Order
Sunday, April 24, 2022
Pre Worship Audio (10:15am)
Welcome/Call to Worship (10:30) Rick
Music 1 – Standing Lynn & Team
This is the Day
His Name is Wonderful
In Christ Alone
Prayer Rick
Scripture John 20:11-18 On Line-Grace
Music 2 Lynn & Team
He is Lord
The Wonderful Cross
MessageFirst Called (John 20:11-18) Rick
Congregational Response Benediction Steve M
Music 4 Happy Day Lynn & Team
Community (Gallery View) Rick
Closing Peace Rick
Closing Audio
Words and Voices
Welcome
Welcome, to our second Sunday of Easter. Last week we saw the resurrection account through the words of Mark. Today we venture to the tomb through the words of John. Jesus said ‘I am the resurrection and the life.’
Today, again, we see Mary Magdalene go to the grave at sunrise, looking for a dead body, seeking to grieve for the life of her beloved Jesus. Jesus said ‘Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live.’
The followers of Christ only knew of death being an end. Mary assumed that even though she would still be a follower of Jesus, following a dead Savior. Jesus said, ‘everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.’
At the tomb, Mary did not see Jesus, there was no sign of his body, and very little evidence that he had ever been there. However, she still stayed at the grave, she was staying until she found Jesus. Through the prophet Jeremiah God said, ‘When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart.’
Mary heard her name and she recognized Jesus, no longer absent but alive, Jesus was resurrected. Jesus said, “ I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
Music 1
This Is The Day
CCLI Song # 32754
Les Garrett
Verse
This is the day
This is the day
That the Lord hath made
That the Lord hath made
We will rejoice
We will rejoice
And be glad in it
And be glad in it
This is the day
That the Lord hath made
We will rejoice and be glad in it
This is the day
This is the day
That the Lord hath made
His Name Is Wonderful
CCLI Song # 1122230
Audrey Mieir
Chorus
His name is Wonderful
His name is Wonderful
His name is Wonderful
Jesus my Lord
He is the mighty King
Master of ev’rything
His name is Wonderful
Jesus my Lord
He’s the Great Shepherd
The rock of all ages
Almighty God is He
Bow down before Him
Love and adore Him
His name is Wonderful
Jesus my Lord
In Christ Alone
CCLI Song # 3350395
Keith Getty | Stuart Townend
Verse 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
My Comforter my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand
Verse 2
In Christ alone who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless babe
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones He came to save
Till on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied
For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live
Verse 3
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
Verse 4
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
Prayer
Christ our life, You are alive – in the beauty of the earth, in the rhythm of the seasons, in the mystery of time and space. Alleluia
Christ our life, You are alive – in the tenderness of touch, in the heartbeat of intimacy, in the insights of solitude. Alleluia
Christ our life, You are alive – in the creative possibility of the dullest conversation, of the dreariest task, the most threatening event. Alleluia
Christ our life, You are alive – to offer re-creation to every unhealed hurt, to every deadened place, to every damaged heart. Alleluia.
You set before us a great choice. Therefore we choose life. We choose the dance of resurrection, the soars and surges through the whole creation, this is grace. This is the resurrection.
Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever.
Amen.
(Matthew 6:9-13 KJV)
Scripture
But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.
John 20:11-18
Music 2
He Is The Lord
CCLI Song # 1515225
Claire Cloninger | Linda Lee Johnson | Tom Fettke
Chorus
He is Lord He is Lord
He is risen from the dead
And He is Lord
Ev’ry knee shall bow
Ev’ry tongue confess
That Jesus Christ is Lord
The Wonderful Cross
CCLI Song # 3148435
Chris Tomlin | Isaac Watts | J. D. Walt | Jesse Reeves | Lowell Mason
Verse 1
When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of Glory died
My richest gain I count but loss
And pour contempt on all my pride
Verse 2
See from His head His hands His feet
Sorrow and love flow mingled down
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet
Or thorns compose so rich a crown
Chorus
O the wonderful cross
O the wonderful cross
Bids me come and die and find
That I may truly live
O the wonderful cross
O the wonderful cross
All who gather here by grace
Draw near and bless Your name
Verse 3
Were the whole realm of nature mine
That were an offering far too small
Love so amazing so divine
Demands my soul my life my all
Message – First Called
In the fall of 2005, a day that school pick up was my responsibility, I was driving away from the school, when all five kids in the van. The path home included a three way stop where I stopped waited my turn to proceed. I was driving like a model citizen. It was in that moment, as I sat, diligently obeying all of the instructions of the Oklahoma State Driver’s Manual. Then, there was a jolt, a bang, followed by tears and cries. We had been hit from behind.
