Order of Service Easter Sunday 12 April 2020

April 12, 2020

WELCOME TO ST ANDREW’S ON THE TERRACE

Easter  begins  in  the  darkness

The service is conducted by the Rev. Jim Cunningham.
The preacher is the Rev. David Brown
Noe Valley Ministry Presbyterian Church, San Francisco, California, USA

Please Note – This printed Order of Service is a full Order for Easter Day.
The on-line service is based on this but has less material in it.

Welcome to St Andrew’s on The Terrace
Wherever you are on your faith journey, wherever you have come from and wherever you are going to, whatever you believe, whatever you do not believe, you are welcome here.

 

ORGAN PRELUDE

GREETING AND WELCOME

GATHERING
Easter begins in the darkness;
the darkness of despair
and broken dreams and hopes,
the loss of beloved leader and friend.

But Easter begins in the darkness for us as well – each Easter.
The darkness of our own despair and sorrow,
of death and tragedy and injustice,
of failure and fear and guilt and loss.
Out of the darkness comes rebirth of hope,
new freedom to be fully alive.
Hope burst the bonds of what has been
and creates “new time”,
time filled with new possibilities

HYMN ‘Christ Has Risen’
Words: The Iona Community © 1988
Music: Hyfrydol WOV 439

Christ has risen while earth slumbers,
Christ has risen where hope died,
As he said and as he promised,
As we doubted and denied.
Let the moon embrace the blessing;
Let the sun sustain the cheer;
Let the world confirm the rumour:
Christ is risen, God is here!

Christ is risen for the people
Whom he died to love and save;
Christ has risen for the women
Bringing flowers to his grave.
Christ has risen for disciples
Huddled in an upper room.
He whose word inspired creation
can’t be silenced by the tomb.

Christ is risen to companion
Former friends who fear the night,
Sensing loss and limitation
Where their faith had once born bright.
They bemoan what is no longer,
They expect no hopeful sign
Till Christ ends their conversation
Breaking bread and sharing wine.

Christ has risen and forever
lives to challenge and to change
all whose lives are stressed or damaged,
all who find religion strange.
Christ is risen. Christ is present
making us what he has been –
Evidence of transformation
in which God is known and seen.

STORY TIME: Easter Eggs!

PRAYER:
When we are locked in despair;
when we are sealed up by grief;
when we feel trapped and see no way ahead;
when hope has gone away:
Roll back the stone!

When we feel isolated and shut away:
when we feel that we are forgotten;
when we feel that no one cares;
when love has gone away:
Roll back the stone!

When we feel apprehensive about the future;
when we fear change;
when we feel ill-equipped for what lies ahead;
when we feel lost and inadequate:
Roll back the stone!

When we feel anxious about our world;
when we lose confidence about our ability to survive;
when worry seems to overpower and smother us:
Roll back the stone!

Remind us that the power of resurrection
has forever changed us and our world
and gifts us with the ability to live faithfully, love wastefully,
and have the courage to be who we are created to be.

And so today as we light the Christ Candle we celebrate new life,
new joy, new possibilities.....
and we give thanks for the Spirit of Life visible in Jesus,
visible in us, visible in people in all walks of life. Amen

WE LIGHT THE CHRIST CANDLE

HYMN AA15 ‘Christ is alive!’
Words: © 1993 Shirley Erena Murray
Music: © 1993 Jillian Bray

Christ is alive, and the universe must celebrate,
and the stars and the suns shout on this Easter Day!
Christ is alive, and his family must celebrate
in a great alleluia,
a great alleluia
to praise the power that made the stone roll away.

Here is our hope: in the mystery of suffering
is the heartbeat of Love, Love that will not let go,
here is our hope, that in God we are not separate,
and we sing alleluia,
we sing alleluia
to praise the power that made the stone roll away.

Christ Spirit, dance through the dullness of humanity
to the music of God, God who has set us free!
You are the pulse of the new creation's energy;
with a great alleluia,
a great alleluia
to praise the power that made the stone roll away.

JESUS’ PRAYER

Eternal Spirit
Life-Giver, Pain-Bearer, Love-Maker,
source of all that is and that shall be,
Father and Mother of us all,
loving God, in whom is heaven:
the hallowing of your name
echo through the universe!
The way of your justice be followed
by the peoples of the world!
Your heavenly will be done
by all created beings!
Your commonwealth of peace and freedom
sustain our hope and come on earth.
With the bread we need for today, feed us.
In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us.
In times of temptation and test,
strengthen us.
From trials too great to endure, spare us.
From the grip of all that is evil, free us.
For you reign in the glory
of the power that is love, now and for ever.
Amen.

CHORAL: INVICTUS
WILLIAM ERNEST HENLEY
SUNG BY: WELLINGTON COLLEGE CHORALE
CONDUCTOR MARK STAMPER

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.

