Easter Reading 2008
Leader:
All Lenten symbols—the reminders of death and darkness
—have been removed from the cross today.
In their place are signs of life and light.
The stone has been rolled aside; the tomb is empty.
Death is swallowed up in victory!
What we intended for evil, God in mercy has transformed for our good.
Congregation:
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, we thank you for your mercy!
Like Mary, we come to the tomb in our darkness and panic.
Absorbed by self, our hope is often faint.
But by your grace, beyond defeat and death we hear you call our name.
By the power of your resurrection you bring Life to us!
We thank you for your mercy!
Leader:
When the first disciples saw that the stone had been rolled away,
John hesitated to enter.
Peter failed to understand Christ’s victory.
The hopelessness of death was still darker than the light of Easter dawn.
Congregation:
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, we thank you for your mercy!
We have often wept like Mary, and hesitated like John.
Like Peter we have forgotten your promises.
Absorbed by self, our hope is often faint.
But by your grace, beyond defeat and death we hear you call our name.
By the power of your resurrection you bring Life to us!
We thank you for your mercy!
Leader:
The cross embodies both our sin and our hopelessness without God’s grace.
But Christ has made the cross an eternal reminder of God’s love,
and a borrowed tomb the symbol of everlasting hope.
God’s way of peace, God’s way of love
have overcome all our ways of defeat and death.
Let us pray together...
All:
Almighty God, whose glory it is always to have mercy:
We confess that the cross and its dark symbols come from our hands.
We fail to remember, and fail to believe.
Absorbed by self, our hope is often faint.
But by Your grace, beyond defeat and death we live in hope.
By the power of the resurrection You share Life with us!
You are our Father and our God!
We thank You for Your mercy!
Leader:
Therefore, with angels and archangels, and all the company of heaven,
We praise and magnify Your glorious name, evermore praising You, and saying:
All:
Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Hosts!
Heaven and earth are full of Your glory.
Glory be to You, O Lord Most High! Amen.
Copyright 2008 Oklahoma City First Church of the Nazarene.
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