1

LOVE FIRST.

SERVE FIRST.

FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH OF MONTCLAIR & VERONA

WE WELCOME YOU ALL TO OUR SUNDAY SERVICE

AND APPRECIATE YOUR VIRTUAL PRESENCE AND PARTICIPATION.

April 19, 2020 + Second Sunday of Easter + 10:00 AM

Bolded text - said in unison by all. UMH - United Methodist Hymnal FWS - The Faith We Sing Songbook

CALLED TO PRAISE AND PRAY

Prelude My Redeemer – Franklin Ritter

Welcome and Announcements

Call to Worship Pastor: The joy of the resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ is with us.

All: We rejoice in the blessing God has poured into our lives. Pastor: Even though we hear words of doubt, we are called to believe.

All: Even though the world would draw us back again into darkness, we focus on the Light. Pastor: Thanks be to Christ who gives us the victory!

All: Alleluia! Amen.

2 Opening Hymn Christ Is Alive! Let Christians Sing UMH 318

1. Christ is alive! Let Christians sing.

His cross stands empty to the sky.

Let streets and homes with praises ring.

His love in death shall never die.

2. Christ is alive! No longer bound

to distant years in Palestine,

he comes to claim the here and now

and dwell in every place and time.

3. Not throned afar, remotely high,

untouched, unmoved by human pains,

but daily, in the midst of life,

our Savior in the Godhead reigns.

4. In every insult, rift, and war,

where color, scorn, or wealth divide,

he suffers still, yet loves the more,

and lives, though ever crucified.

5. Christ is alive, and comes to bring

good news to this and every age,

till earth and all creation ring

with joy, with justice, love, and praise.

Opening Prayer

Pastor: Generous God, we thank you for your presence with us in all our lives. As we gather this

morning we are reminded of the many times we have doubted and feared. Today banish our fears

with the memory of the resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ. Remind us again that through all our

troubles, doubts, and fears, your power, mercy and love are with us. Amen.

Prayer of Confession All: Even though we have come through the joy of Easter and the triumphant Easter songs, yet we doubt, Lord. Like Thomas who walked the Judean countryside with Jesus, we still have trouble believing in the resurrection of Jesus. We easily slip back into the darkness of doubts. We move the joy of Easter into the past and continue in a downward path to confusion. Shine your bright light of joy upon us. Lighten our dark path. Help us to believe, even though we have not seen you, touched your hands and side. Help us to proclaim Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Amen.

(Pausing for Silent Prayer and Confession…)

Pastor: Do not fear, dear friends. Jesus is among us, offering us new life and hope.

All: Nothing can prevent God's love for us. Rejoice, for you have been made new in Christ. Amen.

Sharing Our Joys & Concerns Please share your joys and concerns in any of the following ways:

§ Share it in the church’s WhatsApp group (Firs UMC of Montclair). § Write it as a comment on the wall of the Facebook livestream. § Send a text to Jee Hei.

Pastoral Prayer & The Lord’s Prayer

Children’s Message Dr. Leslie Lester

Responsive Hymn In Christ Alone

1. In Christ alone my hope is found, he is my light, my strength, my song

This Cornerstone, this solid ground, firm through the fiercest drought and storm.

What heights of love, what depths of peace, when fears are stilled, when strivings cease

3

My comforter, my all in all, here in the love of Christ I stand.

2. There in the ground his body lay, light of the world by darkness slain:

Then bursting forth in glorious day, up from the grave he rose again

And as he stands in victory, sin's curse has lost its grip on me,

For I am his and he is mine, bought with the precious blood of Christ.

3. No guilt in life, no fear in death, this is the power of Christ in me

From life's first cry to final breath, Jesus commands my destiny

No power of hell, no scheme of man, can ever pluck me from his hand

Till he returns or calls me home, here in the power of Christ I'll stand.

