WELCOME
Welcome to this Easter day service, albeit in extraordinary circumstances.
We could never have envisaged Easter separated from one another or wider family.
However, celebrate we will, wherever we are and however small “our community” this day.

THE GATHERING
Jesus lives! He lives in the hearts
and minds of all who love him.
On this day called Easter, we celebrate
the indestructible love and wisdom that
Jesus showed to the world.
We remember Jesus as we follow The Way:
We will remember him as we forgive,
and not hold on to hurts.
We will remember him as we give
until it makes a difference.
We will remember him as we resist violence
and all forms of abuse.
We remember him as we feed the hungry,
shelter the homeless and befriend the lonely..
We will remember his faith in a God
who loves, forgives and restores our hope.
We remember Jesus as we follow The Way.
We will remember his example of living
and loving.
Amen.
(2012 Easter Liturgy, PCNVic – adapted)

Lighting an Easter Candle
We light this candle aware that the power of resurrection
has forever changed who we are,
and given us the courage
to boldly proclaim a living faith.
Today we celebrate:
new life,
new joy,
new possibilities.
We give thanks for the Spirit of Life visible in Jesus,
visible in us, visible in people in all walks of life.

HYMN: Christ is Alive and the Universe Must Celebrate
Christ is alive, and the universe must celebrate,
and the stars and the suns shout on this Easter Day!
Christ is alive, and his family must celebrate
in a great alleluia,
a great alleluia
to praise the power that made the stone roll away.
Here is our hope: in the mystery of suffering
is the heartbeat of Love, Love that will not let go,
here is our hope, that in God we are not separate,
and we sing alleluia,
we sing alleluia
to praise the power that made the stone roll away.
Christ Spirit, dance through the dullness of humanity to the music of God, God who has set us free!
You are the pulse of the new creation’s
energy;
with a great alleluia,
a great alleluia we praise the power that made the stone roll away.
© Shirley Murray (AA)

THE READINGS:
This morning’s readings are the well known summons to praise in Psalm 100, along with the earliest gospel account of the Resurrection – Mark 16: 1-8. Both readings are from the New Revised Standard Version.

Psalm 100
All Lands Summoned to Praise God
Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth.
Worship the LORD with gladness;
come into his presence with singing.
Know that the LORD is God.
It is he that made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise.
Give thanks to him, bless his name.
For the LORD is good;
his steadfast love endures for ever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.

Mark 16: 1-8
The Resurrection of Jesus
When the sabbath was over,
Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome
bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him.
And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen,
they went to the tomb. They had been saying to one another,
‘Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?’
When they looked up, they saw that the stone,
which was very large, had already been rolled back.
As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe,
sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed.
But he said to them, ‘Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth,
who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him.
But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee;
there you will see him, just as he told you.’
So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them;
and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

HYMN: Was it the Shaking Ground (Tune: Fulda WOV 137)
Was it the shaking ground that moved
the stone, that freed the resting Word,
that called the Christ to life again:
God’s Spirit, breathing, moved and stirred?
The world still spinning, recollects
that God survived all human scorn;

that lives were changed for ever more
in meeting love alive, re-born.
This is the Voice that turns us round,
that calmly offers grace to cope;
that gives us strength to live again, that gives us cause to sing our hope.
©Andrew Pratt

RESURRECTION – SOME THOUGHTS AND CHALLENGES TO CONSIDER
MUSIC FOR REFLECTION
THE PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
The candle lit this morning symbolises new life and new hope.
Our prayer is that there be new possibilities for people and situations.
God of the universe.
All life comes from you and all nations are held in your loving embrace.
The pandemic that now holds us hostage threatens the well being and stability of the whole world.
With the dawning of this new day we place our trust in you.
Gather us under your protecting wings that we might encourage one another and work together to bring health, safety and peace.
Self-isolation signals a cut-off from many usual and normal contacts. Social distancing affects every community – family, school, church, town, city, our entire nation, and our world.
This is a frightening global phenomenon. However, perhaps we will look back and be able to see
that it also brought blessings, that we came to realise the important things – what makes life so precious along with those things we have taken for granted, or never really appreciated.
Today as we reflect on how the lock down affects us, we also consider the tragedy of isolation that so many people experience all the time: refugees, social outcasts, the elderly on their own, solo parents, the sick kept in isolation, people nobody wants anything to do with, those who are imprisoned.
And in the quiet we hold in our hearts those whom we love and are separated from; those in our parish and community and world we are concerned for.

And now in the spirit of the Lord’s Prayer we say [The Casa del Sol, John Philip Newell]
Ground of all being, Mother of life,
Father of the universe,
your name is sacred, beyond speaking.
May we know your presence.
May your longings be
our longings in heart and in action.
May there be food for the whole human family today
and for the whole earth community.
Forgive us the falseness of what we have done
as we forgive those who are untrue to us.
Do not forsake us in our time of conflict
but lead us into new beginnings.
For the light of life, the vitality of life,
and the glory of life are yours now and for ever. Amen.

