O God of our Deliverance,

Among the generations of sinners laid low in the earth
You, our Savior, were sought among the dead!
For you, O God, looked upon us in our broken ways
We who were wrecked, ruined, restless, and running to the grave
And in your mercy and in your grace
You bore our rebellion and the wages of our sin upon Golgotha's tree.
And so like a sinner, wrapped in graveclothes, You laid within the tomb
But death could not hold the righteous King of Kings
For You, our God, are not the God of the dead but of the living!
And on the third day when the stone was rolled away,
You delivered us from all our fears!
You saved us from our condemnation!
You rescued us from our hopeless state!
The death of our death in the death of Christ!
The resurrection of our life in the resurrection of Christ!
In your resurrection You have turned mourning into dancing!
You are turning our sorrows into joy!
You will turn our weeping into laughter!
In your triumph over death You have disarmed rulers, authorities,
and every threat!
You have made a spectacle of the powers and evil’s deathly reign.
When they sought you, Lord, among the buried in the ground
They mistook You for the gardener tending Joseph’s tomb.
You, our Risen Lord! The Gardener of the new creation!
You have spared nothing and given us immeasurable hope
to carry us through every trial and storm.
In the empty tomb and the folded graveclothes
You have given us warrant for a glorious future.
By your Spirit, Lord, give us eyes to see and words for praise!
May we eat, drink, and give thanks, for yesterday we were dead,
And may we rejoice for our life is hidden in Christ!
Give us faith to look forward to the coming city that cannot be shaken
Because You have laid its foundations and are its Builder and Designer
May we live every day You have given us to glorify your name!
The firstborn from among the dead!
The Lord of the new creation!
The Resurrection and the Life!
Glory be to our Redeemer who lives!
Amen