Easter Day 2020 Worship with Communion

Alleluia! Christ is risen.

Welcome to St Andrew’s and St George’s West online worship for Easter Day.

Our service includes Communion, so you may like to have a glass of wine, or juice, and some bread to hand.

Listen to the service in the sound file below. You can download an order of service here, or just follow the version below.

 

Preparing for Worship

“The proof that God raised Jesus from the dead is not the empty tomb,
but the full hearts of his transformed disciples.
The crowning evidence that he lives is not a vacant grave
but a spirit filled-fellowship;
Not a rolled away stone but a carried away church”
~ Clarence Jordan

Call to Worship
This is Easter morning. Christ is risen! Alleluia!

Today we proclaim
that Christ lives.
Today we celebrate
that no darkness can extinguish light,
that love will always be more powerful than death,
and that peace will be stronger than violence.

Hymn 416 Christ is alive! Let Christians sing

Christ is alive! Let Christians sing.
The cross stands empty to the sky.
Let streets and homes with praises ring.
Love, drowned in death, shall never die.

Christ is alive! No longer bound
to distant years in Palestine,
but saving, healing, here and now,
and touching every place and time.

In every insult, rift and war,
where colour, scorn or wealth divide,
Christ suffers still, yet loves the more,
and lives, where even hope has died.

Women and men, in age and youth,
can feel the Spirit, hear the call,
and find the way, the life, the truth,
revealed in Jesus, freed for all.

Christ is alive, and comes to bring
good news to this and every age,
till earth and sky and ocean ring
with joy, with justice, love and praise.

Opening Prayer and The Lord’s Prayer

God of renewed presence this Easter day, we thank you for your labour of miraculous love, for the hope we can find through Christ’s rising.

We confess that faith doesn’t always come easily. When we face loss in our own lives, sorrow can weigh us down. In the midst of the pain that Covid-19 brings, our challenges can feel like a stone too heavy to roll away.

Forgive us, O Worker of Wonders. Easter shows us that nothing is impossible for you.

Embrace, renew and restore us.
Thank you for assuring us that the power of your love will never let us go.

May the words that Jesus taught, words that have stood the test of every time and trial, strengthen us as we pray together:

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our sins,
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us in the time of trial and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours,
now and forever. Amen

Remembering our Baptism

In Good Days and Bad Days Ruth Burgess

God
you tell me
I am as important as my neighbour

I am precious
in your sight

You know me
and recognise my name

My life has meaning
and purpose

I am loved
and liked
and cherished

I belong
in your world

God in my good days and bad days
help me
to know
your delight
in me

Call me
step by step
into your joy

Music Do not be afraid, for I have redeemed you,
I have called you by your name; you are mine.
Words taken from Isaiah 43
Music: G. Markland, arranged R. Fudge

New Testament Reading John 20:1-18 (NRSV)
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. 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.” Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples returned to their homes.

But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; 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.  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.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 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.”  Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew,“Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). 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.’” 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.

Hymn 417 Now the green blade riseth

Now the green blade rises from the buried grain,
wheat that in 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 whom men had slain,
thinking that never he would awake 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.

Reflection

Flutes O filii et filiae

Prayers of Intercession

Congregational response: on hearing ‘Help us’ – ‘to be your light, O Christ.’
Choral response: Spirit of Life, fill us with your love.

Help us – to be your Light, O Christ
Lord, early in the morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene, with courage and faith, went to the tomb.
We give thanks and pray for courageous health workers, and care providers, especially those with inadequate protection equipment, and pray for those working to develop scientific responses and medical advice.
Help us – to be your light, O Christ
Choral response

Lord, when Mary found the empty tomb, she ran to tell the disciples; Peter and the disciple whom You loved, ran to see.
We give thanks and pray for those maintaining electronic communications, for the pleasure of being able to share what brings us comfort and joy and for the re-emergence of neighbourliness, smiles and conversations at a distance.
Help us – to be your light, O Christ
Choral response

Lord, dazzled by the light as she emerged from the tomb, Mary heard Your voice speaking her name.
We give thanks and pray for those who are listening for Your voice in these perplexing times and for those striving to work out how they will make their organisations survive the pandemic and continue to provide employment and service.
Help us – to be your light, O Christ
Choral response

Lord, Mary told the disciples that You were alive – that Love has overcome fear and death.
We give thanks and pray for police, social workers and volunteers trying to help those struggling to maintain good relationships.
This Easter may we rejoice in all the ways in which fear can be overcome and, in the stillness of our hearts, rejoice in the clear light of Your eternal love.
Amen

Celebration of the Lord’s Supper
The Invitation
We stand in the resurrection garden of God –
a place suffused and shaped by love
and ripe with its potential;

and this is the table of the risen Jesus –
a place fashioned and furnished by Love
and rich with its promises…

We share these gifts of grace,
to encounter Christ,
and be healed by Love
and transformed with Life.

