THE FIRST LESSON: Isaiah 65:17-25
THE SECOND LESSON: John 20:11-18
SERMON: "Recognizing New Life"
Worship Notes
Welcome to worship at Westminster on this Easter Sunday in which we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The liturgical season of Eastertide continues for seven Sundays and concludes with our observance of Ascension Sunday (May 16) before the season of Pentecost begins on May 23. The liturgical color for Eastertide is white.
During the season of Lent, we put our "Alleluias" away. Today, we proclaim our faith with shouts of "Alleluia! The Lord is risen!" "He is risen indeed! Alleluia!" Our focus in worship today is on the resurrection of our Lord. The music through which we worship today is a celebratory proclamation of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The prelude is a toccata by John Rutter and it serves as a musical connection between our meditative Good Friday worship, which incorporated Rutter's Requiem, and this celebratory service of Easter.The hymns and service music we sing this morning all reflect the joyous celebration of Christ's resurrection. During Holy Communion, all who profess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior are invited to partake of the elements as we sing a Taize Song of Communion, "Jesus Remember Me." In keeping with a longstanding Westminster tradition, our Easter Sunday worship ends with an invitation for all to join the Chancel Choir in singing Handel's "Hallelujah" and the inspired "Toccata" of French organist, Charles Marie Widor (1844-1937).
The paraments on the lectern and pulpit are by Canadian liturgical artist, Karen Brodie and represent the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet: the alpha and the omega. The interior of the omega, along with the curved lines of the light, remind us of the open tomb and our risen Christ. The cross and the star are combined to become a symbol of Christ's birth and death. The bottom of the cross becomes one with the cup, the cup of salvation, and the wheat, the symbol of the body of Christ broken for us. These paraments also incorporate the sun rising as a symbol of the new life we celebrate through the resurrection of Christ.
