2nd Sunday of Easter April 19, 2020

Welcome and Gathering: Today is the 2nd Sunday of Easter! Christ is Risen indeed! Here is an on-line video message and emailed bulletin. My love and prayers go out to each everyone of you! Have faith and be safe! Stay connected! Blessings and love, Pastor Penny Bonsell

Call to Worship My Faith Looks up to Thee 452 UMC 539 NCH Angela Hunt

Hymn of Praise: He Lives 310 UMC

Opening Prayer: Blessed be the God of our Savior, Jesus Christ! God has given us a new birth in the living hope of the resurrection. God has given us an inheritance that is imperishable and unfading. In this we rejoice, even when we suffer trials. For although we have not seen Jesus, we love him; and although we have not seen him, we believe in him. Yet, too often, we put other things above you (Ps. 16: 4) and turn away from the ways of life and toward the ways of death. Forgive us and guide us back into your presence, that we may know the fullness of joy. Send your Holy Spirit upon the reading of your Word that it may serve to show us the path of life and lead us into your presence where there is fullness of joy and love. Amen.

The Word

Scriptures: Psalm 16 A Miktam of David.

1 Protect me, O God, for in you I take refuge. 2 I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.”[a] 3 As for the holy ones in the land, they are the noble, in whom is all my delight.

SANDSTONE UNITED CHURCH

OF CHRIST CONGREGATIONAL

210 N. Commercial Ave.

PO Box 642 Sandstone, MN 55072

Organist: Virginia Schaefer

Sandstone United Church of Christ

mission and purpose: To love God with all

our heart, mind, soul, and strength and our

neighbor as ourselves. United in Spirit and

inspired by God's grace, we welcome all,

love all, and seek justice for all.

FINLAYSON UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

2197 Highway 18 ~ PO Box 183 ~ Finlayson, MN

55735 ~ Ph. 320-216-7169

Ministers: The

Congregation Pianist: Mary Lucht

Finlayson United Methodist Church mission

statement: To make disciples of

Jesus Christ for the transformation of the

world

4 Those who choose another god multiply their sorrows;[b] their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names upon my lips. 5 The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. 6 The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; I have a goodly heritage. 7 I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me. 8 I keep the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. 9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices; my body also rests secure. 10 For you do not give me up to Sheol, or let your faithful one see the Pit. 11 You show me the path of life. In your presence there is fullness of joy; in your right hand are pleasures forevermore. John 20:19-31 19 When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” 22 When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” 24 But Thomas (who was called the Twin[a]), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.” 26 A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” 28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” 30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. 31 But these are written so that you may come to believe[b] that Jesus is the Messiah,[c] the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.

The Word of God for the People of God. Thanks be to God

Message: A “Passion Vow” of Faith Penny Bonsell

Hymn: Breathe on Me, Breath of God 420 UMC

Prayers for the People:

Resurrecting God, in a doubting world, keep us in faith that we may have life. We pray for the church universal. Breathe on us your Holy Spirit, (John 20: 22) that we may honor and pass on the great inheritance we have received. (1 Pet. 1: 4) Keep us in faith that we may have life. (John 20: 31) We pray for Mother Earth, that we may touch her wounds with healing care and love. Keep us in faith that we may have life. We pray for the whole world, its nations, its leaders, and its people, that your wisdom and peace may prevail. Keep us in faith that we may have life. We pray for all those in need, the suffering, the oppressed, the ill, the dying, and all those who care for them. Keep us in faith that we may have life. We pray for ourselves, our families, and those we love. Keep us in faith that we may have life. Blessed are you, O God, who through Jesus Christ, crucified and risen, and in the community of the Holy Spirit, gives us an inheritance that is imperishable and unfading, (1 Pet. 1: 4) now and forever. Amen.

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 sins as we forgive those who sin against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the Kingdom, and the Power and the Glory forever. Amen.

Hymn: Dona Nobis Pacem 376 UMC

Sending: May you breathe in the Holy Spirit as Christ breathes on you. May you catch God’s contagious love! May Christ be fully present in you so that a stranger sees in you a friend and neighbor. God sends you, the Spirit fills you, Christ goes with you and you with Christ, always and everywhere.

All: God Bless! Go in love, joy, and peace. Shalom. Amen.

Shalom to you now, shalom, my friends. May God’s full mercies bless you, my friends. In all your living and through your loving, Christ be your shalom, Christ be your shalom.

Sharing our Shalom: Shalom #666 UMC

Please send information to be printed in the May newsletter due by 4 p.m. April 22nd

to James Hunt at: jhco-fumc@earthlink.net Pastor contact information: pastorpenny.finlaysonumc@gmail.com Phone 320-216-7529 Please visit our website and Facebook pages for updates, prayers, comments,

pictures and information about what is going on in our faith community!

https://www.facebook.com/FinlaysonUMC/ Musical Credits: Angela Hunt, Tom Hollenhorst Photo Credit: https://www.vaticannews.va/en/world/news/2020-04/oberammergau-passion-play-villagers-promise-god-play.html Videography: Tom Hollenhorst Readers: Angela Hunt and Jesse Hunt

Prayers and Liturgy: Feasting on the Word Worship Companion: Liturgies for Year A, Volume 1: Advent through Pentecost by Kimberly Bracken Long https://a.co/2BTApKF