Easter is the most important day for the rest of our lives, because it suggests that our lives shall not end when they end. On this day Jesus Christ was raised from the dead. The conviction of his resurrection propelled Jesus’ followers into establishing a worldwide Church in his name. This morning, with nearly two billion other people around the world, we give praise to God in the words of the triumphant Easter hymn, “Christ the Lord is risen today!”
Pastoral Prayer
We praise Thee, O God, for sending Jesus Christ into the world. We thank Thee for the wisdom he displayed throughout his short life, for the portrayal of Thy true nature he so carefully explained to us, and for the courageous way he faced his death because of the animosity of his political and theological adversaries. We ask Thee to be with us on this day of days, as once more we seek to grasp the profundity of how the proclamation of Jesus’ resurrection affects our lives. Renew and strengthen faith within us, O God, and lead us through all the remaining days of this life until we shall see Thee and Jesus in a life which shall never end.
We pray for the citizens of Gaza and Israel, and especially for the leaders of those two peoples. By the power of Thy spirit working within them, may they be led to perceive the folly of their continued warfare, and their tendency to blame the other side for all the ills of this war. Through those national leaders and the leaders of other nations, may peace come to a land that has known political and military unrest for four thousand years find rest in this year.
We pray for everyone who is ill this Easter day, for those who are recovering from surgery, for those who live every day with varying levels of pain, and for all those who care for them in their needs. Enable those who are sick to bear what must be borne. May they trust that Thou art with them in every challenge they face. We pray also for those who are well, but who greatly mourn the adversities faced by those they love, wondering why it is that the loved ones are thus afflicted. Be with all of us in the perplexities which face us, including the perplexities of Easter itself. In the continuous challenge life inevitably represents for all of us, be closer to us than life itself. These things we pray in the name of Jesus Christ, our risen Lord. Now we join together in words Jesus taught us, saying, Our Father….