Looking into the lectionary - A Maundy Thursday foot-washing prayer

April 20, 2025 Easter Sunday  Luke 24:1-12 “Preaching happens wherever people are hungry for freedom, and someone is given a Word of freedom to preach,” writes Anna Carter Florence in Preaching as Testimony. In Luke’s account of Jesus’s resurrection, the women are given a Word of freedom to preach. The centering of these women is not only unique but liberating. In his Interpretation commentary, Fred Craddock notes a key difference between the resurrection story in Matthew and Mark and Luke’s version. In both Matthew and Mark, the women are commanded to “go and tell the disciples” what they have seen. They’re sent to run an errand. In Luke, the women are the disciples. Given this Word, and the authority to preach, the women “told all this to the eleven and to all the rest” (v. 9); they are empowered to share the Good News. Luke’s Gospel frequently highlights the poor and marginalized, and here he has given them the microphone. It’s as if he thinks those hungry for freedom – like women oppressed by patriarchy – are best equipped to proclaim the good news of Christ’s life, death and resurrection. “Why do you look for the living among the dead?” the angels ask these perplexed women. “He is not here, but has risen.” The tomb does not contain Jesus, his life or his ministry. Death does not hold God captive, nor God’s son, nor God’s disciples. In Christ’s resurrection, God reveals that there is no chain God can’t break, no prisoner God can’t liberate. God’s love sets us free in Christ. Oftentimes, I take my freedom for granted and must be reminded why the Good News is so good, how it might matter even more to those imprisoned by walls, culture or oppression. Recently, I’ve been reading Against Forgetting, an anthology of 20th-century poetry. This collection, compiled by Carolyn Forché, includes poems written from forced-labor and concentration camps, from the repressed in Eastern and Central Europe and Latin America, from those trapped by the ravages of war in the Middle East, Korea and Vietnam, from those enslaved and held captive by racism in the United States. In one poem, Nazim Hikmet, a Turkish poet imprisoned for “radical” writing, celebrates the arrival of spring from solitary confinement with its “smell of fresh earth, birds singing/ And inside … the water jug no longer freezes.” ... Read the rest of the commentary on the website. Order of worship — April 20, 2025, by Teri McDowell Ott Called to wash feet: A Maundy Thursday prayer for humility by Savannah Demuynck Jesus lives again (April 20, 2025) by Mark Hinds  Refocusing for digital growth: Saying goodbye to Outlook Standard Lessons by Presbyterian Outlook Horizons — Sustaining creation’s health for all by Rosalind Banbury Visio divina for Holy Week by Sarah Scoggin Want the worship resources for April 13, 2025? You can find them here. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT... A theology of the pack: Lessons from a dumb, beloved dog Andy Greenhow reflects on Presbyterian intellectualism, discipleship, and the unexpected wisdom of his three-legged dog, Melody. Transgender teen’s testimony at GA challenges PC(USA) toward greater inclusivity Owen Gibbs’ story exemplifies the significance of Amendment 24-A and the church's commitment to LGBTQIA+ inclusion. — Eric Ledermann In a joyous service, McCormick Theological Seminary inaugurates and installs its 12th president The Rev. Dr. Maisha I. Handy is the first African American president in the seminary’s 195-year history. — Mike Ferguson Global partners protest PC(USA) mission layoffs in open letter Mission partners criticize the elimination of mission co-workers as abrupt, colonial and damaging to international relationships. — Eric Ledermann On the evening before a hearing on a religious freedom lawsuit, people of many faiths gather for a vigil in the nation’s capital The PC(USA) and more than two dozen other faith groups are suing to overturn the recission of a policy that protects immigrants. — Mike Ferguson Financial sustainability is a critical component of changes in PC(USA) global engagement Interim Unified Agency leaders share insight into new strategy. — Tamron Keith and Barry Creech

WCC NEWS: “Christians, rise up in joy!” WCC Easter message brings hope that enters a broken world

In its Easter message, the World Council of Churches (WCC) urges Christians to rise up in joy, emphasising a hope that enters the brokenness of the world. Photo: Albin Hillert/WCC 11 April 2025 Shared with the WCC global fellowship and with all people of good will by WCC general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay and moderator of the WCC central committee Bishop Dr Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, the message offers the reassurance that God is at work to renew the world and to ensure that life will triumph over death, good over evil, and light over darkness. “God is for us, always creating and sustaining life,” reads the message. “God is with us, always healing and redeeming us and all creation. And God is in us, always present and beckoning us to personal and social transformation and into God’s New Creation.” The message also acknowledges that the world is not at peace. “Conflicts and wars among nations, tensions between peoples, and violence against the powerless are growing,” the text reads. “The world is not reconciled—and it is questionable whether it is even trying to be.” Yet the mystery of Christ makes us see for ourselves and witness for the world a life-giving hope and love precisely when they appear to be lost. As the message notes: ”In this Special Ecumenical Year we mark anniversaries important to the Church—like that of the Council of Nicaea (325) and the centenary of the Stockholm Conference (1925)—and coincidentally all Christians will celebrate Easter on the same day.  Could it not always be so, with a common feast of Easter, the heart of our shared faith? It would be a profound sign of reconciliation and a tangible expression of the unity for which Christ prayed.” “So let us go forth as witnesses to the resurrection—not only in word, but in life,” the message concludes. “Let us sow signs of spring even in winter. Let us walk with the Risen Christ and with one another, embracing our time and working toward the day when all shall truly be one in the Lord.” Easter Message 2025 See more

