Sunday April 5, 2026 Worship Service
Livestream at 11:10 a.m.        

Gathering in God’s Name

Prelude — Easter Fanfare   Kevin Hildebrand
As the prelude begins, you are invited to begin your personal preparation for worship.

Silent Meditation
For Paul, the resurrection was no metaphor; it was the power of God. And when he spoke of Jesus as raised from the dead, he meant Jesus alive and at large in the world not as some shimmering ideal of human goodness or the achieving power of hopeful thought but as the very power of life itself.  – Frederick Buechner, originally published in The Faces of Jesus

Choral Call to Worship — Exsultate Deo — Antonio Scarlatti
Sing aloud with gladness unto God our helper. Alleluia!        

*Call to Worship
(*Please stand, if you are able)

This is the good news: the grave is empty; Christ is risen!
       He is risen indeed!
This is the good news – the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never put it out. Christ is risen!
       He is risen indeed!
This is the good news – once we were no people; now we are God’s people.  Christ is risen!
       He is risen indeed!  Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!  Alleluia!

Praise and Adoration

*Easter Hymn #232 — Jesus Christ Is Risen Today — EASTER HYMN — Arr. James Biery

Confession and Pardon

Call to Confession

Prayer of Confession
Almighty God, in raising Jesus from the grave, you shattered the power of sin and death.  We confess that we still remain captive to doubt and fear, not fully believing the good news of life beyond life.  We overlook the poor and the hungry, we pass by those who mourn and we are deaf to the cries of the oppressed.  Forgive us and help us trust in your power to change our lives and change the world!

Silent Prayers of Confession

Kyrie (#551) — “Lord, Have Mercy” — LAND OF REST
Lord, have mercy; Christ, have mercy; Lord, have mercy upon us.
Lord, have mercy; Christ, have mercy; Lord, have mercy upon us.

Assurance of Pardon

Response (#240) — Alleluia, Alleluia, Give Thanks! — ALLELUIA NO. 1

*Welcome         
During the Welcome, children are invited to come forward for a time with Dr. Zieman

Time for Young Disciples

Anthem  — “Alleluia” from Exsultate, — jubilate K. 165 W. A. Mozart

Announcements

Fellowship of Prayer

Joys and Concerns

Prayers of the People
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.  For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever. Amen.

Anthem — On Earth Has Dawned This Day of Days — Jeremy J. Bankson

Proclamation of God’s Word

Scripture Lesson  — Matthew 28: 1-10 — page 811 of the pew Bible

Sermon — “Running with Fear and Great Joy” — Dr. Zieman

*Affirmation of Faith — from 1 Corinthians 15
This is the good news which we have received, in which we stand, and by which we are saved, if we hold it fast: that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day, and that he appeared first to the women, then to Peter, and to the Twelve, and then to many faithful witnesses. We believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus Christ is the first and the last, the beginning and the end; he is our Lord and our God. Amen.

*Sanctus (#572) — Holy, Holy, Holy — SANCTUS (Pavlechko)

Presentation of Tithes and Offerings

Offertory — Come, You Faithful, Raise the Strain — arr. David Cherwien

*Doxology (#609) — Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow  — LASST UNS ERFREUEN
Praise God, from whom all blessings flow. Praise God, all creatures high and low. Alleluia, Alleluia!
Praise God, in Jesus fully known: Creator, Word, and Spirit one. Alleluia, alleluia! alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!

*Prayer of Dedication                                                                                                                                             
God of the empty tomb, your grace astounds, your generosity fills to overflowing. Accept these offerings as signs of our gratitude and bless our work on Christ’s behalf. May we love as Christ loved. May we serve as Christ served. Call us forth into your world, guided by Christ’s spirit. Amen.

*Easter Hymn #248 — Christ Is Risen! Shout Hosanna! — HYMN TO JOY; arr. James Biery                                     

*Charge and Benediction

*Choral Benediction Response — Antiphon — Ralph Vaughan Williams

Postlude — Easter Hymn — Setting by Jeffrey Blersch