A Service for Easter Sunday, April 12th, 2020

By His Wounds We Are Healed

In this service for Easter Sunday, we remember that in Jesus’ wounds we are healed. Easter Sunday reminds us that though we have been brought low by sin, our Lord will bless us with new life in him through the cross.

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Order of Service

Easter Greeting

P   Alleluia! Christ is risen!

C  He is risen, indeed! Alleluia!

Opening Hymn: Christ the Lord is Risen Today!

Response

P   In the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

C  Amen.

P   See, my servant shall prosper!

C  Alleluia! Christ is risen!

P   He shall be exalted and lifted up, and shall be very high!

C  Alleluia! Christ is risen!

P   Christ was wounded for our transgressions,

C  crushed for our iniquities;

P   upon him was the punishment that made us whole,

C  and by his wounds we are healed.

P   Christ is risen!

C  He is risen, indeed! Alleluia!

Confession and Forgiveness

P   Let us confess our sin in the presence of God and of one another.

C  Most merciful God, we confess to you that we have broken your commandments by our own thoughts, words, and deeds. We have often despaired and not lived as your risen people. We have not loved our brothers and sisters as we ought, and we have not cared for your creation. For the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ, have mercy on us, and give us the healing power of your love that we may walk again in your ways and live to the glory of your holy name. Amen.

P   God is gracious and merciful, and desires that we be made free of the burden of our sins. Through Jesus Christ, who bore the cross for our sake and for the sake of the whole world, there is healing, hope, and life. Your sins are forgiven in the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

C  Amen.

Word

•  The Old Testament Reading from Isaiah 53:5-6, 10-12:

But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities;upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way,and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him with pain. When you make his life an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring, and shall prolong his days;through him the will of the Lord shall prosper. Out of his anguish he shall see light; he shall find satisfaction through his knowledge. The righteous one, my servant, shall make many righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong;because he poured out himself to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

•  The Epistle Reading from 1 Corinthians 15:3-11

     For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then he  appeared to James, then to all the apostles.

Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace towards me has not been in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them—though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we proclaim and so you have come to believe.

•  The Gospel Reading from Luke 24:1-12:

     But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in, they did not find the body. While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them. The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.”

Then they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb, they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles. But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; then he went home, amazed at what had happened.

Children’s Message

Did you hear that word that we used today? It’s a word that we haven’t used in a really long time—at least not for the last forty days. It’s All-le-lu-ia. (See if the children can guess it as you are saying “Alleluia.”) That word means “Praise God!” And we praise God today because God has done something for us on Easter that is truly amazing!

Even though God had sent Jesus to take on the wounds of our death on the cross for us, God did even more. He did not leave Jesus in the grave. God raised Jesus from the dead! God makes sure that life wins over all death! We celebrate that, because it means that we, too, get to enjoy the promise that we will be raised to be with Jesus. Let’s say it again, really loudly! ALLELUIA!

Let us pray. Lord Jesus, you are risen from the dead, and we celebrate that your wounds will always be a reminder of our wholeness and life. Amen. Alleluia!

Sermon –  I Corinthians 15: 1-34

One of the favorite things I like to smell is newly baked bread.  Some real estate agents tell sellers to bake bread when buyers come to see their house.  It will bring back memories and make the house seem more livable.  When Dixie bakes bread, it seems the smell carries for miles.  The kids and grandkids all seem to sense it.  Let the bread sit a week and the freshness goes away and quickly becomes stale.

I feel too often the Resurrection becomes dry and stale in the church.  We do the same thing week after week.  Even the doctrine and preaching, we have heard the old story. Resurrection story comes through like dry, stale and tasteless bread.

This must have happened to the Christians in Corinth.  They went back to seeking freshness and life somewhere else.  They found excitement by returning to old Pagan Festivals.  They made God and Religion the instrument of their desire.  Is this what happens to us?  We learn the stories and songs, but miss out on the very wonder and power of what we learned.  Maybe the way back is to go to that first Easter.

“He was buried”. Among the Gentiles it was business as usual.  To the priests and people in Jerusalem it was the religious routine of the Passover.

Religion had triumphed! The troublemaker, Jesus, was out of the way. As for the disciples, they could see only disaster.  The impossible had happened.  The living God had not rescued his own son!  All their plans, their dreams and hopes had ended. 

But then comes the Easter climax.  “He was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures”.  That is what changed everything!  No one took his life from him.  He laid it down himself for us.  The promises of God did not fail.  On the third day, He rose.  This is how we know him, and God in him.  He lives and by his death and resurrection we live.  The key is not death but resurrection.  This is life eternal.  This is the life that can never become stale, never become old and dried out, never die.

It is not a stale faith that has up held me when I stood at my father and mother’s grave, when my sister died and this last year watched my brother die.  I have had funerals at Rush River of people I had learned to love.  It becomes a real faith check.  It is then that Easter becomes real.  Jesus burst from the grave.  In this I can rejoice. 

This Easter may you again see Jesus the Christ Risen and alive.  His grace fresh every day, the spirit of Christ in you breathing joy and life. “I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously!  The Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my Salvation”.

Live it!  Sing it!  Shout it! Nothing stale about it.

Peace, Pastor Dave

Creed

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; He descended to the dead. On the third day He rose again; He ascended into heaven, He is seated at the right hand of the Father, and He will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

Offering

Please continue to give in whatever way you are most comfortable with. You might consider making your offering online at  https://rushriverlutheran.org/give/

Prayers of the People

P   Let us pray for the Church, for all in need, and for the whole of God’s creation. That on this Easter Sunday, we celebrate the hope that is ours through Jesus Christ, our risen Lord, who took the wounds of death into his body on the cross for the sins of the whole world.

C  Heal us always!

P   That we may never doubt you or turn away from the joy of life and light that is ours through Christ’s resurrection.

C  Heal us always!

P   For people who know only travesty and tragedy and grave and have yet to come to the fullness of the knowledge of your risen love,

C  Heal us always!

P   For all of your creation that moan and groan for the day of the final liberation of all your children.

C  Heal us always!

P   For those who have died or are now dying, that the tombs ahead may also be opened in the resurrection of the dead.

C  Heal us always!

P   We pray for all who are held captive by anxiety, despair, or pain, especially the family and friends of Edna Christenson, Allen Halvorson, Sharon Hurajt, Gary Mead, Merle Overvig, Evan Peterson, Wayne Ramberg and Evie Roen.

C  Heal us, always!

 P   Into your risen, healing, wounded hands for our sake, we commend all for whom we pray.

C  By Christ’s wounds, we are healed! Amen. Alleluia!

The Lord’s Prayer

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 and ever. Amen.

Closing Hymn “Lift High The Cross”

Blessing

P   May the healing presence of almighty God, Father, + Son, and Holy Spirit, be with you now and always.

C  Amen.

P   Alleluia! Christ is risen!

C  He is risen, indeed! Alleluia!