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Resurrection of All Creation
Easter Sunday 
March 31, 2013 
Acts 10:34-43 or Isaiah 65:17-25  •  Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24
•  1 Corinthians 15:19-26 or Acts 10:34-43  •  John 20:1-18 or Luke 24:1-12

Call to Worship (Acts 10: 34-43)
One: 		Jesus walked the earth with God’s message of peace,
blessing all creation:
Many: 		Abundant life for all!
		
Jesus preached God’s love--	
justice for the poor, full sharing of earth’s bounty;
He rattled the authorities with
Hope and healing; forgiveness and welcome! 

Worldly powers tried to stop him: 
led him to a tree and crucified him; 
laid him in the earth: a garden tomb. 
Three days in the earth, and then,
Like the seed which dies to live, 
so Jesus arose to new life!
		
And so let us celebrate the risen Christ,
alive in our midst even today.
May we be hands and feet, 
hearts and minds of that risen Christ, 
proclaiming the good news of  abundant life for all. 

Prayer of Invocation
This is the day you have made, O Holy One, 
and we rejoice!
Come.  
Let the world know you dwell with us.
Stir our souls with love and hope,
And let our feet dance for joy on your good earth. 
Open our eyes to the hopes and needs of this planet, 
and all who share its life.
Embolden our hearts to works of justice in your name.
Be present to us.  Empower us with your resurrection life.	
Let the world know, through our lives, that:

Easter Acclamation
One: 		Christ is risen! Alleluia!
Many: 		Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Prayer of Confession (Isaiah 65: 17-25)
Creator God,
You made this day, this life, this planet and all that is in it. 
All is a gift from you. 
All of creation is holy and You have given it into our care
And yet we must confess: 

Our care-less actions wound and scar our earth home:
Forgive us, Holy One, 
You, who are always creating a new heaven and a new earth! 
	
We rob and do not restore life-giving riches to our lands and waters: 
Forgive us, Holy One, 
You, who invite us to a feast of justice on your holy mountain! 
				
	We foster systems which fail to house and feed and heal all our people: 
Forgive us, Holy One, 
You, who promise a world in which people build houses and inhabit them, 
plant vineyards and eat their fruit. 

Risen One,  
Teach us that your resurrection brings new life to all creation.
Today of all days empower us with vision and courage; 
let us work for your realm in which there is justice for all;
where everyone has enough, sharing your abundant life.
Save us, God, from our mistakes.
Teach us to be a resurrection people,
rising from the ashes of our errors 
to live in a new way on this Earth.	Amen.

Words of Assurance
In the Risen Christ we are forgiven, 
and empowered again to be builders of that new heaven and new earth. 
For that good news we say,  
“Alleluia!”

Invitation to the Offering
All of creation is God's gift to us, including our very lives. 
What we do with our lives and with creation is our gift to God. 
Let us be about the business of building God's realm, 
a healed Earth where there is enough for all.

Dedication of the Offering
Risen Christ, Bless these gifts, along with our very lives. 
May gifts and givers alike be dedicated 
to your work of love, hope, justice, and peace. Amen.

Benediction
Go forth to live boldly, 
as if death has no power over you. 
Live as if your lives count for something--because they do. 
God calls us in abundant love 
to serve something greater than our own finite lives, 
a greater cause for which we would even lay down our lives, as Jesus did. 
For just as death on a tree could not stop the Christ, 
so our lives in service to God become larger than ourselves, 
part of the ever in-breaking realm of God—
that realm of justice and truth, 
of enough for all and not too much for any one.
Go in peace, to love, to serve, and to proclaim: 

One: 		Christ is risen! Alleluia!
Many: 		Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Hymn suggestions
I Come to the Garden Alone		TNCH 237
Now the Green Blade Rises		TNCH 238
Hoy celebramos con gozo al Dios 
(Come, Celebrate with Thanksgiving) 	TNCH 246
Touch the Earth Lightly 		TNCH 569
Great God of Earth and Heaven 	TNCH 579

Resurrection of All Creation: Service prayers for Easter Sunday, was written by the Reverend Meighan Pritchard, the national Mission 4/1 Earth Campaign Coordinator. She is also the interim minister at Prospect Congregational United Church of Christ in Seattle, Washington. Find out more about Mission 4/1 Earth at http://www.ucc.org/earth

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Copyright 2013 Local Church Ministries, Congregational Vitality and Discipleship Ministry Team, United Church of Christ, 700 Prospect Avenue, Cleveland, OH  44115-1100.  Permission granted to reproduce or adapt this material for use in services of worship or church education.  All publishing rights reserved.