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Easter Day

Rise and Shine and Give God the Glory Glory…

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Do you have an Easter Sunrise service? Does it actually begin early in the morning on the first day of the week while it was still dark? Or is the sun well up by the time you begin? Indoors or out? What’s the rain plan?

Easter, and sunrise services in particular, feels like one of those services when it’s super tempting to just do what we did last year. Quite a few of the people who come haven’t been here since Christmas Eve, and they have pretty specific desires about music, atmosphere, and message. And when it’s early in the morning, it’s hard to imagine doing something creative because it just requires a level of alertness neither we nor congregants may possess (unless we’re those morning people…).

So, sunrise worship goers or leaders, what’s your plan? What do you hope people will experience? What words or images will help create the atmosphere and convey the message at a sunrise service?

Easter Communion

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The Great Prayer of Thanksgiving
L:    The God of every morning be with you.
P:    And also with you.
L:    People of Easter morning, lift up your hearts!
P:    We lift them to the One
who has raised Jesus from the grave.
L:    People of Easter’s joy, give thanks
to the One who raises us to new life.
P:    We sing our hallelujahs
to the God of everlasting love.

On this day of joy and hope,
Redeemer of the lost,
we sing our praise to you.
Very early in the morning,
your Word shattered the silence of chaos,
and grace flowed forth like a river.
You reached down
and gathered up the dust of creation,
forming us into your image,
and breathing life into us.
Yet the day came
when we chose to turn from you
believing our wisdom was superior
to your will for us.
You sent us the prophets,
to speak of your gracious hope,
but we refused to listen.
When you could have let us remain
in the clutches of sin and death,
you sent Jesus to be one of us,
so we could come home to you.

Therefore, we join our voices this morning
with those who stood at the empty tomb,
as well as those of every time and place,
singing our Easter joy to you:

P:    Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of the empty grave.
Glad songs of resurrection joy are offered to you.
Hosanna in the highest!

Blessed is the One who comes bearing your steadfast love.
Hosanna in the highest!

Holy are you, God of every day,
and blessed is Jesus Christ,
Bright Morning Star.
Creator of all that is good,
he entered the shadows of hell
to lead us into hope’s light;
Beloved of your Heart,
he embraced our sin
so we could be forgiven;
Glory beyond imagination,
he welcomed death
so we could enter life eternal.

Even as we believe
what we may not understand,
we trust that mystery we call faith:

P:    On the first day, Christ shaped all that
is good and beautiful;
on the first day of the week, Christ
swallowed up death forever;
on the last day, Christ will call us
to the Table of the Lamb.

It is here at this Table,
Resurrecting God,
that we are fed by your love.
As you pour out your Spirit
upon the Bread and the Cup,
fill us with the spirit of Jesus,
so we may go forth to be your people.
Feed us with the Bread of Heaven,
so we can fill the hunger of the world.
Touch our lips with salvation’s cup,
so we can proclaim the good news
of this day to everyone we meet.

And when the morning comes
when we are united with all the saints
gathered around heaven’s Table,
we will lift our voices to you,
God in Community, Holy in One,
forever and ever.  Amen.

 

Submitted by Rev. Thom Shuman, author of Lectionary Liturgies.

Easter prayer: we come in hope

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Resurrecting God, we have come to see the stone rolled away.
We come in hope that no matter who we are,
no matter where life has taken us,
no matter what choices we have made,
no matter what sins we have committed,
we will find Christ in this place.
The empty tomb assures us that nothing we can do is beyond your power to recreate.
Be with us as we celebrate the beauty of new life, we ask in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray saying:

Our Father…

 

Submitted by Rev. Martha Spong, First Congregational Church, North Yarmouth Maine.

(note from liturgylink…this would also adapt into a really great call to confession!)

Easter prayer

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Very early on that first day
you caught chaos unawares,
Astounding God:
planting grace in a garden,
setting love loose on creation,
flinging joy into the air.

Very early on that first day
Jesus, Sun of Justice:
you staggered sin,
throwing its weight off the world;
you confounded death,
leaving it alone in the grave;
you opened the gates of the kingdom,
so all could follow you into life.

Very early on this first day of the week,
while we were washing sleep from our eyes
and trying to make sense of our lives,
you sang glad songs to us,
Scarred Spirit:
rolling away fears from our hearts
so we can see the Risen Lord.

God in Community, Holy in One,
very early on this first day of the week,
as we do on every day of our lives,
we lift our prayers as Jesus has taught us,
Our Father . . .

 

Submitted by Rev. Thom Shuman, author of Lectionary Liturgies.

Easter Confession

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Call to Reconciliation
Very early in the morning, God created all that is
good and beautiful.  Very early in the morning,
a mother placed her newborn in a manger.  Very
early in the morning, the good news was shared
with frightened friends, that Jesus was risen and
alive in our midst.  Let us confess the fears and
the amazement we bring this morning . . .

Unison Prayer of Confession
On this morning of hallelujahs, we must confess how
human we are, Emptier of tombs.  We haven’t done
any great evil, but we have failed to do good when
we had the chance.  We have not intentionally hurt
any one, nor have we offered healing to the broken.
We easily accept the witness of the angel in the tomb,
but find it difficult to share this good news with our
friends and neighbors.
Bring us new life, Dazzling God.  Where we are tired
and stressed, give us the energy to serve your creation;
transform our hardened hearts into fountains of grace;
forgive us of all the damage we have done, and fill us
with the joy of your Spirit.  In the name of Jesus Christ,
who gives us new life, we pray.

Silent Prayers may be offered.

Assurance of Pardon:
L:    God, our Creator, gives us new life;
Christ, our Redeemer, prepares a Table for us;
Holy Spirit, our Joy, calls us to service.
This is the good news: the tomb is empty, sin
is powerless, death is defeated forever.
P:    On this very first day, and every day, we walk
as God’s people, forgiven and made whole.
Thanks be to God.  Amen.

 

Submitted by Rev. Thom Shuman, author of Lectionary Liturgies.