Holy Communion - 4th April 2021 at 10.30am Easter Sunday Welcome & Notices Jesus Christ is risen today, Alleluia! our triumphant holy day, Alleluia! who did once upon the cross, Alleluia! suffer to redeem our loss. Alleluia! 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! Opening responses This is the day when our Lord Jesus Christ passed from death to life. Throughout the world Christians celebrate the awesome power of God. As we hear his word and proclaim all that God has done, we can be confident that we shall share his victory over death and live with him for ever. Alleluia. Christ is risen. He is risen indeed. Alleluia. Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He has given us new life and hope. He has raised Jesus from the dead. God has claimed us as his own He has brought us out of darkness. He has made us light to the world. Alleluia. Christ is risen He is risen indeed. Alleluia. Opening prayer Faithful one, whose word is life: come with saving power to free our praise, inspire our prayer and shape our lives for the kingdom of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 1 Opening song: Now the green blade riseth from the buried grain, wheat that in the dark earth many days has lain; Love lives again, that with the dead has been; Love is come again, like wheat that springeth green. In the grave they laid him, Love by hatred slain, thinking that never He would wake again, laid in the earth like grain that sleeps unseen: Love is come again, like wheat that springeth green. Forth He came at Easter, like the risen grain, He that for three days in the grave had lain; quick from the dead, my risen Lord is seen: Love is come again, like wheat that springeth green. When our hearts are wintry, grieving or in pain, Thy touch can call us back to life again; fields of our hearts, that dead and bare have been: Love is come again, like wheat that springeth green. John Macleod Campbell Crum Copyright © 1928 OUP Confession Jesus Christ, risen Master and triumphant Lord, we come to you in sorrow for our sins, and confess to you our weakness and unbelief. We have lived by our own strength, and not by the power of your resurrection. In your mercy, forgive us. Lord, hear us and help us. We have lived by the light of our own eyes, as faithless and not believing. In your mercy, forgive us. Lord, hear us and help us. 2 We have lived for this world alone, and doubted our home in heaven. In your mercy, forgive us. Lord, hear us and help us. May the God of love and power 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. First Reading: Isaiah 12.2-6 Surely God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid, for the Lord God is my strength and my might; he has become my salvation. 3 With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. 4 And you will say in that day: Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name; make known his deeds among the nations; proclaim that his name is exalted. 5 Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously; let this be known in all the earth. 6 Shout aloud and sing for joy, O royal Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel. This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Second Reading: John 20:1-18 The Resurrection of Jesus 1 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. 2 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.” 3 Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. 4 The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, 7 and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. 8 Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9 for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 10 Then the disciples returned to their homes. 3 Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene 11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; 12 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. 13 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.” 14 When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 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.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to 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.’” 18 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 Word of the Lord Thanks be to God. Music for Reflection: Chanson de Matin’ by Edward Elgar for violin & piano, played by Sylvia & Liz Sermon: Nick Mwandia Today is Easter Sunday! We have heard the glad news of resurrection in the reading. We rejoice because the empty tomb. He is risen, Jesus is alive! In the gospel story the first Easter Sunday is of special significance and we’ll be reflecting on this. Here is a question to start us reflecting. Can you remember a time when you responded to hearing God’s voice calling you? ........ You may or may not, but we see one example of this in the experience of Mary Magdalene. Mary was from Magdala, a fishing town on the shore of Sea of Galilee. She was probably relatively wealthy. Luke 8.2-3 says seven demons had been driven out of her and she was deeply grateful for physical and mental healing. She was one of the women who traveled with Jesus and supported his ministry "out of her resources" and so was very close to him. Easter Sunday is about encountering God in the risen Jesus Mary had seen lives changed, bodies healed, and eyes opened. On Friday, a few days before, she saw Jesus crucified, nails driven into his hands and feet and a sword pierce his side. And Mary had stood at the foot of the cross, helpless and heartbroken. Later she is the first of Jesus’ followers to come to tomb after death. 4 So here we are, the first day of a new week. Our passage tells us that on that day Mary went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. The tomb was empty! She runs and tells Peter and John, who come and see. Mary stays at the tomb after the disciples have gone away, crying and inconsolable. Distressed at Jesus’ death, she grieves for him. And now the body of her Lord Jesus has been stolen. She wants to know where he is. She had not thought it would end this way. It’s same for us when stumble through periods of darkness. We have all had days a bit like that; when we stand with our dreams in shambles; when our world seems to have fallen apart. As Mary discovers, it’s easy to believe while everything is right in our world. But it’s very difficult to believe while it is dark. Nevertheless, Jesus is there, whether we can see him or not. God’s plan for our lives is still moving forward, even when we cannot see a way forward, if only we believe. And praise be to God, all was not as it seemed to Mary. We know why the tomb is empty, but Mary didn’t know at first. Two angels appear, sitting inside the tomb. When they ask why she is crying, she tells them, they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him (v13) And, Mary turns, and there stands Jesus! He speaks to her, also asking why she weeps.