Easter April 5, 2026

Hybrid Worship

Easter

April 5, 2026

Rev. Mona Smart

Music: Frances Armstrong

 

We acknowledge that 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 of response are in bold & italics

 

Prelude

 

Gathering Words

Today’s gospel story, “Mary Magdala at the Tomb of Christ,” is from the gospel of John. It is a version of the story where the feminine is given importance since it is Mary Magdala who is the first person to arrive at the tomb. She comes at dawn to symbolically signal a new day in the life of humanity, a new consciousness has come into the world.

 

Acknowledgement of the Land

We prayerfully acknowledge with thanksgiving that we gather on the unceded territories of the Snuneymuxw people. Gracious God, help us to seek a new relationship with the first peoples here, one based in honour and respect. Amen

 

Call to Worship or The Collect      Vanderbilt University, Episcopal Prayer Collection

Living God,

long ago, faithful women proclaimed

the good news of Jesus’ resurrection,

and the world was changed forever.
Teach us to keep faith with them,

that our witness may be as bold,

our love as deep, and our faith as true.

Amen

 

Lighting of Candle                                  Vanderbilt University, Episcopal Prayer Collection

Creator of the universe, you made the world in beauty,
and restore all things in glory through the victory of Jesus Christ.

We light this candle in prayer,

that wherever your image is still disfigured by poverty, sickness, selfishness, war, and greed,
the new creation in Jesus Christ may appear

in justice, love, and peace,

to the glory of your name.

Amen.

 

(candle is lit)

 

 

 

 

Opening Hymn: Now the Green Blade Rises                            VU#186

¹Now the green blade rises from the buried grain,

Wheat that in dark earth many days has lain;

Love lives again, that with the dead has been:

Love is come again, like wheat arising green.

 

²In the grave they laid him, love by hatred slain,

Thinking that he would never wake again,

Laid in the earth like grain that sleeps unseen;

Love is come again, like wheat arising green.

 

³Forth he came at Easter, like the risen grain,

He that for three days in the grave had lain;

Raised from the dead, my living Lord is seen;

Love is come again, like wheat arising green.

 

⁴When our hearts are wintry, grieving, or in pain,

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 arising green.

 

Affirmation of Faith

Hear, O people of God,

The Lord our God, the Lord is one.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart,

with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.

This is the first and greatest commandment.

The second is like it:

Love your neighbor as yourself.

There is no greater commandment than these.

 

Peace of Christ

May the peace of Christ be with you.

And also with you.

Let us share the peace of Christ with one another.

 

Prayer Before the Reading of Scripture                         ACC & UCC Sources

O God, your Word is a lamp to our feet, and a light to our path.

Give us grace to receive your truth in faith and love.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Psalm 118: (part one & three, sung refrain)                                VU #837

Refrain: Hallelujah! Hallelujah!                                    Reader: Mona Smart

 

Let Israel now say:

      “God's love endures for ever.”

Let the house of Aaron say:

      “God's love endures for ever.”

Let those who fear God say:

      “God's love endures for ever.”  R

 

Open to me the gates of the temple,

that I may enter and give thanks to God.

      This is the gate of God;

      through it the righteous shall enter.

I thank you for you have answered me;

you have become my salvation.

      The stone which the builders rejected

       has become the chief cornerstone.

This is God's doing, marvellous in our eyes.

      This is the day that God has made,

      let us rejoice and be glad in it!  R

 

Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 31:1-6 (NRSV)            Reader: Paddy Waymark

The Joyful Return of the Exiles

At that time, says the Lord, I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people.

Thus says the Lord:

The people who survived the sword

    found grace in the wilderness;

when Israel sought for rest,

the Lord appeared to him[a] from far away.

I have loved you with an everlasting love;

    therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.

Again I will build you, and you shall be built,

    O virgin Israel!

Again you shall adorn yourself with your tambourines

    and go forth in the dance of the merrymakers.

Again you shall plant vineyards

    on the mountains of Samaria;

the planters shall plant

    and shall enjoy the fruit.

For there shall be a day when sentinels will call

    in the hill country of Ephraim:

“Come, let us go up to Zion,

    to the Lord our God.”

Gospel Reading: John 20:1-18 (NRSV)                            Reader: Paddy Waymark

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

 

The Resurrection of Jesus

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, “Rabbouni!” (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 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.

 

The Good News of Jesus the Christ according to John

Glory to you, Christ Jesus.

 

Reflection: An Easter Story

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hymn of Response: Good Christians All, Rejoice and Sing     VU#169

¹Good Christians all, rejoice and sing!
Now is the triumph of our King!
To all the world glad news we bring:
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah!

