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ST COLUMBA’S, PONT STREET
MORNING WORSHIP & SUNDAY SCHOOL,
SUNDAY 19TH APRIL 2026, 11AM
Welcome
Call to Worship
Hymn 76 How can I ever thank the Lord (Psalm 116) (Jackson (Byzantium))
1 How can I ever thank the Lord
for all his gifts to me?
I’ll raise salvation’s cup, and call
on God’s name joyfully.
2 I’ll bring you offerings of thanks,
call on the name of God;
fulfil my promises among
the people of the Lord.
3 I’ll pay my vows in God’s own house,
the temple of the Lord,
there in your midst, Jerusalem.
Praise God with one accord!
Call to Prayer
Prayers of Approach & Lords Prayer
Theme for the day
Hymn 185 Come, children, join and sing (Madrid)
1 Come, children, join and sing
alleluia! amen!
loud praise to Christ our King;
alleluia! amen!
Let all, with heart and voice,
before his throne rejoice;
praise is his gracious choice:
alleluia! amen!
2 Come, lift your hearts on high;
alleluia! amen!
let praises fill the sky;
alleluia! amen!
He is our guide and friend,
on him we can depend;
his love shall never end:
alleluia! amen!
3 Sing praises loud and long;
alleluia! amen!
life shall not end the song;
alleluia! amen!
on heaven’s blissful shore
his goodness we’ll adore,
singing for evermore,
alleluia! amen!
New Testament Reading: Acts 2: 14a, 36 – 41
14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, “Fellow Jews[a] and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say.
36 “Therefore let the entire house of Israel know with certainty that God has made him both Lord and Messiah,[a] this Jesus whom you crucified.”
37 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and to the other apostles, “Brothers,[b] what should we do?” 38 Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him.” 40 And he testified with many other arguments and exhorted them, saying, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” 41 So those who welcomed his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand persons were added.
Epistle Testament Reading: 1 Peter 1: 17-23
17 If you invoke as Father the one who judges impartially according to each person’s work, live in fear during the time of your exile. 18 You know that you were ransomed from the futile conduct inherited from your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish. 20 He was destined before the foundation of the world but was revealed at the end of the ages for your sake. 21 Through him you have come to trust in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your trust and hope are in God.
22 Now that you have purified your souls by your obedience to the truth so that you have genuine mutual affection, love one another deeply from the heart. 23 You have been born anew, not of perishable but of imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God.
Anthem: He is Risen Whitlock (1903-46)
He is risen, he is risen!
Tell it with a joyful voice;
He has burst his three days’ prison;
Let the whole wide earth rejoice.
Death is conquered, Man is free;
Christ has won the victory.
Come, ye sad and fearful-hearted,
With glad smile and radiant brow;
Lent’s long shadows have departed,
All his woes are over now,
And the passion that He bore
Sin and pain can vex no more.
Come, with high and holy hymning,
Chant our Lord’s triumphant lay;
Not one darksome cloud is dimming
Yonder glorious morning ray,
Breaking o’er the purple East,
Brighter far our Easter feast.
Gospel Reading: Luke 24: 13-35
13 Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, 14 and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. 15 While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, 16 but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. 17 And he said to them, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?” They stood still, looking sad. 18 Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?” 19 He asked them, “What things?” They replied, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, 20 and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. 21 But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. 22 Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, 23 and when they did not find his body there they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. 24 Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see him.” 25 Then he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! 26 Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” 27 Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.
28 As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. 29 But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.” So he went in to stay with them. 30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him, and he vanished from their sight. 32 They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” 33 That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem, and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. 34 They were saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!” 35 Then they told what had happened on the road and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.
Hymn 609 Come, living God, when lest expected (Sunset)
1 Come, living God, when least expected,
when minds are dull and hearts are cold,
through sharpening word and warm affection
revealing truths as yet untold.
2 Break from the tomb in which we hide you
to speak again in startling ways;
break through the words in which we bind you
to resurrect our lifeless praise.
3 Come now, as once you came to Moses
within the bush alive with flame;
or to Elijah on the mountain,
by silence pressing home your claim.
4 So, let our minds be sharp to read you
in sight or sound or printed page,
and let us greet you in our neighbours,
in ardent youth or mellow age.
5 Then, through our gloom, your Son will meet us
as vivid truth and living Lord,
exploding doubt and disillusion
to scatter hope and joy abroad.
6 Then we will share his radiant brightness
and, blazing through the dread of night,
illuminate by love and reason,
for those in darkness, faith’s delight.
Sermon
Anthem: Light of the World Elgar (1857-1934)
Light of the World, we know Thy praise
The angels and archangels raise
And all the host of heav’n;
More worthily than our faint hymns
Whose jarring sound that glory dims
Which God to Thee hast giv’n.
But Thou didst not disdain to take
Our low estate, or e’en to make
The tomb Thy resting place;
So Thou might bring into our night
The dawn of Thy eternal light
To shine upon our face.
Nor death, nor hell, nor sin is Lord,
But Thou, O Son
of God. Thy Word
Is now our sov’reign law;
Therefore we thank Thee, and we pray
Thy light may shine unto the perfect day
On us for evermore.
Dedication of our Offerings
{If able, please stand as the offering is brought forward and the congregation sings}
Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;
praise him, all creatures here below;
praise him above, ye heavenly host;
praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. (CH4 807, Old 100th)
Prayer of Dedication:
Minister: Father, Son, and Spirit Holy,
we give you thanks and praise:
Congregation: We dedicate to you
our thoughts, our words, our gifts, our deeds,
the working of our hands,
the thinking of our minds,
the loving of our hearts. Amen.
Prayers of Thanksgiving & Intercession
Intimations
Hymn 167 Guide me, O thou great Jehovah (Cwm Rhondda)
1 Guide me, O thou great Jehovah,
pilgrim through this barren land;
I am weak, but thou art mighty;
hold me with thy powerful hand:
Bread of heaven, Bread of heaven,
* feed me till my want is o’er.
2 Open now the crystal fountain
whence the healing stream doth flow;
let the fire and cloudy pillar
lead me all my journey through:
strong Deliverer, strong Deliverer,
be thou still my strength and shield.
3 When I tread the verge of Jordan,
bid my anxious fears subside!
Death of death, and hell’s destruction,
land me safe on Canaan’s side!
Songs of praises, songs of praises,
I will ever give to thee.
* The last line of each verse is repeated.
Benediction
Postlude: Choral Song’ by Wesley
Retiring Offering
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