April 19, 2026
Liturgy
April Monthly Mission
Dear friends at St. Paul’s,
I will share the two most recent changes at Crossfire. When the food stamps shut down, our growth at Crossfire grew, averaging 30 new families daily. It became apparent that we must look for a solution to be able to keep up with the growing needs. Our parking lot was always overfilled, with people riding around trying to find a place to park, even though our volunteers park off site, and take a shuttle.
We explored various options, such as opening a second grocery pantry in another part of town. We tried to work something out with District 20 but discovered that they did not want to partner with us because we are faith based. When that deal collapsed, we asked God to show us what to do. It was two days later that we saw the old Family Dollar Store, only a mile east on Austin Bluffs, had gone on the market for sale, way below the market value. If we moved the clothing and thrift store items out of our current building, it would not only free up parking spots but would also enlarge our current space for groceries and our growing educational needs. We purchased that building and after doing the needed permits, stocking and setting up, we are scheduled to open it up on March 21. Our hours there will be Tuesday through Saturdays from 10:00 to 4:00. We hope to keep the missional emphasis there in various ways. The proceeds will help offset the $30,000 per month food purchases that we are currently making. It has a prayer center. We are trying to keep the prices affordable. We hope to reach out with educational craft demonstrations. Guests facing tragedy situations may apply for help for their clothing and household needs. And it is very different that your average thrift store, come and see.
The second big change is our educational outreach. We are currently offering these educational programs with several classes in each series—Super Saver Saturday Frugal Living Series, Putting your Best Foot Forward Series for Career Development, Cooking Series for Frugal and Nutritional Living, Financial Management Series, and Sewing Workshops. We offer sampling with recipes on Wednesdays to show our guests ways to use the food resources available and we do a written outreach Thrifty Tips for Trying Times. We will eventually be able to use the old thrift store area for our increased class size.
Blessings to you all and thank you again for your prayers and support.
Leslie Miller, Co-Founder
Crossfire Ministries
Dear friends at St. Paul’s,
I will share the two most recent changes at Crossfire. When the food stamps shut down, our growth at Crossfire grew, averaging 30 new families daily. It became apparent that we must look for a solution to be able to keep up with the growing needs. Our parking lot was always overfilled, with people riding around trying to find a place to park, even though our volunteers park off site, and take a shuttle.
We explored various options, such as opening a second grocery pantry in another part of town. We tried to work something out with District 20 but discovered that they did not want to partner with us because we are faith based. When that deal collapsed, we asked God to show us what to do. It was two days later that we saw the old Family Dollar Store, only a mile east on Austin Bluffs, had gone on the market for sale, way below the market value. If we moved the clothing and thrift store items out of our current building, it would not only free up parking spots but would also enlarge our current space for groceries and our growing educational needs. We purchased that building and after doing the needed permits, stocking and setting up, we are scheduled to open it up on March 21. Our hours there will be Tuesday through Saturdays from 10:00 to 4:00. We hope to keep the missional emphasis there in various ways. The proceeds will help offset the $30,000 per month food purchases that we are currently making. It has a prayer center. We are trying to keep the prices affordable. We hope to reach out with educational craft demonstrations. Guests facing tragedy situations may apply for help for their clothing and household needs. And it is very different that your average thrift store, come and see.
The second big change is our educational outreach. We are currently offering these educational programs with several classes in each series—Super Saver Saturday Frugal Living Series, Putting your Best Foot Forward Series for Career Development, Cooking Series for Frugal and Nutritional Living, Financial Management Series, and Sewing Workshops. We offer sampling with recipes on Wednesdays to show our guests ways to use the food resources available and we do a written outreach Thrifty Tips for Trying Times. We will eventually be able to use the old thrift store area for our increased class size.
Blessings to you all and thank you again for your prayers and support.
Leslie Miller, Co-Founder
Crossfire Ministries
Gathering
Resurrection Story: Released
Third Week of Easter
?️ Gathering at the Gate ?️
Prelude
Lynn Maloy
Welcome
Rev. David Petty
Introit
Exultation
Matthew Compton
Jubilee Bells
The Collective Story of Resurrection
Threshold Moment
Rev. David Petty
Rev. David Petty: In 12-step recovery programs, the first step is admitting powerlessness over anything that threatens to destroy our connection to our Higher Power, to ourselves, and to others. This week, we consider the variety of ways addiction occurs in our lives. We will celebrate the Good News that we can refocus our lives onto things that lead us to life and connection to the Holy.
Rise up in us and we will rise
From death into a newfound life:
From bondage freed, from harm released,
From illness healed, as one in peace.
