Easter Sunday Service.

alvaparishchurch
Apr 19
7 min read

Easter Day

20/4/23

Call to worship

Hymn 1072(MP): In Christ alone.

Part 1: All that we feel

Hymn 162(MP): From heaven you came

Part 2: The rich tapestry of life

Hymn 296(MP): I stand amazed.

Part 3: It’s how you view it

Hymn 357(MP): Jesus Christ is risen today

Benediction

Because Our Lord is risen: you are loved

Because the Father is speaking: you have purpose

Because the Spirit is working: you have strength

So leave this place, knowing that God is already out in the world before you, working away, and all he asks, is that you join him in his work.

His work within you, and his work is in the world, this day and forever.

Easter Day Part 1

Hi

All round the world billions of people celebrate Easter Day. It is a very special day. Though sometimes we struggle to understand why.

Sure...Jesus rose for the dead, but other people had risen from the dead before, and they didn’t get a special day.

And this really bugged me.

What was so special about this day?

Why did people care so much?

So he tried to think of all the people that were around that day, and what they were feeling, and whether what they felt helped on that day or not.

First of all I thought about the disciples.

There was Judas...he felt greed, he wanted money, and he got money for betraying Jesus to his enemies....well that didn’t help anyone.

Then there was James and John, they were not only disciples, but brothers. And they got their mum to ask Jesus if they could get special seats of power when Jesus became king. They felt ambition. That didn’t seem to help anyone either.

Then there was Peter, he didn’t want his feet washed by Jesus at the last supper. He felt pride. But that didn’t help anyone.

Not that these were the only feelings that the disciples felt.

When the disciples where in the Garden of Gethsemane, the place where Judas betrayed Jesus and handed him over to the guards, all the disciples felt fear and ran away....that didn’t help anyone either.

But there were other people than disciples in this story.

There was the High Priest, he felt anger that Jesus wouldn’t admit that he was wrong. That didn’t help anyone.

There was Herod who put Jesus on trial and judged him, I think he felt frustration, but that didn’t help anyone.

Then there was his friend Mary who watched Jesus die on a cross, I think she felt great sadness. And sadness always makes us feel bad.

And I thought about all these people and all that they felt, and couldn’t understand why anyone would celebrate this day.

So I looked again at the story and tried to work out if there was anyone that felt differently in the story, felt something that would help.

And then I remembered Jesus.

Jesus felt love.

In love Jesus had tried to tell Judas that greed wouldn’t help him find happiness.

In love Jesus had tried to tell James and John that power wouldn’t make them feel good.

In love Jesus had told Peter that he would run away but that in the end it would sort itself out.

In fact in love Jesus had told the disciples a few times that he would be killed, but that God’s love was greater than even death, and that he would rise up three days later.

So although we might feel greedy or ambitious or frustrated or angry or even sad...the one thing that can help in all these things, is love.

Now it is one thing saying all that stuff, it is another thing proving it.

And on Easter Day when Jesus rose from the dead, that was proof for Mary, for the disciples, for billions of people today, to see that love is the most powerful thing.

And not just love, God’s love for us, for all people.

And if we can see that God’s love is there for us, then that will help us in every part of our life, no matter what we might be feeling.

Let us pray

Heavenly Father

This Easter Day, may we see your love, as the most wonderful of things.

And may we trust, that you have that love for us.

That no matter what we face, no matter what we feel, that you are there for us, and can help us.

Amen

Easter Day Part 2

So how does God’s love work in our lives?

It’s really hard to explain.

Because it doesn’t just need God’s love, it needs us trusting God’s love, and working with God’s love.

Let me explain it this way...(Video)

Edith was working on a cross stitch, where you stitch a pattern onto some cloth to make a wonderful picture.

Now the pattern was very complex, in fact the pattern for the picture was a book.

And it was obvious that it was going to take a long time to finish the picture.

So Edith asked if anyone would like to help her with it.

Now come of the puppets looked at the pattern and it looked to complex, they felt it was going to be too difficult a job and they wanted to do something easier.

Some of the puppets looked at part of the picture that had already been done. But they looked at it from the back, not from the front, and it looked a bit messy and they thought he picture wouldn’t look good when it was finished, so what was the point of doing it?

Some of the puppets didn’t trust Edith, they thought that she would be happy for them to help her, but when the picture was finished then Edith would take all the credit and pretend that they hadn’t helped at all. And they didn’t like that idea. So they wouldn’t help.

And then there was Moses the Mouse.

Moses trusted Edith and knew she was doing the cross stitch just because she liked doing the cross stitch.

And Moses was willing to help.

Willing to look at the pattern and see the next bit that had to be done, then quietly working with Edith’s guidance to work on the picture.

Now Moses knew that it might take a long time, but that when it was finished, they would have something wonderful to look at, and have a joy of knowing that they had been part of it.

I think the cross stitch picture is like our life, it needs a lot of work done on it.

And God is like Edith, that wants to work on our life and make our life special.

And we are like the puppets.

We have a choice as to whether we help God make our life special.

We can be like the puppets that don’t trust Edith, and there can be many reasons for that...

maybe we think our life is a mess and will never look good,

maybe we think trying to fix our life will be too hard so we don’t bother.

Or maybe we can be like Moses...we can look at the pattern of how our life could be,

The pattern we can see in the Bible’s guidance,

and we can then we follow the guidance of God, because we trust that God loves us and wants to help us.

And if we do that, then maybe over time we can look back and see that our life has been special, is special.

Let us pray.

Heavenly Father,

thank you for being there for us.

may we be willing to hear your guidance, and be obedient to you, so that our life, and the lives of others, becomes as special as you want it to be.

Amen.

Easter Day Part 3

So Gonk didn’t still didn’t understand the difference that God’s love makes in our lives?

So instead of trying to explain it to him, I thought I would try to show him, and I told him to go to different parts of the church.

And you know what...the view of the church from upstairs,

was very different from the view in the back seats of the church, which was very different from the view from the front seats of the church, which was very different from the pulpit.

When you move, it changes how you see things.

And when our hearts and minds are moved by the love of God, it changes how we see things.

Because we know we are loved by God,

because we know God cares for us,

because we know God is working to help us be the best ‘us’ that we can be,

that changes how we see others.

We see people differently...they are no longer people we are jealous of, or angry at, or people we hate because they look different or act differently from us.

We see them as people that God cares for as well, even if they don’t know that or don’t feel that...so that means that we should care for them as God does.

We see countries far away and close by differently...

not as enemies to take advantage of,

not as competition for the resources of the world, not as people with weird customs to look down on,

but as fellow people on God’s journey, people to be respected.

We see the earth differently...the earth is not there for us to grab as much resources and stuff from, so that our life is comfortable no matter struggles other people are facing.

Because we are loved and cared for by God,

we see ourselves as people to look after the earth, not just for ourselves,

not just for other people of the world,

but for generations that haven’t been born yet...

because God wants us to care for them, just as he will care for them.

That’s why that first Easter was so special.

Because it showed that God’s love made a difference,

it helps us see ourselves differently,

helps us see others differently,

even helps us see the world differently.

Let us pray.

Heavenly Father,