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 352 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 580 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay from the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa. Media contact: +41 79 507 6363; www.oikoumene.org/press Our visiting address is: World Council of Churches Chemin du Pommier 42 Kyoto Building Le Grand-Saconnex CH-1218 Switzerland

Prayers for Our Community, Our Nation and Our World

We can offer specific daily prayers for our community, nation and world. Between Monday, April 14 and Sunday, April 20, we'll lay before God the needs listed below.

• Monday, April 14, 2025 - That young people are able to grow into their potential.
• Tuesday, April 15, 2025 - That the people of Ukraine be protected.
• Wednesday, April 16, 2025 - That all racial divisions be healed.
• Thursday, April 17, 2025 - That police officers show strength and compassion when enforcing the law.
• Friday, April 18, 2025 - That we appreciate the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.
• Saturday, April 19, 2025 - That we offer God thanks for all his blessings.
• Sunday, April 20, 2025 - That we celebrate the resurrection with joy and hope.

The Sligo Presbyterian Church Celebration Service - Sunday, April 6, 2025

Sligo Presbyterian Church: Our Congregation and Community: The Sligo Presbyterian Church Celebration Service ...: As we approach Easter, Christians all over the world focus their attention on the cross and tomb. And because of this, the usual challenge t...

Sunday's Message - Beside(s) Jesus: The Roman governor, Pontus Pilate

Sligo Presbyterian Church: Our Congregation and Community: Sunday's Message - Beside(s) Jesus: The Roman gove...: As we approach Easter, Christians all over the world focus their attention on the cross and tomb. And because of this, the usual challenge t...

A World in Crisis—Will You Stand in the Gap and Join Us in Prayer?

Not much is written about Holy Saturday, the day between Good Friday and Easter Sunday in the Bible. “After the death of Jesus, Joseph Arimathea requested for Jesus’ body and placed Jesus’ body in his own tomb. Together with Nicodemus, he wrapped Jesus up in linen as per Jewish burial customs. The women who were with Jesus saw where Jesus was placed and went back to prepare perfume and spices. This process was incomplete as they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.”                                                                               - Luke 23:51-56 With the Sabbath commandment, God provided a rhythm that mirrored his own. Even in death, Jesus' disciples took a break from burial rites. As Christians, we follow a God who is the Lord of the Sabbath, the creator of the heavens and earth and all that is in it.  The WEA is is calling for a prayer vigil on Holy Saturday this year. Across the world, communities are suffering. Wars rage, families are displaced, persecution rises, and nations groan under the weight of injustice and aftermath of natural disasters. The pain is real, the need is urgent. There is so much that needs to be done.  Yet, we serve a sovereign God. A God that is good. A God who sent His son to suffer so that the world can be reconciled back to Him.  In the face of the pain and suffering, we cry for His Kingdom to come, for eyes to see and for hands to not tire. Collectively, we affirm the message of the cross and the Good News for the times we are living in.  April 19, 2025, Holy Saturday, we invite believers from every nation to stand together in 24 hours of non-stop prayer. Find more information here How You Can Join the 24-Hour Prayer Vigil Sign up now and commit to a time of prayer Use our prayer guide to focus on specific needs Gather your church, small group, or family to pray together Share this invitation and help spread the word Click here to sign up This is more than an event—it is a call to action. A moment to seek God’s mercy for our broken world. Will you pray alongside us for this world? In Christ, Over two billion Christians in the world today are represented by three world church bodies. The World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) is one of those, serving more than 600 million evangelicals belonging to churches that are part of 143 national Evangelical Alliances in 9 regions. Launched in London in 1846, the WEA unites evangelicals across denominations for prayer, evangelism, mission, theological education, religious freedom, human rights advocacy, relief, and engagement in a wide range of social issues. It speaks with one voice to United Nations, governments, and media in public or through behind-the-scenes diplomacy on issues of common concern to the Church. For more information, visit worldea.org WEA has been a charter member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability since 1980. WEA is audited annually by an independent public accounting firm. WEA is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. In the United States, your contribution is tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.

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