God of great gifts:
This morning we give you praise,
we give you glory,
we give you thanks!
With resurrection humming in our hearts,
our minds are tuned to your song of peace!
We joyfully present these gifts to you,
a tangible chorus of thanksgiving,
a harmony of hope for your kingdom come!
Amen.
My friends, we have heard good news today!
May the joy of resurrection
and the hope of Easter
fill your hearts and minds
this week and in the coming year!
Come Lord Jesus!
Praise God from whom all blessings flow
praise God all creatures here below
for on this day of joy and gladness
Christ is risen from death and sadness!
Praise with hands and voices singing
praise with verse and chorus ringing
Christ the Lord is risen today
He is the Truth, the Life, the Way!
I could smell that charcoal fire a long way off
while we were still rowing far from shore.
As we got closer I could smell the fish cooking,
I imagined I could hear it sizzling.
When you’re hungry, your mind works that way.
When the man by the fire called out asking us about our catch,
we held up the empty nets.
And his advice to throw the nets in once more
is something we might have ignored,
except for the smell of cooking fish…
this guy must know something about catching fish!
Narrator: Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them,
Jesus: “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?”
Narrator: They looked at each other, and then at the stranger. Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him,
Cleopas: “Actually, it’s none of your business.
Disciple: Can’t you see we are overcome with sadness. Please let us grieve in peace.
God of the bright and morning star,
God of the rising sun,
God of darkness banished,
we praise and worship you!
For empty tombs: thank you!
For disciples running with good news: thank you!
For your presence, alive, powerful, resurrected: thank you!
We celebrate your victory over death,
over all the powers that would defeat us.
Help us to grasp resurrection;
to understand its power,
On this Easter morning of now done darkness
we lift our hearts with praise,
we open our lives with joy!
We thank you for our Saviour, the Light of the world
who has brought death to death, and life to life.
We come into your presence with singing,
our hearts echoing the chorus of the ages,
“Hosanna! Alleluia forever and ever!
Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord!”
Jesus never fit into the Inn crowd
there was just no room.
From the very start those in-power people
had very little use for Jesus.
Moreover, they were increasingly offended
by his accusation that they lacked insight.
In the end, they were incensed
and looked for any way to do him in.
Even the Romans had no use for Jesus,
although Pilate’s wife believed he was innocent.
It was inevitable, he was in for it.
In the final hours a cross, and then interred in a tomb…
We are the shadow people who dance with death,
that great shade, our whole life long.
We try to run from its darkness,
we avoid it, we try to elude it.
But in the end we are always the shadow people,
hopelessly connected to death.
The darkness of death eclipses us.
Death hems us in, stifles us, stunts our growth,
it wants to kill us.
Crippled and cramped by this grave story
we long for a saviour
who sees our crooked shadows, our bent-overness….
I am a Mennonite pastor currently teaching theology at Conrad Grebel University College in Waterloo, Ontario. I’ve served congregations in Ontario and most recently, Alberta.
I love to write and to lead worship! If you are finding my writing helpful, I would love to hear from you! Feel free to use or adapt the material here, it is all written by me. If printing material, please credit “Copyright Carol Penner www.leadinginworship.com” (and say whether you modified it). If publishing, please contact me for permission. Contact me at carol@leadinginworship.com
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