RISE HEART, THE LORD IS RISEN

A Choral Celebration of Eastertide
Reflecting the Resurrection Appearances of our Lord

Led by Rev Mike Morris

Prologue

Introit: Victimae paschal laudes

ictimae paschali laudes immolent Christiani.
Christians, praise the paschal victim! Offer thankful sacrifice.
Agnus redemit oves, Christus innocens Patri reconciliavit peccatores.
Christ the Lamb has saved the sheep,
Christ the just one paid the price reconciling sinners to the Father.
Mors et vita duello conflixere Mirando: dux vitae mortuus regnat vivus.
Death and life fought bitterly for this wondrous victory;
the Lord of life who died reigns glorified!
Dicnobis, Maria, quid vidisti in via?
O Mary come and say what you saw at break of day.
Sepulchrum Christi viventis, et gloriam vidi resurgentis:
The empty tomb of my living Lord!
Angelicos testes, sudarium et vestes.
Bright angels testified, shroud and grave-clothes side by side!
Surrexit Christus spes mea: praecedet suos in Galilaeum.
‘Yes, Christ my hope rose gloriously. He goes before you into Galilee.’
Scimus Christum surrexisse a mortuis vere: tu nobis, victor Rex, Miserere.
Share the good news, sing joyfully: his death is victory!
Lord, Jesus, victor King, show us mercy. Amen.

James O’Donnell
CCL31580

Choir: Rise, heart; thy Lord is risen
(Five Mystical Songs)

Rise, heart; thy Lord is risen. Sing his praise without delays,
Who takes thee by the hand, that thou likewise with him may’st rise;
That, as his death calcined thee to dust, his life may make thee gold,
and much more, Just.

Awake, my lute, and struggle for thy part with all thy art.
The cross taught all wood to resound his name, who bore the same.
His stretched sinews taught all strings, what key
Is best to celebrate this most high day.
Consort both heart and lute, and twist a song pleasant and long;
Or since all music is but three parts vied and multiplied;
O let thy blessed Spirit bear a part,
And make up our defects with his sweet art.

Vaughan William
CCL31580

Dialogue

Leader: Alleluia! Christ is risen:
All: 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 made us al light to the world!

God has claimed us as his own:
He has brought us out of darkness!
He has made us a light to the world!

Alleluia! Christ is risen:
He is risen indeed. Alleluia!

Hymn: Christ is the King! O friends rejoice

Christ is the King! O friends rejoice;
Brothers and sisters with one voice
Tell all the earth he is your choice:
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!

Christ through all ages is the same:
Place the same hope in his great name,
with the same faith his word proclaim.
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Let love’s unconquerable might
Your scattered companies unite
In service to the Lord of light:
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

So shall God’s will on earth be done,
New lamps be lit, new tasks begun,
And the whole Church at last be one:
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

G. K. A. Bell
CCL31580

The Empty Tomb

Reading: John 20:1-8

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 came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, ⁷ as well as the cloth that had been wrapped round Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. ⁸ Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed.

© NIV

Reading: The Answer

Choir: O God, thou art my God

O God, thou art my God: early will I seek thee.
My soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh also longeth after thee.
In a barren and dry land where no water is.
Thus have I look’d for thee in holiness,
that I might behold thy pow’r and glory.
For thy loving kindness is better than life itself: my lips shall praise thee.
As long as I live will I magnify thee on this manner
and lift up my hands in thy Name, because thou hast been my helper,
therefore under the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice. Hallelujah.

Henry Purcell
CCL31580

Jesus Appears to Mary

Reading: John 20:11-18

¹¹ Now 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 round and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realise that it was Jesus.

¹⁵ He asked her, ‘Woman, 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 towards him and cried out in Aramaic, ‘Rabboni!’ (which means ‘Teacher’).

¹⁷ Jesus said, ‘Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, “I am ascending 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.

© NIV

Reading: ‘Who are you looking for’
World Council of Churches 1988

Choir: When Mary through the garden went

When Mary thro’ the garden went, there was no sound of any bird,
And yet, because the night was spent, the little grasses lightly stirred,
The flowers awoke, the lilies heard. When Mary thro’ the garden went,
The dew lay still on flower and grass, the waving palms above her sent
Their fragrance out as she did pass. No light upon their branches was.
When Mary thro’ the garden went, her eyes were dim.
The grass beneath her footsteps bent, the solemn lilies, white and slim,
These also stood and wept for him. When Mary thro’ the garden went,
She sought within the garden ground, one for Whom her heart was rent,
One Who for her sake was bound, one Who sought, and she was found.

