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April 19, 2026: Third Sunday of Easter

Rev Brian Goodings

Sunday, April 19, 2026

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April 19, 2026

Third Sunday of Easter

Find this service at www.graceunitedthornbury.ca/live

Leading us today in Worship:
Minister: Rev. Dr. Brian Goodings
Director of Music: Dr. Christopher Burton
Lay Reader: Shirley Woolner

Leader: regular font ~ All: bold font ~ Sung words: bold italics.
Asterisk * Indicates when the congregation may stand if able.

Scripture for meditation:
Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. (Luke 24: 13,14)

We Gather Together in Community

PRELUDE: A Selection of Hymns

“A Stewardship Second:”
With peace rooted in our own spirits, we can bloom and share ourselves with others.

WELCOME:

LIGHTING the CHRIST CANDLE:

“Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God Almighty
Early in the morning our song shall rise to thee
Holy, Holy, Holy merciful and mighty
God in three persons, blessed Trinity”

OUR COMMITMENT to SAFER SPACE & ACKNOWLEDGEMENT of the LAND:
Grace United Church is committed to a living faith of love and justice. We celebrate diversity in all forms. We welcome everyone and affirm our welcome to people of all gender identities and sexual preferences.
In gratitude and respect,
The United Church of Canada gathers, worships, and works on Indigenous lands across Canada.

Centering Meditation: “Hospitality” by Joy Cowley
I asked Love to help me greet the stranger in myself.
I knew how to open my door to the world and greet everyone out there as a friend,
But I didn’t have any kind of welcome for the impoverished one within.
She was the weakness I couldn’t acknowledge.
She was the pain I didn’t allow.
She was the leper I’d try to cast out, the one who cried at night in lonely places.
I thought if I let her in she’d cause me no end of trouble, and I was sorely afraid.

But Love helped me to prepare a feast.
We set the table, Love and I, and then I did it,
I invited my stranger. “Answer the door, “said Love. “You have nothing to fear.”

She came in slowly. I put my arms around her and embraced her in her rags and we wept together for years of separation. I sat my stranger at the head of the table, gave her the best of food and wine and, claiming her as my own, began to introduce her to my friends.

“But who shall I say she is?” I whispered to Love. “I can’t call her a stranger now.”

Love smiled and said, “Don’t you know? She is the Christ.”

*OPENING HYMN: VU #337 “Blessed Assurance”
1. Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
O what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
born of the Spirit, washed in Christ’s blood.
This is my story, this is my song,
praising my Saviour all the day long;
this is my story, this is my song,
praising my Saviour all the day long.

2. Perfect submission, perfect delight!
Visions of rapture now burst on my sight;
angels descending, bring from above
echoes of mercy, whispers of love.
This is my story, this is my song,
praising my Saviour all the day long;
this is my story, this is my song,
praising my Saviour all the day long.

3. Perfect submission, all is at rest,
I in my Saviour am happy and blessed;
watching and waiting, looking above,
filled with God’s goodness, lost in Christ’s love.
This is my story, this is my song,
praising my Saviour all the day long;
this is my story, this is my song,
praising my Saviour all the day long.

Lighting the Children’s Lantern

Theme Conversation: Paul’s Physician

We Listen Together

SCRIPTURE READING:
Acts 2: 22-32 (Peter’s sermon)“Fellow Israelites, listen to what I have to say: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with deeds of power, wonders, and signs that God did through him among you, as you yourselves know—this man, handed over to you according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of those outside the law.But God raised him up, having released him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for him to be held in its power.For David says concerning him,
‘I saw the Lord always before me,
    for he is at my right hand so that I will not be shaken;
therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced;
    moreover, my flesh will live in hope.
For you will not abandon my soul to Hades
    or let your Holy One experience corruption.
You have made known to me the ways of life;
    you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’
“Fellow Israelites, I may say to you confidently of our ancestor David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.Since he was a prophet, he knew that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would put one of his descendants on his throne.Foreseeing this, David spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, saying,
‘He was not abandoned to Hades,
    nor did his flesh experience corruption.’
“This Jesus God raised up, and of that all of us are witnesses.

Luke 24: 13- 35 (road to Emmaus)
Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem,and talking with each other about all these things that had happened.While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them,but their eyes were kept from recognizing him.And he said to them, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?” They stood still, looking sad.Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?”He asked them, “What things?” They replied, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people,and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him.But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place.Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning,and when they did not find his body there they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive.Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see him.”
Then he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?”Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.
As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on.But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.” So he went in to stay with them.When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him, and he vanished from their sight.They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?
That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem, and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together
They were saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!”Then they told what had happened on the road and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

RESPONSE: VU #374 “Come and Find the Quiet Centre” (v.1)
Come and find the quiet center
in the crowded life we lead,
find the room for hope to enter,
find the frame where we are freed:
clear the chaos and the clutter,
clear our eyes, that we can see
all the things that really matter,
be at peace, and simply be.

Anthem: “He is Risen”- N. Price & D. Besig

SERMON: “On the Road Again” Rev Brian Goodings

PASTORAL and LORD’S PRAYER

*HYMN: VU #187 “The Spring Has Come”
1. The spring has come, let all the church be part of it!
The world has changed, and God is at the heart of it!
New light, new day, new colour after winter grey.
New light, new day,
the spring has come, let all the church be part of it!

2. The sun is warm, let all God’s children play in it!
The world expands, let’s spread the Gospel way in it!
New leaf, new thrust, new greening for the love of Christ.
New leaf, new thrust,
the sun is warm, let all God’s children play in it!

