Trinity St. Andrew’s United Church
Order of Worship
Sunday May 4, 2025 – 3rd Sunday of Easter
Prelude
Words of welcome, announcements
Lighting the Christ Candle
We light this candle as a symbol of the light of Christ, which shines in each one of us, and the darkness cannot overcome it. May the light of resurrection fill our lives with hope.
Introit
Call To worship
We are here today because Mary Magdalene once proclaimed: “I have seen the Lord!”
We are here because the risen Jesus said to his disciples “Peace be with you. Receive the Holy Spirit.”
We are here today because doubting Thomas saw the risen Christ and said “My Lord and my God.”
We are here today because we are like Peter, who was tempted to forget the call of Jesus and said “I’m going fishing.”
We’re here this morning because of Jesus, who asks us face-to-face: “Do you truly love me?”
We gather here to whisper our response “Yes, Lord, you know that we love you.”
We are here because we have listened to Jesus’ words when he said “Do not be afraid.”
For the Risen Christ is with us. Let us praise God for these words of comfort and hope as we gather for worship.
Hymn This Is the Day VU 412
- This is the day, this is the day
that our God has made, that our God has made;
we will rejoice, we will rejoice,
and be glad in it, and be glad in it.
This is the day that our God has made,
we will rejoice and be glad in it.
This is the day, this is the day
That our God has made.
- Open to us, open to us
your gates, O God, your gates, O God;
we will go in, we will go in,
to your holy place, to your holy place.
Open to us your gates, O God,
we will go in to your holy place.
Open to us, open to us
your gates, O God.
- You are our God, you are our God,
we will praise your name, we will praise your name;
we will give thanks, we will give thanks,
for your faithfulness, for your faithfulness.
You are our God, we will praise your name,
we will give thanks for your faithfulness.
You are our God, you are our God,
we will praise your name.
- This is the day, this is the day
that our God has made, that our God has made;
we will rejoice, we will rejoice,
and be glad in it, and be glad in it.
This is the day that our God has made,
we will rejoice and be glad in it.
This is the day, this is the day
That our God has made.
Prayer of Approach
We rejoice in the wonder of your resurrection, O Christ, but then we tend to sink back into our old ways of thinking, behaving, responding to people’s needs. We can dance with the angels and all humankind on Easter Sunday, but the days following the Day of Resurrection often cause us to slip back into apathy or despair. Forgive us when we so easily become distracted by our own cares that we ignore the needs of others around us. Forgive us when we forget your power and love for us. Charge us up, O Lord! Set our hearts to dancing! Give us a spirit for rejoicing, may we rediscover our willing hearts and hands for helping, voices for praising you forever! AMEN.
Bible Story: Paul’s Conversion (Acts 9:1-20)
Hymn God We Praise You for the Morning VU 415
- God, we praise you for the morning;
hope springs forth with each new day,
new beginning, prayer, and promise,
joy in work and in play.
- God, we praise you for creation,
mountains, seas, and prairie land.
Waking souls find joy and healing
in your bountiful hand.
- God, we praise you for compassion,
all the loving that you show;
human touching, tears, and laughter,
help your children to grow.
- God, we praise you for your Spirit,
Comforter and daily friend,
restless searcher, gentle teacher,
strength and courage you send.
- God, we praise you for the Saviour,
come that we may know your ways.
In his loving, dying, rising,
Christ is Lord of our days.
- Hallelujah, hallelujah,
hallelujah, hallelujah!
Hallelujah, hallelujah!
Christ is Lord of our days!
Scripture Reader: Sandra Comba
Gospel Reading: John 21:1-19
Special Music
Homily “Letting Go”
Musical Response
The offering
We give thanks for everyone who continues to support TSA and our many ministries. Your gifts of support and encouragement mean a lot to us. You can get more information about making a donation by contacting the church office or by visiting our website. There are also many opportunities to volunteer in our different ministries. For all the gifts you share, for all the people you bless by your serving and giving as a disciple of Jesus, we give thanks.
Offering Song Your Work, O God, Needs Many Hands VU 537
Your work, O God, needs many hands
to help you everywhere,
and some there are who cannot serve
unless our gifts we share.
Offering Prayer
Hymn The Spring Has Come VU 187
- The spring has come, let all the church be part of it!
The world has changed, and God is at the heart of it!
New light, new day, new colour after winter grey.
New light, new day, the spring has come, let all the church be part of it!
- The sun is warm, let all God’s children play in it!
The world expands, let’s spread the Gospel way in it!
New leaf, new thrust, new greening for the love of Christ.
New leaf, new thrust, the sun is warm, let all God’s children play in it!
- The spring has come, new people are the flowers of it.
Through wind and rain, new life is in the showers of it.
New bud, new shoot, new hope will bear the Spirit’s fruit.
New bud, new shoot, the spring has come, new people are the flowers of it!
Pastoral Prayer
The Lord’s Prayer
Hymn As Comes the Breath of Spring VU 373
- As comes the breath of spring
with light and mirth and song,
so does your Spirit bring
new days brave, free and strong.
You come with thrill of life
to chase hence winter’s breath,
to hush to peace the strife
of sin that ends in death.
- You come like dawning day
with flaming truth and love,
to chase all glooms away,
to brace our wills to prove
how wise, how good to choose
the truth and its brave fight,
to prize it, win or lose,
and live on your delight.
- You come like songs at morn
that fill the earth with joy,
till we, in Christ newborn,
new strength in praise employ.
You come to rouse the heart
from drifting to despair,
through high hopes to impart
life with an ampler air.
- You breathe and there is health;
you move and there is power;
you whisper, there is wealth
of love, your richest dower.
Your presence is to us
like summer in the soul;
your joy shines forth and then
life blossoms to its goal.
Benediction
You are people of the Resurrection! You know the powerful love of God! Go into God’s world proclaiming hope, peace, and joy, in the name of the Risen Lord. AMEN.
Choral Amen Amen, Amen, Amen, Hallelujah, Amen! VU 974
Postlude
Letting go of what we know. Text: John 21:1-19, Acts 9:1-20
Preached by Rev. James Murray at Trinity-St. Andrew’s United Church. May 4, 2025
If you had a deep dark secret about the biggest failure of your life, would you want the world to know about it? I’ve often wondered why Peter told the others about how he denied Jesus three times on the night of Jesus’ arrest. No one else was there to see Peter stumble. He didn’t have to tell anyone of how he had failed Jesus that terrible night. Most of us like to keep our dark failures safely locked up in the shack of our regrets. Peter is so devastated by his failure that even the news of the resurrection is not enough to redeem him. Peter stands face to face with the risen Christ, and he still gives up hope. Peter is so down hearted he eventually leaves Jerusalem and goes back being a simple fisherman. I guess the reason Peter does eventually tell others about his denying Jesus is because Jesus confronts him on it when they meet on the lakeshore. While he is working in his fishing boat, Peter is naked, and he can’t cover up his body, or his failure. Yet Jesus doesn’t condemn Peter for his cruel betrayal. There is no judgement. There is no retribution. There is only a compassionate act of forgiveness. In spite of all he’s been through, Jesus still trusts Peter with his life’s work. Saint Peter is given a new commission, to care for the flock. This loving grace Jesus offers Peter changes his life forever.
As a result, Peter is no longer afraid to tell the others about all that happened on that terrible night in Jerusalem. Only then is he free to take on the job Jesus offers him. This same assurance of Christ’s presence also inspires Saint Paul. It is amazing that Saint Paul would also be willing to share so openly what his life was like before his conversion. Saul was a vicious and violent man. Saul was scheming his way to climb the ladder of success. Most of us prefer to whitewash over our worst character flaws. But Saul could never whitewash over his passion for God. His evangelistic fervour does not come out of nowhere. He can not deny who he has been, if he wants to share what he has become since Christ has come into his life. How hard it must have been for Ananias to look beyond the cold-blooded persecutor who Saul was, to be able to see who God thinks Paul could become.
The resurrection of Jesus is perhaps the most unusual of gifts ever given. No one was expecting the gift of Jesus coming back from the dead. In that surprising moment, no one quite knows what to make of this. This is not a resuscitated corpse. This is not a zombie Jesus. No one quite knows at first what to do with this situation. We’ve all heard of déjà vu, the feeling of having seen all this before. The resurrection of Jesus is what I call vuja de, the feeling that no one has ever seen something like this before. This is a new kind of life. A new kind of existence. This is a gift which cuts all the strings to the past.
It requires courage to accept such a gift. To leave the old behind is to lose the security of what you once knew. When Saul first encounters the followers of Jesus, he is offended by their behaviour as well as their beliefs. The followers of the Way of Jesus were doing something new that challenged the old traditions. They were living their faith in such a vibrant way that it made the old rules seem unnecessarily restrictive when those teachings were supposed to be life giving. Saul was so offended that he put followers of Jesus in jail. He encouraged the crowd that killed Saint Stephen. He hunted them down in order to stamp them out. On the road to Damascus, Saul is directly challenged by Jesus. He is struck blind by God.
At that moment, Saul can not see what is happening. He has not been able to see what he is doing and how it is impacting others. Saul is blind to what he should be doing. His blindness reveals how little he knows of what is going on all around him. Saul is stripped of his power, his righteousness, his anger, and his pride. He has to ask someone to lead him to a place to stay. He has to accept the hospitality of strangers. He has to accept the gift of hope from someone he considers to be a heretic. He has to ask for forgiveness from the people he has sworn to destroy.
All the strings have been cut. Saul has to let go of what he knows. The past is no longer able to guide him into the future God is offering him. After his conversion Saul goes back to his hometown of Tarsus in order to make sense of what happened. Only after he spends ten long years of praying and learning does he begin his career as a missionary. When Saul finally does begin his series of journeys, he is such a different person that he changes his name to Paul. Paul is a slave name which roughly translates as Shorty. Saul who has become the Paul leads the Christian disciples in a Way that is even more radical than what Peter imagined to be possible. He challenges the barrier of circumcision which limits who can follow the way of Jesus. He challenges the role of the Torah which was being used to limit how we could follow the way of Jesus.
There are times when we face situations where there doesn’t seem to be a way forward. The old ways are slipping away, and the familiar traditions don’t seem to be working any more. At such times it can feel like everything which is familiar and good is dying all around us. We all face such difficult moments in our lives. At such moments it is natural to be angry with what is going on around us. We can feel afraid of letting go of the old ways. We can feel confusion when confronted with something new. At such moments, the spiritual process of death and resurrection invites us to let go of everything we know, so we might embrace what God is seeking to do in this new moment. In moments like this, God’s new day is seeking to be born in us. In such moments, the risen Christ is with us.
The Risen Christ is with us when we see his teachings as a way of living that enriches our lives. All too often we have taught our faith as being a set of rules that stressed the negatives. The ten commandments are often seen as a list of “Thou shalt nots” that are designed to constrain how we live. Jesus shows us those rules are supposed to inspire us to have healthy relationships that make for a better quality of life for us all. The risen Christ inspires us how to handle the new situations we must face each new day. Instead of giving us a map that explains how to easily get from Point A to Point B, he gives us a moral compass that helps us navigate this constantly evolving world we are part of. The Risen Christ helps us to move past our failures so we can learn from our deep dark secrets and move on with our lives in a healthy way.
I’d like to close by sharing with you a story I learned from a Hindu scholar. The scholar shared this story as an example of how the teachings of Jesus resonates with the deep truths of how we can live a fuller life. This story, like all great stories, begins with the famous words, “Once upon a time”.
Once upon a time, A young man decided to leave his village in the jungle to find his fortune in the big city. To remind himself of his village home, he caught a beautiful parrot in the nearby jungle, and put the parrot in a cage. Every morning the man would talk with the parrot of their village home. As he left for work each day, the parrot would sing of the jungle they both called home. After many years of work in the big city, the young man became a great financial success. He decided to go home to his village for a visit, to show off how well he had done in the big city. As he was preparing to leave, he asked the parrot if it wanted anything from the village. The parrot thought for a moment and then said “Yes. There is something you can do for me. Go visit the parrots in the jungle, and tell them how happy I am in my cage here in the big city.” The man returned to his home, and was celebrated as the great success he had become. On the last day of the visit, he walked out in to the jungle, where he saw a flock of wild parrots sitting in the trees. He called out to the parrots. He relayed his parrot’s message to them, of how the parrot was happy in his cage in the big city. Suddenly a parrot fell out of the tree, and landed dead on the ground. It stunned the businessman, to see the bird drop dead like that. The rest of the parrots said nothing. When he returned to Delhi, the businessman told his parrot about all the parties and celebrations held in his honour. He talked about the young women who wanted to marry him. Finally the parrot became impatient. “Did you speak to my brothers in the jungle” the parrot asked. The man told of how he relayed the parrot’s message of how happy he was in his cage, and how the one parrot dropped dead, and how all the other parrots were silent. Upon hearing this news, the parrot dropped dead in its cage. The man was stunned. Silently, he opened the door to the cage. He looked at the bird who had been his companion for these many years. Sadly, he took the bird outside and gently placed its lifeless body on the garbage can. As he took a step back, the parrot sprang to life and flew up into a nearby tree. “Thank you for the message from my brothers.” said the parrot, “I had forgotten how to be free.”
