St Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church
313 4th Street, Manistee, MI 49660
www.StPaulsManistee.com
facebook.com/SPLCManistee
April 5, 2026 Easter Sunday
JESUS LIVES TO TAKE ME FROM DEATH TO LIFE WELCOME
GREETING
M: The Lord is risen!
C: He is risen indeed!
HYMN 157 “Jesus Christ is Risen Today” - please stand for last stanza
CONFESSION OF SINS
M: Dear Friends, let us approach God with a true heart and confess our sins, asking him in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to forgive us.
C: Lord of life, I confess that I am by nature dead in sin. For faithless worrying and selfish pride, for sins of habit and sins of choice, for evil I have done and the good I have failed to do, You should cast me away from your presence forever. O Lord, I am sorry for my sins. Forgive me, for Jesus’ sake.
ABSOLUTION
M: Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again. In his great mercy, God made us alive in Christ even when we were dead in our sins. Hear the word of Christ through his called servant: I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
C: Amen.
SONG: “My Sins Have Been Forgive, Forgotten, for Good” SS Children & Teachers
RESURRECTION DIALOGUE
M: Alleluia! Christ is risen!
C: He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
M: This is the day the Lord has made.
C: We will rejoice and be glad in it.
M: I will sing to the Lord, for he is highly exalted. The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.
C: Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.
M I will not die, but live, and will proclaim what the Lord has done.
C: Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.
M: The Lord’s right hand is majestic in power. The Lord’s right hand has shattered the enemy. In the greatness of his majesty he threw down those who opposed him. C: Death has been swallowed up in victory.
M: The Lord will not abandon me to the grave. He has made known to me the path of life. C: Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. M: Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?
C: Thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
M: I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. C: The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever.
M: Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb. C: Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!
M: Alleluia! Christ is risen!
C: He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
PRAYER OF THE DAY
M: Almighty God, through your only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ, you overcame death and opened to us the gate of everlasting life. We humbly pray that we may live before you in righteousness and purity forever; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
C: Amen.
FIRST LESSON: Job 19:23-27
23 Oh how I wish that my words were written down. Oh how I wish that they were inscribed in bronze, 24 that they would be engraved in rock forever with an iron tool and letters filled with lead. 25 As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and that at the end of time he will stand over the dust. 26 Then, even after my skin has been destroyed, nevertheless, in my own flesh I will see God. 27 I myself will see him. My own eyes will see him, and not as a stranger. My emotions are in turmoil within me.
P: The Word of the Lord.
C: Thanks be to God.
SECOND LESSON: 1 Corinthians 15:1-11
1 Brothers, I am going to call your attention to the gospel that I preached to you. You received it, and you took your stand on it. 2 You are also being saved by that gospel that
was expressed in the words I preached to you, if you keep your hold on it—unless you believed in vain. 3For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve. 6After that he appeared to over five hundred brothers at the same time, most of whom are still alive, but some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, and then to all the apostles. 8Last of all, he appeared also to me, the stillborn child, so to speak. 9For I am the least of the apostles, and I am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted God’s church. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not ineffective. On the contrary, I worked more than all of them (and yet it wasn’t my doing, but it was the grace of God, which was with me, that did it). 11 So whether it is I or they, that is what we preach, and that is what you believed.
P: The Word of the Lord.
C: Thanks be to God.
VERSE OF THE DAY
M: Alleluia. Alleluia. Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia.
This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Alleluia.
GOSPEL: Matthew 28:1-10
1 After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. 2Suddenly, there was a great earthquake! For an angel of the Lord came down from heaven, and going to the tomb, he rolled away the stone and was sitting on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing was as white as snow. 4 The guards were so terrified of him that they shook and became like dead men. 5 The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid! I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6 He is not here. He has risen, just as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. 7 Go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has risen from the dead! And look, he is going ahead of you to Galilee. There you will see him.’ See, I have told you!” 8 They hurried away from the tomb, with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9Suddenly Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” They approached, took hold of his feet, and worshipped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go, tell my brothers that they should go to Galilee, and there they will see me.”
P: Here ends the Gospel.
C: Praise be to you, O Christ!
HYMN 143 “He’s Risen, He’s Risen”
SERMON: I Know that My Redeemer Lives! Job 19:23-27 HYMN 152 (1,2,5,7,8) “I Know that My Redeemer Lives”
CONFESSION OF FAITH – The Apostles’ Creed
M: Do you believe in God, the Father Almighty?
C: Yes, I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth. M: Do you believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son?
