Just over 60 connections were made to our Zoom service, with new faces in the town joining us, WRBC church family joining us from around the country, and even friends of the church connecting from Florida (where it was 5.30am!) and Nova Scotia - Welcome!
The stone is rolled to seal the grave, the soldiers stand to guard the door; the years of hope, the hearts of faith, cold as the tomb, dead as their Lord.
The tears of anger and regret, the cock has crowed, the traitor fled; disciples frightened and confused, where once was peace, now only dread.
Where can they go, where can they run? His words were true, eternal life; yet even Christ has felt death’s sting, sin’s curse extinguishing love’s light.
We stand with them, with the bereaved, stand with the broken, torn and bruised; we hold our doubts, our tears, our pain, and, by our nails, hold to the truth.
There is a sun we cannot see, a resurrection yet to dawn,
a hope that holds us through the night, a path that leads to Easter morn.
We began our Easter Sunday worship with this song called The Stone, and included some footage taken in the church reconstructing the walk of the women early on that first day of the week, and discovering the empty tomb and the “angelic message”:Jesus is not here, He is risen, He is alive!
Song See what a morning read by Stephen & Heather
Sing! Low in the grave he lay
Prayers of praise Almighty God, with joy and praise, with awe and wonder, with gladness and celebration We bring our Easter worship!
We lift up our hearts, we lift up our thoughts, we lift up our voices, we lift up our souls We recognise afresh all you have done for us in Jesus Christ!
The Good News at the heart of our faith, light after darkness, joy after sorrow, good after evil, life after death! How we rejoice in the messages of this wonderful day!
Almighty God, through all we read and hear, through all we see and share, through all we do Speak to us again this day, meet with us again this day!
May the truth of the resurrection inspire us with new hope! May the victory of Christ’s rising fill us with new joy! May the reality of his living presence enhance and enrich our faith anew!
So may we worship you with glad hearts, and may we serve one another, and the world, with new love! To the glory of your name, Jesus; to the glory of your name, Jesus.
Almighty God, with joy and praise, with awe and wonder, with gladness and celebration
We bring you our Easter worship!
Jam Club challenge? Find … something brand new! Never previously opened, or used - there were even some unstarted Easter eggs to display!
JAM Club certificates were due to Edison and Harry for 100 and 200 splats respectively - to follow. But the Jam Club teddy prize could be awarded here and now, and it was well caught!
Bible reading John 20,1-18 read by Julie HP
1 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” 3 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. 8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9 (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) 10 Then the disciples went back to where they were staying. 11 Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. 13 They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realise that it was Jesus. 15 He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”). 17 Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” 18 Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.
WRBC object #4
A photo was shown of a feature of our church that has already been involved in the service today - the baptistry (also used as the empty tomb in the opening video!).We reminded ourselves of the way baptism is a picture (symbolising the inner cleansing of our lives), and baptism is a story (joining us and our story to Jesus and his story, esp in his death and in his rising to new life).We showed a clip from last year’s Easter Sunday service, with Izzy’s baptism, and we considered the way too that baptism is an adventure.Who could have guessed that we would be worshipping from home a year later, even on Easter Sunday?!
Song In Christ Alone read by Harold & Barbara
(often sung at a baptismal service, as well as often on Easter Sunday!)
Prayers for others led by Steve J
Lord’s Prayer
In a short reflection, we were reminded that the resurrection means that something new has happened; unprecedented – and that we can never be the same. It is not just that the tomb is empty, but as Mary experienced “I have seen the Lord!”. Just as the cork cannot go back in the champagne bottle, we cannot rewind, other than in our memory, to a point before the bursting of new life from the grave, and our encounter by faith if not sight with Jesus who is alive today. We are an Easter people, we are always an Easter people.
A triple-repeating Easter rhyming poem with actions led by Helen
Sing Thine be the glory
Blessing
