Sunday 4th April 2021 – Easter Day
We invite you to spend a few moments with God, knowing that other people are sharing this act of worship with you.
Opening Prayer
In silence, read John 20:1 then pray quietly, with growing confidence:
After the agony of the cross, Lord Jesus you are here. After the desolation of the grave, Lord Jesus you are here. After your triumphant bursting from the tomb, Lord Jesus you are here.
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
Hymn: "Christ the Lord is Risen Today"
Sing or read the words or listen to it here
Christ the Lord is risen today;
Alleluia!
All creation joins to say:
Alleluia!
Raise your joys and triumphs high;
Alleluia!
Sing, you heavens; let earth, reply:
Alleluia!
Love's redeeming work is done,
Alleluia!
Fought the fight, the battle won;
Alleluia!
Vain the stone, the watch, the seal;
Alleluia!
Christ has burst the gates of hell:
Alleluia!
Lives again our glorious King;
Alleluia!
Where, O death, is now your sting?
Alleluia!
Once he died our souls to save;
Alleluia!
Where's your victory, boasting grave?
Alleluia!
Soar we now where Christ has led,
Alleluia!
Following our exalted Head;
Alleluia!
Made like him, like him we rise;
Alleluia!
Ours the cross, the grave, the skies:
Alleluia!
King of Glory! Soul of bliss!
Alleluia!
Everlasting life is this,
Alleluia!
You to know, your power to prove,
Alleluia!
Thus to sing, and thus to love:
Alleluia!
Charles Wesley (1707-1788)
Let us pray together.
O Lord God, Eternal Creator, you dwell in the hearts of all who worship you today. We praise and thank you for raising Jesus from the dead and setting us free to worship and adore you. To you belongs all the honour!
Jesus Christ, Merciful Saviour, you meet us when we turn to you. On that first Easter morning you rose from the grave to conquer sin and death for ever. To you belongs all the glory!
Holy Spirit, Divine Presence, you are the very Breath of Life. We receive the peace of the risen Christ as did those first disciples in the Upper Room. To you belongs all the praise!
Pause
O God, the Three-in-One, we confess that our lives have been full of death and hate instead of life and love. Forgive us our sins, and strengthen in us all that is good.
Pause
As we receive your assurance of forgiveness, you fill us afresh with love and life, compelling us to pour them out into the lives of others. Amen.
Reading: Acts 10:34-43 John 20:1-18
Time to Reflect
Have you heard? Easter’s cancelled – they found the body! So joked my barber to me, with reassuring annual regularity, but always leading on to a surprisingly deep conversation about the impact of Christ’s resurrection on the worldwide church.
Those women first, and then the disciples, had far more world-shattering news to share. Have you heard? Death is cancelled – Jesus is alive again! This time they weren’t joking.
Without question, the resurrection of Jesus was the one event that blew apart all time and space, resetting clocks and calendars, returning us in that early morning garden to a very reset of Creation. The empty tomb turned timid, fearful disciples into fearless proclaimers of the Gospel. Have you heard? Jesus is alive – and living in your heart!
How does Christ’s resurrection help you to face death today?
“Every Sunday is Easter Sunday” – why might people say that?
Take a time to sit quietly.
A time of prayer
Thine be the glory, risen conquering Son;
Endless is the victory thou o'er death hast won.
On this Easter Day, we remember those who have gone before us to glory. May we, like them, inherit your eternal kingdom.
We pray for all who are fearful today: people living alone; people who have endured great trials; people who are scared for each new day. Come among them and breathe your resurrection peace.
We pray for your worldwide church, united today in joyful acclamation of the risen Christ. May we, your church, daily witness to the life of the risen Christ in our own lives through our love for God, self and neighbour.
We pray for the leaders of the world, and for the people they govern. Endue them with wisdom and justice, so that they might govern all people with equity.
Finally we pray for ourselves. In Christ we are indeed more than conquerors. May Alleluia! be our triumphant song today and always.
Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
Hymn: Listen to ‘You’re Alive’ by Graham Kendrick or sing a verse of a hymn that comes to mind https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FouNdeqH0o
Led like a lamb to the slaughter
In silence and shame,
There on Your back You carried a world
Of violence and pain.
Bleeding, dying, bleeding, dying.
You're alive, You're alive,
You have risen, Alleluia!
And the power and the glory is given,
Alleluia, Jesus, to You.
At break of dawn, poor Mary,
Still weeping she came,
When through her grief she heard Your voice
Now speaking her name.
Mary, Master, Mary, Master!
At the right hand of the Father
Now seated on high
You have begun Your eternal reign
Of justice and joy.
Glory, glory, glory, glory.
A prayer of blessing
God the Father, by whose glory Christ was raised from the dead, strengthen us to walk with him in his risen life; and may almighty God bless us, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen
Original Materials by Stephen Froggatt
All Hymns reproduced under CCLi 1144191.
Local Churches please insert CCCLi No here3382 / 761
We are grateful to all the Ministers and Local Preachers from around the Connexion who have contributed to Worship at Home. This resource is administrated by Ministries: Vocations and Worship in the Connexional Team. We aim to continue to provide these resources until the end of August 2021.