The risen Christ confronts a doubting Thomas
Worship
Lectionary Worship Workbook
Planning Ideas And Resources For The Entire Church Year
Pastoral Invitation to the Celebration
Suggestion:
Begin, when we worship, we celebrate our personal relationship with God, our
affirmations and our doubts, and
our world-wide relationship with each other - as fellow humans, both friends and enemies,
as fellow Christians, both known and unknown, both living and dead.
Continue with this litany between pastor and ministers:
Pastor:
Be alert! Be aware! Be expectant!
Ministers: Make us ready for a God-event!
Pastor:
Be enthusiastic about God, each other, self!
Ministers: We praise our living Lord.
The Act of Recognizing our Humanness and The Act of Receiving New Life
Consider this:
Deal with the theme of doubting. Encourage the people to share their doubts, either during the worship, or, ask several people to write them down before worship and read them anonymously.
After listing them, suggest that to doubt is essential to the life of faith. Doubt
keeps faith alive, so long as we keep seeking the truth.
Give three minutes of silence for people to consider this.
Offer a prayer in which you give thanks to God on behalf of the people for
their doubting, honest doubting, and honest discovering of new truths.
Message with the Children of All Ages
Suggestion:
Ask the children about some doubts they have about anything. Maybe they would put their doubts in the form of a question. Even Jesus from the Cross seemed to express some doubt about his being there; and Thomas wouldn't believe unless he touched Jesus. Give the children permission to doubt, and to ask questions, and not to have all of the answers.
Presentation of the Word
Suggestion:
Topic:
"Having the Right Kind of Doubts" or,
"On Being a Christian Agnostic"
Robert McAfee Brown, in his book, The Spirit ofProtestantism, offers some helpful suggestions.
I. Pascal put it this way: "Why is it so hard to believe? Because it is so hard to obey."
Augustine for many years said "no," with these words: "O God, give me chastity, but not yet."
II. When we doubt, are we doubting the Christ, the Christian faith; or some reasonable or unreasonable fascimile of it.
III. We also need to know that, in our doubting, we do not stand alone.
IV. We will never experience such a thing as "total doubt." Augustine tried to doubt everything; but he couldn't doubt the truth of his own doubts.
V. If we seek God, we need to look where God seeks us. One day a church member expressed her extreme doubting to me. Often, I think of a response later. This time, I did say, "You may have given up on God, but God hasn't given up on you; God hasn't lost belief in you."
Stewardship Challenge
Suggestion:
The stewardship of doubting. How do you handle, deal with, your doubts? Ignore them? Complain about them? Give up?
or,
Face them? Acknowledge them? Share them?
Charge to the Congregation
Suggestion:
Find a member of the congregation who has faced serious doubts about faith, church, self, and who has tackled and conquered them. Pastor then invites the faithful to deal with them in the community of faith, hope, love.
Planning for Your Congregation
Suggestions
Your Situation
I. Other Scriptures
Liturgist:
Psalm 133
Psalm 148
Psalm 118:2-4, 13-15, 22-24
Acts 4:32-35
Acts 3:13-15, 17-26
1 John 1:1--2:2
1 John 5:1-6
II. Suggested Hymns
Coordinator:
"Praise the Lord! You Heavens Adore Him"
Based on Psalm 148
Sts. 1, 2, anon., 1801; alt. 1972 St. 3, Edward Osler, 1836; alt., 1972
"We Come Unto Our Father's God"
Thomas H. Gill, 1868; alt., 1972
"God of the Prophets! Bless the Prophets' Sons" Denis Wortman, 1884; alt.
"Christ Is the World's True Light"
George Wallace Briggs, 1931; alt., 1972 (You may want to ask the people to change
sexist language as they sing.)
Continue to use the Easter Hymns throughout Eastertide.
III. Other Music Possibilities
Orgaist/Choir director:
Music for Preparation
Medley of Easter Hymns
Response to the Prayer of Praise Adult Choir
"Hallelujah" Beethoven
Response to the Stewardship Challenge
"Morning Prelude" Wesley
Music for Dismissal
"Blessed Jesu, Fount of Mercy" Dvorak
IV. Bulletin Cover
Church secretary:
V. Bulletin Symbols
VI. Miscellaneous Details (Assignments:)
Ushers
Candlelighters
Hosts/Hostesses
Banners
Flowers
Greeters
Posters
Name-tags
Others
Suggestion:
Begin, when we worship, we celebrate our personal relationship with God, our
affirmations and our doubts, and
our world-wide relationship with each other - as fellow humans, both friends and enemies,
as fellow Christians, both known and unknown, both living and dead.