Hymn 661 Eat this bread, drink this cup

Eat this bread, drink this cup,
Come to me and never be hungry.
Eat this break, drink this cup,
Trust in me and you will not thirst.

Communion Narrative and Thanksgiving

Before the dawn in the garden –
when Love was resurrected,
before the cold silence of the tomb –
by which Love was swallowed,
before the black horror of the cross –
on which Love was broken,
before the bitter struggle of another garden –
through which Love affirmed its choices,
Jesus, eating a final supper with his friends
blessed and broke bread and poured out a cup of wine,
sharing these tokens with them
as a confirmation of the life he had lived
and a sign of what was to come.

So, we too,
recalling that moment
and honouring that life
take and break this bread (The bread is broken)
and pour out this wine (The wine is poured)
as a confirmation and sign
that we are part of its ongoing story.
And remembering with wonder and joy
that Love – though broken on a cross – was not defeated,
and – though swallowed by death – was not silenced,
but lives unvanquished
and speaks still,
and to all,
words of welcome, healing and hope,
we join our voices with that of Creation
and with all those who bear witness across the world,
and throughout the ages
to the transforming power of God’s love and life:

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, God of power and might
Heaven and earth are full of your glory
Hosanna in the highest!
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord
Hosanna in the highest!

Consecration
And as we rejoice and remember
send down your Holy Spirit on us
and on these gifts of bread and wine
that we may once again
encounter Love
and be transformed.

The Sharing of the Gifts
Jesus, Love resurrected,
comes to each of us
as the bread of life, and the cup of blessing.

Friends, these are the gifts of God for the people of God.

Let us eat (break is taken)

Let us drink (wine/juice is taken)

Hymn 661 Eat this bread, drink this cup

Eat this bread, drink this cup,
Come to me and never be hungry.
Eat this break, drink this cup,
Trust in me and you will not thirst.

The Sharing of the Peace

May the peace of the resurrected Jesus,
the challenging peace of committed life,
the liberating peace of selfless love,
the vibrant peace of new possibility
transform us with joy.

The peace of the risen Christ be with you all

Hymn 419 Thine be the glory

Thine be the glory, risen conquering Son;
endless is the victory thou o’er death hast won.
angels in bright raiment rolled the stone away,
kept the folded grave clothes where thy body lay.
Thine be the glory, risen conquering Son:
endless is the victory, thou o’er death hast won.

Lo! Jesus meets us, risen from the tomb;
lovingly he greets us, scatters fear and gloom.
let the church with gladness hymns of triumph sing;
for her Lord now liveth; death hath lost its sting.

No more we doubt thee, glorious Prince of Life!
life is naught without thee; aid us in our strife;
make us more than conquerors, through thy deathless love:
bring us safe through Jordan to thy home above.

Blessing
When you find yourself lost and confused,
may you hear Christ calling your name.
As you venture on uncertain pathways,
may you recognize Christ with you on the journey.
In times of wondering and doubt,
may you feel Christ’s patient reassurance.
And in all times and places know this:
Christ is risen! Alleluia!

Sung Blessing The Lord bless you and keep you (Aaronic Blessing)

Flutes Variations on the melody ‘Vruechten

Minister Rev Dr Rosie Magee
Vocal Ensemble Eleanor Wilson, Eleanor Cozens, Caitlin McGillivray, Tim Cooper, Drew Crichton, Andrew Carvel
Flutes Laura Cioffi, Clara Galea
Director of Music Brigitte Harris
Assistant Director of Music Andrew Carvel
Reader Diana Thurston Smith
Poem Ruby Brown
Prayers of Intercession Katie and James McNeill

Service produced by Andrew Carvel
Rainbow Church Artwork by Ruby Brown

Listen to the bells of St Andrew’s and St George’s West on YouTube below