Christ is risen. Hallelujah!
Jesus
Christ, we greet you!
Your hands still have holes in them,
your feet are wet from the dew;
and with the memory of our names undimmed by three days of death you meet us,
risen from the grave.
We fail to understand how;
we puzzle at the reason why.
But you have come:
not to answer our questions, but to show us your face.
YOU ARE ALIVE
AND THE WORLD CAN REJOICE AGAIN. HALLELUJAH!
AMEN.*
Hymn StF 298 Christ the Lord is risen today
Christ
the Lord is risen today, Alleluia!
Earth and heaven in chorus say, Alleluia!
Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia!
Sing, ye heavens, and earth reply, Alleluia!
2 Love’s redeeming work is done, Alleluia!
Fought the fight, the battle won, Alleluia!
Death in vain forbids him rise, Alleluia!
Christ has opened paradise, Alleluia!
Charles Wesley (1707-1788)
Responses
These refer to many sayings of Jesus about planting and growing.
Christ, the branch, the shoot from the tree of David,
Christ, the gardener, the pruner,
the one who cuts back in kindness,
O Lord, in all the earth,
O LORD, IN ALL THE EARTH,
how excellent the name,
HOW EXCELLENT THE NAME OF JESUS.
Christ, the leaf, the tender shoot in dry ground,
Christ, the nature lover, the flower admirer,
the one who expects us to be attractive for him,
O Lord, in all the earth,
O LORD, IN ALL THE EARTH,
how excellent the name,
HOW EXCELLENT THE NAME OF JESUS.
Christ, the seed, the corn gatherer,
Christ, the germ of resurrection, the first fruit of heaven,
the one who makes us and all things new,
O Lord, in all the earth,
O LORD, IN ALL THE EARTH,
how excellent the name,
HOW EXCELLENT THE NAME OF JESUS.
Jesus Christ, branch and leaf and seed, from whom we come, with whom we stay, to whom we return,
YOU WE BLESS, NAME ABOVE ALL NAMES,
AND EXCELLENT IN ALL THE EARTH. AMEN.*
The Lord’s Prayer. Our Father…….
New Testament: Matthew 28:1-10 (NRSV) The Resurrection of Jesus
28 After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. 2 And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. 4 For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men. 5 But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.’ This is my message for you.” 8 So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 Suddenly Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”
Hymn StF 306 Now the green blade rises from the buried grain
Now the green blade rises from the buried grain,
Wheat that in the dark earth many days has lain;
Love lives again, that with the dead has been:
Love is come again, like wheat that springs up green.
2 In the grave they laid him, Love whom we had slain,
thinking that he never would awake again,
laid in the earth like grain that sleeps unseen:
Love is come again, like wheat that springs up green.
3 Forth he came at Easter, like the risen grain,
he that for the three days in the grave had lain,
quick from the dead my risen Lord is seen:
Love is come again, like wheat that springs up green.
4 When our hearts are wintry, grieving, or in pain,
then your touch can call us back to life again,
fields of our hearts that dead and bare have been:
Love is come again, like wheat that springs up green.
J. M. c. CRUM (1872-1958) altd.*
Reading: It was on the Sunday *
Originally written for people to read on their own as personal preparation for Easter Day.
It was on the Sunday that he pulled the corn.
They arrived with flowers, shuffling through the dawn as the dawn snuffed out the last candles of night. Their faces betrayed their belief that yesterday would always be better than tomorrow, despite what he said. He would not say it again, so why bother to believe him on that score?
And the flowers, they too were silent witnesses to disbelief.
Like the grass, they were cut to be dried to death, cut off from the root, the bulb, the source of life. He was the flower they cherished, the flower now perished whose fate the lilies of the field, now tight in hand, would re-enact.
So when they passed the crouched figure at the edge of the road,
they thought little of him, scarcely seeing his form through their tears. Had they looked even a little, they would have seen a man letting grain fall through his fingers, dropping to the earth to die and yet to rise again.
It was on the Sunday that he pulled the corn.
Hymn StF 309 See what a morning
SEE WHAT A MORNING, gloriously bright,
With the dawning of hope in Jerusalem;
Folded the grave-clothes,
Tomb filled with light,
As the angels announce Christ is risen!
See God’s salvation plan, wrought in love,
Borne in pain, paid in sacrifice,
Fulfilled in Christ, the Man, for He lives:
Christ is risen from the dead!
See Mary weeping, ‘Where is He laid?’
As in sorrow she turns from the empty tomb;
Hears a voice speaking, calling her name;
It’s the Master, the Lord raised to life again!
The voice that spans the years,
Speaking life, stirring hope,
Bringing peace to us,
Will sound till He appears,
For He lives, Christ is risen from the dead!
One with the Father, Ancient of Days,
Through the Spirit
Who clothes faith with certainty,
Honour and blessing, glory and praise
To the King crowned
With power and authority!
And we are raised with Him,
Death is dead, love has won,
Christ has conquered;
And we shall reign with Him,
For He lives, Christ is risen from the dead!
Keith Getty & Stuart Townend
Copyright © 2003 Thankyou Music
Blessing
Go in peace to love and serve our living Lord.
We go in the power of Christ’s
resurrection! Alleluia!
*© Words from ‘Stages on the Way’ Wild Goose Worship Group. 1998 published by Wild Goose Publications. The Iona Community. Reproduced with kind permission from Iona Community. www.ionabooks.com