Later, when I saw the police report and my thorough account of the facts of the incident I moved down on the paper to read the account of the person who had hit us. I was shocked at her misperception of everything that had taken place. Either the police officer had written it down wrong, or the lady had confused our collision with another of the other automobile wreck that this evil womanhad caused day…well, I assumed that last part, and the evil woman part (she actually turned out to be the mother of a high school friend).
She had accused me of multiple stops and starts, of seemingly being unsure about who was to turn next. The more outraged I was the more I began to wonder if she was right. I was confident, or fairly confident, – but, did I really know whose was to turn next, and, was I sure that I had made a definite stop.
Sometimes, stories told of the same story can end up sounding different, remembered through different lens, they sound as if they are in direct conflict with each other. However, ultimately, both stories ended with the Anthony van having a big dent in the rear bumper.
Mrs. Cook, the pre-K teacher all five of our kids were blessed to have, would always begin each year by telling the parents, “I will only believe half of the stories your children tell me about you, and ask that you only believe half of the stories they tell you about me.”
Stories often begin with a kernel, or more, of truth, are then influenced by the voice, mind, and heart of the story teller, and finally, are received through the filter of the listener.
For four Sundays we are looking at the resurrection of each of the gospels. Last Sunday we began with Mark’s account which ended surprisingly with an abrupt ending that included no actual sighting of Jesus only a message that he had gone ahead to Galilee as he and planned with the disciples before the crucifixion. The women who had arrived at the tomb at sunrise were told to go tell the disciples yet, in their fear and amazement, they ran home and told no one.
This week’s story in the gospel of John, tells the same story, yet Mary Magdalene is the only visitor to the tomb at sunrise. There, she also does not immediately see Jesus, but instead is told by the angelic messengers that Jesus has been resurrected from the dead and has gone ahead. Mary Magdalene, here also, is instructed to go and tell the others, which she did.
All four of the gospels share a common story detailing the resurrection of Jesus following the crucifixion. All four contain a tomb with no dead body inside, a mysterious message and unknown messengers, a mixture of fear with amazement, and a woman named Mary Magdalene who is ordained to be the first storyteller, the preacher, of Jesus’ resurrection.
With today’s story we have two stories of the same event, one told by Mark, who had heard the resurrection story third hand from his mentor the apostle Paul who had received the story second hand. Mark focuses on the human reaction, the reality of mixed emotions – fear and amazement and invites us into the resurrection experience to see for ourselves.
Today’s resurrection account, written by John who was the second to arrive at the tomb following Mary, and the first to hear Mary’s account of the story. John also had a first person experience with the living Jesus prior to the resurrection. John, writes the story focused primarily on Mary, along with Peter, and his own experience at the empty grave. What it means to him as a flawed follower of Jesus, as an apostle and leader of the followers, and what this means to the world.
The Gospel of John is very different that the other three gospels, featuring quite distinct vocabulary contrasting belief and unbelief, light and darkness, truth and falsehood. John had read the other three gospels and their resurrection accounts, then, God led him to write an account from his own personal perspective.
John weaves a thread through his gospel of an intimate personal relationship between the believer and Jesus, a relationship in which the believer “abides” in Jesus and Jesus “abides’ in the believer.
John wrote to readers who had seen the second brick and mortar Temple destroyed. Since the temple represented the presence of God, no temple sent a message interpreted by Jews that ‘God is no longer present’, creating confusion, loss, and disillusionment among the Jewish believers.
