Sermon Tone Analysis

WELCOME

CALL TO WORSHIP

Come, let us find the risen Lord.

Come with your whole self,

with your worries and your successes,

your fears and your joys,

your questions and your answers.

Come, all who are excited and all who are anxious.

Come, all who are confident and all who are searching.

God will meet us here.

HYMN

Light of the World

PRAYERS

Prayer of approach

Eternal God

ever present, ever loyal,

we gather today as one family –

each with our different experiences of faith,

but with one longing to serve you;

each with our own questions and doubts,

but with one heart to learn from you;

each with our own burdens and joys,

but as one in our desire to worship you

in Jesus’ name.

Amen.

Prayer of adoration

God of all the world,

we believe in the fact that you created us,

we believe in the fact that you love us,

we believe in the fact that your Son died for us –

even when it seems too good to be true,

even when we long for a deeper encounter,

even though there is so much that is mystery.

We believe that you are our God,

and we praise and adore you,

in Jesus’ name.

Amen.

Living God, forgive us when in our hearts we say

unless our prayers are answered, we won’t believe.

Deepen our encounter with you and show us the truth of love.

Forgive us when we say unless we can go our way, we won’t follow you.

Deepen our encounter with you and show us the truth of love.

Forgive us when we want to be disciples but on our terms.

Deepen our encounter with you and show us the truth of love.

In Jesus’ name we pray.

Amen.

God of all that is real,

we don’t always know what we believe,

but we know we always believe in you

and in your forgiveness,

in your understanding of each of our needs,

in your patience with our doubts,

in your challenging of our stubbornness,

in your meeting us where we are.

And in the strength of that truth,

and with the assurance of your love,

we give you our best.

In Jesus’ name.

Amen.

THE LORD’S PRAYER

HYMN

Be Thou My Vision

READINGS

Acts 5: 27-32

27 The apostles were brought in and made to appear before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest.

28 “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,” he said.

“Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.”

29 Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than human beings!

30 The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead—whom you killed by hanging him on a cross.

31 God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might bring Israel to repentance and forgive their sins.

32 We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”

John 20: 19-31

19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side.

The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you!

As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”

22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.

23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

Jesus Appears to Thomas

24 Now Thomas (also known as Didymus[a]), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came.

25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them.

Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands.

Reach out your hand and put it into my side.

Stop doubting and believe.”

28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book.

31 But these are written that you may believe[b] that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

HYMN

Crown him with many Crowns

SERMON

There is an old story, originating in India but found in many forms, that describes an encounter with an elephant by six blind men.

Long ago six old men lived in a village in India.

Each was born blind.

The other villagers loved the old men and kept them away from harm.

Since the blind men could not see the world for themselves, they had to imagine many of its wonders.

They listened carefully to the stories told by travelers to learn what they could about life outside the village.

The men were curious about many of the stories they heard, but they were most curious about elephants.