Bulletin – Sunday, April 5, 2026 – Easter Sunday

Sunday April 5, 2026
Easter Sunday

We Gather as a People of Faith

Welcome:

Candle Lighting:

One:   Let us Pray
All:      Let there be peace on earth

One:   We cry out in joyful expectation
All:      Give peace a chance

One:   We light this candle, welcoming the peace of Christ
All:      We know this light overcomes death and is within us always!Amen, Alleluia Praise to the Risen Christ.

Announcements:

Call to Worship

Let today not be just another day hold tight to the knowledge that we are loved by God. Remember we are cared for in our deepest struggles, comforted in our darkest times. The Spirit of the Risen Christ always watchful

It is good to celebrate and rejoice like the prophets and mystics before us. We are strengthened to walk the path as faithful followers of Jesus with the power of the Holy Spirit now and always.

Please join in the singing of the hymn: “Jesus Christ is Risen Today” (Voices United #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, hallelujah!
Unto Christ, our heavenly King, hallelujah!
Who endured the cross and grave, hallelujah!
Sinners to redeem and save. Hallelujah!

But the pains which he endured, hallelujah!
Our salvation have procured; hallelujah!
Now above the sky he’s King, hallelujah!
Where the angels ever sing. Hallelujah!

Sing we to our God above, hallelujah!
Praise eternal as God’s love; hallelujah!
Praise our God, ye heavenly host, hallelujah!
Praise the Son and Holy Ghost. Hallelujah!

Prayer of Approach and Confession

Like the disciples before us and throughout the ages, we have seen the empty tomb, but we await the appearance of the risen Christ. Even as our doubts loom over us and troubles seem to linger.

Words of Assurance

We are indeed an Easter People. This is our truth in our faith Journey. We have travelled through sorrows, and with Jesus to the Cross.

Today we are once again reassured. Death has no dominion. Let our hearts be warmed knowing we are not alone. Christ is with us! Let us celebrate! Jesus is risen! The spirit of God rests in our hearts. God’s power is released throughout the world. Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Sung Response– “Alleluia” (More Voices #50)

Alleluia, al-le-lu-ia, alleluia, al-le-lu-ia
Alleluia, al-le-lu-ia, alleluia, al-le-lu-ia

Time for All Ages:  A special prayer from the Indigenous United Church

A special prayer from the Indigenous United Church

We Hear God’s Word

Scripture Readings:

A Reading from the Prophet Jeremiah 31:1-6

¹ At that time, says the Lord, I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people.

² Thus says the Lord: The people who survived the sword found grace in the wilderness; when Israel sought for rest, ³ the Lord appeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you. ⁴ Again I will build you, and you shall be built, O virgin Israel! Again you shall take your tambourines, and go forth in the dance of the merrymakers. ⁵ Again you shall plant vineyards on the mountains of Samaria;

the planters shall plant, and shall enjoy the fruit. ⁶ For there shall be a day when sentinels will call in the hill country of Ephraim: ‘Come, let us go up to Zion, to the Lord our God.’

A Reading from the Gospel of John 20:1-18

¹ Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. ² So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, ‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.’ ³ Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went towards the tomb. ⁴ The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. ⁵ He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. ⁶ Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, ⁷ and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. ⁸ Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; ⁹ for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. ¹⁰ Then the disciples returned to their homes.

¹¹ But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; ¹² and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. ¹³ They said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’ She said to them, ‘They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.’ ¹⁴ When she had said this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. ¹⁵ Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? For whom are you looking?’ Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.’ ¹⁶ Jesus said to her, ‘Mary!’ She turned and said to him in Hebrew, ‘Rabbouni!’ (which means Teacher). ¹⁷ Jesus said to her, ‘Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”’ ¹⁸ Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord’; and she told them that he had said these things to her.

May God speak to us through these readings of scripture.
Thanks be to God!

Please join in the singing of the hymn: “Joy Comes With the Dawn” (Voices United #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;
Joy comes with the morning sun;
Joy springs from the tomb
And scatters the night with her song,

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;
Joy comes with the morning sun;
Joy springs from the tomb
And scatters the night with her song,

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;
Joy comes with the morning sun;
Joy springs from the tomb
And scatters the night with her song,
Joy comes with the dawn.

Sermon:  We are Indeed an Easter People

Hymn: “I Come with Joy” (Voices United #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.

Communion Liturgy

One:   God is with us!
All:     We are not alone!

One:   Lift up your hearts.
All:     We lift them up to God.

One:   Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
All:     It is right to give our thanks and praise.

One:   Holy Mystery that is Wholly Love, you are beyond complete knowledge, above perfect description. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; Source of Life, Living Word, and Bond of Love, you are creative and self-giving, generously moving. In all the near and distant corners of the universe. nothing exists that does not find its source in you.
All:      Even when we turn away from you, you are with us; your presence never fails us, your gifts of hope and new life transform us.

