PSPC Worship Service

Leader: We have known grief. We have known loss. We have known the long road, tired and winding.
People: We have whispered prayers on bended knees. We have stared at the sky, empty of stars. But today

One: God has opened the gates of righteousness that we might enter through them. Confident in God's love let us confess our sin. 
All: Forgive us, God, when good news lands in our lap and we refuse to believe it. Forgive us, God, when grief and fear crowd out any room in our hearts for hope. Forgive us, God, when we dismiss the stories of others and minimize the voices of our neighbors. In a world that teeters between grief and hope, show us how to be like the women who shared what they had witnessed. Whenever we are overwhelmed by the power of evil reveal to us again your triumph over the destructive powers of oppression. Show us how to hold onto hope. Show us how to run toward you.

One: God who raised Jesus from the dead has not given us over to death. 
All: In the name of Jesus Christ we are forgiven and can now be at peace. Amen.

All: Almighty God by the power of your Spirit roll away the stone and reveal to us the Word of life. Amen.

This is the good news which we have received, in which we stand, and by which we are saved, if we hold it fast: that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day, and that he appeared first to the women, then to Peter, and to the Twelve, and then to many faithful witnesses. We believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus Christ is the first and the last, the beginning, and the end; he is our LORD and our God. Amen.

One: The Lord be with you.
All: And also with you.
One: Lift up your hearts.
All: We lift them up to the Lord.
One: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
All: It is right to give our thanks and praise.