Watchword for the Week

Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power

and wealth and wisdom and might and honour and

glory and blessing. (Revelation 5:12)

(Moravian Daily Texts 2016)

ORGAN PRELUDE

WELCOME and CALL to WORSHIP

(Verses from Psalm 30)

I praise you, LORD, because you have saved me.

I cried to you for help, O LORD my God,

and you healed me.

You kept me from the grave. I was on my way

to the depths below, but you saved my life.

You have changed my sadness into a joyful

dance; you have taken away my sorrow

and surrounded me with joy

So I will not be silent;

I will sing praise to you.

LORD, you are my God,

I will thank you for ever.

Hymn 169 * Praise the Lord

People’s Choice Hymns are marked with an asterisk (*)

PRAYER of APPROACH

God has lifted us up and given us new life.

God has turned our mourning into dancing!

God has turned our sorrow into joy!

God’s anger lasts for but a moment;

God’s favour lasts a lifetime.

God has turned our mourning into dancing!

God has turned our sorrow into joy!

Weeping may spend the night,

but joy comes in the morning.

God has turned our mourning into dancing!

God has turned our sorrow into joy!

Lord of our Easter Dance, as we look back

toward your Passion and Resurrection,

we remember your unending love for us.

Yet we know too that there are moments

in our lives when we have not loved others as

you taught us. There are moments when we

are caught up in our own fears, insecurities,

and selfish ways.

God, you draw us toward you, even when we

turn away. Your Spirit leads and guides us in

our daily lives. Help us to stay alert, to see

the moments when we encounter Christ in

our everyday interactions.

For the moments when we give in to fear and

let our own lives and worries consume us, we

ask your forgiveness. For the moments when

we are disconnected from others, we ask for

forgiveness. Amen.

WORDS of ASSURANCE

God heals us when we cry for help, and restores

us to life when we falter. God’s favour is for a

lifetime. Our weeping may endure for the night,

but joy comes in the morning.

God is gracious and helps us – always.

Thanks be to God! Amen!

Hymn 204 1+2+5 I am the Church!

INFANT BLESSING

(We welcome Ivy and Mayaa Sarpong)

“Jesus Blesses Little Children” (Mark 10:13-16)

Prayer and Scripture Readings

Welcome and Blessing

Questions to the Family and the People

Closing Prayer

SHARING GOD’S PEACE

I welcome you in the name of the Lord! (2x)

I can see in you the glory of the Lord;

You are welcome in the name of the Lord!

(Children may join the Kids’ Church programme)

SCRIPTURE READINGS

Acts 9:1-6 NT p. 159

St. John 21:1-19 NT p. 145

People may stand for the Gospel reading.

The word of God: Thanks be to God!

Hymn 533 * Will you come and follow me?

SERMON Rev. James Brown

Hymn 424 Blest be the everlasting God

(Hymn of the Month, April 2016)

(Offerings are gathered and brought forward)

DEDICATION PRAYER

God, you have the power to transform the

most unlikely people into your witnesses.

We dedicate ourselves to being open to the

movement of the Holy Spirit and moments

where we might be agents of healing and

change in today’s world. Use our gifts to

show people your presence in their everyday

lives. Help us be a means for encountering

the risen Christ in a broken world. Amen.

NOTICES and PRAYERS for OTHERS

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

trespasses, as we forgive those who

trespass against us. And lead us not into

temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine

is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory,

for ever and ever. Amen.

Hymn 530 * One more step along the world

BLESSING and Threefold Amen (No. 819)

ORGAN POSTLUDE

“Give a man a fish and

you feed him for a day;

teach a man to fish

and you feed him

for a lifetime.”

Moses Maimonides

(ca. 1135-1204)

Jewish Philosopher