Worship on the Third Sunday of Easter
10:00 am April 19, 2026
Minister: The Rev. Brad Childs Music Director: Binu Kapadia
Guest pianist: Dorothy Beyer Vocalist: Fionna McCrostie
Elder: Gina Kottke Children’s time: Lynn Vaughan
Reader: Noah Hehr
We gather to worship God
Music prelude
Greeting
L: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you
P: and also with you
Lighting of the Christ candle
Welcome and announcements
Preparation for worship
Call to worship:
L: We have come from many places, following different roads.
P: We come hungering for greater understanding.
L: We have come to hear the wisdom of Scripture.
P: We come seeking companions in the faith.
L: We have come to discover the One revealed in the breaking of the bread.
P: We come to grow as disciples of Christ
L: Come, let us worship God, made known in Christ Jesus.
Opening praise: I give you my heart
Prayers of approach and confession
Loving, Everlasting God, you who kindle the smallest sparks of faith into blazing light, we come to you with hearts that long for your nearness. You are the light of the hearts that love you, the warmth that steady our timid steps, the life at the center of every soul that serves. You are the breath within us when we cannot find our voice, the steady hand when our grip slips, the gentle whisper that calls us home. You are the inspiration of those who seek you in midnight questions and in daylight errands. You are infinite and eternal, unchanging in your mercy, yet always new in the ways you meet us — full of compassion for our failings, rich in grace for our wandering, patient with our slow learning, truthful when we need correction.
When we turn from you, we stumble and grow small; when we turn toward you, we rise, lifted by your forgiveness and hope. The earth and every living thing sing of your handiwork; the sunrise, the time we share, the friend who stays… all testify to your goodness. Above all, your glory and truth shine most clearly in Jesus Christ, whose life, death and rising bind us to you. For this miracle of love, for the One who walked with strangers and called them family, we praise you now and forever: Creator, Christ, and Spirit.
Remembering Christ’s loving-kindness and mercy, let us confess the ways we have missed the mark.
Merciful God, you are the One of Glory and we need you. We confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word and deed, in the private places and the public moments, by what we have done, by what we have left undone, by the kindness we withheld and the hard words we spoke. We have not loved you with our whole heart, body, mind and soul; too often we have held back the best of ourselves. We have failed to love our neighbours as ourselves, turning a cautious eye from those who needed our courage, our time, or our resources. Forgive us for pride that protects us, for fear that silences us, for indifference that numbs us. Be merciful as promised and show us glory! Amen.
Response: Glory, glory, hallelujah
Assurance of God’s pardon
In your mercy, forgive what we have been; heal what we are now; and shape who we shall become. Restore in us a generous spirit, a softened heart, and steady hands for service. Teach us new ways to embody your compassion so that in small acts of love, your kingdom becomes visible here. We ask this in the name of Jesus, who bore our wounds and shows us the way back. Amen.
We listen for the voice of God.
Song: Jesus, we are gathered (514 )
Children’s time
I have a couple of pictures to show you today. Here is the first picture.
What do you see? How many of you see a tree? Did anyone see anything besides a tree? Did anyone see a gorilla? If you didn’t see a gorilla, look here on the left side of the picture. (Point to the gorilla.) Can everyone see it? Does anyone see anything besides the tree and the gorilla? How about a lion? Do you see a lion? Look here on the right side of the picture. (Point to the lion.) Now, do you see it? So, if you look at this picture, you will see three different things – a tree, a gorilla, and a lion.
Here is the second picture.
What do you see? Does anyone see a rabbit? This is easy, isn’t it? Here is the nose, an eye, and here are the ears. Does anyone see anything other than a rabbit? Oh, I see a duck! Here is the head and here is the duck’s bill. It is interesting how the picture changes, depending on how you look at it!
Sometimes, like in these pictures, we don’t always see everything that is there. It was easy to see the tree, but we might not see the gorilla or the lion until we look at the picture for a few more minutes. The same thing is true of the rabbit and the duck. We might not see one or the other right away. Our Bible lesson today is about two men who had some difficulty in recognizing Jesus when he joined them as they were walking to a village called Emmaus.
We will learn more about this in Sunday School today. Sometimes, we don’t see the whole picture at first, just like when we looked at the illusions. We might have to look more closely. Just like the men who didn’t know that it was Jesus right there with them on the road. You and I might not always see that Jesus is walking beside us, but … He IS there, always – loving and protecting and caring for us every day.
