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Al Capone's Vault
Do you remember Geraldo Rivera's most famous fiasco? In 1986 he broadcast a television special entitled The Mystery of Al Capone’s Vault. In the publicity leading up to the live opening of Capon... -
illustration
The Paschal Mystery
This vortex of dying and rising—Jesus’ and ours in him—is the paschal mystery. Christians still tell it and taste it, especially when we gather for worship on Sunday. Christ’s Pascha—the word for the... -
scripture guide
Scripture Guide, Mark 16:1-8
The Text The Short Ending or the Long ending? This is not the Easter story we’re looking for. The short ending of Mark is not what we want or expect on Easter Sunday. We want celebration, big music,... -
lectionary
Easter: Resurrection of the Lord
Preaching Commentary The Text The Short Ending or the Long ending? This is not the Easter story we’re looking for. The short ending of Mark is not what we want or expect on Easter Sunday. We want ... -
liturgy
Gracious God, we confess that we think
Gracious God, we confess that we think of Easter as the springtime holiday rather than the mystery holiday, the hope-time holiday, the now-its-up-to-us holiday. We’re more at home with bulbs and bunni... -
liturgy
God of holiness and light, in the
God of holiness and light, in the mystery of dying and rising with Christ you have established a new covenant of reconciliation; cleanse our hearts and give a new spirit to all your people, that your ... -
liturgy
Inspired by Revelation 1:17-18, John 14:19
Do not be afraid, Jesus is the first and the last, and the living one. He was dead, and behold, He is alive for forever and ever. Because he lives, we also will live. Jesus Christ is risen. He... -
Quote
The story of Easter is the story of God’s wonderful window of divine surprise. -
illustration
Case Closed?
During the infamous Dreyfus trial in France, Jewish army officer Captain Alfred Dreyfus was falsely accused of treason, sparking a national scandal marked by anti-Semitism and injustice. Among Dreyfus... -
Quote
…How still the Landscape stands! How nonchalant the hedge! As if the “Resurrection” Were nothing very strange! -
liturgy
For those who first went out into the
For those who first went out into the early dawn, when the sky was grey, taking spices to the tomb, there was terror, and surprise. For us, resisting the impulse to sleep in as part of a long weekend,... -
Quote
Haunting gloom and flitting shades, Ghastly shapes, away! Christ is rising, and pervades Highest Heaven with day. He with His bright spear the night Dazzles and pursues: Earth wakes up, and glows with... -
scripture guide
Scripture Guide John 20:1-8
Death Is Common to All Shakespeare’s Queen Gertrude of Denmark implores her son Hamlet to move past mourning his deceased father, Thou know’st ‘tis common,—all that live must die, passing through n... -
scripture guide
Scripture Guide, Luke 24:1-12
The resurrection was inconceivable for the first disciples, as impossible for them to believe, as it is for many of us today. Granted, their reasons would have been different from ours. The Greeks did... -
Quote
Easter was when Hope in person surprised the whole world by coming forward from the future into the present. -
illustration
The Swoon Theory
The “swoon theory” argues that Jesus never really died, only appeared to have died, and then came back to life while buried in the tomb. It’s an interesting idea, one that was popularized in a book in... -
Quote
The story of Passion-Tide and Easter is the story of the winning of that freedom and of that victory over the evils of Time. The burden of the guilt is accepted (“He was made Sin”), the last agony of ... -
lectionary
Easter: Resurrection of the Lord
Preaching Commentary The resurrection was inconceivable for the first disciples, as impossible for them to believe, as it is for many of us today. Granted, their reasons would have been different f... -
Quote
And now brothers, I will ask you a terrible question, and God knows I ask it also of myself. Is the truth beyond all truths, beyond the stars, just this: that to live without him is the real death, th... -
liturgy
Heavenly Father, we confess that we come to
Heavenly Father, we confess that we come to this day of resurrection as imperfect people. Although we may have faith, we also carry doubts and apprehensions. Just as Jesus’s disciples were unsure of h... -
liturgy
Think of a moment when someone that you
Think of a moment when someone that you least expected to see suddenly stands before you. A moment when something you’d lost is found again and you can scarcely believe your eyes. Think of a mome... -
scripture guide
Scripture Guide, John 20:19-31
The Text Encounters with the Living Jesus This text from the Gospel of John is so rich and full that it could be divided up into several sermons. The entire chapter is a record of how different disc... -
scripture guide
Scripture Guide, John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15
Context The Upper Room Discourse Our Gospel reading for today takes place within what has come to be known as the “Upper Room discourse,” a stretch of Scripture unique to John’s Gospel that begins ... -
liturgy
Lord, like the women at the tomb on the
Lord, like the women at the tomb on the first Easter, we come out of our darkness and into your light We come out of emptiness to enter your fullness We come out of our hopelessness to find your joy... -
liturgy
Our God, as we stand before the empty
Our God, as we stand before the empty tomb, like Mary and the disciples we find it hard to believe that Christ rose from the dead. Forgive our unbelief. Take from our minds the shadows of doubt and he... -
liturgy
Lord God, today we celebrate the
Lord God, today we celebrate the greatest day in all of human history. Yet, we confess that sometimes we do not see all that You want us to see. In fact, at times, we are not looking for any answers a... -
illustration
He is With us in our Crying Out to God
When the great theologian Jürgen Moltmann was sixteen years old in 1943, he was drafted into the German army and was soon captured by the Allied forces. He wound up in a prisoner of war camp in Scotla... -
lectionary
Second Sunday of Easter
Preaching Commentary The Text Encounters with the Living Jesus This text from the Gospel of John is so rich and full that it could be divided up into several sermons. The entire chapter is a recor... -
lectionary
Easter: Resurrection of the Lord
Preaching Commentary Death Is Common to All Shakespeare’s Queen Gertrude of Denmark implores her son Hamlet to move past mourning his deceased father, Thou know’st ‘tis common,—all that live must... -
illustration
The Surprise and Celebration of Easter
New Testament scholar and Anglican bishop N. T. Wright recalls being at a party once when someone decided to read a portion of the seventeenth-century Prayer Book for laughs. The Prayer Book includes ...
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