The Greeting
The light and peace of Jesus Christ be with you
and also with you.
The glory of the Lord has risen upon us.
Let us rejoice and sing God’s praise for ever.
Alleluia. Christ is risen.
He is risen indeed. Alleluia.
Words of Welcome and Introduction
Hymn
Christ is the King, O friends rejoice!
Brothers and sisters, with one voice
make all men know he is your choice:
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.
The first apostles round them drew
thousands of faithful men and true,
sharing a faith for ever new:
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.
O magnify the Lord and raise
anthems of joy and holy praise
for Christ’s brave saints of ancient days:
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.
O Christian women, Christian men,
all the world over, seek again
the way disciples followed then:
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.
Let Love’s unconquerable might
God’s people everywhere unite
in service to the Lord of light:
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.
Prayers of Penitence
Christ died to sin once for all, and now he lives to God.
Let us renew our resolve to have done with all that is evil
and confess our sins in penitence and faith.
cf Romans 6.10
Like Mary at the empty tomb,
we fail to grasp the wonder of your presence.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Like the disciples behind locked doors,
we are afraid to be seen as your followers.
Christ, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Like Thomas in the upper room,
we are slow to believe.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
May the Father of all mercies
cleanse us from our sins,
and restore us in his image
to the praise and glory of his name,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Collect
For The Seventh Sunday of Easter
Let us pray.
O God the king of glory,
you have exalted your only Son Jesus Christ
with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven:
we beseech you, leave us not comfortless,
but send your Holy Spirit
to strengthen us
and exalt us to the place where our Saviour Christ is gone before,
who is alive and reigns with you,
the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
Amen.
Reading(s) from the Bible
A reading from the Acts of the Apostles.
When the apostles had come together, they asked him, ‘Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?’ He replied, ‘It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’
When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up towards heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up towards heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.’
Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day’s journey away. When they had entered the city, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying, Peter, and John, and James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers.
Acts 1: 6-14
This is the Word of the Lord
Thanks be to God.
Hymn
Alleluia, sing to Jesus,
his the sceptre, his the throne;
alleluia, his the triumph,
his the victory alone:
hark, the songs of peaceful Sion
thunder like a mighty flood:
Jesus out of ev’ry nation.
hath redeemed us by his blood.
Alleluia, not as orphans
are we left in sorrow now;
alleluia, he is near us,
faith believes, nor questions how;
though the cloud from sight received him
when the forty days were o’er,
shall our hearts forget his promise,
‘I am with you evermore’?
Alleluia, bread of angels,
thou on earth our food, our stay;
alleluia, here the sinful
flee to thee from day to day;
intercessor, friend of sinners,
earth’s redeemer, plead for me,
where the songs of all the sinless
sweep across the crystal sea.
Alleluia, King eternal,
thee the Lord of lords we own;
alleluia, born of Mary,
earth thy footstool, heav’n thy throne;
thou within the veil hast entered,
robed in flesh, our great High Priest;
thou on earth both priest and victim
in the Eucharistic Feast.
Gospel
Alleluia, alleluia.
Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.’
John 6.40
Alleluia.
Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John.
Glory to you, O Lord.
Jesus looked up to heaven and said, ‘Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed.
I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them.
And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.’
John 17.1-11
This is the Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, O Christ.
Sermon
Preached by Lynne Pickersgill.
An Easter Acclamation
Our Lord Jesus Christ, risen from death,
we praise you for changed lives and new hopes at Easter.
You come to Mary in the garden,
and turn her tears into joy.
For your love and mercy we give you thanks:
we praise your holy name.
You come to the disciples in the upper room,
and turn their fear into courage.
For your love and mercy we give you thanks:
we praise your holy name.
You come to the disciples by the lakeside,
and turn their failure into faith.
For your love and mercy we give you thanks:
we praise your holy name.
You come to the disciples on the Emmaus road,
and turn their despair into hope.
For your love and mercy we give you thanks:
we praise your holy name.
You come to your people now,
and turn our weakness into triumph.
For your love and mercy we give you thanks:
we praise your holy name.
Alleluia. Christ has been raised from the dead.
1 Corinthians 15.20
The peace of the risen Lord be always with you.
And also with you.
Hymn
Lord, enthroned in heavenly splendour,
first begotten from the dead,
thou alone, our strong defender,
liftest up thy people’s head.
Alleluia, alleluia,
Jesu, true and living bread.
Here our humblest homage pay we,
here in loving rev’rence bow;
here for faith’s discernment pray we,
lest we fail to know thee now.
Alleluia, alleluia,
thou art here, we ask not how.
Though the lowliest form doth veil thee
as of old in Bethlehem,
here as there thine angels hail thee,
Branch and Flow’r of Jesse’s stem.
Alleluia, alleluia,
we in worship join with them.
Paschal Lamb, thine off’ring, finished
once for all when thou wast slain,
in its fullness undiminished
shall for evermore remain.
Alleluia, alleluia,
cleansing souls from ev’ry stain.
