Opening response

Lord, open our lips.
Our mouth will declare your praise.

In your resurrection, O Christ,
let heaven and earth rejoice. Alleluia.

Prayer of thanksgiving

Blessed are you, Lord God of our salvation,
to you be praise and glory forever.
As once you ransomed your people from Egypt
and led them to freedom in the promised land,
so now you have delivered us from the dominion of darkness
and brought us into the kingdom of your risen Son.
May we, the first fruits of your new creation,
rejoice in this new day you have made,
and praise you for your mighty acts.
Blessed be God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Blessed be God forever.

The night has passed, and the day lies open before us;
let us pray with one heart and mind.

Silence is kept.

As we rejoice in the gift of this new day,
so may the light of your presence, O God,
set our hearts on fire with love for you;
now and forever.
Amen.

Hymn

Ah, When Shall I Awake

Charles Wesley

Ah, when shall I awake
From sin's soft-soothing power,
The slumber from my spirit shake,
And rise to fall no more!
Awake, no more to sleep,
But stand with constant care,
Looking for God my soul to keep,
And watching unto prayer!

O could I always pray?
And never, never faint,
But simply to my God display
My every care and want!
I know that thou wouldst give.
More than I can request;
Thou still art ready to receive
My soul to perfect rest.

I feel thee willing, Lord,
A sinful world to save,
All may obey thy gracious word,
May peace and pardon have;
Not one of all the race
But may return to thee,
But at the throne of sovereign grace
May fall and weep, like me.

Here will I ever lie,
And tell thee all my care,
And, “Father, Abba, Father,” cry,
And pour a ceaseless prayer;
Till thou my sins subdue,
Till thou my sins destroy,
My spirit after God renew,
And fill with peace and joy.

Messiah, Prince of peace,
Into my soul bring in
Thy everlasting righteousness,
And make an end of sin.
Into all those that seek
Redemption through thy blood
The sanctifying Spirit speak,
The plenitude of God.

Let us in patience wait
Till faith shall make us whole;
Till thou shalt all things new create
In each believing soul;
Who can resist thy will?
Speak, and it shall be done!
Thou shalt the work of faith fulfil,
And perfect us in one.

Confession of sin

The LORD is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness.
He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
nor repaid us for our iniquities.
For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so great is his loving kindness towards those who fear him.

Silence is kept for reflection.

Holy God,
Holy and strong,
Holy and immortal,
have mercy upon us.

As far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
Like a father has compassion on his children,
so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him.
Praise the LORD, my soul!
All that is within me, praise his holy name!
Praise the LORD, my soul,
and don’t forget all his benefits.

Psalm 105

Refrain:
Remember the marvelous works the LORD has done.

Give thanks to the LORD! Call on his name!
Make his doings known amongst the peoples.
Sing to him, sing praises to him!
Tell of all his marvelous works.
Glory in his holy name.
Let the heart of those who seek the LORD rejoice.
Seek the LORD and his strength.
Seek his face forever more.
Remember his marvelous works that he has done:
his wonders, and the judgements of his mouth,
you offspring of Abraham, his servant,
you children of Jacob, his chosen ones.
He is the LORD, our God.
His judgements are in all the earth.
He has remembered his covenant forever,
the word which he commanded to a thousand generations,
the covenant which he made with Abraham,
his oath to Isaac,
and confirmed it to Jacob for a statute;
to Israel for an everlasting covenant,
saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan,
the lot of your inheritance,”
when they were but a few men in number,
yes, very few, and foreigners in it.
They went about from nation to nation,
from one kingdom to another people.
He allowed no one to do them wrong.
Yes, he reproved kings for their sakes,
“Don’t touch my anointed ones!
Do my prophets no harm!”
He called for a famine on the land.
He destroyed the food supplies.
He sent a man before them.
Joseph was sold for a slave.
They bruised his feet with shackles.
His neck was locked in irons,
until the time that his word happened,
and the LORD’s word proved him true.
The king sent and freed him,
even the ruler of peoples, and let him go free.
He made him lord of his house,
and ruler of all of his possessions,
to discipline his princes at his pleasure,
and to teach his elders wisdom.
Israel also came into Egypt.
Jacob lived in the land of Ham.
He increased his people greatly,
and made them stronger than their adversaries.
He turned their heart to hate his people,
to conspire against his servants.
He sent Moses, his servant,
and Aaron, whom he had chosen.
They performed miracles amongst them,
and wonders in the land of Ham.
He sent darkness, and made it dark.
They didn’t rebel against his words.
He turned their waters into blood,
and killed their fish.
Their land swarmed with frogs,
even in the rooms of their kings.
He spoke, and swarms of flies came,
and lice in all their borders.
He gave them hail for rain,
with lightning in their land.
He struck their vines and also their fig trees,
and shattered the trees of their country.
He spoke, and the locusts came
with the grasshoppers, without number.
They ate up every plant in their land,
and ate up the fruit of their ground.
He struck also all the firstborn in their land,
the first fruits of all their manhood.
He brought them out with silver and gold.
There was not one feeble person amongst his tribes.
Egypt was glad when they departed,
for the fear of them had fallen on them.
He spread a cloud for a covering,
fire to give light in the night.
They asked, and he brought quails,
and satisfied them with the bread of the sky.
He opened the rock, and waters gushed out.
They ran as a river in the dry places.
For he remembered his holy word,
and Abraham, his servant.
He brought his people out with joy,
his chosen with singing.
He gave them the lands of the nations.
They took the labour of the peoples in possession,
that they might keep his statutes,
and observe his laws.
Praise the LORD!
Praise the Lord!

