Hybrid Worship, March 31, 2024, EASTER SUNDAY

Hybrid Worship, March 31, 2024, EASTER

Rev. Suzanna Bates

Music Director: Dorothy Dittrich

Violin: Pat Armstrong

We acknowledge these lands upon which we worship are the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the Snuneymuxw First Nation.

Whoever you are and wherever you are on life’s journey,

you are welcome here!

Words For Worship

Words in bold italics, please say together

Prelude: Sonata Allegro   F.J. Haydn (1732-1809)

Gathering

Christ is risen

Christ is risen indeed!

Acknowledgement of the Land

Choir: Midnight Sharpness, Starfields, Fading  

Lighting Christ Candle

On this Easter Day we share and sing the glad news of Resurrection!

Jesus Christ has risen indeed!

We light this candle because Christ is here among us.

We are here.

God is here.

This place is sacred ground.

Call to Worship

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, the sun paused,

the angels hushed, the alleluias shifted.

Early on the first day of the week, while the stars faded, 

the dew fell, the leaves fluttered, the stone moved.

Early on the first day of the week, while the moon set, the day brightened, the birds got ready to sing, the women gathered.

Early on the first day of the week,

while morning broke, the grave-clothes fell,

the tomb cracked,

the light sparked,

the angels gasped,

hope bowed,

the word spoke,

the gardener walked,

God sang,

the universe celebrated,

the Saviour breathed

and love returned.

Early on the first day of the week,

while the dawn spilled,

Jesus stood,

Mary cried,

and God laughed!                                                                                     2

Opening Prayer

In this moment of mystery, in this moment of hope, in this moment of life, Loving God, - open our hearts to the wonder! Open our senses to the possibilities! Open the tombs that we’ve created and show us that they are empty of what we’ve come to expect, but full of the new possibilities of Life!

Hallelujah! Let it be!

Hymn: Joy Comes With The Dawn    VU #166

Prayer of Reconciliation

A New Creed

We are not alone, we live in God's world.

We believe in God:

who has created and is creating,

who has come in Jesus, the Word made flesh,

to reconcile and make new,

who works in us and others by the Spirit.

We trust in God.

We are called to be the Church:

to celebrate God's presence,

to live with respect in Creation,

to love and serve others,

to seek justice and resist evil,

to proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen,

our judge and our hope. 

In life, in death, in life beyond death,

God is with us. We are not alone.

Thanks be to God.

Prayer Before the Reading of Scripture

Gospel Reading     Reader: George Westarp

As is your custom, please stand or sit for the reading of the gospel. 

God be with you. 

And also with you 

The Good News of Jesus the Christ according to John. 

Glory to you, Christ Jesus.

John 20:1–18 (NRSV)    

The risen Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene.

Early 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. So 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.” 

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

But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and she saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. 

They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” 

Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher).  Jesus said to her, “Do not touch me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and sisters and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and she told them that he had said these things to her.

This is the Gospel of Christ.

We give thanks for Good news today!

Word: The sun rises again!

Hymn: In the Bulb there is a Flower    VU #703

Life & Work of the Church

Offering and Prayer of Dedication

Communion Hymn: We Gather Here     VU #469

Easter Communion

Invitation

The Great Prayer of Thanksgiving

Christ is risen!

We have seen the Risen Son!

Lift up your hearts, people of God.

We lift them to the Risen One.

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

We offer our thanks and praise to the One who gives us new life.

Through all the seasons and changes of our lives there is one that stands above all others: this Season of Easter, in which we celebrate with unbridled joy the presence of the risen and living Christ in our midst. No matter where we have been, or where we find ourselves today, we are bold to gather in joy knowing that our living is tied up with that of Christ who lives forever.

With joy we gather at this sacred table to be sacred community: 

to be the people called by God into new and everlasting life.

We celebrate the joyous opportunity to share good news with all the world: that Christ’s resurrection is for all people, that God’s love is for all people, that this table and this fear are for all people.

Remembering

We remember Jesus gathering with his closest friends yet knowing they would scatter, leaving him alone. Still, he gathered with them and shared this simple meal, taking bread and wine and infusing them with new life; taking the ordinary stuff of life and making them holy and life-giving. We take this simple bread, and as it is broken we think of Jesus’ words: “Take and eat; this is my body broken for you.”

It is broken that we may live in fullness and wholeness.

We take this simple cup, and as it is lifted up we think of Jesus’ words: “Take and drink; this is my life poured out in love for you.”

It is poured out that we may know ourselves forgiven and loved.                                                                                

Bless us now in the sharing of this meal, that we may be enlivened to share your gifts with those who hunger and thirst for acceptance, for new life, for wholeness. Amen. 

Prayers of the People on Easter Morning    Susan Brockley

In the power of the Resurrection,

            Hear our Prayer.

With faces touched by the light of a new day, and hearts warmed by our prayers and praises, we come and pray for the needs of our world.

May the light of Christ shine upon them.

May the light of Christ shine upon them.

Sharing the Bread and Wine 

Prayer after Communion

God of Grace - there are simply not enough ways to say thank you.

We want to thank you for the way you designed joy to be contagious, for sunsets and sunrises, and for the air we breathe.

We want to thank you for spring rains, starry nights and home-cooked meals shared together.

We want to thank you for this sacred space, this Table and for this day - which all hold the promise that love is enough. God, you give us new life, beautiful life, full life - our gratitude overflows. Thank you! 

Amen.

Hymn: Because You Live, O Christ (Tune Vreuchten)   VU #178

Commission and Benediction

Let us go out with joy, awakened to the treasures within us and around us, to bring transformation, challenge and hope to the world. 

And may the abundant blessing of God, Creator, Risen Christ 

and Breath of Life, be ours this day and every day. 

Amen. 

The peace of Christ be with you.

And also with you. 

Postlude: This Is The Day That God Has Made         Natalie Sleeth (1976)