18. Year B - Third Sunday of Easter

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VERSION: 29 April 2002

THIRD SUNDAY OF EASTER, YEAR B

In 2003: 4 May

In 2006: 30 Apr

In 2009: 26 Apr

In 2012: 22 Apr

In 2015: 19 Apr

- - -

Note: For explanations and suggestions on the various resources provided, see the documents 'General notes and resources' and 'Easter season' in the 'General and seasonal' folder.

LITURGY

SENTENCE

See the document 'General notes and resources', under 'Sentence', in the 'General and seasonal' folder for suggestions on using a Sentence.

See what love the Father has given us (Alleluia),

that we should be called children of God (Alleluia);

when he is revealed, we will be like him (Alleluia),

for we will see him as he is. (Alleluia.) (1 John 3:1a,2b NRSV)

OR

Thus it is written,

that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day (Alleluia),

and that repentance and forgiveness of sins

is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations. (Alleluia.)

(Luke 24:46,47 NRSV)

OR, use one of the standard Easter Sentences in the document 'Easter season', under 'Sentence', in the 'General and seasonal' folder.

INTRODUCTION TO CONFESSION

One of the following introductions to the confession of sins may be used:

Friends in Christ:

St Peter said to the people of Jerusalem:

Repent and turn to God

so that your sins may be wiped out.

Therefore, let us confess our sins to God our Father

and ask him in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to forgive us.

OR

St John said:

Everyone who commits sin is guilty of lawlessness;

sin is lawlessness.

You know that Christ was revealed to take away sins,

and in him there is no sin.

Therefore, let us confess our sins to God our Father

and ask him in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to forgive us.

PRAYER OF THE DAY (COLLECT)

Traditional

O God,

since you have raised the fallen world

by the humiliation of your Son:

Grant continual gladness to your faithful people,

that those whom you have delivered

from the dangers of everlasting death

may receive from you eternal joy;

through your Son,

Jesus Christ our Lord,

who lives and reigns

with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and forever.

Amen.

OR, modernised traditional

Lord God, your own Son was humiliated

to lift up fallen humanity

and to rescue us

from the dangers of everlasting death.

Give eternal joy to your faithful people.

We ask this through your Son,

Jesus Christ our Lord,

who lives and reigns

with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and forever.

Amen.

OR, new (revised alternative)

(Let us pray for the assurance of Christ's presence. [silence])

Almighty and merciful God,

you made the disciples glad

by the sight of the risen Lord.

Remind us that he is always with us,

and that we now share in his resurrection.

For he lives and reigns

with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and forever.

Amen.

FIRST READING

Acts 3:12-19 Peter's message in the temple

(Begin by saying, 'After healing a lame beggar at the temple gate, Peter said to the people gathered there:')

PSALM

Psalm 4

Antiphon:

The Lord hears (me) when I call to him. (Ps 4:3b NRSV)

SECOND READING

1 John 3:1-7 We are children of God

ALLELUIA VERSE

Alleluia.

(Since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again;

death no longer has any power over him.

Alleluia.)

Then Jesus opened their minds to understand the scriptures,

and he said to them: Your are witnesses of these things.

(Luke 24:45,48, NRSV)

Alleluia.

GOSPEL

Luke 24:36b-48 Christ has fulfilled the Scriptures

(Note: Begin at the second half of the verse: 'Jesus himself stood among his disciples . . . )

PRAYER AFTER THE GOSPEL

This is the gospel of the Lord.

Praise to you, O Christ (, raised to live forever).

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for appearing to your disciples

and explaining the Scriptures.

Make us witnesses of your new life.

Amen.

OFFERING PRAYER

Heavenly Father,

thank you for raising your Son from death,

and for reassuring us of his presence with us.

Help us to live as your children,

and use us to bring your new life to other people.

Amen.

PRAYER OF THE CHURCH

Call to prayer

We are God's children, so let us come to him in prayer in the name of our risen Lord, Jesus Christ.

The regular response, OR:

Stand among us, Lord,

and give us your peace.

Suggested intercessions

Concluding prayer

Father, you have made us your children through baptism and the Holy Spirit. Open your word to us, so that we may witness to your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, for he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

Amen.

OR

The regular response, OR:

For accepting us as your children,

we praise you, Lord God.

Prayer

Loving Father, we rejoice in your caring love for us, your children. You watch over each one of us as though we were your only child to care about. We rejoice in Jesus our brother, and the way you credit us with his pure life, as though we had lived it ourselves. Bless the children of your family who are struggling in their relationship with you, and assure them of your patience and love.

We praise you for the miracle of faith, and the way you open our minds to understand the Scriptures. Centre our faith on Jesus, the crucified and risen Lord who has won the battle for us against the evil powers and forces, including our sin, death and Satan. Bless our church's dialogue with fellow believers in other denominations so that Christ is honoured as the fulfilment of the Scriptures. Bless those responsible for teaching in our church, including parents, Sunday school / children's club teachers, seminary lecturers, pastors, those who speak and write to proclaim Christ, and those who print and distribute the word.

Give wisdom to

Now you call us to your table where you share out the best gift you have, Jesus himself. Satisfy our thirst to be pure, and feed the hunger in our souls, through Jesus our crucified and risen Lord.

Amen.

SEASONAL PREFACE

It is indeed right and good,

Lord God, holy Father,

that we should at all times and in all places

give thanks to you,

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

But most of all we praise you

for the glorious resurrection of your Son,

the true Passover Lamb,

who has taken away the sin of the world.

By his death he has destroyed death,

and by his rising again he has restored life.

