Easter Sunday

Sunday March 31, 2024

Scriptures: Mark 14:62, Mark 15:14-15, Mark 15:37-38, Mark 16:1-7, Mark 16:8

• Summary

  Message Summary: This week, we celebrate Easter and wrap up our series on the Gospel of Mark. We look at the forces at play in Jesus's trial and crucifixion, the women who needed to find their voice to proclaim the good news, and the invitational, circular way the gospel of Mark is structured to help us discover Jesus and meet him in the places we already know.

  Nightmare: Mark 14:62, Mark 15:14-15. The trial of Jesus shows us that we can do everything right and still end up in a nightmare. His singular life was a threat to both a religion and an empire. And this is another reminder that being human is hard, and there's no guarantee that we will be safe.

  Low Places: Mark 15:37-38. Mark tells us that the curtain was torn in two. The word that Mark uses is "skid zo," meaning "tear" or "split." The first time Mark uses this word is in Mark 1:10 at the baptism of Jesus when the heaven is torn open, and the Spirit descends on Jesus as a dove. The torn sky and the torn curtain are about removing barriers we think exist between us and God. Jesus came to show us that God can absorb all our terror and that even death can become new life.

  Back to the Beginning: Mark 16:1-7. A messenger in the tomb sends the three women to Galilee, where the story of Jesus began. Mark wants the readers, including us, to experience the story of Jesus as a never-ending story, and when you think you've come to an end, you can go back to the beginning and see hope.

  Over to You: Mark 16:8. The original gospel of Mark is believed to end here. The women are encouraged to finally unveil the messianic secret; now is the time not to be quiet about Jesus but to speak. Yet, the women are afraid. However, at some point, they did overcome their fear and found their voice and the way to tell the resurrection story because we're all here today. And now, Mark turns it over to us. The resurrection finds us in the middle of our struggles, and in our humanity, and in our failure, saying that we can always try again.

• Discussion

  Community is shaped by the conversations we share. These questions and reflections are a tool to help you meaningfully engage with the themes of this week's teaching.

  Connect: At the beginning of her message, Bobbi mentioned that none of us show up on Easter Sunday with everything in our lives completely perfect.

  What is some of the heaviness that you carry to the cross of Christ this week?

  What are some of the things or practices in your life right now, or especially around the Easter season, that point you toward the hope of resurrection?

  Share: Share your thoughts on the interplay and the role of religious and political powers in the trial and crucifixion of Jesus.

  What do you think about the role of the crowd in determining justice and requesting Barrabas to be released instead of Jesus?

  How do this part of the story and similar patterns of injustice we see even today make you feel? What in this story confronts, moves, or challenges you the most?

  Reflect: Bobbi pointed out to us that the Gospel of Mark tells the story of Jesus as a never-ending story that invites us to find new beginnings in endings.

  Could you think of a personal experience where an ending led to an unexpected new beginning in your life? Where did you see God in that resurrection story?

  In Mark 15:33-39, we see the profound moments of Jesus' crucifixion, including the tearing of the temple curtain. Bobbi connected that moment to the moment of Jesus' baptism in Mark 1:10.

  What do you think is the significance of that moment?

  How is it a personal encouragement to you?

  Engage: Consider the impact of the women's silent fear and their eventual courage to speak of what they witnessed.

  How does their experience relate to your own experience of fear, silence and courage?

  Mark 16:1-8 ends abruptly with the women's initial silence out of fear.

  Why do you think the Gospel of Mark ends this way, and how does this open-ended conclusion encourage you to find your own place (and your own voice) in the ongoing story of Jesus?

  Take away: What are you taking away from this sermon or today's conversation?

  What are some of the things that you want to remember from this gospel?

• Prayer

  Prayer from the sermon

  Loving God,
  It’s a lot to get to Easter

  The highs and the lows
  The sorrow and the exaltation
  The abandonment and the ever-persistent friendship of God.

  As we move into Eastertide
  The 50-day season your church has carved explore our own discipleship
  Won’t you invite us into deeper devotion
  Awe and mystery
  And a trust that there is always more to faith

  More grace
  More peace
  More beauty
  More joy
  More life

  May we practice all of it.
  World without end. Amen.

• Liturgy

  CALL TO WORSHIP Matthew 28:6

  MUSIC Curated by Kevin Borst
  Elevation Worship - Praise
  Passion - What He's Done
  Brooke Ligertwood - Bless God
  Hillsong Worship - King of Kings
  Phil Wickham - How Great Thou Art
  Hillsong Worship - Cornerstone

  EUCHARIST INVITATION
  adapted from John Chrysostom by Jeremy Duncan

  God is welcoming you—fitting you in-brick by brick and stone by stone. Story upon story with Christ Jesus at the centre who holds us all together—

  And this is why we celebrate

  Because there is room for us in resurrection

  Space for all of our stories to be caught up in the life that returns with Jesus…
  
  And yet of course the journey to that realization is as long and winding as our paths here to this moment

  As dark and sorrowful as the path through Good Friday

  Sometimes the way is cooked and laboured

  It’s two steps forward and one step back for much longer than any of us might like

  But the celebration of easter is about the mystery of divine grace

  In all the ways it comes to find us

  Stories of healing and kind words-brilliant moments and quiet reflections
  
  All the point sin our lives where the love of God is so evident it simply cannot be ignored

  All of this is resurrection

  And today we stand we in the long line of people who have followed the Way

  Trusting that good news is out there looking for us

  And so we declare together—

  Christ is Risen
  Christ is risen indeed

  if anyone is devout and a lover of God, let them enjoy this beautiful and radiant day.

  If anyone is a grateful servant, let them, rejoicing, enter into the joy of the Lord.

  If anyone has wearied themselves in fasting, let them now receive recompense.

  For the Master is gracious and receives the last even as the first;

  God gives rest to those who come at the eleventh hour, just as to those who have labored from the first.

  to the one God gives, and to the other God is gracious.

  For Christ is risen, and not one dead remains!

  and so I invite you to come to this Easter table today, not because you must,

  but because you are welcome;

  I invite you to come to this Easter table to testify - not that you are righteous,

  but that you desire to love what is good

  I invite you to come to this Easter table not because you are strong,

  but precisely because you are weak;

  not because you have any claim on the grace of God,

  but because in your frailty you stand in constant need of new breath and life— and of resurrection

  I invite you to come - not to express an opinion or belief or doctrine

  but simply to welcome God’s presence

  and to experience God’s Spirit this day

  To declare that this— is where Life returns…

  welcome to easter Sunday

  Welcome to the table of Christ

  Welcome to the resurrection that has come to find you
  
  Christ is risen— Christ is risen indeed

  SPECIAL ELEMENTS

  “Signs of Christ” Special Video
  Easter Sunday Series Intro