When all is lost our hearts are warmed,
Our hope restored, our lives transformed.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
David: They trembled in fear behind locked doors as the sun set on that first Easter…
Darlene: We often do not perceive the most transformative possibilities of our lives
because we are afraid — of change, of loss, afraid even of healing.
David: Jesus broke through the barrier of their hiding place and stood among them…
Darlene: Even when we long for our burdens to be lifted, we become so accustomed to carrying them we cannot imagine being released from them.
David: Jesus greeted them with the words: “Peace be with you.”
Darlene: We sometimes find it difficult to embrace peace when our lives are in upheaval, when our hearts grieve, when our world aches.
David: Knowing what they needed, Jesus extended his pierced palms and his stabbed side…
Darlene: What evidence do we require to believe our lives can experience resurrection from a power higher than our own? What helps us trust and believe?
David: They rejoiced as they recognized their friend, their leader, their Solace and Redeemer…
Darlene: When we search for help and hope, do we rejoice when we see the first possibility of transformation? Do we rejoice along the way to healing?
David: Again, Jesus offered his peace and said, as he was sent by God, he now sends them…
Darlene: Even in the midst of our own turmoil, can we find the courage to go where we are sent for healing for ourselves and to go where others are in need of our witness?
David: Jesus breathed on them and said: “Receive the Holy Spirit.”
Darlene: The gift of Holy Spirit power is always with us and within us to lead and guide and sometimes cajole and awaken us to all the possibilities for renewed life.
David: Jesus assured them: Forgive the sins of anyone, and they are forgiven,
retain the sins of any and they are retained.
All: We see in the example of Christ how to forgive others and how to release our own woundedness. We open ourselves to the freedom, release, and peace that comes through forgiveness. We forgive ourselves and we forgive others.
David: This is a Word of Hope for the people who long for it.
All: Thanks be to the Living Word.
– based on John 20:19-23
Hymn
We Walk by Faith and Not By Sight
TFWS #2196
WORDS: Henry Alford, alt. (Mark 9:24; John 20:27-29)
MUSIC: Hugh Wilson
1. We walk by faith,
and not by sight:
No gracious words we hear
of him who spoke
as none e’er spoke,
but we believe him near.
2. We may not touch
his hands and side,
nor follow where he trod;
yet in his promise
we rejoice,
and cry,
“My Lord and God!”
3. Help then, O Lord,
our unbelief,
and may our faith abound;
to call on you
when you are near,
and seek where
you are found:
4. That when our life
of faith is done
in realms of clearer light
we may behold you
as you are
in full and endless sight.
5. We walk by faith,
and not by sight:
No gracious words we hear
of him who spoke
as none e’er spoke,
but we believe him near.
Announcements/ The Key to Peace
Mystery Box
Third Week of Easter
?️ Gathering at the Gate ?️
Prelude
Lynn Maloy
Welcome
Rev. David Petty
Introit
Exultation
Matthew Compton
Jubilee Bells
The Collective Story of Resurrection
Threshold Moment
Rev. David Petty
Rev. David Petty: In 12-step recovery programs, the first step is admitting powerlessness over anything that threatens to destroy our connection to our Higher Power, to ourselves, and to others. This week, we consider the variety of ways addiction occurs in our lives. We will celebrate the Good News that we can refocus our lives onto things that lead us to life and connection to the Holy.
Rise up in us and we will rise
From death into a newfound life:
From bondage freed, from harm released,
From illness healed, as one in peace.
When all is lost our hearts are warmed,
Our hope restored, our lives transformed.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
David: They trembled in fear behind locked doors as the sun set on that first Easter…
Darlene: We often do not perceive the most transformative possibilities of our lives
because we are afraid — of change, of loss, afraid even of healing.
David: Jesus broke through the barrier of their hiding place and stood among them…
Darlene: Even when we long for our burdens to be lifted, we become so accustomed to carrying them we cannot imagine being released from them.
David: Jesus greeted them with the words: “Peace be with you.”
Darlene: We sometimes find it difficult to embrace peace when our lives are in upheaval, when our hearts grieve, when our world aches.
David: Knowing what they needed, Jesus extended his pierced palms and his stabbed side…
Darlene: What evidence do we require to believe our lives can experience resurrection from a power higher than our own? What helps us trust and believe?
David: They rejoiced as they recognized their friend, their leader, their Solace and Redeemer…
Darlene: When we search for help and hope, do we rejoice when we see the first possibility of transformation? Do we rejoice along the way to healing?
David: Again, Jesus offered his peace and said, as he was sent by God, he now sends them…
Darlene: Even in the midst of our own turmoil, can we find the courage to go where we are sent for healing for ourselves and to go where others are in need of our witness?
David: Jesus breathed on them and said: “Receive the Holy Spirit.”
