Easter Sunday, April 21, 2019 (full size gallery)
The Lectionary discussion for this Easter, Year C.
We also have videos of Easter Sunday here.
Easter Sunday, the culmination of Holy Week!
Easter celebrates the reality of Jesus’ resurrection in all its many aspects. Hope, Transformation, Evangelism and a new life.
We started out at the Sunrise Service at the Long’s House at 6:30am.
The weather was much better than predicted which had forecast storms in the morning at one point. Instead it was sunny with clouds hanging over the river. The weather by the time of the St. Peter’s service was in the 60’s with plenty of sunshine. The leaves have come out in the last 2 weeks.
A gallery of the event is here. Alex opened it as the Mayor of Port Royal, Elizabeth led the Apostles’ Creed, Nancy helped with the singing, Johnny read the Old Testament from Isaiah, Catherine provided a prayer.
We had 59 in attendance at the 11am service. The bulletin is here.
The service opened with the lighting of the Paschal fire outside and procession inside. With some wind, we needed all the help we could get to guide the fire into the church. We will have the paschal candle until Pentecost.
Easter is a time of celebration and that included music. Music was in abundance with Andy Cortez and his cornet through out the service. Brad and Helmut collaborated on a prelude. The choir also helped to throw rose petals down during the sequence hymn as part of the resurrection celebration!
The readings are here. There are two possible Gospel texts -John 20:1-18 or Mark 16:1-8
The sermon use the one from the Gospel of John. "Mary Magdalene, alone in the garden, is the first person to see our resurrected Lord, and she mistakes him for the gardener. But in a way, she’s exactly right. Jesus is the gardener. Jesus has taken all that went wrong in the garden of Eden and has made it right again. Because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, the relationship between God and human beings has been restored and can grow again." The relationship between human beings and the earth itself has been healed through Jesus, buried in the earth for three days, and then being brought out by God into resurrection life and light."
"We’d all like to keep Jesus around, to do the gardening on this earth with us. But Jesus says to Mary, “Do not touch me.”
"The miracle of the resurrection is that time itself has started over.
And Mary remembers the promise that Jesus made to them all before he died.
“And I will come again and take you to myself.”
Now she knows that Jesus will be back again after he checks in with his Father.
So now Mary can let Jesus go with joy and she can go and share this news with the disciples as he asks her to do—because she knows that he will be back.
The new time has begun! Just as it was in the beginning, when the word was with God, the Word will be with God again. Jesus is ascending to the Father.
"In other words, in this new time that has begun with Jesus’ death and resurrection, the family relationship that was broken in the Garden of Eden has now been restored and healed.
"When Jesus appears to the rest of the disciples that evening he says to them, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you. And he breathes on them and says to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”
"Jesus gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, to be with us, to give us peace, and not only peace, but the strength and courage to love God and to be God’s gardeners on this earth and in this world, and to do all of that with joy, because God has resurrected Jesus from the dead.
"And Jesus, as in the beginning, is with God, and God is continually bringing new life and light into all of creation, through Jesus, the Word."