Service of Word and Sacrament – Easter Day

Prelude
‘Easter Alleluia’

Gathering

GREETING

The grace of our Saviour Jesus Christ,
the love of God
and the friendship of the Holy Spirit
be with you all.
And also with you.

OPENING PRAYER

Loving God,
we honour your name above all names.

Thank you for this country we call Australia;
for the fresh and salt-water places,
the animal and plant life.

Thank you for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people,
the First People of Australia,
who have always cared for this country.

We acknowledge
the traditional owners of the land
on which we gather –
the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation.

Placing the sticks from Gadigal land
and using the chat function to acknowledge Country …

Help us to work together
in genuine friendships;
to keep this a safe place for everyone,
now and for ever.

Guide us in freedom
to speak the truth
with respect, compassion and commitment.

Save us from jealousy, envy and greed.

Restore all good and proper cultural ways –
the ways of creation and community.

May we learn and show
your love, joy and peace. Amen.

CONFESSION

In a moment of quiet,
let us confess to God all that holds us back
from the free-fall of faith in the Risen Christ.

Silence.

God of the living and the dead:
Because we treat the resurrection as a nice story
that has no real power to interrupt and convert our lives,
God, have mercy:
God, have mercy.

Because we would rather be miserable
than embrace the joy of your resurrection life,
Christ, have mercy:
Christ, have mercy.

Because we would prefer a tamer god,
a more domesticated god,
a god nicely contained in the tomb of our small-mindedness,
God, have mercy:
God, have mercy.

FORGIVENESS

Listen to the word of the Apostle:

“Repent and be baptised, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. This is a promise for you, and for everyone; for God calls everyone to God’s side” (Acts 2:38,39).

Christ has this word of grace, then, for everyone who has doubted God’s power,
for everyone who now would turn to Christ for help and strength to transform their lives:

“Your sins are forgiven.”
Thanks be to God.

Word

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION

Alleluia

GOSPEL Luke 24:1-12

The good news and power of God.
Praise to you, O Jesus Christ.

HOMILY

‘Return to the world’

Our gospel reading traces a movement of faith from loving kindness to emptiness, encounter with strangers/angels, then memory, testimony, disbelief, action, wonder/amazement …

In evangelical circles, theology (talk about God) is often conflated with ontology (talk about being). The philosopher Martin Heidegger called this “onto-theology” (his own work focused on being, on authentic existence), saying that if he were to write a theology it would not feature the word “being” at all.

What did he mean? God is not a being, certainly … but more than this …

AFFIRMATION

Let us stand to affirm the faith of the church.

We believe in God,
who created the world in love,
who led the First Peoples to this land,
who rescued Israel from slavery in Egypt,
who sent the ancestors and the prophets
to judge and to bless,
who returns the exiles to their home,
whom Jesus called Abba.

We believe in Jesus Christ,
born of Mary, born under law,
Heir of David and God’s Own Child,
proclaimer of God’s peace with justice,
healer and exorcist,
tortured and crucified by evil doers,
sacrament of God’s love,
risen to reconcile all the world,
coming again to make the world new.

We believe in the Holy Spirit,
whose breath gave life to creation,
who speaks through ancestors and prophets,
who is the love between the Parent and the Child,
who came upon Jesus at his baptism,
who gives birth to the church,
Christ’s body,
who pours out gifts for the ministry of love,
who works night and day to renew
all that is alive.

We believe in God,
Lover, Beloved and Spirit of Love.
Amen!

SONG ‘At the dawning of salvation’

At the dawning of salvation;
in the morning of the world,
Christ is raised, a living banner
by the love of God unfurled,
Through the daylight, through the darkness,
Christ leads on his great array:
all the saints and all the sinners
he has gathered on his way.

He is risen in the morning,
he is risen from the dead;
he is laughter after sadness,
he is light when night has fled.
He has suffered, he has triumphed,
life is his alone to give:
as he gave it once he gives it
evermore, that we may live.

For the glory of salvation
in the dawn of Easter day
we will praise you, loving Father;
we rejoice to sing and pray
with the Son and with the Spirit
Lead us on, your great array, 
saints and sinners celebrating
your triumphant love today.

INTERCESSIONS

Give thanks to Our God.
Rejoice and praise God’s name.

