Worship at Hand – Easter 5 | 18 May 2025

Worship at Hand

Complete Lectionary-Based Worship Services for Sundays in the Church Year

By Philip Garside

Easter 5 | 18 May 2025

About this week's material

Today we hear two powerful readings – from Acts 11:1–18 , where Peter explains his bold welcome of outsiders, and from Revelation 21:1–6, which offers a vision of God’s home among us.

Our theme is Spirit-led change – how God’s grace disrupts our expectations and invites us to welcome the unfamiliar with courage and hope.

May we open our hearts to where the Spirit is already moving in our lives and in our church.

About Worship at Hand

You can purchase packages for individual Sundays or for a whole month.

(Click here to purchase Worship at Hand for the Whole of May 2025)

Use these flexible, all-in-one service scripts to:

• Prepare thoughtful, spiritually grounded worship with minimal stress
• Engage congregations with inclusive, poetic language
• Follow the Revised Common Lectionary with confidence and creativity
• Offer well-structured, theologically liberal worship experiences
• Save time with ready-made sermons, prayers, and children’s talks
• Inspire participation with interactive and multi-age elements.
  

Features

A weekly worship resource based on the Revised Common Lectionary readings that comprises:

• A complete liturgy
• A 1000-word sermon included for each service
• 10 engaging “Introducing the Theme / Story Time” ideas
• 20 hymn suggestions from NZ Hymnbook Trust music books and other trusted sources
• A royalty free image illustrating the theme to use on the cover of the Order of Service, PowerPoint slides etc.

Material for each week comprises a zipped file containing:

• The Leader’s A4 version of the Order of Service (includes the liturgy, sermon, hymn suggestions and Introducing the Theme / Story Time ideas), in Word and PDF formats
• A draft A5 Congregation version of the Order of Service, ready for you to add hymn and Bible reading texts, in Word and PDF formats
• A .jpg format image
  

You will be emailed a link to download the zipped file when you complete your purchase.

Philip Garside Publishing Ltd (2025)

Description

Worship at Hand is your weekly solution for creating meaningful, high-quality church services that are theologically grounded and easy to lead. Designed for clergy, lay preachers, and worship leaders in Aotearoa New Zealand and beyond, each downloadable service in this growing collection includes everything you need to lead a complete Sunday gathering.

Each service is based on the Revised Common Lectionary.

Liturgies are responsive, reflective, and action-oriented – inviting congregations to participate deeply in the rhythm of worship. 

Whether you’re preaching every week or leading occasionally, Worship at Hand gives you everything in one place. Just open, read, and adapt as needed. Services are created with beauty, care, and a deep love for the church’s task of telling the Good News.

These services are crafted with pastoral insight, theological depth, and liturgical artistry. Use them as supplied or adapt to suit your context – each service includes permission for use with attribution.

While you can present them as is, we suggest that you personalise the sermons provided by adding your own stories and messages relevant to your congregation and local community.

About the Author

Philip Garside is a Methodist lay preacher, worship leader, publisher, and singer / musician based in Aotearoa New Zealand. With over 15 years of experience leading creative, multimedia services, he brings a special blend of theological depth, pastoral sensitivity, and liturgical imagination to his work. Through Philip Garside Publishing Ltd / Philip Garside Books, he equips worship leaders with tools to inspire thoughtful, inclusive, and engaging worship grounded in the life of the Spirit and the call to justice.

Contents

Each downloadable service includes:

Opening Section

• Welcome & Introduction
• Call to Worship (responsive)
• Lighting the Candle
• Opening Prayer
• Hymn #1 [You provide the hymn text]
  

Exploring the Theme

• Prayer of Approach (responsive)
• Words of Assurance
• 10 Children’s Talk / Story Time ideas
• Hymn #2 [You provide the hymn text]
• Bible Readings (RCL-based) [You provide the Bible text(s)]
• 1000-word Sermon
• Hymn #3 [You provide the hymn text]

Community Time

• Sharing the Peace
• Notices
• Sharing Joys and Concerns
• Prayers of Intercession (responsive)
• The Lord’s Prayer in te reo Māori
• Offering Invitation and Blessing
• Hymn #4 [You provide the hymn text]

Closing

• Benediction / Sending Forth
• The Grace in te reo Māori