Worship Resources for April 4th
Easter Sunday
Jesus said to her, “Mary!”
She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!”
—John 20:16
Rejoice, all the earth,
in the radiance of the light now poured upon you,
know that the ancient darkness has been forever banished.
—Easter Exsultet (4th c. hymn)
Gathering
Call to Worship
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
He is risen, indeed! Alleluia!
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
He is risen, indeed! Alleluia!
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
He is risen, indeed! Alleluia!
Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might
and honor and glory and blessing!
Amen.
Song
Greeting
May the grace of the risen Christ,
and the love of God,
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
—2 Corinthians 13:14
Prayer of Adoration
Easter Exsultet
Rejoice now, all you heavenly choir of angels;
sound forth, trumpet of salvation,
and proclaim the triumph of our King.
Rejoice, heavenly powers!
Sing, choirs of angels!
Jesus Christ, our King, is risen!
Rejoice too, all the earth,
in the radiance of the light now poured upon you
and made brilliant by the brightness of the everlasting King;
know that the ancient darkness has been forever banished.
Rejoice, heavenly powers!
Sing, choirs of angels!
Jesus Christ, our King, is risen!
Rejoice, O Church of Christ,
clothed in the brightness of this light;
let all this house of God ring out with rejoicing,
with the praises of all God’s faithful people.
Rejoice, heavenly powers!
Sing, choirs of angels!
Jesus Christ, our King, is risen!
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give him thanks and praise.
It is truly right and good, always and everywhere,
with our whole heart and mind and voice to praise you,
the invisible, almighty, and eternal God,
and your only-begotten Son Jesus Christ our Lord;
who paid for us the debt of Adam’s sin,
and by his blood delivered your faithful people;
for he is the true Paschal Lamb, the very Lamb of God,
whose blood marks the doorposts of believers
and makes us holy.
This is the day when you brought our forebears,
the children of Israel, out of bondage in Egypt,
and led them through the Red Sea on dry land.
This is the day when all who believe in Christ
are delivered from the gloom of sin,
and are restored to grace and holiness of life.
This is the day when Christ broke the bonds of death and hell,
and rose victorious from the grave.
How wonderful and beyond our knowing, O God,
is your mercy and loving kindness to us,
that to redeem a slave, you gave a Son.
How holy is this day when wickedness is put to flight,
and sin is washed away.
It restores innocence to the fallen, and joy to those who mourn.
It casts out pride and hatred, and brings peace and concord.
How blessed is this day when earth and heaven are joined,
and humanity is reconciled to God.
Therefore, O holy Father, accept our sacrifice,
the offering of this candle in your honor.
May it mingle with the lights of heaven,
and shine continually to drive away all darkness.
May Christ, the Morning Star who knows no setting,
find it ever burning—he who gives his light to all creation,
and who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.
Song
Alleluia! Jesus is risen!
Trumpets resounding in glorious light!
Splendor, the Lamb, heaven forever!
Oh, what a miracle God has in sight!
Jesus is risen and we shall arise:
give God the glory! Alleluia!
Walking the way, Christ in the center,
telling the story to open our eyes;
breaking our bread, giving us glory:
Jesus, our blessing, our constant surprise.
Jesus is risen and we shall arise:
give God the glory! Alleluia!
Weeping, be gone; sorrow, be silent:
death put asunder, and Easter is bright.
Cherubim sing: “O grave, be open!”
Clothe us in wonder, adorn us in light.
Jesus is risen and we shall arise:
give God the glory! Alleluia!
City of God, Easter forever,
golden Jerusalem, Jesus the Lamb,
river of life, saints, and archangels,
sing with creation to God the I AM!
Jesus is risen and we shall arise:
give God the glory! Alleluia!
Words: Herbert F. Brokering © 1995 Augsburg Fortress
Music: David N. Johnson, 1968 © 1995 Augsburg Fortress
All rights reserved, OneLicense.net 734287-A
Confession & Assurance
Call to Confession 1 Corinthians 15:17
The new creation that bursts forth on Easter morn is as large as the cosmos (“City of God, Easter forever”) and as small as the human heart. Here is what St. Paul writes:
“If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.”
If not for the empty tomb, we would still be under the tyranny of sin.
“But in fact,” Paul continues, “Christ has been raised from the dead.”
And so, because he has, we who are grafted into Christ’s body—into his resurrection—are no longer under the tyranny of sin. It has lost its sting.
