Easter
The fullness of the resurrection requires more than a day to unpack. The Easter season is a fifty-day celebration that ends on Pentecost Sunday (the Greek word pentekoste means “fiftieth”). The Easter season is a time to let the implications of the resurrection sink in deeper, inviting us to realign our worldview and conform our living to the reality that we have been raised with Christ to new life. Easter is full of joy and the laughter of love—the grave is empty, love has won, Christ is risen! Give yourself over to the experience of that joy—take in the absolute wonder of God’s purposeful plan of salvation (from Seeking God’s Face by Philip Reinders).
- Calling -
O Lord, open our lips.
And our mouth shall proclaim Your praise.
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. Alleluia!
Alleluia. The Lord is risen indeed:
O come, let us adore him. Alleluia.
- Constitution -
Read/Listen, Meditate, Pray, and Contemplate on God’s Word, remembering that God is with you and ready to speak to you because he loves you.
Praying the Psalms
Psalm 25
Of David.
[1] To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul.
[2] O my God, in you I trust;
let me not be put to shame;
let not my enemies exult over me.
[3] Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame;
they shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.
[4] Make me to know your ways, O LORD;
teach me your paths.
[5] Lead me in your truth and teach me,
for you are the God of my salvation;
for you I wait all the day long.
[6] Remember your mercy, O LORD, and your steadfast love,
for they have been from of old.
[7] Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions;
according to your steadfast love remember me,
for the sake of your goodness, O LORD!
[8] Good and upright is the LORD;
therefore he instructs sinners in the way.
[9] He leads the humble in what is right,
and teaches the humble his way.
[10] All the paths of the LORD are steadfast love and faithfulness,
for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.
[11] For your name’s sake, O LORD,
pardon my guilt, for it is great.
[12] Who is the man who fears the LORD?
Him will he instruct in the way that he should choose.
[13] His soul shall abide in well-being,
and his offspring shall inherit the land.
[14] The friendship of the LORD is for those who fear him,
and he makes known to them his covenant.
[15] My eyes are ever toward the LORD,
for he will pluck my feet out of the net.
[16] Turn to me and be gracious to me,
for I am lonely and afflicted.
[17] The troubles of my heart are enlarged;
bring me out of my distresses.
[18] Consider my affliction and my trouble,
and forgive all my sins.
[19] Consider how many are my foes,
and with what violent hatred they hate me.
[20] Oh, guard my soul, and deliver me!
Let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in you.
[21] May integrity and uprightness preserve me,
for I wait for you.
[22] Redeem Israel, O God,
out of all his troubles.
Old Testament Reading
Leviticus 20
[1] The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, [2] “Say to the people of Israel, Any one of the people of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall stone him with stones. [3] I myself will set my face against that man and will cut him off from among his people, because he has given one of his children to Molech, to make my sanctuary unclean and to profane my holy name. [4] And if the people of the land do at all close their eyes to that man when he gives one of his children to Molech, and do not put him to death, [5] then I will set my face against that man and against his clan and will cut them off from among their people, him and all who follow him in whoring after Molech.
[6] “If a person turns to mediums and necromancers, whoring after them, I will set my face against that person and will cut him off from among his people. [7] Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, for I am the LORD your God. [8] Keep my statutes and do them; I am the LORD who sanctifies you. [9] For anyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death; he has cursed his father or his mother; his blood is upon him.
[10] “If a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death. [11] If a man lies with his father’s wife, he has uncovered his father’s nakedness; both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them. [12] If a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death; they have committed perversion; their blood is upon them. [13] If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them. [14] If a man takes a woman and her mother also, it is depravity; he and they shall be burned with fire, that there may be no depravity among you. [15] If a man lies with an animal, he shall surely be put to death, and you shall kill the animal. [16] If a woman approaches any animal and lies with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.
[17] “If a man takes his sister, a daughter of his father or a daughter of his mother, and sees her nakedness, and she sees his nakedness, it is a disgrace, and they shall be cut off in the sight of the children of their people. He has uncovered his sister’s nakedness, and he shall bear his iniquity. [18] If a man lies with a woman during her menstrual period and uncovers her nakedness, he has made naked her fountain, and she has uncovered the fountain of her blood. Both of them shall be cut off from among their people. [19] You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister or of your father’s sister, for that is to make naked one’s relative; they shall bear their iniquity. [20] If a man lies with his uncle’s wife, he has uncovered his uncle’s nakedness; they shall bear their sin; they shall die childless. [21] If a man takes his brother’s wife, it is impurity. He has uncovered his brother’s nakedness; they shall be childless.
[22] “You shall therefore keep all my statutes and all my rules and do them, that the land where I am bringing you to live may not vomit you out. [23] And you shall not walk in the customs of the nation that I am driving out before you, for they did all these things, and therefore I detested them. [24] But I have said to you, ‘You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey.’ I am the LORD your God, who has separated you from the peoples. [25] You shall therefore separate the clean beast from the unclean, and the unclean bird from the clean. You shall not make yourselves detestable by beast or by bird or by anything with which the ground crawls, which I have set apart for you to hold unclean. [26] You shall be holy to me, for I the LORD am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine.
[27] “A man or a woman who is a medium or a necromancer shall surely be put to death. They shall be stoned with stones; their blood shall be upon them.”
- Communion -
Pray for yourself, others, our church, our neighbors, and the world.
Pray the Lord’s Prayer & the collect of the week:
Our Father who art in heaven...
O God, whose blessed Son made himself known to his disciples in the breaking of bread: Open the eyes of our faith, that we may behold him in all his redeeming work; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
- Commission -
May the God of peace, who raised to life the great shepherd of the sheep, make us ready to do his will in every good thing, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever.
(Based on Hebrews 13:20-21)
Let us go forth in the name of Christ.