CALLED TO THE WORD

Acts Lesson Acts 2:14a, 22-32 Brian Kenny But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, "You that are Israelites, listen to

what I have to say: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with deeds of power, wonders, and signs that God did through him among you, as you yourselves know- this man, handed over to you according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of those outside the law. But God raised him up, having freed him from death, because it was impossible for him to be held in its power. For

David says concerning him, 'I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand so that I will not be shaken; therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; moreover my flesh will live in hope. For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One experience corruption. You have made known to me the ways of life; you will make me full of gladness with your presence.' "Fellow Israelites, I may say to you

confidently of our ancestor David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Since he was a prophet, he knew that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would put one of his descendants on his throne. Foreseeing this, David spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, saying, 'He was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh experience corruption.' This Jesus God raised up, and of that all of us are witnesses.

Hymn of Illumination Sanctuary (x2) FWS 2164

Lord, prepare me to be a sanctuary, pure and holy, tried and true;

with thanksgiving, I'll be a living sanctuary for you.

Gospel Lesson John 20:19-31 When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had

met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven

them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained." But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe." A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them.

Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt

4

but believe." Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because

you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe." Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name"

Sermon “Keep on Believing” Rev. Earl Kim

The sermon script is found on the last pages.

Passing the Peace of Christ

CALLED TO SHARE

Doxology Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow UMH 95

Prayer of Dedication Rev. Earl Kim

CALLED TO WITNESS IN THE WORLD

Closing Hymn Thine Be the Glory, Risen, Conquering Son UMH 308

1. Thine be the glory, risen, conqu'ring Son:

endless is the vict'ry thou o’er death hast won;

angels in bright raiment rolled the stone away,

kept the folded grave-clothes where thy body lay.

Refrain: Thine be the glory, risen, conqu'ring Son;

endless is the vict'ry thou o’er death hast won.

2. Lo! Jesus meets us, risen from the tomb;

lovingly he greets us, scatters fear and gloom;

let the church with gladness, hymns of triumph sing,

for her Lord now liveth, death hath lost its sting. [Refrain]

3. No more we doubt thee, glorious Prince of life;

life is naught without thee: aid us in our strife;

make us more than conqu'rors, thro' thy deathless love:

bring us safe thro' Jordan to thy home above. [Refrain]

Sending Forth Rev. Earl Kim

Circle of Blessing Shalom to You UMH 666

Shalom to you now, shalom, my friends. May God's full mercies bless you, my friends.

In all your living and through your loving, Christ be your shalom, Christ be your shalom.

Postlude Praise the Lord on High – Rachel Pawyer

Please continue to pray for all those affected by the pandemic.

5

Sermon: “Keep on Believing” With the Risen Christ

“Keep On”

– Eastertide Sermon Series –

From Easter to Pentecost, this 50-day period of time is called Eastertide in our liturgical calendar.

Eastertide, which simply means the season of Easter, was traditionally a time of learning, especially for the newly baptized members of the church; they learned about their new identity as members of the Body of Christ. And for other members, it was a time to deepen their understanding of Christian faith and discipleship as the followers of the Risen Christ. So, during this Eastertide of great fifty days, I would like to

invite all of you to continue this good tradition of the church and think about the way we faithfully live as the resurrection people. After Easter, what should we do, what should we keep on doing with the Risen Christ here and now? In this Eastertide sermon series, Keep On, I would like to share some of my reflections with you. So please stay tuned, and you are more than welcome to share your own reflections with me and

other members.

Last week, we celebrated Easter. We sang with joy, “Christ the Lord has risen today” and “Up

from the grave, he arose.” Yes, the Season of Lent, the season of penitence is gone. Our wilderness

journey came to its end. Yes, the tomb is empty. Death has been defeated. The way of new life is wide

open. Yes, now we have finally marched on from Lent to Eastertide, death to life, sorrow to joy. Glory to

God, hallelujah!

And yet. Why does this transition feel so hard this year? Is it just me? Why do we feel like we are

still in sorrow? Why does death appear to be still in charge in this time of resurrection? Yes. That’s right.

We are still going through this crisis, this overwhelming reality of the Covid-19 pandemic. So even after

Easter, we can’t just live happily ever after. Honestly, I feel quite confused. How can we handle this gap

between the truth of resurrection and the ongoing reality of death? How can we live in the light of

resurrection in this dark days of crisis?