Prayer
Let us pray: This is a repeat-after-me prayer.
Dear God,
open our eyes
so we might recognize
that Jesus is right here with us
as we walk through life.
We trust in him
as he guides us
along our daily path.
Now together, we’ll say the prayer that Jesus taught us.
The Lord’s Prayer (535)
Song: Come to us, beloved Stranger (262)
Scripture readings: 1 Peter 1:17-23 and Luke 24:13-35
Response: Jesus is risen from the grave
Message: Born Again
Looking at the passage in Peter’s letter, we find guidance on how to live in this world, knowing Heaven is our home.
What are imperishable people born again by the Word?
How then shall we live?
Years ago, when my kids were little, I planted a tiny garden out back. You know the kind, the hopeful spring project where you buy packets of seeds, till the soil, and dream of fresh fried green tomatoes and chocolate zucchini cake to appear sometime around July. I really wanted to plant a taco pizza tree, but… it… well it turns out that was just a dream of mine and it never really materialized.
I planted primarily flowers, but also a few other things, and I took more care than usual with the carrots and strawberries.
I suppose we’ve all seen the beautiful little packets, bright orange and red pictures on the front. They only cost a couple dollars at most. It’s not a big investment to start out.
I did the novice gardener things, and I watered them faithfully. And then… nothing. Or at least, not what I expected. Some of the seeds came up, sure. But most of them were spindly little things that never amounted to much. A few got eaten by rabbits.
At the time, one of the big problems for us were these things called Chafer Beetles that look like really fat and long grub worms that nest just a inch under the grass. They are pretty gross. But Raccoons love them. So the raccoons would show up at night and roll the sod back up into what looked like giant Swiss cake rolls looking for them and by morning the whole lawn would be this odd mess where you had to roll the grass back out and put it in place. In short, the adversaries destroyed the seeds and the life growing from them. That happens in one way or another to everything. The things of this life pass. But according to the scriptures, there is still life.
Now, I know that phrase “born again” has gotten tossed around a lot over the years and not always in ways that are accurate or Good News to others.
In Hebrew, it’s ἀναγεννάω anagennaō (Anna-Geh-Nawh-O), and the thing is, it only appears in this one place. So it’s a little bit mysterious but maybe not completely.
Those raccoons dug up everything. And sure, raccoons can be coaxed away from the yard with the promise of a half an apple fritter (take that!), but they’d be back.
Birds ate some of the seeds, some the rabbits got, and some the trash pandas destroyed. And the rest just… withered when the summer heat hit.
The marketing is great. The truth is different.
“Perishable seeds”. That’s what the packets should say. “Nice for a season if any of them make it halfway through life. Also, nothing lasts!” On the back it should say, “You get what you pay for!”
Two things:
- Farmers have it hard and they might all be crazy.
- I would have been a terrible disaster if I had gone into advertising. I’d put an honest “This probably wont grow!” on the front page.
Okay, maybe that shouldn’t be on the package… but I feel as if you get my drift.
Peter knew something about perishable things. He’s writing to believers who are scattered like seed themselves, exiles, foreigners in a hostile world. They’re trying to figure out how to live faithfully when everything around them feels temporary. And right in the middle of his letter, in verse 23, he drops this bombshell of hope:
“For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.” (1 Peter 1:23)
Let’s back up just a bit so we don’t miss the road that gets us here. Peter has been reminding them, and us, who they really are. You call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, he says. So live out your time here as foreigners… in reverent fear. You weren’t bought with silver or gold, the stuff that rusts and fades, but with the precious blood of Christ, like a perfect lamb without blemish. He was present before the world was even made, but revealed for your sake. Through him, you know the Father-God, who raised him from the dead and believe. Your faith and hope are in Him.
And then, having purified yourselves by obeying the truth, you have sincere love for each other. So love one another deeply, from the heart.
And then comes verse 23, the heartbeat of the whole section: You have been born again. Not of perishable seed. But of imperishable seed. Through the living and enduring word of God.
This is not just nice religious talk. This is the core of what it means to be a Christian. We have been born again.
Also, don’t be afraid of that phrase. It is absolutely biblical.
I know that phrase “born again” has gotten tossed around a lot over the years.
