1 Peter 1:1-12
Monday, 31 March 2008
Some people like to hear all of the details and then the punchline of a story. I'm not one of those people. Tell me the diagnosis, the outcome, the bottomline, and then I can ask for the details I find most relevant. This doesn't mean I'm not interested in the story or in the telling of it. On the contrary, I am both engaged by and concerned about it, so much so that I can't wait to hear the point. I'm anxious to know how it turns out.
Today, we transition out of the Gospels and into the Epistle of Peter. This represents a movement from simply telling the story of Jesus' life, ministry, death, and resurrection to understanding how that story is to be lived out in those of us who call ourselves believers. The introduction to the epistle succinctly documents God's intention for us. God has given us birth into a living hope through Christ's resurrection and has laid up an imperishable, undefiled, and unfading inheritance for us. In contemporary terms, God has brought us into the family and set up a trust fund for us. When we see our lives in these terms, we recognize that just as Jesus' suffering had a purpose, the Christian's trials also lead to a larger point : a saved life of unfettered, unspeakable joy here and glory ahead.
To be sure, suffering and trial meant something different for the earliest Christians than it does for us today. Most of us do not face the constant threat of execution because of our testimony and witness. But even while the circumstances differ from age to age, and even from individual to individual, everyone who seeks to do what's right faces tribulation and trial sometimes. Yet believers also share the common experience of being kept by God's power, a power the keeps us secure in our trial and inspires and emboldens our praise. The details may have changed but the point has not. In Christ, Christians of all ages are ultimate overcomers and more than conquerors.
Sing "Joy Unspeakable"
Let us pray:
Generous God, we ourselves sometimes wonder how we can experience such fullness of joy in a world so confused and tumultuous. Then we are reminded that the joy you have given did not come from the world or its circumstances; it came with the love and the life we know in Christ. Thank you for the salvation of our souls, the transformation of our minds, the uplifting of our spirits, and even the regulation of our emotions. Grant us the grace to endure these temporary trials, even as we look forward to our imperishable, undefiled, and unfading inheritance, in and through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Whatever It Takes 30 March 2008
John 20:19-31Easter 2
Sunday, 30 March 2008
This is the season known as March Madness, when 64 college basketball teams vie for the honor of meeting in the Final Four and then in the national championship game. The excitement of this part of the season exists in the fact that everything is on the line in each game. If you lose, you're out. And nobody wants to be out. Consequently, the players play with exceptional heart and energy, bringing everything they can muster during each individual game,putting their bodies on the line, and doing whatever it takes to bring home the victory.
By now, we know that Jesus' commitment to providing eternal life for humans is limitless. In his Crucifixion he demonstrated that there was nothing he would not do to secure our victory. Having vanquished death by his Resurrection, Jesus appeared his disciples, showed himself alive, and imparted victorious living to them by breathing on them. There was just one problem; Thomas was not in the building. It is unclear where Thomas was, but in his absence he had missed the main event. When told about the time of rejoicing that the disciples had when they saw the Lord, Thomas was unconvinced. He needed to see and experience for himself. The amazing thing is not that Thomas wanted to see for himself, but that Jesus appeared again so that Thomas could get what he needed. It was as if Jesus was saying "Whatever it takes."
Jesus knows us all well enough to know what it takes to bring us to faith and faithfulness in our walk with Christ. Just as he did with Thomas, sometimes Jesus makes return appearances even though we were the absent and/or negligent ones who missed his first performance. How many times has Jesus had to show us again, speak to us again, touch us again, heal us again, deliver us again? From A to Z, Jesus has done and continues to do whatever it takes to bring home our victory. Thanks be to God!
Sing "Victory in Jesus"
Let us pray:
Almighty God, we are amazed at the grace you constantly extend to us. Even when we should have long since been convinced to be believers, you continue to honor our request to show us again, to teach us again. We thank you that just as you did not banish Thomas or give up on him, you do not banish us or give up on us. As you have given your all for us, may we be equally committed to do whatever it takes to live in the reality of the victory that you purchased for us, through Jesus Christ our Risen Savior. Amen
Sunday, 30 March 2008
This is the season known as March Madness, when 64 college basketball teams vie for the honor of meeting in the Final Four and then in the national championship game. The excitement of this part of the season exists in the fact that everything is on the line in each game. If you lose, you're out. And nobody wants to be out. Consequently, the players play with exceptional heart and energy, bringing everything they can muster during each individual game,putting their bodies on the line, and doing whatever it takes to bring home the victory.
