Below you will find this Sunday’s service that will help you worship from your own home.
Some of the material here comes from © ROOTS for Churches Ltd 2002-2020. Reproduced with permission.
The podcast from previous weeks can be found here.
You can also access the services of other local churches if you check their websites and Facebook pages here – you will find them near the bottom of this page.
The PS for this week can be listened to before you start the service below
Service for April 18th
‘Look at my hands and my feet, and see that it is I myself’ Luke 24.39
Light candle and say the prayer
Lord God, whose arms are always open to us,
we come before you today with hearts and minds open to receive your teaching.
Lead us to understand who you are and what you have done,
and what you require of us as witnesses.
In Jesus’ name. Amen.
(silence)
Play Psalm 4 – Lord let your face shine on us
Let’s pray
Against the noise of the world we cover our ears;
at distressing sights we close our eyes;
to confusing thoughts we close our minds;
amid the clamour of distress we close our hearts.
Loving God, your ears and eyes are ever open to our needs;
help us to worship with open hearts and minds,
that we may have open ears and eyes
to see the work that you call us to do,
and open hands to do it. Amen.
Read Luke 24.36b-48
suddenly the Lord himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 37 They were terrified, thinking that they were seeing a ghost. 38 But he said to them, “Why are you alarmed? Why are these doubts coming up in your minds? 39 Look at my hands and my feet, and see that it is I myself. Feel me, and you will know, for a ghost doesn’t have flesh and bones, as you can see I have.” 40 He said this and showed them his hands and his feet. 41 They still could not believe, they were so full of joy and wonder; so he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” 42 They gave him a piece of cooked fish, 43 which he took and ate in their presence. 44 Then he said to them, “These are the very things I told you about while I was still with you: everything written about me in the Law of Moses, the writings of the prophets, and the Psalms had to come true.” 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46 and said to them, “This is what is written: the Messiah must suffer and must rise from death three days later, 47 and in his name the message about repentance and the forgiveness of sins must be preached to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things.
Song – Listen to the words of the risen Christ
This passage follows the well-known and much-loved story of the disciples who encounter Jesus on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35). You may remember that these disciples walked and talked at length with Jesus, but did not recognize him until they urged Jesus to stay with them at the end of their journey. “When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight.” (Luke 24:30-31)
After reflecting how their hearts had “burned within them” while they had talked with Jesus, these disciples got up and returned to Jerusalem. In Jerusalem, they found the 11 disciples and told them what had happened on the road to Emmaus and about how Jesus was made known to them in the breaking of bread. This is where our passage begins. “While the disciples were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’”
It is interesting how this story unfolds. It is almost as if Jesus “materializes” in their midst. They are talking about the Emmaus experience, and suddenly Jesus is standing among them. But as odd as this “appearance” is, it is clear that Luke is taking great pains to point out the physicality of the resurrected Jesus. The disciples thought they were seeing a ghost, and we might wonder what sort of presence this resurrected Jesus is. He might be a physical, corporeal presence, but something about him is clearly different.
Even so, Luke wants to make it very clear—this is not a ghost or pure spirit. This resurrected Jesus invites the disciples to touch him. He shows them his hands and feet. He asks them for something to eat and they gave him some broiled fish. Such detailed recounting of the physicality of the appearance is surely intended to tell us something important.
- What helps you trust Jesus? What builds your faith that he is alive and in our midst today?
■ Jesus describes the disciples as ‘witnesses to these things’ (verse 48). They were eye witnesses. How and to whom are you to be witnesses today?
(pause for a moment and reflect)
Time of prayer
Jesus’ death on the cross and resurrection so we can be forgiven and have eternal life is almost too good to be true. But it is true!
Spend some time praising God for the wonder of God’s salvation.
Ask God to take away any doubts you may have.
Hymn Be thou my vision
Benediction
Risen Jesus,
help us to be witnesses in the world,
living out what we have experienced
and learned today.
Amen.
You can also find a podcast at the bottom of this page, a sermon on the passage above.
‘Look at my hands and my feet, and see that it is I myself’ Luke 24.39