Easter Sunrise Service
Our Easter Sunrise Service is based on John 20: 1-9. The service is designed to be used in conjunction with the order of service emailed earlier but also available to download here.
To watch the service and Mark’s sermon follow this link.
Call to worship:
Hallelujah! Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed! Hallelujah!
The risen Lord says, “Do not be afraid. I am the first and the last. I am the Living One. I was dead but now I am alive for evermore, and I hold the keys of death and death’s domain.” (Rev. 1:17-18).
Opening song:
Opening prayer
Lord of life and conqueror of death, we come before you this Easter morning. You know our worries, our limitations, our fears. We come as we are. Speak to us as you spoke to Mary that first Easter morning; for your glory’s sake. Amen.
Confession
Lord, when we have doubted you.
Lord, forgive us
When we have disowned you.
Lord, forgive us
When we have denied you.
Lord, forgive us
When we have forgotten your victory.
Lord, forgive us
The Lord of Life declares, “I forgive you, for I have come that you may have life, life in all its fullness.”
Thanks be to God. Amen.
Reading: John 20:1-9
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.)
This is the Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God
Time to reflect
To watch the service and Mark’s sermon follow this link.
Or read
It is a difficult time for those who mourn. Because of the coronavirus some funerals today are being held without mourners. In most cases only immediate family can attend and even then they have to sit 2 metres apart during the brief ceremony. At a time when we need the comfort of others, we cannot hold each other or be close to each other because of the current restrictions. It’s not an easy time for those who are grieving.
It was not an easy time for Jesus’ followers after his agonising death and hurried burial. They were traumatised by Jesus’ brutal death. They were helpless in the face of the religious leaders who stoked the crowd to chant for Jesus’ crucifixion, helpless in the face of Roman brutality. Their master had been ripped away from them and they had been unable to do anything about it.
It was a Palestinian custom to visit the grave of a loved one for three days after the body had been laid to rest. They believed the spirit of the dead person waited around the tomb for that period of time. So it was not unnatural for Mary to visit the tomb before dawn, yet she could not have expected to see the tomb open.
Running from the tomb to where Peter and John were staying, Mary cried out, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” (20:2). When Peter and John arrived at the tomb, they saw the burial clothes, the linen strips and the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. Two separate pieces of cloth. John tells us in his gospel that the head cloth was `folded up by itself, separate from the linen’ (v7). This is significant. If it was grave robbers who entered the tomb, they would have taken the cloths and left the body. But the grave clothes were still there, lying where the body had been. If the authorities had taken the body, they wouldn’t have bothered unwrapping it. No, what John tells us is significant.
The sight that lay before them caused John to believe (v8b). The Scriptures didn’t give him understanding; his own eyes gave him understanding. Sometimes you’ve just got to see it to believe it. And John believed, although he and Peter and Mary didn’t yet understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead (v9).
So, on this Easter morning, seeing is believing. I cannot see the coronavirus without the aid of a powerful microscope, but I know it’s real. I cannot see the resurrection of Jesus without the aid of faith, but I know it’s real.
R.W.Dale was a great national figure and Congregational minister of the 19th century. While preparing an Easter sermon, the thought of the risen Lord came upon him as never before. “Christ is alive!” he said to himself; “alive! Can that really be true? Living as really as I myself am? He got up and walked about repeating, “Christ is alive!” All those years he had believed it, but his belief moved from his head to his heart. Not until that point had it penetrated him so that it became a living faith.
Christ is alive today! The empty tomb and the grave clothes tell us Christ is alive. Has this truth penetrated your soul, your mind and your spirit? If not, I pray this Easter that this truth becomes more than words; I pray this truth truly lives in you.
Prayers of intercession
Risen Lord, on this Easter morning, as the day begins, hear our prayers for the world which you love so much. In your presence is life and in your power death is conquered, and the way to you is opened. Lord, give us the hope we need in this time of struggle; give us the faith we need in this time of doubt; give us the strength we need in this time of weakness and confusion.
Bless our families, our friends, and those who care for us. May they know the joy that you bring at Easter because you have opened the way to eternal life.
We pray for your Church throughout the world, that even though we cannot celebrate your resurrection in the normal way, that your joy may be in us and our joy be complete.
We continue to pray for our health workers and all combatting the coronavirus and we thank you that their victory is our victory.
We pray for those grieving the loss of loved ones, especially when they cannot attend the funeral. Risen Lord, hear our prayer, for your kingdom’s sake. Amen.
Closing song
Closing Prayer & Blessing
Lord Jesus, we rejoice in your mighty power which brings life our of death, joy out of grief, hope out of despair. May we truly live in the light of your resurrection and know that you are alive now and always! Amen.
And the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit be with you and all whom you love this Easter day and for evermore. Amen.