By now, we know that Jesus' commitment to providing eternal life for humans is limitless. In his Crucifixion he demonstrated that there was nothing he would not do to secure our victory. Having vanquished death by his Resurrection, Jesus appeared his disciples, showed himself alive, and imparted victorious living to them by breathing on them. There was just one problem; Thomas was not in the building. It is unclear where Thomas was, but in his absence he had missed the main event. When told about the time of rejoicing that the disciples had when they saw the Lord, Thomas was unconvinced. He needed to see and experience for himself. The amazing thing is not that Thomas wanted to see for himself, but that Jesus appeared again so that Thomas could get what he needed. It was as if Jesus was saying "Whatever it takes."
Jesus knows us all well enough to know what it takes to bring us to faith and faithfulness in our walk with Christ. Just as he did with Thomas, sometimes Jesus makes return appearances even though we were the absent and/or negligent ones who missed his first performance. How many times has Jesus had to show us again, speak to us again, touch us again, heal us again, deliver us again? From A to Z, Jesus has done and continues to do whatever it takes to bring home our victory. Thanks be to God!
Sing "Victory in Jesus"
Let us pray:
Almighty God, we are amazed at the grace you constantly extend to us. Even when we should have long since been convinced to be believers, you continue to honor our request to show us again, to teach us again. We thank you that just as you did not banish Thomas or give up on him, you do not banish us or give up on us. As you have given your all for us, may we be equally committed to do whatever it takes to live in the reality of the victory that you purchased for us, through Jesus Christ our Risen Savior. Amen
Friday, March 28, 2008
He Moved 28 March 2008
Luke 24:1-12
Friday, 28 March 2008
If you've known me for any length of time, you know that while housekeeping is not my greatest gift, I usually know where I put things. And I have lived alone for so long - since 1993 - that I am used to things remaining where I put them. So when a friend lived with me in Philly for a semester, my hardest adjustment came when I went to the shared areas of the house and discovered that things I had left in a particular place had moved.
Once again in this Easter week, we are considering the first response of Jesus' disciples upon their arrival at the sepulcher. Luke's account resembles Matthew and Mark in focusing on the multiple women who remained at the cross until Jesus died and then followed his body on Friday to its burial site. These same women returned at dawn on Sunday only to discover that the tomb was empty. Luke's Gospel, however, is the only one that makes an issue of their looking for Jesus in the tomb in the first place. "Why are you looking for the living among the dead?" the angel asked. Although the women did not answer, mostly because the announcement that Jesus had risen recalled their memory of his promise before his crucifixion, their reasoning for looking for Jesus at the cemetery was that that was where they last had seen him. Usually when you leave the dead if you happen to be looking for their bodies again, you know precisely where to find them - where you left them. But Jesus obviously was no regular corpse. He moved! Note that Peter too felt the need to check out the tomb; it was still empty.
When you are dealing with God, you are always dealing with a moving target. From the very first mention of God in Genesis 1, we see a God who creates and whose Spirit moves. And even in Christ's Passion, God's movement continues. By the time the women get to the tomb, Jesus is already on his way to Galilee. By the time we head back to where we left Jesus, to review the last thing God did or lament what God didn't do, Jesus has already moved ahead of us to set up the next space. So stop looking for where Jesus was (especially a dead Jesus) and look for where Jesus is (alive and at work).
Sing, "He is Lord" (He is Lord 2x, He is risen from the dead and he is Lord. Every knee shall bow, every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.)
Let us pray:
Lord, the example of the first witnesses continues to give us new insights concerning what you require of us. We thank you for the way in which you have allowed us to follow along through this season of suffering and resurrection, to observe the crucifixion and the burial, and now finally to rediscover that you are still moving. Help us to discern where you are, rather than to be frustrated or frightened that we do not see you where you were before. Amen.
Friday, 28 March 2008
If you've known me for any length of time, you know that while housekeeping is not my greatest gift, I usually know where I put things. And I have lived alone for so long - since 1993 - that I am used to things remaining where I put them. So when a friend lived with me in Philly for a semester, my hardest adjustment came when I went to the shared areas of the house and discovered that things I had left in a particular place had moved.
