ALL: 3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!
Leader: In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
ALL: 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade.
Leader: This inheritance is kept in heaven for you… 6a In all this you greatly rejoice!
Leader: Christ is risen!
ALL: The tomb is open and empty.
Leader: Christ is risen!
ALL: Our sins were buried with Him. In Him, we have new life that will never end.
Leader: Christ is risen!
ALL: The angels of God are rejoicing.
Leader: Christ is risen!
ALL: He truly is King of kings and Lord of lords.
Leader: Christ our Lord has risen from the dead!
ALL: Glory and power and honor are Christ’s for ever and ever! Amen.
Call to Worship
Leader: Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD;
let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. (Psalm 95:1)
ALL: This is the day that the Lord has made, and we rejoice in it! (Psalm 118: 24)
Leader: This is the house of the Lord. No matter who you are, or where you come from, you are welcome here. (Romans 15:7)
ALL: How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity! (Psalm 133:1)
Let us come before him with thanksgiving
Praise him with music and song! (Psalm 95:2)
3 Glorious things are said of you,
city of God:
4 “I will record Rahab and Babylon
among those who acknowledge me—
Philistia too, and Tyre, along with Cush—
and will say, ‘This one was born in Zion.’ ”
5 Indeed, of Zion it will be said,
“This one and that one were born in her,
and the Most High himself will establish her.”
6 The Lord will write in the register of the peoples:
“This one was born in Zion.”
7 As they make music they will sing,
“All my fountains are in you.”
Leader: 11a Remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth … 12 you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
ALL: 14 For He himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15 by setting aside in His flesh the law with its commands and regulations.
Leader: His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, 16a and in one Body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross…
ALL: 18 For through Him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.
Leader: 19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.
ALL: 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In Him we are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit.