Hymn: “Jesus Christ Is Ris’n Today”............................................................. # 457

1 Jesus Christ is ris'n today, Alleluia! Our triumphant holy day, Alleluia!

Who did once upon the cross, Alleluia! Suffer to redeem our loss, Alleluia!

2 Hymns of praise then let us sing, Alleluia! Unto Christ, our heav'nly king, Alleluia!

Who endured the cross and grave, Alleluia! Sinners to redeem and save, Alleluia!

3 But the pains which He endured, Alleluia! Our salvation have procured; Alleluia!

Now above the sky He’s king, Alleluia! Where the angels ever sing, Alleluia!

4 Sing we to our God above, Alleluia! Praise eternal as His love; Alleluia!

Praise Him, all ye heav'nly host, Alleluia! Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Alleluia!

P: In the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

C: Amen.

P: Beloved in the Lord! Let us draw near with a true heart and confess our sins unto God our Father, beseeching Him in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to grant us forgiveness. Our help is in the name of the Lord,

C: who made heaven and earth.

P: I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord,

C: and You forgave the iniquity of my sin.

(We reflect on God’s Word and examine ourselves)

P: O almighty God, merciful Father,

C: I, a poor, miserable sinner, confess unto You all my sins and iniquities with which I have ever offended You, and justly deserved Your temporal and eternal punishment. But I am heartily sorry for them and sincerely repent of them, and I pray You of Your boundless mercy and for the sake of the holy, innocent, bitter sufferings and death of Your beloved Son, Jesus Christ, to be gracious and merciful to me, a poor, sinful being.

P: Upon this your confession, I, by virtue of my office as a called and ordained servant of the Word, announce the grace of God unto all of you, and in the stead and by the command of my Lord Jesus Christ I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

C: Amen.

The Introit is read…

(Sung)

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost;

as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end.

Amen.

The Antiphon is read…

(Sung)

Lord, have mercy upon us. Christ have mercy upon us. Lord, have mercy upon us.

(Glory be to God on high)

…and on earth peace, goodwill toward men. We praise Thee, we bless Thee, we worship Thee, we glorify Thee, we give thanks to Thee for Thy great glory. O Lord God, heav’nly King, God the Father Almighty. O Lord, the only begotten Son, Jesus Christ; O Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father, that takest away the sin of the world, receive our prayer. Thou that sittest at the right hand of God the Father, have mercy upon us. For Thou only art holy; Thou only art the Lord. Thou only, O Christ, with the Holy Ghost, art most high in the glory of God the Father. Amen.

P: The Lord be with you.

C: And also with you.

P: Let us pray.

Collect of the Day:

P: Almighty God, grant that we who have celebrated the Lord’s resurrection may by Your grace confess in our life and conversation that Jesus is Lord and God; through the same Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

C: Amen.

Hymn of the Day “Holy Spirit, Ever Dwelling” LSB #650

1 Holy Spirit, ever dwelling In the holiest realms of light;

Holy Spirit, ever brooding O'er a world of gloom and night;

Holy Spirit, ever raising Those of earth to thrones on high;

Living, life-imparting Spirit, You we praise and magnify.

2 Holy Spirit, ever living As the Church's very life;

Holy Spirit, ever striving Through us in a ceaseless strife;

Holy Spirit, ever forming In the Church the mind of Christ;

You we praise with endless worship For your gifts and fruits unpriced.

3 Holy Spirit, ever working Through the Church's ministry;

Quick'ning, strength'ning, and absolving, Setting captive sinners free;

Holy Spirit, ever binding Age to age and soul to soul

In communion never ending, You we worship and extol.

Scripture Readings

First Reading (Acts 5:12-20)

Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon's Portico. 13 None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem. 14 And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, 15 so that they even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them. 16 The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed.

17 But the high priest rose up, and all who were with him (that is, the party of the Sadducees), and filled with jealousy 18 they arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison. 19 But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, 20 “Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this Life.”

P: This is the Word of the Lord.

C: Thanks be to God.

Epistle Reading (Revelation 1:4-18)

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, 5 and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth.

To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood 6 and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. 7 Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.

8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

9 I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet 11 saying, “Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.”

12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. 14 The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, 15 his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.

17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, 18 and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.

P: This is the Word of the Lord.

C: Thanks be to God.

P: The holy Gospel according to St. John, the 20th chapter.

C: (sung) Glory be to Thee, O Lord.

(John 20:19-31)

19 On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”

24 Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”

26 Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” 28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

P: This is the Gospel of the Lord.

C: (sung) Praise be to Thee, O Christ.

Confession of Faith -- Apostles’ Creed

C: I believe in God, the Father Almighty,

maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord,

who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,

born of the Virgin Mary,

suffered under Pontius Pilate,

was crucified, died and was buried.
He descended into hell.

The third day He rose again from the dead.

He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.

From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,

the holy Christian Church,
the communion of saints,

the forgiveness of sins,

the resurrection of the body,

and the life + everlasting. Amen.

Hymn of the Day “O Sons and Daughters of the King” LSB #470

1 O sons and daughters of the King,
Whom heav'nly hosts in glory sing,
Today the grave hath lost its sting!
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

2 That Easter morn, at break of day,
The faithful women went their way
To seek the tomb where Jesus lay.
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

3 An angel clad in white they see,
Who sits and speaks unto the three,
"Your Lord will go to Galilee."
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

4 That night the Apostles met in fear;
Among them came their master dear
And said: "My peace be with you here."
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

5 When Thomas first the tidings heard
That they had seen the risen Lord,
He doubted the disciples' word.
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

6 "My pierced side, O Thomas, see,
And look upon My hands, My feet;
Not faithless but believing be."
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

7 No longer Thomas then denied;
He saw the feet, the hands, the side;
"You are my Lord and God!" he cried.
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

8 How blest are they that have not seen
And yet whose faith has constant been,
For they eternal life shall win.
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

9 On this most holy day of days
Be laud and jubilee and praise:
To God your hearts and voices raise.
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Sermon

Offertory

Create in me a clean heart, O God,

And renew a right spirit within me.

Cast me not away from Thy presence,

And take not Thy Holy Spirit from me.

Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation,

And uphold me with Thy free Spirit. Amen.

Prayer of the Church

P: Lord, in your mercy,

C: Receive our prayer.

The 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 trespasses
            as we forgive those
            who trespass against us;
      and lead us not into temptation,
      but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom
      and the power and the glory
      forever and ever. Amen

Benediction

P: The Lord bless you and keep you.

The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you.

The Lord look upon you with favor and + give you peace.

C: Amen.

Hymn “Alleluia! Jesus Is Risen” LSB # 474

1 Alleluia! Jesus is risen! Trumpets resounding in glorious light!

Splendor, the Lamb, Heaven forever! Oh, what a miracle God has in sight!