Bulletin – Sunday, April 9, 2023 – Easter Sunday

Sunday, April 9, 2023
Easter Sunday

Approach

Lighting the Candles

The light which the world tried to extinguish cannot be put out. Today we light the candles again, proclaiming the transforming power of God. As the light returns, we give thanks that God’s transforming love has been, is now, and will ever be at work within us. Today we celebrate: new life, new joy, new possibilities. Christ is alive and living among us!

As we light the candles, we acknowledge that there is still pain and suffering in the world, but we place our trust in God and in the way shown by Jesus Christ. In the midst of darkness, there is light. In the face of what appear to us to be overwhelming odds, God is a work in us and in the world, working for justice and peace, compassion and love, and life abundant. Christ is risen; Christ is risen in us, for wherever we gather in his name, he is there.

Call to Worship

One:   Christ is risen!
All:      His is risen indeed!

One:   Christ is risen!
All:      His is risen indeed!

One:   Christ is risen!
All:      His is risen indeed!

One:   Hallelujah!
All:      Hallelujah, Christ is risen; Christ is risen indeed!

Prayer

God of grace and power, we have longed and prepared for this joyous day: on Ash Wednesday we humbled ourselves before you, on Good Friday we cried at the foot of the cross, and on this Blessed Sunday we rejoice in the risen power of love, hope, and new life. Make this rising real in our own lives. Let us be people of love, hope, and new life. Let us be people of joy. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Response – “Halle, Halle, Halle”

Halle, halle, hallelujah!
Halle, halle, hallelujah!
Halle, halle, hallelujah!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

Prayer Confession

God of grace, despair, pain, and fear are part of life; sometimes we let them guide us. Sometimes we let them hold us back from living your way, and we lose sight of your strong love. Help us be a brave and holy people, living beyond fear. Teach us to trust in your steadfast love.

Words of Assurance

Hymn – “Jesus Christ is Risen Today”

Jesus Christ is risen today, hallelujah!
Our triumphant holy day, hallelujah!
Who did once upon the cross, hallelujah!
Suffer to redeem our loss. Hallelujah!

Hymns of praise then let us sing, hallelujah!
Unto Christ, our heavenly King, hallelujah!
Who endured the cross and grave, hallelujah!
Sinners to redeem and save. Hallelujah!

Sing we to our God above, hallelujah!
Praise eternal as God’s love, hallelujah!
Praise our God, ye heavenly host, hallelujah!
Praise the Son and Holy Ghost. Hallelujah!

Time for All Ages

Hymn – “Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Give Thanks”

Hallelujah, hallelujah. Give thanks to the risen Christ.
Hallelujah, hallelujah. Give praise to God’s name.
Jesus is Lord of all the earth,
Firstborn of all creation.

Hallelujah, hallelujah. Give thanks to the risen Christ.
Hallelujah, hallelujah. Give praise to God’s name.
Spread the good news o’er all the earth:
Jesus has died and is risen.

Hallelujah, hallelujah. Give thanks to the risen Christ.
Hallelujah, hallelujah. Give praise to God’s name.
We have been crucified with Christ,
Now we shall live forever.

Hallelujah, hallelujah. Give thanks to the risen Christ.
Hallelujah, hallelujah. Give praise to God’s name.
Come let us praise the living God,
Joyfully sing to our Saviour.

Hallelujah, hallelujah. Give thanks to the risen Christ.
Hallelujah, hallelujah. Give praise to God’s name.

The Word

Scripture Reading:           Jeremiah 31:1-6

¹ At that time, says the LORD, I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people. ² Thus says the LORD: The people who survived the sword found grace in the wilderness; when Israel sought for rest, ³ the LORD appeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you. ⁴ Again I will build you, and you shall be built, O virgin Israel! Again you shall take your tambourines, and go forth in the dance of the merrymakers. ⁵ Again you shall plant vineyards on the mountains of Samaria; the planters shall plant, and shall enjoy the fruit. ⁶ For there shall be a day when sentinels will call in the hill country of Ephraim: “Come, let us go up to Zion, to the LORD our God.”

Scripture Reading:           John 20:1-18

¹ Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. ² So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” ³ Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. ⁴ The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. ⁵ He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. ⁶ Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, ⁷ and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. ⁸ Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; ⁹ for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. ¹⁰ Then the disciples returned to their homes.

¹¹ But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; ¹² and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. ¹³ They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” ¹⁴ When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. ¹⁵ Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” ¹⁶ Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). ¹⁷ Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” ¹⁸ Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.

Hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church.
Thanks be to God!

Anthem – “Sweet the Morning”

Sweet the morning, deep was the dawning, the stone was rolled away.
Angels spoke to tell them the story, the soldiers ran away.
And outside the empty tomb, blessed silence filled the air.
And their hearts were filled with a joy and love to feel the Holy there.

Hallelujah, Christ is risen today. There’s a new light shines within.
Every heart rejoice, lift up every voice. This is resurrection day.
Hallelujah, Christ is risen today. There’s a new light shines within.
Every heart rejoice, lift up every voice. Love has found another way.