Continue with this litany between pastor and ministers:
Pastor:
Be alert! Be aware! Be expectant!
Ministers: Make us ready for a God-event!
Pastor:
Be enthusiastic about God, each other, self!
Ministers: We praise our living Lord.
The Act of Recognizing our Humanness and The Act of Receiving New Life
Consider this:
Deal with the theme of doubting. Encourage the people to share their doubts, either during the worship, or, ask several people to write them down before worship and read them anonymously.
After listing them, suggest that to doubt is essential to the life of faith. Doubt
keeps faith alive, so long as we keep seeking the truth.
Give three minutes of silence for people to consider this.
Offer a prayer in which you give thanks to God on behalf of the people for
their doubting, honest doubting, and honest discovering of new truths.
Message with the Children of All Ages
Suggestion:
Ask the children about some doubts they have about anything. Maybe they would put their doubts in the form of a question. Even Jesus from the Cross seemed to express some doubt about his being there; and Thomas wouldn't believe unless he touched Jesus. Give the children permission to doubt, and to ask questions, and not to have all of the answers.
Presentation of the Word
Suggestion:
Topic:
"Having the Right Kind of Doubts" or,
"On Being a Christian Agnostic"
Robert McAfee Brown, in his book, The Spirit ofProtestantism, offers some helpful suggestions.
I. Pascal put it this way: "Why is it so hard to believe? Because it is so hard to obey."
Augustine for many years said "no," with these words: "O God, give me chastity, but not yet."
II. When we doubt, are we doubting the Christ, the Christian faith; or some reasonable or unreasonable fascimile of it.
III. We also need to know that, in our doubting, we do not stand alone.
IV. We will never experience such a thing as "total doubt." Augustine tried to doubt everything; but he couldn't doubt the truth of his own doubts.
V. If we seek God, we need to look where God seeks us. One day a church member expressed her extreme doubting to me. Often, I think of a response later. This time, I did say, "You may have given up on God, but God hasn't given up on you; God hasn't lost belief in you."
Stewardship Challenge
Suggestion:
The stewardship of doubting. How do you handle, deal with, your doubts? Ignore them? Complain about them? Give up?
or,
Face them? Acknowledge them? Share them?
Charge to the Congregation
Suggestion:
Find a member of the congregation who has faced serious doubts about faith, church, self, and who has tackled and conquered them. Pastor then invites the faithful to deal with them in the community of faith, hope, love.
Planning for Your Congregation
Suggestions
Your Situation
I. Other Scriptures
Liturgist:
Psalm 133
Psalm 148
Psalm 118:2-4, 13-15, 22-24
Acts 4:32-35
Acts 3:13-15, 17-26
1 John 1:1--2:2
1 John 5:1-6
II. Suggested Hymns
Coordinator:
"Praise the Lord! You Heavens Adore Him"
Based on Psalm 148
Sts. 1, 2, anon., 1801; alt. 1972 St. 3, Edward Osler, 1836; alt., 1972
"We Come Unto Our Father's God"
Thomas H. Gill, 1868; alt., 1972
"God of the Prophets! Bless the Prophets' Sons" Denis Wortman, 1884; alt.
"Christ Is the World's True Light"
George Wallace Briggs, 1931; alt., 1972 (You may want to ask the people to change
sexist language as they sing.)
Continue to use the Easter Hymns throughout Eastertide.
III. Other Music Possibilities
Orgaist/Choir director:
Music for Preparation
Medley of Easter Hymns
Response to the Prayer of Praise Adult Choir
"Hallelujah" Beethoven
Response to the Stewardship Challenge
"Morning Prelude" Wesley
Music for Dismissal
"Blessed Jesu, Fount of Mercy" Dvorak
IV. Bulletin Cover
Church secretary:
V. Bulletin Symbols
VI. Miscellaneous Details (Assignments:)
Ushers
Candlelighters
Hosts/Hostesses
Banners
Flowers
Greeters
Posters
Name-tags
Others