How, then, shall we live? What does Easter invite us to do? We come to confess our sin as an act of worship—to put it to death because it was forgiven at the cross and buried in our baptism—and then we receive God’s glorious word of pardon, and we rise out of the baptismal waters to put on the new life of Easter.
Christ is risen. He is risen, indeed.
So come, let us confess our sin to our risen Savior.
Prayer of Confession
Gracious Father,
you sent your son to die and rise to new life
in order that death might be brought to an end
and that we might live a new life in him.
Yet we confess that we too often have chosen
to remain captive to doubt and fear
and ways that lead to death.
By our thoughts, words, and actions,
we have scorned your love,
diminished the lives of others,
and defaced your image in us.
Father, forgive us for Jesus’ sake,
and enable us by His resurrection power
to live no longer for ourselves
but for Him who died and rose again for us.
Amen.
Assurance of Pardon Romans 8:38-39
But, in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead.
So I am convinced that neither death nor life,
neither angels nor demons,
neither the present nor the future,
nor any powers,
neither height nor depth,
nor anything else in all creation,
will be able to separate us from the love of God
that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The Peace
The peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
And also with you.
Song
Nicene Creed
Brothers and sisters in Christ, together with the church around the world and down through the ages, what do you believe?
We believe in one God,
the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only Son of God,
begotten from the Father before all ages, God from God,
Light from Light,
true God from true God, begotten, not made;
of the same essence as the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven;
he became incarnate by the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary,
and was made human.
He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered and was buried.
The third day he rose again, according to the Scriptures.
He ascended to heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again with glory
to judge the living and the dead.
His kingdom will never end.
And we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life.
He proceeds from the Father and the Son,
and with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified.
He spoke through the prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church.
We affirm one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look forward to the resurrection of the dead,
and to life in the world to come.
Amen.
Word
Prayer for Illumination
Gracious God of life,
we stand at the end of a long line
of those who have seen your deliverance:
Abraham saw a ram in the thicket;
Jacob a ladder into heaven;
Moses a path through the sea;
Isaiah your throne room;
Ezekiel a valley of dry bones;
Daniel one like a Son of Man;
Simeon and Anna the infant Jesus;
Mary the empty tomb;
the disciples the risen Jesus.
Help us now to see you:
as we read your word;
as we hear your word;
as we feast on your word.
In this Pulpit and at this Table,
help us today to see and know
the good news of our deliverance.
Christ is risen;
he is risen, indeed.
Alleluia!
Amen.
Scripture 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 around 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 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.
This is the word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Sermon
Resurrection Foolishness
Sacrament
Song of Response
Spiritual Communion
For those worshiping with us online, and not able to partake of the sacrament, we invite you to pray the following prayer of Spiritual Communion, knowing that God himself is with you, that Jesus himself feeds you, and that your union with Christ remains unbroken.
O Christ, we love you above all things,
and we desire, at all times and in all ways, to be fed by you.
And since we cannot now come to your Table,
we ask you to come by your Spirit into our hearts.
Unite us to you, together with all your faithful people,
and help us to embrace you with all our affections, body and soul.
Never permit us to be separated from you.
By your goodness we pray, Amen.
Offering
In addition to our various funds (General, Building, Mission, Benevolence, Christian Education), online giving is also now available for today’s special offerings (3 sixty, Positive Options, Holland Free Clinic, Jubilee Ministries, Midtown Counseling) through the Give button below. During the offering, we invite you to listen to the Celtic “Alleluia” below.
Refrain
Alleluia, alleluia!
Alleluia, alleluia!
Now with the strength of your word,
send us to be your disciples
to bring all the world
to the joy of your kingdom.
Refrain
Now make us steadfast in faith,
joyful in hope of Christ’s coming,
and by unity
let your love fill our lives.
Refrain
Sending
God’s Parting Words
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
He is risen, indeed. Alleluia!
You have heard the gospel of Easter, read and proclaimed.
You have voiced the gospel of Easter, in song and in prayer.
Now you are sent with the gospel of Easter—
in your homes, with your families, at your schools, in your work,
in your parish, in our parish.
So go:
by the power of the Holy Spirit,
with the hope of the resurrection,
in the joy of new birth,
for the glory of God,
go and draw the world into this Easter life.
As you go, receive this parting blessing:
Grace to you and peace
from him who is and who was and who is to come,
and from the seven spirits who are before his throne,
and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead,
and the ruler of the kings of the earth.
To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood,
and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father,
to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
—Revelation 1:4-6