Once again in this Easter week, we are considering the first response of Jesus' disciples upon their arrival at the sepulcher. Luke's account resembles Matthew and Mark in focusing on the multiple women who remained at the cross until Jesus died and then followed his body on Friday to its burial site. These same women returned at dawn on Sunday only to discover that the tomb was empty. Luke's Gospel, however, is the only one that makes an issue of their looking for Jesus in the tomb in the first place. "Why are you looking for the living among the dead?" the angel asked. Although the women did not answer, mostly because the announcement that Jesus had risen recalled their memory of his promise before his crucifixion, their reasoning for looking for Jesus at the cemetery was that that was where they last had seen him. Usually when you leave the dead if you happen to be looking for their bodies again, you know precisely where to find them - where you left them. But Jesus obviously was no regular corpse. He moved! Note that Peter too felt the need to check out the tomb; it was still empty.
When you are dealing with God, you are always dealing with a moving target. From the very first mention of God in Genesis 1, we see a God who creates and whose Spirit moves. And even in Christ's Passion, God's movement continues. By the time the women get to the tomb, Jesus is already on his way to Galilee. By the time we head back to where we left Jesus, to review the last thing God did or lament what God didn't do, Jesus has already moved ahead of us to set up the next space. So stop looking for where Jesus was (especially a dead Jesus) and look for where Jesus is (alive and at work).
Sing, "He is Lord" (He is Lord 2x, He is risen from the dead and he is Lord. Every knee shall bow, every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.)
Let us pray:
Lord, the example of the first witnesses continues to give us new insights concerning what you require of us. We thank you for the way in which you have allowed us to follow along through this season of suffering and resurrection, to observe the crucifixion and the burial, and now finally to rediscover that you are still moving. Help us to discern where you are, rather than to be frustrated or frightened that we do not see you where you were before. Amen.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Worship and Doubt
Matthew 28:16-20
Thursday, 27 March 2008
I continue to be struck, in my reading of the Gospels, by the human capacity for ambivalence. Perhaps this reflects my own preoccupation of late with my own tendency to vacillate. I am in the midst of several transitions in my life, and I admit that the way I feel changes so quickly that sometimes even I have a hard time keeping up. It's good to know that I'm not the only one whose feelings are in flux.
The women pass along the message to the disciples to meet Jesus in the previously appointed place, the place where he had instructed them. For Matthew, this meeting represents the other disciples' first recorded encounter with the risen Christ. When the women met Jesus, they had fear and great joy, along with their worship. When the 11 remaining close followers saw Jesus, they worshipped but some doubted. More important, whatever uncertainty was in them - and Jesus surely knows what's in them -Jesus still called them and commissioned them to replicate their discipleship in others.
I, for one, rejoice that Jesus sees my fear and my faith, my conviction and my uncertainty, but still calls me close and sends me forth. Last week, I heard a preacher quoting C.S. Lewis's The Screwtape Letters. In Lewis's work, Screwtape and Wormwood work for the devil and consider God their Enemy. Here's what Screwtape tells Wormwood, "
What I am trying to say to you, sisters and brothers, is that the most important thing that the disciples did was to obey and to worship, in spite of their doubts. And the most important thing for us to do is to obey and worship the Living Christ no matter how we are feeling at a particular moment.
Sing, "Lead Me Guide Me"
Let us pray:
In a world that is in transition and with lives that are in flux, we are thankful to know that in you there is stability. While we wait as you fix our hearts and regulate our minds and emotions, we seek the grace simply to do your will, to obey your word, and to worship you. Make us instruments on the Lord's side in the cosmic battle. Keep us faithful until the end, in Jesus' name.
Thursday, 27 March 2008
I continue to be struck, in my reading of the Gospels, by the human capacity for ambivalence. Perhaps this reflects my own preoccupation of late with my own tendency to vacillate. I am in the midst of several transitions in my life, and I admit that the way I feel changes so quickly that sometimes even I have a hard time keeping up. It's good to know that I'm not the only one whose feelings are in flux.
The women pass along the message to the disciples to meet Jesus in the previously appointed place, the place where he had instructed them. For Matthew, this meeting represents the other disciples' first recorded encounter with the risen Christ. When the women met Jesus, they had fear and great joy, along with their worship. When the 11 remaining close followers saw Jesus, they worshipped but some doubted. More important, whatever uncertainty was in them - and Jesus surely knows what's in them -Jesus still called them and commissioned them to replicate their discipleship in others.
