31A – Easter Day

30A - Holy Saturday32A - Easter 2A
 
See also my posts from 2014, 2017, 2020, 2023

 
CALL TO WORSHIP (from Psalm 118)
Give thanks to the LORD, who alone is good;
whose steadfast love is everlasting! 
Let the gates of righteousness be opened
that I may enter through them and give thanks to the LORD. 
This is the gate of the LORD;
the righteous shall enter through it. 
This is the day that the LORD has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.  Gracious and eternal God,
Let the silent mystery of your Spirit
surround, sustain and excite us.
Transform our gathering to your glory,
and perfect our worship for your praise.
We pray in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

CALL TO WORSHIP (Psalm 118:1 ,2, 14-24)
Give thanks to the LORD, who alone is good;
whose steadfast love is everlasting! 
The LORD is my strength and my might;
the LORD is my salvation.
Let the gates of righteousness be opened
that I may enter through them and give thanks to the LORD. 
This is the gate of the LORD; the righteous shall enter through it.
I thank you that you have answered me 
and have become my salvation.
The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.
This is the LORD’s doing; it is marvellous in our eyes.
This is the day that the LORD has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it. 

OFFERING
Creating and generous God
we give you thanks, for you alone are good,
and your steadfast love is for ever.
By your right hand you have overcome death;
you have acted to put things right,
and so in gratitude we bring
our praise and our thanks;
our lives and symbols of our daily living.
By your Spirit
enable us to be responsible stewards
of all that you have entrusted to us;
in Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen

For use in worship, with acknowledgement. © Jeff Shrowder 2000, 2014.


A CREATIVE MOMENT 
The purple of Lent has gone. A simple basis for creativity and symbols during the Easter season could be a swathe of white and/or gold/yellow cloth flowing over the front of the worship/communion table and onto the floor.

Click here for some ideas for worship in Lent and Easter gleaned from the pages of “On the Move” (now out of print), originally published by the Joint Board of Christian Education, Melbourne, Australia.


THE PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
(A prayer, usually with connection to one or more of the lections for the day, to gather the spoken and silent concerns/joys/thanks expressed by the congregation and lead into a more structured Intercession. Sometimes this prayer also borrows lightly from other sources e.g. Uniting in Worship 2 or publications of the Iona Community.)

Holy source of all that is,
as the spirit of Jesus
enlivened and encouraged his timid disciples,
may that same spirit enliven and encourage us
those we name on our lips
and in our silence…
those who love and care for them…
those whose troubles are known only to you;
and those who have no-one …
         (The Prayers of the People continue)


Looking for contemporary music and song resources?
Try David MacGregor’s Together to Celebrate
Or metrical psalms? Try Dale A. Schoening’s Sing the Psalms

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HYMN SUGGESTIONS FOR EASTER SUNDAY
A man there lived in Galilee TIS 235
I know that my Redeemer TIS 202
Jesus Christ is risen today TIS 362
Praise the Lord with joyful cry TIS 97
Ye gates lift up your heads TIS 12
Acts 10:34-43
Hail, our once despised Jesus TIS 373
I danced in the morning TIS 242
O what a gift, what a wonderful gift TIS 278
The voice of God goes out to all the world TIS 282
Jeremiah 31:1-6 [alternative]
Come, God’s people, sing for joy TIS 391
O love of God, how strong and true TIS 139
Jesus, lover of my soul TIS 211
Father, whose everlasting love TIS 213
O the deep, deep love of Jesus TIS 232
Psalm 118:1-3, 14-24
Give thanks for the Lord is good TIS 74
God is our song, and every singer blest TIS 646
Hark the glad sound! the Saviour comes TIS 269
The day of resurrection TIS 361
This is a day of new beginnings TIS 653
Colossians 3:1-4
Christ is risen! Shout hosanna TIS 394
Christ the Lord is risen today TIS 370
Come, let us with our Lord arise TIS 375
God, you touch the earth with beauty TIS 610
He is risen, he is risen TIS 379
I bind unto myself today/Christ be with TIS 478
If we have died to ourselves in Jesus TIS 475
Now is eternal life TIS 385
Matthew 28:1-10 OR John 20: 1-18
A prophet-woman broke a jar TIS 696
Alleluia, Christ is risen TIS 395
Christ is alive, let Christians sing TIS 387
Easter glory fills the sky TIS 388
He is risen, he is risen TIS 379
Jesus Christ is risen today TIS 362
Joyful the morning when Jesus Christ is risen TIS 383
Light’s reddening dawn gleams through the sky TIS 360
Myrrh-bearing Mary from Magdala came TIS 660
Pour out your Spirit from on high TIS 451
The day of resurrection TIS 361
Woman in the night TIS 661
Yours be the glory, risen, conquering Son TIS 380

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