Celebration of Communion (as a community) is not possible on this Easter day.
However, let us experience whatever food and drink we have as sacrament.

You may wish to prepare morning tea. As we enjoy eating and drinking, whether with others, or on our own, let it be as if in eating and drinking, we are eating and drinking with our St Martins’ community of faith.

HYMN: We Are Called to Tell the Story (Tune: Regent Square, WOV 84)
We are called to tell the story,
passing words of life along,
then to blend our voice with others
as we sing the sacred song.
Christ be known in all our singing,
filling all with songs of love.
We are called to teach the rhythm
of the dance that never ends,
then to move within the circle,
hand in hand with strangers, friends
Christ be known in all our dancing,
touching all with hands of love.
We are called to set the table,
blessing bread as Jesus blessed,
then to come with thirst and hunger,
needing care like all the rest,
Christ be known in all our sharing,
feeding all with signs of love.
May the One whose love is broader
than the measure of all space
give us words to sing the story,
move among us in this place.
Christ be known in all our living,
filling all with gifts of love. © Ruth Duck (DITU)

A THANKSGIVING:
May our living rooms be sacred space this day;
lifting us into the awesome mystery that is life.
In our sacred space we give words
to our inner sense of gratitude and hope.
We pause in gratitude for all that has been given;
in hope for all that is yet will be.
And so we will take gifts of food and drink,
such ordinary things of life, but blessed by God,
God’s to lift us into the mystery of grace.
God, we celebrate the life that is ours
for we know we are precious in your sight.
We celebrate Jesus’ life that became the pattern of reality for us:
life that is love revealed
love given and received
love in action.
Therefore, with all who have loved you throughout the ages
we praise you saying:
Holy, holy, holy, resurrection God,
heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is the one who comes in your name.
Hosanna in the highest.
Food and drink today remind us that the Communion bread and wine tell a very special story.
Bread has its beginnings in the earth: it is gathered, ground and kneaded by loving hands, tired backs, by sweat of toil.
Bread from field and mill and store.
Bread to break, to give and eat, shared from hand to hand.
Bread that must be broken open, to be used, to feed.
Bread broken to fill emptiness.
Likewise, the wine is of the earth, bitter and sweet.
From vine to glass, given and shared, of people’s labour.
Wine of joy and pain, grief and gladness.
Wine to be spilled to slake thirst and enliven the heart.
(Ruth Duck. Adapted by Nancy L Steeves)

Today, with food and drink we are also invited
to see, hear, smell, feel and taste the mystery of grace.

CLOSING PRAYER:
We give thanks for our life and the courage we are given to live it.
May our gratitude for life be expressed in our generosity.
May our faith be expressed through love in action.
May our belief in the future find full expression
in our daily attitude to life, in Jesus’ name. AMEN.

HYMN: We Are An Easter People
We are an Easter people,
ours is an Easter faith,
the yeast is rising in our hearts,
our wine has vintage taste.
Christ is risen,
Christ is risen,
risen in our lives.
We are an Easter people,
ours is an Easter faith,
our tears are freed to flow and heal
our shattered hopes and hearts.
We are an Easter people,
ours is an Easter faith,
our fears have died, we rise to dream,
to love, to dance, to live. © William L Wallace (AA 146)

A BLESSING
May God the star maker cradle and circle you.
May God the storyteller beckon and encourage you.
May God the life-changer challenge you and cherish you.
May you walk in the light of God’s love and laughter
all the moments of your nights and days.
AMEN

Welcome to this Good Friday service, even though we are not gathered as a community to relive the events of the day so long ago. However, know that each of you is held in the hearts of others; held in God’s love. Take a moment to envisage in your mind’s eye the Communion Table with a plain black cloth across the centre, a single white candle and a chalice tipped on its side.

GREETING: Today we remember a man. A man who had dreams, who had those dreams shattered, who needed time to think and pray, who knew he was likely to die for what he believed. A man of extraordinary religious insight. A man who did die – a cruel death. We Remember… On this day we remember: the betrayal of friendship and its consequences, the casual cruelty of Roman authority and execution, how unreliable others proved to be in a crisis. On this day may we also remember that religious bigotry, cruelty and unreliability are still a part of our everyday lives. On this day, then, may we learn some new ways for living: to not avoid contact with suffering, to not close our eyes in the face of suffering; to not maintain anger or hatred; to not say untruthful things for the sake of personal interest, or to impress people; to not live with a vocation that is harmful to humans and nature; as this day we remember. (Adapted – M Dobson, M Morwood, Thich Nhat Hanh)

A Man of Ancient Time and Place (Winchester New WOV 264)

A man of ancient time and place with foreign speech and foreign face, reveals the glory, power and grace of costly, unexpected love.

