Order of Service / Easter / April 5, 2026

# Profession of Our Faith (Unison)

  God raised Jesus from death, turning sorrow into joy, despair into hope. We sing of Jesus raised from the dead. We sing hallelujah.

  By becoming flesh in Jesus, God makes all things new. In Jesus’ life, teaching, and self-offering, God empowers us to live in love. In Jesus’ crucifixion, God bears the sin, grief, and suffering of the world. In Jesus’ resurrection, God overcomes death. Nothing separates us from the love of God.

  The Risen Christ lives today, present to us and the source of our hope. In response to who Jesus was and to all he did and taught, to his life, death, and resurrection, and to his continuing presence with us through the Spirit,

we celebrate him as the Word made flesh, the one in whom God and humanity are perfectly joined, the transformation of our lives, the Christ.

*from A Song of Faith (A Faith Statement of the United Church of Canada)

# Gathering Hymn Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Give Thanks (#179 VU)

Welcome & Land Acknowledgement

Lighting the Christ Candle

Call to Worship

One: Christ is risen.

  All: Christ is risen, indeed.

One: Alleluia!

  All: Alleluia! Amen!

One: Death has no dominion.

  All: Death is done.

One: Alleluia!

  All: Alleluia! Amen!

One: God is with us.

  All: We are not alone!

One: Alleluia!

  All: Alleluia! Amen!

* Richard Bott. Gathering LE 2026. Page 40.

Opening Prayer

*Opening Hymn Welcome, Happy Morning (#161 VU)

Prayer of Confessional and Renewal (Unison)

God of mercy, we come before you on this Easter Day with grateful hearts for the hope of resurrection. Yet, we confess that we have not always lived as Easter people. We have allowed fear, doubt, and anxiety to overshadow your promises of new life. We have turned away from those who suffer and ignored the cries of the oppressed. Forgive us, O God, and renew us in your love. Help us to live as Easter people, to share the good news of your grace, and to be agents of your peace and justice in the world. In silence, we bring to God our own confessions and our hope for a new beginning. (a time of silent confession) Amen.

Words of Assurance

One: Hear this good news: we do not walk alone. In times of peace and in troubled days, on easy paths and through shadowed valleys, God is with us, leading us in grace and holding us together as one people.

All: We travel together in God’s love. Thanks be to God.

Announcements and Minute for Mission

Prayer for Illumination

Proclaiming the Scriptures

Acts 10:34-43 Peter’s account of Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24 (VU p. 837|P 1,2,3) God is my strength and my song.

John 20:1-18 Mary and the empty tomb.

This is the Good News from the Bible.

  Thanks be to God.

Anthem

Sermon

*Hymn The Day of Resurrection (#164 VU)

*Offering

*Offertory Hymn (#541 VU)

Praise God from whom all blessings flow;

praise God, all creatures high and low;

give thanks to God in love made known;

Creator, Word and Spirit, One.

*Offertory Prayer (Unison)
We thank you, Giver of all gifts. We remember our blessings. With open hearts, we commit to living a life of generosity. With generous sharing, we declare that we are a people nurtured in your abundant love. With our contributions to the future of this community of faith, we proclaim that we are a people of hope. We are an Easter people! Hallelujah! Amen.

*Karen Pryznyk, Gathering L/E 2026. Page 47.

Prayers of the People and Lord’s Prayer

*Closing Hymn Jesus Christ Is Risen Today (#155 VU)

*Commissioning

One: Christ is risen!

All: Christ is risen, indeed! Hallelujah!

One: Let joy spread across your life, and go with you into all the world.

  All: We will go to live out our calling with peace and hope.

One: For Christ is risen!

All: Christ is risen indeed! Hallelujah!

* Robin Wardlaw. Gathering L/E 2026. Page 47.

*Commissioning Song May God’s Sheltering Wings (#214 MV)

May God’s sheltering wings, her gathering wings protect you,

May God’s nurturing arms, her cradling arms sustain you,

And hold you in her love, and hold you in her love. 

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