Tears had fallen rivers to ocean, they took his life away.
Sorrow sifted deep to the shadows, and broke their hearts again.
Till they heard a voice that called just a whisper on the air,
There is Life for all and the Spirit lives, a gift for all the share.

Hallelujah, Christ is risen today. There’s a new light shines within.
Every heart rejoice, lift up every voice. This is resurrection day.
Hallelujah, Christ is risen today. There’s a new light shines within.
Every heart rejoice, lift up every voice. Love has found another way.

Sweet the morning, deep was the dawning, the stone was rolled away.
Light returning, sun-soaked the morning and washed their tears away.
Holy One, Creator God, You the Healer of our souls,
May You gentle us into faith and hope, to Life renewed once more.

Hallelujah, Christ is risen today. There’s a new light shines within.
Every heart rejoice, lift up every voice. This is resurrection day.
Hallelujah, Christ is risen today. There’s a new light shines within.
Every heart rejoice, lift up every voice. Love has found another way.

Meditation – “Our Burdens Are Not Carried Alone”

Anthem – “Come, People of the Risen King”

Come people of the risen King who delight to bring Him praise.
Come all and tune your hearts to sing to the Morning Star of grace.
From the shifting shadows of the earth we will lift our eyes to Him
Where steady arms of mercy reach to gather children in.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Let every tongue rejoice!
One heart, one voice, O church of Christ, rejoice!

Come those whose joy is morning sun and those weeping through the night.
Come those who tell of battles won and those struggling in the night.
For His perfect love will never change and His mercies never cease,
But follow us through all our days with the certain hope of peace.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Let every tongue rejoice!
One heart, one voice, O church of Christ, rejoice!

Come, young and old from every land, men and women of the faith.
Come, those with full or empty hands, find the riches of His grace,
Over all the world His people sing, shore to shore we hear them call
The truth that cries through every age,
“Our God is all in all!”

Rejoice! Rejoice! Let every tongue rejoice!
One heart, one voice, O church of Christ, rejoice!

Offering / Response

Let trumpets sound and voices sing!
Let all on earth their praises bring!
For Christ has conquered sin and death
And given life eternal breath. Amen.

The Response

Prayers of the People

One:   Christ is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!

One:   Risen Lord, hear our cry for help—for those surrounded by the shroud of death, for those covered by the mantle of dying, for those hemmed-in by illness, visible or veiled, for those we lift up to you this Easter morning…hear our cry for help…for those weighed down with worries, for those carrying the burden of distress for those overwhelmed by isolation hear our cry for help…for those who are weary, for those who are tattered and worn, for those who collapse from exhaustion hear our cry for help…

One:   Risen Lord, hear our cry of thanksgiving—for the graciousness with which you hear for the patience with which you listen, for the grace with which you care hear our cry of thanksgiving…for the ways you accompany us through deep valleys, for the ways you lead us to still meadows, for the ways you provide all we need hear our cry of thanksgiving…for transforming death in resurrection life, for blessing and breaking ordinary bread, for opening our eyes to recognize you hear our cry of thanksgiving…

One:   Risen Lord, hear our cry for communities of faith—that we retain memory of being together, that we embrace unity in the reality of distance, that we foresee a future side-by-side, hand-in-hand hear our cry for communities of faith…that we sense purpose beyond ourselves, that we perceive the needs of creation, that we stretch ourselves to respond hear our cry for communities of faith…that our ways be formed by Your Way, that our lives be shaped by Your Life that our love be Your Love hear our cry for communities our faith…

One:   And hear us as we pray together…

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 trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil; for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.

Hymn – “Because You Live, O Christ”

Because you live, O Christ, the garden of the world has come to flower,
The darkness of the tomb is flooded with your resurrection power.
The stone has rolled away, and death cannot imprison.
O sing this Easter Day, for Jesus Christ has risen,
Has risen, has risen, has risen!

Because you live, O Christ, the spirit bird of hope is freed for flying,
Our cages of despair no longer keep us closed and life-denying.
The stone has rolled away, and death cannot imprison.
O sing this Easter Day, for Jesus Christ has risen,
Has risen, has risen, has risen!

Benediction

Have you ever noticed that it is the space that holds everything we believe it is the gap, the lacuna, the void in which we place everything we fundamentally believe.

In that space the emptiness of tombs lies the fullness of our faith.

And in such spaces we believe.

When the void is found the emptiness of the tomb is met it is then we trust resurrection and that what Jesus said is true we remember what he told us and believe.

It’s kind of obvious that you need an empty tomb for resurrection by you need that emptiness to have a full faith filled with hope and possibility and what might be.

So may we step into this emptiness and believe the life Jesus spoke of might be true, the love he held might be true, the words he spoke might be true because there is only space where death ought to be.

This possibility of life, this resurrection of spirit in every empty space is our new hope go and believe into the void.

(written by Roddy Hamilton)

Response – “Amen, Amen, Hallelujah, Amen!”

Amen, amen, hallelujah, amen!
Amen, amen, hallelujah, amen!