*SUNG CALL to WORSHIP #106 Alleluia, Alleluia! (chorus, v. 1-2)                                                                                                                               

*HYMN #104 Christ is Risen, Shout Hosanna!

CALL TO CONFESSION: Jesus wants to set us free, let us confess our need for God’s freedom and forgiveness to God.

UNISON PRAYER OF CONFESSION                                                              Jesus, we confess that, like the slave girl and the prison guards, we are too often stuck. Send us the earthquake we need to shake loose and find the guides and friends and colleagues you give so that we do the work we are called to do. Help us to teach and pray the gospel. Remind us it is never too late. Help us to learn that your freedom is different from any other freedom we pray.2

~~ SILENT PRAYER~~                                                

Assurance of Pardon (Acts 16:16.31): Paul and Silas were slaves of the Most High God, who proclaimed to us a way of salvation, telling us  “Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 

This is the good news of the gospel: In Jesus Christ, we are forgiven.

SCRIPTURE READING Acts 16:16-34

HYMN # 332 Live into Hope

CONFESSION OF FAITH (from Westminster Confession of Faith, 6.055-6)

We receive and accept the gracious invitation of God to life and salvation. In infinite and perfect love, God provides the covenant of grace. Through the mediation and sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, God provides a way of life and salvation. Through this way, sufficient for and adapted to the whole lost race of humankind, God freely offers salvation to all in the gospel. Desiring that all should be saved, God declares his love for the world. Revealing fully and clearly the only way of salvation, God promises eternal life to all who truly repent and believe in Christ. Inviting and commanding all to embrace the offered mercy, God’s Spirit accompanies the Word. We receive and accept God’s love and mercy, and give God all thanks and praise.

*CLOSING HYMN # 495 We Know That Christ is Raised

Front page image from https://ecwnational.org/fortune-telling-slave-girl/?fbclid=IwAR2wet2I-BIlnl7_aWxdVYmFvPdbXsifNjI606mtEpOTThf4GcJhfAOWh6k

2Adapted from Rev. Katy Stenta at https://katyandtheword.com/2022/04/18/may-8th-paul-and-silas/

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