Jesus, you offer a vision of a renewed heaven and earth.
Keep from despair all who carry heavy burdens of mind or body …
Strengthen and uphold them in all their sufferings.

Give thanks to Our God.
Rejoice and praise God’s name.

Jesus, your resurrection startled and amazed grief-stricken friends.
In your love raise all who have died …
Make our song the alleluias of heaven.

Give thanks to Our God.
Rejoice and praise God’s name.

Silence for prayers … using chat function and prayer candles.

Give thanks to Our God.
Rejoice and praise God’s name.

Table

GREAT PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING

God is here.
God’s Spirit is with us.

Lift up your hearts.
We lift them to God.

Let us give thanks to the God of love.
It is right to offer thanks and praise.

It is right and a joy to give you praise, O God,
for by the resurrection of your Beloved you make all things new.

Now your dwelling place is forever with us,
this fragile flesh, this faithless humanity.

Because you love us, you have thrown your lot in with us.
In Christ, you are our God and we are your people.

Christ came singing a song of redemption.
What you intended, he accomplished.

Now all who cry out in grief or pain,
may look forward to a future
when every tear will be wiped away
and every broken heart comforted.

Therefore, with angels and saints,
with all creation, we sing:
Holy, holy, holy God,
wisdom, strength and hope,
heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of our God.
Hosanna in the highest.

INSTITUTION

We remember Jesus …

Pour out your Holy Spirit on us …

Keep us close to Christ who teaches us to pray:

LORD’S PRAYER

Father and Mother of us all,
May all proclaim your worth.
Your kingdom come, your will be honoured
in heaven and on Earth.

Give us today the things we need,
our shelter, our money, our food.
Forgive us our debts as we agree
to treat others as you would.

Lead us in ways that do not tempt us
or put us to the test.
Save us from faults or compromise
that would rob us of our best.

For you are the heart of the kindom,
your power and glory extend
through time and space forever and ever,
and so shall it be. Amen.

BREAKING OF THE BREAD

LAMB OF GOD

Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world.
have mercy on us.

Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world.
have mercy on us.

Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world.
grant us peace.

THE COMMUNION

Presider invites people to come to the table, one by one.

People/communicants sanitise their hands on the way to the table. Elder breaks piece of bread and dips into cup, then places elements on small plate and offers to each person/communicant. Communicants take elements back to their seats and wait until all have been served. 

Musicians play softly …

The body and blood of Christ, given for you.

Communicants eat together.

PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION

Please leave your plate beside you on the pew.

PEACE

The peace of Christ be with you all.
And also with you.

Sending

DISMISSAL

Go, in the assurance that death and destruction are not the end.
The way of love brings life in the darkest of places.

BLESSING

Don’t be afraid, God’s love is stronger than your fear.
Don’t be afraid, God has promised you hope and a future.
So let go of your concerns, and let God in.

God’s blessing be upon you always …+

SONG ‘Joyful, joyful, we adore you’

Joyful, joyful, we adore you,
God of glory, God of love;
hearts unfold like flowers before you
opening to the sun above.
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness,
drive the dark of doubt away;
giver of immortal gladness,
fill us with the light of day.

GRACE

Sisu,
tapuaki’i mai me’a kai,
mo’ui lelei famili kotoa.
’Emeni.

(Jesus,
bless our food,
for good health with all our families.
Amen.)

Interlude:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jr478w–dpE

Acknowledgements:

Draws from prayers in Gondwana Theology
by Garry Worete Deverell, Morning Star, Vic., 2018,
and Intercessions for Years A, B and C
by Ian Black, SPCK, London, 2009.

Opening Prayer by Pearl Wymarra with Andrew Collis, 2017,
based on a prayer of thanksgiving and acknowledgement by Pearl Wymarra,
Elder, Gudang Aboriginal Clan of Northern Peninsula Area of Cape York.

‘At the dawning of salvation’ by Jock Curle.
Lyric reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE, License # A-737036.
All rights reserved.

Dismissal by Miriam Pepper, Liturgy Resource, SSUC, 2022.

Lord’s Prayer translation and music by Alison Jones (Clark) © 2016.
Lyric reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE, License # A-737036.
All rights reserved.

‘Joyful, joyful, we adore you’ by Henry Van Dyke.
Lyric reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE, License # A-737036.
All rights reserved.