leadinginworship

The Best First Day of the Week: A Zoom Easter Pageant

Based on:  Matthew 28:1-10; Mark 16:1-7;  Luke 24:1-12; John 20:1-10

Characters:       
 Narrator
Mary Magdalene
Mary the mother of James
Joanna (wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward)
Salome
Caleb: 10 year old son of Salome
Dinah & David:  eight year old twin children of Salome
Peter
John
Cleopas

This pageant would work for children, or with an intergenerational cast.

Props:             
Some baskets for Salome and Caleb
a bucket for David 
Headgear for actors to reflect their character. 
Signs: “The Best First Day of the Week”  Act 1, Act 2, Act 3, Act 4

Instructions: 

1. This pageant works best if you record your zoom call, and then play it at your Easter service. It’s a lot less stressful that way. If you really want to do it live, explain to audience that it is essential that everyone who is watching the pageant has their microphone muted and their camera off, and their zoom settings set on Speaker View.
2. The actors keep their microphones on throughout the pageant, but they have to be told to be very quiet when they are not speaking. Don’t even try to do the play with actors turning their microphones on and off because you know they won’t remember and they will say their lines and you won’t hear them.
3. If you have a technologically savvy person, they can edit the recording to take out gaps and pauses.
4. Actors must speak loudly so the microphone picks them up and Zoom automatically makes them the speaker. As you practice, make sure people don’t rustle their script papers by the microphone of their computer, or it will cause interference.
5. It can be helpful if you have the actors rename themselves on zoom, so their character’s name shows up when they speak. Having different hats or scarves can help the audience keep the characters apart (eg. if John has a red scarf on).

Act 1

 

Narrator:          Welcome to our Easter pageant, [holding up sign] “The Best First Day of the Week.”  Our story looks in on the friends of Jesus on the days after his death.  Let me introduce our characters. We have the women who will go to the tomb: Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, Joanna wife of Herod’s steward Chuza, and Salome.  The story begin at Salome’s house, and we meet three of her children, Caleb, who is 10, and the 8 year old twins Dinah and David.  Then we have three of Jesus’ male followers, Peter, John and Cleopas.  Act 1 [holding up sign] begins on Saturday, the day after the crucifixion, at sunset, just as the sabbath is ending. What’s happening at Salome’s house? Salome’s children will let us know.

Dinah:              Caleb, this has been the worst sabbath ever. 

Caleb:               Why are you complaining Dinah? 

Dinah:              I’m not complaining, I’m just stating a fact.  This has been the worst sabbath ever. Mother and Father’s friends are filling the whole house, but not in a good way. 

David:               She’s right...  It’s not like other times when they’ve visited... Today they’re either crying or they’re arguing.

Easter Pandemic Prayer

Jesus died.
He was buried.
On the third day
he rose.
Thank you, God,
for hope
when hope was lost
and for life
when death had won.
In these pandemic times
when so many
are suffering and dying
resurrect within our world
the faith and hope and love
we need to survive.
This Easter,
accept our humble hosannas,
which are linked
with our deepest prayers
for relief from this virus.
Healer of our every ill,
we need you now.
With Christians around the world
and the angels in heaven
we proclaim the mystery of our faith;
Christ has died,
Christ is risen,
Christ will come again.

Good Friday Pandemic Prayer

Jesus, Saviour, hear our Good Friday prayer.
As human beings stagger under the weight
of a worldwide pandemic,
we turn to you, bearer of the pain of the world.
You woke that Friday morning in captivity,
and so we see your face in all who are imprisoned;
hear our prayer for those in jail,
who cannot escape contagion in close quarters.
We see your face in all who are unjustly accused;
hear our prayer for those who tell the truth about this virus,
and are scoffed at, or not believed.
We see your face in all who are tortured;
hear our prayer for those who are too poor to afford healthcare,
and must suffer without medical help.
We see your face in all who are condemned to death;
hear our prayer for those with underlying medical conditions
who are not triaged to receive care.
We see your face in all who are dying;
hear our prayer for those who are separated from loved ones
when they need them most, at the hour of their death.
We know, Jesus, that you faced death
carrying the burden of our sins,
and we continue to add to that weight.
Our failings are so apparent in this pandemic crisis;
whether it’s hoarding supplies for ourselves,
or a reluctance to be generous,
whether it’s being mean-tempered to family members
or failing to be polite to strangers,
whether it’s profiteering from people’s misery,
or an unwillingness to sacrifice anything for the common good.
You chose a path that was all for the common good--
you have borne our infirmities and carried our diseases.
On this Good Friday,  we join with the women at the foot of the cross
weeping for you, and for all the world’s sorrows.
As you breathe your last
and they lay your body in the tomb,
we feel the chill of death,
its hold on all of us.
We wait together for resurrection.

