIONS TO ZION, TORRANCE
Mail cheques to Zion Presbyterian Church 1046 Torrance Rd, Torrance, ON, P0C 1M0
E-Transfers to zionchurchpc@gmail.com No security question required
Pick up ~ Please call the office (705) 765 3797 to arrange pick up

DONATIONS TO KNOX, PORT CARLING
Mail cheques to Knox Presbyterian Church Box 283, Port Carling, ON,
P0B 1J0
E-Transfers to KnoxChurchPC@gmail.com No security question required
Pick up ~ Please call the office (705) 765-3797 to arrange pick up

God Bless you

THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT