Here is the video link for this service: Open Arms Sunday worship, April 26th
Opening Song: My Hope is in You
Invocation
V: Christ is Risen!
C: He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
We speak praises of our God from Psalm 116…
V: I love the Lord, because He has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy.
C: Because He inclined His ear to me, therefore I will call on Him as long as I live.
V: The snares of death encompassed me; the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me; I suffered distress and anguish.
C: Then I called on the name of the Lord: “O Lord, I pray, deliver my soul!”
V: Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; our God is merciful.
C: The Lord preserves the simple; when I was brought low, he saved me.
V: Return, O my soul, to your rest;
C: for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.
Confession and Absolution
V: Join me as we seek God’s mercy and forgiveness.
O God our Father, we confess before You all our sins, all of our thoughts, words and actions which have not glorified You. So often, we put our desires way above those of others, we look out for ourselves and not our neighbors. So often, we place our will above Yours, we chase after what we want and not what You desire.
C: Have mercy on us and forgive us, Lord.
V: O God, hear our individual confessions, for Jesus’ sake.
Silent confession of your sins
V: Like the Emmaus disciples, we are slow of heart to believe in our resurrected Savior, who walks along with us by His word and in His church. In spite of all your sins, today Jesus says to you: your sins are forgiven, in the name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit.
C: Amen.
First Reading Acts 2:14a, 36-41
But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words.
Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”
Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
Epistle Reading 1 Peter 1:17-25
And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, 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. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.
Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; for
“All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass.
The grass withers, and the flower falls,
but the word of the Lord remains forever.”
And this word is the good news that was preached to you.
Holy Gospel Luke 24:13-35
That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were kept from recognizing Him. And He said to them, “What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?” And they stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are You the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” And He said to them, “What things?”
And they said to Him, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened. Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning, and when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.” And He said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.
So, they drew near to the village to which they were going. He acted as if he were going farther, but they urged Him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.” So, He went in to stay with them. When He was at table with them, He took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened, and they recognized Him. And He vanished from their sight. They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while He talked to us on the road, while He opened to us the Scriptures?” And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” Then they told what had happened on the road, and how He was known to them in the breaking of the bread.
V: This is the Word of the Lord.
Sermon
The 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.
Prayers of the Church
V: Let’s pray for all people, and for all their needs.
Benediction
