Welcome to Olympic View Online Worship!

 

3rd Sunday of Easter, Year A, 26th April, 2020

Psalm 116 NRSV / Luke 24:13-35 NRSV

Intro / Prelude – The Strife Is Over – Translated by Francis Pott
                                  performed by church pianist Annie Center

Welcoming/Announcements

Welcome to worship with Olympic View Community Church. 
This morning, we continue to share our worship together online. 
As we continue to explore this new format together,  hope that you find these services meaningful, and I am always open to, and would greatly welcome any feedback
or suggestions you might have.  

Since we can’t greet each other in person to pass the peace of Christ, let’s instead think of those we would like to offer peace, whether those in our church family, or others we can think of who would benefit from the sharing of peace today.  

Feel free to say their names aloud, to pray for peace for them, or simply think a peaceful thought for them silently.  Let’s take a few moments to pass the peace to others
from wherever we are, while Annie plays an interlude for us.

 

Interlude        When I Survey the Wondrous Cross – Isaac Watts,   
                            performed by church pianist Annie Center

Let’s take a deep breath, quiet our minds and hearts, as we light a candle to represent
the Spirit among us.  Let us call ourselves to worship.

Call to Worship

Easter is not an event that has occurred
it’s an adventure that has begun
not a place that we have visited
but a path on which we stand
a story not complete, but unfolding
characters still breathing
stations still teeming
with the promise of new life
not just for you and me
but for all people, in all places
a cosmic crux
a turning point of time
Easter is the season
of wild hope
of dangerous intent
of potent promise
where the future flaps unfurled
in the spirit’s breeze
where hopes bubble
with uncorked effervescence
where toes tap
to free-form rhythms
where rainbow hues
splash empty canvas
Today
we continue the journey
we re-enter the story
to explore our questions
to uncover our doubts
to face our nagging need
We walk the path
of two who traveled a dusty road
wrapped in confusion and despair
two who shared the company of a stranger
voicing their pain
airing their fears
and in the listening
heard words of hope and promise
and in the eating
received true bread of life
Today we re-enter the story
with expectation that Christ
will also reveal himself to us
in sights and sounds
in words and symbols
in bread and wine

 

Invocation

Join me in prayer.

Risen Christ
walk with us this day
be our companion and guide
be our teacher and friend
be our host and servant
bringing your gifts of faith, peace and hope
and deep joy
as always

Amen.

Psalm of the Day    Psalm 116    NRSV

Scripture Video     Psalm 116 – Sons of Korah, uploaded to YouTube by Ed Sullivan
            

A Time of Prayer

 

Joys and Concerns

So as we come to our normal time of sharing prayer together from a distance. 
From my conversations with some of you,
I have included those concerns shared in our prayer today. 
If you have items you would like lifted in prayer,
please leave a comment below, or email myself at vicarglenn@gmail.com,
and I will make sure to include them next week,
as well as send a prayer chain email, unless directed otherwise.

Pastoral Prayer

Join me in prayer.

Faithful God,
In these early days after the resurrection, we wonder what it all means.
We can relate to the women who fled the tomb with terror and amazement.
We understand Thomas and his need for proof that would come
only by touching the wounds and seeing the nail marks.
We understand the fear and confusion
that kept the disciples in the shadow cast by closed doors.
We also keep company with the travelers on the Emmaus road
who felt the strange burning of the truth and hope and love
weaving into the sadness that consumed them on their walk.
We find ourselves in the eternal movement between fear and faith,
doubt and conviction, wonder and worry, and we trust that
you are present with us, O God. We trust that like
the disciples we will be able to stand and tell the whole message about this life that:
Love is stronger than hate. Life has the final word over death
Beyond what we can see with our eyes,
there is a bond of humanness that draws and keeps us together.

Loving God,
It is a complicated and frightening world in which we live
If we are ill, strengthen us.
If we are tired, fortify our spirits.
If we are anxious, help us to consider the lilies of the field
and the birds of the air.

Help us not to stockpile treasures from supermarkets in the barns of our larders.
Don’t let fear cause us to overlook the needs of others more
vulnerable than ourselves.
Fix our eyes on your story and our hearts on your grace.

Help us always to hold fast to the good,
See the good in others,
And remember there is just one world, one hope,
One everlasting love, with baskets of bread for everyone.

In Jesus we make our prayer,
The one who suffered, died and was raised to new life,
In whom we trust these days and all days,
Amen.

Gospel Reading – Luke 24:13-35 NRSV

Gospel Video – The Road to Emmaus, Luke 24:13-35 
                                    Abby Guinness, posted toYouTube   

Message – Lost and Found

Call to Serve

The author of 1 Peter implores us to love one another deeply from the heart,
and assures us that we have been born anew through the living and  enduring word of God. 
In our giving today, let us give, not out of obligation, but from the heart. 
Let our gifts be seeds of the living and enduring word of God, 
that will sprout in abundance of justice and hope all that is necessary for life,
for sisters and brothers here at hand, and around the world. 
If you’d like to support this ministry with your resources, offerings and tithes can still be mailed to the church office, or donations can be made here. (You may “Give as guest” if you do not wish to make an account.) As we continue to be beacons of God’s grace in continuing to support our staff financially, and showing leniency to our tenants, we are stepping out in faith and relying on the grace of others. May you give prayerful consideration to how you can support our faith community in these difficult times.

Reflection on the Word

    Ordinary     written by Hannah Kerr, Sean Cook, and Tony Wood.

The Prayer of Thanksgiving

Like the disciples at Emmaus,
we offer what we have.
They offered their company,
their table, their bread.
We invite you to be with us, Jesus, 
as we offer you our love,
our devotion, these gifts.
May our eyes be opened
to your holy presence among us, 
now and always.  Amen. 

Benediction/Blessing/Assurance

In the times we think we are most alone, Christ is with us.
When we are most distraught, Christ is beside us.
When we are grieving, Christ is silently listening.
When we rejoice, Christ is celebrating with us.
Know that you are never truly alone. Know that
you are always loved. Know that the hairs on your head are accounted for.
You are God’s beloved. Live with the assurance of God’s steadfast love,
now and always. Amen.

As we extinguish this candle, may we keep its light alive, shining through our own lives,
as we seek to find Jesus at work in the world around us. 

Postlude    – Allemande from Cello Suite No. 2  – JS Bach
performed on the viola by church pianist Annie Center