Sometimes it sounds like a bumper sticker slogan or something a person feels they have to say at the right moment to get their Christian card stamped or be considered “one of the good ones”. But that misses the point. And we don’t throw out the baby with the dirty bathwater.
There is something important here.
This is not a strict Justification (being declared acceptable before God), it’s also about Sanctification (bearing good fruit in thanksgiving for being justified). In other words, Peter isn’t just talking about a one-time emotional experience or a checklist item. He’s talking about a complete, God-initiated transformation. A new birth. A new identity. A new life that comes from something that cannot die.
Think about the contrast he’s drawing. Perishable seed. That’s the old way. It’s the way of the world before faith. It’s silver and gold that tarnish. Jobs that end. Glory that fades, accomplishments that dissolve and are forgotten. It’s human effort that eventually runs out. It’s family traditions that feel meaningful for a generation or two, only to be lost. It’s the “I love you” in words and the opposite in deeds. It’s the best we can do on our own… which, let’s be honest, isn’t enough. Perishable seed produces perishable fruit. It withers. It dies. Those pesky troublemakers come in and destroy it all. We all know that story too well.
But this new birth? It’s different. It’s of imperishable seed. It comes through the living and enduring word of God.
That little phrase “living and enduring” is important. The Word of God isn’t some dusty old book on a shelf. It isn’t even the Bible. It’s a person. It’s Jesus. It’s alive. It’s active. It’s the same voice that spoke creation into being. It’s the same Word that called Lazarus out of the tomb. And it endures. It doesn’t wither like those carrot seeds in my garden, or get eaten by the bugs, or destroyed by the animals. It doesn’t rust like silver. It doesn’t fade like the latest self-help trend. Heaven and earth will pass away (Jesus said), but my words will never pass away (Matthew 24:35, Mark 13:31, and Luke 21:33).
So how does this new birth happen? Through the Word. Not through our perfect behaviour. It is not through our impressive family tree. Not through our good intentions or our denominational pedigree. Through the Word. The Good News of Jesus Christ, crucified, risen, coming again, is planted in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. That Word takes root. It grows. It changes everything.
I’ll be honest with you, I also need to hear this news again and again. Because, left to myself, I still sometimes try to live by perishable seed. I catch myself thinking, “If I just do a little more, serve a little harder, pray a little more intently, find a more clever way to say that, be smart enough, fix that one thing, be a little better… then maybe I’ll finally feel like I’ve earned my place.” But I always end up feeling so unworthy. Yet, Peter says “no”. That’s not how new birth works. You don’t earn a birth. You receive it. You’re born into it. It happens to you. And I know that in my head but I don’t always feel that in my heart. DO YOU? We all should! We all Should!!! We all should.
And notice what this new birth produces. Look back at verse 22: sincere love for each other. Deep love from the heart. When you know you’ve been born again by the imperishable word, you stop competing so much with your brothers and sisters. You stop keeping score. You love deeply because you’ve been loved deeply; not because of what you’ve done, but because of what Christ has done.
That’s why Peter tells us that we are “foreigners” living here in reverent fear. Because we are intended to be citizens of heaven (our ultimate home), though living for a time on earth.
We are not always at home in this world’s value systems. We belong to another kingdom. Our ultimate citizenship is in heaven, and we are only here in this place for a short time. We call ourselves Canadian, American, Cameroonian, Iranian, Filipino, Chinese or whatever. No matter what, ask anyone who has lost someone – it hurts. It hurts a lot.
Being a citizen of any country on earth is one thing, but being a citizen of heaven is something completely different.
That truth cuts, but it’s also very clear. And that changes how we live; not out of fear of punishment or hell or anything selfish, but out of awe at the God who gave us new life.
This is incredibly good news for anyone who feels worn out. For anyone who’s tried the perishable route and come up empty. For anyone who wonders if they’ve messed up too badly or waited too long. The word of God is still living and still enduring. Still powerful enough to bring new birth today.
I think about the people who first heard this letter. Scattered believers facing incredible hardships. Some of them had lost homes, jobs, and families because of their faith. They felt like exiles. Peter says to them, “You haven’t been left with nothing.” You’ve been given everything. A new birth. An imperishable hope. A living word that will never fail you.
For me, it’s a little like seeing a family who lost their home in a tornado but joyfully discovered after it was over that the whole family made it through alive. When they come out from the storm shelters and the house is gone, and yet they see each other, and hug each other and love each other in that moment, they aren’t worried about great-grandma’s China or family photos anymore; they are just overjoyed to still have what truly matters.
