Morning Prayer Easter Sunday

Sunday, 20th April 2025

Easter Day

Preparation

O Lord, open our lips

All and our mouth shall proclaim your praise.

In your resurrection, O Christ,

All let heaven and earth rejoice. Alleluia.

Blessed are you, Lord God of our salvation, to you be praise and glory for ever.

As once you ransomed your people from Egypt and led them to freedom in the promised land,

so now you have delivered us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of your risen Son.

May we, the first fruits of your new creation, rejoice in this new day you have made,

and praise you for your mighty acts. Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

All Blessed be God for ever.

The night has passed, and the day lies open before us;

let us pray with one heart and mind.

Silence is kept.

As we rejoice in the gift of this new day, so may the light of your presence,

O God, set our hearts on fire with love for you; now and for ever.

All Amen.

The Word of God

Psalmody

Refrain:

All In your unfailing love, O Lord,  you lead the people whom you have redeemed. Alleluia.

1I will sing to the Lord, who has triumphed gloriously, ♦

the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.

2The Lord is my strength and my song ♦

and has become my salvation.

3This is my God whom I will praise, ♦

the God of my forebears whom I will exalt.

4The Lord is a warrior, ♦

the Lord is his name.

5Your right hand, O Lord, is glorious in power: ♦

your right hand, O Lord, shatters the enemy.

6At the blast of your nostrils, the sea covered them; ♦

they sank as lead in the mighty waters.

7In your unfailing love, O Lord, ♦

you lead the people whom you have redeemed.

8And by your invincible strength ♦

you will guide them to your holy dwelling.

9You will bring them in and plant them, O Lord, ♦

in the sanctuary which your hands have established.

Exodus 15.1b-3, 6, 10, 13, 17

All Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit;

as it was in the beginning is now and shall be for ever. Amen.

All In your unfailing love, O Lord,  you lead the people whom you have redeemed. Alleluia.

Readings

Acts 10:34-43

Gentiles Hear the Good News

³⁴ Then Peter began to speak to them: ‘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. 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.’

1 Corinthians 15:19-26

¹⁹ If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.

²⁰ But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died. ²¹ For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human being; ²² for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ. ²³ But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. ²⁴ Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, after he has destroyed every ruler and every authority and power. ²⁵ For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. ²⁶ The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

Gospel Reading

John 20:1-18

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. 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.” Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who 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 returned to their homes.

But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; 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. 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.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” 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 Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which meansTeacher). 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.’” 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.

Death is swallowed up in victory.

All Where, O death, is your sting?

Christ is risen from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.

All Death is swallowed up in victory.

The trumpet will sound and the dead shall be raised.

All Where, O death, is your sting?

We shall not all sleep, but we shall be changed.

All Death is swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your sting?

from 1 Corinthians 15