This bulletin includes the order of service for the Sundays in Easter.
The items in bold italics are intended for audience response.
Opening Hymn
Opening Sentence
Christ yesterday and today,
the beginning and the end,
Alpha and Omega, all time belongs to him, and all ages;
to him be glory and power, through every age and forever. Amen.
Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and to you no secrets are hid. Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may truly love you and worthily magnify your holy name, through Christ our Lord. AMEN.
Lighting the Easter Candle
Member of the Congregation:
This is the day when our Lord Jesus Christ passes from death to life. Throughout the world Christians celebrate the awesome power of God. As we hear this sacred word and proclaim all that God has done, we can be confident that we shall share in Christ’s victory over death and live with God forever.
An acolyte or child lights the Easter Candle.
Member of the Congregation:
May the light of Christ, rising in glory, banish all darkness from our hearts and minds. The light of Christ.
Thanks be to God.
Easter Canticle
Rejoice, heavenly powers! Sing, choirs of angels!
O Universe, dance around God’s throne!
Jesus Christ, our Lord, is risen!
Sound the victorious trumpet of salvation!
Rejoice, O earth, in glory, revealing the splendour of your creation,
radiant in the brightness of your triumphant Sovereign!
Christ has conquered! Now God’s life and glory fill you!
Darkness vanishes forever!
Rejoice, O Mother Church! Exult in glory!
The risen Saviour, our Lord of life, shines upon you!
Let all God’s people sing and shout for joy. AMEN!
The Collect of the Day
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Let us pray.
O God, whose Son Jesus is the good shepherd of your people: Grant that when we hear his voice we may know him who calls us each by name, and follow where he leads; who, with you and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
The Ministry of the Word
Old Testament
Acts 4:5-12
5-7 The next day a meeting was called in Jerusalem. The rulers, religious leaders, religion scholars, Annas the Chief Priest, Caiaphas, John, Alexander—everybody who was anybody was there. They stood Peter and John in the middle of the room and grilled them: “Who put you in charge here? What business do you have doing this?”
8-12 With that, Peter, full of the Holy Spirit, let loose: “Rulers and leaders of the people, if we have been brought to trial today for helping a sick man, put under investigation regarding this healing, I’ll be completely frank with you—we have nothing to hide. By the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the One you killed on a cross, the One God raised from the dead, by means of his name this man stands before you healthy and whole. Jesus is ‘the stone you masons threw out, which is now the cornerstone.’ Salvation comes no other way; no other name has been or will be given to us by which we can be saved, only this one.”
The word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Psalm
We follow the responsive recitation method for the Psalm, where the leader alternates verses with the congregation. In reading, a distinct pause should be made at the asterisk. The items in bold italics are intended for audience response.
Psalm 23
1-3 God, my shepherd!
I don’t need a thing.
You have bedded me down in lush meadows,
you find me quiet pools to drink from.
True to your word,
you let me catch my breath
and send me in the right direction.
4 Even when the way goes through
Death Valley,
I’m not afraid
when you walk at my side.
Your trusty shepherd’s crook
makes me feel secure.
5 You serve me a six-course dinner
right in front of my enemies.
You revive my drooping head;
my cup brims with blessing.
6 Your beauty and love chase after me
every day of my life.
I’m back home in the house of God
for the rest of my life.
Epistle
1 John 3:16-24
16-17 This is how we’ve come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves. If you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to God’s love? It disappears. And you made it disappear.
18-20 My dear children, let’s not just talk about love; let’s practice real love. This is the only way we’ll know we’re living truly, living in God’s reality. It’s also the way to shut down debilitating self-criticism, even when there is something to it. For God is greater than our worried hearts and knows more about us than we do ourselves.
21-24 And friends, once that’s taken care of and we’re no longer accusing or condemning ourselves, we’re bold and free before God! We’re able to stretch our hands out and receive what we asked for because we’re doing what he said, doing what pleases him. Again, this is God’s command: to believe in his personally named Son, Jesus Christ. He told us to love each other, in line with the original command. As we keep his commands, we live deeply and surely in him, and he lives in us. And this is how we experience his deep and abiding presence in us: by the Spirit he gave us.
The word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
The Gospel
The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John.
Glory to you, Lord Christ.
John 10:11-18
11-13 “I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd puts the sheep before himself, sacrifices himself if necessary. A hired man is not a real shepherd. The sheep mean nothing to him. He sees a wolf come and runs for it, leaving the sheep to be ravaged and scattered by the wolf. He’s only in it for the money. The sheep don’t matter to him.
14-18 “I am the Good Shepherd. I know my own sheep and my own sheep know me. In the same way, the Father knows me and I know the Father. I put the sheep before myself, sacrificing myself if necessary. You need to know that I have other sheep in addition to those in this pen. I need to gather and bring them, too. They’ll also recognize my voice. Then it will be one flock, one Shepherd. This is why the Father loves me: because I freely lay down my life. And so I am free to take it up again. No one takes it from me. I lay it down of my own free will. I have the right to lay it down; I also have the right to take it up again. I received this authority personally from my Father.”
44 Then he said, “Everything I told you while I was with you comes to this: All the things written about me in the Law of Moses, in the Prophets, and in the Psalms have to be fulfilled.”
45-49 He went on to open their understanding of the Word of God, showing them how to read their Bibles this way. He said, “You can see now how it is written that the Messiah suffers, rises from the dead on the third day, and then a total life-change through the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed in his name to all nations—starting from here, from Jerusalem! You’re the first to hear and see it. You’re the witnesses. What comes next is very important: I am sending what my Father promised to you, so stay here in the city until he arrives, until you’re equipped with power from on high.”
The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Christ.
