Dear Friends in Christ,
 
Peace to you this evening and a blessed Easter season to you!
 
Join us for virtual worship this weekend, as we celebrate the 3rd Sunday of Easter. For the next three weeks, we are focusing experiencing the resurrection in everyday life: at work, among friends, and over meals. This weekend, we focus on experiencing the resurrection in the midst of our work, however we define that. Pastor Jeff preaches from Matthew 28:1-10, where the faithful women were “going to work” early that Sunday morning as they visited the tomb.
 
This weekend also marks our last pre-recorded virtual worship service, as the Session last week approved resuming in-person worship in the sanctuary on April 25. So, beginning next Sunday, we will worship in a hybrid fashion – both in-person and virtually (via Livestream on our YouTube channel). I hope you saw the email from Friday morning with more details on the transition. Look for another email this upcoming Thursday with an orientation video and further details. And please reach out if you have any questions or concerns.
 
Below you can find links to both the main worship service (along with a written order of service) and the family worship service. A button with a link to our Common Life is also below. 
 
A new adult faith formation class begins tomorrow morning, “Teach Us to Pray: The Lord’s Prayer in the Early Church and Today.” We’ll gather from 8:30 - 9:30am over Zoom (Zoom Link; Meeting ID: 832 3379 4440; Passcode: 389051; Call-In: 312-626-6799). Please join us if you can! It will be an engaging study of this model prayer that summarizes the Christian life.
 
Finally, we’ve created two new email addresses where you can send “God sightings” and prayer requests our way. Send them to godsightings@fpcw.org and prayersofthepeople@fpcw.org. Beginning next Sunday, we will be sharing both in the worship services together.
 
I'm grateful to be on the journey with you, friends. You are loved and never alone!
 
With gratitude and Easter hope in Christ,
Pastor Jeff


Main Worship Service -April 18th, 2021
Family Worship Service - April 18th, 2021

Prelude 
Prelude on TRURO 
Welcome 

Call to Worship
This is the day that the Lord has made.
Let us rejoice and be glad in it!
The Lord is our strength and our song.
The Lord has become our salvation.
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.
His steadfast love endures forever! 
Let us worship God, tender and just.

Opening Hymn No. 246  (vs 1, 3, & 5
Christ Is Alive

Call to Confession
In the early church, the apostles faced a spate of challenges: resistance from the powers that be, explosive growth, and internal differences. We, too, often face challenges that seem insurmountable, and it is hard to remain faithful in the midst of them. In humility and honesty, let us confess our failures to our gracious and always present God.

Prayer of Confession 
Vulnerable God, we open our hearts to you this day and offer the truth of our lives: the fear that stifles us, the prejudice that blinds us, the ignorance that hobbles us, the doubt that plagues us, the frustration that wearies us. Help us in this Easter season, we pray, that we might find courage in unlikely places, see the world with new and gracious eyes, move to those places where love is needed, have faith that you are with us. This we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Assurance of Forgiveness
Christ is alive and all things are being made new. Because of Christ, the old is gone and the new has come. Because of Christ, grace is really true. Because of Christ, reconciliation is possible. Friends, believe the good news of the gospel!
Christ is risen!
Thanks be to God. Amen. 

Sung Response
Celtic Alleluia

Peace of Christ and Common Life

Scripture Reading   
Matthew 28:1-10
                                      
Sermon              
Rev. Jeff Lehn

Hymn of Response No. 683 (vs. 1, 3 & 4)
Lord of All Hopefulness 
                                           
Prayers of the People and The Lord’s Prayer

Call for Offering 
In this season of Easter, we are invited to participate in God’s kingdom emerging all around us. May we offer ourselves to God with glad and generous hearts, freely giving our tithes and offerings to the ministry of this congregation. In lieu of passing the plate, we invite you to give through our church website, our smartphone app, by texting the word “Wilmette” to the number 77977, or by sending a check to the church office. As we gather our gifts together and offer them to God, may we do so in gratitude and praise.

Congregational Response - The Doxology - LASST UNS ERFREUEN
Praise God from whom all blessings flow; praise God all creatures here below; Alleluia, Alleluia.
Praise God above, ye heavenly host; praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. 
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia.

Prayer of Dedication

Sending Hymn No. 157 (verses 1, 3, 4 & 5) Peggy
I Danced in the Morning

Charge and Benediction 

Postlude
Lift High the Cross

Worship Leaders:
Rev. Jeff Lehn, preaching
Rev. Laura Sherwood, pastoral liturgist
Mary Watt, liturgist
Nicholas Lin, hymn soloist
Cecilia Chow, piano/postlude

Sources
Prayer of Dedication - https://www.ucc.org/worship-way/easter-3-april-18/