A rabbi, schooled in Moses’ Law, a male, amending Herod’s flaw, arouses wonder, rage and awe with costly, unexpected love.

By teasing word and healing deed, a leper touched, an outcast freed, he bears the fruit and plants the seed of costly, unexpected love.

The cost we barely can surmise when, lifted up before our eyes, the face of God we recognise in crucified, unfathomed love.

May faith and hope within us grow, the way of Christ to tell and show, and may the Spirit breathe and blow in costly, unexpected love. (© Brian Wren)

OPENING PRAYER In hope, and in longing: we are called to join together. In solidarity with those who struggle: we are called to join together. In resistance to those who dominate: we are called to join together. In memory of Jesus, who lived with compassion: we are called to join together. In memory of all who act with courage: we are called to join together. (Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer – adapted)

Great prophet of pity, subversive in love, unsettle our comfort, divert and remove us from self-interest. Shield us from pride, that we might yet embody the gifts you offer. Raise us up, fit us for service – to care for all who are lonely, or lost in despair. Fit us for service, to care for the reed that is bending, the wick that is burning low. Through grace and persistence, God, help us to grow. From each generation, race, colour or creed, gather us together, united by need. And, God, may we find, in spite of ourselves, that your welcome is kind. AMEN.

The readings for this morning’s service come from Luke 23

Reading 1: The elders of the people and the chief priests and scribes rose, and they brought Jesus before Pilate. They began their accusation by saying, We found this man inciting our people to revolt, opposing payment of tribute to Caesar, and claiming to be Christ, a king. Pilate put to Jesus this question, Are you the king of the Jews? It is you who say it, Jesus replied. Reflection 1: I remember a man who had dreams of what might be: that people would be set free from ideas and images of God that enslaved them, that people would believe that through their everyday acts of human kindness they are intimately connected with the sacred, that people would live in peace, in God’s presence all the days of their lives. I remember a man driven by his dreams.
Silence (count to 10) Reading 2: Pilate then said to the chief priests and the crowds, I find no case against this man. But they persisted, He is inflaming the people with his teaching all over Judea; it has come all the way from Galilee, where he began, down to here.

Reflection 2: I remember a man who had his moments of breakthrough, when it must have seemed his dream was being realised: the times people really listened and responded, the men and women who were prepared to walk with him and support him, times when he spoke better and more convincingly than other times. I remember a man deeply encouraged by his successes. Silence (count to 10)

HYMN: On Friday, When the Sky was Dark (Tune: Belmont WOV 435)

On Friday, when the sky was dark, disciples fled in fright and dazed, through Saturday, they wait the dawn of Sunday’s light.

From dull despair to blazing light, from agony and death, God’s people sought for grace and hope, and for the Spirit’s breath.

The silent waking of the Christ brought all the world to praise, as death was done and life re-born with hope for all our days.

That hope returns with each new year, the prompt for faith’s re-birth and brighter than a thousand suns God’s glory flames on earth!

As new life forces through the earth, the world is sprung with green, and all creation rings again as joy is sung and seen. © Andrew Pratt

Reading 3: When Pilate heard this, he asked if the man was a Galilean. And finding that he came under Herod’s jurisdiction, he passed him over to Herod who was also in Jerusalem at that time. Herod was delighted to see Jesus; he had heard about him and had been wanting for a long time to set eyes on him; he was hoping to see some miracle worked by Jesus. So Herod questioned Jesus at some length, but without getting a reply.
Reflection 3: I remember a man who learned of the cruel death of his cousin. He got into a boat, seeking a lonely place, where he could be with his friends to absorb the shock, to grieve quietly, and to calm the feelings of powerlessness and frustration and fear for his own future. I wonder what he prayed about that night? I wonder what helped him leave that lonely place and go forward to confront life, rather than retreat into isolation and safety? [pause] I remember a man driven by his convictions. Silence (count to 10)

Reading 4: Then Herod, together with his guards, treated Jesus with contempt and made fun of him. Herod put a rich cloak on Jesus, and sent him back to Pilate. And though Herod and Pilate had been enemies before, they were reconciled that same day. Pilate then summoned the chief priests and the leaders and the people. You brought this man before me, Pilate said, as a political agitator. Now I have gone into the matter myself in your presence and found no case against him in respect of all the charges you bring against him. Nor has Herod either, since he has sent him back to us. As you can see, the man has done nothing that deserve death, so I shall have him flogged and then let him go. But altogether they howled, Away with him! Give us Barabbas! Pilate was anxious to set Jesus free and addressed them again, but they shouted back, Crucify, crucify him! Reflection 4: I remember a man whose dream was shattered: who broke down and cried over what could have been, who knew the pain of failure and powerlessness, who knew what it was like to feel broken and terribly alone. I remember someone human like all of us. Silence (count to 10)

Reading 5: Pilate then gave a verdict : their demand was to be granted. Pilate released Barabbas whom they asked for and who had been imprisoned for rioting and murder, and handed Jesus over to them to deal with as they pleased.

