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CALL TO WORSHIP
This is the day on which our Lord has acted: Let us exult and rejoice in it.

PRAYER OF CONFESSION
God of heaven and earth, God of flesh and spirit, Spirit of God and of the church, the world is too much with us; late and soon, getting and spending, we lay waste our powers, but it is not so much the harmony with nature that we have lost, but our accord with heaven. What we excuse as merely human, you have condemned as sinful. We squirm at the description of our faults by prophets and apostles, not prepared to abandon our old ways because we have not lifted our eyes beyond the present state of things to the realm above and to the eternity beyond death. Forgive our lack of vision and spiritual aspiration, for the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.

DECLARATION OF GOD'S FORGIVENESS
Hear the Good News! Jesus Christ is the one who has been designated by God as Judge of the living and the dead. It is to him that all the prophets testify, declaring that everyone who trusts in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name. Friends, believe the Good News! In Jesus Christ, we are forgiven.

EXHORTATION
Aspire to the realm above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God, and let your thoughts dwell on that higher realm, not on this earthly life. Now your life lies hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is manifested, then you too will be manifest with him in glory.

PRAYER OF THE DAY
Living God, dying and rising Christ, life-giving Spirit, save us from our doubts and fears. Enrich our lives with a growing knowledge of the Scriptures, so that the unfolding story of our life and death may bring new understanding of your word in wisdom for living and sharing with others on our way. Amen.

LITANY OF THANKSGIVING
It is good to give thanks to you, O God,
FOR YOUR LOVE ENDURES FOREVER.
We declare it with the House of Israel,
FOR YOUR LOVE ENDURES FOREVER.
We declare it with the Church of the risen Christ,
FOR YOUR LOVE ENDURES FOREVER.
We declare it with seeking disciples,
FOR YOUR LOVE ENDURES FOREVER.
We declare it with the bereaved and dying,
FOR YOUR LOVE ENDURES FOREVER,
IN JESUS CHRIST, CRUCIFIED, AND RISEN. Amen.

PRAYER OF DEDICATION
Miracle-working God: what others reject as useless, you accept and utilize. We give ourselves and our offerings, in the confidence that you will make valuable what might have been wasted; through Jesus Christ, who is alive and with you, and through the Spirit who is with us. Amen.

PSALM 118:1-2, 14-24
O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
his steadfast love endures forever!
Let Israel say, "His steadfast love endures forever."
The LORD is my strength and my might;
he has become my salvation.
There are glad songs of victory in the tents of the righteous:
"The right hand of the LORD does valiantly;
the right hand of the LORD is exalted;
the right hand of the LORD does valiantly."
I shall not die,
but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the LORD.
The LORD has punished me severely,
but he did not give me over to death.
Open to me the gates of righteousness,
that I may enter through them and give thanks to the LORD.
This is the gate of the LORD;
the righteous shall enter through it.
I thank you that you have answered me
and have become my salvation.
[All] The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This is the LORD's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.
This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.