You are welcome to join our in-person services each week, but here are some resources for those who aren’t yet able to join us in person. This is the last of these online service resources while we think about how best to continue to care for people as we begin returning to church. If you would like to be in touch, I’d love to hear from you.
Alleluia! Christ is risen.
He is risen indeed. Alleluia!
From the Te Deum
You, Christ, are the King of glory, the eternal Son of the Father.
When you took our flesh to set us free you humbly chose the Virgin’s womb.
You overcame the sting of death and opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers.
You are seated at God’s right hand in glory. We believe that you will come and be our judge.
Come then, Lord, and help your people, bought with the price of your own blood,
and bring us with your saints to glory everlasting.
Confession
Almighty God, our heavenly Father, we have sinned against you and against our neighbour in thought and word and deed, through negligence, through weakness, through our own deliberate fault. We are truly sorry and repent of all our sins. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, who died for us, forgive us all that is past and grant that we may serve you in newness of life to the glory of your name. Amen.
May the God of love and power forgive you from your sins, and restore you in his image to the praise and glory of his name, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Word of God
Please read Acts 10:34-43 and John 20:1-18, available here.
Creed
I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father, and he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
Easter Sunday Reflection
I’m very thankful for people who remind me of what is really true. This past year has been an emotional and spiritual rollercoaster for many of us. I remember as a teenager being on a ride at Drayton Manor theme park and part way through realising it was too much for me. I didn’t know it was possible to feel so dizzy. I was very thankful to be back on firm ground afterwards, and spent some time lying down on the grass. The message of Easter is our firm bedrock in a troubled world.
See the folded graveclothes
John is keen for us to hear the eye-witness details of that first Easter morning, and what they see is an empty tomb: the stone rolled away, the graveclothes left behind. Why do you think we are given so many details about the graveclothes in verses 5-8?
Firstly, there was not much else to see. There was no body in those graveclothes. Many people have tried to disprove the resurrection, many have ended up being convinced that Jesus did physically rise from the dead. They have been convinced by this very testimony.
This eye-witness testimony is one part of the evidence proving that Jesus has beaten sin and death. He has not merely been resuscitated, but won victory over death forever. He will not need these graveclothes again.
In Chirk, is the canal aqueduct and after it is a very long canal tunnel. From one end, it’s hard to see the light at the other end. Death can be like that tunnel. Someone like Lazarus entered that tunnel of death but Jesus reached into the grave and brought him safely back out of the tunnel to live again. Jesus did something different. He went right through the tunnel and came out the other side, entering the new physical life of God’s new world. He is the first to rise and to know life like this. He has forged the way for all who trust him to follow into his resurrection life. He will never need graveclothes again.
Hear the voice of Jesus
We are told Peter and John “saw and believed” (John 20:8) but Mary stands outside the empty tomb weeping. Sometimes people wish God would make himself clearer to us. If he could just appear in front of us or make some clear sign. John is writing to people just like us, who know we cannot ‘see’ for ourselves. He writes:
“Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name." (John 20:29–31)
John is showing us God’s word is enough for us – we hear the risen Jesus and we receive life in his name. Mary saw the empty tomb, heard of the graveclothes, saw two angels in the tomb and then turned and saw Jesus alive. And yet all that was not enough for her to truly see, through her tear-filled eyes. Only when Jesus says her name, “Mary”, does she realise who it is. It was through an encounter with the risen Jesus that she was convinced of his resurrection. That happens for us today: as we read the accounts of Jesus’ life in the pages of the gospel, we encounter Jesus. We cannot relate to a dead figure of history, but we know and encounter Jesus by faith today because he is risen. One day every one us will be face-to-face with him. We will be with him sharing his resurrection life.
Jesus’ resurrection reminds us of the bedrock of our faith. He is risen! Alleluia!
Prayers
Lord of all life and power, who through the mighty resurrection of your Son overcame the old order of sin and death to make all things new in him: grant that we, being dead to sin and alive to you in Jesus Christ, may reign with him in glory; to whom with you and the Holy Spirit be praise and honour, glory and might, now and in all eternity. Amen.
You may like to continue with your own prayers and the Lord’s Prayer. You may wish to pray for one or two from our church family by name, and for mercy for our world facing Covid-19.
Conclusion
The God of peace, who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight; and the blessing of God Almighty, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, be among us and remain with us always. Amen.