Reflection 5: I remember a man who knew he was going to die: who gathered with his friends knowing it was for the last time, who spoke to them about what he really believed, who wanted them to remember him and to keep his dream alive. I remember a testament to love. Music for Reflection or silence

Reading 6: When they reached the place called The Skull, they crucified Jesus there with the two criminals also, one on the right, the other on the left.

Reflection 6: I remember a man crucified. He was a failure, abandoned by his male friends, taunted, despised, enduring a shameful and agonising death, no consoling or heartfelt presence of his God to help him. I remember a man whose faith in all he believed was tested to the limits.

PRAYER POEM: This Planet of Pain alt. (Bruce Sanguin) Now we open to the story of the Crucified and Risen One, arms stretched out across the chasms of fear, pulling factions into his own broken body, closer to his pierced heart, so that this planet of pain may one day claim as its own the love flowing out from that sacred, broken heart. Yes, pull us in, Spirit of the Living God, into the Heart of our hearts, that we might once and for all lay down our arsenals of fear and take up our tools to build the kin-dom of God for the sake of all creation.

THE CROSS TABLEAU The cross is lifted and held by a man / or 2 men A white cloth (shroud) is placed on the floor (in front of the Communion Table) by 4 women The cross is carried horizontally and placed on the cloth. The prominence of the women at the cross stands in contrast to Jesus’ inner group of disciples. Having the women as witnesses was part of a subversiveness at the heart of Jesus’ approach. Therefore remembering the stories, and remembering the death of innocent, fragile things in the world around us, imagine the 4 women, representing us all, scattering autumn leaves over the cross. They are our witnesses. The Gift of Fragrant Essence Imagine fragrant essence sprinkled over the leaves to remind us of the gift of the unnamed woman who anointed Jesus.
HYMN: Jesus Story – The Role Model (Tune: Kilmarnock WOV 186)

The Jesus story is the one which shows me how to live; this Jesus story is the one that prompts me to forgive.

This story tells me of a man who called the outcast ‘Friend’; compassion was the way he lived; his loving knew no end.

When faced with wrong he did not flinch, but struggled for the right; he always lived by what he taught, and would not turn to spite.

He never looked for pers’nal gain, nor empty hollow praise; We look to his integrity to follow in his ways.

This Jesus story is the one which urges us to show in every word and every deed his love lived long ago. (© George Stuart)

Reflection 7 I remember a man of extraordinary religious insight: utterly convinced of the connectedness between human loving and living in God, determined to give people personal authority in their relationship with God, wanting to set people free from fear of the unknown, setting his heart on breaking down barriers between people… We give thanks for the ways in which the life, teaching, and death of Jesus, have set us free. [pause] Jesus provides a glimpse into another this-world reality. His vision is worth exploring. For we are encouraged to celebrate life, to suck the marrow out of existence, to explore, and probe, and experiment, to venture into unchartered seas, without fear of a tyrannical and vindictive God. God does not set limits on our curiosity. (Robert Funk/adapted) Silence

A Litany for Leaving It is almost time for us to leave (this place). As we do so we give ourselves into the hands of God. For –
We believe in God around us, dreamer and sustainer of life. When there was nothing but an ocean of tears, God sighed over the waters and dreamed a small dream: light in the darkness, a small planet in space. We believe in God beside us, Jesus as the Christ, dream made flesh. When hate and fear were raging, when love was beaten down, when hope was nailed and left to die, Christ entered into our deep secret places. We believe in God within us, Spirit who empowers the dream. Who weeps with us in our despair, who breathes on prison doors, never admitting it’s hopeless, always expecting the bars to bend and sway and break forth into blossom. (Based on an Affirmation of Faith by D McRae-McMahon)

So, in hope and faith we affirm that nothing can separate us from the love and source of life – God. The Candle is extinguished

HYMN WORDS: Lift High the Cross

Lift high the cross, the love of Christ proclaim till all the world adore his glorious name!

Come, Christian people, sing your praises, shout! If we are silent, even stones cry out…

Jesus, you wept to see our human strife, teach us compassion for each human life…

Peace was your plea and peace your loving theme let peace be our passport, peace a living dream…

Great is the cost of walking on this road, to follow and suffer with the Son of God…

Worlds to be born and children yet to be come, take up this song into eternity… (© Shirley Murray)