Charles Stanford
CCL31580

Hymn: Magdalene thy grief and gladness

Magdalene thy grief and gladness
Voice and heart in concert sing
Telling how the risen Saviour
Called to thee from thy sorrowing,
Tidings of his Resurrection
To his chosen flock to bring.

She beheld him, yet she knew not
In the gardener’s seeming guise
Christ, who in her heart was sowing
Seed of heavenly mysteries,
Till his voice her name pronouncing.
Bade her see and recognise.

Weep not, Mary, weep no longer!
Now the seeking heart may rest;
Christ the heavenly gardener soweth
Light and joy within the breast:
In the glowing light “Rabboni!”
By thy gratitude confest.

Philippe de Greve;
Translator: Charles Stanley Phillips, 1883-1949
CCL31580

Jesus Appears to the Disciples

Reading: John:19-29

¹⁹ On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you!’ ²⁰ After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

²¹ Again Jesus said, ‘Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.’ ²² And with that he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³ If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.’

Jesus appears to Thomas

²⁴ Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. ²⁵ So the other disciples told him, ‘We have seen the Lord!’

But he said to them, ‘Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.’

²⁶ A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you!’ ²⁷ Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.’

²⁸ Thomas said to him, ‘My Lord and my God!’

²⁹ Then Jesus told him, ‘Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.’

© NIV

Choir: Surgens Jesus

Surgens Jesus, Dominus noster stans in medio discipulorum suorum dixit:
pax vobis. Alleluia
Gavisi sunt discipuli viso Domino, Alleluia.
The risen Jesus, our Lord, standing in the midst of his disciples, said:
Peace be with you. Alleluia.
The disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Alleluia.

Peter Phillips
CCL31580

Hymn: Now the green blade riseth

Now the green blade riseth from the buried grain,
wheat that in dark earth many days has lain;
Love lives again, that with the dead has been:
Love is come again, like wheat that springeth green.

Men:
In the grave they laid him, Love whom we had slain,
Thinking that never he would wake again,
Laid in the earth like grain that sleeps unseen:
Love is come again, like wheat that springeth green.

Ladies:
Forth he came at Easter, like the risen grain,
He that for three days in the grave had lain,
Quick from the dead my risen Lord is seen:
Love is come again, like wheat that springeth green.

All:
When our hearts are wintry, grieving or in pain,
Thy touch can call us back to life again,
Fields of our hearts that dead and bare have been:
Love is come again, like wheat that springeth green.

John Macleod Campbell Crum
CCL31580

Jesus Appears On The Road To Emmaus And Breaks Bread

Reading: Luke 24:13-35

¹³ Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. ¹⁴ They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. ¹⁵ As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; ¹⁶ but they were kept from recognising him.

¹⁷ He asked them, ‘What are you discussing together as you walk along?’

They stood still, their faces downcast. ¹⁸ One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, ‘Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?’

¹⁹ ‘What things?’ he asked.

‘About Jesus of Nazareth,’ they replied. ‘He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. ²⁰ The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; ²¹ but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. ²² In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning ²³ but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. ²⁴ Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.’

²⁵ He said to them, ‘How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! ²⁶ Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?’ ²⁷ And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.

²⁸ As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going further. ²⁹ But they urged him strongly, ‘Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.’ So he went in to stay with them.

³⁰ When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. ³¹ Then their eyes were opened and they recognised him, and he disappeared from their sight. ³² They asked each other, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?’

³³ They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together ³⁴ and saying, ‘It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.’ ³⁵ Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognised by them when he broke the bread.

© NIV

Reading: Emmaus Walk Ann Lewin

Choir: Ye choirs of new Jerusalem

Ye choirs of new Jerusalem, your sweetest notes employ,
The Paschal victory to hymn in strains of holy joy.
For Judah’s Lion bursts His chains, crushing the serpent’s head;
And cries aloud through death’s domains to wake the imprisoned dead.
Devouring depths of hell their prey at his command restore;
His ransomed hosts pursue their way where Jesus goes before.
Triumphant in his glory now to him all power is given;
To him in one communion bow all saints in earth and Heaven.
While we, His soldiers, praise our King, his mercy we implore,
Within his palace bright to bring and keep us evermore.
All glory to the Father be, all glory to the Son,
All glory, Holy Ghost, to Thee, while endless ages run.
Alleluia! Amen.

Charles Stanford
CCL31580

Hymn: Love’s redeeming work is done

Love’s redeeming work is done,
fought the fight, the battle won.
Lo, our Sun’s eclipse is o’er!
Lo, he sets in blood no more!

