In London different communities celebrate Easter in different ways according to cultural lyrics and genre on Easter Day!

I love this Hallelujah chorus.

Words & Music: Philip P. Bliss, in Gospel Hymns No. 2, 1876
"Hallelujah! He Is Risen," was written in the South, in the spring of 1876, and was first sung by Philip P. Bliss (1838-1876 on Easter afternoon, 1876, in the Court House Square of Augusta, Georgia, to an audience of five thousand people gathered to hear the Gospel. None who were there will ever forget the radiant face, or the triumphant, ringing tones with which he sang." © Whittle 1876

1. Hallelujah, He is risen!
Jesus is gone up on high!
Burst the bars of death asunder,
Angels shout and men reply:
He is risen, He is risen,
Living now no more to die.
He is risen, He is risen,
Living now no more to die.

2. Hallelujah, He is risen!
Our exalted Head to be;
Sends the witness of the Spirit
That our advocate is He:
He is risen, He is risen,
Justified in Him are we

3. Hallelujah, He is risen!
Death for aye hath lost his sting,
Christ, Himself the Resurrection,
From the grave His own will bring:
He is risen, He is risen,
Living Lord and coming King.
He is risen, He is risen,
Living Lord and coming King

Easter Morning Celebration!

Matt 28:5-6 And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified.
Matt 28:6 He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come; see the place where the Lord lay.

The Empty Tomb

Easter is a holiday when most people think of the Easter bunny, decorating eggs, dressing up in your best Sunday outfit and going to church. In London the Acholi Community has discovered something about Easter. Time to be with the family, go away somewhere exotic and have fund, eat, drink, dance, and enjoy the holiday break.

Easter should be more than just another holiday to a Christian. It's the Sunday set aside to recognize the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. GOD sent his WORD in the form of a child, being born to Mary the Virgin as God's only Begotten Son. He lived a very short time on earth, having been a carpenter and then God's messenger the last three years or so of his life. He was crucified, nailing all our sins to the cross, covering them with his precious blood. If we believe on him, accept his free gift of salvation then we too will see him in all his Glory one day!

Jesus was compelled to bear his own cross, to travel to Golgotha, where they placed upon his head a crown of thorns and proclaimed him "THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS!". They placed him between two thieves hanging on a cross, drove nails through his hands and feet, later piercing his side to make sure he was dead. They took his garments to draw lots to see who would get them.

"Wilderness" experienced

During Lent our Church at St Matthew's Church Fellowship unpacked the "Wilderness" experienced and few people turned up to share the challenges and blessing of our Lord when he was tempted by the devil. The victory over the enemy was recorded Matthew 4:11

Good Friday leading to Easter.

The atmosphere changed completely.
Mark 15:33 And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.
Mark 15:34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" which is, being interpreted, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"
He was mocked and given vinegar to drink instead of water.
John 19:28 After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, said, I thirst.
John 19:30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.
Mark 15:38 And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom.
Mark 15:39 And when the centurion, which stood over against him, saw that he so cried out, and gave up the ghost, he said, "Truly this man was the Son of God".

Easter Sunday Morning

Mark 16:1 and when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the [mother] of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him.
Mark 16:2 And very early in the morning the first [day] of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun.
Mark 16:3 And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre?
Mark 16:4 And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great.
Mark 16:5 And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted.
Mark 16:6 And he said unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him

Some questions for reflection:

1. What emotions resulted from the Resurrection?
2. To whom did Christ first appear?
3. Why are men biased about the leadership of women?

Modicum




⁶I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. ⁷Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. ⁸For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. ⁹I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. ¹⁰All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. ¹¹I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name - the name you gave me - so that they may be one as we are one. ¹²While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled. ¹³I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. ¹⁴I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. ¹⁵My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. ¹⁶They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. ¹⁷Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. ¹⁸As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. ¹⁹For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.