Minister: He is risen!
Congregation: He is risen indeed!
God of everlasting life, we pray to You in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, our risen Lord.
As Jonah spent three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so the Lord Jesus spent three days and three nights in the heart of earth. The thief of the cross descended into death, and the Lord Jesus was with him that day in Paradise. The spirits who were disobedient at the time of Noah heard the Lord Jesus announce, across the great chasm, their final defeat and sentence, and when the three days appointed in Scripture were complete, You raised our Lord Jesus from the dead. He broke down the gates of death and Hades, taking the keys with Him, and He led captivity captive.
Because He rose from the dead, we know that He is Your everlasting Son, and we acknowledge this as Your declaration. Because He rose from the dead, we know that He will be the judge of the entire earth. This is not a truth needing to be proved; this is the truth that proves.
We exult in Your wisdom and power, knowing that You do not care what our philosophers say, and brought life to our wretched and disobedient race anyway. We glory now in what You have done.
And so, gracious Father, we worship You now through Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end, amen.