Easter Sunday
Easter Sunday
Welcome!
Welcome to excerpts from the worship held within the newly formed Westhills Church of Scotland Congregation. We know that not all members of the congregation are able to be in church on Sunday morning; offering these excerpts from the Sunday morning service might help you feel included. Where we can, we offer parts of the service in text and audio, whichever works best for you.
If this post helps you explore what happens within an act of worship then please read on…
The Psalms
Psalm 103: 1 – 5 & 8 – 11
Your Weekly Church Notices
Scripture
Colossians 3: 1 – 4
Live recording
Matthew 28: 1 – 10
Live recording
Praise – From heaven you came
Prayers
Live recording
While it was still dark
Before thought or sound or hope of daylight
Those who love, Who watch and wait
Rise from sleep
Approaching the place Where death dwells
Never knowing what they seek
Feet falling heavily upon the earth
Hearts burdened, minds confused
Stumbling in the moment before the dawn.
We come to the tomb
Only to find that while we sleep God is at work
Rolling away impossible stones
Clearing obstacles before us
Shaking death out of dry bones
Working with angels
Tellers of good news
Raising up life In the quiet still moments before the dawn.
An empty grave
Sets feet running, Hearts pounding, Voices telling
Things too strange, Too unknown
Too wonderful for believing
Linen wrappings all that remain
When death cannot hold in place its work
And life appears at the breaking of dawn.
We make our way to You God this Easter day
Walking, running, wondering,
Half-believing, certain and sure
Emerging out of the darkness of Friday
The waiting of Saturday
To find all fulfilled on Sunday
In a garden far away, Long ago, Tended by You
The seedbed of our life of faith
Where together we claim
We too have seen the Lord.
Hear us as we join in the words of the Lord’s Prayer saying…
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 debts as we forgive our debtors and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil, for thine is the Kingdom, the Power and the Glory forever. Amen.
Address
Live recording
He was in his 80’s when he told his story for the very first time. Billy had been mad on motorbikes for as long as he could remember until the day he was in an accident on his bike in which he had nearly died. He couldn’t recall much about how the accident happened but he could recall what he experienced. He found himself spiralling down a long, dark tunnel, emerging at the end into a brilliant, radiant light where there were people waiting to welcome him and bring him in. He was happy to be with them then he heard a voice saying it was too soon for him that it wasn’t his time yet. When he regained consciousness he found himself lying in a hospital bed recovering from serious injuries and extremely lucky to be alive.
I’m sure these kind of experiences are more common than we give credit for. There will be many others who have had experiences just like that one. Experiences which now we would term, as “Near Death Experiences”. I suppose a doctor could tell you that these “visions” are to do with a lack of oxygen to a particular part of the brain and I’m not disputing the science behind that. Whatever the cause of Billy’s “vision” the effect of it upon him was profound. What amazed me was that he’d never told anyone about his experience. It had been his secret for the best part of 60 years. The experience clearly meant a great deal to him; Billy still remembered every detail as clearly as if it were yesterday and he became very emotional when he spoke about it.
And the reason why he had taken so long to talk about it… he said he thought nobody would believe him and so he kept it to himself.
I’m sure that was a very understandable reaction, for in our society anything, which hints at the paranormal or the supernatural often attracts ridicule. That was especially so in the latter decades of the 19th century and on into the 20th century when the term secularism was coined. Society became very science-orientated and few people dared to admit to believing in anything that could not be felt or seen or heard or proved in some indisputable scientific way.
Even in past centuries when witches and wizards and all kinds of supernatural beings were accepted as normal. Even in the days of the first century when miracle makers, magicians and healers abounded and were accepted without a second thought, the idea of someone rising from the grave was too bizarre for most people to stomach. It was then, is now and always has been entirely outside of anything that we normally experience or can prove scientifically.
