The Easter Vigil

The Resurrection of Our Lord—Easter Dawn April 5, 2015

Grace Lutheran Church Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin

and Preschool

Easter Dawn Easter Vigil

Sunday, April 5, 2015 7:00 a.m.

F rom its beginnings, the Easter Vigil was closely connected to Holy Baptism. In the pagan world, a conversion to Christianity

meant making a clean break from one’s former life style. It also meant facing difficult times, perhaps even death. The instruction of adults was, therefore, intensive and thorough, practical as well as intellectual. The instruction intensified during the season of Lent, as catechumens pondered not only the Savior’s battle with evil, but also their own battle with Satan and his forces. At the Easter Vigil converts were baptized, confirmed, and received their first communion.

Though our service this morning will not follow all of these four parts, look for these loose connections in what we do this morning. The Easter Vigil usually consists of four parts: the Service of Light, the Service of Lessons, the Service of Baptism, and the Service of Holy Communion.

The Service of Light focuses the entire Vigil on Christ, the Light of the world (symbolized by the paschal candle), who overcame the darkness of sin and death by his resurrection.

There are twelve Old Testament lessons appointed for the Service of Lessons. Most congregations use four or seven. Unhurried periods of silence for reflection follow each lesson; the times of silence help to identify the service as a vigil.

Whether baptisms take place in the Vigil or not, the Service of Holy Baptism connects Baptism with Christ’s resurrection and gives believers an opportunity to publicly confess the faith into which they have been baptized.

An atmosphere of solemn anticipation and meditation (as well as

relative darkness) is maintained until the proclamation, “Alleluia! Christ is risen,” which marks the dramatic transition from darkness to light. The tone for the rest of the service is one of solemn joy. The Vigil’s Service of Holy Communion is relatively simple in form and style, since the chief celebration of Easter takes place during the Festival Service on Easter morning.

P: In the name of the Father and of the Son 9 and of the Holy Spirit. C: Amen. P: On this most holy morning, in which our Lord Jesus Christ passed over from death to life,

we are gathered here in vigil and prayer. This is the Passover of the Lord in which, by hearing his Word and celebrating his Sacraments, we share in his victory over death.

Let us pray. O God, you are like a refiner’s fire, and your Spirit kindles the hearts of your faithful

people with the fire of your love. Bless, we ask you, this new flame and those who keep this joyful Easter festival. Burning with desire for life with you, may we be found rightly prepared to share in the Feast of Light which has no end, through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

C: Amen. The pastor traces the cross and the Greek letters Α and Ω (Alpha and Omega) upon it, then places

the five brass nails representing the wounds of Christ into the candle, saying:

P: Christ Jesus, the same yesterday, today, and forever, the beginning and the end, the

Alpha and the Omega. By his wounds we are healed now and forever. Amen. The usher lights the paschal candle.

Please stand.

P: May the light of Christ, who is risen in glory from the dead, scatter all the darkness of our hearts and minds.

Almighty and most merciful Father, once we were darkness, but now we are light in

Jesus Christ our Lord. Bless abundantly all who joyfully celebrate this morning in faith in the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Fill them with your heavenly blessing in him, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, now and forever.

C: Amen.

Christ Is Arisen

Christian Worship 144

P: The Lord be with you. C: And also with you. P: Lift up your hearts. C: We lift them up 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 truly good and right that we should at all times and in all places, with all our hearts

and minds and voices, praise you, O Lord, Holy Father, almighty and everlasting God, and your one and only Son, Jesus Christ.

For he is the true Paschal Lamb, who offered himself for the sin of the world, who

has cleansed us by the shedding of his precious blood.

This is the morn when you brought our fathers, the children of Israel, out of bondage in Egypt and led them through the Red Sea on dry ground.

This is the morn when all who believe in Christ are delivered from bondage to sin and are restored to life and immortality.

This is the morn when Christ, the Life, arose from the dead. The seal of the grave is broken and the morning of the new creation breaks forth out of night.

Oh, how wonderful and beyond all telling is your mercy toward us, O God, that to redeem a slave you gave your Son.

How holy is this morn when all wickedness is put to flight and sin is washed away.

How holy is this morn when innocence is restored to the fallen and joy is given to those downcast.

How blessed is this morn when man is reconciled to God in Christ. Holy Father, accept now the morning sacrifices of our thanksgiving and praise. Let Christ, the true Light and Morning Star, shine in our hearts, he who gives light to all

creation, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. C: Amen.

Please be seated.

Isaiah 12:1-6

In that day you will say:

“I will praise you, O Lord. Although you were angry with me,

your anger has turned away and you have comforted me.

