New Covenant Community Church

Sermons

Easter Service

by NCCC-Office | Apr 8, 2024 | Sermons

No entrance music; all enter in silence

WELCOME

PRELUDE

CALL TO WORSHIP:
Christ is risen!
Christ is risen indeed!
This is the day that the Lord has made.
Let us rejoice and be glad in it!

*HYMN: Jesus Christ is Risen Today (232)

CALL TO CONFESSION

PRAYER OF CONFESSION:
Almighty God, in raising Jesus from the grave, you shattered the power of sin and death. We confess that we remain captive to doubt and fear, bound by the ways that lead to death. We overlook the poor and the hungry, and pass by those who mourn; we are deaf to the cries of the oppressed, and indifferent to calls for peace; we despise the weak, and abuse the earth you made. Forgive us, God of mercy. Help us to trust your power to change our lives and make us new, that we may know the joy of life abundant given in Jesus Christ, the risen Lord. Amen.
SILENT CONFESSION

ASSURANCE OF PARDON:

PASSING THE PEACE (you are invited to share the Peace of Christ as you feel comfortable doing)

MUSICAL INTERLUDE

PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION

SCRIPTURE: Mark 16:1-8

1When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. 2And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. 3They had been saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” 4When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back. 5As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. 6But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. 7But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.” 8So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

MUSICAL INTERLUDE

SCRIPTURE: John 20:1-18

The Resurrection of Jesus

1Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. 2So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” 3Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. 4The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. 6Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, 7and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. 8Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 10Then the disciples returned to their homes.

Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene

11But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; 12and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. 13They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” 14When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” 16Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). 17Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ” 18Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.

PRE-SERMON PRAYER

SERMON: A Belief-Filled Response

POST-SERMON PRAYER

ANTHEM

*LITANY OF AFFIRMATION:
Truly I perceive that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears the Lord and does what is right is acceptable.
By the grace of God, I am what I am.
God raised Jesus on the third day and made him manifest to those God chose, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.
By the grace of God, I am what I am.
God commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that Christ is the one ordained by the Lord to be judge of the living and the dead.
By the grace of God, I am what I am.
To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.
By the grace of God, I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain.

JOYS AND CONCERNS
(Joys): Lord, we praise you. Thanks be to God.
(Concerns): Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayers.
Hear our prayers, O Lord.
Hear our prayers, O Lord.
Incline thine ear to us, and grant us thy peace.

PRAYER OF THE PEOPLE/THE LORD’S PRAYER

INVITATION TO SHARE:

OFFERING/MUSICAL INTERLUDE

*DOXOLOGY

*PRAYER OF DEDICATION

*HYMN: Open My Eyes that I May See (451)

*CHARGE AND BENEDICTION

*CHORAL RESPONSE

*POSTLUDE
*- those who can stand are invited to stand

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