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Covenant-First Presbyterian Church • 717 Elm Street • Cincinnati, OH 45202 covfirstchurch.org • office@covfirstchurch.org • 513-621-4144 Covenant-First Presbyterian Church Our mission is to praise the Father, proclaim the Son and submit to the perfecting power of the Holy Spirit. April 20, 2025 • 10:30 AM Worship
Welcome to Covenant-First Presbyterian Church Whether you attend Covenant-First Presbyterian Church on a regular basis or are here for the first time, we are glad you are here. Covenant-First Presbyterian Church was founded in 1790, and has been a part of downtown Cincinnati ever since. Our almost 2,000 pound tower bell is from the Paul Revere Foundry in Boston, and first rang from the steeple of one of our earliest buildings. This building was completed in 1875, and the Austin Pipe Organ dates to 1915, with its approximately 3,500 pipes. We have traditional worship with Bible-based preaching each week. Our music program is enhanced by our Music Scholar program and we are excited to have them lead in worship most Sundays. If you need help with directions to restrooms, the fellowship hall, or to the lower level nursery, the person who greeted you this morning will be glad to help you. Children and worship We delight in children, and your children are always welcome to stay with you in worship. However, if you would prefer nursery care for your infants and toddlers, we do have a professionally staffed nursery in the lower level. We invite children ages 2 years to 5 years to participate in Junior Church. If your child wants to participate in Junior Church, you may escort them to the lower level during the singing of the Doxology. You may then pick your child up following the service from the downstairs classrooms. Parking Validated parking is available in the adjacent garage for all worship services. Please pick up a validation stick-er and apply the sticker to your parking ticket to use for validation. Then simply scan your ticket with the sticker at the parking gate on your way out of the garage. If you are unsure how to obtain your parking stick-er, any greeter or our security personnel will be happy to assist you. Fellowship Time After worship, we invite you to gather with us in Metzger Hall for a reception featuring coffee, treats, and encouraging conversation. Many of us travel from a distance to join together in worship on Sunday morn-ings, and we find this weekly fellowship time to be a valuable and enriching time for us to catch up and meet new people. Please join us! About us If you are interested in learning more about Covenant-First Presbyterian Church, see your morning greeter, help yourself to any of the literature located on the back tables, contact the church office at 513-621-4144, or visit our website at covfirstchurch.org.
Pre-Service Music Easter Joy Elmer Samuel Hosmer Christie Lee, Organ Scholar Concerns of the Congregation Call to Worship Sonja Vernon One: Come, beloved of the risen Christ! Here in the resurrection garden, the veil is lifted—he calls us by name. Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh and risen Lord, has descended into our darkness and risen to unite earth with heaven. Let us worship not a memory but the living one, whose victory over death is the self-revealing act of God’s redeeming love. He has made himself known—personal, present, and powerful. Come, worship the risen King, who lives and reigns eternally! Prelude Improvisation on Easter Hymn Andrew Hackett, Organist Ringing of the Revere Tower Bell Let the ringing of the bell call our attention away from ourselves and onto the living Triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. *Hymn #163 Christ the Lord is Risen Today *Invocation Sonja Vernon One: Living God, in the risen Christ, you have shattered death and spoken our names with divine intimacy. As Mary turned and knew her Lord, turn our hearts to behold your glory. May we encounter not a mere echo but the living Word—present in power. Draw us into communion with the one who reconciles all things in himself. Amen. *Prayer of Confession Rev. Dan Turis All: Lord Jesus Christ, you rose in power, yet we linger among the tombs, blind to your living presence. You speak our names with redeeming grace, yet we cling to lesser hopes, treating resurrection as metaphor, not reality. Forgive our dull hearts and anxious minds. Lift the veil from our eyes that we might behold you— the incarnate word who has triumphed over death. In your mercy, draw us out of the shadows and into communion with you, our risen Lord, our brother, our God. Restore in us the joy of your resurrection, and make us bearers of your reconciling love. Amen. *Moments of Silent Confession Service for the Lord’s Day
*Assurance of Pardon One: Hear the good news: The risen Christ has spoken your name. In him, the silence of the grave is broken, and the alienation of sin is overcome. This is no myth, no projection of longing, but the concrete act of God entering our history, reconciling us to himself in Jesus Christ. He lives—not in abstraction, but in real, risen humanity—and in him, you are forgiven, renewed, and embraced. As Mary met the living Lord, so too are you summoned to new life. In Christ, the old has gone; the new has come. Live, then, as those who belong not to death but to the risen one, our Emmanuel, and everlasting peace. Amen. *Gloria Patri #575 Glory Be to the Father Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, Amen. *Anthem Crown Him Lord of All Covenant Choir and Congregation (remain standing) Congregation will join on vs. 3, see pg. 7. Prayers of the People Lord’s Prayer All: Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be 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 debts, as we forgive our debtors; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever. Amen. Call for the Offering (If you would like to give online see the back of the bulletin.) Offertory Crown Him Lord this Easter Day Don Besig Covenant Choir The tomb is empty; he is not there! The stone is rolled away. Let all of God’s people rejoice and be glad for our Savior is risen today! Behold the promise: He is alive! The chains of death are gone. Let all of God’s people proclaim the good news and unite in a jubilant song. Sing “alleluia, alleluia!” Loudly our voices raise. Sing “alleluia, alleluia, alleluia! Crown him Lord!” Give him glory and praise. Crown him the Lord of Life who triumphs o’er the grave, and lives victorious in the strife for those he came to save. Let all creation sing of him who sets us free, let all declare him King of kings for all eternity! The sun is rising; darkness has flown! The earth is now reborn: and all of God’s people can walk in the light of a new and a glorious morn. Sing “alleluia, alleluia!” Loudly our voices raise. Sing “alleluia, alleluia, alleluia! Crown him Lord!” Give him glory and praise. Praise the Lord this Easter Day.
*Doxology #572 Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow At this time all children are invited to go to Children’s Church Praise God from whom all blessings flow; praise him, all creatures here below; Praise Him above, ye heav’nly host; praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen. *Prayer of Dedication *Hymn #161 The Strife is O’er, the Battle Done Scripture Lesson John 20:11-18 Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. 13 They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. 15 He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”). 17 Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ” 18 Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her. One: This is God’s Word for God’s people. All: Thanks be to God. Sermon He Spoke My Name: The Personal Word of Resurrection Rev. Dan Turis *Hymn #141 Lift High the Cross *Benediction Postlude Toccata, from Symphonie 5 Ch. M. Widor Andrew Hackett, Organist *Those who are able, please stand. Welcome to Easter Sunday worship! If you are visiting today, we especially welcome you to this vibrant, growing, historic church, and are happy you have joined us on this special Sunday. If you have questions about our church, need help finding a restroom, need a parking validation sticker, or would like directions to Metzger Hall for Fellowship Time, ask any of the greeters who welcomed you this morning at the entry doors.
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7 All hail the pow’r of Jesus’ name! Let angels prostrate fall, bring forth the royal diadem; and crown him Lord of all! Ye chosen seed of Israel’s race ye ransomed from the fall, hail him who saves you by his grace and crown him, Lord of all! Congregation joins on vs. 3 above.
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