Maundy Thursday Pandemic Prayer

Today is a day unlike other days,
a Thursday of mysteries,
where we remember your final meal with your friends.
Taking a towel, you washed their feet.
Knowing what was to come,
and what you had to suffer,
you instructed them to love one another.
You told them, ”Peace I leave with you,
Do not let your hearts be troubled,
and do not let them be afraid.”

From the heart of this pandemic
we raise our solitary prayers to you.
We miss the consolation of our congregations
when so many are lamenting.
We pray for all whose hour has come
to depart from this world.
We know that we are made by you,
and are going to you.
Give peace to the dying,
and protection to those who care for them.
So many are living out your call to love one another,
braving illness to minister in practical ways.
In this time of economic hardship,
let generosity be the air we breathe.

Jesus, after that dinner together
you prayed in the night alone
as death and suffering loomed large.
Today the weight of human sorrow is heavy upon us,
and we join you on our knees.
We, too, do not want this cup of suffering.
We want this virus to pass over us.
We are bewildered by this pandemic.
It is a time of separation
and a time of great togetherness.
It is a time of fear and doubt
and a time of resolve and deep faith.
It is a time of helplessness
and a time of reaching out.
Meet us here in this darkness, God.
Send us angels and give us strength
to meet this time of trial.

Easter and terrorism on the same day: A Congregational prayer

God of life,
thank you for empty tombs
and Jesus Christ, risen and alive.
Thank you that death does not have
the final word, ever.
We say this in faith, knowing the devastation
that Sri Lanka is facing because of a terrorist attack;
people of all religions dead and wounded,
people killed in their hotels,
worshippers killed as they gathered on this Easter morning.
God of hope, you know how evil has created pain and grief today.
We ask in faith that these attacks would not create hatred,
but that the people of Sri Lanka could emerge stronger
and more committed to peace after this terrible crime.
We pray for all who find it difficult to believe in resurrection
this Easter morning:
those who are caught in financial hardship, or webs of addiction,
those who are struggling with sickness or are weighed down with depression.
Especially we pray for people on the edge of terrorist attacks,
people who feel that violence is the answer that will bring change,
people with guns and bombs and plans to use them…
Lord in your mercy, show them another way.
We pray for our own communities--
show us places where we can work for peace,
reaching out to those who are desperate and hurting.
Thank you that you are working every day in every way,
new life bursting forth where it seems there is only death,
surprising us with hope and delight.
Be with those of us today who are meeting with family,
and those of us who will spend a quiet day;
in everything we do or say, we want to give glory to Jesus
who is risen, risen indeed.
Alleluia, Amen

A Man of Sorrows: A Litany for Good Friday

Jesus on that last Thursday
weeping in the garden alone,
asks for a different path.
In the depths of fear, asking turns to pleading.
He is in all points tempted as we are
as he seeks the will of God.
A man of sorrows,
acquainted with grief.
And then it is Jesus in chains,
taken where he does not want to go.
During that long restless night in captivity,
sleep escapes him as he thinks about his hands, his feet,
the frailty of this human body of ours,
how we bleed.
A man of sorrows,
acquainted with grief.
Brought before judges with power of life and death,
there is no justice here for him,
and he does not look for it.
He knows the path he is walking.
They slap him, and call him a blasphemer.

Barabbas

It was a close call.
I thought I was a goner.
I’d been sentenced to death,
and there was a cross with my name on it.
The Romans are brutal, and there is no mercy,
not for someone like me.
I was arrested a week before the festival.
I led my men, we planned and plotted,
waiting for the right time, the right opportunity.
Everyone is sick of this occupation,
this bowing and scraping, yes sir and no sir,
keeping our mouths shut and our eyes down.
Carrying centurions' burdens like donkeys,

Solemn Good Friday Benediction

We have seen our Saviour in chains.
We have seen him crucified.
We have heard his cries
and witnessed his suffering and death.
It is finished.
Go from this solemn service remembering
all that Christ did for you.

