Preparation (9:45AM)
This is a time to look upward and to commune with the Lord.
- Sit in silence for five minutes to “just be.” Just be “still” to know that God is “good.” Try to still your busy mind and put it into a mode of listening. If you find “thought monkeys” that disturb your silence, jot them down, and then continue in silence.
- Searching Your Heart. The following questions reveal the direction of your heart: What are you seeking? What are you seeking first? What is your number one priority? What do you think about the most? Talk about the most? Spend the most time desiring? What causes you worry or anxiety? Read Matthew 6:25-34 to examine your heart and then bring all of your worries to your Father in Heaven who is all that you need. Come to the Altar or Goodness of Jesus.
Invocation: Taste the goodness of God
Welcome to Ethos Communion Church and happy Easter! There is a traditional Easter greeting based on Luke 24:34. One person says, “He is Risen!” and the rest respond by saying, “He is Risen Indeed!”
Here now the word of the Lord from Acts 10.34-43 where the Apostle Peter proclaims the resurrection of the Lord:
“So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all), you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear, not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”” (Acts 10:34–43)
Let us bow in prayer:
O God, who on this day,
through your Only Begotten Son,
have conquered death
and unlocked for us the path to eternity,
grant, we pray, that we who keep
the solemnity of the Lord’s Resurrection
may, through the renewal brought by your Spirit,
rise up in the light of life.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Sing Together: O Praise the Name
VERSE 1
I cast my mind to Calvary
Where Jesus bled and died for me
I see His wounds His hands His feet
My Savior on that cursed tree
VERSE 2
His body bound and drenched in tears
They laid Him down in Joseph’s tomb
The entrance sealed by heavy stone
Messiah still and all alone
CHORUS
O praise the Name of the Lord our God
O praise His Name forevermore
For endless days we will sing Your praise
Oh Lord oh Lord our God
VERSE 3
Then on the third at break of dawn
The Son of Heaven rose again
O trampled death where is your sting
The angels roar for Christ the King
CHORUS
O praise the Name of the Lord our God
O praise His Name forevermore
For endless days we will sing Your praise
Oh Lord oh Lord our God
VERSE 4
He shall return in robes of white
The blazing sun shall pierce the night
And I will rise among the saints
My gaze transfixed on Jesus’ face
CHORUS
O praise the Name of the Lord our God
O praise His Name forevermore
For endless days we will sing Your praise
Oh Lord oh Lord our God
TAG
Oh Lord oh Lord our God
Confession: Repent of the sin that separates
Our souls are meant to find rest in God by living in communion with him. But the reality is that there is often so much sin in our hearts that separates us from him. The following is a prayer, based on Psalm 23 that brings out some of the ways we sin. Let us recite it together:
O Lord, you are our shepherd,
And yet we want.
We lie down when we could act,
We stir the pot when we could offer peace,
We wander tempting paths instead of following you.
We see courage and comfort in earthly things rather than in you.
We hate our enemies and refuse to break bread with them,
We see scarcity even when you offer us abundance.
We pray for forgiveness, for your goodness and mercy,
So that we might dwell in You, in your grace, forever. Amen.
Spend some time meditating on this prayer, and allow it to lead you into your own confession of sin.
Atonement: Trust in Christ who makes us one
In spite of our sin, our God is a loving Father who graciously forgives us. Hear these words from Psalm 103 that assure us his forgiveness to all who come wanting it:
The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.…He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust. (Ps. 103:8, 10–14)
Sing Together: His Mercy Is More
VERSE 1
What love could remember
No wrongs we have done
Omniscient all knowing
He counts not their sum
Thrown into a sea
Without bottom or shore
Our sins they are many
His mercy is more
CHORUS
Praise the Lord
His mercy is more
Stronger than darkness
New every morn
Our sins they are many
His mercy is more
VERSE 2
What patience would wait
As we constantly roam
What Father so tender
Is calling us home
He welcomes the weakest
The vilest the poor
Our sins they are many
His mercy is more
CHORUS
Praise the Lord
His mercy is more
Stronger than darkness
New every morn
Our sins they are many
His mercy is more
VERSE 3
What riches of kindness
He lavished on us
His blood was the payment
His life was the cost
We stood ‘neath a debt
We could never afford
Our sins they are many
His mercy is more
CHORUS
Praise the Lord
His mercy is more
Stronger than darkness
New every morn
Our sins they are many
His mercy is more
TAG
Our sins they are many
His mercy is more
TAG
So much
Stronger than darkness
New every morn
Our sins they are many
His mercy is more
Instruction: Hear the Word of the Lord
[[Sermon – United With Him in a Resurrection Like His (Romans6.1-14)]]
Sacrifice/Surrender: How can I offer my life to God?