3. The spring has come, new people are the flowers of it.
Through wind and rain, new life is in the showers of it.
New bud, new shoot, new hope will bear the Spirit’s fruit.
New bud, new shoot,
the spring has come, new people are the flowers of it!

We Respond

INVITATION to the OFFERING:
Let our eyes be open to the possibilities held in this community. We share prayer, song, and stories. We break bread and serve as companions for life’s journey. We are invited and encouraged to share our financial gifts, knowing that the kin(g)dom will be found in community, and God’s work with and for us is never done.

PRAYER of DEDICATION of OUR OFFERINGS:
O Risen Christ, we walk this week, full of the news of the world. We can recite the gloomy stories around us, for we have felt them in our lives. May you walk with us, reminding us anew of all the saints who have walked this way before us. May you tell us a fresh story of salvation, how we too can give and are given new life. And when we forget that the stranger is a friend, humble us to open our hearts and our hands, for we would be part of the reconciliation and hope that you began long ago. In the name of the Christ, we pray. Amen.

Donate online: www.graceunitedthornbury.ca, select “Donate” or contact the office by email: accounting@graceunitedthornbury.ca or phone: 519-599-2438 to arrange a cheque pick-up, or an e-transfer.
Mail: Grace UC, 140 Bruce St. S. PO Box 219, Thornbury, ON N0H 2P0
or Offering Plate at the back of the sanctuary.

Tap your debit card at the door of the church, or Donate to Grace United Church Thornbury through CanadaHelps.org. Our account is set up with them now and it is easy to register. Tax receipts are given automatically at the time of giving. Care, Prayer, Share

DEDICATION: MV #191 “What Can I Do?” (2x)
What can I do? What can I bring?
What can I say? What can I sing?
I’ll sing with joy. I’ll say a prayer
I’ll bring my love. I’ll do my share.

What’s up at Grace?

We Begin our Service in the Name of Christ!

*HYMN: VU #166 “Joy Comes with the Dawn”
Refrain:
Joy comes with the dawn;
joy comes with the morning sun;
joy springs from the tomb
and scatters the night with her song,
joy comes with the dawn.

1. Weeping may come;
weeping may come in the night,
when dark shadows cloud our sight
Refrain:
Joy comes with the dawn;
joy comes with the morning sun;
joy springs from the tomb
and scatters the night with her song,
joy comes with the dawn.

2. Sorrow will turn,
sorrow will turn into song,
and God’s laughter make us strong.
Refrain:
Joy comes with the dawn;
joy comes with the morning sun;
joy springs from the tomb
and scatters the night with her song,
joy comes with the dawn.

3. We will rejoice,
we will rejoice, and give praise,
to the One who brings us grace.
Refrain:
Joy comes with the dawn;
joy comes with the morning sun;
joy springs from the tomb
and scatters the night with her song,
joy comes with the dawn.

*COMMISSIONING:

*BENEDICTION: VU #424 “May the God of Hope Go with Us”
1. May the God of hope go with us every day,
filling all our lives with love and joy and peace.
May the God of justice speed us on our way,
bringing light and hope to every land and race.
Praying, let us work for peace,
singing, share our joy with all,
working for a world that’s new,
faithful when we hear Christ’s call.

2. May the God of healing free the earth from fear,
freeing us for peace, both treasured and pursued.
May the God of love keep our commitment clear
to a world restored, to human life renewed.
Praying, let us work for peace,
singing, share our joy with all,
working for a world that’s new,
faithful when we hear Christ’s call.

POSTLUDE:
“Spring, from The Four Seasons”- A. Vivaldi

*****

SOURCES: The following are used with permission:

Stewardship Second & Invitation to the Offering & Prayer of Dedication of our Offerings from: © 2024 The United Church of Canada/L’Église Unie du Canada. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial Share Alike License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ca. Any copy must include this notice.
Centering Meditation: “Hospitality” by Joy Cowley

HYMNS and SUNG VERSES:

-“Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God All Mighty:” Words: Reginald Heber. Music: John Bacchus Dykes. Descant: © 1971 Godfrey Hewitt, c/o Marion Hewitt, 10-12 Clarence St., Ottawa, ON K1N 5P3. Words, Music: Public Domain. Descant: Godfrey Hewitt, c/o Marion Hewitt.

CCLI #11203479.

-“Blessed Assurance: ” Words: Fanny J. Crosby. Music: Phoebe Palmer Knapp. Public domain.

-“Come and Find the Quiet Centre:” Words: Shirley Erena Murray © 1982 Hope Publishing Company. All rights reserved. Used by permission. Music: Attributed to Benjamin Franklin White. Harmony: reprinted from Lutheran Book of Worship © 1978, by permission of Augsburg Fortress. Words: Hope Publishing Company. Music: Public Domain. Harmony: Augsburg Fortress. CCLI #11203479.

-“The Spring Has Come:” Words: Shirley Erena Murray © 1992, Music: Colin Gibson © 1993 Hope Publishing Company. All rights reserved. Used by permission. Words, Music: Hope Publishing Company. One License #608577

-“What Can I Do?” Words and music: Paul Rumbolt and Michele McCarthy; arr. Alan

Whitmore, 2005. Words and music: Paul Rumbolt and Michele McCarthy; arr. Alan C. Whitmore, 2005. Words and music copyright © by Paul Rumbolt and Michele McCarthy. www.paulrumbolt.com Arrangement copyright © 2005 Alan C. Whitmore. One License #608577