|
Prelude, Welcome, and Information n Hymn #365 Jesus Christ Is Risen Today |
|
The grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you
all. And also with
you. Christ is risen! Alleluia! He
is risen indeed! Alleluia! Rejoice,
heavenly powers! Sing, choirs of angels! Alleluia! Christ our King is risen. Alleluia! Exult,
all creation! Rejoice, O earth, in shining splendor! Alleluia! Christ our King is risen! Alleluia! Christ
has conquered! Glory fills you! Christ our King is risen! Alleluia! Darkness
vanishes forever! Christ dispels the darkness of our night! Alleluia! Christ our King is risen! Alleluia! This is
the feast of victory for our God.
Alleluia. Power, riches, wisdom and strength, Sing with all the people of God For the Lamb who was slain This is the feast of victory for our God, |
|
The Lord be with you. And
also with you. Let us pray together. God of Mercy, we no longer look
for Jesus among the dead, for he is alive and has become the Lord of Life.
Increase in our minds and hearts the risen life we share with Christ, and
help us to grow as your people toward the fullness of eternal life with you,
through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and
the Holy Spirit, one God now and forever.
Amen. |
Reading:
Acts 10:34—43
A reading from the book of the Act of the Apostles
4Then Peter began to speak to them: “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, 35but
in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to
him. 36You know the message he sent to the people of Israel,
preaching peace by Jesus Christ—he is Lord of all. 37That
message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that
John announced: 38how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the
Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who
were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. 39We are
witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to
death by hanging him on a tree; 40but God raised him on the
third day and allowed him to appear, 41not to all the people
but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him
after he rose from the dead. 42He commanded us to preach to the
people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living
and the dead. 43All the prophets testify about him that
everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
The Word of the Lord
Reading:
1 Corinthians 15: 1-11
A reading from the first letter to the Corinthians
Now I would remind you, brothers and sisters, of the good news that I
proclaimed to you, which you in turn received, in which also you stand, 2through
which also you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message that I
proclaimed to you—unless you have come to believe in vain. 3For
I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that
Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, 4and
that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with
the scriptures, 5and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the
twelve. 6Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers
and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have
died. 7Then he appeared to James, then to all the
apostles. 8Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared
also to me. 9For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be
called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10But
by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me has not been in
vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them—though it was not I,
but the grace of God that is with me. 11Whether then it was I
or they, so we proclaim and so you have come to believe.
The Word of the Lord.
Gospel
Verse:
Alleluia! Christ, our
paschal lamb, has been sacrificed. Therefore let us keep the feast!
Alleluia! (1 Cor 5: 7, 8)
Gospel Reading: Mark 16:1—8
When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James,
and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. 2And
very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to
the tomb. 3They had been saying to one another, “Who will roll
away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” 4When
they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been
rolled back. 5As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man,
dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were
alarmed. 6But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed; you are
looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not
here. Look, there is the place they laid him. 7But go, tell his
disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will
see him, just as he told you.” 8So they went out and fled from
the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to
anyone, for they were afraid.
Sermon
(added at the end of the document)
Thanks and Offertory
Prayers
of the Church: (edited and shortened by a bit)
Alive in the
Risen Christ, let us pray in faith.
(Silent prayer.)(Response: Your mercy is great.)
·
Fill your
church with the power of your love that is stronger than death. Hear us, O God…
·
Fill all
creation with your life. Hear us, O God…
·
Fill the
nations with your peace. Hear us, O God…
·
Fill all in
need with hope. Hear us, O God…
·
Fill this
assembly with joy. Hear us, O God…
·
Fill our
bishops, Susan and Michael, with your wisdom. Bless the people of Trinity
Church, London and their pastoral staff, Pr. Steve Johnston and Sr. Jeanne
Widmeyer. Hear us, O God…
·
Fill us with
trust as we join with all who have gone before us in proclaiming “your mercy
endures forever.” Hear us, O God…
·
In the hope
of new life in Christ, we raise our prayers to you, trusting in your
never-ending goodness and mercy, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The
Lord’s Prayer
Finally let us pray for all things as
our Lord would have us ask:
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, and the power,
and the
glory, forever and ever. Amen.
The
Nunc Dimittis
Now, Lord, you let your servant go in peace:
your word has been fulfilled.
My own eyes have seen the salvation
which you have prepared in the
sight of every people:
a light to reveal you to the
nations
and the glory of your people
Israel.
Benediction and Sending
The Lord bless us and keep us.
The Lord make his face shine on us and be gracious to us.
The Lord look upon us with favor and + give us peace.
Amen.
Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!
Go in peace. Serve the Lord. Thanks
be to God!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Do
not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He
has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid
him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to
Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.
·
Mark’s Gospel ends abruptly with the young man
in white telling the women that Jesus has
been raised and not
here. The women run in terror and say nothing. We know they must
have said something at some time since we know about this; somebody told Mark. If we read this, it might leave us unsatisfied.
After all, we want to see Jesus resurrected and glorified. But what Mark gives
us is confusion and a second hand report
·
So now what do we do?
·
With Mark’s Gospel, there are two things to
remember. First, Jesus is in constant motion and some teachers have said he
runs around breathlessly from one place or action to the next. Second, Mark’s
emphasis is almost always on discipleship and following the call and invitation
of Jesus. With these two things in mind, maybe we can see the enigmatic ending
of Mark’s Gospel in a new light.
·
Mark’s Jesus is in constant motion, so here he
has already moved on. He’s gone from the tomb leaving his messenger, his agent
there to tell those who come by to meet him somewhere else, in Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told
you. The three women were to tell the disciples, but Mark never
seems to get that far. The other endings we have in our Bibles were written
much later and don’t seem to be Mark’s writing. Mark’s Gospel appears to end in
a silence that just hangs in the air.
·
But does it really? Can the story of the Good
News really end in silence? If we were to imagine Mark speaking to us:
“Silence? So what are YOU going to do about that?”
·
We have a clue at our fingertips about this.
This open ended closing of the Gospel almost invites us to start to read it again.
Mark begins his telling of the Good News with these words: The beginning of the
good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. (Mk. 1:1)
·
If this is the “beginning” and his last words
leave thing open, the invitation is there. Read it again and then make the Good
News of Jesus Christ OUR story. That Good News continues with you and me and
our lives, our discipleship. The Good News is not ended; it continues with each
of us.
·
Now we can all remember that the Gospel is not
our story to finish. It may be a story we hand on to others, but it has always
been God’s story, Jesus’ story. Mark’s Gospel is open at the end so we can step
into God’s story. We take this step at the invitation of Jesus since he has
always invited people to follow him. Just so he invites us today and every day
to follow him as he did the first disciples when he walked the earth. He draws
us to himself, even through death and suffering, and invites us along to where
we can see him as he promised.
·
Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! And he
calls us to follow where he leads.
Do
not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He
has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid
him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to
Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.
No comments:
Post a Comment