Peter stood up with the other eleven and addressed the crowd as loudly and clearly as he could, saying, “Let the whole people of Israel know, without a shadow of a doubt, that this Jesus who you killed on a cross, is the one who God has made both Lord and Messiah.”

Peter’s words hit home deep in the guts of his hearers. They turned to him and the other apostles saying, “Brothers and sisters, what can we do about this?”

Peter replied, “Turn around and get your lives back on track with God. Be baptised, each and every one of you, in the name of Jesus the Messiah, so that all your failings can be forgiven. Do that and you will be given the gift of the Holy Spirit. This promise is for you, for your children, and for everyone on down the line – everyone who receives the invitation of the Lord our God.”

Peter continued pressing the case, seeking to convince everyone. He urged them to respond, saying, “Break free from the corrupt culture that surrounds you, before it is too late.”

Those who welcomed what he had to say and took it on board were baptised, and on that one day, about three thousand people were added to the ranks of those following the way of Jesus.

©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

I love you, LORD!
How could I not love you
when you always respond to my cries?

You are always ready to listen to me,
so I will bring my needs to you as long as I live.

Once death was closing in on me;
the grave’s icy fingers had me in their grasp;
Tormented and desperate, I cried out to you,
“Please, LORD. Help me! Save my life!”

How can I ever repay you, LORD?
What gift could ever express my gratitude?

I will raise my glass in your honour,
I will name you as the one who saved me.

I will make good on all I promised you, LORD,
and I’ll let everyone know its for you.

Whenever one of your faithful people dies
it affects you deeply.

LORD, you have released me from my chains.
I will serve you forever,
just as my forebears have done.

I will bring a gift to say thanks;
I will pray to you, and you alone.

I will be true to the vows I’ve made;
and I won’t keep it hidden.
In full view of all your people,
in the public place of worship,
I’ll do all I promised you, LORD.

All the praise and all the credit are your, LORD!

©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

You are now strangers to the culture around you, and the way you live is important. The fact that you look to God as your Father does not mean that God is going to show you any favouritism. God is not swayed by mere words, but treats everybody fairly on the basis of what they do. So make sure you treat God with due respect and submission in the way you live your lives. You know that when you were slaves to the futile preoccupations of the culture you grew up in, God had to pay dearly to get you free. The price was not paid in money, which is here today and gone tomorrow, but in blood — the life-blood of the Messiah — like the noble sacrifice of a cherished one who can do no wrong. This had been on the cards for the Messiah before time began, because God always planned to get you free, whatever it cost. It is only now though, as time draws to a close, that it is all out in the open for your benefit. You have come to put your trust in God because of this Messiah, who God then raised from the dead and heaped glories upon. It is because of him that all your hopes and plans for the future are pinned on God.

Now that you have purged the muck from your hearts by doing what the truth required of you, you will find that you have the capacity for love that is authentic and mutual. So use it! Love one another with all your hearts. You have been given a fresh start, a new birth into a new life; not conceived from sperm and egg this time, but from something far more dependable and permanent — the living word of God.

©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

In the afternoon of the day that the tomb had been found empty, a couple who had been followers of Jesus were heading back home to the small town called Emmaus. As they walked the ten kilometres or so from Jerusalem, they were talking over everything that had happened in the past few days. Along the way, Jesus himself joined them, but to their eyes he was just another stranger on the road. He asked them, “What’s all this you are discussing so intently as you travel?”

They pulled up in their tracks and looked at him with long faces. One of them, a man named Cleopas, said to him, “You must be the only stranger in and around Jerusalem who has not caught up with what’s been going on in the last few days.”

“What has been going on?” Jesus asked.

They replied, “It is all to do with Jesus of Nazareth. He was a prophet whose words and actions electrified the people in the presence of God. The religious and civil authorities had him arrested and then pushed for the death penalty. They got their way and he was executed. We’d had our hopes pinned on him being the one who would set Israel back in its rightful place. It’s all been over for three days now. A strange twist has rocked us all today, though. Some women from our group apparently went to the tomb first thing this morning and couldn’t find his body. They came back and told the rest of us that they had seen a vision of angels who said that Jesus was alive. We sent a group down to check out their story, and they found things just the way the women had said, but there was no sign of Jesus anywhere.”

