These liturgical texts are appropriate for use throughout the season of Easter and may be repeated from week to week.
Sequences of Confession and Lament
1
With confidence in the power of resurrection,
let us confess our sins together.
God of resurrection,
from the beginning of creation,
you have committed to be
in relationship with us.
Yet from the beginning of creation,
we have not committed ourselves to you.
Instead, we have committed ourselves
to our own prosperity,
hoarding your gifts.
We have committed ourselves
to our own survival
and neglected the needs of our siblings.
We have committed ourselves
to our own self-importance
and forgotten that all persons
have been created in your image.
Forgive us.
Bring us back to you.
Show us the new life that you call us to
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Friends, indeed,
through Christ’s resurrection,
we have been redeemed
and given new life!
Our sins have been forgiven,
and God draws us back
into right relationship with our Creator.
Thanks be to God!
2
Even in the dawn of resurrection,
we know the reality of sin
and the ways it wounds
our relationship with God.
God promises forgiveness
that drives out death
and repairs those wounds.
Trusting in God’s healing forgiveness,
let us pray together:
God of wholeness,
we come to you in our brokenness.
We find ourselves broken
when we have strayed
from the path you set before us.
We have listened to the voices
that seek comforts money can buy
instead of your voice
that tells us you are all we need.
We find ourselves broken
when we have turned away
from our neighbors.
We have chosen to ignore
the needs of others.
We tell ourselves
that there is nothing we can give
instead of following your call
to feed the hungry, clothe the naked,
and set the captive free.
We find ourselves broken
because we have not trusted you.
Repair us, O God,
and restore us to our true selves
so that we might follow you faithfully,
trusting in the healing power
of Christ’s resurrection
for us and our world. Amen.
Beloved, hear and believe the good news:
God does not leave us in our brokenness.
Through Christ’s death and resurrection,
God has forgiven our sins
and made us whole again.
Hallelujah! Thanks be to God!
Invitations to Discipleship
1
Before we took our first breath,
God loved us and claimed us as God’s own.
Through the death and resurrection
of Jesus Christ,
God declares God’s steadfast love for us
and promises new, everlasting life.
What wondrous love is this!
But how are we to respond to such love?
Christ invites each of us
to respond by following him.
By the power of the Holy Spirit
and with gratitude in our hearts,
let us enter the life of discipleship together.
2
During Easter we celebrate and affirm
that “Christ is risen indeed!”
This is good news
because Christ’s resurrection
is not only for him, it is for us as well.
Through Christ’s resurrection,
God offers us a new life
in which sin and death
no longer hold power over us.
Claiming this new life,
we are called to follow the risen Christ
into the world,
sharing the good news of resurrection
for all people.
With the Spirit’s help,
let us join together
in this life of discipleship.
Eucharist
Invitation to the Table
In this Easter season
we rejoice in Christ’s resurrection.
We remember that Jesus loves
gathering others around a table,
sharing meals with just about everybody.
Even after his resurrection,
after he has conquered sin and death,
Jesus makes time to gather around a table.
A resurrected Jesus
cooks breakfast for his disciples
on the shore of the Sea of Galilee
after filling their fishing nets.
Jesus loves feeding people
and sharing a meal.
When we gather around this table,
we too see Christ among us.
Today Jesus feeds us at this table of grace.
He invites all those who hear
to come and get their fill,
for at Christ’s table there is always
more than enough.
Great Thanksgiving
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
We give all thanks and praise, Triune God,
for from the beginning,
you have sought to be in relationship with us.
You created us from the ground
and breathed your own breath into our lungs.
You dwelled with us in the garden,
holding us close.
When our sin separated us from you,
you did not abandon us.
Instead you made covenant after covenant with your people, establishing
that you would always be our God.
Even when we would not keep
our own promises,
you always have kept yours.
So we join our voices
with the heavenly host who sing:
Holy, holy, holy Lord,
God of power and might,
heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes
in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.
We give thanks for Jesus Christ,
your Son, our Savior,
whom you sent at the right time
to be with us,
to repair our relationship with you
once and for all.
Jesus was born to human parents
and lived a human life.
He intimately understands
our deepest joys and sorrows.
Throughout his ministry, Jesus showed us what your steadfast love looks like.
He healed the sick, fed the hungry,
and preached release to the captives.
Jesus died on a cross
in an act of self-giving love
that revealed the depth of your love for us,
and in Christ’s resurrection,
we experience a life unbound
by sin and death.
In celebration of Christ’s resurrection,
we share in this holy meal
and offer our lives in service to you
with gratitude.
We trust that our offering
is both more than sufficient
and also never enough, so we proclaim,
Great is the mystery of faith:
Christ has died, Christ is risen,
Christ will come again.
Pour out your Holy Spirit upon us, O God,
and on these gifts of bread and cup.
Instill within us the mind of Christ,
by the power of your Spirit,
that we might truly understand
what it means to live
as you call us to live in this world,
and in our understanding,
give us the courage
to follow where Christ goes.
All glory and honor are yours,
holy God, now and forever. Amen.
Prayer after Communion
Risen God, we give you thanks
for your Son, Jesus Christ,
and for the new life promised to us
by his resurrection.
We give you thanks
for these gifts of bread and wine
and ask that they would be for us
fuel for our new life,
as we seek to follow Christ into our world,
that all might know the beauty
of your steadfast love. Amen.
