St John the Evangelist

EASTER.

Sunday, 05/04/2026

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SENTENCE FROM SCRIPTURE:

Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! This is the day that the Lord has made (Psalm 118).

HYMN-

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GREETING.

Grace and peace to you from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

COLLECT FOR PURITY.

Almighty God,
to whom all hearts are open,
all desires known,
and from whom no secrets are hidden:
cleanse the thoughts of our hearts
by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit,
that we may perfectly love you,
and worthily magnify your holy name;
through Christ our Lord. Amen. .

SUMMARY OF THE LAW .

Our Lord Jesus Christ said: The first commandment is this:

Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is the only Lord. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength.”

The second is this: “Love your neighbour as yourself.” There is no other commandment greater than these. Amen. Lord, have mercy..

CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION

God is love and we are God’s children. There is no room for fear in love. We love because God loved us first.

Let us confess our sins in penitence and faith. .

SILENCE

God our Father,
we confess to you
and to our fellow members in the Body of Christ
that we have sinned in thought, word and deed,
and in what we have failed to do.
We are truly sorry.
Forgive us our sins,
and deliver us from the power of evil,
for the sake of your Son who died for us, Jesus Christ, our Lord.
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ABSOLUTION

God, who is both power and love,
forgive you and free you from your sins,
heal and strengthen you by the Holy Spirit,
and raise you to new life in Christ our Lord. Amen.
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GLORIA sung by Sue Turner

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COLLECT.

Almighty God,
who, through your son, Jesus Christ,
have overcome death and opened the gates of eternal life:
grant that we, who celebrate with joy the day of his resurrection,
may be raised from the death of sin by your life giving spirit;
through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, world without end. Amen.

PROCLAIMING & RECEIVING GOD’S WORD.

FIRST READING:

Acts 10.34–43, read by Andrew Ratnam

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³⁴ Peter began to speak to those assembled in the house of Cornelius: ‘I truly understand that God shows no partiality, ³⁵ but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. ³⁶ You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ – he is Lord of all. ³⁷ That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: ³⁸ how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.

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³⁹ We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; ⁴⁰ but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, ⁴¹ not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. ⁴² He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. ⁴³ All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.’.

SECOND READING: Colossians 3.1–4, read by Gill Swales

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¹ If you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

² Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, ³ for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. ⁴ When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory..

GRADUAL HYMN

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GOSPEL READING: John 20.1–18, read by Rev Dr Steven Ballard

Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to St John, chapter 20 beginning at verse 1
Glory to Christ our Saviour

¹ Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb.

² So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, ‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.’ ³ Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went towards the tomb. ⁴ The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. ⁵ He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. ⁶ Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, ⁷ and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. ⁸ Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; ⁹ for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. ¹⁰ Then the disciples returned to their homes. ¹¹ But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; ¹² and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet.

¹³ They said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’ She said to them, ‘They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.’ ¹⁴ When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. ¹⁵ Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? For whom are you looking?’ Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.’ ¹⁶ Jesus said to her, ‘Mary!’ She turned and said to him in Hebrew, ‘Rabbouni!’ which means Teacher. ¹⁷ Jesus said to her, ‘Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”

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¹⁸ Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord’; and she told them that he had said these things to her. .

Give thanks to the Lord for his glorious Gospel
Praise to Christ our Lord..

SERMON.

Jesus, dead on the cross and buried, is raised! We praise and celebrate today the risen Christ. Alleluia!

I wonder if you’ve ever had that dream – the one when you’re walking down the street, or find yourself in some public place; you look down and find that you’re wearing your slippers and pyjamas? You wake and it was just a dream. Mary Magdalene goes early to the tomb on that first Easter morning. It’s still dark. She finds the stone has been removed from the tomb. [John 20v1] Jesus is not there!.

As she runs to tell Peter and the others, she must be thinking: “I’m still asleep. I’ll wake up soon and it’ll all be a dream. It can’t be real. This can’t be happening!” But this is no dream. This is reality. Jesus has died and is risen. The reality that we celebrate today, the fact of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus, is the truth without which we have no faith. Without this day of resurrection, Jesus is just another good man, a wise teacher and healer, radical adversary of the religious establishment of His day, who had His moment of minor fame in a hidden backwater of the then-known world, long forgotten, a footnote in history.

But today across our world, millions will gather, as we gather, to sing the praises of the God whom we meet in Jesus of Nazareth, who has shared our life, who has died our death and has been raised to glory. Here is the One who, far from being a forgotten footnote in history, opens the way for our humanity to enter into a new relationship with the living God; here is the One who is the hope of our world; the One who is the hope of every man, woman and child on this earth. This truth – that the good news of God’s love in Jesus – is for all people, without exception, Peter finally comes to understand. [Acts 10 v 34] He offers the gospel good news to the gentile Cornelius and to his household. In so doing he describes himself as witness to the truth of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus. [Acts 10 v 39ff] And for me, this is the ‘proof’ of the resurrection – the transformation in people’s lives. I look at Peter, denying even knowing Jesus, afraid and hiding away, who stands before a crowd on the Day of Pentecost, who witnesses to Cornelius and his household: “We are witnesses … God raised Him on the third day …” [Acts 10 vv 39, 40] And I look at Mary in the garden, bereft, weeping and lost with Jesus gone, who mistakes the risen Jesus for the gardener, but hears her name: “Mary”. [John 20 v 16] In that moment, all is changed. As she recognises the risen Jesus, she in turn is recognised for who she is, she is called by name and knows herself loved and valued. Life begins.

