Easter Sunday Worship Service 2021
St. Peter’s Evangelical Lutheran Church
RESURRECTION OF OUR LORD / EASTER DAY – Coronavirus
04-04-2021 10:00AM Zoom Worship
+ WE ANNOUNCE THE VICTORY +
EASTER SUNDAY OPENING RITE:
L In the beginning of that week they were so full of enthusiasm –
C Hosanna,
Son of David,
Alleluia,
King,
Prophet,
Jesus!
L But at the end of those days he was hanging on a cross –
C betrayal and denial,
spitting and shame,
crown of thorns and speared belly,
suffering and sweat,
dying words and last breath,
“My God, my God, why have you deserted me?”
L He underwent it all, without intervention.
C His blood started to flow.
His life ebbed away.
His eyes misted over.
His limbs gave way.
His lungs collapsed.
His spirit waned.
L He bent his head and died.
C A tomb was borrowed and prepared.
Darkness set in.
Hope was lost.
Trying to establish good, he was overrun by evil.
Trying to establish peace, he was overcome by violence.
He had tried to save others, but he failed to save himself.
L At the end of the day, there was only a rumor left.
C They told Pilate:
“This liar said,
after three days
I will rise again.”
So they sealed the tomb
and placed the guards.
L Jesus may have appeared a complete failure – crucified, died, and buried…
C but God had other plans!
TRUMPET AND SONG: “Now All the Vault of Heaven Resounds” Green #143
- Now all the vault of heaven resounds in praise of love that still abounds:
“Christ has triumphed! He is living!”
Sing, choirs of angels, loud and clear! Repeat their song of glory here:
“Christ has triumphed! Christ has triumphed!” AL-LE-LU-IA, AL-LE-LU-IA, AL-LE-LU — IA !
- Eternal is the gift he brings, therefore our heart with rapture sings:
“Christ has triumphed! He is living!”
Now still he comes to give us life and by his presence stills all strife.
“Christ has triumphed! He is living!” AL-LE-LU-IA, AL-LE-LU-IA, AL-LE-LU — IA !
- Oh, fill us, Lord, with dauntless love; set heart and will on things above
that we conquer through your triumph;
Grant grace sufficient for life’s day that by our lives we truly say:
“Christ has triumphed! He is living!” AL-LE-LU-IA, AL-LE-LU-IA, AL-LE-LU — IA !
- Adoring praises now we bring and with the heav’nly blessed sing:
“Christ has triumphed! Alleluia!”
Be to the Father, and our Lord, to Spirit blest, most holy God,
all the glory, never ending! AL-LE-LU-IA, AL-LE-LU-IA, AL-LE-LU — IA !
CELEBRATION OF NEW LIFE IN CHRIST:
L Friends, we have a message to hear and a story to tell!
Let sorrow turn to joy and let shadows turn to light!
C Sisters, let fear turn to faith, for CHRIST IS RISEN!
L Let doubt turn to assurance, and let cowardice turn to courage!
C Brothers, let death turn to life, for CHRIST IS ALIVE!
L Let hesitant hearts turn to proclaiming lips, and let there be hope when hope is gone!
C Sisters and brothers, CHRIST IS RISEN… CHRIST IS ALIVE… HALLELUJAH!
L Hallelujah, glory to God, death, despair, and the devil don’t have the last word! We are – only by God’s grace – EASTER people, always rising! Let us bless and assure one another, let us offer a sign and say the words, of what God has done for any and for all of us through Jesus Christ, how God’s life-giving miracle continues in the hearts and lives of all who believe… [Turn to a neighbor… make the sign of the cross on the forehead, or even your own… and say — ]
C “Receive [+] the sign of the cross. Because HE died, YOU are alive!”
SONG OF PRAISE: “Lord, I lift your name on high, Lord, I love to sing your praises.
I’m so glad you’re in my life, I’m so glad you came to save us.
You came from heaven to earth to show the way;
from the earth to the cross, my debt to pay;
from the cross to the grave, from the grave to the sky; Lord, I lift your name on high!”
THE PRAYER OF THE DAY:
O God who loves us so dearly, the cross is vacant, the tomb is empty, and Jesus is alive!
May we trust that he is our Lord in life, in death, and in life beyond death.
May we find in him our peace, our purpose, our power, and our promise now and forever, Amen.