For this reason, John possibly focused the resurrection largely on Mary Magdalene, a confident follower of Jesus who discovered that the absent Jesus was still very much present. John is writing a hopeful message to his Jewish contemporaries who are asking, “Where is God?”
Even with the differences in John’s resurrection account we cannot deny the revelations presented. Jesus is not in the tomb, he is alive and continuing on with the plans made with the disciples prior to the cross. We see that Mary Magdalene was the first commissioned to tell the story of Jesus’ resurrection, even before Jesus’ disciples were ready to tell.
The name Mary was a popular name in the time of Jesus, in fact, one of every four women at the time are thought to have been named Mary. In all three of the synoptic gospels, Matthew, Mary, and Luke, the resurrection story contains two different Mary’s listed in the same sentence. And, if we are technical at least one of those passages Mark 16:1, which we looked at last week, “Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him.”, has three women named Mary – Salome is actually the root word from which Mary is derived. So, the many women, at least six in the story of Jesus, named Mary, can get a bit confusing.
Mary the mother of Jesus
Mary the sister of Martha and Lazarus
Mary the mother of James and Joseph
Mary of Bethany
Mary the mother of John Mark
Mary Magdalene
Pope Gregory 1, in the year 591, had a problem with the numerous Marys. Not that he disagreed with their presence, what they did, and who they were – he just couldn’t keep them straight. He especially mixed up Mary Magdalene with the other Marys, creating many incorrect views of Mary Magdalene. Mary Magdalene was a women financially able, and willing, to be a financial supporter of Jesus’ ministry, and a faithful follower herself. She is the first named in the gospels of the woman at the cross and at the tomb. Jesus had delivered Mary Magdalene from demons on numerous occasions and her faith was a constant testimony of her transformation.
Mary Magdalene had experienced a life altering transformation with Jesus leading to a very real and deeply engrained trust in, and devotion to, Jesus. Mary was the first to be spoken to by Jesus following the resurrection accounts and she was the first to be called to be the evangelist of Jesus’ resurrection. Mary had a story to tell and Jesus’ was fully aware of, and confident in, her heart readiness to tell that story.
So, Mary Magdalene arrived at the tomb first, before any others. She had seen the body of Jesus placed in the grave so her first action after the Sabbath was to go to the tomb to see the body of Jesus. She acted on what she knew, there was a body there, so there she would go. She knew this would be a difficult task, after all, the tomb was sealed by a boulder, much too big for her to move and that there would possibly be guards there to prevent her from seeing Jesus. Nevertheless, she went to the tomb. She went to where she knew Jesus to be. Yes, Jesus was dead, yes, she did not understand what this all meant, yes, she should have been safely hiding with the male disciples, however, the tomb was the only place she needed to be. Jesus was there, she had seen last him at the tomb, that was where she was going to be as soon as possible.
Mary’s mind was sending her to the tomb to see a dead and decaying body. That was the Jesus her eyes had last seen. She was going to see Jesus, her deliverer whose body had been beaten and abused by a fallen world, she was ready for the horror of seeing the brutality inflicted on Jesus’ body, she was going regardless. This was her Jesus, this was the Jesus she knew, bruises, holes in his hands and feet, lifeless. This was the Jesus she still followed. Whatever that now meant.
She was going to see the Jesus she had know, but awaiting her was the Jesus she had not yet met. Resurrected, victorious, and still compassionate, merciful, and loving, and full of renewed and refreshed life.
After the disciples came later and saw the empty tomb, they were ready to leave, to return to the safety of their hiding place. Mary chose to stay, she had come to see Jesus and she had not seen him yet, why would she leave? So there she stood, alone and distraught but looking for Jesus nonetheless, she took another look inside the tomb. Two men dressed in white were sitting where Jesus’ body had previously laid.
“Why are you crying,” the men asked.
“I came to see the body of my Lord Jesus, but, as you can see the body is not here.” As she continued looking seemingly unfazed by these previous unseen men, she turned away from the men and there she saw another man she assumed to be the gardener. “Did you move the body, did Joseph need the tomb cleared? If so, just tell me where you put the body and I will take care of it, you won’t have to worry about it.”
“Mary.” The man said.
