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Order of Service
SUNDAY 27TH APRIL 2025 11.00 a.m.
MORNING WORSHIP, ST COLUMBA’S, PONT STREET
(THE SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER)
Welcome
Call to Worship
Hymn 106 Bring to the Lord a glad new song (Jerusalem)
- Bring to the Lord a glad new song,
children of grace extol your king:
your love and praise to God belong
to instruments of music, sing!
Let those be warned who spurn God's name,
let rulers all obey God's word:
for justice shall bring tyrants shame
let every creature praise the Lord!
- Sing praise within these hallowed walls,
worship beneath the dome of heaven;
by cymbals' sound and trumpets' calls
let praises fit for God be given:
with strings and brass and wind rejoice
then join our song in full accord
all living things with breath and voice;
let every creature praise the Lord!
Prayers of Approach & 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 for ever, Amen.
Theme for the day for our young people
(Our young people are invited to join the minister at the front of the church)
Hymn 189 Be still (Be still)
- Be still for the presence of the Lord,
The Holy One is here
Come bow before Him now,
With reverence and fear
In Him no sin is found
We stand on holy ground
Be still for the presence of the Lord,
The Holy One is here - Be still for the glory of the Lord,
Is shining all around
He burns with holy fire,
With splendour He is crowned
How awesome is the sight
Our radiant King of light
Be still for the glory of the Lord,
Is shining all around - Be still for the power of the Lord,
Is moving in this place
He comes to cleanse and heal,
To minister His grace
No work too hard for Him
In faith receive from Him
Be still for the power of the Lord
Is moving in this place
Be still for the power of the Lord
Is moving in this place
New Testament Reading: Acts 5: 27-32 (NT page 114)
When they had brought them, they had them stand before the council. The high priest questioned them, saying, “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and you are determined to bring this man’s blood on us.” But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than any human authority. The God of our ancestors raised up Jesus, whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior that he might give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.”
New Testament Reading: Revelation 1: 4-8 (NT page 227)
John to the seven churches that are in Asia:
Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.
To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Look! He is coming with the clouds;
every eye will see him,
even those who pierced him;
and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail.
So it is to be. Amen.
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.
Anthem: Exsultate Deo – Palestrina (1525-1594)
Exsultate Deo adjutori nostro; jubilate Deo Jacob.
Sumite psalmum et date tympanum: psalterium jucundum cithara.
Bucinate in Neomenia tuba: insigni die solemnitatis vestrae.
Sing joyfully unto God our strength; sing loud unto the God of Jacob.
Take the song, and bring forth the timbrel, the pleasant harp and the viol.
Blow the trumpet in the new moon, even in the time appointed, and at our feast day.
Gospel Reading: John 20: 19-31 (NT page 107)
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.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 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.”
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.” 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.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 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.”
Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believed that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.
Hymn 432 How often we, like Thomas (Reres Hill)
- How often we, like Thomas,
need proof before we trust.
Lord Jesus, friend of doubters,
come, speak your truth to us.
We long to feel your presence,
and gain new faith from you,
to find, without our seeing,
the blessing Thomas knew. - You always stand among us,
no doors can lock you out.
Your presence reassures us
though we still live with doubt.
As present-day disciples,
whose lives by sin are flawed,
we want to come believing,
and cry: ‘My Lord, my God!’
Sermon
Anthem: Exsultate, justi – Viadana (c.1560-1627)
Exsultate, justi, in Domino: rectos decet collaudatio.
Confitemini Domino in cithara: in psalterio decem chordarum psallite illi.
Cantate ei canticum novum: bene psallite ei in vociferatione.
Exsultate, justi, in Domino: rectos decet collaudatio.
Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous: for praise is comely for the upright.
Praise the Lord with harp; sing unto him with the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings.
Sing unto him a new song: play skilfully with a loud noise.
Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous: for praise is comely for the upright.
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 416 Christ is alive! Let Christians sing. (Old Clarendonian)
- Christ is alive! Let Christians sing.
The cross stands empty to the sky.
Let streets and homes with praises ring.
Love, drowned in death, shall never die. - Christ is alive! No longer bound
to distant years in Palestine,
but saving, healing, here and now,
and touching every place and time. - In every insult, rift, and war,
where colour, scorn, or wealth divide,
Christ suffers still, yet loves the more,
and lives, where even hope has died. - Women and men, in age and youth,
can feel the Spirit, hear the call,
and find the way, the life, the truth,
revealed in Jesus, freed for all. - Christ is alive, and comes to bring
good news to this and every age,
till earth and sky and ocean ring
with joy, with justice, love, and praise.
Benediction & Choral Amen
Organ Postlude
Retiring Offering for the continuing life and ministry of St Columba’s. It is possible to donate via the website. We are most grateful for all that we receive.