LIGHTING THE RAINBOW ROOM CANDLE

PASSING THE PEACE
(We invite you to take this moment to greet those who are with you today, or to hold in your mind others from St Andrew’s, or your own loved ones)

THE WORD IN TEXTS Norman and Linda Wilkins

Hebrew Scripture: Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24

O give thanks to God, for God is good,
whose steadfast love endures forever!
Let Israel say, "God’s steadfast love endures forever."

God is my strength and my might and has become my salvation.
There are glad songs of victory in the tents of the righteous:
"The right hand of God does valiantly;
the right hand of God is exalted; the right hand of God does valiantly."
I shall not die, but I shall live, and recount the deeds of God.
God has punished me severely, but he did not give me over to death.
Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them
and give thanks to God.
This is the gate of God; the righteous shall enter through it.
I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation.
The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.
This is God's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.
This is the day that God has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Gospel: Matthew 28: 1-10

After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, 'He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.' This is my message for you." So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them and said, "Greetings!" And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me."

Contemporary Reading: RELEASE by Joy Cowley

It was a bit like
the opening of the tomb, really,
the lids of the cage pulled back
and quick bright life spilling out
with an eagerness to fly.
As I watched the wing-beat
of those pigeons, I felt murmurings
against the bars of my heart.

All the love imprisoned within me
fluttered for release. Blessings unspoken,
smiles concealed, acts of kindness
which had never got off the drawing board,
clamoured for the light of day.

I wondered about the cost
of opening the cage
and letting love spread its wings.
I felt a bit frightened.
When I’d given everything away,
could I live with an empty heart?

What I’d forgotten, of course,
was the homing instinct of love,
and how, unlike pigeons,
love always returns
with more than it takes away.

The other thing I forgot
was how love enlarges the heart
to take its increase,
multiplying and enlarging,
multiplying and enlarging,
until the little cage
is big as the Kingdom of Heaven.

REFLECTION: He Goes Before Us!

The Rev David Brown
Noe Valley Ministry
Presbyterian Church
San Francisco
California

SOLO: Bist du bei mir Georgia Gray
Bist du bei mir, geh ich mit Freuden
Zum Sterben und zu meiner Ruh.
Ach, wie vergnügt wär so mein Ende,
Es drückten deine schönen Hände
Mir die getreuen Augen zu.

OFFERING & DEDICATION

We give thanks for our life and the courage we are given to live it.
Let our gratitude for life be expressed in our generosity.
Let our faith be expressed in living justly and compassionately.
Let our hope for the future find full expression
in our daily attitude of mind. Amen.

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE Jenn Keenan

CIRCLE OF PRAYER
We think today of the people of Zambia and the the Christian Council of Zambia. We remember the detainees of Manus and Nauru Islands, yearning that their cases be resolved. In New Zealand, we remember those in Parliament, and today we name Guy Nathan (Otaki electorate) and Henare Peeni (Tāmaki Makaurau). Here in the Central Presbytery, we pray for the leaders and people of Te Kakano Maori Pastorate in Moera.

PRAYER FOR ST ANDREW’S

Renew your people, God,
and renew our life in this place.
Give us a new spirit of unity
with those of all faiths,
and a new spirit of love
towards all people.

Bless the city in which we live
that it may be a place
where honest dealing,
good government,
the desire for beauty,
and the care for others flourish.

Bless this church
that what we know of your will
may become what we do,
and what we believe
the strong impulse
of our worship and work.
Amen

HYMN: WOV92 ‘Resurrection all around us’
Words: Gloria Klinger; Music: Hymn to Joy, Public domain
Resurrection all around us,
hearts arise and leap for joy;
Hope eternal grows within us,
voices silenced now employ.
Live in joy of new beginnings,
live in harmony and love.
Finding strength to meet each trial.
Conquering sorrow, being love.

Being human, honouring Jesus,
in a covenant of grace.
Living the divine commandment,
one with all the human race.
Leading strong for peace and justice,
doing away with hate and fear.
Finding ways to work together,
keeping voice and vision clear.

Celebrate the light within us,
love divine and human spark,
Reaching out to be inclusive,
everyone a work of art.

Light the flame of love around us,
echoing through the stars above.
Holding hands, in peace surround us,
being human, being love.

BENEDICTION:

Go now in peace and in joy
to proclaim the Good News,
sharing in and working for resurrection
in all the crucified places in the world.

The Grace of the risen Christ
The Love of God
The strength and creativity and presence of the Spirit
Go with you and remain with you
Now and always.
Amen

POSTLUDE:

TIME FOR A CUPPA

The end of our Sunday service is normally a time for catching up, meeting people and sharing what is happening in our lives. Perhaps you would like to phone a St Andrew’s person today.