Easter Sunday !
Sunday 31st March 2024

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.
Amen.

 

Christ is risen.
He is risen indeed.
Hallelujah!

Hymn  - Jesus Christ is Risen today

Song- See What a Morning

Lord Jesus Christ,
we greet You.

You knew the prison of fear,
the pain of humiliation,
the loneliness of rejection.
But You also found that love was stronger than fear.
Just as You came,
risen and unexpected
to those first friends of Yours
who went to the garden, anxious and fearful,
be with me now,
and touch me with Your peace.
Amen.

 

Hymn - The Day of Resurrection

John 20:1-18

The Resurrection of Jesus

20Early 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. 2So 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.’ 3Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went towards the tomb. 4The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. 6Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, 7and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. 8Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 10Then the disciples returned to their homes.

Song - Come People of the Risen King

 

Video - Alistair Begg, The man in the middle said I could come.

Song - Christ is Risen 

  

 Thanksgiving
God of power and love,
we give You thanks that You raised Your Son Jesus Christ from the grave,
that You caused His tomb to be empty,
that You gave hope by Your presence.
We thank You that the powers of evil
which seemed to overcome all light and goodness and love on Friday
were overcome on this day,
defeated in Your Son's rising.
We thank You that in Christ's rising,
we have hope for life before and beyond death,
inspiration for our lives as witnesses to Your grace,
comfort for pain,
and faith in place of fear.
We thank You for every sign of resurrection we sense by Your Spirit,
in nature as the seasons, slowly, turn,
in society, as Your kingdom makes its way,
in our lives, as anxieties give way to peace.
Amen.            


Song - It Was finished on the cross
 

                    

 

Hymn - Thine Be The Glory

 

Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed.

 

Go forth with renewed hope,
Trusting in the transforming love of God.

Amen.