Order of Service – Easter Sunday 2023

The Order of Service follows below.

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Kardlayirdi Karnungga
The light on the hill

Easter Sunday
April 9, 2023
Preacher: Rev Robyn Caldicott

Prelude

Welcome

We acknowledge the Kaurna people as the traditional carers of the land on which our church is built.

Introit: Easter Alleluia

Rosemary Nairn

Call to Worship

What are we to make of this day?
When graves are opened…
When the dead awaken…
When life refuses to be contained…

Then nothing is impossible!
Hope is never extinguished
and love is never conquered.

We celebrate You today, Jesus,
Because You have made it clear that death does not have the last word;
Because You have filled us again with hope and faith;
Because You have given us a vision of new possibilities, new realities, and new ways of being.

Open our minds to believe what we cannot explain;
Open our hearts to hope for what we cannot see;
Open our lives to live and to love in the midst of death and despair;
Let resurrection happen again in us today.
Amen

We Sing: Jesus Christ is Risen today

Jesus Christ is risen today, Alleluia!
our triumphant holy day, Alleluia!
who so lately on the cross, Alleluia!
suffered to redeem our loss, Alleluia!
Hymns of praise then let us sing, Alleluia!
unto Christ, our heavenly king, Alleluia!
who endured the cross and grave, Alleluia!
sinners to redeem and save, Alleluia!
But the pain that he endured, Alleluia!
our salvation has procured; Alleluia!
now exalted he is king, Alleluia!
and the angels ever sing, Alleluia!

Together in Song 362. Anon., Lyra Davidica 1708 alt based on a 14^th-cent. ms. (PD)

Opening Prayer

Let us come before God in prayer.

God of life, thank you for the night: for those who kept watch through its long hours; for the gift of sleep, and the refreshment of dreams; for your faithful presence that keeps us company when we are not aware of you;
Thank you, God of life!

God of life, thank you for this new day: for the song of birds, the early morning bustle of city streets, and the brightening sky; for this day of all days when we celebrate the risen Christ;
Thank you, God of life!

God of life, thank you for the message of Easter: for the affirmation of your steadfast love; for the presence of the One who overame death; for the promise of life still to be revealed;
Thank you, God of life!

Prayer of Confession

Words of Assurance

Passing of the Peace

The peace of the risen Christ be always with you.
And also with you.

Community News and Notices

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Children’s Time

Children remain in during the service. Activity packs are available from the entrances.

At the conclusion of the service children are invited to meet at the back of the church for an Easter Egg hunt.

Choral Anthem – Sing Choirs of Heaven –

Richard Shephard

Scripture Reading: New Testament – John 20:1-18

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, ‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.’ Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went towards the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples returned to their homes.

But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’ She said to them, ‘They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.’ When she had said this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? For whom are you looking?’ Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Mary!’ She turned and said to him in Hebrew, ‘Rabbouni!’ (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, ‘Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”’ Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord’; and she told them that he had said these things to her.

The Gospel of Christ, Light of the World
Thanks be to God.

Sermon

Affirmation of Faith

In response to the word, let us stand if able and affirm our faith together:
We believe in the power of Christ
to overcome all deaths,
deaths in us and death in the world.

We believe in life which rises in freedom
and carries us in joy towards grace beyond our imagining,
calling our spirits to soar in freedom with wings of hope
borne high in the wonder of Easter day.

The gift of life will never be taken from us.
The costly life of God will be our company
for ever and for ever.

We Sing: Praise the One Who Breaks the Darkness

Praise the One who breaks the darkness
with a liberating light.
Praise the One who frees the prisoners,
turning blindness into sight.
Praise the One who preached the gospel,
healing every dread disease,
calming storms and feeding thousands
with the very bread of peace.
Praise the One who blessed the children
with a strong yet gentle word.
Praise the One who drove out demons
with a piercing two-edged sword.
Praise the One who brings cool water
to the desert’s burning sand.
From this well comes living water
quenching thirst in every land.
Praise the one true love incarnate:
Christ, who suffered in our place.
Jesus died and rose for many
that we may know God by grace.
Let us sing for joy and gladness,
seeing what our God has done.
Praise the one redeeming glory;
praise the One who makes us one.

Offering

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Offering Prayer

Prayers of the People

Holy Communion

Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed!

Let us celebrate this irrepressible life; let us open our hearts to the joy and wonder of infinite possibility, of unquenched hope, of eternal resurrection.

We celebrate, we raise our voices and our hearts in worship and thanksgiving to the God who lives.

The Lord’s Prayer

And now with the confidence of the children of God, let us pray the prayer Jesus taught us saying:

Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be Your name,

your Kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth as in Heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins,

as we forgive those who sin against us.

Save us from the time of trial

and deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power

and the glory are yours now and forever. Amen.

As we break this bread, we receive Christ’s life
In all our diversity, in all our individuality,
as we share this one loaf we are one.

We share the cup together and become signs of new life.

The gifts of God for the people of God.
Thanks be to God.

Distribution

Let us pray
We thank You, O God, for Your life,
pulsing in creation
revealed in Jesus
renewed in resurrection
and available to us now.

Thank You for touching us again with Your life
through bread and wine;
For joining our lives with Yours through Jesus;
And for renewing resurrection in our hearts
through your Holy Spirit.

Amen

We Sing: Yours Be the Glory

Yours be the glory, risen, conquering Son,
endless is the victory over death you’ve won;
angels in bright raiment rolled the stone away,
kept the folded grave-clothes, where your body lay.

Yours be the glory, risen, conquering Son,
endless is the victory over death you’ve won.
See, Jesus meets us, risen from the tomb;
lovingly he greets us, scatters fear and gloom;
let the church with gladness hymns of triumph sing,
for the Lord is living, death has lost its sting.

Yours be the glory, risen, conquering Son,
endless is the victory over death you’ve won.
No more we doubt you, glorious Prince of life;
life is naught without you; aid us in our strife;
make us more than conquerors through your deathless love;
bring us safe through Jordan to your home above.

Yours be the glory, risen, conquering Son,
endless is the victory over death you’ve won.

Sending Forth and Benediction

Choral Blessing:- The Lord Bless You and Keep You

John Rutter

Come and share morning tea together, downstairs in the basement

Some of the liturgy in this service is adapted from the following resources – Spill the Beans, published by the Spill the Beans Resource Team, spillbeans.org.uk; resources published by Moira Laidlaw (B.A., Dip.Theol., D.Min.); resources by John van de Laar © 2009 Sacredise; Seasons of the Spirit and ‘Liturgies for High Days’ by Dorothy McRae-McMahon published by MediaCom Education Inc. - mediacomeducation.org.au.