St Clement Church Community Easter Season Service 2026

                                

                                   

         St Clement Church Community Easter Season Service

 

Good morning to you all as we continue our Easter Season worship.

This Service of the Word is for you to read at home if you’re unable to worship with us in person at St Clement.

With our love and prayers, God Bless you always,

Rev Di and family xx

 

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

 

Let us pray: Risen Christ, for whom no door is locked, no entrance barred: open the doors of our hearts, that we may seek the good of others and walk the joyful road of sacrifice and peace, to the praise of God the Father. Amen.

 

Hymn: ‘Lord Enthroned in Heavenly Splendour’

Our prayers of Penitence

Jesus Christ, our triumphant risen Lord, this Easter season we come in sorrow to confess to you our weakness and unbelief.

 

When we have lived by our own strength, and not by the power of your resurrection.   In your mercy, forgive us and help us.

 

When we have lived by the light of our own eyes, as faithless and not believing.         In your mercy, forgive us and help us.

 

When we have lived for this earthly life alone and doubted our home in heaven.            In your mercy, forgive us and help us.

 

May Almighty God have mercy upon us, forgive us our sins and failings, and bring us to everlasting life, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

Let us pray our Collect for the Second Sunday of Easter

Almighty Father, you have given your only Son to die for our sins and to rise again for our justification: grant us so to put away the leaven of malice and wickedness that we may always serve you in the pureness of living and truth; through the merits of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

 

Old Testament Reading: Acts 2. 14a, 22-32

New Testament Reading: 1 Peter 1. 3-9

 

Hymn: ‘Amazing Grace’

Gospel: John 20. 19-31

(Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John. 

Response: ‘Glory to you O Lord.’)

 

When it was evening on the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”

A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands.  Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” 

Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book.  But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.

Response: ‘Glory to you O Lord.’)

 

This is the Gospel of the Lord.    Praise to you, O Christ.

 

Reflection

Poor old Thomas, I bet he’s having a hard time this Sunday in Christian worship all over the world, so today we’re going to give him a break today at St Clement… It's strange when you think about it though, that the disciples spend the evening of Easter Day behind locked doors.  After all, Peter and another disciple have seen the empty tomb, Mary Magdalene has spoken with the risen Christ, and she’s told the disciples about it, so you'd think they would be off celebrating somewhere, announcing to anyone who would listen that Jesus is alive again. 

Instead, they hide out and act like disciples whose leader is dead.

On the other hand, protecting themselves makes perfect sense, it was after all only a couple days before that they were traumatised by the death of their leader on a cross.  And they know that as Jesus was apprehended and executed, they may be as well, so they wait behind locked doors, as quiet as they can be, fearing every footstep in the street below.  A number of them will die sooner or later, for their connection with Jesus, and we should acknowledge that this room contains many of the first Christian martyrs.  So, it’s to his fearful disciples that the risen Christ chooses to appear, but why?

 It might have been out of anger, disappointment, or a desire for revenge, we know these disciples deserted Jesus as he hung for hours on the cross, most of them were nowhere to be found and he might have wanted to fix them with a steely gaze and berate them about it. But nothing of the sort happens, Jesus comes back, not concerned for himself, but for them, he senses their profound fear and speaks his peace to them.  He shows them the wounds still apparent on his glorified body, their fear dissolves, and they rejoice to see him alive again.

The Jesus gives them his peace and their mission, he breathes the Holy Spirit on them and tells them to go out and forgive sins with his authority.  This action is an early Pentecost, a commissioning of them for their ministry of forgiveness, the reconciliation of humanity with God and each other, and the prototype for their work is to be the forgiveness Jesus has given them.  And from this upstairs room, forgiveness is to spread like wildfire, set free from fear themselves, they are enabled to help set others free.

Henceforth the disciples were set free from their fear, but we might say in this day and age, that’s all very well and good, but what’s in it for us?   Many of us know folk whose lives are dominated by fear, and we might be struggling with such fear ourselves.  We experience fears that are announced in the headlines: a pandemic for which no cure is known, the terrible war and destruction Russia has inflicted on Ukraine, the conflict between America and Iran, with the loss of so many innocent lives. 

Other fears are more personal and private: the diagnosis of an untreatable illness, the approaching death of a family member, a relative’s broken marriage, a child in the family having trouble at school, the rising cost of food and fuel, the list can be endless.

On a personal note, fear certainly filled my and Ken’s life a fortnight ago when our Grandson was suddenly taken seriously ill with a previously undiagnosed heart condition.  (For the past 2 years he’s been treated by our local Doctors for Asthma, but best not start me off on that one.)  Thankfully, praise God, the marvellous skills of the cardiac high dependency team at Treliske stabilised him enough to enable his transfer to Derriford where he underwent a life-saving operation. And whilst thanking God for Sabie’s return to us, Ken and I thank you all for your love, prayers and support throughout this traumatic time.

I must admit, when such fear flare up in our hearts, it's easy to forget God, but surely, it's time when we should remember God the most.

The disciples forgot for a time, there in that upstairs room, and we may forget also, but thankfully Christ does not forget us. 