Darlene: The gift of Holy Spirit power is always with us and within us to lead and guide and sometimes cajole and awaken us to all the possibilities for renewed life.
David: Jesus assured them: Forgive the sins of anyone, and they are forgiven,
retain the sins of any and they are retained.
All: We see in the example of Christ how to forgive others and how to release our own woundedness. We open ourselves to the freedom, release, and peace that comes through forgiveness. We forgive ourselves and we forgive others.
David: This is a Word of Hope for the people who long for it.
All: Thanks be to the Living Word.
– based on John 20:19-23
Hymn
We Walk by Faith and Not By Sight
TFWS #2196
WORDS: Henry Alford, alt. (Mark 9:24; John 20:27-29)
MUSIC: Hugh Wilson
1. We walk by faith,
and not by sight:
No gracious words we hear
of him who spoke
as none e’er spoke,
but we believe him near.
2. We may not touch
his hands and side,
nor follow where he trod;
yet in his promise
we rejoice,
and cry,
“My Lord and God!”
3. Help then, O Lord,
our unbelief,
and may our faith abound;
to call on you
when you are near,
and seek where
you are found:
4. That when our life
of faith is done
in realms of clearer light
we may behold you
as you are
in full and endless sight.
5. We walk by faith,
and not by sight:
No gracious words we hear
of him who spoke
as none e’er spoke,
but we believe him near.
Announcements/ The Key to Peace
Mystery Box
Proclaiming
?️ Proclaiming Release ?️
Notes on Release
Darlene Woods
I lift up my eyes to the hills—
from where will my help come?
My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
God will not let your foot be moved;
God who keeps you will not slumber.
God who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
The Lord is your keeper;
the Lord is your shade at your right hand.
The sun shall not strike you by day
nor the moon by night.
The Lord will keep you from all evil;
God will keep your life.
The Lord will keep
your going out and your coming in
from this time on and forevermore.
– Psalm 121
A Story of Release: God Leads the Israelites to New Life
Nehemiah 9: 9-15
Darlene Woods
“And you saw the distress of our ancestors in Egypt and heard their cry at the Red Sea. You performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh and all his servants and all the people of his land, for you knew that they acted insolently against our ancestors. You made a name for yourself that remains to this day. And you divided the sea before them, so that they passed through the sea on dry land, but you threw their pursuers into the depths like a stone into mighty waters. Moreover, you led them by day with a pillar of cloud and by night with a pillar of fire, to give them light on the way in which they should go. You came down also upon Mount Sinai and spoke with them from heaven and gave them right ordinances and true laws, good statutes and commandments, and you made known your holy Sabbath to them and gave them commandments and statutes and a law through Moses your servant. For their hunger you gave them bread from heaven, and for their thirst you brought water for them out of the rock, and you told them to go in to possess the land that you swore to give them.
Testimony to Release
Released
Rev. David Petty
?️ Responding to Release ?️
Prayers of the People
Rev. David Petty
Silent Prayer
Lord’s Prayer
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 trespasses,
as we forgive those
who trespass against us.
Lead us not
into temptation
but deliver us
from evil.
For Thine is the Kingdom,
and the Power
and the Glory forever.
Amen
Notes on Release
Darlene Woods
I lift up my eyes to the hills—
from where will my help come?
My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
God will not let your foot be moved;
God who keeps you will not slumber.
God who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
The Lord is your keeper;
the Lord is your shade at your right hand.
The sun shall not strike you by day
nor the moon by night.
The Lord will keep you from all evil;
God will keep your life.
The Lord will keep
your going out and your coming in
from this time on and forevermore.
– Psalm 121
A Story of Release: God Leads the Israelites to New Life
Nehemiah 9: 9-15
Darlene Woods
“And you saw the distress of our ancestors in Egypt and heard their cry at the Red Sea. You performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh and all his servants and all the people of his land, for you knew that they acted insolently against our ancestors. You made a name for yourself that remains to this day. And you divided the sea before them, so that they passed through the sea on dry land, but you threw their pursuers into the depths like a stone into mighty waters. Moreover, you led them by day with a pillar of cloud and by night with a pillar of fire, to give them light on the way in which they should go. You came down also upon Mount Sinai and spoke with them from heaven and gave them right ordinances and true laws, good statutes and commandments, and you made known your holy Sabbath to them and gave them commandments and statutes and a law through Moses your servant. For their hunger you gave them bread from heaven, and for their thirst you brought water for them out of the rock, and you told them to go in to possess the land that you swore to give them.
Testimony to Release
Released
Rev. David Petty
?️ Responding to Release ?️
Prayers of the People
Rev. David Petty
Silent Prayer
Lord’s Prayer
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 trespasses,
as we forgive those
who trespass against us.
Lead us not
into temptation
but deliver us
from evil.