When they had finished filling him in, Jesus said to them, “What a thick-headed pair you are! Why are you so slow to get your heads and your hearts around everything that the prophets spelled out?! Hasn’t it always been the case that the Messiah would have to cop all this suffering before getting in on the glory that was in store for him?”

Jesus spent the rest of their journey explaining the scriptures to them. Passage by passage, he showed them what Moses and the prophets had said about him.

When they reached the turn-off to the town they were heading for, Jesus appeared set to push on up the highway, but they put the hard word on him to stop at their place overnight since the sun was going down and the day was almost over. So he accepted their offer of hospitality and went home with them. When he sat down to the evening meal with them, he picked up a loaf of bread, gave thanks, broke it, and gave it to them. Suddenly their eyes were opened and they realised who he was; and just as suddenly he disappeared from sight. They looked at one another and said, “No wonder there was such a fire burning in our guts when he was explaining the scriptures to us on the road!”

So, without a moment’s delay, they were on their feet and hurrying back to Jerusalem to tell the news to the eleven and the rest of the crew. When they found them, they were all together and abuzz with news: “The Lord really has risen! He has appeared to Simon Peter!”

The couple from Emmaus filled them all in on what had happened on the road, and how it had dawned on them who he was when the bread had been broken.

©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Let us lift up our hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.

It is indeed right to give you our thanks and praise, O God,
for through Christ we have come to trust in you,
setting our faith and hope on you
as the one who frees us from death’s grip.

You laid the foundations of the world
and destined your child, Jesus,
to reveal your eternal presence.
Through Moses and the prophets,
you made your ways known
and called your people to follow you.

You sent Jesus to us, a prophet mighty in word and deed,
to free our corrupt generation from its futile ways.
Though he was condemned to death
and crucified by the religious,
you raised him from the dead
and made him both Lord and Messiah.
Risen indeed, he is with us always;
and now in the breaking of bread
and your living and enduring word,
our eyes are opened
and are hearts set on fire with love.

Therefore with .....

©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

We give you thanks for your son, Jesus,
who you have made both Lord and Messiah.
Risen indeed, he is with us always;
and in the breaking of bread
and your living and enduring word,
our eyes are opened
and are hearts set on fire with love.

©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

(Preface reformatted for use apart from communion)

We give you all thanks and praise, O God,
for through Christ we have come to trust in you,
setting our faith and hope on you
as the one who frees us from death’s grip.

You laid the foundations of the world
and destined your child, Jesus,
to reveal your eternal presence.
Through Moses and the prophets,
you made your ways known
and called your people to follow you.

You sent Jesus to us, a prophet mighty in word and deed,
to free our corrupt generation from its futile ways.
Though he was condemned to death
and crucified by the religious,
you raised him from the dead
and made him both Lord and Messiah.
Risen indeed, he is with us always;
and now in the breaking of bread
and your living and enduring word,
our eyes are opened
and are hearts set on fire with love.

Therefore, with our hearts lifted high,
we offer you thanks and praise at all times
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.

©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

This promise is for you and for all who come after you,
all who are called by the Lord our God:
through repentance and baptism into Christ,
your sins will be forgiven
and the gift of the Holy Spirit will be yours.

Sisters and Brothers,
  your sins are forgiven;
    be at peace.

©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Go now as witnesses of God’s eternal presence.
The risen Christ has made himself known to you
in the breaking of bread,
so set your faith and hope on God,
fulfilling your vows and living in genuine mutual love.

And may God hear and respond whenever you call;
May Christ Jesus make himself known to you in all things;
And may the Holy Spirit open your eyes and set your hearts on fire with love.

We go in peace to love and serve the Lord,
   In the name of Christ. Amen.

©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net