March 31, 2024
Easter Sunday
Christ Among Us, He Is Risen!
First Mennonite Church
Sugarcreek, Ohio
March 31, 2024
Worship: 9:30-10:30
Fellowship Time: 10:30-11:00
Sunday School: 11:00-12:00
We believe in Jesus and take his life, teachings, death and resurrection
as the model for how we live and the message we proclaim.
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We seek to be a caring and discerning community,
the gathered body of Christ.
that welcomes all to join in worship, study, and service.
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We embody God’s transforming and redeeming Spirit in the world
through our prophetic witness and action.
THE CHURCH WORSHIPS TOGETHER
~Gathering~
Pre-Prelude “Jesus Shall Reign: a Piano Suite Honoring Christ
The King” – Lloyd Larson
Prelude “Thine Is the Glory” -arr. Mark Hayes
Welcome & Announcements
Focus Statement:
The tomb is empty! The linens are folded up and the stone rolled
away. The good news of the resurrection is that Jesus is risen! Jesus came to make all things new. In Christ, we are a new creation. Let us allow the good news of the resurrection to take possession of our lives and transform us so all people can be free.
Gathering Litany
Leader: Christ is risen.
People: Christ is risen indeed!
Leader: On this day, we celebrate that Jesus overcame death, so
that we may have new life.
People: Alleluia! Christ is risen indeed!
ALL: Let us worship the risen Christ in spirit and in truth.
Time of Meditation “Were You There” – arr. Marilyn Ham
“Were you there when they crucified my Lord? …
Were you there when they laid Him in the tomb? …
Were you there when He rose up from the grave? …”
“Crown Him with many crowns!”
Call To Worship:
One: When it is still dark, we come seeking Jesus.
Many: The risen Christ is here among us!
One: The stone has been rolled away, walls torn down.
Many: The risen Christ is here among us!
One: The burial cloth removed, his body transformed.
Many: The risen Christ is here among us!
One: Mary Magadalene, Simon Peter, and John see and
believe.
ALL: We find the risen Christ among us who has made all
things new! The tomb is empty, the way of Love has
prevailed!
One: Peace be with you!
Many: Peace be with you!
Invocation
Hymns of Gathering VT 346 Christ the Lord Is Risen Today
VT 348 Come, Ye Faithful, Raise the Strain
~Praising & Praying~
Psalm Reading: Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24
Special Music: “In Christ Alone” – Mike Gehman, Mike
Showers and April Shupe, by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend
Old Testament Reading: Isaiah 25:6-9
Hymn of Praise VT 340 Lift Your Glad Voices
Prayers of the People
~Hearing God’s Word~
Scripture: Luke 24:1-12
Message “Remember, Retell, Re-live”
Time of Introspection and Silence
Piano Interlude: “Sunday Joy” -Mark Hayes
~Responding~
Prayer of Rejoicing:
One: Risen Jesus, you make all things new.
Many: You call us by name to come to you.
One: You come preaching peace and forgiving sins.
Many: You prepare a feast for us and wipe away all tears.
ALL: You bring life everlasting. We rejoice in your
salvation, Lord of all!
Hymn of Response VT 352 This Joyful Eastertide
(the offering will be brought forward)
Offering Prayer
~Sending~
Sending Hymn VT 565 Christ Is Alive
Benediction
Postlude “Hallelujah Chorus” – George Frederick Handel
(feel free to sing or hum along!)
Sending Words
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WORSHIP 9:30-10:30
Worship Leader: Bruce Stauffer
Song Leader: April Shupe
Organist: Margaret Cheslock
Pianist: Suzanne Stauffer
Head Usher: Leadership Team
Visuals: Our journey toward God leads us on a path. We may stray
from time to time, but God is always with us, gently guiding us back.
The symbols on the altar represent our journey. The brown cloth
represents our path, and the side-by-side footprints represent those
we walk along side. Along with the empty bowl which reminds us of
God’s never-ending love for us and how God wants to fill us, the cross
reminds us that to follow Jesus, we must take up our cross daily. The
scrolls represent the Ten Commandments and serve as a guide and
reminder of God’s justice and great love for us; the candle, a reminder
that God is always shining God’s light toward us, covering us with
mercy and grace. The buds on the forsythia remind us that we must
die to self so that God can bring forth the beauty inside of us;
whenever God lets something fade away, it’s because he has
something better to replace it. The palm branches are a reminder that
Jesus came as a different kind of King, not to be served, but to serve,
and he calls us to follow him. We rejoice today with a large stone, Easter
flowers and linens folded to represent the hope we have in the risen Christ!
