Easter
Sunday
Sunrise
Service
March
31st, 2013
6:30
a.m. Outdoors St. David's U.C.
Port
Hastings, N.S.
Ministers:
Each one of us
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WE GATHER TO WORSHIP GOD
LIGHTING THE NEW FIRE
This
is the dawn of a new creation: come to the new fire!
EASTER PROCLAMATION (repeated three times)
Alleluia!
Christ is risen!
Response:
Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia!
CALL TO WORSHIP
We
are called to walk from the darkened Calvary hill
to
the light-filled empty tomb.
We
come seeking surprise and wonder
in
the dawning light of Easter Day.
Let
us greet the Risen Christ who is here among us.
Amen
and Amen!
HYMN Jesus, Stand Among Us VU 396
1 Jesus,
stand among us
in
your risen power;
let
this time of worship
be
a hallowed hour.
2 Breathe
the Holy Spirit
into
every heart;
bid
the fears and sorrows
from
each soul depart.
3 Lead
our hearts to wisdom
till
our doubting cease,
and
to all assembled
speak
your word of peace.
OPENING PRAYER (together)
Our
eyes are barely open, the sky has hardly brightened,
the
morning has just begun,
and
we see you have already done a new thing.
Praise
be to you, O God.
Your
ways are beyond our understanding,
your
mystery is too vast for words,
yet
on this day we dare to believe
that
you are making us into new creations.
Alleluia!
Amen!
Sung
response:
Hallelujah!
Hallelujah! Give thanks to the Risen Christ!
Hallelujah!
Hallelujah! Give praise to God's name!
VU 179
PASSING THE PEACE We share the Easter greeting as above.
WE
LISTEN FOR GOD'S WORD
John
20:1-18 The resurrected Jesus appears to Mary and Peter.
HYMN Morning Has Broken VU 409
Morning has broken like the first morning,
blackbird has spoken like the first bird.
Praise for the singing! Praise for the morning!
Praise for them, springing fresh from the Word!
Sweet the rain's new fall sunlit from heaven,
like the first dewfall on the first grass.
Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden,
sprung in completeness where God's feet pass.
Ours is the sunlight! Ours is the morning
born of the one light Eden saw play!
Praise with elation, praise every morning,
God's recreation of the new day!
WE RESPOND IN FAITH
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
Risen
Christ, we are your disciples –
your
wounded hands and feet in the world today.
At
times we have been the frightened ones,
staying
at a distance,
worried
about our status or our reputations.
But
you come close to us, bringing peace and challenge,
unlocking
our potential and setting us free.
At
times we have been the weeping ones,
filled
with grief and lost hope
we
are unable to see your presence in our midst.
But
you come close and speak our names
and
we discover that we are fully known and loved,
and
our hearts reach out to embrace you.
Now
we come close to you in worship.
We
come with our fear, our confusion, and our tears
and
we find ourselves liberated and united
by
the love of the resurrected one. Amen.
Sung
response:
Hallelujah!
Hallelujah! Give thanks to the Risen Christ!
Hallelujah!
Hallelujah! Give praise to God's name!
HYMN When Morning Gilds the Skies VU 339
1 When
morning gilds the skies,
my
heart awakening cries:
may
Jesus Christ be praised!
When
evening shadows fall,
this
rings my curfew call:
may
Jesus Christ be praised!
2 To
God, the Word on high,
the
hosts of angels cry:
may
Jesus Christ be praised!
Let
mortals, too, upraise
their
voice in hymns of praise:
may
Jesus Christ be praised!
3 Let
all of humankind
in
this their concord find:
may
Jesus Christ be praised!
Let
all the earth around
ring
joyous with the sound:
may
Jesus Christ be praised!
4 Be
this, while life is mine,
my
canticle divine:
may
Jesus Christ be praised!
Be
this th'eternal song,
through
all the ages long:
may
Jesus Christ be praised!
SENDING OUT
One: Now that morning has come and the dawn has broken the darkness.
All: Now that the stone has rolled and set free the life.
One: Now that Christ is risen let us go
All: not quietly, not gently but with a great alleluia
One: that lets the world know
All: life says “Yes!”
We
carry the first light into the church.
