How Great A Cloud of Witnesses

Accept our evening prayer,
O Holy Christ our Lord,
And grant forgiveness of our sin
According to Thy word,
Who, by Thy rising, hast revealed
A power that lay from man concealed.
Oh come, ye people, come,
Give praise to Christ your God;
The glory of His rising tell
To all the world abroad:
For He is God, whose power hath hurled
The great accuser from the world.
Encompass Zion round,
And in her midst proclaim
The glory of the Son of God,
Who back from bondage came;
Who burst the gates of death, to win
Our freedom from the yoke of sin.
Thy Passion, Lord, hath freed
Our souls from passion’s reign;
Nor may we know corruption base,
Since Thou hast risen again;
Glory to Thee, O Christ the Lord,
Son of our God, Incarnate Word! (Extracted from Hymns of the Early Church edited by John Brownlie)

1 Corinthians 15.1-23
Now I would remind you, brethren, in what terms I preached to you the gospel, which you received, in which you stand,
by which you are saved, if you hold it fast–unless you believed in vain.
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures,
that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God which is with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed. Now if Christ is preached as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified of God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised. If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all men most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.
Scripture Extract: Psalm 115.1-18
Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory,
for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness.
Why should the nations say,
“Where is their God?”
Our God is in the heavens;
he does whatever he pleases.
Their idols are silver and gold,
the work of human hands.
They have mouths, but do not speak;
eyes, but do not see.
They have ears, but do not hear;
noses, but do not smell.
They have hands, but do not feel;
feet, but do not walk;
they make no sound in their throats.
Those who make them are like them;
so are all who trust in them.
O Israel, trust in the LORD!
He is their help and their shield.
O house of Aaron, trust in the LORD!
He is their help and their shield.
You who fear the LORD, trust in the LORD!
He is their help and their shield.
The LORD has been mindful of us; he will bless us;
he will bless the house of Israel;
he will bless the house of Aaron;
he will bless those who fear the LORD,
both small and great.
May the LORD give you increase,
both you and your children.
May you be blessed by the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.
The heavens are the Lord’s heavens,
but the earth he has given to human beings.
The dead do not praise the LORD,
nor do any that go down into silence.
But we will bless the LORD
from this time on and forevermore.
Praise the LORD!
Prayer:
Risen Lord, please kill our programs. Kill all our agendas, curricula and bright ideas. Gracious Lord kill our ministries, that we may live in you and that we may really share in your ministry. Only your hand saves, good Lord. Then let us fall under it that we should really know risen life. You hear the prayers of us desperate poor, good Lord. Then let us return to you. You really do speak, good Lord. Then bless us to listen. Bless us too to see you for who you say you are, that we whom you love should never be about the miserable task of doubtful speculation, whose fruits are pitiful indeed. At the sight of your glorious risen form, good Lord, bless us only to believe. Then we will bless the beautiful name of our Lord forevermore. Amen.