Ward Hill Church of Christ the King

A Christ-Centered Community of Faith, Hope, & Love

The Lord’s Day, April 16, in the Lord’s Year 2023

Second Sunday of Easter – The Confession of Saint Thomas

Please speak bold words and sing italicized words. *we invite you to stand if able.

Prelude & Quiet Prayer – five minutes before service (9:55-10:00 am)

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Christ is Risen!  He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen!

* Hymn 266   Come, Ye Faithful Raise the Strain                                              ST KEVIN

* Invocation

* Confession of Sin:  Gracious God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, you have promised to receive us when we come to you. We confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you or our neighbors as we should. Forgive us, O God, and grant that in the Holy Spirit we may live and serve you in newness of life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

* Declaration of Forgiveness: If you have repented of your sin and turned in faith to Jesus Christ, I can declare through Christ’s atoning death and life-giving resurrection that you are forgiven in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

 * New Life in Christ: If you love God, keep his commandments. Jesus said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”

* Response (Hymn 267, verse 2)                                                                    LANCASHIRE

Our hearts be pure from evil, that we may see aright the Lord in rays eternal of resurrection light; and listening to his accents, may hear, so calm and plain, his own “All Hail!” and hearing, may raise the victor strain.

O Lord, open our lips, and our mouths shall show forth your praise.

* Gloria Patri (Hymn 735)                                                  GLORIA PATRI (GREATOREX)

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

* The Peace of Christ   Christ is Risen! He is risen indeed!

  The peace of the Risen Christ be with you. And also with you.

Welcome & Announcements; Scripture & Catechism – see Bell Ringer

Hymn 287   Morning Sun                                                                   MUSIC ANNO DOMINI

Gathering Prayer (Collect for Easter II):  Almighty and everlasting God, who in the Paschal mystery established the new covenant of reconciliation: Grant that all who have been reborn into the fellowship of Christ’s Body may show forth in their lives what they profess by their faith; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Prayer for the Reading of the Holy Scriptures

Acts 2:14a,22-32        Psalm 16         1 Peter 1:3-9   John 20:19-31                                                        The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

Hymn 272   O Sons and Daughters, Let Us Sing                                    O FILII ET FILIAE

Sermon – “Too Good to Be True?”

The Nicene Creed – hymnal page 846

Prayers of Thanksgiving, Petition, and Intercession

Offering Our Gifts and Ourselves

Offertory (Hymn 729)                                                                      HERR JESU CHRIST

All things are thine; no gift have we, Lord of all gifts, to offer thee; and hence with grateful hearts today, thine own before thy feet we lay.

* Doxology (Hymn 731)                                                                           OLD HUNDREDTH

Praise God from whom all blessings flow; praise him, all creatures here below; praise him above, ye heavenly host; praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

* Offertory Prayer

Celebration of the Lord’s Supper

This is the table of the Lord, not of Ward Hill Church. Therefore, we invite to the Lord’s table all baptized persons who have confessed their sins and put their faith in Jesus Christ. Normally, you should also be in regular fellowship with, if not this church, a congregation in another location. If you do not wish to participate in the Lord’s Supper today, we understand and sincerely ask for God’s blessing on your life. Either way, we are thankful that you have been present with us this day in the house of the Lord.

Eucharistic Prayer and the Sanctus

The Lord be with you. And also with you.

Lift up your hearts.   We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. It is right to give our thanks and praise.

Praise be to you, Lord of heaven and earth. You have revealed your mercy towards your people in giving your only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. We give thanks for the redemption you have prepared for us through Jesus Christ. Let your Holy Spirit come into our hearts to enlighten us with a living faith. With your whole Church on earth and with all the saints and angels in heaven, we worship and adore your glorious name in this unending praise:

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, God of power and might, Heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.

Consecration of the Elements & Ourselves:Discerning the Body of Christ

O God, sanctify by your Spirit this bread and wine, which you have given and human hands have made. Here we offer them to you, that through them we may partake of the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. On the same night in which he was betrayed, our Lord Jesus took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take, eat. This is my body, which is given for you.” In the same way, he took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it to his disciples saying, “Drink this, all of you. This is my blood of the new covenant which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

Therefore, heavenly Father, we celebrate this supper in remembrance of your Son’s passion and death, his resurrection and ascension. We will eat of the Bread of Life and drink the Cup of Blessing until the day when he comes again in glory.

We ask you, O God, to remember the perfect and eternal sacrifice through which, in Christ, you have reconciled us with yourself. Grant that we may be united into one body and be made a perfect living sacrifice in Christ. Through him, and with him, and in him, by the power of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor are yours, almighty Father, forever and ever. And now we pray as our Savior taught us:

Our Father, who art in heaven… (saying ‘debts’)

* Hymn 427   Amidst Us Our Beloved Stands                                                   HAMBURG

Holy Communion:Receiving the Body and Blood of Christ

The bread which we break is a sharing in the body of Christ. The cup for which we give thanks is a participation in the blood of Christ.

Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast.

The gifts of God for the people of God. Amen.

Please remain seated for the giving and the receiving of the Lord’s Supper.

Thanksgiving and Commission:Being the Body of Christ in the World

Let us give thanks. Almighty and eternal God, you have fed us with the Holy Communion of the body and blood of your Son, our Savior Jesus Christ; we thank you for this gift, by which you assure us that we are members of the mystical body of your Son and heirs through hope of your everlasting kingdom. So assist us by your Holy Spirit that we may grow daily in knowledge of your truth, and in faithfulness to your will, abiding in that fellowship in which all your saints have part; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom with you and the Holy Spirit be all honor and glory, world without end. Amen.  Go forth in peace to love and serve the Lord. Amen.

* Hymn 450   So Send I You                                                                         SO SEND I YOU

* Benediction

Postlude