He comes to us with vivid reminders on his feet, hands and side that death, the source of so much fear, has been conquered. 

So, what's in it for us we asked?  For a start, the greatest promise of all, our own resurrection at the end of time, the reality of our reconciliation with God our heavenly Father, and the promise that Jesus walks beside us every step of our lives,

not only freeing us from fear of the death that will come at life's end, but freeing us from all the other deathly fears that blight our lives today.

The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord, and we also can rejoice, when, in the midst of fears we recognise Christ is with us. 

It isn’t that fear is swept away; but that it no longer dominates our lives because there is one who has shown himself more powerful than fear, him whom we acknowledge as our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Jesus returns to promise us our resurrection, he comes back to reconcile us with God, to make us instruments for reconciliation in the world and to break the chains of fear.

But how do we recognise him in our lives? By living a life of faith, that’s how. We can meet Jesus in our worship and prayers, in the scriptures and sacraments, we can meet him in the love and care we show to others, reflecting to them his love for us, and we can also meet him at times we least expect it, like those disciples that first Easter, even in the dark night of our fearful souls. My friends, this Easter Season Christ comes to set us free, so extend to him the chains of fear that hold us and rejoice as he breaks them one by one.

Alleluia! Christ is Risen!  He is Risen indeed, Alleluia! Amen.

  

Hymn: ‘Breathe on Me, Breath of God’

 

Affirmation of our faith

Let us declare our faith in the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ:

 

Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures; he was buried; he was raised to life on the third day and afterwards he appeared to his followers and to all the apostles: this we have received, and this we believe. 

This is the faith of the Church. This is our faith. We believe and trust in one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

 

Our intercessions are written by Helen Dunbar

Through the risen Jesus we have a living hope which will never spoil or fade.

We bring to you, Lord, the Church in all its richness and all its need, all its diversity and all its division, both here and across the world. Give us a fresh understanding of what it means to live in you; may all of us – both laity and clergy together – celebrate the reality of your presence among us, filling us with new life and new hope.

We ask your blessing on our new Archbishop Sarah and the worldwide Church, and at home we pray for our own Diocese here in Truro, for Bishop David and for Reverend James Treasure who will be consecrated as Bishop of St Germans at St Paul’s Cathedral, London, in May. We pray for our own, much loved Reverend Di who continues her work in the community ministering to the sick and bereaved and taking many funeral services.

Lord in your mercy; hear our prayer

 

Dear Lord, you are our Shepherd and we pray that you will protect us from all danger by keeping watch over us, guide us towards green pastures where we can be nourished by your word and lead us to pure still waters where we can be refreshed by your love.

Lord in your mercy; hear our prayer

 

Dear Lord, we pray for the leaders of our nation, and all those who work to make us safe and guard our freedoms: the freedom of speech, the freedom to worship, the freedom to live our lives without fear and to live in safety. We pray for all who shape the minds of the young and impressionable. We pray for teachers, lecturers and broadcasters and all those who use social media to interact with others; may they all carry out their work with a sense of responsibility.

Lord in your mercy; hear our prayer

 

We pray for all parts of the world where there is conflict and terrorism, and at this time we especially think of the unrest and all who continue to suffer as a result of the ongoing war in Ukraine. We pray for peace and justice and pray the escalation of war in the Middle East will be brought to an end.

Lord in your mercy; hear our prayer

 

We ask for blessing and guidance on King Charles and Queen Camilla and all working members of the Royal family.

Dear Lord, we ask your help for all those who are homeless, or living in crowded conditions, for those living alone and all who feel isolated; for the hungry and malnourished.

We bring before you all who are in pain or distress and all whom society prefers to ignore. May your love nourish and heal, accept and restore. We pray for all those known to us and for those who have no one to pray for them – Reverend Di, Ken, Sabie, Brian, May, Susan, Lauren, Lynda, Sandra, Roger, Daphne and David, Pam and David, Dot, Maureen, Mary, Alison and Rob, Jan, Anita and Stephen, Michael and Patricia, Jeremy, Felicity, Callum and Elaine, Barbara, Lorrie, Jeanette and Dave.  We pray for those whose anniversary falls at this time and we remember Carole Morrison and Percy Trudgeon.

We give thanks for the recently departed who are lifted up with Christ to eternal life. May they rejoice in his risen and ascended glory.

 

Rejoicing in the fellowship of St Clement, St Andrew, St Allen, and the Blessed Virgin Mary, we commend ourselves, all faiths and creeds who stand for peace and justice to your unfailing love.

Merciful Father, accept these prayers for the sake of your Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen                                                        

 

Gathering our prayers and praises into one, let us pray with confidence as our risen Lord taught us;

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses,

As we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom,

the power and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.

 

Hymn: ‘To God be the Glory’
 
The Peace

The risen Christ came and stood among his disciples

and said, ‘Peace be with you.’

Then they were glad when they saw the risen Lord.

Alleluia!  May the peace of the risen Lord be always with us.

 

Blessing

May the light of Christ surround us, may the Love of God enfold us,

may the presence of God watch over us,  may the power of God protect us and those whom we love, 

and may we never forget that wherever we are, God is also.  Amen.