I, for one, rejoice that Jesus sees my fear and my faith, my conviction and my uncertainty, but still calls me close and sends me forth. Last week, I heard a preacher quoting C.S. Lewis's The Screwtape Letters. In Lewis's work, Screwtape and Wormwood work for the devil and consider God their Enemy. Here's what Screwtape tells Wormwood, "
Do not be deceived, Wormwood. Our cause is never more in danger, than when a human, no longer desiring, but intending, to do our Enemy's will, looks round upon a universe from which every trace of Him seems to have vanished, and asks why he has been forsaken, and still obeys.
What I am trying to say to you, sisters and brothers, is that the most important thing that the disciples did was to obey and to worship, in spite of their doubts. And the most important thing for us to do is to obey and worship the Living Christ no matter how we are feeling at a particular moment.
Sing, "Lead Me Guide Me"
Let us pray:
In a world that is in transition and with lives that are in flux, we are thankful to know that in you there is stability. While we wait as you fix our hearts and regulate our minds and emotions, we seek the grace simply to do your will, to obey your word, and to worship you. Make us instruments on the Lord's side in the cosmic battle. Keep us faithful until the end, in Jesus' name.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
On Time 26 March 2008
Matthew 28:1-16
Wednesday, 26 March 2008
In my home church, being on time mattered. Although I have been affiliated with many other churches that operated differently, when I was growing up, if service began at 11:30, the core membership arrived no later than 11:15 in order to have time for kneeling prayer at the altar before service began. "It shows respect," my elders asserted. Since God gives us the privilege to set the time for worship, the least we can do is to show up on time for the time that we have set.
They came to see the tomb. In Matthew's account there were no spices to anoint the mangled corpse and thus no questions about gaining entrance to the sepulcher. Mary Magdalene and another Mary simply arrived as soon as it was permissible following the Sabbath, at the dawn of the first day of the week. They were right on time to see the earth quake and the stone roll and the angel appear. They were exactly on time to be the first to see the risen Lord. Notice in the text how words suggest timing and timeliness. "Quickly" and "suddenly" repeat in the narrative. Notice too that while they were still afraid, in Matthew's narrative their fear was mixed with great joy.
I am learning that timeliness in my home church demonstrated more than a legalistic attachment to a set order; it also reflected anticipation that our worship might be filled with great joy. We didn't want to miss anything. And so we developed the habit and practice of arriving promptly. In that same church, I learned that God shows up on time too.
Sing, "He Lives"
Let us pray:
Risen Savior, we desire to approach our time of private and corporate worship with anticipation of your life-giving presence. Whenever we might be found lagging behind, refer us again to the breaking of day on that first Easter morning and to the great joy that we experience in knowing you. Just as you are on time for us, grow us in faithfulness that we might be on time for you. Amen
Wednesday, 26 March 2008
In my home church, being on time mattered. Although I have been affiliated with many other churches that operated differently, when I was growing up, if service began at 11:30, the core membership arrived no later than 11:15 in order to have time for kneeling prayer at the altar before service began. "It shows respect," my elders asserted. Since God gives us the privilege to set the time for worship, the least we can do is to show up on time for the time that we have set.
They came to see the tomb. In Matthew's account there were no spices to anoint the mangled corpse and thus no questions about gaining entrance to the sepulcher. Mary Magdalene and another Mary simply arrived as soon as it was permissible following the Sabbath, at the dawn of the first day of the week. They were right on time to see the earth quake and the stone roll and the angel appear. They were exactly on time to be the first to see the risen Lord. Notice in the text how words suggest timing and timeliness. "Quickly" and "suddenly" repeat in the narrative. Notice too that while they were still afraid, in Matthew's narrative their fear was mixed with great joy.
I am learning that timeliness in my home church demonstrated more than a legalistic attachment to a set order; it also reflected anticipation that our worship might be filled with great joy. We didn't want to miss anything. And so we developed the habit and practice of arriving promptly. In that same church, I learned that God shows up on time too.
