Festival Eucharist on the
Resurrection of Our Lord
after an Easter Vigil
by The Rev. Thomas L. Weitzel
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
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Organ Prelude
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THE EASTER PROCLAMATION
The Presiding Minister proclaims the resurrection from the rear of the church, shouting three times:
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P. (boldly) Christ is Risen!
C. (boldly) He is risen indeed!
All stand to sing the entrance hymn.
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LITURGY OF PRAISE
Entrance Hymn #151 "Jesus Christ Is Risen Today"
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Easter Dialog:
A. (boldly) Alleluia! Christ is risen!
C. (boldly) He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
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A. Worthy is Christ, the Lamb who was slain! Alleluia!
C. He gives us new life and hope through his resurrection! Alleluia!
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A. Rejoice then, even in your distress.
C. We shall be counted worthy when Christ appears.
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A. God has claimed us as his own.
C. God has called us from our darkness into the light of his day.
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A. (boldly) Alleluia! Christ is risen!
C. (boldly) He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
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Easter Hymn of Praise: (sing)
A. This is the feast of victory for our God. Alleluia!
C. Worthy is Christ, the Lamb who was slain, whose blood set us free to be people of God. Power and riches and wisdom and strength, and honor and blessing and glory are his. This is the feast of victory for our God. Alleluia. Sing with all the people of God and join in the hymn of all creation: Blessing and honor and glory and might be to God and the Lamb forever. Amen. This is the feast of victory for our God, for the Lamb who was slain has begun his reign. Alleluia. Alleluia.
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Prayer of the Day: (sing)
P. The Lord be with you.
C. And also with you.
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P. Let us pray. O God, you gave your only Son to suffer death on the cross for our redemption, and by his glorious resurrection you delivered us from the power of death. Make us die every day to sin, so that we may live with him forever in the joy of the resurrection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
C. Amen The people are seated.
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LITURGY OF THE WORD
Greetings and Announcements
First Lesson:
Sequence Hymn: (The people stand and sing twice)
Hail thee, festival day!
Blest day to be hallowed forever;
Day when our Lord was raised,
breaking the king-dom of death.
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Gospel Lesson, St. Luke 24:1-12:
P. The Holy Gospel according to St. Luke, the twenty-fourth chapter.
C. (sing) Glory to you, O Lord!
After the reading:
P. The Gospel of the Lord!
C. (sing) Praise to you, O Christ! The people are seated.
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Sermon
Hymn of the Day #141 "The Day of Resurrection"
Nicene Creed
Prayer of the Church
Peace
All greet one another in the name of the Lord, saying
Peace be with you. Afterwards, the people are seated.
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LITURGY OF THE LORD'S SUPPER
During the Offering: Hymn #144 "Good Christian Friends"
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Offertory Prayer: (stand)
A. Let us pray. Merciful Father,
C. we offer with joy and thanksgiving what you have first given us -- ourselves, our time, and our possessions, signs of your gracious love. Receive them for the sake of him who offered himself for us, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
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Great Thanksgiving: (sing)
P. The Lord be with you.
C. And also with you.
P. Lift up your hearts.
C. We lift them to the Lord.
P. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
C. It is right to give him thanks and praise.
P. It is right and salutary that we should at all times and in all places offer thanks and praise to you, O Lord, holy Father, almighty and everliving God. But chiefly are we bound to praise you for the glorious resurrection of our Lord; for he is the true Passover Lamb who gave himself to take away our sin, who by his death has destroyed death, and by his rising has brought us to eternal life. And so, with Mary Magdalene and Peter and all the witnesses of the resurrection, with earth and sea and all their creatures, and with angels and archangels, cherubim and seraphim, we praise your name and join their unending hymn:
C. Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of pow'r and might: Heav'n and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.
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Eucharistic Prayer II (Altar Book):
P. You are indeed holy, O God, the fountain of all holiness; you bring light from darkness, life from death, speech from silence. We worship you for our lives and for the world you give us. We thank you for the new world to come and for the love that will rule all in all. We praise you for the grace shown to Israel, your chosen, the people of your promise; the rescue from Egypt, the gift of the promised land, the memory of our ancestors, the homecoming from exile, and the prophets' words that will not be in vain. In all this we bless you for your only-begotten Son, who fulfilled and will fulfill all your promises.
In the night in which he was betrayed, our Lord Jesus took bread, and gave thanks; broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying: Take and eat; this is my body, given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me.
Again, after supper, he took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it for all to drink, saying: This cup is the new covenant in my blood, shed for you and for all people for the forgiveness of sin. Do this for the remembrance of me.
For as often as we eat of this bread and drink from this cup, we proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.
C. Christ has died! Christ is risen! Christ will come again!
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P. Therefore, O God, with this bread and cup, we remember the incarnation of your Son; his human birth and the covenant he made with us. We remember the sacrifice of his life: his eating with outcasts and sinners, and his acceptance of death. But chiefly on this day we remember his rising from the tomb, his ascension to the seat of power, and his sending of the holy and life-giving Spirit. We cry out for the resurrection of our lives, when Christ will come again in beauty and power to share with us the great and promised feast.
C. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
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P. Send now, we pray, your Holy Spirit, that we and all who share in this bread and cup may be united in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, may enter the fullness of the kingdom of heaven, and may receive our inheritance with all your saints in light.
C. Amen. Come, Holy Spirit.
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P. Join our prayers with those of your servants of every time and every place, and unite them with the ceaseless petitions of our great high priest until he comes as victorious Lord of all.
C. (sing) Through him, with him, in him, in the unity of the Holy Spir-it, all hon-or and glo-ry is yours, almighty Father, now and forever. Amen
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P. Lord, remembers us in your kingdom and teach us to pray:
C. 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, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen
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At the Breaking of Bread:
P. When we eat this bread we share the body of Christ. When we drink this cup we share the blood of Christ.
C. Reveal yourself to us, O Lord, in the breaking of bread, as once you revealed yourself to your disciples.
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Communion
In the Lord's Supper, we truly receive the body and blood of the risen Christ. Baptized Christians are invited to come forward to receive Holy Communion. Please take an empty glass from the usher. Communicants may say "Amen" after receiving the bread and the wine.
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During Communion:
Hymn #352 "I Know that My Redeemer Lives"
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After Communion, all stand as the minister says:
P. The body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ strengthen and keep you in his grace.
C. Amen
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A. Let us pray. Lord God, in a wonderful Sacrament you have left us a memorial of your suffering and death. May this Sacrament of your body and blood so work in us that the way we live will proclaim the redemption you have brought; for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
C. Amen
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Solemn Blessings of Easter:
P. May almighty God bless you on this solemn feast of Easter, and may he protect you against all sin.
C. Amen
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P. Through the resurrection of his Son, God granted us healing. May he fulfill his promises, and bless you with eternal life.
C. Amen
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P. You have mourned for Christ's sufferings; now you celebrate the joy of his resurrection. May you come with joy to the feast which lasts forever.
C. Amen
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P. (sung) May almighty God, Father, + Son, and Holy Spirit, bless you now and forever.
C. (sung on one tone) Amen
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A. Go in peace. Serve the Risen Lord!
C. Thanks be to God!
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Closing Hymn #131:1-2 "Christ Is Risen! Alleluia!"
Organ Postlude
Liturgy
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