The Congregations of St. Mark’s and St. David’s
United Church of Canada
Port Hawkesbury/Port Hastings, NS
Office: 625-2229, Fax 625-3597,
e-mail: stmarksuc@gmail.com
Blog: http://ourcontactonline.blogspot.com/
Presbytery Website: inverguyunited.ca
Ministers: The Whole People of God; Nan Corrigan D. M.
Minister of Music: Al Fougere
April 1st, 2018
Easter Sunday—Sacrament of Communion
*Choral Reading Mark 16: 1-8
A: When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James, and Salome,
B: women who had remained with him to the end,
A: bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him.
B: To make things right.
A: Very early on the first day of the week,
B: when the sun had risen,
A: they went to the tomb,
B: where they had seen his body laid.
A: They had been saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?”
B: A predicament that needed a solution. Would there be someone available to assist?
A: When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back.
B: Predicament solved, but by whom?
A: As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed.
B: Obviously! This is astonishing.
A: 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.”
B: No body. An empty place. An empty space. More alarming.
A: “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.”
B: Remember this is the third day.
A: So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them –
B: so much emotion –
A: and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.
B: Afraid. Afraid that it is true, afraid that it isn’t.
But this is a beginning, not an ending.
Suddenly, where there was death, there is life.
The stone is rolled away and the light shines in.
*Sung Response This Is the Day MV 122
Easter Triad Liturgy-Psalm 118
O give thanks to the Lord, for [God] is good.
God's steadfast love endures forever. (one candle is lit)
Out of my distress I called on the Lord.
God answered me and set me in a broad place. (candle two is lit)
With the Lord on m side I do not fear.
The Lord is on my side to help me. (candle three is lit)
The Lord is my strength and my might.
God has become my salvation. (candle four is lit)
There are glad songs of victory in the tents of the righteous.
I shall not die but I shall live. (candle five is lit)
Open to me the gates of righteousness.
That I may enter through them and give thanks to God.
(candle six is lit)
The stone that the builder rejected has become the chief cornerstone.
This is God's doing and it is marvellous in our eyes.
(white Christ candle is lit)
This is the day that the Lord has made: let us rejoice and be glad in it
O give thanks to the Lord, for God is good.
God's steadfast love endures forever.
*Sung Response This Is the Day MV 122
Welcome and greeting one another with the Peace of Christ.
One: Hallelujah, Christ is risen!
All: He is risen indeed, Hallelujah!
One: The Peace of Christ be with you.
All: And with your spirit.
*Hymn Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Give Thanks VU 179
Prayer
You are encouraged to open hands, place hands on heart, hands to the side and clasp the hands of your neighbours, as indicated in the prayer and as you are comfortable.
Acts 10:34-43 Peter preaches, "God shows no partiality."
This is the witness of the early church. Thanks be to God.
*Hymn Thine Is the Glory VU 173
Opening the Word
Minute for Mission & Offering Our Gifts to God Anthem
*Offering Prayer
Holy God—you are life, and light, and grace.
We give you thanks, and we offer you our lives in return.
Accept these gifts; they represent our commitment to live as an Easter People. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Written by: Frances Flook, Emo/Devlin P.C., Emo, Ont.
Gathering, LE 2018, page 45. Used with permission.
Sacrament of Communion Insert, cover of Voices United
Distribution Hymn Donna Nobis Pacem
Donna nobis pacem, pacem
Donna nobis pacem
*Affirmation of Faith A Song of Faith, UCC © 2006
Death was not the last word.
God raised Jesus from death,
turning sorrow into joy, despair into hope.
We sing of Jesus raised from the dead.
We sing hallelujah.
By becoming flesh in Jesus,
God makes all things new.
In Jesus’ life, teaching, and self-offering,
God empowers us to live in love.
In Jesus’ crucifixion,
God bears the sin, grief, and suffering of the world.
In Jesus’ resurrection,
God overcomes death.
Nothing separates us from the love of God.
*Hymn Jesus Christ Is Risen Today VU 155
*Commissioning & Choral Amen
