(Ivory carving from the Carolingian period, ca. 850-900, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=56883 [retrieved April 22, 2020]. Original in: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Creative Commons 3.0 license.)

Bible reading: Luke 24:13-35 (The Road to Emmaus)
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+24%3A13-35&version=GNT
The Bible Gateway website includes further translations in English and many other languages.
(right mouse-click on the Bible Gateway link to ‘open in a new tab’ while listening to the audio file)

Hymn: I want Jesus to walk with me (Church Hymnary, No. 539)
Sung version:

Song texts: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/i/w/a/n/iwantjes.htm
(right mouse-click on the texts link to ‘open in a new tab’ while listening to the audio file)

Reflection: A New Reality

Prayers for Others and Ourselves

Blessing / Closing Hymn: Christ be beside me (Church Hymnary, No. 577)
Instrumental version: 

Christ be beside me, Christ be before me,
Christ be behind me, King of my heart.
Christ be within me, Christ be below me,
Christ be above me, never to part.

Christ on my right hand, Christ on my left hand,
Christ all around me, shield in my strife.
Christ in my sleeping, Christ in my sitting,
Christ in my rising, light of my life.

Notices:

There are many other wonderful versions of the song “I want Jesus to walk with me” on YouTube, including one with Alison Chase Radcliffe on vocals and piano and Allen Homes on harmonica and bass. It is a good postscript reflecting on Jesus as our companion on life’s journey, especially in troublesome times. To view, follow this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0s-paQTAZ0

Next Sunday, 3 May, would normally include our monthly celebration of communion, however that is clearly not an option, given the current hygiene restrictions. Instead, next week’s digital worship material will centre on a Liturgy for When We Cannot Meet. This is a liturgy devised by the Order of Saint Luke, a religious order begun within the Methodist Church in the United States that is dedicated to sacramental and liturgical scholarship, education, and practice.

The Pauluskirche remains open, as it has done throughout the lockdown, on Tuesday to Friday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. and on Sunday from 10 a.m. till noon for private prayer. If you do choose to visit the church, please observe the general restrictions (physical distancing, etc.) which still remain in place.

In response to the digital revolution, long before corona, the Church of Scotland began offering online ministry called Sanctuary First which includes daily worship as well as pastoral support for many life situations: https://www.sanctuaryfirst.org.uk/daily-worship

Our weekly offerings during worship are our congregation’s main source of income. The corona crisis has put a stop to this, so please consider making donations by bank transfer in order that the ECC may continue to cover ongoing costs. Bank account details are shown below. Thank you.