Solemn Good Friday Call to Worship

Slowly, we come to worship on this holy Friday.
Reluctantly, we hear the story of Jesus’ suffering.
Bleakly, we follow Jesus to the cross.
Humbly, we acknowledge our part in his passion.
Deeply, we yearn to understand the depth of this sacrifice.
Solemnly, we gather this day to pray and worship together,
giving thanks for our Saviour Jesus Christ.

Passover: A Maundy Thursday Poem

The preparations are made in the city of Jerusalem,
in an upper room, for a meal,
the Passover meal.
The feet coming up the stairs are dusty,
they’ve travelled far for this meal,
the Passover meal.
The friends recline together weary and hungry
as the teacher begins the meal,
the Passover meal.
He looks them in the eye and tells them
that he has eagerly desired this meal,
the Passover meal.
The teacher takes a loaf and blessing it, he breaks it
saying, this is my body which is for you,
the Passover meal.
He does the same with the cup, blessing it, sharing it,
saying this is my blood, the new covenant,
the Passover meal.
The teacher tells them that one will betray him,
one whose hand is on the table
at the Passover meal.
The teacher ties a towel around himself
and with a basin, he bows to serve,
at the Passover meal.
The teacher handles the dirty feet of his friends,
washing them in a basin, a humble act
at the Passover meal.
The disciples of this teacher watch, aghast
at this stooping, this lowliness,
at the Passover meal.
The one named Peter pulls his feet away
rejecting completely this washing,
at the Passover meal.
The teacher tells them that the greatest
must be a servant to all, in this new order
at the Passover meal.
Bread broken, wine shared, feet washed,
they leave the room together
after the Passover meal.
In the garden the teacher asks them to watch and pray,
but the disciples are too sleepy
after the Passover meal.
The teacher vigils alone, in tears and agony 
until soldiers come with swords and clubs,
they will not pass over this teacher.
The body will be broken
and the cup of suffering will be emptied
at the Passover this year.

(I wrote this for one reader, but I think it would be an effective responsive reading, so I am showing the parts.)

People of Peace Communion Service

We come to the Lord’s supper together
as children of our one God.
Jesus makes the guest list, not us.
Our family, chosen by God,
is gathered from west and east,
and includes everyone,
even the lowest and the least.
Jesus, when he was resurrected from the dead,
revealed himself to his disciples
in the breaking of bread around a table.
May we see the face of God today as we come to the Lord’s Supper.

On the night he was handed over,
the night before he was crucified,
Jesus gathered with his friends for a meal.
He took the bread, and after blessing it,
he broke it, saying,
“This is my body, which is broken for you.
As often as you eat it, remember me.”          [break the bread]

Please pray with me:
Jesus, as we take this bread,
let it be a sign of all you did for us,
and who you are for us.
Thank you for this bread of life.          [people eat the bread]

After sharing the bread,
Jesus took a cup of wine, and gave it to them to drink, saying,
“This is my blood of the new covenant which is poured out for many.” [hold up the cup]

Let’s pray:
Jesus, as we drink this cup,
let it be a sign for us of all you did for us,
and who you are for us.
Thank you that you bring us peace that passes understanding.  [people drink]

Closing Prayer:
Jesus,
through your death and resurrection you reconciled the world to God,
and through your example you have shown us a way to peace.
Give us strength as the people of God
to be channels of peace in the world,
speaking your peace, living your peace,
and always longing for that moment of eternal peace
when we shall see you again. Amen.

Benediction:
Go in peace to love and serve the Lord!

Living for Jesus Communion Service

You are invited to the table of our Lord Jesus Christ
Here we have a feast for the people of God,
a sign of Jesus’ body and blood given in love to save us.
Everyone who has committed their lives to Jesus
is welcome to take the bread and juice
to sustain them on their journey of faith.
Everyone else, including children,
are invited to take the grapes,
which are a sign of God’s love for you.
Please take the bread and hold it, and we will eat together.
The same with the juice.
You can eat the grapes as they come to you.

On the night he was handed over,
our Lord Jesus Christ took bread,
and after giving thanks to God,
broke it and gave it to his disciples.
He said, “Take, eat;
this is my body which is given for you.
Do this in remembrance of me.”

[distribute the bread]

Let’s pray together:
God of grace,  we give you thanks for this bread,
and your son Jesus Christ who came to save us.
The love of Jesus shines through the years,
his death on the cross, his broken body
has become the bread of life which sustains us.
As we eat this bread,
remind us that we are part of his body,
living for him, giving for him. Amen.
My brothers and sisters……..The body of Christ, broken for you. [eat the bread]

After supper Jesus took the cup of wine;
and after giving thanks,
gave it to them and said,
“Drink this, all of you;
this is my blood of the new covenant
which is shed for you and for many
for the forgiveness of sins.
Whenever you drink it, remember me.