+ WE PROCLAIM GOD’S SAVING WORD +
FIRST READING: ACTS 10:34-43
[Peter narrates the story of Christ’s death and resurrection that is the basis of the Christian faith. The additional surprise even to Peter is this: God shows no partiality… Jesus is for all people… and everybody who believes, receives! The conversion of Cornelius (Acts 10:1-48), a Roman army officer, is the longest single story in the New Testament except for the passion of Jesus. Why did the writer – probably the same author who penned the gospel of Luke – give this story such prominence that he would take the time and the space of parchment to record its events all over again in Acts 11? Peter was granted a vision from God that prepared him for a breakthrough in his faith and a breaking down of barriers of race and creed and culture. There is GOOD NEWS here – Jesus is for all people! Christianity that is centered on the love of Jesus Christ can still break barriers down.]
34 Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism
35 but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right.
36 You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.
37 You know what has happened throughout the province of Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached—
38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.
39 “We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a cross,
40 but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen.
41 He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen—by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.
42 He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead.
43 All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
SONG SELECTION: “The Blood”
SECOND READING: 1 CORINTHIANS 15:1-11
[Paul reminds his readers that the core of the Christian faith, and of his own preaching, is this: the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Once a persecutor of Christians, he has no doubt that Christ’s victory is a gift of unearned grace that brings new life in the midst of our own sin. For anyone who receives and believes this reality, life is never the same again!]
Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand.
2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance[a]: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
5 and that he appeared to Cephas,[b] and then to the Twelve.
6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.
7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles,
8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.
9 For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.
11 Whether, then, it is I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.
GOSPEL VERSE: “Oh, how He loves you and me. Oh, how He loves you and me.
He gave His life, what more can He give?
OH, HOW HE LOVES YOU; OH, HOW HE LOVES ME;
OH, HOW HE LOVES YOU AND ME!
Jesus to Calv’ry did go, His love for this world to show.
What He did there brought hope from despair…”
GOSPEL READING: MARK 16:1-8
[Although the women came to the cemetery early in the morning expecting to find the decaying body of Jesus entombed there, a young man greets them with a message to hear and a story to tell: Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified, has been raised! But fear and amazement lead to deadening silence in the original ending of Mark’s Gospel. Mark the author seems to be wondering if you and I might be willing to consider the story… might go and tell.]
16:1 When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him.
16:2 And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb.
16:3 They had been saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?”
16:4 When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back.
16:5 As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed.
16:6 But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him.
16:7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.”
16:8 So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to any one, for they were afraid.
SONG SELECTION: “Alabaster Box”
BRIEF MEDITATION: Pastor Neil or Pastor Gwen
SONG SELECTION: “God So Loved the World”
AN AFFIRMATION OF OUR FAITH:
We believe that God graciously revealed himself in Jesus Christ,
the Light of the world,
the Word of life made flesh
God’s own Son living among us,
and yet a human just like us.
We believe that Jesus Christ willingly
shared our life, its joys and sorrows;
taught us how to love God and each other;
allowed himself to be broken at the hands of humanity;
and met his death on a cross.
We believe, even beyond our understanding, that Jesus
was resurrected from the dead;
disarmed and conquered death;
cancelled out the power of sin;
and wiped the smile forever off of Satan’s face.
We believe that Jesus Christ is alive and well
in the Church that proclaims him;
in our lives that serve him;
in our world that needs him;
and everywhere that God’s love reaches now and forever. Amen.
OFFERING [If we are willing, we are the hands and feet of Jesus, carrying God’s love and forgiveness to others. With courage and conviction, let us commit who we are, how we act, and what we have to go and tell!]
THE OFFERTORY SONG: “I Know It Was the Blood”
- I know it was the blood… I know it was the blood… I know it was the blood for me.
One day when I was lost, he died upon the cross… I know it was the blood for me.
- It was my Savior’s blood…
- They pierced him in the side…
- He’s coming back again…
OFFERING PRAYER:
O God, it is only by your amazing grace that we are Easter-alive today! Now give us the bold confidence
and the passionate love to dry tears, to lift up broken hearts, and to testify with our gifts and our lives that
there is new life, more life, eternal life in Christ. Amen.
MUSIC SELECTION:
THE PRAYERS… We pray that THE WAY OF THE CROSS will continue to impact our lives and transform the world!
THE LORD’S PRAYER
+ WE ARE SENT TO GO AND TELL +
CLOSING SONG
THE BENEDICTION:
L Alleluia! Christ is risen!
C He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
L Leave with a message upon your heart: I have seen the Lord!
Leave with a message on your lips: I have seen the Lord!
Leave with a message revealed through your daily living: I have seen the Lord!
Go in the faith-filled power of the Risen Lord [+] to love God and to serve your neighbor in all that you do!
C AMEN!