Live in the newness of life by virtue of our union with Christ. Consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God.
Sing Together: Take My Life
VERSE 1
Take my life and let it be consecrated
Lord to Thee
Take my moments and my days
Let them flow in ceaseless praise
Take my hands and let them move
At the impulse of Thy love
Take my feet and let them be
Swift and beautiful for Thee
VERSE 2
Take my voice and let me sing
Always only for my King
Take my lips and let them be
Filled with messages from Thee
Take my silver and my gold
Not a mite would I withhold
Take my intellect and use
Ev’ry power as You choose
CHORUS
Here am I all of me
Take my life it’s all for Thee
VERSE 3
Take my will and make it Thine
It shall be no longer mine
Take my heart it is Thine own
It shall be Thy royal throne
Take my love my Lord I pour
At Your feet its treasure store
Take myself and I will be
Ever only all for Thee
Communion with Christ: How can we remember our union with Christ?
Heidelberg Catechism
Question 1:
What is your only comfort in life and death?
Answer:
- That I am not my own, but belong with body and soul, both in life and in death, to my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ.
2a. He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood
“Originally, we were all his enemies. How did we come to belong to him as his servants and followers? What did we do in order to enter into such a relationship? Nothing. The only thing we contributed—if you can say it that way—was our sins. Jesus himself did everything. This was already alluded to in his title “Saviour,” that is, the One who saved us.” (Heidelberg Diary)
“knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.” (1 Peter 1:18–19)
John says, “The Son of God appeared…to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8). It is God’s plan that people “may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God” (Acts 26:18). Through his death, Jesus destroyed “one who has the power of death, that is, the devil.” In this last verse, death is mentioned as a third power that we have been freed from. Jesus is “our Savior… who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (2 Tim. 1:10).
“Precious” means the same, because Christ is the most innocent and highest sacrifice. 1 Pet. 1:18, 19.
“Fully” means that we can not or must not add anything to it, not even the very least. Heb. 9:12.
“For all my sins” declare that no sin and no number of them is so great that the sacrifice of Christ is not sufficient for them.
“Paid” means that He has paid the ransom for me, and so blotted out the guilt of my sin. Col. 2:14, 1 Pet. 2:24. (An Aid to the Heidelberg Catechism)
Lord’s Supper
“For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.” (1Corinthians11.23-29)
- In this passage we see that the Lord’s Supper should be taken: 1) Sentimentally, 2) Expectantly, 3) Carefully
- Because of the significance of the Lord’s Table, only baptized believers in the Lord Jesus Christ should partake.
- Also, if you are willingly living in sin, you should refrain.
- If you are unable to partake of the Lord’s Table today, you may still partake of Christ! The Lord’s Table is just an aid in your relationship with Christ. Without it, you can still go to Christ.
- There are some prayers below that you may use to guide you.
Prayer for those searching
Oh God, I am discovering that the more I have, the more I need to have, the more I am loved, the more I need to be loved, the more I achieve, the more I need to achieve. Nothing seems to satisfy me. “Nothing tastes.” Could it be, as someone once said, that “Our hearts are restless until they find their rest in thee.” Dear God, if this is true, and if as the Bible teaches there is life and life eternal in Christ alone, please guide me to him. Open me to the reality of the one who alone can satisfy my restless heart. Give me the courage to believe that which I cannot see but can understand through your Word, sacraments and church family. Lord I want to believe, please help me in my unbelief! Amen.
