Easter: Part 4 – Risen

This Sunday, Simon Lace brings us the talk in the latest of our EBC services. We encourage you to reflect on the bible text and join us in the prayer that follows below.
 
The talk will be available via live stream at 9.30am on Sunday 17th April, on our YouTube channel.
 
Once you have listened, here are some questions to consider:
 
Readings:

Mark chapter 16 verses 1 to 8 (New Living Translation)

16 Saturday evening, when the Sabbath ended, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome went out and purchased burial spices so they could anoint Jesus’ body. 2 Very early on Sunday morning, just at sunrise, they went to the tomb. 3 On the way they were asking each other, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” 4 But as they arrived, they looked up and saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled aside.
 
5 When they entered the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a white robe sitting on the right side. The women were shocked, 6 but the angel said, “Don’t be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead! Look, this is where they laid his body. 7 Now go and tell his disciples, including Peter, that Jesus is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there, just as he told you before he died.”
 
8 The women fled from the tomb, trembling and bewildered, and they said nothing to anyone because they were too frightened. Then they briefly reported all this to Peter and his companions. Afterward Jesus himself sent them out from east to west with the sacred and unfailing message of salvation that gives eternal life. Amen.



Prayer & Reflection
 
Loving God

We thank you today for mercy and love and grace. We confess the times when we have denied You, and we praise and bless Your holy name because You are always faithful and good to us despite our human frailties and our wilful failings.

Forgive us Lord, as we come before you today and lay down all we are carrying – guilt, shame, grief, loss, pain – all of which things you already know all about in each and every one of us.

Wash us clean again O God, and by Your Holy Spirit make us new as we remember today all that You have done to restore us, to free us, and as we respond by declaring again that You are indeed our Lord and our God.

In Jesus’ name we have prayed. Amen.



Questions to Consider
1) What are your abiding thoughts as you reflect on the readings from Mark and the sermons we have had this Easter?
2) What is the ‘big issue’ for you – what have you been carrying this Easter season? If you have not already done so, why not take a moment, now, to pray about this?
3) What are you sorry for, and grateful for, this Easter?
4) What are your reflections on the enormity of Jesus’s suffering, and the enormity of His grace?
5) How will you respond? What is the ‘mark’ of Jesus like in your life? How might your character reflect the character of Jesus? Anything to pray about on this?