For Thine is the Kingdom,
and the Power
and the Glory forever.
Amen
Offertory
?️ Opportunities to Live Resurrected?️
Invitation to Offering
Darlene Woods
Offertory
Because He Lives
William Gaither
Sanctuary Choir
Doxology
Praise God from Whom All Blessing Flow
UMH #94
Praise God, from whom
all blessings flow;
Praise God, all creatures
here below: Alleluia! Alleluia!
Praise God, the source
of all our gifts!
Praise Jesus Christ,
whose power uplifts!
Praise the Spirit,
Holy Spirit!
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Alleluia!
Invitation to Offering
Darlene Woods
Offertory
Because He Lives
William Gaither
Sanctuary Choir
Doxology
Praise God from Whom All Blessing Flow
UMH #94
Praise God, from whom
all blessings flow;
Praise God, all creatures
here below: Alleluia! Alleluia!
Praise God, the source
of all our gifts!
Praise Jesus Christ,
whose power uplifts!
Praise the Spirit,
Holy Spirit!
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Alleluia!
Sending
?️ Unlocking Release ?️
Hymn
Blessed Assurance
UMH #369
WORDS: Fanny J. Crosby, 1873
1. Blessed assurance,
Jesus is mine!
O what a foretaste
of glory divine!
Heir of salvation,
purchase of God,
born of his Spirit,
washed in his blood.
Refrain
This is my story,
this is my song,
praising my Savior
all the day long;
this is my story,
this is my song,
praising my Savior
all the day long.
2. Perfect submission,
perfect delight,
visions of rapture
now burst on my sight;
angels descending
bring from above
echoes of mercy,
whispers of love.
Refrain
This is my story,
this is my song,
praising my Savior
all the day long;
this is my story,
this is my song,
praising my Savior
all the day long.
3. Perfect submission,
all is at rest;
I in my Savior
am happy and blest,
watching and waiting,
looking above,
filled with his goodness,
lost in his love.
Refrain
This is my story,
this is my song,
praising my Savior
all the day long;
this is my story,
this is my song,
praising my Savior
all the day long.
Choral Benediction
Rise up in us and we will rise
From death into a newfound life:
From bondage freed, from harm released,
From illness healed, as one in peace.
When all is lost our hearts are warmed,
Our hope restored, our lives transformed.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
Benediction
Whatever binds you, whatever locks you up and makes you feel powerless,
whatever gets in the way of you living life with vitality, integrity, and joy,
can be wiped clean…
… for we believe our stories can be rewritten each and every day.
We know it isn’t this easy or quick, but let this be a vision of your life resurrected.
And now, may you go into the world,
finding release in all the ways you discover you can,
for yourself, for others, for the world.
And may the God who created you as an unbound soul,
the Christ who showed you what letting go looks like,
and the Spirit who is transforming your life even now,
be with you now and evermore.
Amen.
Postlude
Lynn Maloy
Hymn
Blessed Assurance
UMH #369
WORDS: Fanny J. Crosby, 1873
1. Blessed assurance,
Jesus is mine!
O what a foretaste
of glory divine!
Heir of salvation,
purchase of God,
born of his Spirit,
washed in his blood.
Refrain
This is my story,
this is my song,
praising my Savior
all the day long;
this is my story,
this is my song,
praising my Savior
all the day long.
2. Perfect submission,
perfect delight,
visions of rapture
now burst on my sight;
angels descending
bring from above
echoes of mercy,
whispers of love.
Refrain
This is my story,
this is my song,
praising my Savior
all the day long;
this is my story,
this is my song,
praising my Savior
all the day long.
3. Perfect submission,
all is at rest;
I in my Savior
am happy and blest,
watching and waiting,
looking above,
filled with his goodness,
lost in his love.
Refrain
This is my story,
this is my song,
praising my Savior
all the day long;
this is my story,
this is my song,
praising my Savior
all the day long.
Choral Benediction
Rise up in us and we will rise
From death into a newfound life:
From bondage freed, from harm released,
From illness healed, as one in peace.
When all is lost our hearts are warmed,
Our hope restored, our lives transformed.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
Benediction
Whatever binds you, whatever locks you up and makes you feel powerless,
whatever gets in the way of you living life with vitality, integrity, and joy,
can be wiped clean…
… for we believe our stories can be rewritten each and every day.
We know it isn’t this easy or quick, but let this be a vision of your life resurrected.
And now, may you go into the world,
finding release in all the ways you discover you can,
for yourself, for others, for the world.
And may the God who created you as an unbound soul,
the Christ who showed you what letting go looks like,
and the Spirit who is transforming your life even now,
be with you now and evermore.
Amen.
Postlude
Lynn Maloy
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