Sing, "He Lives"
Let us pray:
Risen Savior, we desire to approach our time of private and corporate worship with anticipation of your life-giving presence. Whenever we might be found lagging behind, refer us again to the breaking of day on that first Easter morning and to the great joy that we experience in knowing you. Just as you are on time for us, grow us in faithfulness that we might be on time for you. Amen
Monday, March 24, 2008
The Shock of Answered Prayer 24 March 2008
Mark 16:1-8
Monday, 24 March 2008
Answered prayers can be just as scary as unanswered ones. It always seems that God chooses to intervene and turn things around just when you are beginning to accustom yourself to the grief and trauma of a bad situation. When God does that, you don't know what to say; you're shocked silent.
Most scholars regard this section as the Gospel of Mark's original ending. The faithful women who had been following Jesus demonstrated their commitment to their crucified teacher by rising early to perform the last rites and burial preparation for his mangled body. They journeyed with many critical questions, the most pointed of which was "Who will roll the stone away?" But when they arrived, the question was already answered, and more besides. Every time I read this narrative, I am amazed at the women's faithfulness to what they thought was a dead Jesus, especially when I compare it to our sometimes flakiness in serving a Christ we now know is alive. There is no question that their hearts' desire was to have their Lord returned to them and to have his cause, to which they had devoted their lives, vindicated. Still, the announcement that God had disrupted the normal course of human events and had raised Jesus of Nazareth from the dead both disturbed and surprised the women. Although the man in white spoke words of peace and told them to go witness to the other disciples, the scene ends not with gleeful witness but with astonished silence. The women have experienced the shock of answered prayer.
Fundamentally, what it means for us to worship and serve God is that we never know how God's purpose will bear fruit, only that it will do so. We never know how our prayers will be answered, only that they will be so. What you can always expect from God is that God's procedures defy human wisdom and logic. Just when you think things are hopeless, God shows up. The funny thing for me is that no matter how many times it happens, I still find myself in shock, speechless, and sometimes even afraid that if I tell it, no one will believe me. The women at the tomb eventually recovered the power of their speech. May we too find the grace and strength to go and tell what great things God has done. Perhaps we might even learn to expect God to do something astonishing.
Sing, "He Rose from the Dead"
Let us pray:
Thank you, Lord, for the faithful witness of the women who ventured to the tomb early on that first Resurrection morning. But thank you even more for the power and even the surprise we ourselves have witnessed in your answers to our prayers. Grant us deliverance from low expectations and from paralyzing fear so that we may fulfill the command to proclaim the good news to our associates and the world, in Jesus' name. Amen.
Monday, 24 March 2008
Answered prayers can be just as scary as unanswered ones. It always seems that God chooses to intervene and turn things around just when you are beginning to accustom yourself to the grief and trauma of a bad situation. When God does that, you don't know what to say; you're shocked silent.
Most scholars regard this section as the Gospel of Mark's original ending. The faithful women who had been following Jesus demonstrated their commitment to their crucified teacher by rising early to perform the last rites and burial preparation for his mangled body. They journeyed with many critical questions, the most pointed of which was "Who will roll the stone away?" But when they arrived, the question was already answered, and more besides. Every time I read this narrative, I am amazed at the women's faithfulness to what they thought was a dead Jesus, especially when I compare it to our sometimes flakiness in serving a Christ we now know is alive. There is no question that their hearts' desire was to have their Lord returned to them and to have his cause, to which they had devoted their lives, vindicated. Still, the announcement that God had disrupted the normal course of human events and had raised Jesus of Nazareth from the dead both disturbed and surprised the women. Although the man in white spoke words of peace and told them to go witness to the other disciples, the scene ends not with gleeful witness but with astonished silence. The women have experienced the shock of answered prayer.
Fundamentally, what it means for us to worship and serve God is that we never know how God's purpose will bear fruit, only that it will do so. We never know how our prayers will be answered, only that they will be so. What you can always expect from God is that God's procedures defy human wisdom and logic. Just when you think things are hopeless, God shows up. The funny thing for me is that no matter how many times it happens, I still find myself in shock, speechless, and sometimes even afraid that if I tell it, no one will believe me. The women at the tomb eventually recovered the power of their speech. May we too find the grace and strength to go and tell what great things God has done. Perhaps we might even learn to expect God to do something astonishing.