Prayer of belief
Lord God, I now see that I am weaker and more flawed than I ever before believed, but in Christ, I am more loved and accepted than I ever dared hope. Even as I have not loved you or my neighbor with all of my heart, you have shown your love for me in that while I am still sinning, Christ died for me and took upon himself the condemnation that I deserve. I now know that You owe me nothing for my efforts, but you offer acceptance, love and blessing into all eternity because of Christ’s efforts on my behalf. I therefore ask that you would enable me to turn away from trusting in my own efforts to gain your acceptance and forgiveness, and trust in the perfectly righteous efforts of Christ on my behalf in order to be accepted by you and entered into your holy family. And just as you raised Christ from the dead, so too I ask that you would give me a new life in Christ, one that will lead eventually to heaven itself. Thank you for Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit to believe in him alone for my salvation. And as You have called us to follow You in baptism and in a life of committed discipleship in Your church, grant that I may take the necessary steps to be one with Your people, and live in the fullness of Your Spirit. Amen.
Communion with body of Christ: How can we serve one another?
Intercession
“Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.” (Romans 12:15)
“praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.” (Ephesians 6:18–20)
Take this time to pray for the people seated near you. Also, pray for Ethos Communion Church, as well as other churches you know of.
Commission to the World: How can we serve the world?
Intercession
“And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.” (Mark 16:15)
“At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison—” (Colossians 4:3)
“First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior,” (1 Timothy 2:1–3)
Take this time to pray for open doors for missionaries and evangelists to proclaim the gospel with boldness and winsomeness and pray for those in authority may govern well in order to provide conditions for the church to thrive in its ministries.
Lord’s Prayer
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 debts,
as we forgive our debtors;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom and the power
and the glory, forever.
Sing Together: King of Kings
VERSE 1
In the darkness we were waiting
Without hope without light
Till from Heaven You came running
There was mercy in Your eyes
To fulfill the law and prophets
To a virgin came the word
From a throne of endless glory
To a cradle in the dirt
CHORUS
Praise the Father praise the Son
Praise the Spirit three in one
God of glory majesty
Praise forever to the King of Kings
VERSE 2
To reveal the Kingdom coming
And to reconcile the lost
To redeem the whole creation
You did not despise the Cross
For even in Your suffering
You saw to the other side
Knowing this was our salvation
Jesus for our sake You died
CHORUS
Praise the Father praise the Son
Praise the Spirit three in one
God of glory majesty
Praise forever to the King of Kings
VERSE 3
And the morning that You rose
All of Heaven held its breath
Till that stone was moved for good
For the Lamb had conquered death
And the dead rose from their tombs
And the angels stood in awe
For the souls of all who’d come
To the Father are restored
VERSE 4
And the church of Christ was born
Then the Spirit lit the flame
Now this gospel truth of old
Shall not kneel shall not faint
By His blood and in His name
In His freedom I am free
For the love of Jesus Christ
Who has resurrected me
CHORUS
Praise the Father praise the Son
Praise the Spirit three in one
God of glory majesty
Praise forever to the King of Kings
TAG
Praise forever to the King of Kings
Benediction: What is the hope with which you go out?
May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. (Hebrews 13:20–21)
Announcements
- If you would like to support the ministry of Ethos Communion Church, or to make Ethos the place you give your tithes you can go online at EthosChurch.Co. FYI there are less fees using the ACH bank transfer donation, so using your bank is preferred over credit card.
- Having looked upward during the worship service, we now want to look outward, in sharing the love of Christ we have in our hearts for one another. To do that, food always helps, so following the service we will have a refreshment hour followed by a meal. Today’s menu: Mediterranean Food from Panini Kabob Grill.
Discussion Questions
- How was your communion with Christ this week?
- What from today’s sermon or worship service stood out to you?
- How can you consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus (Romans 6:11)?
- What do you think about the idea of being a tool of God (Romans 6:13)?
- What is one spiritual habit you can try developing this week?