This is part of the worship series,
"Worship Resources for Eastertide”
Easter Sunday | Eastertide 2 | Eastertide 3
Eastertide 4 | Eastertide 5 | Eastertide 6
Ascension Day | Eastertide 7
For those who may be looking for resources for the beginning of worship during Eastertide—the season after Easter—consider the following resources based on the texts from the Revised Common Lectionary, year B, but adaptable to any context. As I read through the lectionary readings for this season, many of them centered around love: God’s love for us and the call of Christ’s followers to love each other. Thus, that refrain echoes throughout these resources. Another theme that began with Mark’s account of the women at the tomb is that of doubt and faith and how closely the two reside in each of us.
Title IMAGE: JESUS MAFA. Jesus appears at Emmaus from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=48275 [retrieved April 2, 2024]. Original source: http://www.librairie-emmanuel.fr (contact page: https://www.librairie-emmanuel.fr/contact).
NOTES
- A downloadable copy of all of the openings of worship from Easter through Ascension can be found in the resource section below.
- All material not written by the author is indicated and can be used in worship setting without additional permission. Please do include all copyright notices when using the material and add the following when utilizing the newly written material or referencing the resource as a whole: —Joyce Borger © 2024 ReformedWorship.org, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Used by permission.
- *Congregation is invited to stand in body or spirit.
Second Sunday of Easter
God's Greeting*
Christ is risen!
Christ is risen indeed!
The God who has the power
to make what was dead alive again,
and loved us so much that he sent Christ
to die for our sins so we may live---
that is the God who calls us here today,
and greets us with these words:
"Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name, you are mine."
—Isaiah 43:1
Opening Words: Psalm 133*
How good and pleasant it is
when God’s people live together in unity!
It is like precious oil poured on the head,
running down on the beard,
running down on Aaron’s beard,
down on the collar of his robe.
It is as if the dew of Hermon
were falling on Mount Zion.
For there the Lord bestows his blessing,
even life forevermore.
—Psalm 133 NIV
Song of Praise
“Christ is Alive! Let Christians Sing” Wren
“Oh How Good It Is” Getty et al.
“See How Good It Is (Psalm 133)” Kimbrough and McCracken
“Miren qué bueno/Oh, Look and Wonder” Sosa
Call to Confession
Scripture says:
"If we claim to be without sin,
we deceive ourselves
and the truth is not in us.
If we confess our sins,
God is faithful and just
and will forgive us our sins
and purify us from all unrighteousness.
If we claim we have not sinned,
we make God out to be a liar
and his word is not in us."
—1 John 1: 8–10 NIV
Let us then, confident of God's forgiveness,
confess our sins to God,
using the words provided, praying:
Prayer of Confession
Most merciful God,
we confess that we have sinned against you
in thought, word, and deed,
by what we have done,
and by what we have left undone.
We have not loved you with our whole heart;
we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.
We are truly sorry and we humbly repent.
For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ,
have mercy on us and forgive us;
that we may delight in your will,
and walk in your ways,
to the glory of your Name.
Amen.
—The Book of Common Prayer, according to the use of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. © 1977, Charles Mortimer Guilbert as custodian; public domain. p. 79, alt. Used by permission.
Assurance of Pardon
"This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you:
God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.
If we claim to have fellowship with him
and yet walk in the darkness,
we lie and do not live out the truth.
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light,
we have fellowship with one another,
and the blood of Jesus, his Son,
purifies us from all sin."
—1 John 1: 5–7 NIV
Be assured that you are forgiven,
walk in the light, and live in unity together.
Amen!
The Lord bestows his blessing,
even life forevermore.
—Psalm 133:3 NIV
Revised Common Lectionary
Year B: Easter—Second Sunday of Easter
