Welcome & Notices
Opening Prayer
Alleluia, Christ is risen! He is risen indeed - alleluia!
Fill our hearts and homes with your love and glory today Lord Jesus. You are alive forevermore, and we are raised to life with you.
Sunrise over Southlake this morning – photo by Sue Karsten
Song of Worship
Sing with all creation sing of a world made new. He is risen, Christ is risen! Let the whole world sing...
Bible Reading – John 20:1-18
The resurrection, as told in the Jesus Storybook Bible.
The Empty tomb
1 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 round 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.
Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene
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 round and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realise 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 towards 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.
Dwelling in the Word
Discuss these questions on Slack’s #chat page or with your family:
For families, I wonder: - What was your favourite part of the story? - What did you learn about Jesus from it?
For others: - What words or verses spoke to you, and why? - What does the resurrection mean to you?
Song of Worship
In God’s great mercy he has caused us to be born again into a living hope because Jesus Christ rose from the dead. (1Peter1:3) Our response..
O praise the name of our Lord our God, O raise His name forever more.
Prayer of ‘Spiritual Communion’
These prayers are based on the act of ‘Spiritual Communion’, which churches around the country will be sharing today. You may wish to find a space for prayer in front of a cross, a candle, or a place that’s special to you.
Jesus said, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.’ (John 6.35 )
Lord Jesus, Since we cannot now receive you sacramentally as a Church, we ask you to enter spiritually into our hearts today. May your blood which was spilled on the cross be the perfect and sufficient sacrifice for our sins. May your body which was raised from the tomb to new life be our joy and hope for an eternity together with you. Help us to remember that though we are many, we are one family because you died for every one of us. In these days of mercy, make us quiet and prayerful; in these days of challenge, make us stronger in you; in these days of emptiness, take possession of us; in these days of waiting, open our hearts to the mystery of your cross. Take some time to reflect on this past week: - What good things have come from God recently? - Where have I fallen short? - What might I do tomorrow? Jesus, you said to your disciples, ‘I am with you always’. Be with us today, as we offer ourselves to you. Hear our prayers for others and for ourselves, and keep us in your care: _______________________________________________________ Easter Prayers
Song of Worship
Our words are not enough to express how we feel about God’s grace and mercy shown to us through Jesus. So our hearts cry out ‘ To God be the glory….Praise the lord! Praise the lord!’
You will need to stop the video when the song has finished 🙂
Closing Grace
Say this prayer before you eat your main Easter meal – wherever we are and whatever we’re eating, it will be our shared fellowship meal as a church family.
Jesus said, "People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God." Thank you Jesus for this joyful Easter day, and that we all have a seat at your great feast in heaven. Please bless this meal that we are about to share with you and our Church family everywhere. Amen!