WELCOME/
Well, it may be one of the strangest of Easter Sundays, but nevertheless these words still ring true:
Christ is risen, he is risen indeed! Alleluia!
Welcome to physically-distanced, yet community, worship - and a blessed Easter to you;
may you know God's deep peace and joy this day.
So... how are you getting along?
Are you settling into some kind of rhythm while you're in lockdown?
I don't really think there's any right or wrong way of making your way through this particular time -
some of us are 'here's a few projects to take on' people, for others concentration is quite hard to
maintain and you feel like you're not accomplishing much... and for some, just getting out of bed
is a big victory. Perhaps the take away here is not to be too hard on yourself - or others, for that
matter - do what you can, as you can, when you can... and if what you need to do is rest, or take
on six impossible things before breakfast, then just do that. And, stay in touch: just because we're
all having to be physically distanced doesn't mean we have to be isolated... pick up that phone,
or use that internet and stay connected: like the old BT slogan used to tell us 'it's good to talk.'
Even though we are still in lockdown, the fact of lockdown does not stop us, as people of faith,
from celebrating the breaking of a different lockdown: the breaking open of a tomb in a garden
nearly 2 000 years ago, and of new life - the amazing story of the resurrection.
Death itself could not contain the Son of God and, in faith, we hang on to that, and give thanks.
Our blog worship this morning picks up Mary's visit to the garden tomb. There's also quite a few
opportunities to say an 'Alleluia' - released at last from Lenten captivity once more!
At the end of this blog post, you'll find some notices, and below that, there are some suggestions
for all-age Easter activities to enjoy.
I hope you find this Easter blog post a helpful way to remember the wonder that is Easter
and just how great is the God who calls us by name, and loves us so very much.
CALL TO WORSHIP/Stop!
Did you hear it:
the stone roll,
the grave clothes being folded,
the body rise,
it was like a whispered ‘alleluia’
in the stillness of the dawn,
but it was real.
Stop!
Did you hear it:
the angels’ muffled laughter a
as the women reached the tomb,
the dawn break over the garden
revealing footprints in the dew,
the mountains bow in slow grandeur
just out the corner of your eye,
it was like something shifting
at the edge of your sight,
but it was real.
Stop!
Did you hear it:
the world holds its breath,
the stars hesitate,
the sun lingers,
creation fill its lungs,
the air swells
so that the whole earth can proclaim:
‘Christ is risen’.
This is resurrection morning!
Alleluia!
Let us worship...
And what better way than to begin with that great Easter hymn...
HYMN/ Jesus Christ is risen today
PRAYER/‘Living God!’
Let us say that again:
‘Living God!’
May the life you have redeemed
from death
be alive in us,
that in our living and being
we proclaim
a life that never dies
yet is so full of alleluias,
of the love of justice and the making of peace,
it can never die.
May we find a million ways
to proclaim you are alive
in word and in deed,
in hope and in action,
in longing and being,
in singing and speaking,
in laughter and care,
in questions and wonder,
in faith and belief.
May we be your resurrection people,
alive to life
and ready to share it
with the world.
Hear us.
Living in us,
reshape us,
call us anew
and again
into life
and it’s fullness.
So be it.
Amen
Our reading today speaks of early morning, a journey to a garden, an unsettling discovery.
Grief is replaced by confusion, which in turn is replaced by astonished joy.
Let's spend time reading God's word...
BIBLE READING/ John 20:1-181Early 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. 2So 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.’
3Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went towards the tomb. 4The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. 6Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, 7and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. 8Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 10Then the disciples returned to their homes.
11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb;
12and 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. 13They 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.’
14When she had said this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know
that it was Jesus. 15Jesus said to her,
‘Woman, why are you weeping? For whom are you looking?’
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.’
16Jesus said to her,
‘Mary!’
She turned and said to him in Hebrew,
‘Rabbouni!’ (which means Teacher).
17Jesus 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.” ’
18Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples,
‘I have seen the Lord’;
and she told them that he had said these things to her.
Amen. And may God bless and inspire us with His word.
REFLECTION/ How To Speak Of GodRisen,
alive,
back,
breathing,
resurrected…
What new ways to describe you today, O Love!
We ended up speaking of you as:
dead,
broken,
crucified,
but now:
restored,
dynamic,
awake,
aware,
resurrected.
On Friday the words ran out
we had nothing left to say.
Now we have new words:
vibrant,
vivid,
laughing,
living,
resurrected.
May we speak again
in this new way,
and give the world
new words:
hope,
grace,
light,
faith,
love…
each word
filled with resurrection promise
and alleluias.
Our next hymn begins with a solo... and then moves into wider congregational singing...
[from Songs of Praise]
HYMN/ Now the green blade rises
PRAYER/
We give thanks to you,Gracious God,
for you have done marvellous things!
When the world was walking in darkness,
you came as light.
Not the light of a bright star alone—
but the light of Jesus, Prince of Peace.
When we were kneeling in weakness,
you came as teacher.
Through his parables and conversations,
Jesus of Nazareth opened our eyes
to a new way of being -
to create communities of compassion and care.
When some were feeling worthless,
you came as friend and physician.
By the healing love of Jesus your Son,
many were shown acceptance
and were brought to new life.
When we were needing forgiveness,
you came as sacrifice.
By the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ,
mercy came in the form
of unconditional and unabated love.
For all of this we give you thanks,
on this holiest of days.
Compassionate God,
we come before you with an active focuson those people in the world who are suffering...
We live in strange, unsettling times
and many this day live with real challenge in their lives.
