Prayer Before Worship   God our Father, by raising Christ Your Son You conquered the power of death and opened for me the way to eternal life.  Let my celebration today raise me up and renew my life by the Spirit that is within me.  Grant this through  Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with you and Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

In Today’s Worship:   “CHRIST IS RISEN!  HE IS RISEN INDEED!”  Those are happy words, delightful words, promise-filled words.  Yet those words contradict virtually all of human experience.  Life ends in the grave and there is no hope, our experience tells us.  Yet when Jesus was laid in the tomb on Good Friday, His real death was changed to real life by His resurrection early on Easter morning.  His resurrection gives us hope – hope for today, for tomorrow, and for an eternity with Him in heaven.  Alleluia!  Christ is risen!  He is risen indeed!