That same Word is here for us this morning. It’s in the life beyond this. It’s in the scriptures we just heard. It’s in the promises we sing. It’s in the bread and cup we share. It’s in the quiet voice of the Spirit speaking to your heart right now: “You are mine. You’ve been born again. Live like it.”
So what does that look like on a Tuesday morning in Edmonton? It looks like choosing deep love when it would be easier to stay distant. It looks like living as a foreigner, not fitting in with every cultural trend, but holding onto what lasts. It looks like opening this (small “w” “word) every day and letting the living “Word” do His work in you. It looks like telling someone else about the hope you have, not because you’ve got it all together, but because the same imperishable seed that gave you new life can give it to them too.
And when the hard days come, and they will, when you feel like that spindly little plant in the garden, remember: you were not planted with perishable seed. That’s why even in death, the author of Ecclesiastes 12:7 writes, “And the dust always returns to the earth, but the spirit returns to the God who gave it.” And it’s why Paul wrote, “even if this earthly tent is taken down, we will go home to be with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:1-8).
For now, remember this is not our home. Live accordingly.
The Word that calls you is the Word that will sustain you. The God who began this good work in you will carry it on to completion.
You have been born again. Not of perishable seed. But of imperishable. Through the living and enduring word of God. Let’s live like people who know that’s true.
Thanks be to our God and Amen.
Song: Lord Jesus, you shall be my song (665)
We respond to serve God
Our time of giving
Prayers of the people
God, our Maker and Companion, you have walked the Emmaus Road with your people through every age, in seasons of fear and seasons of joy, in confusion and in clarity. Thank you for never leaving us to travel alone. Thank you for the friends who walk beside us, and for unexpected signs of your presence that renew our faith. Walk with us and with those for whom we pray today; let your grace sustain our hope and steady our feet. God in your mercy, hear our prayer.
We pray for children and young people who sit with worry about the future. Hold them when anxiety steals their rest; give them mentors who believe in them; plant in their hearts the assurance that their lives matter to you and to us. Help them find the courage to dream and the wisdom to take faithful steps. God in your mercy, hear our prayer.
We pray for those whose age, illness, or disability builds walls between them and full participation in community life. Grant them dignity, meaningful work, true companionship and access that honours their worth. Open our eyes to see their gifts and our hands to remove the barriers they face. God in your mercy, hear our prayer.
We pray for communities battered by forces beyond their choosing, economic hardship, environmental distress, disaster, and political conflict. Comfort the grieving, protect the vulnerable, and give endurance to those who serve. Grant leaders wisdom, courage and humility so that healing and justice may take root. God in your mercy, hear our prayer.
We pray for our congregation, for our shared life and our calling into the future. We are anxious about change and unsure which path to take. Steady our hearts; deepen our trust in you; give us imagination to try new things and the humility to listen to one another. Let our fellowship be a place where honest questions are met with grace, and where risk is taken for the sake of the Gospel. God in your mercy, hear our prayer.
We lift before you the private worries and names carried silently in our hearts (pause). You know each burden; hold them, heal them, and bring peace that surpasses our understanding. God in your mercy, hear our prayer.
God our Maker, hear now the prayers we speak and those we hold in silence. Make us instruments of your mercy, to feed the hungry, speak for the voiceless, comfort the broken, and proclaim with our lives the love we have received. Teach us to trust the work you begin in us and to follow where Jesus leads. Amen.
Song: Who’s going to tell the story (761)
Sending out with God’s blessing
Now go out into the world: face the road ahead with courage, for the Risen Christ walks with you. May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust, so that your life may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Strengthen one another, love without measure, and live as a people renewed by grace. Amen.
Response: He is Lord
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Numbers in brackets after a song/hymn indicate that it is from the 1997 Book of Praise of the Presbyterian Church in Canada. Those and other songs are being used in accordance with the specifications of Dayspring’s licensing with One License (3095377) and CLC (A735555).
The Rev. Brad Childs retains the copyright (© 2026) on all original material in this service. As far as Brad Childs is aware, all of the material that has not been attributed to others is his own creation or is in the public domain. Unacknowledged use of copyrighted material is unintentional and will be corrected immediately upon notification being received.
Video recordings of the Sunday Worship messages can be found here on our YouTube Channel.