C: Yes, I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended into be heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
M: Do believe in the Holy Spirit?
C: Yes, I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
HYMN 453 “The Tomb Is Empty” Sharon Spencer (1,2) Congregation (Refrain, 3-5)
PRAYER OF THE CHURCH
M: Heavenly Father, God of grace, you have brought us into a new and living hope by the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.
C: Christ is risen!
M: For as in Adam all died, so in Christ all will be made alive.
C: He is risen indeed!
M: He was delivered over to death for our sins and raised to life for our justification. C: Alleluia!
M: We marvel at the love you showed by your willingness to sacrifice your Son to pay for our sins; we bow down in adoration at your mighty power, which raised him from the dead.
C: We praise you for sending the true Life and Light into the world. M: Lord Jesus, God of grace, you have filled our hearts with resurrection joy by your victory over sin, death, and the grave.
C: You have conquered the darkness and given us comfort and hope. M: With the Church of every age, we offer you unending praise, for you have crushed Satan’s head and have removed our guilt.
C: You are risen!
M: Dear Savior, we who are weary and burdened come to you for rest, knowing that because of your perfect redemption there is now no condemnation for us. C: You are risen indeed!
M: Take away our doubts and fears, and daily renew in us the joy of our salvation. C: Alleluia!
M: Holy Spirit, God of grace, you have called us by the gospel and brought us to saving faith in our risen Lord.
C: We glorify you for opening our eyes to see the light of life. M: Keep us with Jesus Christ in the one true faith.
C: He is risen!
M: As we journey through life, make us yearn for the day when you will give eternal life to us and all believers in Christ.
C: He is risen indeed!
Special prayers and intercessions may be offered here.
M: Hear us, Lord, as we bring you our private petitions.
Silent prayer.
M: Work through us as we proclaim the saving message of the crucified and risen Jesus near and far, so that many others may hear your call, obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, and join us before the throne of our God and of the Lamb.
C: Alleluia! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Alleluia! Amen.
LORD’S PRAYER
M: In Easter joy we also join to pray:
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed by thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.
THE SACRAMENT
WORDS OF INSTITUTION
DISTRIBUTION OF COMMUNION
CLOSE COMMUNION: St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church believes according to the Bible the participation in the Lord's Supper is both a confession of faith and an expression of our unity in that faith. When you commune with us you are saying that you agree with the Biblical teachings concerning the Lord's Supper and all the other teachings of the Bible. If you have never communed with us before, we ask that you speak with Pastor Himm to learn how you can establish a communing fellowship with us. We are eager to enjoy this close fellowship with you! Thank you for understanding.
HYMN OF RESPONSE 316
O Jesus, blessed Lord, to thee
My heartfelt thanks forever be,
Who hast so lovingly bestowed
On me thy body and thy blood.
Break forth, my soul, for joy and say:
What wealth is come to me this day!
My Savior dwells within my heart—
How blest am I! How good thou art!
PRAYER
M: Almighty God, by the glorious resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ you conquered death and opened the gate to eternal life. Grant that we, who have been raised with him through baptism, may walk in the newness of life and ever rejoice in the hope of sharing his glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit be dominion and praise now and forever.
C: Amen.
BLESSING
M: The Lord is risen!
C: He is risen indeed!
M: The Lord bless you and keep you.
The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you.
The Lord look on you with favor and give you peace.
C: Amen.
HYMN 162 “He’s Risen! Glorious Word
ANNOUNCEMENTS
I know that my Redeemer lives!
THANK YOU to all those who made our Easter Brunch possible for all who attended. What a joy it is to gather with fellow believers on this Easter morning. Thanks also to our Sunday School children and Sharon Spencer for singing, Nancy Skory as the pianist, and Kay Himm who served as our organist.
OFFERING BASKET BY THE WATER COOLER The members of St Paul's & the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) have joined together to do the Lord’s work here and around the world. Our guests may but are not expected to participate in this offering which supports our church’s ministry.
PLEASE SIGN OUR GUEST BOOK IF YOU ARE VISITING. It’s located in the entryway by the stairs going to the basement.
THIS WEEK AT ST. PAUL’S
❖ Tuesday, 10 am - Ladies’ Book Study – “Taboo” at the parsonage ❖ Tuesday, 3:30 pm - Youth Confirmation Class at Pastor’s house ❖ Tuesday, 7 pm - Bible Study on Romans at Pastor’s house
❖ Sunday, 9 am - Sunday School & Adult Bible Class
❖ Sunday, 10 am – WORSHIP
Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version ® (EHV ®)