 We welcome everyone to our services at Yetholm (10am) and Morebattle (11.15) on the Third Sunday of Easter.
Call to Worship What can bring us Joy? The love of God among us What can bring us peace? The justice of God around us Open our minds to the Scriptures Open our eyes to Jesus in our midst Hymn 413 – The day of resurrection Prayer of Adoration and Confession God our Maker, We praise you for all the wonders in your creation: For the detailed perfection revealed in a baby’s tiny fingers, tulips raising their heads to greet the spring, the delight of new-born lambs in the field. Such details lift our hearts to praise you. So let the life, teaching and resurrection of the Risen Christ lift and instruct our hearts this day, that we may greet a new week as an occasion to discover him in our midst, making all things new in the springtime of your Holy Spirit. We do not claim to understand resurrection but we trust in you, O God and in your son, Jesus. Our human minds are prone to doubt, forgive us Lord God, for those times we allow ourselves to give into those thoughts. We fear the cost to ourselves for faith and service, forgive us when we fail to choose the right path. Strengthen our resolve to believe, chase away all fear and give us courage to take up our cross and follow where Jesus leads. In the name of the risen one Lord’s Prayer Readings – Acts 3: 12-19 (Pg 1095) Luke 24: 36-48 (Pg 1062) Hymn 425 – The Saviour died and rose again Weekly Prayer Gracious God, we thank you that your Son Jesus Christ stands among us, and we have seen the marks of your saving love. Breathe on us with the power of your Holy Spirit and send us out to share the peace of Christ with all who may cross our paths in the days and weeks ahead. Amen Sermon First impressions are important. At interviews, you dress up well and hope that you give a good impression. At social events, again you are conscious of how you look. You want to present yourself well. But first impressions can be dodgy, for we can jump to conclusions that are not always accurate. Apparently when Jane Austen wrote her book, ’Pride & Prejudice’ she had first considered naming it ‘First Impressions’, because both main characters jumped to the wrong, rather negative, conclusions about the other. Their own prejudices came into play, and that affected how they viewed the other. We can have first impressions, but often the passing of time would confirm or deny how accurate they were. Our Gospel reading today is Luke’s take on the story that was read last week from John, about Jesus appearing to the disciples after his resurrection. They are gathered together, trying to process the news they had just heard. Two of their number had been trudging home to Emmaus, and a stranger had walked beside them encouraging them with Scripture and then when they sat down to a meal together, the scales had fallen from their eyes, and they recognised Jesus as he broke bread. They had rushed back to share this news. The disciples were still doubtful, for how could someone come back to life again. Jesus was dead, executed on the cross, laid in the tomb. And that is when Jesus came and stood among them. Here is how one writer imagined the scene: We were so slow to get it. When I look back at what happened now, I cannot understand why we were so slow on the uptake. But we were, we disciples, the chosen eleven, as we were by now, Judas Iscariot departed. We should have been the first to understand, but it felt like we were the last. The women came to us with messages from the tomb, unlikely messages, we thought, and we were still trying to process what we had witnessed ourselves of that empty tomb, then our friends came bursting in having walked all the way to Emmaus and back again! Yet some of us just stared at each other confusion and uncertainty, unable to grasp what was obvious to others. Have you ever heard the word, “Eureka”? I’ve heard the Greeks use it, down in the market place, they say it comes from Archimedes of Syracuse, some fellow good with numbers, I’m not so sure about that, but I love the word! It is perfect for how I felt that day, when suddenly the stories, the rumours, it all came crashing in on me as the reality of what was happening came to life, right in front of us. “Eureka!” Not content with chatting, showing us his scars, he then started scoffing our fish. We stared in wonder, fearful at first, then with that kind of elation that overwhelms you. “Eureka!” Was it a Eureka moment? First impressions – they thought Jesus was somehow a ghost. Now it wouldn’t be the first time they thought this – when he walked on the water, the Gospel writers say they thought it was a ghost. But Jesus immediately dispels this, by inviting the disciples to touch his wounds and indeed by scoffing their fish. Can a ghost eat, after all? Maybe that is when the penny dropped. Maybe that is when they had their Eureka moment. What do we see here? We see that the resurrected Jesus still bore the marks of his crucifixion. That is important, as it is a sign that he is the wounded healer, the one who has gone through what we go through, even death itself. In the Kelvingrove Art gallery there is the famous Dali painting of the Christ of St John of the Cross, a picture of Jesus on the cross. It was controversial because the marks of suffering were not there. We need to know that Christ has been through death. By his suffering we are healed. The second point is that Jesus appeared to the disciples when they were together. It was when they were in community that Jesus appeared, and community was so important in the early church. Together they were encouraged and together they became strong. Their experience of the Risen Jesus transformed them, so that only a short time after, the disciples like Peter and John were able to heal the lame man and to testify, as we read in the passage from Acts. It is a community which is no longer afraid. Here is a community that knows what it’s about. Here is a community where the weaker members in need were helped. Here is a community where the peace of Christ has both taken root and energised them in unity, proclamation, and compassion. Here is a community which is growing. Here is a community where people could testify to the power of Jesus’ resurrection. Jesus strengthened them in community. Some think they can worship God alone, no need for church, yet it is in community we grow in faith. But there is a third point to the passage – Jesus commissioned them to be witnesses. To testify to the Risen Lord. And they did, and by doing so they turned the world upside down, they turned from being a handful of frightened people to becoming the main faith community in the Roman Empire, so that all across the world, people gather in Christ’s name. We are witnesses today. Let us value our community here in Cheviot Churches and within the world church, and let us be a people ready to witness by word and by example. I will close with a quotation from the American writer, Madelaine L’Engle, ‘We draw people to Christ, not by loudly discrediting what they believe, but by showing them a light so lovely that they want with all their hearts to know the source of it'. We can be that light and draw people to Christ. Hymn 416 – Christ is alive! Prayers of Dedication & Intercession God our Maker, you have filled the world with so much abundance. We offer our gifts to you, knowing they are part of your abundance. Bless them and use them to bring hope and new life in Christ’s name to a world that so badly needs these gifts. Amen God our Maker, Source of Easter power and hope, we pray for our broken world. We pray for children and young people who must think about the future in uncertain times, facing threats old and new. Give them hope rooted in the knowledge that their lives matter to you. Show them how to make a difference in the world, whatever threats they face as they grow. We pray for people for whom age or experience, illness or disability create barriers to full participation in your world. Surround each one in pain or despair with your comfort and renew in each one a sense of dignity and purpose. Show them how much they matter to you and to us. We remember the places of war and conflict in our world, we pray for the people of Israel longing for security and their place in the sun, and for the people of Gaza, bombed, starved, and abused, longing for a ceasefire, hoping the world will not turn its back, as they yearn for security and nationhood in their land. We pray for the people of Russia, too often manipulated, and we pray too for the people of Ukraine, longing for peace and security, both applauded and ignored by the world, We pray for all those facing grief and any kind of loss. Give them strength and comfort. We pray for communities challenged by forces beyond their control: natural disaster and environmental threats, conflict and violence, economic hardship. Give courage to those facing these challenges, and wisdom to those who lead, so that wellbeing may be restored and hope for the future prevail. As signs of spring emerge, we pray for your creation, for creatures losing habitat and unique species at risk, for oceans clogged with plastic. Silence Amen Hymn 405 – We sing the praise Benediction
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