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Preludes – Ralph Hooper, Music Director and Organ
Carillon by Ennio Morricone
Prelude to Te Deum by Marc-Antoine Charpentier
Introit – The SPC Choir
Hymn to Christ by Ralph Hooper
Welcome & Passing of the Peace - Pastor Paul
Call to Celebration - Beverly Anderson
Hymn # 252 – Day of Arising
Day of arising, Christ on the roadway,
Unknow companion walks with his own.
When they invite him, as fades the first day,
and bread is broken, Christ is made known.
When we are walking, doubtful and dreading,
blinded by sadness, slowness of heart,
yet Christ walks with us, ever awaiting
Our invitation: stay, do not part.
Christ, our companion, hope for the journey,
bread of compassion, open our eyes.
Grant us your vision, set all hearts burning
that all creation with you may rise.
Writing of Our Prayers
Send your prayers in the chat room. Prayers will be prayed by the Prayer Group.
Readings – Elder Barbara Kerr
Acts 8:26-39 (NRSV)
Then an angel of the Lord said to Philip, ‘Get up and go towards the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.’ (This is a wilderness road.) So he got up and went. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of her entire treasury. He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning home; seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah.
Then the Spirit said to Philip, ‘Go over to this chariot and join it.’ So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked, ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’ He replied, ‘How can I, unless someone guides me?’ And he invited Philip to get in and sit beside him. Now the passage of the scripture that he was reading was this:
‘Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter,
and like a lamb silent before its shearer,
so he does not open his mouth.
In his humiliation justice was denied him.
Who can describe his generation?
For his life is taken away from the earth.’
The eunuch asked Philip, ‘About whom, may I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?’ Then Philip began to speak, and starting with this scripture, he proclaimed to him the good news about Jesus. As they were going along the road, they came to some water; and the eunuch said, ‘Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized?’
He commanded the chariot to stop, and both of them, Philip and the eunuch, went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing.
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