Easter Day
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Christ the Lord is risen again,
Christ has broken every chain. With the angels let us sing - Halleluia! He who offered up his life, who for us endured the strife; We praise the Lamb of God - Halleluia! Now he bids us tell abroad how the lost may be restored; May we proclaim good news each day - Halleluia! Call to worship
With all of creation we shout your praise with all our hearts we worship you In your glory, Lord, be with your people In your mercy, Lord, be with us now Still our minds to hear your word Still our souls to rest in you Show us that death could not contain you Bring us to the empty tomb Show us our sins, our temptations, our betrayals Bring us alive again to your risen life Come, Lord Jesus, Lord of all Come, Lord Jesus, Lord of all Prayer of confession
Loving God, we confess that at times we do not share in the joy of the resurrection but are caught in the worries of the world. We confess that we do not always live in the spirit of new life but remain discontent, grumbling and anxious. We confess that the powers of darkness overwhelm us, and we lose our grip on hope. Forgive us for not sharing in the Good News. Call us back to Your ways, O God, to receive again your hope, healing and peace. Come to us, risen Lord, so that we might cling to you for just a moment. Christ is Risen! The stone is rolled away, the tomb found empty. Mary calls out, “I have seen the Lord!” We have seen Christ, too, in every helping hand, in every heartfelt gift. We have seen the risen Christ in the depths of our souls. We are called to this new life, a life of forgiveness and reconciliation. You are forgiven; accept your forgiveness and know that God loves you and desires great joy for your life. Walk forward on this journey of faith, knowing you are not alone. Amen. Blessing Halleluia! Jesus is risen! He is risen indeed! May this declaration resound in the heavens and in all the earth. May Christ’s victory forever be the foundation of our hope, and touch the lives of all we meet. Amen, amen, amen (sung) Dedication of the offering Thine be the glory, thine be the victory in us and all people, in this place and through all the world We give you the thanks and the praise for all we have and all we can give Bless these gifts and bless us your people, that we might live and serve for your glory, sharing in your victory. Amen. |
Easter Communion
Glory to God in the highest, peace to all people on earth. We praise you, we bless you, we adore you, we give you thanks for your amazing grace, Lord Jesus Christ, Lamb of God, Son of the Father, you take away the sin of the world, have mercy on us. For you alone are the Holy One, you alone are the risen Lord, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the Father. In you all things have their being and all things resound with your grace. With the people of God through every age, in every nation we praise you: Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. This Easter Day we celebrate your resurrection, together with your people in every nation, in every language, through all of time and we remember the Good News which we received, and on which our faith stands firm. We honour the gospel, the message of salvation and we hold firmly to it. We come to this table remembering Jesus, for Jesus alone knew the living God, Yahweh, Lord of heaven, and he knew this God as Father, Abba, close, present. And this knowing led Jesus to the cross, where he gave up his life for us. He died that we might live. So God raised him to a new risen life, united forever as Holy Trinity: Father, Son and Spirit. We come to this table remember that on the night before he died, Jesus took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and gave it to his friends, saying "This is my body. Take and eat." So we become the body of Christ, broken and shared for a world in need. Jesus took the cup, gave thanks to his Father, and gave it to them, saying "This is my blood, sign of the new covenant of forgiveness. Drink of this cup." So we share in the life of God. Transform these simple things, this bread, this grape juice that they may be for us the body and blood of Jesus Christ. Send your Holy Spirit on us, that we might know the power that rose Jesus from the dead, and that we might live to shine with your glory. Amen. Sing: The Lord’s Prayer (the serving elders receive Communion while congregation sings the Lords Prayer) Prayer after Communion Thank you, O Christ, for this feast of life. We are fed by your glory, we are strengthened by your life. We are sent forth into this world to live your way and share your joy. We are now commissioned by the risen Christ - to feed as we have been fed, to forgive as we have been forgiven, and to love as we have been loved. Thanks be to God. Amen. Prayer after Communion:
Not for Christ the grave, not for us the bonds of sin and death. Life has been won, life has been given, life has been shared. Thank you, glorious Father, for your Son Jesus. 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. Amen. |
Sermon: Courage from the Risen Christ: "Kia kaha!"
The word Courage comes from the French, ‘cuer’, for heart. Courage literally means strength of heart. It’s not just sheer will power, not just blind obedience or grim determination to power on through no matter what. Courage comes from the heart. We talk about taking your heart in your hands, feeling the fear and doing it anyway.