Life imparting heav’nly manna,
stricken rock with streaming side,
heav’n and earth with loud hosanna
worship thee, the Lamb who died.
Alleluia, alleluia,
ris’n, ascended, glorified!
Prayers of intercession
Written by Bea Greenwood
God is love, let heaven adore him. God is love, let all rejoice in him. Let us pray.
Heavenly Father, in your Son Jesus you share your life with our life. We pray for all members of the Anglican Communion around the world.
For the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend Justin Welby and all primates and bishops.
For members of the Anglican Consultative Council.
For the secretary general The Most Reverend Josiah Idowu-Fearon.
For staff at the Anglican Communion Office in London and the United Nations Officers in Geneva and New York.
Unite your Church so that it may witness your truth.
Lord in your mercy.
Hear our prayer.
In our diocese we ask your blessing upon our Archdeacons Andy Jolley (Bradford), Anne Dawtry (Halifax), Paul Ayers (Leeds), Peter Townley (Pontefract) and Jonathan Gough (Richmond and Craven)
Lord in your mercy
Hear our prayer.
Lord of peace lead all who govern and who shape the course of nations.
Open their hearts to justice and fill them with deep desire to serve mankind with love in their hearts.
We pray for our own government that they may pull together for the good of the nation.
We pray for the prime minister, that he keeps well and able to take us through this pandemic.
Dear Lord, we ask for your blessing upon Elizabeth our Queen. Guide and protect her.
Our local authorities carry great responsibilities. We pray they use their position with deep thought and compassion.
Lord in your mercy.
Hear our prayer.
We thank you heavenly Father for St Mary’s Church, for Canon Matthew, for Lynne our reader and for the churchwardens David and James and all who give support in any way. Bless them and keep them strong.
We pray for members of St Mary’s whose hospital appointments have been cancelled or postponed, for operations, for physiotherapy appointments, check ups and test results also postponed, and we pray for any who are in pain as a result of the delays.
We pray for the residents of Greenway Close.
Lord in your mercy.
Hear our prayer.
Gracious Lord, we hold before you student nurses and doctors confronting situations before being fully prepared for them.
Give them the fortitude to sustain them through these dark and terrible times.
We thank you for these young people and for all the volunteers in every part of the National Health Service.
Lord of hope and compassion, you know about suffering. L ook with compassion on the anguish of a troubled world.
Sooth all who carry pain and grief daily in their hearts.
For the homeless and for the lonely, for those traumatised by a recent event or an experience,
For parents who ache with the loss of a child, all whose grief has been re-opened, for those whose memories need healing and those thankful for lives shared.
May the light of your kingdom shine in every dark place.
We have been asked to pray for
George Brown
Ginny Camponi
Tom Heaphy
Jennifer Moad
together with any others known to us, for whom we pray in a moment of silence.
We pray too for those who have recently died, among them
Geoffrey Rinder
Edward Fryer
Norah Fountaine
David Richard Brown
Father in your son you give new life to all who have died and we pray for
Dennis Sanderson
whose anniversary of death falls at this time.
Comfort all who are mourning, take away the heartache of grief and replace it with the joy of your eternity.
Lord in your mercy.
Hear our prayer.
God of love, grant us the grace to love one another as you love us that your will may be fulfilled.
United with the Church across the world, let us pray with confidence using the words our Saviour taught us:
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done;
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power and the glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen.
Hymn
Rejoice, the Lord is King!
Your Lord and King adore;
mortals, give thanks and sing,
and triumph evermore.
(Refrain)
Lift up your heart, lift up your voice;
rejoice, again I say, rejoice.
Jesus the Saviour reigns,
the God of truth and love;
when he had purged our stains,
he took his seat above.
Lift up your heart, lift up your voice…
His kingdom cannot fail;
he rules o’er earth and heav’n;
the keys of death and hell
are to our Jesus giv’n.
Lift up your heart, lift up your voice…
He sits at God’s right hand
till all his foes submit,
and bow to his command,
and fall beneath his feet.
Lift up your heart, lift up your voice…
Closing Prayer, Responses and Blessing
Eternal God, giver of love and power,
your Son Jesus Christ has sent us into all the world
to preach the gospel of his kingdom:
confirm us in this mission,
and help us to live the good news we proclaim;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Alleluia. Christ is risen.
He is risen indeed. Alleluia.
Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
He has given us new life and hope.
He has raised Jesus from the dead.
God has claimed us as his own.
He has brought us out of darkness.
He has made us light to the world.
Alleluia. Christ is risen.
He is risen indeed. Alleluia.
The Blessing
May Christ,
who out of defeat brings new hope and a new future,
fill you with his new life;
and the blessing of God Almighty
the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit
rest upon you, your homes and those whom you love
this day and always.
Amen.
With the power that raised Jesus from the dead at work within you, go in the peace of Christ. Alleluia, alleluia.
Thanks be to God. Alleluia, alleluia.
Please join us for a drink and a chat after the service in our virtual meeting space.
whitkirkchurch.org.uk/meet/coffee
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