Glory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning is now
and will be forever. Amen.

Refrain:
Remember the marvelous works the LORD has done.

Psalm prayer

God of our earthly pilgrimage,
feed your Easter people with the bread of heaven,
that we may hunger and thirst for righteousness
until we reach our promised land;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Old Testament reading

Deuteronomy 6

Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the ordinances, which the LORD your God commanded to teach you, that you might do them in the land that you go over to possess; that you might fear the LORD your God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you—you, your son, and your son’s son, all the days of your life; and that your days may be prolonged. Hear therefore, Israel, and observe to do it, that it may be well with you, and that you may increase mightily, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised to you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.

Hear, Israel: the LORD is our God. The LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might. These words, which I command you today, shall be on your heart; and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them for a sign on your hand, and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the door posts of your house and on your gates.

It shall be, when the LORD your God brings you into the land which he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you, great and goodly cities which you didn’t build, and houses full of all good things which you didn’t fill, and cisterns dug out which you didn’t dig, vineyards and olive trees which you didn’t plant, and you shall eat and be full; then beware lest you forget the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall fear the LORD your God; and you shall serve him, and shall swear by his name. You shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the peoples who are around you, for the LORD your God amongst you is a jealous God, lest the anger of the LORD your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth. You shall not tempt the LORD your God, as you tempted him in Massah. You shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he has commanded you. You shall do that which is right and good in the LORD’s sight, that it may be well with you and that you may go in and possess the good land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to thrust out all your enemies from before you, as the LORD has spoken.

When your son asks you in time to come, saying, “What do the testimonies, the statutes, and the ordinances, which the LORD our God has commanded you mean?” then you shall tell your son, “We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt. The LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand; and the LORD showed great and awesome signs and wonders on Egypt, on Pharaoh, and on all his house, before our eyes; and he brought us out from there, that he might bring us in, to give us the land which he swore to our fathers. The LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as we are today. It shall be righteousness to us, if we observe to do all these commandments before the LORD our God, as he has commanded us.”

Silence may be kept.

New Testament reading

Ephesians 2:1-10

You were made alive when you were dead in transgressions and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the children of disobedience. We also all once lived amongst them in the lusts of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, for his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him, and made us to sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus; for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, that no one would boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that we would walk in them.

Silence may be kept.

The Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah)

Luke 1:68-79

Refrain:
The Lord is risen from the tomb
who for our sakes hung upon the tree. Alleluia.

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
for he has visited and redeemed his people;
and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David
(as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets who have been from of old),
salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us;
to show mercy toward our fathers,
to remember his holy covenant,
the oath which he swore to Abraham our father,
to grant to us that we, being delivered out of the hand of our enemies,
should serve him without fear,
in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life.
And you, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High;
for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways,
to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the remission of their sins,
because of the tender mercy of our God,
by which the dawn from on high will visit us,
to shine on those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death;
to guide our feet into the way of peace.

Glory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning is now
and will be forever. Amen.

Refrain:
The Lord is risen from the tomb
who for our sakes hung upon the tree. Alleluia.

Brief silence.

The Apostle’s Creed

Let us unite in this historic confession of the Christian faith:

I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his 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,
is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and will come again 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.

Intercession and thanksgiving

Prayers may be offered for:

the day and its tasks
the world and its needs
the church and her life

Prayers may include the following concerns:

The people of God, that they may proclaim the risen Lord
God’s creation, that the peoples of the earth may meet their responsibility to care
Those in despair and darkness, that they may find the hope and light of Christ
Those in fear of death, that they may find faith through the resurrection
Prisoners and captives

Other intercessions and supplications may be offered as the Holy Spirit leads.

Response

Lord, hear your people
and answer our prayers.

Silence may be kept.

Collect of the day

Almighty Father,
who in your great mercy gladdened the disciples
with the sight of the risen Lord:
give us such knowledge of his presence with us,
that we may be strengthened and sustained by his risen life
and serve you continually in righteousness and truth;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.
Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer

Rejoicing in God’s new creation,
as our Savior taught us, so we pray

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours
now and forever.
Amen.

Conclusion

May the risen Christ grant us the joys of eternal life.
Amen.