The word Courage comes from the French, ‘cuer’, for heart. Courage literally means strength of heart. It’s not just sheer will power, not just blind obedience or grim determination to power on through no matter what. Courage comes from the heart. We talk about taking your heart in your hands, feeling the fear and doing it anyway.
Sermon: The Fact of Resurrection - 'Fake News'??
This Easter Sunday sermon explores the possibility that Jesus' body vanished 'into thin air' in an instantaneous dramatic event ... that may have left a photographic imprint on the linen cloth he was wrapped in.
Comes with photos of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, and the Shroud of Turin.
This morning we celebrate an event which happened on Easter Day, which we in the Christian church honour as the day that something extraordinary happen to the crucified body of Jesus of Nazareth. Does it matter to you what happened to Jesus’ body?
If someone asked you what you think about that, how would you answer?
This Easter Sunday sermon explores the possibility that Jesus' body vanished 'into thin air' in an instantaneous dramatic event ... that may have left a photographic imprint on the linen cloth he was wrapped in.
Comes with photos of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, and the Shroud of Turin.
This morning we celebrate an event which happened on Easter Day, which we in the Christian church honour as the day that something extraordinary happen to the crucified body of Jesus of Nazareth. Does it matter to you what happened to Jesus’ body?
If someone asked you what you think about that, how would you answer?
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Sermon for Easter Sunday: Drawing us and God
Readings:
Romans 6:3-11
Luke 24:1-12
This sermon invites you to draw 'stick figures' representing us and God ... and how the resurrection of Jesus changed how we are able to relate to God.
Welcome to Easter Sunday! The highest point in our church year, the day for alleluias and confidence and celebration. Christ who was dead is alive. A whole new thing begins …
... 2000 years later it’s just the same for us. We are part of something. We belong together with others and we experience the power and the presence of God in our midst, which we recognise as being the same nature as Jesus of Nazareth himself.
Readings:
Romans 6:3-11
Luke 24:1-12
This sermon invites you to draw 'stick figures' representing us and God ... and how the resurrection of Jesus changed how we are able to relate to God.
Welcome to Easter Sunday! The highest point in our church year, the day for alleluias and confidence and celebration. Christ who was dead is alive. A whole new thing begins …
... 2000 years later it’s just the same for us. We are part of something. We belong together with others and we experience the power and the presence of God in our midst, which we recognise as being the same nature as Jesus of Nazareth himself.
Sermon for Easter Day: 'VICTORY!'
Readings
Psalm 18, verses 1-7, 16-20, 46-50
Matthew 28:1-10
“Christ is the victim of evil, but also the victor over evil.”
Easter is not a superhero movie in which Jesus blasts all the bad guys, claims the kingdom, and everyone lives happily ever after … and they you emerge from the movie theatre blinking in the harsh daylight and nothing has changed in the real world.
Easter fundamentally changed the nature of reality. The death and resurrection of Jesus opened space in the very structures of time and space, heaven and earth, space held open for eternity, in which love wins, in which goodness is victorious.
Readings
Psalm 18, verses 1-7, 16-20, 46-50
Matthew 28:1-10
“Christ is the victim of evil, but also the victor over evil.”
Easter is not a superhero movie in which Jesus blasts all the bad guys, claims the kingdom, and everyone lives happily ever after … and they you emerge from the movie theatre blinking in the harsh daylight and nothing has changed in the real world.
Easter fundamentally changed the nature of reality. The death and resurrection of Jesus opened space in the very structures of time and space, heaven and earth, space held open for eternity, in which love wins, in which goodness is victorious.
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Baptism, Brokenness and Resurrection: 'INDESTRUCTIBLE'
John 20: 11-18 Romans 6:3-11 An all-age order of service including words linking baptism with Easter Day, also a children's talk involving the breaking of a pottery plate a kids activity making their own 'Unbreakable' plates and a reflection on God's indestructible life. Nothing lasts forever, every object will break sooner or later. Even the entire universe won’t last forever. ... Only one being lasts forever: God. The big idea of the Christian faith is that this universe-making God actually loves us and cares about us and reaches out to us. And when we say yes to God then we get wrapped up in the infinity of God. Your life gets remade in Christ. You become indestructible. Your life is unbreakable when you are part of Jesus Christ. |
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