Easter Praise

The Easter Candle is lit.

May the light of Christ, rising in glory,

banish all darkness from our hearts and minds.

The minister carrying the Candle raises it and says

The light of Christ.

All   Thanks be to God.

Alleluia. Christ is risen.

All He is risen indeed. Alleluia.

Hymn: Christ the Lord is Risen today

God of glory,

by the raising of your Son

you have broken the chains of death and hell:

fill your Church with faith and hope;

for a new day has dawned

and the way to life stands open

in our Saviour Jesus Christ.

All   Amen.

As we remember again the hope and life of the resurrection we remember that the your first follows came to it from a place of despair, sorrow and confusion. This morning as we celebrate Easter once again in a time of pandemic where we may feel despair, sorrow and confusion. We lay at the foot of the cross our own despair, pain, sorrow. We take a moment to call to mind and say sorry for the times we don’t trust in the hope of God and share God’s love with all whom we encounter.

As we turn our focus to the empty tomb we know that this is the day when our Lord Jesus Christ passed from death to life.

Throughout the world Christians celebrate the awesome power of God.

As we hear his word and proclaim all that God has done,

we can be confident that we are forgiven, that we shall share his victory over death and live with him for ever.

Bible Reading: John 20 1- 18

20 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, ‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!’

3 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the cloth that had been wrapped round Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. 8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9 (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) 10 Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.

11 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 round and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realise 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 towards 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.

This is the word of the Lord.

All   Thanks be to God.

Sermon

Declaring Our Faith

Remember the God that we worship, the God of yesterday and today, the beginning and the end.

Brothers and sisters, I ask you to profess the faith of the Church.

Do you believe and trust in God the Father?

All   I believe in God, the Father almighty,

creator of heaven and earth.

Do you believe and trust in his Son Jesus Christ?

All   I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,

who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,

born of the Virgin Mary,

suffered under Pontius Pilate,

was crucified, died, and was buried;

he descended to the dead.

On the third day he rose again;

he ascended into heaven,

he is seated at the right hand of the Father,

and he will come to judge the living and the dead.

Do you believe and trust in the Holy Spirit?

All   I believe in the Holy Spirit,

the holy catholic Church,

the communion of saints,

the forgiveness of sins,

the resurrection of the body,

and the life everlasting.

Amen.

Prayers of Intercession

The Liturgy of Communion

The risen Christ came and stood among his disciples and said, ‘Peace be with you.’

Then were they glad when they saw the Lord. Alleluia.

Alleluia.

The peace of the Lord be always with you

All   and also with you.

Let us offer one another a sign of peace.

The Lord is here.

His Spirit is with us.

Lift up your hearts.

All   We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

All   It is right to give thanks and praise.

Almighty God, good Father to us all,

your face is turned towards your world.

In love you gave us Jesus your Son

to rescue us from sin and death.

Your Word goes out to call us home

to the city where angels sing your praise.

We join with them in heaven’s song:

All   Holy, holy, holy Lord,

God of power and might,

heaven and earth are full of your glory.

Hosanna in the highest.

Father of all, we give you thanks for every gift that comes from heaven.

To the darkness Jesus came as your light.

With signs of faith and words of hope

he touched untouchables with love and washed the guilty clean.

This is his story.

All   This is our song:

Hosanna in the highest.

The crowds came out to see your Son,

yet at the end they turned on him.

On the night he was betrayed

he came to table with his friends

to celebrate the freedom of your people.

This is his story.

All   This is our song:

Hosanna in the highest.

Jesus blessed you, Father, for the food;

he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and said:

This is my body, given for you all.

Jesus then gave thanks for the wine;

he took the cup, gave it and said:

This is my blood, shed for you all

for the forgiveness of sins.

Do this in remembrance of me.

This is our story.

All   This is our song:

Hosanna in the highest.

Therefore, Father, with this bread and this cup

we celebrate the cross

on which he died to set us free.

Defying death he rose again

and is alive with you to plead for us and all the world.

This is our story.

All   This is our song:

Hosanna in the highest.

Send your Spirit on us now

that by these gifts we may feed on Christ

with opened eyes and hearts on fire.

May we and all who share this food

offer ourselves to live for you

and be welcomed at your feast in heaven

where all creation worships you,

Father, Son and Holy Spirit:

All   Blessing and honour and glory and power

be yours for ever and ever.

Amen.

Rejoicing in God’s new creation,

as our Saviour taught us, so we pray

All   Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins

as we forgive those who sin against us.

Lead us not into temptation

but deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power,

and the glory are yours

now and for ever.

Amen.

We break this bread

to share in the body of Christ.

All   Though we are many, we are one body,

because we all share in one bread.

Draw near with faith.

Receive the body of our Lord Jesus Christ

which he gave for you,

and his blood which he shed for you.

Eat and drink in remembrance that he died for you,

and feed on him in your hearts

by faith with thanksgiving.

Prayer After Communion

All   Father of all,

we give you thanks and praise,

that when we were still far off

you met us in your Son and brought us home.

Dying and living, he declared your love,

gave us grace, and opened the gate of glory.

May we who share Christ’s body live his risen life;

we who drink his cup bring life to others;

we whom the Spirit lights give light to the world.

Keep us firm in the hope you have set before us,

so we and all your children shall be free,

and the whole earth live to praise your name;

through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Hymn: Thine be the Glory

Sending Out into God’s world

Alleluia. Christ is risen.

All   He is risen indeed. Alleluia.

The blessing of God almighty,

the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,

be among us and remain with us always.

All   Amen.

With the risen life of Christ within you,

go in the peace of Christ. Alleluia, alleluia.

All   Thanks be to God. Alleluia, alleluia.