Sing, "He Rose from the Dead"
Let us pray:
Thank you, Lord, for the faithful witness of the women who ventured to the tomb early on that first Resurrection morning. But thank you even more for the power and even the surprise we ourselves have witnessed in your answers to our prayers. Grant us deliverance from low expectations and from paralyzing fear so that we may fulfill the command to proclaim the good news to our associates and the world, in Jesus' name. Amen.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
It's a New Day - Easter, 23 March 2008
John 20:1-18
Psalm 118:22-24
Easter
23 March 2008
There are several phrases which always get a response in the African American church. Some of them are snippets from hymns: Father, I stretch my hands to thee; none other help I know. Some of them are pithy sayings from our culture. Still others are scriptural. Now that the Easter season has official begun this year, I cannot help but be reminded that "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning."
On that first Easter Sunday, Mary Magdalene ventured to the tomb before daybreak. Little did she know that a fresh, new morning had broken before the sun had even risen. The Lord whose death she had been mourning since Friday had been resurrected. In the other Gospels, the women traveled wondering who would roll the stone away. In this Gospel Mary's inner thoughts turned more toward the question of what happened to Jesus when she discovered that the stone was gone. Even though Jesus had told her that God was about to make a new day for all of God's people, we should not be surprised that Mary came to a natural rather than supernatural conclusion about Jesus' absence from the tomb. Jesus, after all, had sworn enemies who crucified him and who would have liked nothing better than to remove and maybe even desecrate his corpse. Mercifully, Jesus saw her confusion and appeared to her with an explanation (I'm alive!) and instructions (Go tell it!).
This message of the Resurrection is for us, brothers and sisters. It reminds us that that human night cannot overwhelm God's light. In rejecting the one that God anointed - first, David and then Jesus - people set themselves up for the weariness and sorrow of a long night. But God did not abandon them, and God does not abandon us. God knows how to bring life out of death, to bring peace out of confusion, to make a new day after a seemingly endless night. The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day that the Lord has made! Let us rejoice and be glad in it!
Sing, "This is the Day that the Lord Has Made" and "Praise Him, Praise Him"
Let us pray:
Alleluia. Christ is risen! Alleluia. He is risen, indeed! We praise you, Living God, for the joy that comes in the resurrection morning. Not everything in our lives is worked out yet. But in you everything important is settled. In Jesus Christ, we have life, love, joy, hope, strength, and victory. Thank you for the dawn of our new day, in the name of Jesus Christ, our Risen Lord! Amen
Psalm 118:22-24
Easter
23 March 2008
There are several phrases which always get a response in the African American church. Some of them are snippets from hymns: Father, I stretch my hands to thee; none other help I know. Some of them are pithy sayings from our culture. Still others are scriptural. Now that the Easter season has official begun this year, I cannot help but be reminded that "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning."
On that first Easter Sunday, Mary Magdalene ventured to the tomb before daybreak. Little did she know that a fresh, new morning had broken before the sun had even risen. The Lord whose death she had been mourning since Friday had been resurrected. In the other Gospels, the women traveled wondering who would roll the stone away. In this Gospel Mary's inner thoughts turned more toward the question of what happened to Jesus when she discovered that the stone was gone. Even though Jesus had told her that God was about to make a new day for all of God's people, we should not be surprised that Mary came to a natural rather than supernatural conclusion about Jesus' absence from the tomb. Jesus, after all, had sworn enemies who crucified him and who would have liked nothing better than to remove and maybe even desecrate his corpse. Mercifully, Jesus saw her confusion and appeared to her with an explanation (I'm alive!) and instructions (Go tell it!).
This message of the Resurrection is for us, brothers and sisters. It reminds us that that human night cannot overwhelm God's light. In rejecting the one that God anointed - first, David and then Jesus - people set themselves up for the weariness and sorrow of a long night. But God did not abandon them, and God does not abandon us. God knows how to bring life out of death, to bring peace out of confusion, to make a new day after a seemingly endless night. The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day that the Lord has made! Let us rejoice and be glad in it!
Sing, "This is the Day that the Lord Has Made" and "Praise Him, Praise Him"
Let us pray:
Alleluia. Christ is risen! Alleluia. He is risen, indeed! We praise you, Living God, for the joy that comes in the resurrection morning. Not everything in our lives is worked out yet. But in you everything important is settled. In Jesus Christ, we have life, love, joy, hope, strength, and victory. Thank you for the dawn of our new day, in the name of Jesus Christ, our Risen Lord! Amen
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