Resurrection Sunday
Christ is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!
Prelude - I Know That My Redeemer Liveth [James Denton], Jan Green
Welcome to the Mantua Center Christian Church
We are a community seeking to have open minds, open hearts, and open arms, building community in a fragmented world.
Family of God, Christ is Risen and Christ has come calling us home.
Home to the heart of God, Home to God’s living presence,
Home to God’s banquet feast.
We believe that this is the Day that
All that was broken has been made whole,
All that was dislocated has been set right,
All that was oppressed has been set free.
This is the Day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice… Hear now our scripture from Romans 8
Opening Scripture - Romans 8:35, 37-39
35Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
*Call to Worship - Christina Brant
ONE: This day is not like any other day.
ALL: Today we slow down. Today we take it all in. Today we rest in good news.
ONE: This day is not like any other day.
ALL: Today we are singing. Today we are full to the brim. Today joy cannot be contained.
ONE: This day is not like any other day.
ALL: Today the stone was rolled away. Today the women saw the empty grave. Today we know—death does not win.
ONE: This day is not like any other day.
ALL: Alleluia! Amen.
*Introit
“At Dawn” [music by Rick Cook, lyrics by Jon Secaur] - MCCC Choir
Join in Opening Hymn at conclusion
At dawn, at dawn, the women came seeking.
At dawn, at dawn, to find Jesus’ tomb.
At dawn, at dawn, one woman dared peeking.
Inside the tomb, but Jesus was gone!
Oh dear Jesus, My dear Jesus, You said you would live,
They doubted you’d live, Could it be that you’re alive?
That day, today, two angels were speaking,
‘Now why would you look here for the living,
In graves, in tombs, where death’s smell is reeking?
Can you not see that he is alive?’
Oh dear Jesus, my dear Jesus! They knew you’re alive,
Believed you’re alive, They ran to tell all ‘He lives!’
*Opening Hymn
Christ the Lord is Risen Today #216
1 Christ the Lord is risen today, Alleluia! All creation join to say, Alleluia!
Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia! Sing, O heavens, and earth reply, Alleluia!
2 Lives again our glorious king; Alleluia! Where, O death, is now thy sting? Alleluia!
Jesus died, our souls to save, Alleluia! Where your victory, O grave? Alleluia!
3 Love's redeeming work is done, Alleluia! Fought the fight, the battle won, Alleluia!
Death in vain forbids him rise, Alleluia! Christ has opened paradise. Alleluia!
4 Soar we now where Christ was led, Alleluia! Following our exalted head, Alleluia!
Made like him, like him we rise, Alleluia! Ours the cross, the grave, the skies, Alleluia!
Invitation to Generosity - Christina Brant
Invitation
Offertory - The Day of Resurrection! [Cindy Berry]
The Doxology #46
Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
Praise God, all creatures here below;
Praise God above, ye heavenly host:
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Amen.
Offering Prayer
Children’s Moment - Rev. Chad Delaney
- What is the most amazing/beautiful thing you have EVER SEEN?
- Would any of you say “A Rock”? :)
- The women who came to help bury Jesus…
- The Stone was Rolled Away…it was Amazing
- To help us remember to find extraordinary beauty in simple things…
Anthem
“Expansive Life” by the MCCC Choir [Lyrics by Anna Strickland / arr. Ralph Vaughan Williams]
Though it seemed foolish to have faith
Back to the garden women came
Alleluia! Alleluia!
They came although their hearts were torn
With spices to prepare and mourn
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Where Jesus lay, angels instead
Asked why they look among the dead
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
Remember and trust in his word
Though resurrection seems absurd
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Now God has opened up the tomb
Like budding flower now in bloom
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
Christ lives again who once had died
So we may have expansive life
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Pastoral Prayer
by Rev. Sarah R. Speed - Rev. Chad Delaney
God of the garden, God of new life, God of the here and now, where do we begin?
Our hearts are full to the brim with gratitude, hope, fear, doubt, dreams, and belief. As a result, our prayers can often feel chaotic at best, bouncing around to each name and need that comes to mind.
Settle us. Excavate us. Summon out what we shall be.
Lift our prayers from the rubble of our distracted minds and hold us close.
God, there are some things we would like to let go of, things we’d like to bury, things that we do not want to bring with us into this new day.
In particular, we’d like to let go of our stress and fatigue.
We’d like to let go of our own self-criticism and lack of self-belief.
We’d like to let go of the fear to put ourselves out there, and the worry that we might not have enough or be enough. Each of us have our own “thing” we’d like to change…and THIS is always easier said than done, God, which is why we need you.