[distribute the juice]

Let us pray;
Thank you Jesus  for loving us to the end of your life.
We drink this juice  remembering your sacrifice for our sins,
your love which never ended,
your love which sustains us still. Amen.

My sisters and brothers…the blood of Christ was shed for you. [drink the juice]

Let’s pray together:
God of grace,
thank you for raising Jesus Christ from the dead,
our hope for life eternal.
Holy Spirit, fill us with your strength to be the body of Christ on earth,
God’s church in Laos and Los Angeles,
in Hawaii and Havana,
in Ethiopia and Edmonton,
and here in this congregation, in__________. [name of your city/town/region].
Give us strength to do the work you would have us do,
to be the people you would have us be.
And most of all, give us hope
as we wait together to see Jesus again.
Amen.

"It is the Lord" Congregational Prayer

God, thank you for the dawn that comes every morning,
even after our darkest nights.
We give you thanks for life resurrecting from the death of winter.
For birds singing their spring songs in the dark before the dawn;
for the ice on rivers, shattered,
for the first green spikes of spring poking up through the melting earth,
for the smell of spring air fresh when we open the door,
for the sun’s rays on our face, warming us.
For every sign of spring, we give you thanks!

We give you thanks for your son Jesus Christ,
for his sacrifice for us, for his teaching.
Help us to grasp resurrection; to understand its power,
to see its force at work in our world,
thawing the hatred within us, melting our hearts,
changing our human landscape slowly, forcefully.
We pray your hand would intervene in the war-torn country of Syria,
that peace could be planted there, that new life could come
to a country so firmly held in the grip of death.
We pray for refugees, especially the families new to our community
that they could find a home here and put down roots.

Jesus, we might not always recognize you,
but thank you that you walk with us in both the big cataclysms of our time,
and in the everyday events too.
Thank you that you are walking with all the parents in this church,
as they make a thousand decisions every day,
to insist or to let go, to mediate or not to mediate,
the tone of voice they use, the choices about activities.
Forgive us for the times we’ve failed to show love to our family members,
for the ways we’ve hardened our hearts
even to those we love the most.
Give us grace to apologize, and wisdom to make things right.

Thank you for your presence in the doctor’s offices, clinics and hospitals we visit,
as we face sickness, as we recover.
Thank you that you are with us at the moment of death,
and with those left behind to grieve.
We wait for the moments where you are suddenly revealed
in the every day and painful moments of our lives,
where we say, wonderingly, “It is the Lord!”
Thank you for the times we catch sight of your kingdom come,
in the person of Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns in us forever. 
Amen

Easter Morning Call to Worship

Early in the morning we come to you, Lord,
with gratefulness and wonder,
with awe at your power to save us.
This morning we want to follow the women to the tomb.
We want to hear the surprising words, “He is not here!”
We want to kneel before Christ with joy and thankfulness.
And we want to leave here bursting with good tidings of great joy
which shall be for all people.
Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!

God of Resurrection Prayer

God of Resurrection,
we come on this most holy of mornings,
thankful and awed by your power to save us.
Thank you for the gift of your son Jesus Christ
whose resurrection brings us life. 
You know us, Lord, in our humanness.
You lived and breathed and walked among us,
you know us inside and out, every word and action;
our secret thoughts are known only to you.
You know the areas in our lives that are dead;
you are familiar with our tombs.
There are relationships that once brought us life, that are now broken.
We have dreams that have faded and finally died,
hopes that are shrivelled and lie abandoned.
We sit in these tombs.
Can these bones live?

You know our world,
the harmony that has given way to hatred,
the co-operation that has changed to conflict.
The wars that go on and on, with atrocity after atrocity.
We sit in these tombs.
Can these bones live?

Thank you Lord that you are an impossibility specialist;
you can bring new life where there is lifelessness,
you can resurrect hope where we feel only despair,
you can fill us with energy when we are at our lowest ebb.

Bring Easter to those we know who are filled with grief.
We think especially of_________________.
Bring Easter to those who face a health crisis.
We think especially of_________________.
Bring Easter to all who are locked in prisons,
prisons with walls and bars and prisons of addiction.
Bring Easter to Syria,
which has been chained by the forces of death
these many years.
And bring Easter to each of us;
we want to meet you in the garden of our hearts,
to recognize you, and to fall on our knees.
We pray these things in the name of Christ
whose life and love death could not destroy,
whose resurrection is our hope, now and forever.
Amen.

