Tag: Easter Sunday

April 9th 2023 -“It’s Easter – what else needs to break?”

2023-04-09 "It’s Easter – what else needs to break?" 11 AM
Watch this video on YouTube.

Dear friends, 

Our Special Easter offering (the yellow envelope in your envelope box) has been designated toward the work of Camp d’Action Biblique (CAB), our Presbyterian summer camp in Richmond, QC – a roughly 90 minute drive from the South Shore.  It is a camp where children and youth can spend a week in the summer and live in Christian community while having a great time.  For more information, visit: www.cabqc.ca

This Sunday is Easter Sunday, or Resurrection Sunday, where we celebrate and proclaim our Lord’s victory over death by His rising from the grave on the third day (Luke 24:46, 1 Corinthians 15:4).  

What does the resurrection of Christ mean to us?  Living Faith, a statement of Christian belief prepared under the direction of the Committee on Church Doctrine of The Presbyterian Church in Canada (the green booklet in the church pews), has this to say in chapter 3.5:  

  “Jesus suffered, died and was buried, but God raised him from the dead.  Risen and ascended, he is alive now, the living Lord.  His resurrection means that our faith is not empty, that final victory is assured over all evil powers which destroy and deform life, and that death, the last enemy, is conquered.  The forces of the evil one still wage war against us.  The destructive powers are still present.  But their end is not in doubt.  We await the full revelation of our Lord’s triumph.  We worship our ascended Lord.  Reigning in glory and power he is our High Priest and Advocate interceding before the Father on our behalf.  Through him we offer our sacrifice of praise, with prayer for all to the Father.  Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

The Lord is risen indeed! Hallelujah! 

Order of Service

Prelude
Welcome
Call to Worship
Hymn 243: “Jesus Christ is risen today” (vs 2&3 en français)
Prayer of Adoration
Prayer of Confession
Declaration of Grace
Sung response Hymn 523: “Christ has died, Christ is risen” (vs 2 en français)
The Lord’s Prayer
Choir Anthem: Christ Is Risen, Alleluia!
Children’s Time
Hymn 249: “The day of resurrection”
Responsive reading: Psalm 118: 1-2, 14-24
Gloria Patri
First Lesson: Acts 10: 34-43 (en français; English on the screen)
Second Lesson: Colossians 3: 1-4
The Gospel: John 20: 1-18
Sermon: “It’s Easter – what else needs to break?”
Confession of Faith – The Apostles’ Creed
Hymn 252: “He is Lord” (vs 2 en français)
Offering and Offertory
Prayer of Thanksgiving and Intercession
Hymn 257: “The strife is o’er, the battle done”
Benediction
Go now in peace
Postlude

Easter Sunday, April 17th 2022 -“An Idle Tale”

2022-04-17 Easter Worship 11:00 AM - "An idle tale"
Watch this video on YouTube.

Dear all,

Today (April 15th) is Good Friday, which we anticipated last Sunday.  We are now looking forward to Easter –  depicted in the image below in an unusual way. Typically, we expect the risen Christ, trumpets, Easter eggs, bunnies and chicks – all symbols of the new life of Spring.  Here we have the women who have visited  the tomb to anoint Jesus’ body with spices and ointments. There they have encountered mystery: the stone rolled away and just a linen should where they expect the body. Then two messengers in white appear to remind them of Jesus’ words that they had forgotten: he is risen.  Still confused, they run back to the male disciples to pass on what they have been told. But instead of a rousing “Hallelujah”, this first report of Easter meets with a cold and unenthusiastic reception. The male disciples are still huddled together in the fear and despair and guilt of Good Friday, closed to the outside world on which the women have opened a window.  They dismiss what the women say as “an idle tale.” The word used in Luke’s gospel is leros, from which we get our word delirium. It might also be translated as crazy, insane, nonsense, garbage, all indicating a good dose of skepticism. We recall that women’s testimony wasn’t worth anything in a Jewish court in those days. Women were assumed to be unreliable and hysterical. All this to say that Resurrection faith doesn’t happen immediately that first Easter morning.  But the mystery of what has happened and what it means continues to unfold. Luke’s point is that there is a gap between what has actually happened and the human ability to take it in –  which will grow richer and deeper and fuller as time goes on.  

Order of service

We welcome trumpeter André Thouin with Henry Cobb Howes (piano)

Easter Sunday, April 17, 2022 at 11 a.m.

Prelude:
PWS&D Lenten Liturgy
Hymn 243: “Jesus Christ is risen today”
Prayer of Adoration
Prayer of Confession
Declaration of Grace and Lord’s Prayer
Responsive reading: Psalm 118 : 14-24
Isaiah 65 : 17-25
Anthem: Kyiv Symphony Orchestra and Chorus
1 Corinthians: 19-26
Luke 24 : 1-12
Hymn 248: “At the dawning of salvation
Meditation: “An Idle Tale”
Hymn 256: “Now the green blade rises”
Offering and Offertory
Prayer of Thanksgiving and Intercession
Hymn 249: “The day of resurrection”
Benediction
“Go now in peace”
Postlude