THIRD SUNDAY OF EASTER

HE IS RISEN!

April 18, 2021

Who do you resemble?

Often, a person knows he or she is loved by what is done by another. From the words said, actions shown, and even at times gifts given from parents to children, spouses to each other, friends among one another, and more, we can often sense the motivation of love behind many forms of kindness and care. How can we know God’s love for us? It’s in some ways similar to our earthly relationships, but is from One who always loves perfectly. “See what kind of love the Father has given to us” (1 John 3:1). The Lord speaks His Word of unchanging truth, promise, and hope. He gives the action of sending His one and only Son to this world to live, die, and be raised to life that we may have a new and forgiven life in Him. He gives the gift of His Means of Grace claiming us as His own in Baptism and providing Christ’s body and blood for our forgiveness of sins and nourishment of faith. Unlike love shown in temporal earthly ways, His love is eternal and everlasting and one we are blessed to see with eyes of faith and know in our hearts as we continue in this Easter season, rejoicing in the fact that Christ is risen!

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HE IS RISEN!

+ PREPARATION +

OPENING HYMN: #467 – Awake, My Heart, with Gladness

INVOCATION

Pastor: In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.

People: Amen.

OPENING SENTENCES Psalm 16:11b; 30:1–3

Pastor: Alleluia! Christ is risen!

People: He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Pastor: In Your presence there is fullness of joy;

People: at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Pastor: I will extol You, O Lord, for You have drawn me up

People: and have not let my foes rejoice over me.

Pastor: O Lord my God, I cried to You for help, and You have healed me.

People: O Lord, You have brought up my soul from Sheol; You restored me to life from among those who go down to the pit.

CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION 1 John 3:1; Psalm 30:4–5; 16:11b

Pastor: “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.” Gracious Lord, by Your name You have called us Your own children, and we are to pray, praise, and give thanks to You.

People: Yet we often choose not to see the love You have given to us, letting other things of this world impede our vision of Your mercy and grace in Christ. We do not always live as You have called us to be as Your children.

Pastor: We confess our sins to God in repentance, turning from those things that lead us away, turning back to You in the love You’ve shown.

Silence for reflection.

Pastor: Almighty and ever-compassionate Lord,

People: we are by nature sinful and unclean. We confess our many failures as we have not followed You joyfully and trustingly. We have not loved others as You have first loved us, and our thoughts, words, and deeds have not been pleasing to You. Forgive us, renew us, and lead us to delight in Your will and walk in Your ways to the glory of Your holy name.

Pastor: Sing praises to the Lord, O you His saints,

People: and give thanks to His holy name.

Pastor: For His anger is but for a moment, and His favor is for a lifetime.

People: Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

Pastor: In Your presence there is fullness of joy;

People: at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Pastor: “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.” As a called and ordained servant of Christ, and by His authority, I therefore forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. As His children, may He keep you in His grace by the Holy Spirit and grant you a renewed life on earth and finally a triumphant life with Him in heaven forever, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Alleluia! Christ is risen!

People: He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Thanks be to God!

+ WORD +

PSALM Psalm 4 (spoken responsively)

¹Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness!
You have given me relief when I was in distress.
Be gracious to me and hear my prayer!

²O men, how long shall my honor be turned into shame?
How long will you love vain words and seek after lies?
³But know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself;
the Lord hears when I call to him.

⁴Be angry, and do not sin;
ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent.
⁵Offer right sacrifices,
and put your trust in the Lord.

⁶There are many who say, “Who will show us some good?
Lift up the light of your face upon us, O Lord!”
⁷You have put more joy in my heart
than they have when their grain and wine abound.

⁸In peace I will both lie down and sleep;

for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

KYRIE

Pastor: Christ, the Lamb of God, who saved us while we were still sinners,

People: have mercy on us.

Pastor: Christ, the Lamb of God, once lifted upon the tree of the cross,

People: have mercy on us.

Pastor: Christ, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world,

People: have mercy on us and grant us Your peace. Amen.

SALUTATION and PRAYER OF THE DAY

Pastor: The Lord be with you.