Shining Call to Worship

Great God of heaven and earth;
we come to sing of your mighty power this morning,
your wisdom, your goodness, your strength flaming out.
We come to give thanks for great gifts.
This morning, we ask that you would resurrect us,
opening us petal by petal, with your shining love,
warming us into life
even in the places where we feel cold and dead.
Shine in our hearts, Lord Jesus!

 

Journey of Love Prayer

Holy Spirit,
we need your presence here on planet earth.
Jesus walked the streets of Jerusalem,
it is there he was crucified.
Today many still suffer in that same city.
Racism and oppression are rampant;
a giant dividing wall of hostility runs near it.
Jerusalem struggles to find the things that make for peace.
We need your Spirit to shine there in dark places,
and to offer hope for those who are mired in hopelessness.
Raise up peacemakers who reject hatred,
whose integrity can inspire loyalty,
whose wisdom can chart a path for peace.

Here, closer to home, in our village [town/city/region]
we call on your spirit to fill this congregation with love.
Help us to wash the feet of our community,
going the second mile, giving the cup of cold water.
Help our churches to be loving,
reaching out to all we meet.
Holy Spirit, guide us in our finances,
to wisely use the resources you’ve given us,
to plant fruitful seeds for your kingdom.
Where there is division between churches of different kinds,
heal us with your uniting presence.
Help our churches to be communities where we live in peace,
not the peace of differences pushed under the rug,
but the peace of discussion and dialogue and mutual respect.
Shape us into people of prayer,
whose first thought in the morning is praise,
whose watchword is kindness,
and whose last thought at night is peace, the deep peace of God.
We ask this all, in the name of our Saviour Jesus,
who through his lifelong journey of love
showed us God’s kingdom come,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Amen

Good Friday Prayer for Those Who Suffer

Jesus, you walked a dark path;
you took on the suffering of the world as your own.
And so today we pray for all who suffer.
We see your face in the face of those in captivity,
and so we pray for inmates in _________________ [our local jail]
whose pain is muffled by high walls and barbed wire.
We see your face in the face of those unjustly accused,
and so we pray for those who are being held without a trial,
who fear they will not get out alive.
We see your face in those who are tortured,
and so we pray for all who are chained,
and whose bodies flinch with every blow.
We see your face in all who are condemned to death,
and so we pray for those in our world who are awaiting execution.
We see your face in all who are dying,
and so we pray for all who are taking their last breath today.
On this day of sorrow, we journey with you.
Thank you for suffering with us and for us.
You know the torment of rejection
and the pain that our frail human bodies can endure.
Thank you that you are with this sorry world
as we wait for resurrection.
Amen.

Good Friday Darkness Call to Worship

God of grace,
we have dragged ourselves to church with heavy hearts.
We are reluctant to hear this story of Jesus’ suffering,
we would rather skip this somber day and go straight to Easter.
We long for happy hymns that speak of your victory over death.
But that is not for today.
Help us, today, to stay with Jesus,
to watch as he is handed over and condemned,
to not turn away as he is tortured and killed.
He will love us to the end.
On this day where the sins of the world are gathered,
and the sorrow of a Saviour breaks our hearts,
we turn to you.
Hold us in this Good Friday darkness.
We pray this in the precious name of Jesus, Amen.

Expectations: A Maundy Thursday Prayer

When you arrived in Jerusalem
and the crowds gathered and cheered,
you gathered your followers in an upper room.
Were they expecting to hear a plan of attack
for the takeover of Jerusalem?
Were they expecting your master plan
for unveiling your power in the temple?
A holy reckoning where the wicked fall,
and the lowly are lifted up?

Whatever their expectations,
it didn’t have anything to do with dirty feet.
Their own, held in your hands.
You were their champion, their leader,
on your knees, doing the work of a servant.
Speaking to them of love,
and so gently telling them that you must go away.

They went, clean footed, to the garden
expecting to pray, but they mostly slept instead. 
You vigilled alone.
They woke to the nightmare of swords and clubs
and you handed over, taken away in chains.

God of washbasins and towels,
God of dirty feet made clean by loving hands,
God of our shocked and disbelieving faces,
be with us this day, and in the days to come. Amen.