Vain the stone, the watch, the seal!
Christ has burst the gates of hell;
death in vain forbids him rise;
Christ has opened paradise.

Lives again our victorious King;
where, O death, is now thy sting?
Dying once, he all doth save;
where thy victory, O grave?

Soar we now where Christ has led,
following our exalted head;
made like him, like him we rise,
ours the cross, the grave, the skies.

Hail the Lord of earth and heaven!
Praise to thee by both be given:
thee we greet triumphant now;
hail, the Resurrection thou!

Charles Wesley
CCL31580

Jesus Appears By The Sea Of Tiberius

Reading: John 21:1-17

Afterwards Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Galilee. It happened this way: ² Simon Peter, Thomas (also known as Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. ³ ‘I’m going out to fish,’ Simon Peter told them, and they said, ‘We’ll go with you.’ So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

⁴ Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realise that it was Jesus.

⁵ He called out to them, ‘Friends, haven’t you any fish?’

‘No,’ they answered.

⁶ He said, ‘Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.’ When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.

⁷ Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, ‘It is the Lord!’ As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, ‘It is the Lord,’ he wrapped his outer garment round him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water. ⁸ The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred metres. ⁹ When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread.

¹⁰ Jesus said to them, ‘Bring some of the fish you have just caught.’ ¹¹ So Simon Peter climbed back into the boat and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. ¹² Jesus said to them, ‘Come and have breakfast.’ None of the disciples dared ask him, ‘Who are you?’ They knew it was the Lord. ¹³ Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. ¹⁴ This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.

Jesus reinstates Peter

¹⁵ When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?’

‘Yes, Lord,’ he said, ‘you know that I love you.’

Jesus said, ‘Feed my lambs.’

¹⁶ Again Jesus said, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’

He answered, ‘Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.’

Jesus said, ‘Take care of my sheep.’

¹⁷ The third time he said to him, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’

Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, ‘Do you love me?’ He said, ‘Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.’

Jesus said, ‘Feed my sheep.

© NIV

Reading: He is part of who I am Ruth Burgess

Choir: Brother James’s Air

The Lord’s my shepherd I’ll not want, he makes me down to lie
In pastures green, he leadeth me, the quiet waters by.
My soul he doth restore again and me to walk doth take,
Within the paths of blessedness e’en for his own name’s sake.
Yet thou I walk thro’ shadowed veil yet will I fear none ill,
For thou art with me, and thy rod and staff me comfort still.
My table thou hast furnished in presence of my foes,
My head with oil thou doth anoint, and my cup overflows.
Goodness and mercy all my life shall surely follow thee,
And in my Father’s heart alway my dwelling place shall be.

Arr. Adrian Boynton
CCL31580

Hymn: Church of the living Christ

Church of the living Christ,
people of Easter faith
speak to the Man who walks
free from the dark of death!
The Christ who burst the tomb apart
comes questioning the Church’s heart.

No use old wineskins now
new wine is here to stay:
no patching up old schemes
new patches tear away,
old gear, old concepts have no place
where Christ’s own presence sets the pace.

Women and men of God,
come, as one Church, to serve,
bring all the skills we have,
sharpen our every nerve:
to save a world in bitter need
the rule of love must come in deed.

We are the Body now
our feet must mark the Way,
our speech declare the Word
and live it day by day,
the resurrection story ours,
disciples gifted with new powers!

Shirley Erena Murray
CCL31580

Reflection and Prayer
Revd Mike Morris

Choir: Worthy is the Lamb (Messiah)

Worthy is the lamb that was slain and hath redeemed us to God by his blood,
to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour and glory.
Blessing and honour, glory, and pow’r be unto him,
that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. Amen.

G. F. Handel
CCL31580

Blessing

Hymn: Light’s glittering morn bedecks the sky

Light’s glittering morn bedecks the sky;
Heaven thunders forth its victory-cry: Alleluia!
The glad earth shouts her triumph high,
And groaning hell makes wild reply: Alleluia!

His tomb of late the threefold guard
O watch and stone and seal had barred: Alleluia!
But now, in pomp and triumph high,
He comes from death to victory: Alleluia!

This Eastertide with joy was bright,
The sun shone out with fairer light: Alleluia!
When, to their longing eyes restored,
The glad apostles saw their Lord: Alleluia!

All praise be thine, O risen Lord,
From death to endless life restored: Alleluia!
All praise to God the Father be
And Holy Ghost eternally: Alleluia!

Aurora lucis rutilat
Translator: J. M. Neale
CCL31580

Voluntary: Christ lag in Todesbanden

(Christ who lay in death’s bonds has now arisen!)
J. S. Bach