At the same time, there are things we’d like to hold close—things that draw us closer to that expansive life you dream for us, things we are running toward. In particular, we want to move closer
to balance and to meaningful friendships,
to health of mind, body, and spirit,
to justice that sets our hearts on fire,
and to your Word—lived out in our daily lives.
Help us. Guide the way. Meet us in the garden. Roll back the stones that stop us. Give us the energy to run toward you. Gather us up into your expansive love.
In that warm embrace we give our joys and concerns to you in silent prayer
Until the promised day when swords are beaten into plowshares, and the prayers of the people are only prayers of joy, we ask that you pour out your Spirit on our gathering here as we trust in your Resurrection Power to lead us and transform us to be your people! In the name of the Risen Christ, we pray, Amen.
Communion
Meditation - Pete Pruszynski
music from Cain "The Commission"
Communion Hymn - Come, Share the Lord #408
1 We gather here in Jesus’ Name, His love is burning in our hearts like living flame;
For through the loving Son the Father makes us one:
Come, take the bread, come, drink the wine, come, share the Lord
No one is a stranger here, everyone belongs;
Finding our forgiveness here, we in turn forgive all wrongs
2 He joins us here, he breaks the bread, the Lord who pours the cup is risen from the dead;
the one we love the most is now our gracious host:
Come, take the bread, come, drink the wine, come, share the Lord.
We are now a family of which the Lord is head;
though unseen he meets us here in the breaking of the bread.
3 We'll gather soon where angels sing; we'll see the glory of our Lord and coming King;
now we anticipate the feast for which we wait:
Come, take the bread, come, drink the wine, come, share the Lord.
Prayer & Lord’s Prayer
Words of Institution - Rev. Chad Delaney
Music: I Come to the Garden Alone [Dale Wood]
Special Music
“Beautiful City” [Written by Stephen Schwartz / Godspell], Jon Bozeka
Prayer of Illumination
Holy God,
we so often long for more.
We want more than the hamster wheel life of to-do lists and errands,
meal prep and alarm clocks.
We want more than comparison and competition.
We want more than certainty that drowns out curiosity.
We want more than fear that leads to violence.
We want a life that is teeming with alleluias.
We want a life overcrowded with hope.
We want a life congested with good news.
We want a life jam-packed with forgiveness.
We want a life bursting with laughter.
We want a life so full that the stone just has to be rolled away.
So today we pray—break the dam.
Dust the cobwebs from our ears. Clear space in our minds to hear you clearly.
Speak to us as only you can. It’s what we long for. We long for you.
Gratefully we pray, amen.
Scripture - Luke 24:1-12
But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. 2They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3but when they went in, they did not find the body. 4While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them. 5The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, ‘Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. 6Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, 7that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.’ 8Then they remembered his words, 9and returning from the tomb, they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest. 10Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles. 11But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. 12But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; then he went home, amazed at what had happened.
Sermon
An Expansive Life: Maybe Today!
Lord, I want to be a Christian in my heart -- in my heart...
Lord I want to be a Christian in my heart…
Lord I want to be more loving in my heart -- in my heart…
Lord, I want to be more loving in my heart.
In my Heart…In my Heart…
Lord I want to be more loving in My heart!
It is Easter Sunday! This is the day that the Stone rolled away! This is the day LOVE WINS! So… maybe this is the day that the desire to be more loving in our hearts, to be the people we are called to be… becomes a reality. That the impulse deep within us to do better, to be better, to live in the way of Jesus… incarnates into our everyday living and loving.
So, what’s stopping us? What is getting in the way? It is Easter! If not now…when?
In some ways we are STILL just like the women going to the tomb that day. Expecting to find there what we would expect to find. Some lines from a poem I recently read by Mary Oliver spoke to this.
Oliver’s poem Sometimes contains these two lines…
2 Sometimes melancholy leaves me breathless…
7 Death waits for me, I know it, around one corner or another.
Death around the corner. We might live hoping for hope but expecting to find the gloom. Anticipatory Grief. Looking ahead and anticipating the grief that has not yet happened. The inevitability of shadow. The decline of a loved one. The spread of disease. The effects of war and violence. The persistence of racism and homophobia and isms upon isms. The basement voices in our own minds that just won’t cut us a break. The struggle of life.
Death-- in its many forms-- lurk around us. We can feel pressed down, struck down, our determination, our resolve dampened. Lord, we want to be more loving in our hearts…but death seemingly waits for us, looms around every corner.