People: And also with you.

Pastor: Let us pray.
O God, through the humiliation of Your Son You raised up the fallen world. Grant to Your faithful people, rescued from the peril of everlasting death, perpetual gladness and eternal joys; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

People: Amen.

FIRST READING Acts 3:11–21

(Peter preaches salvation through Christ.)

¹¹While [the lame man who was now healed] clung to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the portico called Solomon’s, astounded. ¹²And when Peter saw it he addressed the people: “Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we have made him walk? ¹³The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him. ¹⁴But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, ¹⁵and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. ¹⁶And his name—by faith in his name—has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all.

¹⁷“And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. ¹⁸But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled. ¹⁹Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, ²⁰that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, ²¹whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago.”

Lector: This is the Word of the Lord.

People: Thanks be to God.

GRADUAL adapt. from Matthew 28:7; Hebrews 2:7; Psalm 8:6

Christ has risen from the dead.
God the Father has crowned Him with glory and honor,
He has given Him dominion over the works of His hands;
He has put all things under His feet.

EPISTLE 1 John 3:1–10

(We are God’s children now.)

¹See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. ²Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. ³And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.

⁴Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. ⁵You know that he appeared to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. ⁶No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. ⁷Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. ⁸Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. ⁹No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. ¹⁰By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.

Pastor: This is the Word of the Lord.

People: Thanks be to God.

VERSE – Romans 6:9; Luke 24:32

Alleluia. We know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over Him. Alleluia. Did not our hearts burn within us while He talked to us on the road, while He opened to us the Scriptures? Alleluia.

HOLY GOSPEL Luke 24:36–49

(Amid disciples’ doubts, the resurrected Christ affirms the fulfillment of God’s Word.)

Pastor: The Holy Gospel according to St. Luke, the twenty-fourth chapter.

People: Glory to You, O Lord.

³⁶As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you!” ³⁷But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit. ³⁸And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? ³⁹See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” ⁴⁰And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. ⁴¹And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” ⁴²They gave him a piece of broiled fish, ⁴³and he took it and ate before them.

⁴⁴Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” ⁴⁵Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, ⁴⁶and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, ⁴⁷and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. ⁴⁸You are witnesses of these things. ⁴⁹And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”

Pastor: This is the Gospel of the Lord.

People: Praise to You, O Christ.

HYMN OF THE DAY: #725 – Children of the Heavenly Father

SERMON: Who do you resemble?

Apostles’ Creed

I believe in God, the Father Almighty,

maker of heaven and earth.

And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord,

who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,

born of the virgin Mary,

suffered under Pontius Pilate,

was crucified, died and was buried.

He descended into hell.

The third day He rose again from the dead.

He ascended into heaven

and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.

From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

the holy Christian Church,

the communion of saints,

the forgiveness of sins,

the resurrection of the body,

and the life + everlasting. Amen.

PRAYER OF THE CHURCH

After each petition:

Pastor: … Lord, in Your mercy:

People: hear our prayer.

At conclusion:

Pastor: … You and the Holy Spirit, one God forever.

People: Amen.

LORD’S PRAYER Matthew 6:9–13

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

forever and ever. Amen.

CLOSING PRAYER

Pastor: Let us pray.
O almighty and eternal God, You have assured us of the completion of our forgiveness and new life in You through the resurrection of our Lord Jesus. You call us Your children through the waters of Baptism and give us eyes to see Your love for us in Your only-begotten Son. Give us the will to show forth in our lives the faith we profess with our lips; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

People: Amen.

BENEDICTION 1 John 3:1a; Psalm 16:11b; Numbers 6:24–26

Pastor: See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God;

People: and so we are.

Pastor: In Your presence there is fullness of joy;

People: at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Pastor: The Lord bless you and keep you.
The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you.
The Lord look upon you with favor and + give you peace.

People: Amen.

Pastor: Alleluia! Christ is risen!

People: He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

THIRD SUNDAY OF EASTER – HE IS RISEN!!! Online Church at Home Bulletin

HE IS RISEN!