First Presbyterian Church of Niles
Sunday Morning Worship
10:00 A.M. April 12, 2026
(*stand if you are able)
PRELUDE
REFLECTION TEXT 1 Peter 1:3
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
PREPARATION FOR WORSHIP Now the Vault of Heaven Resounds Arr. Culli
CALL TO WORSHIP (Responsive)
Great is the mystery of the faith:
Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.
Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks
be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Christ is risen!
He is risen, indeed! Alleluia!
OPENING PRAYER
*HYMN 254 That Easter Day with Joy Was Bright PUER NOBIS NASCITUR
That Easter Day with joy was bright; the sun shone out with fairer light when,
To their longing eyes restored, the apostles saw their risen Lord.
He bade them see his hands, his side, where yet the glorious wounds abide,
The tokens true which made it plain their Lord indeed was risen again.
From every weapon death can wield, your own redeemed forever shield,
O Lord of all, with us abide in this our joyful Eastertide.
CALL TO CONFESSION
PRAYER OF CONFESSION (In Unison)
Eternal God, your Word teaches us that whether we live or whether we die, we are yours. Forgive us for forgetting your gracious promise of life. We live in fear, thinking death has the final say. We follow our own ways rather than your life-giving path in Jesus Christ. Help us put our trust in you, our God who has the power of life over death. We believe, Lord; help our unbelief. In the name of Jesus Christ, risen from the dead never to die again, we pray. Amen.
MOMENT OF SILENT AND PERSONAL CONFESSION
ASSURANCE OF PARDON (Responsive)
The scriptures teach: “If you confess with your lips…
…Trust in this promise: In Jesus Christ, your sins are forgiven.
Thanks be to God!
PASSING THE PEACE
As God has forgiven us in Christ let us also forgive one another.
The peace of Christ be with you all.
And also with you.
Please share the sign of peace with one another.
The sharing of Christ’s peace.
RESPONSE Peace is Flowing Like a River TRADITIONAL
Peace is flowing like a river, flowing out to you and me.
Flowing out into the desert, setting all the captives free.
His love is flowing like a river, flowing out to you and me.
Flowing out into the desert, setting all the captives free.
PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION
FIRST SCRIPTURE Psalm 16
SPECIAL MUSIC We Have Seen the Risen Lord Pethel
Sarai St. Clair
SECOND SCRIPTURE READING Acts 2:14, 2:22-32
MESSAGE Have Faith, Do Not Doubt, Believe! Rev. Christopher Mergener
*HYMN These Things Did Thomas Count as Real ROCKINGHAM
These things did Thomas count as real: the warmth of blood, the chill of steel,
the grain of wood, the heft of stone, the last frail twitch of blood and bone.
The vision of his skeptic mind was keen enough to make him blind
to any unexpected act, too large for his small world of fact.
His reasoned certainties denied that one could live when one had died,
Until his fingers read like Braille the markings of the spear and nail.
May we, O God, by grace believe and thus the risen Christ receive,
whose raw imprinted hands reached out and beckoned Thomas from his doubt.
AFFIRMATION OF FAITH (In Unison)
Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore, God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
CALL FOR THE OFFERING
Offertory Christ the Lord is Risen Today Arr. Tournquist
*DOXOLOGY 240 (Vs. 4) Alleluia, Alleluia! Give Thanks ALLELUIA No. 1
(Refrain) Alleluia, alleluia! Give thanks to the risen Lord,
Alleluia, alleluia! Give praise to his name!
Come, let us praise the living God,
Joyfully sing to our Savior. (Refrain)
*PRAYER OF DEDICATION
PREPARATION FOR PRAYERS 794 (Vs.1,2) O Savior, in This Quiet Place AMAZING GRACE
O Savior, in this quiet place, where anyone may kneel,
I also come to ask for grace, believing you can heal.
If pain of body, stress of mind, destroys my inward peace,
In prayer for others may I find the secret of release.
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE (Responsive)
Lord in your mercy,
hear our prayer.
THE LORD’S PRAYER (Unison)
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on 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 forever. Amen.
*HYMN We Walk by Faith and Not by Sight AZMON
We walk by faith and not by sight; with gracious words draw near,
O Christ, who spoke as none e’er spoke: “My peace be with you here.”
We may not touch your hands and side, nor follow where you trod;
But in your promise we rejoice and cry, “My Lord and God!”
Help then, O Lord, our unbelief; and may our faith abound
To call on you when you are near and seek where you are found.
And when our life of faith is done, in realms of clearer light
May we behold you as you are, with full and endless sight.
*CHARGE AND BENEDICTION
POSTLUDE
All music is reproduced under permission from ccli.com License #11146543.
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