The Sermon
A Contemporary Creed
Now let us recite a creed, an affirmation of our faith:
We believe in God, the power of life, love and being that flows through the universe. We believe in Jesus, who revealed the good news of our connectedness with God and with all people, who was compassionate and stood up for justice,all the way to the end, who gave people an experience of God by demonstrating this power of life, love and being. Through his words and example, we believe that we too have this power, the capacity to give people an experience of God by living life fully, loving with our whole heart, and striving to be all we can be. We believe in the communion of saints, who are a people walking together, engaged in the search for meaning and the quest to be connected with the Source and Sustainer of all that exists. Amen.
The Prayers of the People
We know that when we center our minds and hearts in God’s Presence among us, extraordinary things happen. Let us pray: May each of us be aware of the Spirit of God within us today and respond to the Good News, we pray.
Amen!
Let us pray for world peace.
Amen!
Let us pray for inner peace.
Amen!
Let us pray for an abundance of health, for prosperity, and for joy for all.
Amen!
Let us pray for the intentions within our hearts. For those who may be sick, suffering or troubled. For the challenges and dangers that we face. I invite you to add your own petitions, either silently or aloud.
(Silence)
We lift up these prayers in the belief that we are bonded in God’s Spirit with everything that exists. We pray with faith and confidence. Amen.
Leader: And again, let us greet each other in the name of our Lord Christ. May Christ’s peace be with you, always.
And also with you.
The Peace
The peace of our Savior be always with you.
And also with you.
Announcements
The Holy Communion
Walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself for us, an offering and sacrifice to God. Ephesians 5:2
During the Offertory, a hymn, psalm, or anthem may be sung.
Doxology
(Words: Isaac Watts (1674-1748), para. of Psalm 117; Music: Old 100th, melody from Pseaumes octante trois de David, 1551, alt.; harm. after Louis Bourgeois (1510?-1561?); Licensed for Use: CCLI Copyright License 20716203; CCLI Streaming License 20716210
Representatives of the congregation bring the people’s offerings of bread and wine, and money or other gifts, to the Altar. The people stand while the offerings are presented.
At the Presentation
All things come of you, O Lord;
And of your own have we given you.
The Great Thanksgiving
May God be with you
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up to God.
Now let us give thanks to God.
Our Sustainer, Healer and Redeemer.
We give thanks and rejoice that Jesus lived, loved, died and lives on in God and among those who follow him. We rejoice that Jesus lives, as we all will, in the reality we call God.
We believe that death is not the end, but rather a transformation into new possibilities. Nothing that exists is ever completely destroyed. A star exploding or a leaf falling: both offer new possibilities and live on in ways unknown to stars and leaves.
Winter gives way to spring. What is once lifeless now abounds with life, new possibilities and delights. We, too, experience new possibilities arising from our failures or disappointments or what has come to an end.
We give thanks for all the influences in our lives that have helped us see beyond the present, that have called us to live in hope and trust whatever endings we have experienced.
We give thanks for Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus the Christ, who inspired us to put our hope and trust in Life and Love. We give thanks for the way he opened our minds and hearts to see and appreciate the deep and never-ending presence of God, who is Love.
We give thanks for the spirit of new life active in our lives as it was in the life of Jesus.
At this Easter gathering, we take bread, as Jesus took bread, and we remember, as Jesus remembered, God’s constant presence, as we say together the words he said:
Take, eat. This is my body, given for you. Do this to remember me.
Blessed Jesus, with your faithful people at every altar of your Church where the Holy Eucharist is now being celebrated, I offer my praise and thanksgiving. I ask you to come spiritually into my heart.
We take wine and drink, as Jesus invited his friends to drink, mindful that God is love and trust, as we say together the words he said:
Drink this, all of you. This is my blood, poured out for you. Drink this to remember me.
We believe, with Jesus, that beyond pain and darkness and death is life unending, fresh, new meaning.
We believe that God sends a sacred spirit on these gifts that we offer, and turns them into God’s own body and blood.
We break and share this bread, as Jesus broke and shared it.
We share it as our pledge of openness to God in our midst, in acknowledgment of our eternal connection with the spirit of life.
Mindful of God’s great compassion, let us fill our hearts with compassion – towards ourselves and towards all living beings.
May all living beings realize that they are kin, all nourished from the same source of life.
May we ourselves cease to be the cause of suffering to each other.
May we live in a way which will not deprive other beings of air, water, food, shelter, or the chance to live.
With humility, with awareness of the existence of life, and of the sufferings that are going on around us, let us pray for the establishment of peace in our hearts and on earth.
For the journey that life has been, Amen.
for all that life is for us now, Amen.
for all that the future holds, Amen.
and for the mystery of life beyond death. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
And now, in the words that Jesus taught us, we pray:
Our Father, who art in heaven. hallowed be thy name.
Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done, on Earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
Lead us not into temptation, and deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the Kingdom, the power and the glory,
forever and ever. Amen.
Breaking of the Bread
Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.
Therefore let us keep the feast.
These are the gifts of God for you, the people of God.
(AT THE COMMUNION: We encounter the Real Presence of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in this Sacrament of Holy Communion. All who desire a closer relationship with God are encouraged to come forward: for a Blessing or, if you are baptized, for the Bread and Wine.)
Post-Communion Prayer
Precious Savior, out of your abundance you have fed us what we need, sparing none of your good gifts in Jesus Christ. Thank you, Lord. Now may we live as you taught us to, open to the depth of your presence in our lives and the lives of all, and ready to follow where You lead. AMEN.
Blessing
Let’s extend our hands over one another for a final blessing:
May we all the power to live life fully, The grace and passion to love generously, and the courage to be all we can be!
And the blessing of God, Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer of all, be with you now and always. Amen.
Closing Hymn
Dismissal
Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.
Thanks be to God, alleluia.