Notes on the Notes – April 5, 2026
Easter Sunday
This week’s music:
“Jesus Christ is Risen Today” (VU #155)
“Jesus Christ is risen today, hallelujah!
Our triumphant holy day, hallelujah!
Who did once upon the cross, hallelujah!
Suffer to redeem our loss. Hallelujah!
Hymns of praise then let us sing…
Unto Christ, our heavenly King,…
Who endured the cross and grave,…
Sinners to redeem and save…
But the pains which he endured,…
Our salvation have procured;…
Now above the sky he’s King,…
Where the angels ever sing…
Sing we to our God above…
Praise eternal as God’s love;…
Praise our God, ye heavenly host,…
Praise the Son and Holy Ghost. Hallelujah!
This triumphant Easter carol appears in several 14th-century manuscripts, and has been revised and added to over the centuries, with the fourth verse being written by Charles Wesley in 1740. The tune, EASTER HYMN, is a model of the new hymnody that was being introduced to English congregations at the beginning of the 18th century. The descant was written by Derek Holman in 1971.
See the King’s College Choir at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMwPEmUMP7U
“Alleluia” (MV #50)
“Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.”
Our sung response to the Words of Assurance has music written by Norah Duncan IV (1987). Hear the song: “Alleluia”
“Joy Comes With the Dawn” (VU #166)
“Joy comes with the dawn;
Joy comes with the morning sun;
Joy springs from the tomb and scatters the night with her song,
Joy comes with the dawn.
Weeping may come;
Weeping may come in the night, when dark shadows cloud our sight.
Joy comes with the dawn…
Sorrow will turn,
Sorrow will turn into song, and God’s laughter makes us strong.
Joy comes with the dawn…
We will rejoice,
We will rejoice, and give praise, to the One who brings us grace.
Joy comes with the dawn…”
This hymn was written by Gordon Light of the Common Cup Company in 1985. After the solemnity and grief of Good Friday, it offers us hope in the joy of the dawn of Easter morning.
Hear the song at: https://youtu.be/QKtDGXLq9xQ
“I Come With Joy” (VU #477)
“I come with joy, a child of God, forgiven, loved and free,
The life of Jesus to recall in love laid down for me,
In love laid down for me.
I come with Christians far and near to find, as all are fed,
The new community of love in Christ’s communion bread,
In Christ’s communion bread.
As Christ breaks bread, and bids us share, each proud division ends.
The love that made us, makes us one, and strangers now are friends,
And strangers now are friends.
The Spirit of the risen Christ, unseen, but ever near,
Is in such friendship better known, alive among us here,
Alive among us here.
Together met, together bound by all that God has done,
We’ll go with joy, to give the world the love that makes us one,
The love that makes us one.”
This song, one of Brian Wren’s most widely-published hymns, was written for the congregation at Hockley in Essex in 1968, at the end of a series of sermons on communion. It was first published in The Hymn Book (1971). The tune, DOVE OF PEACE, is an American folk tune from Southern Harmony (1835). The arrangement in Voices United is by Austin C. Lovelace.
Hear the melody played on piano at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMFLyMvOro4
“He is Lord”
“He is Lord! He is Lord! He is risen from the dead and He is Lord!
Every knee shall bow, every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord!”
The author and composer of this traditional Easter response are unknown.
“Because You Live O Christ” (VU #178)
“Because you live, O Christ, the garden of the world has come to flower,
The darkness of the tomb is flooded with your resurrection power.
The stone has rolled away and death cannot imprison.
O sing this Easter Day, for Jesus Christ has risen,
Has risen, has risen, has risen!
Because you live, O Christ, the spirit bird of hope is freed for flying,
Our cages of despair no longer keep us closed and life-denying.
The stone has rolled away…
Because you live, O Christ, the rainbow of your peace will span creation,
The colours of your love will draw all human kind to adoration.
The stone has rolled away…”
Shirley Erena Murray, a New Zealand hymn writer, wrote this strong new hymn to provide an alternative Easter text for the tune VRUECHTEN. She said, “I wanted a fresh expression of community joyfulness, with light, color, and the vision of the covenant rainbow through the Resurrection.” The hymn was published in her collection, In Every Corner Sing (1992).
“Amen” (VU #974)
“Amen, amen, hallelujah, amen!
Amen, amen, hallelujah, amen!”
Our Easter benediction response was written by Jim Strathdee (1985).
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