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And what was true for Mary and for Peter is true for each one of us also. As we recognise the risen Lord Jesus and open our lives to Him, then we know ourselves called by name, loved, valued and accepted as we are that we might be loved into the people that we can be and become. Life begins.

May God bless each one of us this Easter Day as we, once more or for the first time, recognise the risen Jesus as our Lord and Saviour and resolve to walk our life’s journey with Him.

Amen..

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THE CREED

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
God from God,
Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one substance with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven;
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate of the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father.
With the Father and the Son,
he is worshipped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.
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PRAYERS..

Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia. This is the day that the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.

On this Easter Day of celebration and gratitude, our refrain will be:.

This is the day that the Lord has made

Today we are giving thanks and praise for answered prayer and for a sacrifice made:

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“I will sing to the Lord all my life; for as long as I live I will praise my God.” We give thanks and praise that Jesus’ sacrifice enabled us to become truly part of God’s family: loved, liked, even, and the recipients of care and protection. May we model what we learn from the Kingdom towards those closest to us, to family, friends, neighbours, colleagues and our various communities..

This is the day that the Lord has made .

We give thanks for Christian, and other faith communities everywhere: remembering our community here in St John’s, in Dumfries and district, our Diocese, in Scotland, the UK and worldwide; giving thanks for what is good, and asking your blessing and protection on your people where they are subject to persecution, misinterpretation of what they do, or suppression. Help us celebrate and give thanks for beliefs and values we have in common – “Like a city built together where the people of God go up to praise the name of the Lord.”.

This is the day that the Lord has made

We hold before you nations, leaders and governments, particularly remembering those whose actings may horrify us, at home or abroad. Samuel said to Saul, ‘Because you have rejected the command of the Lord, he has rejected you as King.’ We ask you, Lord, to intervene, and not delay. May all those exercising power at whatever level recognise their accountability: “A just King gives stability to his nation, but one who demands bribes destroys it;” “The one who rules righteously, who rules in the fear of God, is like the light of morning at sunrise, like a morning without clouds, like the gleaming of the sun on new grass after rain.”;

And we bring before you those places in the world we feel are in particular peril, whether as aggressors or those subjected to them, or for their own internal reasons: we are asked: to pray for all people: to ask God to help them; and intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. To pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. This is good and pleases God our saviour, who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth. Ukraine and Russia; Israel, Palestine, Lebanon and Gaza; Turkey and Syria; the whole of the Middle East: Yemen, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan; Sudan, countries in the Horn of Africa, Congo, Kenya, Nigeria, Kashmir, Myanmar, Greenland, Venezuela, Cuba and the United States. And, in a moment of silence, we can bring before God our own places of particular concern, not forgetting those closer to home, in Europe, the UK, Scotland and locally. […] And we give thanks that you hear our prayers and will act. I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of your wonderful deeds..

This is the day that the Lord has made..

We pray for the weak, the sick, the powerless, the threatened, the afraid. Those in pain, fear, in want of food, water or shelter. The Psalm says, “the Lord will rescue the poor when they cry to him, he will help the oppressed who have no one to defend them, he will redeem them from oppression and violence, for their lives are precious to him.”But help us play our part, too. In our St John’s community, we bring before you […]; and amongst the departed, we give thanks for the lives of […], and ask your comfort for those they have left behind. And, in a moment of silence, we bring before you those others, not mentioned here, who are particularly on our hearts. […].

This is the day that the Lord has made..

And finally, we bring our own needs, wants and concerns before you; in gratitude for the sacrifice of Jesus on our behalf. We know we need continually to Remind ourselves of your faithfulness. We must frequently stop and look at what you have done for us come other things you subjected yourself to on that cross for our salvation. We think also of the grace and mercy you show us each and every day of our lives convert the provisions to which we’ve become entitled: health, protection, peace, joy, and so much more. Thanksgiving guards our hearts from swaying from “hosanna” to “crucify him.” So guard our hearts, Lord. And, in a final moment of silence, we bring before you our personal concerns, knowing that nothing is too big, nothing too trivial, for your notice. […].

This is the day that the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it..

Merciful Father accept these prayers for the sake of your Son,
our Saviour Jesus Christ who taught us to pray together

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.
Do not bring us
to the time of trial
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power
and the glory are yours,
now and forever. Amen.

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BLESSING

Christ the Son of God gladden your hearts with the good news of his kingdom; and the blessing of God almighty, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, be among you and remain with you always. Amen.

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HYMN –

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DISMISSAL

Go in peace to love and serve the Lord
In the name of Christ. Amen