And so, with Mary Magdalene and Peter

and all the other witnesses of the resurrection,

with earth and sea and all their creatures,

and with angels and archangels,

cherubim and seraphim,

we adore and praise your glorious name:

COMMUNION INVITATION

Jesus says: 'Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day.'

(Thanks be to God.)

Come, everything is ready.

PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION

For an Easter post-communion prayer, see the document 'Easter season', under 'Prayer after communion', in the 'General and seasonal' folder. Alternatively, use the third prayer of the day (as listed above) at this point. It may be modified as follows.

Almighty and merciful God,

you made the disciples glad

by the sight of the risen Lord.

As he has come to us in this meal,

remind us that he is always with us,

and that we now share in his reurrection.

For he lives and reigns

with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and forever.

Amen.

SEASONAL BLESSING

This seasonal blessing is used together with (ie before) the usual blessing in the order of service.

(May) the God of peace,

who raised from the dead our Lord Jesus,

provide you with every good thing you need

in order to do his will; . . .

DISMISSAL

Go in peace. You are the children of God.

Thanks be to God. OR In the name of Christ. Amen.

HYMNS AND SONGS

FOR THE READINGS

Please note:        * =        Modernised version available

      G3, G4 . . . =        Guitar chords available in the Music Package 3, 4 . . .

      GS =        Guitar chords in the Supplement to LH

First reading: Acts 3:12-19

LHS

AT

TIS

Second reading: 1 John 3:1-7

LHS

AT

TIS

Gospel: Luke 24:36b-48

LHS

AT

TIS

SONGS FROM PRAISE FOR ALL SEASONS

Praise for All Seasons (Acorn Press, 1985), edited by Ellaine Downie and Digby Hannah, is a collection of 100 songs for worship by Australian songwriters. It contains two songs that are appropriate for today's gospel:

PSALM 4

For musical settings of Psalm 4, see Music Package 5. TIS 2, When I call, answer me, is a setting of Psalm 4:1,3,6,8.

NOTES ON THE READINGS

See the document 'General notes and resources', under 'Notes on the readings', in the 'General and seasonal' folder.

ACTS 3:12-19: You would never think that Peter was preaching in order to gain believers for Christ - that is, if you think that the message preached must always be agreeable to the ears of the listeners in order not to frighten them away. When people stop in amazed awe at the miraculous healing of a crippled beggar, Peter tells them the real author of the miracle, namely the Christ they rejected. Then he virtually throws at them five instances of the people’s guilt in Jesus' innocent death. Though they did it in ignorance, Peter tells them and us that there is no way to God except through honest repentance over sin and cleansing of that sin through God's forgiveness.

1 JOHN 3:1-7: John writes about Christians in seeming contradiction. Sometimes he says they are sinners (compare last week's reading, 1 John 1:8); sometimes he says they don't sin (eg today's reading, verses 6,7). We need to apply Luther's scriptural insight here, that the Christian is at the same time both saint and sinner. Washed in the blood of Jesus we stand 100% cleansed and forgiven in the sight of God, sinners though we continue to be according to our own nature. Here, then, is the great motivation for non-stop growth in personal holiness, verse 3, that living in permanent and sure hope of our full and final redemption in glory we purify ourselves in his gracious forgiveness and constantly move on to renewed righteousness.

LUKE 26:36b-48: Whenever God showed his presence to people in the Scriptures, they felt terror at the numinous experience (as did the shepherds at Bethlehem). The disciples show similar terror at Jesus' resurrection appearance recorded here by St Luke. No doubt guilty feelings would augment that reaction. However, Jesus neither castigates nor rejects them for their littleness of faith, but rather adapts to their limits by lovingly illustrating his physical fulfilment of the pre-crucifixion promises of rising from the dead. The word of God, upon which our relationship with God also exclusively hinges, required this process for the proof of its truth and effectiveness of God's declaration of forgiveness of sins.

VISUAL

DECORATION

Easter symbols and decorations can continue to be used.

VISUALS FOR THE READINGS

Pictures or symbols could be displayed on banners or the overhead screen during the readings. For instance, the first reading could be accompanied by a picture like the illustration in the TEV Bible for Acts 3:6; and the gospel could be accompanied by a picture of the risen Jesus standing among his disciples.

DRAMA

'MEGA DRAMA’

See a drama for the day in Mega Drama resources (Openbook Publishers), originally included in these worship resources when they were released on disks.

DRAMATISING THE READINGS

The readings can be read by more than one person to make the dramatic meaning of the text clearer. For instance, the gospel could be read by two readers (one of whom would be the pastor): a narrator and Jesus. The person reading the words of Jesus may read from the aisle in the centre of the standing congregation.

CHILDREN

PASSING THE PEACE

Jesus said 'Peace be with you' to the disciples. We extend that peace to those around us. Before the passing of the peace, gather the children together and tell them that Jesus came to his disciples and said 'Peace be with you'. Show them how to greet one another with these words, perhaps with handshake, perhaps with a hug or a kiss. Then ask them to go back to the congregation and greet their parents and family in this way. The congregation, which has received the greeting of peace from the children may then give this greeting to each other.

'COME AND SEE JESUS'

The Come and See Jesus curriculum published by Openbook Publishers has a wealth of material and ideas that may be adapted for use in worship. Please note that a new edition of this material is now available for the Revised Common Lectionary.

The story for the Third Sunday of Easter in year B is: Peter heals a crippled beggar (Acts 9:1-20) (to be found in both the original edition and the RCL edition Series B for 3 Easter).