(based on A Song of Faith)

One:   We praise you for Jesus Christ, eternal as your love, our bond to one another. We rejoice with all your people of every time and place, and with angels and archangels, to proclaim the glory of your name:
All:      Holy, holy, holy are you. Holy, holy, blessed are you.

One:   It is Jesus, God incarnate, the Risen Christ…In sharing this meal, we live out the mystery of our faith:
All:      Christ has died. Christ is rise. Christ will come to us again.

One:   Holy Mystery, God the Spirit…Through Christ, in Christ, and with Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory is yours, God most holy, now and forever. Amen.

Breaking the Bread, Pouring the Cup

One:   Let us pray. Thank you, Creator God, for sharing your life with us in every good thing of this world. Thank you most of all for Jesus, who sat us down to eat and drink good bread and good wine, so that in tasting how good they are we could remember how good you are.

One:   He is our East, our Eden, our Garden of peace. In him we find the fullness of life you desired for us from the start—walking together, sharing food, living in peace.

One:   Send the Spirit to this table now where he still sits us down, where we still remember you. Send your Spirit to those we lift up to you this day…

One:   Bless the bread and the cup, fruit of the earth and work of our hands. May they become, by your grace, the taste of Eden in our hearts. As we eat and drink together, let us see more clearly a vision of life as you meant it to be. Consecrate us to the ministry of making it so, by sharing earth’s goodness with all, in reverence and hope, with justice, and joy. Amen.

Sharing Bread and Cup

One:   Dear friends in Christ, on the night before he was given up, Jesus gathered at a table much like this, a table that was Eden for his followers. This is the bread Jesus blessed and broke and gave us to share in remembrance of him.

One:   The body of Christ,
All:     The bread of life.

One:   After supper this is the cup Jesus blessed and poured and gave us to drink in remembrance of him.

One:   The lifeblood of Christ,
All:     The cup of blessing.

One:   Eating and drinking together, we remember his death, we rejoice in his rising, and we wait for him to come again, to judge in mercy, to welcome in love, and restore all creation, to the praise and glory of God. Amen!

One:   The gifts of God for the people of God,
All:     Thanks be to God!

Invitation to share the meal

Prayer after Communion

Thank you, O Christ, for this feast of life. We are fed by your love; we are strengthened by your life. We are sent forth into this world to live the visions God has laid on our hearts. We are now commissioned to: Feed as we have been fed; To forgive as we have been forgiven, To love as we have been loved. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Lord’s Prayer

One:   Please join me in praying the prayer Jesus taught us to pray:
All:      Our Creator who is like…..“Our Mother and Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom the power and the glory forever and forever. Amen.

We Respond to God’s Word

An Invitation to Share

Offering Sung Response – “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!

Offering Prayer

O Creator God, whose love is poured out in abundance. Whose wisdom directs our lives. With open hearts and generous conviction. We offer these gifts to you that as Christ did for us, we may do for others. In loving kindness and with generous hearts. Amen.

Invitation to Passing of the Peace

Prayers of the People

We Go Into God’s World

Hymn – “Because You Live, O Christ”

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 ri-sen!

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 and death cannot imprison.
O sing this Easter Day, for Jesus Christ has risen,
Has risen, has risen, has ri-sen!

Because you live, O Christ,
The rainbow of your peace will span creation,
The colours of your love
Will draw all humankind to adoration.

The stone has rolled away and death cannot imprison.
O sing this Easter Day, for Jesus Christ has risen,
Has risen, has risen, has ri-sen!

Commissioning

One:    The limits of death are gone
All:      Our hearts are warmed with the presence of Christ and filled with deep abiding joy

One:    The followers of the Jesus Way are renewed
All:      We will follow the way of Jesus faithfully.

One:    Those that seek pride and power are defeated
All:      Hope is offered to all who feel overburdened

One:    Our faith is inspired
All:      Together we can change our small corner of the world

One:    We are strengthened in courage
All:      Our voice will be the voice of the silenced

One:    Thanks Be to God. Christ is Risen. Amen.

Benediction

One:   We have followed Jesus faithfully through Lent,
All:      We have waited at the foot of the cross

One:   The tomb is empty
All:      God’s love fills us

One:   Let us go out into the world rejoicing and sharing
All:      The gifts of the Holy Spirit that nurture us for the journey

One:   And guide us into right action with one another and in the world. Amen.

Sung Response – “Amen, Amen, Hallelujah, Amen!” (Voices United #974)

Amen, amen, hallelujah, amen!
Amen, amen, hallelujah, amen!