Mary heard her named called, but it was not just someone saying the most popular name in the country. It was not just a series of letters phonetically voiced. It was not just the word Mary, but it was said in a personal way. This man knows me – this Mary is me. She looked at the man and recognized this was Jesus. This was not the lifeless body that she had been looking for but the living, life filled, Jesus she knew. It was also the Jesus she was seeing anew, a view that revealed so much more than had previously seen.
“Jesus!” Mary screamed, grabbing ahold of Jesus and not letting go. “Your alive, I expected you to be dead but now you are alive! I saw you dead and now you are not dead. You are alive!” Mary continued holding tightly holding on to Jesus, almost squeezing the breath our of him.
“Mary, you have to let go of me. I still have a lot to do, in fact, so do you.” Jesus looked Mary in the eyes as he struggled to free himself from her grasp. “You need to go tell that you have seen me. You are the only one who has seen me, you are the only one who stuck around until you did see me, you are the only one able to tell the others that I am alive.”
“You are the first, and right now the only one, qualified to go and preach to the others that I am alive,” Jesus emphasized the enormity of this truth. “Go, now, this is your calling. Mary, this is your moment.”
The disciples had received the title of Apostles but, before the men could step into those shoes, Mary received the calling to be the first evangelist, proclaiming the truth of Jesus. It had nothing to do with her gender or her skills and abilities, it had to do with the fact that she had stuck around until she saw Jesus, the Jesus she knew and now the Jesus that she knew more.
She was a believer who had a story to tell. A story that was now much bigger than the story she had only three days ago. Mary, while looking for the known, had seen the so much more, now she saw the Jesus and had to so much more to learn and to tell.
I think our question today is, are we sticking around long enough to let Jesus grown and expand our story of Him?
Let’s Pray
Response – Verbal Congregational Response
Leader: May we always remember the empty grave.
Response: May we always remember the evidence of life.
Leader: May we always wait and seek Jesus even when it appears that Jesus is absent.
Response: May we always remember that presence often goes unseen.
Leader: May we stand with Mary Magdalene alone at the tomb, not leaving until we hear Jesus call out our name.
Response: May we listen and hear the voice that knows us.
Leader: May our holy experiences guide and shape our lives.
Response: May our holy encounters write the stories of our life.
Leader: May we trust in Jesus even when we our senses and emotions deceive and distract us.
Response: May we follow Jesus even when following takes us to the tomb.
Leader: May we hold to truth even when our world has made lies paramount, persuasive, and popular.
Response: May we hold on to Jesus until he calls us to go and report truth.
Response – Music 3
Happy Day
CCLI Song # 4847027
Ben Cantelon | Tim Hughes
Verse 1
The greatest day in history
Death is beaten You have rescued me
Sing it out Jesus is alive
The empty cross the empty grave
Life eternal You have won the day
Shout it out Jesus is alive
He’s alive
Chorus
And oh happy day happy day
You washed my sin away
Oh happy day happy day
I’ll never be the same
Forever I am changed
(What a glorious glorious day)
(I’ll never be the same)
Verse 2
When I stand in that place
Free at last meeting face to face
I am Yours Jesus You are mine
Endless joy perfect peace
Earthly pain finally will cease
Celebrate Jesus is alive
He’s alive
Bridge
Oh what a glorious day
What a glorious way
That You have saved me
And oh what a glorious day
What a glorious name
Ending
What a glorious glorious day
I’ll never be the same
Community
- Spring Bible Studies Final – Both groups will combine this week on Wednesday at noon, Exodus 17:8 – 19:25
- Next Sunday, May 1 – Verbalizing Fear and Joy, Matthew 28:1-10
- An Eggcellent Discussion – tomorrow, Monday at 11:30am, registration email link on web site
- Engagement drop by this afternoon
- Pray Peace. Prayers for Ukraine – donation link at GFNorman.com
Peace (3 Slides)
- As you leave this place, may the peace of the Lord, go with you.
- And also with you.
- We gather here because of God’s love for us, we go from here because of God’s love for everyone out there. Go in the peace of the Lord.
Order, Words, & Voices 