 

²The Lord of life is risen today!
Bring flowers of song, bedeck the way;
let every tongue rejoice and say:
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah!

 

³Praise we in songs of victory
that love, that life which cannot die,
and sing with hearts uplifted high:
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah!

 

⁴Your name we bless, O risen Lord,
and sing today with one accord
the life laid down, the life restored:
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah!

 

Life & Work of the Church

 

Prayers of the People                                                         Lynette Jackson

To follow

            Hear our Prayers.

 

Lords Prayer (sung)                                                                      VU #959

Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come, your will be done,

on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins

as we forgive those who sin against us.

Save us from the time of trial

and deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours

now and forever. Amen.

 

Offering (offering now to be collected)                                                      

 

 

 

 

Offering Prayer                                                                             CP #669

Praise God the Source of life and birth,

Praise God the Word, who came to earth.

Praise God the Spirit, holy flame.

All Glory, honour to God’s name.

 

Holy Communion

 

Invitation                                 United Church adaptation of a contemporary composition

of the Anglican Church based on a 4^th century liturgy

Here is the table of the Lord.

We joyfully gather at the Lord’s table, open to all.

 

Great Prayer of Thanksgiving

God be with you all.

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts;

We lift them up to God.

Let us give thanks to God!

It is right to give God our thanks and praise!

It is indeed right that we should praise you,

Holy God, source of life and goodness,

all creation rightly gives you praise.

At your command all things came to be:

the vast expanse of interstellar space,

galaxies, suns, the planets in their courses,

and this fragile earth, our island home;

by your will they were created and have their being.

 

From the primal elements you brought forth the human race,

And blessed us with memory, intelligence, reason, and skill;

You formed us in your own image:

male and female you created us.

You made us the stewards of creation.

 

You made a covenant with Israel,

and through your servants Abraham and Sarah

gave the promise to a blessing to all nations.

Through Moses you led your people from bondage to freedom. Through the prophets you renewed your promise of salvation. Therefore, we give you thanks.

 

 

 

 

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord (sung)                                                     VU #942

Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might,

Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might.

Heaven and earth are full, full of your glory.

Hosanna in the highest, hosanna in the highest.

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

 

In the fullness of time, you sent your child Jesus Christ.

to share our human nature, to live and die as one of us.

He healed the sick and ate and drank with outcasts and sinners; He opened the eyes of the blind and proclaimed the Good News to the poor and to those in need. In all things, he fulfilled your will.

 

Breaking of the Bread

Loving God,

as we break bread and share the cup,

we give thanks for the bread and the wine,

fruits of your earth and of our labour.

We commit ourselves to your service

and that our lives may proclaim the mystery of faith.

 

On the night he was betrayed our Lord Jesus Christ took bread;

And after giving thanks to you, broke it, and gave it to his disciples.

And said, “Take, eat: this is my body which is given to you.

Do this in remembrance of me.

 

After supper he took the cup of wine;

And after giving thanks, gave it to them, and said,

“Drink this, all of you: this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for you and for all for the forgiveness of sin.

Whenever you drink it, do this in remembrance of me.”

 

Sharing of the Bread and Cup

We offer you, O God, this bread and this wine.

Send your Holy Spirit upon us and upon these gifts,

That all who eat and drink at this table may be one body,

one holy people.

 

(Bread and wine to be served)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Prayer after Communion

Gracious God,

May our participation in the sacramental gifts transform us that we may live lives of thanksgiving and be faithful to your will.

 

Closing Hymn: Jesus Christ is Risen Today                          VU #155

¹Jesus Christ is risen today, hallelujah!

our triumphant holy day, hallelujah!

who did once, upon the cross, hallelujah!

suffer to redeem our loss, hallelujah!

 

²Hymns of praise then let us sing, hallelujah!

unto Christ, our heavenly King, hallelujah!

who endured the cross and grave, hallelujah!

sinners to redeem and save, hallelujah!

 

³But the pains which he endured, hallelujah!

our salvation have procured, hallelujah!

now above the sky he’s King, hallelujah!

where the angels ever sing, hallelujah!

 

⁴Sing we to our God above, hallelujah!

praise eternal as God's love, hallelujah!

praise our God, ye heavenly host, hallelujah!

praise the Son and Holy Ghost, hallelujah!

 

Blessing & Sending

God of all consolation, in your unending love and mercy

you turn the darkness of death into the dawn of new life.

May we who wait at Christ’s tomb trust in your power to

restore all things through your Holy Spirit,

who gives life to all creation. Amen.

 

Postlude