People on a Journey – Tabitha
Playlist Link: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkvRvo473R5hYpUr-nj_v-yUSFCf1it2V
Sermon: https://youtu.be/kE5wvMus0uY
Kids video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhlRTne06es
Please note: Communion prompts are at the bottom for those who would like to join in
Sermon Questions
- What do you think of this story?
- Do you think it really happened? Did Dorcas really get brought back to life?
- Can that still happen today? Why or Why not?
- Can you trust the internet ?
- Can you trust the bible?
- How do you decide what to believe and not to believe?
- Is belief about what we think or what we feel or both?
READ
Acts 9:36-43
In today’s passage we learn about Tabitha, a disciple in Joppa, and how Peter brought her back to life. Tabitha was well-known and loved in her town, especially for the work that she did looking after others. Luke’s account of her story here is very similar to the one where Jesus raises Jairus’s daughter (Luke 8:40-56). This isn’t the first time that someone has been raised from the dead in this way. We also know that Jesus raised a widow’s son at Nain (Luke 7:11-17) and in the Old Testament the prophet Elijah raises the son of the widow of Zaraphath (1 Kings 17:17-27) and Elisha restores the son of the Shunammite woman to life (2 Kings 4:18-37).
TALK
- What do these stories mean for us today?
- How does this pattern of death leading to new life make a difference for us?
- How can these stories relate to the way people can change their lives?
- What are the things that we might need to let go of so new things can take their place?
- Who are the people or what are the situations you know where people need to know new life and believe that it is possible for them today?
- What do you think this means for you today?
- What are you going to do about it?
PRAY
Pray for and with each other.
You could say this prayer for others and as you do, think about each what it would mean for you to do and pray like Peter did…
Prayer for Others
Peter went without question, without delay, without protest.
Peter prayed without witnesses, without hesitation, without fuss.
Peter spoke with authority, with simplicity, with certainty.
Lord, when we are called to difficult situations where loss is grieved,
where hope is abandoned, where life’s last breath has slipped away,
may we be like Peter: ready to go,
willing to try with nothing but faith and a helping hand.
And when we are alone, when expectation knocks at the door, while we sit nursing our loss,
when the cries of the world, slip through the cracks and invade our helplessness,
may we be like Peter: open to possibility, ready to trust, prepared to move on.
Help us, Lord, to live with the sorrows of others in the service of others
so we may bring your life to others.
Amen.
Material adapted from Spill the Beans, Issue 7 © 2013 Spill the Beans Resource Team www.spillbeans.org.uk
FAITH5 © Faith Inkubators. All Rights Reserved www.faithink.com www.faith5.org
Communion
Leader: "...We are here together as the people of God."
Response: Thanks be to God.
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Leader: The Lord be with you.
Response: And also with you.
Leader: Lift up your hearts.
Response: We lift them to the Lord.
Leader: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
Response: It is right to give our thanks and praise.
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Leader: "... joining with choirs of angels and the whole creationin the eternal hymn:"
Response:
Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might,
heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed, is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.
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Leader: ..." We ask this through your Son, Jesus Christ, as we join with him in praying the Lord’s Prayer "
Response:
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come, your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours
now and for ever. Amen.
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Leader: The bread we break is a sharing in the body of Christ.
The cup we take is a sharing in the blood of Christ.
Together: The gifts of God for the people of God.
Leader: We receive what we become,
we become what we receive,
Together: the body of Christ
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Leader: Jesus, Lamb of God,
Response: have mercy on us.
Leader: Jesus, bearer of our sins,
Response: have mercy on us.
Leader: Jesus, redeemer of the world,
Response: grant us peace.