This Eastertide is weird, we may say. But interestingly, in today’s Gospel story, I find, the first

Eastertide the disciples of Jesus experienced was quite similar to the Eastertide we are experiencing

now. The Gospel of John describes in detail what the disciples were doing on the day of Easter and the

following days. And it’s clear that they were not in a mood for celebration at all. For them, their days

were full of fear and doubt, uncertainty and confusion.

Jesus died on the cross, and the disciples locked themselves in a house. The Gospel says that they

did it “for the fear of the Jews.” They had to do this, because they were the disciples of Jesus the

crucified, the enemy of the state. It means that they were also suspected of complicity in the attempt to

stir up the crowd and overthrow the current religious and political orders. I have no idea whose house it

was or where the house was. But for sure, they gathered together in that house, shut the door tightly,

and perhaps sealed the windows too. They didn’t want to be noticed by anyone around. They were on

lockdown in the house.

To them, there came incredible news. Mary Magdalene testifies, “I have seen the Lord” (John

20:18). But they couldn’t believe it. To be precise, they couldn’t accept and process it. Think about this.

They were the ones who betrayed Jesus, their friend, their Lord. They left him alone and couldn’t stand

6

up for him or do something for him. Whenever they thought about what had happened to Jesus on

Friday and his horrible death, they were weighed down by the intense emotions of remorse and sadness.

They knew they would never be free from these heavy feelings haunting them.

So the disciples locked themselves in the house—not just their bodies but also their souls. And

into this very house, into their time of fear and confusion, Jesus came. He came in even through the

locked door. And he said, “Peace be with you” (John 20:19). As if nothing serious had happened, he

greeted them, “shalom.” Then, Jesus showed his wounds to the disciples. And their hearts were finally

filled with joy and hope. Jesus breathed his breath of life, the Holy Spirit, into their hearts. And their

hearts were unlocked by the wave of the Easter joy.

Today’s Gospel story tells us that a week after, when the disciples were gathered in the house

again, Jesus visited them again. This time, he came for Thomas who did not believe in his resurrection

yet. Even after hearing the witness of other disciples, Thomas said, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in

his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe” (John

20:25). So Jesus came to Thomas, showed his wounds, and said, “Put your finger here and see my hands.

Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” Then Thomas cried out, “My Lord

and my God” (John 20:27-28).

This is what happened in the first Eastertide. Fear and doubt locked down the house of the

disciples. Uncertainty and confusion made them shut the doors of the house and of their hearts.

Reading this story again and again, I thought, this first Eastertide was quite similar to the Eastertide we

are going through now. We hunker down in our houses. The veil of fear and doubt still covers our hearts.

Uncertainty and fear prevail. The light of resurrection is dim and flickering. The overwhelming reality of

the Covid-19 pandemic and its brutal impact confuse us, make us doubt. It’s hard to remain in the Easter

joy and stay hopeful.

But my faithful friends in Christ, in times like this, let us remember Jesus, our Jesus who found

the disciples in the house and came to them when they needed him most. Let us remember, even the

locked door, even the closed hearts couldn’t stop Jesus from coming in. He came through the locked

door, through those closed hearts, and showed how much he loves his disciples; he showed his scars of

self-giving love and marks of self-denying sacrifice. He came in and healed the wounds of the disciples

and revived faith in their doubting hearts. And he breathed the Holy Spirit into them to make them

whole. Jesus, resurrected from death, continues to save the disciples with his love and raise them up

with a new assurance of faith and fresh vision.

In this time of despair and sorrow, just like the disciples did, we might think that Jesus is not here

with us anymore so lock ourselves in our own places of silence and darkness. But I truly believe that in

this time and into this place, Jesus is coming. He is surely coming, no matter how tightly we lock the

door. He is coming with the light of Easter, and this light will unlock our hearts. He is coming with his

Spirit of life, and this Spirit of the living God will revive us and heal us. My friends, do you believe this?

Therefore, Easter people, keep on believing. Keep on believing in the power of resurrection and

in the life-giving love that conquered death. Keep on believing in Jesus Christ our Lord who always

comes to us and liberates us from the shadows of fear and doubt, uncertainty and confusion. Keep on

believing that nothing can stop him from coming to us, and nothing can separate us from his love. May

the Spirit of our Risen Christ guide you and revive your faith throughout this Eastertide. Amen.