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HUMOR Sunday
04/12/2026 - 10:30 pm
ANNOUNCEMENTS
MINUTE FOR MISSION “Root ‘n Renew” Mary Biasotti
POSTLUDE “Cabaret” Kander & Ebb
CHARGE AND BENEDICTION
One: Oh God,
on Easter the thunder of your voice
caused the stone to roll away from Christ's tomb.
All: Make the ground shake beneath us,
so that our feet shall dance,
so that we shall leap up and run out the door,
and carry love to a waiting world.
Benediction: As we leave “being the church in the world” to come into this space, may we never fail to remember that to be the church we must be actively engaged in the world. Amen.
*CLOSING HYMN Give To Us Laughter (Tune is Be Thou My Vision)
Give to us laughter,
O Source of our life.
Laughter can banish
so much of our strife!
Laughter and love
give us wholeness and health.
Laughter and love
are the coin of true wealth.
Give to us laughter
as sign of deep joy;
let us in laughing
find Christian employ,
joining with stars
and with bright northern lights,
laughing and praising
and sharing delights.
Even in sorrow
and hours of grief,
laughter with tears
brings us healing relief!
God, give us laughter,
and God, give us peace,
joy of your promise
among us increase.
*PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING
Holy One, we offer up our gifts, our thanksgivings and our praise to you in thanks for the joy of knowing the Risen Christ. Bless our offerings that they may be used to spread the joy and laughter of your steadfast love wherever they may go. Amen.
OFFERING OURSELVES AND OUR GIFTS
OFFERTORY “Put On a Happy Face” Charles Strouse
DOXOLOGY Old Hundredth
From all the dwell below the skies
Let faith and hope with love arise
Let beauty, truth and good be sung
Through every land, by every tongue. Amen.
MOMENT OF THANKS
*HYMN OF RESPONSE Christ Joyful (To tune “The Church’s One Foundation)
We lack the gift of laughter;
Faith sits all pale and glum,
Hope dozes on a rafter,
and Love is stricken dumb
Come, Christ, into our drabness,
tell us that matchless jest
of life and resurrection,
your sweetest and your best.
We know the trick of tumbling,
red nose and redder face;
by virtues of our bumbling
ours is the jester's case.
Come, Christ, come down immortal,
teach us that matchless jest
of life and resurrection,
your sweetest and your best.
You joined our sad profession,
made good our foolishness,
brought clowning into fashion,
put on our joker's dress.
Come, Christ, come holy laughter,
to share that matchless jest
of life and resurrection,
your sweetest and your best.
Upon a foolish cross, Lord,
you hung to make us mirth;
but there you conquered loss, Lord,
old death became new birth.
Come everlasting joy; Christ,
confirm that matchless jest
of life and resurrection,
your sweetest and your best.
PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION – FROM Psalm 19 – responsively
Pastor: May the words of my mouth
People: And the meditations of our hearts
All: Be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord,
Our rock and our redeemer. Amen
SERMON “A Time to Laugh” Pastor Barbara Barkley
SCRIPTURES Genesis 18:1-15 and Psalm 126
BLESSING THE CHILDREN AND SINGING TO GODLY PLAY
This Little Light of Mine
This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine
This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine
This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine!
Today’s Story “Jesus and the Tomb”
Kathleen Krentz & Joyclyn Van
Leader: And as we continue our worship…
Congregation: May God be with you there.
Children: May God be with you here.
ANTHEM “The Panther” and “The Cow” Texts by Ogden Nash
From Eric Whitacre’s Animal Crackers Vol. 1
“The Panther”
The panther is like a leopard, except it hasn’t been peppered.
If you behold a panther, crouch, prepare to say “ouch”!
Better yet if called by a panther, don’t anther.
“The Cow”
The cow is of the Bovine ilk,
One end is Moo, the other – Milk!
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
Leader: God in your grace,
People: Hear our prayer
PASTORAL PRAYER
THE LORD’S PRAYER
*PASSING THE PEACE
Leader: The peace of Christ be with you.
People: And with you also.
Leader: Let us pass the peace of Christ.
People: The peace of Christ be with you. (To one another)
CELEBRATION OF GOD’S GRACE:
One: The Gospels tell us over and over again of the joy which comes to us through Christ. When Jesus was around, lives were changed, the sick were healed, the sorrowful began to laugh with joy. The good news is that this joy is now given to us.
All: Through the Holy Spirit, we are gifted with joy.
We are sent forth to bring good news to the oppressed,
to bring healing to the broken,
to anoint everyone with the oil of gladness.
Thanks be to God, we are forgiven. Amen.
#240 SONG OF RENEWEL
Alleluia, Alleluia! Give thanks (chorus only)
Alleluia, alleluia, give thanks to the risen Lord,
Alleluia, alleluia, give praise to his name.
MOMENT OF SILENCE
UNISON PRAYER CONFESSING OUR NEED FOR GOD’S GRACE:
You know better than we do, Amused God,
what important people we believe we are.
Believing we have to be serious all the time,
we miss out on the joy of your creation.
Choosing to feast on the pain of the world,
we skip the picnic offered in paradise.
Clinging to the despair which is our best friend,
we ignore Jesus.
who can bring us home to your heart.
Forgive us, Heart of Joy,
and make us open to the startling, and upside-down, ways
in which you work.
Fill us with Easter's laughter;
fill us with your healing joy;
fill us with the love poured into us
through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.
*OPENING HYMN #305 Come Sing, O Church in Joy!
Come sing, O Church in joy! Come join O Church in song!
For Christ the Lord has led us through the ages long!
In bold accord, come celebrate the journey now and praise the Lord!
Long years have come and gone, and still God reigns supreme
Empowering us to catch the vision, dream the dream!
In bold accord, come celebrate the journey now and praise the Lord!
Let courage be our friend; let wisdom be our guide,
As we in mission magnify the Crucified!
In bold accord, come celebrate the journey now and praise the Lord!
Come sing, O Church in joy! Come join, O Church in Song!
For Christ the Lord has triumphed o’er the ages long!
In bold accord, come celebrate the journey now and praise the Lord!
CALL TO WORSHIP:
One: Sing a new song!
People: A joyful melody of springtime glory and rebirth
One: Sing praise to our Still-Laughing Easter God
People: Who has rolled away the bindings of yesterday
One: Immerse your anxiety and despair in the fountain of new birth.
People: We place our visions and hopes on the table of wine and wheat.
One: For God has taken ordinary things.
People: And made them extraordinary. Sing a new song!
One: Holy God,
as you have taken what we call an absurdity
and turned it into possibility…..
as you have coaxed us to sing springtime alleluias
where once there was a gray dawn,
as you have called us out of the tombs we inhabit
into an undreamed of tomorrow,
we praise you for this day!
All: Come, Risen Christ, in newness and hope on this Eastertide day. Amen.
MOMENT OF HOPE
CENTERING MUSIC “Chopstick” Waltz/Lull
WELCOME