THE BULLETIN:
Opening Hymn #62: All Creatures of Our God and King
Opening Prayer:
Organist:
Chorister:
Sacrament Hymn #191: Behold, The Great Redeemer Died
The narration of the Easter Story - ______________ , _______________
Primary Children’s Choir: Tell Me the Stories of Jesus
Narration continued…
#4 Small Children’s Choir: Beautiful Savior
Reading by _______________ “Consider the Lilies of The Field”
(the text was condensed to eliminate the awkwardness of re-reading the chorus. Immediately followed by)
Piano Solo: “Consider the Lilies of the Field”
Talk: (given by one of the narrators-see notes below)
Ward Choir: He is Risen
Bishops remarks: (including selected text from "Jesus the Christ" from 2000. See remarks below to see how this was done.)
Closing Hymn #200: Christ the Lord is Risen Today
Closing Prayer:
THE PROGRAM:
After the sacrament and after the bishopric
announces the rest of the services then this is where the narrators will begin: (Sister Cynthia and Sister Kristin - both will
go up to the podium together)
Cynthia - Welcome to our Easter services. We share the message of Christ’s life, death
and resurrection today through word and song.
We invite the Spirit’s presence here to touch our hearts as we remember
and reflect on the blessings of the life and ministry of Jesus Christ.
Kristin - The last week in Jesus Christ’s life changed
the world forever. Listen and See how
with each day, you and I can better understand His incredible mission and the
new life it can provide for each of us.
As our primary children come
up to sing, (Primary pianist begins
playing prelude to the song) reflect
on the many miracles and stories from the life of Jesus Christ that are dear to
your heart.
(Primary Sings “Tell Me the
Stories of Jesus”)
Kristin - We begin by reflecting on the last week of
Christ’s life; the week of Easter beginning with Palm Sunday. Palm Sunday is
known for Christ’s Triumphal Entry. He
rides triumphantly into Jerusalem, and His followers reverently laye down
cloaks and palm fronds in His path. It was
NOT the first time He had entered the city.
His three-year ministry took Him across the Holy Land, where He taught,
worked miracles, and spread the light of His gospel. But this time, Jesus Christ was preparing to
perform His most important miracle of all.
Like everything He did, Jesus
Christ’s entrance fulfills prophecy. His
arrival in Jerusalem is powerful evidence that God keeps His promises to His
children. Our Heavenly Father provided a
way for us to overcome sin and death – through His Son, Jesus Christ.
Cynthia - Monday
is known for the day the Temple was Cleansed. After entering Jerusalem, one of the first
things Jesus Christ did was go to the temple.
There, inside His Father’s house, Jesus saw various merchants buying and
selling to those passing by. Speaking
with unmistakable authority, He commanded them to leave.
The cleansing of the temple
at Jerusalem was an act of bravery. We can take courage knowing that Jesus
Christ did what He knew to be right, whether it was popular or not. When we follow Him, we receive strength to do
the same.
Kristin - On Tuesday: Jesus’s presence in Jerusalem did not go
unnoticed by the authorities. Seeing
Jesus as a threat, they sought to discredit Him. On the Temple Mount, they questioned Jesus in
hopes of finding something they could use against Him. But Jesus’s inspired answers reveal no crime,
and His enemies only discredit themselves.
Despite incredible
opposition, the work of Jesus Christ moved on.
Because of His great love for
us, we don’t have to face life’s obstacles alone. When we seek His help, we can overcome even
the greatest challenges.
Cynthia - The events of Wednesday are unknown. But
instead of focusing on where Jesus was, we can focus on what Jesus taught
during his ministry. Jesus was the
Master Teacher. By opening our hearts to
Him, we can find answers to life’s most important questions. But to do so, we must be as His disciples
were-humble and sincere.
Kristin - The
following day, Thursday, Jesus
observed the Passover with His Apostles in what is often referred to as the
Last Supper. He shared His love for
them, through both His words and His actions.
Then together they departed to a quiet garden called Gethsemane. But what happens next Jesus must endure
alone. He prays and is overcome by
unfathomable agony. This is the
beginning of the culmination of Jesus Christ’s sacred mission. He takes upon Himself the sins of the world.
Even though He lived a
perfect life, Jesus Christ paid the price for all our sins. It was a sacrifice only He could make, and He
did so willingly - for you, for me, for all of us.
(Small Children’s Choir Sings
Beautiful Savior) --- I asked members of 1 primary class to
sing and held practices at my house.
Siblings of this class came too. Easily the primary chorister could do
this if there is enough notice is given.
Kristin - In the early hours of the following
morning-Friday, Jesus was betrayed
into the hands of the local authorities.
After a series of unfair, one-sided trials, He was sentenced to death by
crucifixion. He died on the cross that
afternoon, with His disciples and accusers present as witnesses.
Because Jesus Christ experienced
such profound suffering, He has perfect empathy for us when we are in pain, be
it physical or spiritual. Because He
overcame death to live again, He has the power to help us rise above the
challenges in our lives, no matter how dark and difficult things may seem.
Cynthia - That Friday night
Jesus Christ’s body had been placed in the tomb. The scriptures are mostly silent on the day after His crucifixion (Saturday). Likely, this was a day of deep reflection for
His followers and their families.
Likewise, we, with our families are invited to take time to truly think
about what Jesus Christ went through and why He was willing to do so.
Kristin - Then Sunday, early in the morning, Mary
Magdalene, a friend and follower of Jesus, came to the tomb to care for Jesus
Christ’s body. To her astonishment, she
found the tomb empty. But she was not
alone. A man addressed her, a gardener,
she supposes. But then He said her name,
“Mary.” And she sees. He is Jesus. Jesus,
The Christ lives.
