Song: Rejoice and be glad
Rejoice and be Glad - Rhona Alcorn (youtube.com)
Prayer:
Almighty Father, you have given your only Son to die for our sins and to rise again for our justification: grant us so to put away the leaven of malice and wickedness that we may always serve you in pureness of living and truth; through the merits of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen
Risen Christ, for whom no door is locked, no entrance barred: open the doors of our hearts, that we may seek the good of others and walk the joyful road of sacrifice and peace, to the praise of God the Father. Amen
Lord,
make my life a window for Your light to shine through and a mirror to
reflect Your love to all I meet. Amen.
Risen Lord Jesus,
you come to us in the most surprising - and the most ordinary - ways.
Just when we begin to forget or doubt you, when we begin to live our
lives as if you don't matter, you come - speaking to us, feeding us,
encouraging us. You never forget us or fail us. Without you we are
weak and fail often but with you we are strong. May we be made deeply
aware of your presence this day.
God of the prophets, you
fulfilled your promise that Christ would suffer and rise to glory.
Open our minds to understand the scriptures that we may be his
witnesses to the ends of the earth. We ask this through Jesus Christ
our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity, of the Holy
Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.
Risen Christ,
whose absence leaves us paralysed, but whose presence is
overwhelming: breathe on us abundant life; that where we cannot see,
we may have courage to believe that we may be raised with you. Amen
Song: See what a morning
See What a Morning (Resurrection Hymn - 6vv) [with lyrics for congregations] - YouTube
Reading: Luke’s gospel, chapter 24, verses 13 to 35
Song: When we walk with the Lord
When We Walk With the Lord (Trust and Obey) - with lyrics (youtube.com)
Prayer:
Dear Lord, you transform despair to wonder with the celebration of Easter. Let Christ’s rising spread joy and peace, fill the world with light and confirm our faith in you.
Lord, as you visited the disciples in the upper room, help us see the positives and the unexpected joys that have come from these unprecedented times. For the friendships rekindled, hobbies and gifts discovered, the unexpected memory making with those we are with. Comfort those for whom, the joy cannot be found, for those scared for themselves and loved ones, those who are on their own when we need each other most and for everyone who cannot see the light in the darkness. We pray that we believe more readily than Thomas that as you have risen again, that we will also emerge stronger, embracing a normal and not taking the little things for granted.
Lord, we thank you for all the ways we are able to gather in your name even though we are apart and cannot enter our beautiful churches. We are more thankful than ever for the communities that churches build. For those ensuring we can still worship together, pray for each other and meet together, if not in person. For all the music and hymns we can listen to and sing, knowing somewhere, someone is singing with us.
We pray for our local community and for the support we can give each other.
Good shepherd, you gave your life for us. Help us to follow in your footsteps and do what we can to recover the stragglers, care for the sick and comfort those in need. We thank you for all those risking themselves for others at this time. For all our key workers, whether they are health workers, police, delivery drivers or those working in shops. May they be recognised as such always and may we and those with influence, be guided in future decisions with these people in mind.
We pray for those who are sick. For their families and friends concerned about them and for those caring for them. May they all feel your healing presence.
And now, we commend ourselves and the whole of creation to your unfailing love.
Amen
Song: Come and see
One of our church members had the misfortune to tread on a nail, which penetrated quite deeply into his foot. After a rather trying journey to the local hospital, he was faced with climbing a flight of steps to reach A & E. He considers the walk to Emmaus, a distance of 7 miles (about 11 kilometres) to have been one of the most spectacular miracles of the bible. To walk this distance with nail wounds in both feet really does not bear thinking about!
Here we have one of the most beautiful stories of the new testament. Two very disheartened students of Jesus are walking home and a stranger starts walking alongside them. With the benefit of hindsight, and Luke’s narrative, we know that this is Jesus, but they did not.
We can pause to wonder why they did not recognise him, but it is not too difficult to understand; Jesus was the very last person they expected to see, he was dead! They, or at least their friends, had seen him publicly killed.
They seem amazed at the apparent ignorance of this stranger about the events of the past few days, but continue to walk with him, as he talks to them. His manner must have been reassuring, as he explained to them the scriptures, about the nature of the Messiah (the anointed one) and his ministry. They listened until they arrived at their destination, and invited him in for the night.
Only when the stranger participated in a familiar event, breaking of bread, did they recognise him. Perhaps there are times in our lives when we don’t recognise Jesus alongside us? Some of these times, it may be that we recognise his presence when something commonplace happens. Be on the lookout!
Once the disciples recognised Jesus’ presence, they were transformed. From being timid, fearful travellers, they were emboldened to go out on the road, in the dark, and return to Jerusalem. Once there, they found the other disciples to tell them of their encounter. It must have been a bit of a downer to be told that others had already had similar meetings.
An encounter with the risen Lord Jesus can transform us, completely changing our approach to events, and strengthening us in what we do.
Song: Come let us sing of a wonderful love
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