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Easter Day Service
Easter Day 2020
Dear Friends,
This service comes to you with my love and Easter Greetings- during an Easter season unlike any other that we may have experienced. As we worship God on this very special day, may we know the true peace of the Holy Spirit in our hearts, our lives and our deepest being. May we also be reminded that, on this day, we will be joining millions of other people around the world in celebrating the hope that God himself brings to us in the light and resurrection of his Son, Jesus Christ.
Find a quiet place to sit- light a candle, if possible- have your Bible nearby, and give yourself space to pray and to be still for a while. The prayer that I will use today is this: ‘Let me, at this time, be present with Jesus, and let him be present with me’. I have also included the first lines of some Easter hymns- you might wish to use them at your own pace. There is a separate sheet at the end of the service, containing the words Please let us know if this is difficult.
May God bless you in your worship and prayers today, and may His everlasting peace be with you all at this testing time.
Gary
Alleluia, Christ is risen! He is risen indeed. Alleluia!
Faithful one, whose word is life, come with saving power today upon us, your church- to free our praise,
Inspire our prayer, and shape our lives for the kingdom of your Son,
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Light a candle with this prayer:
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.
This is the day when our Lord Jesus Christ was raised gloriously from the dead, crushing the power of sin and destroying the sting of death.
Throughout the world Christians celebrate the mighty power of God as Christ calls us out of darkness to share in his marvellous light.
May we, and all Christ’s people at this time, shine as lights in the world to the glory of God the Father. Amen.
Hymn: God is our strength and refuge, our present help in trouble. (based on Psalm 46)
A Prayer of Penitence:
Lord, we confess to you our weakness and unbelief, and come to you in sorrow for our sins. We have lived by our own strength and not by the power of your resurrection; we have lived by the light of our own eyes, and doubted our true home in heaven; Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer and forgive us.
May the God of love forgive us and free us from our sins, heal and strengthen us by his Spirit, and raise us to new life in Christ our Lord. Amen.
Easter Collect:
God of Glory, by the raising of your Son you have broken the chains of death and hell: fill your Church with faith and hope; for a new day has dawned and the way stands open in our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
Readings:
Acts 10: 34-43
John 20: 1-18
Hymn: Jesus Christ is risen today, Hallelujah!
Reflection from Gary:
Dear Friends,
Alleluia- Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!
This indeed, is THE day- in spite of all that we are enduring as individuals or a nation right now, (as with other nations) we can celebrate the fact that Christ has risen, as Christians have been celebrating from the very first day of the resurrection, and will continue to celebrate until Christ returns.
We know that this pandemic will eventually be brought under control, and will pass, but the message of Easter will never change- it cannot alter, because it comes from the very heart of God himself. As Bishop John has already reminded us: ‘This will be an Easter unlike any other that we have experienced. It is the most important time of year for Christians, when we remember the death and resurrection of Jesus’.
We remember especially, today of all days, that, however challenging and anxious and distressing these times are, standing right in the midst of us is the risen Light of the World; and more than that, Jesus is standing alongside us, through all our days and nights and times of darkness. As we find our daily lives and patterns of work being disrupted and changing dramatically, we can, through God’s strength, find new ways of living, new ways of praying, and new ways of loving and caring for those around us.
No situation, however distressing it may seem now, is beyond God’s love and restoration, won for us by Jesus on the cross. We can learn to live anew each hour, and each day, in the light of God’s presence, placing our hope and our trust in the One who has promised to be with us forever. Perhaps we can even learn anew what it truly means to re-connect with ourselves, with those whom we love, and those we live amongst.
So, may we take this opportunity to encourage you, and send our love to you, in what must sometimes seem like a long, dark night at the moment. We miss you, but the time will come when we will be together again- just think what that time will be like! The Light of Easter has come!
Here is our prayer for you:
Heavenly Father, rekindle my faith this Easter-time. Assure me, through experiencing again the presence of the risen Christ in my heart, that with you nothing is impossible, for you are able to do more than anyone could ask or imagine. To you be praise and glory, now and forevermore. Amen.
With every blessing from us at Easter,
Gary and April
Affirmation of Faith:
Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, he was buried; he was raised to life on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures; afterwards he appeared to his followers, and to all the apostles; this we have received, and this we believe. Amen.
