St Ursula's Church
Berne, Switzerland
A Church of the Anglican Communion, welcoming all who seek the Lord Jesus Christ
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| St Ursula's Church A Church of the Anglican Communion, welcoming all who seek the Lord Jesus Christ | ||||||||
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Alleluia. Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed, Alleluia!
1 Alleluia, Alleluia,
hearts to heaven and voices raise;
sing to God a hymn of gladness,
sing to God a hymn of praise:
he who on the Cross a victim
for the world's salvation bled,
Jesus Christ, the King of Glory,
now is risen from the dead.
2 Christ is risen, Christ the first-fruits
of the holy harvest field,
which will all its full abundance
at his second coming yield;
then the golden ears of harvest
will their heads before him wave,
ripened by his glorious sunshine,
from the furrows of the grave.
3 Christ is risen, we are risen;
shed upon us heavenly grace,
rain, and dew, and gleams of glory
from the brightness of thy face;
that we, with our hearts in heaven,
here on earth may fruitful be,
and by angel-hands be gathered,
and be ever, Lord, with thee.
4 Alleluia, Alleluia,
Glory be to God on high;
Alleluia to the Saviour,
who has gained the victory;
Alleluia to the Spirit,
fount of love and sanctity;
Alleluia, Alleluia,
to the Triune Majesty.
Christopher Wordsworth
Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ be with you
and also with you.
Almighty God,
to whom all hearts are open,
all desires known,
and from whom no secrets are hidden:
cleanse the thoughts of our hearts
by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit,
that we may perfectly love you,
and worthily magnify your holy name;
through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Alive, alive, alive for evermore,
Now Jesus is alive, alive for evermore;
Alive, alive, alive for evermore,
Now Jesus is alive!
Sing hallelujah, sing hallelujah;
Now Jesus is alive for evermore.
Sing hallelujah, sing hallelujah;
Now Jesus is alive!
Christ our Passover lamb has been sacrificed for us. Let us therefore rejoice by putting away all malice and evil and confessing our sins with a sincere and true heart.
Almighty God, our heavenly Father,
we have sinned against you and against our neighbour
in thought and word and deed,
through negligence, through weakness,
through our own deliberate fault.
We are truly sorry and repent of all our sins.
For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, who died for us,
forgive us all that is past and grant
that we may serve you in newness of life
to the glory of your name. Amen.
Almighty God, who forgives all who truly repent,
have mercy upon you, pardon and deliver you from all your sins, confirm and strengthen you in all goodness, and keep you in life eternal; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Glory to God in the highest,
and peace to his people on earth.
Lord God, heavenly King,
almighty God and Father,
we worship you, we give you thanks,
we praise you for your glory.
Lord Jesus Christ, only Son of the Father,
Lord God, Lamb of God,
you take away the sin of the world:
have mercy on us;
you are seated at the right hand of the Father:
receive our prayer.
For you alone are the Holy One,
you alone are the Lord,
you alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ,
with the Holy Spirit,
in the glory of God the Father. Amen.
Almighty Father,
who in your great mercy gladdened the disciples with the sight of the risen Lord:
give us such knowledge of his presence with us,
that we may be strengthened and sustained by his risen life
and serve you continually in righteousness and truth;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen
On the day of Pentecost, 14 Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd, 36 'Let the entire house of Israel know with certainty that God has made him both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus whom you crucified.' 37 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and to the other apostles, 'Brothers, what should we do?' 38 Peter said to them, 'Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him.' 40 And he testified with many other arguments and exhorted them, saying, 'Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.' 41 So those who welcomed his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand persons were added to their number.
17 If you invoke as Father the one who judges all people impartially according to their deeds, live in reverent fear during the time of your exile. 18 You know that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish. 20 He was destined before the foundation of the world, but was revealed at the end of the ages for your sake. 21 Through him you have come to trust in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are set on God. 22 Now that you have purified your souls by your obedience to the truth so that you have genuine mutual love, love one another deeply from the heart. 23 You have been born anew, not of perishable but of imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God.
Alleluia, alleluia. I am the first and the last, says the Lord, and the living one; I was dead and behold I am alive for evermore.