Jesus Christ overcame death
and was resurrected, and because He lives, all of us will live again. Because He lives, not just on the third day,
but this day, every day we can find Him.
(Sister __________-Reading/Brother___________-piano
solo “Consider the Lilies of the Field”)
Talk: Cynthia
(Ward Choir: He is Risen)
Bishop’s Remarks (including selected text from "Jesus the Christ" from 2000 see notes below for how I approached this.)
Closing Hymn: #200 Christ the
Lord is Risen today
Closing Prayer
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First of all, I accept the challenge from the bishopric to be responsible for the programs as the ward choir director. I dread it for months before and feel the daunting responsibility to create an experience that edifies everyone and to prepare a ward choir too. I'm aware of my weaknesses as a director of the choir. My strength, I feel, is having a vision for what needs to be accomplished during the service. Another weakness is faith in myself. So when I'm done wrestling out my fears alone, I determine that I'm humble enough and have sufficient faith to stop wrestling with the task and I just go to my knee's and seek direction in prayer.
I share with the Lord my desire to create an experience that is edifying, that brings the presence of the Spirit through word and music, the desire to strengthen testimony for those who attend, especially those who feel weak and that I feel my weakness in accomplishing this task and that I need and desire His help. I express the ideas I have had, and that I'd like to step out of the way with my own opinions and seek His direction and a willingness to let Him lead me. Also, while on my knees I am still and take time to keep my mind clear to see what I feel the Lord would share with me and be open to thoughts He may direct me to. Sometimes questions come to my thoughts and I ask them and simultaneously the answers or guidance are given. Does this make sense?
It seems important to me to share the mindset and prayer that goes into the program planning because somehow progress hasn't happened with any of the three programs I've prepared until this prayer iso given. And then the amazing journey begins that leads me to navigate the faith-driven journey. So far it's proven to be a sentimental and rich experience. For me, it's been appropriate to get idea's here and there, from the church website (awesome idea's come from just what they offer in their media stuff) from bloggers, facebook groups and youtube videos from the church. But the ability to orchestrate the placement of the idea's, scriptures, music and the ebbs and flows of emotion that are portrayed through the program can be accomplished beautifully with the Lord's guidance. Of course, right? But its not always easy to be humble enough to ask. (Thus the wrestling I mentioned.)
This involves working with others to pull off the directions given, and not knowing how it's going to come together, I learn its never just up to me. Others have beautifully participated in the process whether its the bishop offering idea's for narrators, musicians offering what they could contribute, or me offering idea's to the choir pianist and he gives me what he has to offer. Then it takes turning it over to allow them to let their idea flourish and a place in the program to do so. Many participants have made it more beautiful!
So here goes: the vision I had was to simply share the scriptural accounts of each day during the week of Easter. In my whole life I never truly learned it in a day by day events kind of way. Everyone's lives are busy and though many wish they took time to study these things privately, this meeting may be the one place they get a thorough expression of the events of the last week of Christ's life. With that in my mind, the thought felt good to narrate each day and what transpired.
Keeping the message directly from the scriptures, simple enough for the youngest and newest of members come from concepts I've learned from previous leadership training so I kept that as an anchor in preparations. This would accomplish everyone being edified and allow the Spirit to be strong, in my hopes.
But taking the time to study the scriptures in depth was daunting with my school studies. (I always believe the Lord knows where I need to cut corners and still do the work He asks of me.) I turned to www.lds.org and found they had already done all the work! They created a media presentation with the text of each day of the week before Christ's death! It was exactly what I needed and better than I could have done! So perfect. I nearly copied their presentation for the days with minor alterations necessary to make the voice of my narrators fit well. Having two narrators seemed ideal for keeping interested, so they both stood at the pulpit and read together, taking turns. The music we had been preparing naturally found place between the narration of the "days of the last week". This included the primary children and a special musical number.
After giving an account of the days of the week of Easter through narration and music, I felt I wanted something at the end that was significant and from current general authorities/conference on Easter. But it wasn't working for me to put words together. I prayed and asked for direction and it occurred to me that one of the narrators could find a talk on Easter from a general authority that meant something to her and prepare 5-7 minutes to address anything she desired. The Spirit let me know that I didn't need to do this part. The only guidance I gave was to take 5-7 minutes to tie everything together and add her witness. (We may have had a good conversation about the program and the purpose of the service, which was likely to strengthen the testimony of our members regarding resurrection and the atonement.)
Due to Easter and Christmas being significant services in that less-active and non-members may be attending, I felt it was important to have our bishop give remarks. Yet I knew how busy they were. My solution: offer them the quotation or a reference to a statement that fits well with the theme of the program's message. "Jesus the Christ" from our Prophet and apostles wrote in 2000 has significant words and is a great place to select text from for either Christmas or Easter.
All three times each bishop was so willing to allow me to include him in the service he gave me the responsibility of planning. When he closed the meeting with his remarks the bishop would first, share a meaningful personal experience, second, share the words I offered them and third, gave a powerful witness of the gospel. I believe it took them very little time to prepare and yet it was perfect for our edification. (I explained to them "This is my idea, would you be willing to consider being part of the program knowing you won't have to do much? Are you okay doing it this way." I like being sure they know I am willing to be counseled or guided by them.)
Wow... all that to just get to the point. My apologies and thank you for going this far with me. Here's the Bulletin, then the program.
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