No wonder the women who visited the tomb on that first Easter Sunday struggled with their experience. They expected to see a body wrapped in a shroud inside the tomb, but instead saw an angel of the Lord (what does an angel of the Lord look like I wonder?) the stone sealing the tomb had been rolled away. No, I take that back. We’re told the angel looked like lightening and his clothes were as white as snow. The angel is given some human qualities being clothed and sitting down and would appear to be male – his clothes! But how can you have these human qualities and look like lightening? Sorry I digress. If this is what the women experienced I can understand why they were afraid. The Roman guards were terrified too! After all, it’s not every day you meet an angel, and when that angel tells you some ridiculous tale about a dead person going ahead and meeting you and your friends, you probably think you’re out of your mind with grief.
The women come to the tomb to embalm the body, to find the stone has been rolled away, and meet an angel who instructs them to tell all their friends that Jesus is alive. So off they go, afraid and yet filled with joy to share with the disciples their experiences at the tomb. Perhaps that’s exactly the response many people would have today on being told that a dead person was alive and well. To be afraid and yet filled with joy at the possibility of it being true.
Interestingly, the women were expected to believe in the resurrection without seeing anything for themselves, just as we’re expected to believe in the resurrection without seeing anything for ourselves. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary saw an empty tomb – they did not meet the Risen Christ. They too had to make a leap of faith to believe that the empty tomb meant Jesus had risen to life. There were other more plausible explanations for the empty tomb. It was only when they made the choice to share their experience with the disciples that they actually met the risen Christ for themselves, and then they knew for sure that they were not deluded.
And our lives so often follow the same pattern. We may not be certain just what to believe, then comes an actual experience meeting with the Risen Christ and – the penny drops! And we know for ourselves the Christ is Risen.
It’s often been said that the trouble with Christianity is that you’re expected to believe so many unbelievable things; things which are especially unbelievable in the enlightened 21st century.
Yet, our God can work very well with unbelief. All that’s required is an open and inquiring mind, like Mary Magdalene and the other Mary who were open to the possibility that there might be more things under heaven and earth than we can see with our eyes or touch with our hands. For those who meet with the Risen Christ, accept him and believe in Him the doorway is opened to a new life which is vibrant and challenging. We call it “The Resurrection Life”.
Praise – I cannot tell
Prayers for Others
Live recording
Thanksgiving
We come Lord in praise, in thanksgiving, rejoicing in all that you have done. This day of resurrection is the seedbed of our faith. We thank you for the assurance that nothing in Heaven or on earth can separate us from your love, that no situation, however dreadful it may seem, is finally beyond your power to redeem, and we rejoice that you hold a Kingdom in store for us where all this world’s trials and tragedies will be no more; where we shall dwell forever in the light of your presence. Take then the changes and chances of this life and help us, whatever we may face, to trust that your purpose will triumph over all. For that singular and glorious truth Lord, we offer you our thanks. Hear our prayers…
Hope from Despair
We remember how news of the empty tomb and the stone rolled away spread so quickly, and how despite it all, your followers could scarcely take it in, scarcely bring themselves to hope – afraid to take the risk of faith in case they should face the heartache of losing you once more. Lord Jesus, where faith has died and dreams have faded, may hope flower again.
Lord Jesus Christ, in this world where hopes are so often dashed and dreams so often broken, we remember today the faith you gave to so many, both through your coming and through your resurrection from the dead. Lord Jesus, where faith has died and dreams have faded may hope flower again. Lord hear us in our prayers for those places where dreams and hopes have perished to once again become places of faith…
The Bereaved
God of all comfort, we bring to you this world that knows so much pain: our own and that of those around us. We bring you our hurts, troubles, anxieties and fears, placing them into your hands, we pray especially for those facing sorrow and grief. Reach out into their pain and heartache and give them the knowledge that you understand their sorrow. May your arms enfold them, may your love bring comfort, and your light scatter the shadows so that they might know joy in their hearts once more and celebrate the fullness of life. Lord hear us in our prayers for those who grieve…
Praise – Thine be the glory
The Grace
And now… May the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Love of God and the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you and all whom you love, now and for evermore. AMEN.