Prayers:
Lord, the resurrection of Your Son
has given us new life and renewed hope.
Help us to live as new people
in pursuit of the Christian ideal.
Grant us wisdom to know what we must do,
the will to want to do it,
the courage to undertake it,
the perseverance to continue to do it,
and the strength to complete it. Amen.
Lord Jesus Christ,
You met Mary in the garden, bringing laughter after tears;
You met women returning from the tomb, bring confidence after confusion;
You met Cleopas on the Emmaus Road, bringing hope after dismay;
You met the Apostles in a room barred against the world, bringing joy after sorrow;
You met Thomas, in his disbelief, bringing faith after doubt;
You met Paul on his way to Damascus, bringing love after hatred;
You met countless generations across the centuries, bringing renewal after rejection.
Meet us now, in this day, this moment, bringing light after darkness.
Meet us in the midst of Covid 19, on the front line of the NHS, in essential shops and deliveries, in the confines of our own homes, in our grief.
Fill our hearts with the new life of Easter, until that day when, with all you people, we enter your kingdom and rejoice in the wonder of your love for all eternity.
In your name we pray. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer:
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.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
Easter Words:
Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; he has given us new life and new hope for the world at this time. He has raised Jesus from the dead, and God claimed us for his own.
He has brought us out of darkness, and made us lights to the world.
Alleluia, Christ is risen- he is risen indeed- Alleluia!’
The Easter Blessing:
The God of peace, who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the new covenant, make us perfect in every good work to do his will, working in us that which is well-pleasing in his sight;
And the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be among us and remain with us and all who suffer at present- both now, and for evermore. Amen.
Collection
The church is closed at the moment and an online collection is being taken for those who would like to contribute. Please go to the giving page on the Church website and follow the instructions.
Lloyds Bank plc
Account name – PCC of Peopleton
Sort Code 30-93-11
Account number 00224914
Thank you
Hymn: In Christ alone my hope is found, he is my light, my strength, my song.
Hymn Sheet
God is our strength and refuge (sung to The Dam Busters’ March!)
1 God is our strength and refuge,
our present help in trouble,
and we therefore will not fear,
though the earth should change!
Though mountains shake and tremble,
though swirling floods are raging,
God the Lord of hosts is with us evermore!
2 There is a flowing river
within God’s holy city;
God is in the midst of her-
she shall not be moved!
God’s help is swiftly given,
thrones vanish at his presence-
God the Lord of hosts is with us evermore!
3 Come, see the works of our maker,
learn of his deeds all-powerful:
wars will cease across the world
when he shatters the spear!
Be still and know your creator,
uplift him in the nations-
God the Lord of hosts is with us evermore!
Jesus Christ is risen today
1 Jesus Christ is risen today, Alleluia!
Our triumphant holy day, Alleluia!
Who did once, upon the cross, Alleluia!
Suffer to redeem our loss, Alleluia!
2 Hymns of praise then let us sing, Alleluia!
Unto Christ, our heavenly King, Alleluia!
Who endured the cross and grave, Alleluia!
Sinners to redeem and save, Alleluia!
3 But the pain which He endured, Alleluia!
Our salvation hath procured, Alleluia!
Now above the sky He’s king, Alleluia!
Where the angels ever sing, Alleluia!
4 Sing we to our God above, Alleluia!
Praise eternal as His love, Alleluia!
Praise Him, all you heavenly host, Alleluia!
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, Alleluia
In Christ alone my hope is found
1 In Christ alone my hope is found,
He is my light, my strength, my song;
This Cornerstone, this solid Ground,
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My Comforter, my All in All,
Here in the love of Christ I stand.
2 In Christ alone! – who took on flesh,
Fullness of God in helpless babe.
This gift of love and righteousness,
Scorned by the ones He came to save:
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied –
For every sin on Him was laid;
Here in the death of Christ I live.
3 There in the ground His body lay,
Light of the world by darkness slain:
Then bursting forth in glorious day
Up from the grave He rose again!
And as He stands in victory
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me,
For I am His and He is mine –
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.
4 No guilt in life, no fear in death,
This is the power of Christ in me;
From life’s first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny.
No power of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand:
Till He returns or calls me home,
Herein the power of Christ I’ll stand.