2 Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid.

The Lord, the Lord, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.”

3 With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.

4 In that day you will say:

“Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted.

5 Sing to the Lord, for he has done glorious things; let this be known to all the world.

6 Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel among you.”

1 Corinthians 15:51-57

51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”

55 “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”

56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

He Is Arisen! Glorious Word Christian Worship 162

P: On this holiest of days, the whole Church of our Lord Jesus Christ

recalls his death and burial, rejoicing in the Gospel of his glorious resurrection from the dead. Holy Baptism is the precious means of grace by which our Father in heaven connects us with Christ in his life, death, and resurrection. The apostle Paul says: “Don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with him in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—because anyone who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.”

All Who Believe and Are Baptized Christian Worship 299, stanza 1

All join in speaking the responses as a remembrance of Baptism.

P: In Holy Baptism, God takes away our sins and gives new life in Christ our Lord. We

solemnly renounce the devil and all his works and all his ways; we confess the gift of faith in God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I ask you: Do you reject the devil along with all his lies and empty promises?

C: I do. P: Do you believe in God, the Father almighty? C: Yes, I believe in God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth. P: Do you believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son? C: Yes, I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy

Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty. From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.

P: Do you believe in the Holy Spirit? C: Yes, I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints,

the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen. P: Do you believe all the books of the Bible to be the inspired Word of God? C: I do. P: Do you believe that the teaching of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, as you have

learned to know it from Luther’s Small Catechism, is faithful and true to the Word of God?

C: I do.

P: Do you intend to continue in this faith, to be diligent in the use of Word and Sacrament, and in faith and action remain true to God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—as long as you live?

C: Yes, and I ask God to help me. P: Almighty God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has given you the new birth of

water and of the Spirit and has forgiven you all your sins, strengthen you with his grace to life everlasting.

C: Amen.

God’s Own Child, I Gladly Say It Christian Worship Supplement 737

Please stand.

P: ALLELUIA! CHRIST IS RISEN! C: HE IS RISEN INDEED! ALLELUIA!

(1 Corinthians 15:22) P: For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. This is the day the Lord has

made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

John 20:1-18

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to

the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”

3 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus’ head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. 8

Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9 (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)

10 Then the disciples went back to their homes, 11 but Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.

13 They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.”

14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.

15 “Woman,” he said, “why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where

you have put him, and I will get him.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). 17 Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go

instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ”

18 Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her. Following the reading of the Gospel, the pastor says:

P: This is the Gospel of our Lord.

P: Let us pray. P: O God, who made this most holy morning to shine with the glory of the resurrection of

our Lord, preserve in all your people the Spirit of adoption which you have given, that they may serve you in faith and joy, through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

C: Amen.

C: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done

on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours now and forever. Amen.

P: Our Lord Jesus Christ, on the night he was betrayed, took bread; and when he had given

thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my 9 body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

Then he took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you;

this is my 9 blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for you for the forgiveness of sins. Do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

P: The peace of the Lord be with you always. C: Amen.

Please be seated.

At the Lamb’s High Feast We Sing Agnus Dei Christian Worship 141, stanzas 1 and 2

Grace Lutheran Church is a member of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. Our church and our church body practice member communion. Out of respect for our beliefs we please ask that non-members not come forward to receive communion. If you have questions about what Scripture teaches concerning participation in the Lord’s Supper, please speak with the Pastor before or after the service.

Jesus Christ, My Sure Defense Christian Worship 167, stanzas 2 and 3

After the distribution, please stand.

P: Almighty God, you give us the joy of celebrating our Lord’s resurrection. Give us also the

joys of life in your service, and bring us at last to the full joy of life eternal, through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

C: Amen.

P: The almighty and merciful Lord, the Father, the 9 Son, and the Holy Spirit, bless us and

keep us. C: Amen.

At the Lamb’s High Feast We Sing Christian Worship 141, stanzas 4 and 5

Please remain standing for the closing hymn.

Special thanks to Jane Schaaf, the accompanist for this morning’s service. This service is adapted from Christian Worship Occasional Services: Triduum and Christian Worship: Service of Word and Sacrament, products of NPH. © 1993, © 2004 Northwestern Publishing House. All rights reserved. Used by permission. The music in this service folder is covered under Onelicense.net, license # A-722539, and CCLI, license # 1222450. All artwork in this folder is a product of Paramentics. © 2015 Ian M. Welch. Used by permission. All Rights Reserved. paramentics.com Scripture taken from The Holy Bible, The New International Version. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica Inc. TM