Please scroll down for Full Online Worship Service
A Note From Pastor Mark:
We recognize that family worship has its unique challenges depending on your family’s size and stage of life. Therefore, we have prepared a complete worship service (below) for our entire church family because we are convinced that Sunday is so much more than a sermon. And this is one way for us to be worshiping the same way even though we are apart.
We suggest that you test the worship and sermon links before you gather your family. After you have done this, we encourage the leader of the house to read the prayers and appoint other readers as necessary to encourage greatest participation.
After the sermon is over, we encourage you to discuss the sermon and ways to live out its application.
Song lyrics are available to download. (Click here for lyric sheets)
Resurrection SUnday
The Empty Tomb
Text: Mark 15:42–16:8
Online Worship Service (4.12.2020)
Call to Worship:
What greater reason is there for hope today than Christ’s resurrection?! Let’s join together in celebrating our Risen Lord!
Psalm 16:8–11 I keep my eyes always on the LORD. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken. 9 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure,10 because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see decay.11 You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand. (NIV)
Opening Worship:
“Christ Is Risen”
“Christ The Lord Is Risen Today”
affirmation:
Let’s read the following description of Christ’s resurrection and its implications for us:
1Corinthians 15:20–26, 51–55
20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man.
22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.
23 But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him.
24 Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power.
25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.
26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.
53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.
54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
55 “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” (ESV)
Worship:
“Low In The Grave He Lay”
Prayer:
Today is a day of great celebration! New Creation has begun!
You, Christ, have risen! You have given death an irrevocable eviction notice, forever banishing its right to rule over us, crush us with fear, or ruin our happiness! Your resurrection signals the beginning of the end for death’s grip on us. You, as the suffering Lamb of God, have taken away the sting of death by dying in our place!
Yet you know that for many families in our nation and world, today is also a day of grief. Thousands upon thousands have lost loved ones, friends, coworkers, and neighbors. And hundreds of thousands live under the fear of death, not knowing if they will recover after being infected. Still millions more deal with daily apprehension that this scourge will visit them. Today, death appears to have the upper hand.
Where are you Lord? Why have you not taken away this dark enemy? How long will you allow it to rage on? (Psalm 13:1)
Lord, we may not have every answer to our questions, but we do have firm ground to stand on. You have made it clear through your suffering, that you are not unmoved by our pain. Instead you chose to come near and suffer with us. You were “despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain” (Isaiah 53:3). You have felt the same kind of distress and grief and agony that we are experiencing right now. And as we look at the cross this week, we are reminded that you went through all that because you loved us.
Truly you are near, you have not abandoned us.
And as our hearts ache, watching death take its tolls around us, we wait for you with great expectation. Your promise stands sure! You told us that you will come back and throw death “into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:14). Then you will wipe every tear from our eyes, forever banishing death and mourning and crying and pain (Revelation 21:4). This temporary foe will not finally hurt us! As we wait, as we groan, fill our hearts with hope in your promise, and let our hope flow out to others around us, many of whom do not have an anchor to hold onto right now.
Finally, as we grieve and plead with you for relief in our world, our strength is renewed as we remember that we serve the living, resurrected Christ! You are not dead, but alive and active! You are the one who through your resurrection, raised us out of the grave of sin and brought us into new life (Ephesians 2:5). Because you are alive, we come to you again and again for everything we need to face tomorrow!
Worship:
“Because He Lives (Amen)”
Prayer:
Yes Lord, you are alive, and in you we have everything we need to face tomorrow. Come now and meet us in your Word. Give us exactly what we need by speaking your words over our hearts. Fill us with strength, encouragement, and hope. Give us a glance into your heart and mind, and cause us to stand in awe at your greatness. Give us ears to hear; we eagerly await your voice! Amen!
Read Sermon Text:
Mark 15:42–16:8
Sermon:
Pastor Mark Kernan
The Empty Tomb
Main Point: The resurrection vindicates Jesus’ entire ministry and opens the way for his fearful followers to become faithful disciples.
Outline:
I. The Certainty of Jesus’ Death (Mark 15:42–47)
II. The Importance of the Empty Tomb (Mark 16:1–6)
III. The Life-Changing Impact of the Resurrection (Mark 16:7–8)
Closing Worship:
“Praise The King”