Alleluia
Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke
Glory to you, O Lord
13 Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, 14 and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. 15 While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, 16 but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. 17 And he said to them, "What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?" They stood still, looking sad. 18 Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, "Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?" 19 He asked them, "What things?" They replied, "The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, 20 and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. 21 But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. 22 Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, 23 and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. 24 Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him." 25 Then he said to them, "Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! 26 Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” 27 Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.
28 As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. 29 But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.” So he went in to stay with them. 30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. 32 They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” 33 That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. 34 They were saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!” 35 Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.
This is the Gospel of the Lord
Praise to you, O Christ
This morning's Gospel is one of the most memorable accounts of the risen Jesus. In this wonderful story, two gloomy disciples are plodding home from Jerusalem to Emmaus, their hopes dashed by the death of their beloved master Jesus, and yet their interest also stirred by wild rumours that he is, somehow, alive again.
And then Jesus himself draws alongside them – for some mysterious reason they don't recognise him – and they get into conversation. Jesus almost playfully quizzes them about what has been going on in Jerusalem (as if he didn't know!), and then he rebukes them sharply for not understanding the Scriptures better, and explains to them from the Scriptures why the Messiah had to suffer.
When they get to Emmaus, the disciples press this stranger to come in and eat with them, and he does . . . and then, when he takes the bread, and blesses and breaks it, finally they see who he is – and then he vanishes! The astonished disciples rush back to Jerusalem and share their story with the others. Their gloom has been replaced by wonder after their encounter with the risen Lord.
There's a lot going on in this story, but I'd like to focus on just one issue: How does the risen Jesus make himself known to the disciples? Jesus does two things to clarify the disciples' understanding of him, and to help them recognise his living presence with them. First, he explains the Scriptures to them; and second, he breaks bread. Let's think about each of these, and how they are relevant to us today.
Jesus explains the Scriptures to the disciples, and later they say to each other: "Didn't our hearts burn within us as he talked to us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?" It's a wonderful phrase: our hearts were burning within us. (For some of us that may call to mind the painful experience of indigestion, but that's not what's in mind here!) John Wesley used almost exactly the same words 1700 years later when he said that his heart was "strangely warmed" as he listened to someone explain a passage from Paul's letter to the Galatians. The love of Christ came alive for Wesley as he heard the Scriptures explained.
The Scriptures are not just a collection of ancient writings. They are powerful. Not powerful in the way we might imagine magic spells to be, where the words themselves are the focus of mysterious power. The transforming power of the Scriptures is not like magic; their power comes not from the Scriptures themselves but from what they point to. They point to Christ, who is their central theme, hidden in the OT and revealed in the NT. It's a powerful thing, a heart-warming, challenging, life-changing thing, to hear the Scriptures so explained and brought alive that the reality of Christ impinges sharply on us. Like those disciples on the road to Emmaus, our hearts burn within us with a new grasp of God's love for us and for the world, a new sense also of the life that God calls us to. As one of the Psalms says: "The unfolding of your words brings light". When Jesus unfolds the words of Scripture it brings light and joy to the disciples. Still today, the unfolding of the Scriptures is one way the risen Christ makes himself known.
But secondly, Jesus breaks bread, and at that moment the disciples see who he is. This action of breaking bread is very distinctive of Jesus. He has broken bread with the disciples many times before, particularly at the Last Supper, where he makes clear that the broken bread points to his own body given for us on the Cross. This is how the risen Jesus chooses to make his presence known to us: a simple, physical way, disarmingly simple, perhaps, for those who would prefer something more intellectual and abstract. But we are not all mind; that's not how God made us. In the breaking of bread, Christ chooses a simple, physical way to make himself known. And it's important that Christ chooses to make himself known in the context of a meal, an occasion when we are brought together, when we're not just individuals, but members of one body: "Though we are many, we are one body, because we all share in one bread."
So we've seen how the risen Christ uses Scripture and Sacrament – Bible and Bread – to open our eyes, to draw us into the mystery of who he is. If we look back over our lives, one or the other, Scripture or Sacrament, has probably had the greater emphasis in our own Christian formation. But of course we need both, and both are given for us all. On a usual Sunday morning the unfolding of the words of Scripture is held closely together with the breaking of the bread. It's not either/or: we get them both. In the normal life of this church, they combine in the weekly shared encounter with the God who comes to us in the risen Christ.