We pray for the grieving and the lonely,
for the young who spend their days walking on eggshells at home,
and the old who deserve the best we can give,
for families cramped in city flats who long to go to the play park;
for those who are prejudiced against others
and who live behind barriers of fear and suspicion,
and those who have been damaged by the actions of others.
We bring before you
all who live in fear,
those ones who are immuno-compromised,
those who are sick at home or in hospital;
we remember all who work in the NHS in whatever capacity,
and especially the ones treating patients with Covid-19...
we also pray for all who maintain the necessary links
that provide food and other necessities -
giving you thanks, too, for all who are able to volunteer
and support their neighbours and communities.
We grieve with those who grieve
and remember all who have died as a result of the Corona virus...
may their families, friends, and colleagues feel the comfort of your love.
We pray too, for all who are particularly on our minds and in our hearts
at this time, and we pray for our own needs
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
God of love, promise and hope,
this day reminds us of a new dawn and of a different world.
Let us live, united in spirit,
and ready to serve our brothers and sisters in the world,
that they too may know the blessings of your generous love.
Purple changes to gold
darkness to light grey to colour.
This is a day of transformation,
yet it is more.
Sadness to celebration,
graveyards to gardens,
silence to laughter.
This is a day of revolution,
yet it is more than that.
Death to life,
passion to proclamation,
future to now.
In this day of resurrection
may we tangle our thanks
and our praise together,
lost for words that speak of what it is
to be your renewed community
and know what we always wanted to know
and believe what we sometimes
dared not believe:
that your love
is the most powerful thing in all creation,
and even death,
and even graves,
and even sin,
and even nothing in all creation,
can stop love bursting to life once more.
This is love’s day
and Lord Jesus,
we have chosen to celebrate...
As your people,
scattered, yet community,
we pray the prayer your Son taught us:
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 debts,
as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever.
Amen
REFLECTION/Say to the world today
what was thought absurd is now imaginable:
the tomb is empty and death is broken.
Say to the world today
what was impossible yesterday is possible today:
the old preconceptions are shattered.
Say to the world today:
the stone has rolled,
the light streams in and the darkness has cracked.
Say to the world today
all that was uncertain is now certain:
the truth is alive and the lies have crumbled.
Say to the world today
the tomb is empty,
hope is back,
the alleluias have begun
and the silence has snapped.
Say to the world today
death is broken,
preconceptions shattered,
darkness is cracked,
lies crumble,
silence is snapped.
This is the good news that cannot be contained.
Alleluia!
I truly can't think of a better hymn to conclude an Easter Sunday service -
this one gets the 'Songs of Praise' treatment... and perhaps gives us a glimpse
of a time when we can all be physically present - gathered together again to sing God's praise.
HYMN/ Thine be the glory, risen conquering Son
BLESSING/
The stone has been rolled away!Christ is risen!
Love wins!
With joy in our hearts,
thanksgiving on our lips
and a spring of hope in our step,
let us love and serve the risen Lord
and
May the blessing of God almighty -
the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit
be with you today, tomorrow and always.
Amen.
NOTICES/
Pastoral care... if you, or anyone you know in the parish could use a listening ear, please don't
hesitate to get in touch with me [Rev. Nikki]. And, if you just want a wee blether, that's okay too!
At the moment, I'm also able to do a prescription delivery if needed, so let me know if I can be of help with that. My phone number again is 01864 502139
or you can email me by making use of the 'contact us' box on the right side column of the blog.
Food bank referrals... just a reminder that in my capacity as Minister, I'm authorised to make
referrals to Clydesdale Food Bank. If you are in need of the service, please do get in touch -
and, if you know someone who could do with the help, please pass my contact info. on to them.
Also, if you happen to be passing by the front door of the manse on your daily exercise, or essential travel, and you have items you'd like to donate to the food bank, feel free to drop them at my front door and I can organise a pick up when they next come through this way.
Alternatively, you can make a donation to the work of the food bank via their website -
here's the LINK
When you get to the page, scroll down until you get to the green 'donate' button.
ALL-AGE EASTER ACTIVITIES/Create/
Celebration cards
You will need: sheets of A4 card, scissors, pens, coloured tissue paper, glue, envelopes...
Pre-prepare by folding the sheets of card in half to form a greetings card for each person.
Cut a large, cross-shaped hole in the front cover of each card.
Ask everyone to write ‘The joy of Easter shines through’ on the front, and a message inside their card.
Inside the card, they can then cover the cross ‘window’ carefully with tissue paper, creating a stained-glass effect.
Help the children to carefully stick and seal all the edges with glue.
Leave for a few minutes to dry.
Then encourage the children to place the finished cards in the envelopes.
Invite them to send their card to a friend or family member.
A simple craft activity for younger children
Easter bunting
Make Easter bunting from card with the letters spelling out ‘Joy’ -
repeated as many times as needed to create the length to decorate your space.
Invite everyone to decorate the pennant shapes with pens, stickers and sparkles.
The emoji Bible
Invite those with mobile phones to look at emojis and either draw them on paper
or use them within a message on their phones to create a storyboard.
Find suitable emoji images to represent each key point and create a sequence of emojis
to tell the Easter story.
When everyone has finished, invite people to share their stories with each other.
Think/reflect
Chocolate prayers
Give out foil-wrapped chocolate eggs.
Ask everyone to unwrap their egg carefully and save the foil.
As you read the story again, invite them to eat their egg and enjoy the taste.
Then ask the young people to create a cross using their foil wrapper.
Reflect together on the journey from the cross to the joy of Easter Day.
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