The Lord’s
Day
Easter Sunday
April 4, 2010
The Lord opens the eyes of the blind;
the Lord raises up those who are bowed
down; the Lord loves the
righteous.
(Psalm 146:8)
Prelude
Musical Offering Easter Anthem (text on facing page)
*Call to Worship Psalm
98:1–4
O sing
to the Lord a new song, for He
has done wonderful things,
His right hand and His holy arm have gained the victory
for Him.
The Lord has made known His salvation;
He has revealed His righteousness in the sight of the
nations.
He has
remembered His lovingkindness and His faithfulness to the house of Israel;
All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our
God.
Shout
joyfully to the Lord, all the
earth;
Break forth and sing for joy and sing praises.
*Prayer of Invocation
*Hymn Christ the Lord Is Risen Today No.
277
Public Confession
O God of all
grace, our Creator and our heavenly Father, look with mercy on Your people.
Remember that we are but dust; remember Your holy covenant and save us from our
sin. We confess that we have not walked rightly before You; we have yielded to
temptation. Forgive us and grant us assurance of our standing in Christ. For
Your glory, keep us from sin in the days to come.
Words of
Comfort and Assurance John
1:11–13
He came to His
own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received
Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who
believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh
nor of the will of man, but of God.
Response I Know That My Redeemer Lives (following)
Prayer for the Tithe and Offerings
Collection of the Tithe and Offerings
*Doxology No.
731
*Declaring
Our Faith[†] The Catechism of the Church in Geneva
What
are the primary benefits to us of Christ’s resurrection?
By His
resurrection, Christ gained for us His imputed righteousness, a sure pledge of
our immortality, and now, in this present life, the ability to know and obey
the will of God.
When the
Scripture declares that the resurrected Christ “ascended into heaven,” what
does it mean?
After Christ
performed all the things which the Father had given Him to do, and which were
for our salvation, there was no need for Him to continue on the earth;
therefore, He returned to heaven.
Does Christ’s
return to heaven mean that He has ceased to be with us?
On the
contrary, He has promised to be with us even to the end of the world.
Pastoral Prayer
*Responsive
Reading The
Law of God
Then God spoke all these words, saying, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out
of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before Me.”
For us there is but one God, the Father, from whom
are all things, and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are
all things, and we exist through Him. (1 Corinthians 8:6)
“You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in
heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall
not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord
your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the
children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but
showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My
commandments.”
Little children, guard yourselves from idols. (1
John 5:21)
“You shall not take the name of the Lord
your God in vain, for the Lord will
not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.”
“Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who art in
heaven, Hallowed be Thy name.’” (Matthew 6:9)
“Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and
do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do
any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or
your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth,
the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and made
it holy.”
There remains therefore a Sabbath rest for the
people of God. For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested
from his works, as God did from His. (Hebrews 4:9, 10)
“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in
the land which the Lord your God
gives you.”
Children, be obedient to your parents in all
things, for this is well-pleasing to the Lord. (Colossians 3:20)
“You shall not murder.”
Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another;
for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. For this, “You shall not
commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not
covet,” and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying,
“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Romans 13:8, 9)
“You shall not commit adultery.”
Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let
the marriage bed be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge.
(Hebrews 13:4)
“You shall not steal.”
Let him who steals steal no longer; but rather let
him labor, performing with his own hands what is good, in order that he may
have something to share with him who has need. (Ephesians 4:28)
“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.”
Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth,
each one of you, with his neighbor, for we are members of one another.
(Ephesians 4:25)
“You shall not covet.”
Do not let immorality or any impurity or greed
even be named among you, as is proper among saints. (Ephesians 5:3)
*Hymn Arise, My Soul, Arise No. 305
*Public Reading of the Word The Gospel of Matthew 28
*Prayer for the Ministry of the Word
Sermon The Resurrection in the Gospel of Mark
Hymn Christ Jesus Lay in Death’s Strong Bands No.
279
Sacrament of the Lord’s
Supper+
*Hymn Lift High the Cross No. 263
*Benediction
*Hymn Come, Ye Faithful, Raise the Strain No. 266
* Congregation will please stand
+ Visitors: please see the note on the back of this
bulletin