Worship Service April 5th, 2026 Easter Sunday

Worship opens with a land acknowledgment of the Mississauga of the Credit First Nations and thanks for the gathered community. Some elves transformed the sanctuary with banners and flowers, and announcements invite participation in a men’s breakfast and in giving to the United Church of Canada Mission and Service Fund, which supports water, shelter, medical aid, refugee work, and emergency relief. The congregation celebrates April birthdays and lights the candle of Christ as a symbol of presence and hope.

A call to worship confronts the emptiness of graves—broken dreams, shattered plans, frayed hopes—and declares the central truth: Christ is risen. Songs of resurrection and a shared sign of peace shift sorrow into praise. Children receive a blessing before Sunday school and an Easter egg hunt, while attention moves toward the core witness of the morning: Mary Magdalene’s encounter at the tomb.

Mary’s account arrives with raw grief and urgent testimony. She describes traveling to the tomb, finding the stone rolled away, and discovering only burial cloths—no body. Peter and James inspect the tomb and leave, and Mary collapses in anguish until two figures ask why she cries. A stranger then calls her by name; recognition floods her heart. The risen Christ commands her to let go and to go and tell the others, turning private mourning into public proclamation. The narrative emphasizes seeing, knowing, and bearing witness: resurrection transforms loss into mission.

The service gathers gifts and presents an offering for mission and service, asking God to use money, food, and people to reveal compassion and strength near and far. Communion follows an invitation to remember the bread and cup as signs of Christ’s body and promise. The congregation shares bread and cup, and ushers offer prayer stations for anyone seeking a word or intercession. Prayers name individuals in need and lift the wider community, culminating in the Lord’s Prayer, thanksgiving, and a final blessing.

The worship closes with a hymn declaring Christ alive, a commissioning to live out calling with peace and hope, and a benediction that sends people into the world to let joy and resurrection life spread across daily life. The tone remains both intimate and missional: sorrow meets surprise, recognition issues proclamation, and worship turns into service.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. The empty tomb means new beginnings The empty tomb refuses finality and overturns assumed endings. When plans die and hopes collapse, the resurrection insists that God can rework loss into fresh possibility. This truth presses believers to look for new movement of life where despair seems absolute, trusting that change may arrive in unexpected forms. [24:50]
• 2. Encounter transforms grief into witness Personal recognition of the risen one converts private sorrow into public testimony. Mary’s naming by Christ moves her from clinging to mission—she must let go and tell others. True encounters with God awaken courage to speak, to risk being misunderstood, and to carry hope into fragile communities. [28:07]
• 3. Resurrection calls for active compassionate service Resurrection faith does not settle for abstract joy; it propels concrete action toward neighbours near and far. The Mission and Service offering connects belief with essentials—water, shelter, medical aid, refugee support—reminding that risen life finds shape in solidarity. Giving and volunteering become sacramental responses to a God who raises life out of ruin. [37:18]
• 4. Communion shapes incarnational, outward love Sharing bread and cup names Christ’s body present among people and calls worshipers into embodied love. Communion frames remembrance as a summons to incarnate justice, mercy, and peace in daily relationships. After the table, prayer stations invite lived prayer: words, touch, and accompaniment that make grace tangible. [40:54]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [03:54] - Land acknowledgement
• [04:33] - Announcements and preparation
• [05:26] - Mission & Service explained
• [07:04] - Birthdays and candle lighting
• [08:59] - Call to worship
• [09:51] - Easter hymn and sharing peace
• [22:29] - Mary Magdalene at the tomb
• [24:50] - Discovery of the empty tomb
• [28:07] - Encounter with the risen Christ
• [31:07] - Resurrection hope and new life
• [37:18] - Offering for mission work
• [40:54] - Communion liturgy and invitation
• [49:02] - Communion distribution & prayer stations
• [63:21] - Closing hymn, benediction, sending

Bible reading: John 20:1-18 (ESV)
Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. 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.” So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus' head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples went back to their homes.
But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. 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.” Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” 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.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for 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.’” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her.

Observation questions

1. What initial reactions and emotions did Mary Magdalene experience when she first discovered the empty tomb? [24:50]
2. What was the significance of Jesus calling Mary by her name? [28:07]
3. What specific command did Jesus give to Mary after she recognized him? [28:44]

Interpretation questions

1. Why do you think Mary did not recognize Jesus at first, even when he was standing right in front of her?
2. Jesus tells Mary not to cling to him because he has "not yet ascended." What might this instruction mean for how we hold on to our own expectations of God's work?
3. The offering for the Mission and Service Fund was connected to providing essentials like water, shelter, and medical aid [05:45]. How does this act of giving become a practical response to the resurrection?

Application questions

1. When have you experienced a situation that felt like an "empty tomb"—a place of loss or shattered plans—only to later see God begin a new thing there? [30:46]
2. Jesus' call for Mary to "let go and go" turned her personal grief into a public mission [28:44]. Is there a sorrow or personal struggle you are being called to release so you can be sent to serve others?
3. The resurrection faith was expressed through concrete support for refugees and emergency aid [05:45]. What is one tangible way you can connect your belief in new life to an act of compassion for a neighbor in need?
4. Sharing communion was described as a summons to "incarnate justice, mercy, and peace in daily relationships" [44:58]. Who is one person in your life with whom you could make grace more tangible this week?
5. Mary's testimony was met with confusion but also sparked hope in her friends [29:49]. What hope-filled truth about God's new beginnings feels risky to share, but could encourage someone if you told them?