THE CHURH GIVES THANKS
Paper products given to the Harbor of Hope for March: 27
Kristy Keim: Lizzie had a pacemaker put in. She is home and doing well.
THE CHURCH PRAYS FOR
April Shupe: Update on Barb Mullet Glidden—she passed away on Thursday. Keep her husband Vance and family in prayers.
Bob Gerber: Brother, Harold, was admitted into the hospital for pneumonia.
FMC LIVES IN DISCIPLESHIP TOGETHER
Next Week’s Text: Psalm 8; Psalm 92; I Corinthians 15:1-4, 21-23, 51-58
Harbor of Hope for April: Spaghetti Sauce & Pasta
Mission Project for April: Garaway Released Time Offering
Easter Flower Orders: Daffodils, Tulips and Hyacinths are $8. each
and Easter Lilies are $9.00 each. Make checks payable to First
Mennonite and earmark for flowers. Check the list by the mailboxes to see what you ordered.
THIS WEEK
April 4th Happy Birthday, April Shupe
April 5th Happy Birthday, Susan Yoder
April 5th Chicken BBQ at Sugarcreek fire department at 4pm
April 6th Happy Birthday, Dottie Schrock
UPCOMING EVENTS
May 10-11th Sugarcreek Community Garage Sales
May 31st Beachy Ham and Chicken Buffet for Community Hospice
at Legacy Christian School, Sugarcreek at 4:30 – 7pm
NEXT WEEK
Worship Leader: Julie Gerber
Head Usher: Herb Torgler
Victory In Jesus! That is what we will be celebrating next Sunday, as
we gather together the first Sunday after Easter. Be thinking of some
hymns you would like to sing, as there is nothing more joyful than
joining in fellowship together and offering up some of our favorite
songs. As Psalm 92 proclaims: It is good to praise the Lord and make
music to your name, O Most High, proclaiming your love in the
morning and your faithfulness at night.
LAST WEEK
ATTENDANCE: 25
OFFERING: $1430
Easter Flowers: $17
CHURCH LEADERSHIP
Pastor: Mike Gehman
Email: pastor@firstmennonitesugarcreek.com
Pastor’s Hours: Wednesday 9:30 am-2:30 pm
Church Secretary: Tabatha Murphy
Church Phone: 1-330-852-2822
Email: office@firstmennonitesugarcreek.com
Website: http//fmcsugarcreekoh.org
Address: 113 W. Main St. P.O. Box 250 Sugarcreek, Ohio 44681
CONGREGATIONAL LEADERSHIP TEAM:
Chairperson: Mike Keim
Office Contact: Linda Yoder
Mission Contact: Reno Stevanus
Trustees Contact: Dan Hostetler
Secretary Contact: Amy Stauffer-McNutt
An Easter Prayer
As brother sun shines down on us this morning,
we remember that sister moon was just here.
We remember in this sunlight and in this brightness,
the cold and the darkness of the night we have just been through.
We remember the darkness, when night
bent down and covered our unready eyes.
We remember the cold, when the rays of the sun
no longer held us tight in their embrace.
We remember the hopelessness,
when darkness seemed to have the final word.
And we remember the pain, when distant stars
reminded us of our own Star, our own life-giving Sustainer,
whom we were sure would never leave us.
But it did, and there was night, there was emptiness.
And weary with toil and tears, we turned from the western horizon where we watched our love die,
and we went home with our hearts torn in two,
and somehow, we slept.
And yet, we are here, in the sunlight;
and we look back and see the night with new eyes.
The darkness, the cold, the hopelessness, the pain were all real.
But the cosmos was pregnant with a new hope and a new life.
We had to go through those pains for today to happen.
Birthing is not easy, and the laments of Maundy Thursday
and Good Friday were the world’s labor pains.
The sun had descended into the world and the world groaned with the life which it knew it could not contain.
When we saw that descent, that fall, we wept bitterly.
But we were blind, for now the earth brings forth her joy!
The dawn has come, and the sun is risen!
