Easter Sunday in the age of coronavirus

Easter is a time of great celebration for anyone, but churches have largely canceled their Easter Sunday celebrations or moved masses online due to the coronavirus pandemic.  Photo by Leo Udtohan

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has changed the landscape for all of us and continues to evolve.

This year, it prevents us from gathering Sunday for church services including the Easter. But still the message is the same: Christ is risen from the dead. We are one with Him again.

Easter is about victory --and we hope we become victorious in arresting the virus.

What better way to honor the sacrifice Jesus made, and celebrate the hope He offered to us through His sacrifice, than with songs of praise and love!

Your VRS has 4 favorite Easter songs and hymns. You can read alongside the Psalms and the Gospels "to feel" the spirit of the Easter. Many streaming Easter services will lack choirs. But if you yearn for uplifting religious music it’s easy to access.

Jesus took the sting for us so that we wouldn’t have too, so join with me in singing, “Hallelujah!”

 

1. Amazing Grace. A beautiful hymn written by John Newton in 1779.

Amazing grace!
How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found;
Was blind, but now I see

T'was Grace that taught my heart to fear
And Grace, my fears relieved
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed

Through many dangers, toils and snares
We have already come.
T'was grace that brought us safe thus far
And grace will lead us home.

 

2. Because He Lives.  It is not just popular around Easter or on Resurrection Sunday but all year long because the lyrics are timeless truth that comforts the believers.

 

God sent His son, they called Him Jesus
He came to love, heal and forgive
He lived and died to buy my pardon
An empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow
Because He lives, all fear is gone
Because I know He holds the future
And life is worth the living, just because He lives.

 

Easter is a time of great celebration for anyone, but churches have largely canceled their Easter Sunday celebrations or moved masses online due to the coronavirus pandemic.  Photo by Leo Udtohan

3.  Christ the Lord is Risen Today. The hymn perfectly fits the Easter Gospel of the Lord's resurrection.

 

Christ the Lord is ris’n today, Alleluia!
Sons of men and angels say, Alleluia!
Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia!
Sing, ye heav’ns, and earth reply, Alleluia!

4. My Redeemer Lives. This brings us to the cross and to the grave, and the one is found empty because the Redeemer lives.

I know He rescued my soul
His blood has covered my sin
I believe, I believe

My shame He's taken away
My pain is healed in His name
I believe, I believe

I'll raise a banner
My Lord Has conquered the grave

My redeemer lives
My redeemer lives
My redeemer lives
My redeemer lives

 

4. I Serve a Risen Savior.  The miraculous lesson of Easter is that through Jesus' death on the Cross, we have been granted a second chance—permission to leave our old lives behind and stand before the pristine, unmarred canvas of a new day, with all its potential for joy and choices that honor God.

 

I serve a risen Savior,

He's in the world today;

I know that He is living,

Whatever men may say;

I see His hand of mercy,

I hear His voice of cheer,

And just the time I need Him

He's always near.

He lives, He lives, Christ Jesus lives today!

He walks with me and He talks with me

Along life's narrow way.

He lives, He live, salvation to impart!

You ask me how I know He lives:

He lives within my heart.

 

***
Passover traditions change
as the coronavirus spreads

 

While the original Passover took place over 3,000 years ago, its story is just as relevant today as it was back then. It is a testament to Israel’s survival of the Ten Plagues and the Exodus from Egypt.

 

Since the pandemic is affecting all of us, we are encouraged to spend more time at home to be saved. It is also a great opportunity to remember the Passover and G-d's everlasting love for those who believed in Him either Jew or Gentile. .

 

We hope and pray that every person in need of healing be healed, and all the other burdens be removed, and we wish for a healthy, liberating  and kosher Passover!

 

While times are trying now, this too shall pass! Great is Thy Faithfulness!

 

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