EASTER SUNDAY THE DAY OF THE RESURRECTION APRIL 1st, 2018
Dorchester United Church
Wherever you are, whoever you are, Join us in our Journey!
WE GATHER TO PRAISE GOD
TO PONDER:
The Paschal mystery has given rise to the hope of Easter. It happened just
as Jesus had told his disciples that on the third day He would rise again.
Today we celebrate the Resurrection, the hope of new life. What is your
hope for this day?
MUSICAL PRELUDE:
(A time for quiet reflection and preparation for worship)
HYMN: "
Morning Has Broken" V.U. 409
WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
CALL TO WORSHIP:
Alleluia, Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed. Alleluia!
The stone has been rolled away. Alleluia!
He is not among the dead. Alleluia!
This is God's new day.
Let us rejoice. Alleluia!
EASTER PRAYER
V.U. 174
HYMN:
"Jesus Christ is Risen Today" V.U. 155
A PRAYER OF CONFESSION:
God of new life, we have been blind to Your great love. We run through
life as if we were self-sustaining. The injustice and suffering of the
world are forgotten in our race to reach the top.
A PRAYER OF CONFESSION cont'd
Merciful God, forgive us for allowing discrimination, hunger and
violence to darken the lives of those who need you most: the last, the
least and the lost. Give us the will of Christ that we may become
servants to one another even as He came to serve. Amen
ASSURANCE OF PARDON
The stone of despair has been rolled away.
Our lives are like an open book.
We are called to proclaim our freedom.
We have been recreated. Thanks be to Jesus, the Resurrected One.
Invitation to the Table
Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body.
For we all partake of the one bread.
In Christ, God breaks down the walls that make us strangers to ourselves,
and divide us from one another.
We are the body of Christ.
At this table we bear witness to our faith.
At this table God brings wholeness out of brokenness and healing to our
world.
Let us break bread together.
Sursum Corda (Call to give Thanks)
Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed!
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up to God.
Let us give thanks to God.
It is right to give thanks and praise.
Thanksgiving (Preface)
Hallelujah, thanks and praise, ever-living God, worker of wonders, maker of
miracles, author of all life and giver of life eternal! Out of chaos and
fear you bring beauty and hope. Out of despair and death you create courage
and new life. And so, with the risen Christ who makes all things new by the
power of his resurrection, we join in the song of a new day, to sing Your
praise.
Song of Creation (Sanctus-Benedictus)
Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Hosts! Heaven and earth are full of Your
glory! Heaven and earth praise You, O God most High!
Narrative of the Institution of Jesus at Table
As we gather at this table, we remember that on the night before He died,
Jesus had supper with His friends. He took a loaf of bread, thanked You as
we have thanked You, broke the bread, and gave it to them, saying: "Take,
eat. This is My
body, given for you. Each time you do this, remember Me."
Then, He took a cup, and after giving thanks, passed it to His friends,
saying: "Drink. This cup is the promise of God, made in My blood. Each time
you drink from this cup, remember Me."
Anamnesis-Oblation (Prayer of self-giving)
Loving God, we rejoice in the gift of Your grace, remembering Christ's life
and death, proclaiming His resurrection, waiting in hope for His coming
again. Grant that in praise and thanksgiving, we may so offer ourselves to
You that our lives may proclaim the mystery of faith.
Affirmation of Memory and Hope (Memorial Acclamation) Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.
Prayer for Transformation (Epiclesis)
Send Your Holy Spirit upon us and upon the offering of Your Church,
that we who eat and drink at Christ's table may share in His life.
Pour out Your Spirit upon the whole earth,
and make it Your new creation.
Gather Your Church together from the ends of the earth into Your realm
where peace and justice are revealed,
that we with all Your people, of every language, race and nation, may
share the banquet You have promised.
Concluding Praise (Doxology)
Through Christ, with Christ, and in Christ, in the unity of the Holy
Spirit, all glory is Yours, God most Holy, now and forever. AMEN
Post Communion Prayer
We thank You, O God, for life pulsing through creation, revealed in
Jesus, renewed in resurrection and available to us now. Filled with
life, we now offer ourselves to be life-bringers in the world. Touched
by Resurrection we pledge to resist death wherever we find it. Filled
with hope we embrace the promise of eternity and the call to make it
known at every opportunity. Amen
OFFERING INVITATION
OFFERTORY RESPONSE:
For food in a world where many walk in hunger, for friends in a world where
many walk alone, for faith in a world where many walk in fear, we give you
thanks, O God. V.U. 552
OFFERTORY PRAYER: On a day when the greatest gift was offered freely
for all of creation, we remember and give thanks for the history of the
ages enshrined in Holy Scripture and enacted in our liturgies. May what
we offer today be sign and sacrament of the lives we have been given.
AMEN
HYMN:
"The Day of Resurrection" V.U. 164
COMMISSIONING AND BLESSING
POSTLUDE:
(
A time to quietly reflect on all that you have experienced this
morning