But for some weeks now we have not been experiencing the normal life of this church. We cannot gather to worship; we do not listen together to the Scriptures read and interpreted; we cannot receive the bread and wine to be fed by Christ's body and blood.
Not being able to receive the sacrament may be painful and disorientating for those for whom it has been a central part of their spiritual lives. But we can still listen attentively to the word of God and be nourished by it. Our minds can be opened, our hearts burn within us as we encounter the risen Christ through scripture. And if reading the Bible has not been a particularly significant practice for you in the past, why not try it, especially if you have time on your hands at present? Reading through Mark, the shortest of the Gospels, would be a good place to start. And when, please God, we do return to 'service as normal', be aware that there are different opportunities offered at St Ursula's to engage more deeply with the Bible. Talk to Helen or me if you're interested to learn more.
On the other hand, for some Christians the Bible has always been centre-stage, while receiving communion may be a respected part of church life but is a bit more marginal. During this time that we cannot receive the sacrament, we might want to reflect afresh on its significance in our Christian lives; to rejoice that Christ gives himself to us in such a simple physical way, and so draws us together into one community; and so come to value more deeply what we are given when we break bread together Sunday by Sunday.
So, even during these weeks when we cannot gather in church, we pray that, like those disciples on the Emmaus road, we will be surprised by the joy of the risen Christ, mysteriously coming alongside us, even at our most despondent moments. May our hearts burn within us as we learn more of Christ in the Scriptures, and let us look forward to the day when we can again celebrate the presence of Christ among us in the breaking of the bread.
We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is,
seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father;
through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven,
was incarnate from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary
and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
who with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of the sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen.
Merciful Father, accept these Prayers, for the sake of your Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
Pieter Perrett
The Risen Christ came and stood among his disciples and said,
'Peace be with you.'
Then were they glad when they saw the Lord. Alleluia.
The peace of the Lord be always with you.
And also with you.
1 Jesus lives! thy terrors now
can no more, O death, appal us;
Jesus lives! by this we know
thou, O grave, canst not enthral us.
Alleluia.
2 Jesus lives! henceforth is death
but the gate of life immortal:
this shall calm our trembling breath,
when we pass its gloomy portal.
Alleluia.
3 Jesus lives! for us he died;
then, alone to Jesus living,
pure in heart may we abide,
glory to our Saviour giving.
Alleluia.
4 Jesus lives! our hearts know well
naught from us his love shall sever;
life nor death nor powers of hell
tear us from his keeping ever.
Alleluia.
5 Jesus lives! to him the throne
over all the world is given:
may we go where he is gone,
rest and reign with him in heaven.
Alleluia.
As our Saviour has taught us, so we pray
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 for ever.
Amen.
Living God,
your Son made himself known to his disciples
in the breaking of bread:
open the eyes of our faith,
that we may see him in all his redeeming work;
who is alive and reigns, now and for ever. Amen
1 Thine be the glory, risen, conquering Son,
endless is the victory, thou o'er death hast won;
angels in bright raiment rolled the stone away,
kept the folded grave-clothes where thy body lay.
Thine be the glory, risen, conquering Son,
endless is the victory thou o’er death hast won.
2 Lo, Jesus meets us, risen from the tomb;
lovingly he greets us, scatters fear and gloom;
let the Church with gladness hymns of triumph sing;
for her Lord now liveth, death hath lost its sting:
Thine be the glory, risen, conquering Son,
endless is the victory thou o’er death hast won.
3 No more we doubt thee, glorious Prince of life;
life is naught without thee: aid us in our strife;
make us more than conquerors through thy deathless love;
bring us safe through Jordan to thy home above:
Thine be the glory, risen, conquering Son,
endless is the victory thou o’er death hast won.
The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God and of his Son Jesus Christ, our Lord; and the blessing of God Almighty, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, be with you and remain with you now and always. Amen.
Go in the peace of Christ. Alleluia, Alleluia
Thanks be to God. Alleluia, Alleluia.