Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace,
Alpha and Omega, Beginning and End:
It doesn’t seem so long ago
that we gathered together
to celebrate the birth of Christ
and reflect on the mysteries of the incarnation —
how He became the fullness of humanity,
with all of our joys
and all of our sorrows,
yet at the same time
perfectly reflected Your image.
Through the muck and the mire,
He proclaimed the Good News of Your love,
even in the most hopeless of places.
In this past week, we have remembered
the worst of humanity:
the rejection of Your gift of hope,
putting Christ to death on the cross,
and the attempt to deter the emergence of Your kingdom.
But through the resurrected Savior,
the rush of Your Spirit erupted into the world.
When everything was dark,
Your love broke through.
Your love was too strong, too wide, too deep for death to hold.
You have rolled away the stone, O God,
and Your light has pierced the darkness of the tomb.
The sparks cast by Your love
dance and spread and burst forth with resurrection light.
Christ is risen! Christ is risen indeed!
On this day,
we know that many of us still experience
darkness in our lives;
these struggles don’t simply go away
in the joy of this day.
But we are renewed in faith
and strengthened in hope.
Even more, we have been reminded
that the promise of Easter
is not just an idea
that we sing, pray, and preach.
Christ is alive and lives among us today.
Your real presence
is more than something we hope for—
You are with us, here and now.
We know You in the love we share for each other,
the love that binds us all together as one.
Bless all whose lives are closely linked with ours,
and grant that we may serve Christ in them,
and love one another as He loves us.
Comfort and heal all those who suffer in body, mind, or spirit,
especially those in our faith family who are in the hospital:
And those who are continuing their health recoveries at home:
May we also walk the journey of grief with those who have lost loved ones:
We hold each of these faithful servants, those we have named,
and those unnamed, in the Light of Christ.
Grant them courage and hope in their troubles,
and anoint them the joy of Your salvation.
O Lord, encourage our community,
as we form and re-form ourselves as Your Body.
Just as the revelations of Easter
energized the first disciples,
may we be energized to dream new visions
and be open to new risks
and to the unknown.
On this day, O God,
Christ’s resurrection gives us hope that nothing —
no tragedy, no mistake, no sin, no evil —
is beyond the redemptive power of Your love.
This is the truth of Your kingdom,
a kingdom we long for,
and a kingdom for which we now pray
using the words the living Christ has taught us:
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 and the power and the glory forever.
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 and the power and the glory forever.
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