And YES, these women, these disciples of Jesus knew something about this. They lived it. On that Easter morning so long ago the stench of permanent end had befallen them. The hope felt and known and experienced in the life of Jesus had been life-changing. His love was LIFE to them. The sick are healed. The dead raised. The poor served. The Outcast welcomed. Hope for the little, the least and the lost. Yet, the powers of death again overcame and extinguished this candle of truth that had lit up their lives.
So they went that morning anticipating more grief. How could they not? Their burial spices in tow to offer one last song of thanks. To honor this one who had given them so much. They came believing that death awaited them.
And so the Angel’s greeting shattered this mood…
“Why do you look for the living among the dead?” Excuse me? What else would we find? We are in a cemetery!
“6Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, 7that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.” Why do you anticipate DEATH, when it is LIFE that Jesus promises?
Well Angel, we have grown to expect the dead to be amongst the tombs. We have let life teach us to anticipate death so we are pleasantly surprised if life emerges--whether in the world, in our homes, even within ourselves.
Yet the message of Easter offers us a challenge: IF we are living life only bracing for death. We may MISS the LIFE that Jesus promises us. A Life of Grace and Abundance right around us.
So maybe today we’ll see something different!
Rev. Sarah R. Speed’s beautiful poem New Life is Right Here says…
Maybe today we can take a moment.
Maybe today we can silence the inner critic.
Maybe today we can leave perfection at the door.
Maybe today we can allow ourselves to be here.
Maybe that’s all that matters.
Maybe this sunrise is for us.
Maybe these Hallelujahs are for us.
Maybe the hope blooming in my chest is for us.
Maybe the resurrection was not just about God’s body, but is about our body.
Maybe this new life reaches all the way to the edges.
Maybe we are free to live in a new way
where love is the currency and we are enough.
Maybe that’s what this is all about—not a relentless pursuit of more
but God’s relentless pursuit of us.
New life is right here.
Like the women—say it out loud.
Like Peter—run that way.
Maybe just maybe today we’ll let the Good News really sink in again. Maybe today is a day to remind ourselves to LOOK and LISTEN for the Living. Maybe today we attune our anticipation to something glorious. Something surprising. Something new. Maybe today we anticipate life and then turn and run into the world bearing that Good News!
As the Apostle Paul said, “8We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may be visible in us.”
Family of God, we are an Easter People. Let’s anticipate life. While death seems to lurk around every corner, LIFE does too! Rev. Larissa Abazia says, “Do not be daunted by the symbols and signs of death. Do not be overwhelmed by what is…Look for the living. Live.” LIFE will overcome. Love will have the final word. So, in the name of the Risen and Resurrected Christ we persevere, we press forward, we refuse to give up and give in because with God there is Life and LIFE ABUNDANT! Christ is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!
May it be so! Amen
Lord I want to be like Jesus in my heart -- in my heart…
Lord I want to be like Jesus in my heart.
In my Heart…In my Heart…
Lord I want to like Jesus in My heart!
*Closing Hymn - He Lives! #226
I serve a risen Savior, he's in the world today; I know that he is living, whatever others say.
I see his hand of mercy, I hear his voice of cheer, and just the time I need him, he's always near.
[REFRAIN]
He lives (he lives) he lives (he lives), Christ Jesus lives today!
He walks with me and talks with me along life's narrow way.
He lives (he lives) he lives (he lives), Salvation to impart!
You ask me how I know he lives? He lives within my heart.
In all the world around me I see his loving care,
and though my heart grows weary, I never will despair.
I know that he is leading through all the stormy blast;
the day of his appearing, will come at last.
[Refrain]
Rejoice, rejoice, O Christian, lift up your voice and sing
eternal hallelujahs to Jesus Christ the King!
The hope of all who seek him, the help of all who find;
none other is so loving, so good and kind.
[Refrain]
Benediction - Rev. Chad Delaney
Family of faith,
In the name of the Risen Christ we proclaim…
- there is life after mess.
- There is life after mistakes.
- There is life after self-doubt.
- There is life in the face of darkness
There is new life freely given and that life is for all.
For we are forgiven, loved, and freed to live and love soaked in God’s Grace and Abundant Life.
May we share it and live full to the brim in response.
Christ has died. Christ is Risen. Christ will come again!
And again and again and again in every act of love, service, kindness, and justice. May we live and love in the likeness of the Living Christ. Amen.
Postlude - Christ Arose! [Roger C. Wilson], Jan Green