Top 25 Easter Hymns and Songs for Easter Sunday Playlists

Easter Sunday is all about celebrating Jesus’ resurrection, and there’s no better way to do that than by singing. This playlist brings together 25 powerful Easter hymns and worship songs (with videos), mixing beloved classics like "Christ the Lord is Risen Today" and "The Old Rugged Cross" with modern worship favorites that focus our hearts on the hope of the empty tomb.  

Whether you love traditional hymns or contemporary worship, these songs are here to help you remember what Easter means: Jesus willingly paid our debt, defeated death, and gives us living hope. Sing them at church, at home, or on the go—and let the message of the resurrection sink in.

Jump to:

• Easter Hymn Playlist
• Easter Hymns and Songs
• Because He Lives
• Easter 'Hallelujah'
• Forever
• God So Loved the World
• He Arose
• How Deep the Father's Love for Us
• In Christ Alone
• In the Garden
• Jesus Loves Me
• Jesus Paid it All
• Jesus Saves
• Oh Happy Day
• Power In The Blood
• Resurrection Power
• The Old Rugged Cross
• There is a Fountain Filled with Blood
• This Little Light of Mine
• Washed by the Blood of the Lamb
• What a Beautiful Name
• When I Survey the Wondrous Cross
• Top Performances of Easter Hymns and Songs

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead" (1 Peter 1:3)

Easter Hymn Playlist

Easter Hymns and Songs

Here are some of the most popular Easter hymns and Easter songs that churches are singing today. Is your favorite one on the list? Below, find snippets of lyrics for each song, stories behind the songs, AND 20+ videos of some of the most popular performances of each song listed. We hope you'll be blessed with this grouping of so many wonderful Easter hymns and songs all in one handy resource!

Because He Lives

This song, written by Gloria Gaither in one of her darkest moments, is such a reminder to all of us just what we are capable of doing and being, all because He lives!

In his Our Journey devotional, "Because He Lives," Pastor James McDonald asks the question, "Why is Jesus alive?"

He goes on to say, "He’s alive because He rose from the dead—but why? Yes, He’s alive because He is God—but why? Yes, He’s alive “because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him” (Acts 2:24, NIV) "

Read more of this devotional at Christianity.com and learn more about Gloria Gaither's story behind "Because He Lives" in this article by Rev. McDowell.

“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 I live, ye shall live also.” - John 14:19

Anthem Lights Performs 'Because He Lives' And 'Arise My Love' 

Easter 'Hallelujah'

Three days went by again they came
To move the stone to bless the slain
With oil and spice anointing hallelujah
But as they went to move the stone
They saw that they were not alone
But Jesus Christ has risen Hallelujah

One day in 2006, a pastor asked Kelley Mooney to sing Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah at their upcoming Easter Sunday. She went searching for the music score but ran into a problem.

Once she started looking into the music, she felt very conflicted. “The lyrics weren’t quite suitable for church,” thought Kelly, who then became inspired by a Holy Week Scriptures booklet about Jesus’ crucifixion, burial, and resurrection.

As she read the text in the booklet, she reimagined the message into lyrics.

“After completing the first couple of verses, I called Mom and Dad and ran it past them. They thought it was very accurate. So I wrote two more verses and called them again. Then I wrote the last verse,” says Kelley.

After performing the new version, more and more people began requesting it. Ultimately, a video of her new Christian version, dubbed 'Easter Hallelujah' went very viral online.

Forever

The moon and stars they wept
The morning sun was dead
The Savior of the world was fallen
His body on the cross
His blood poured out for us
The weight of every curse upon him

God So Loved the World

I try so hard to find the words to say
To let you know how great is this god to whom i pray
Nothing can nor ever will compare
To the peace that flows in your soul when he is living there

He Arose

Up from the grave He arose,
With a mighty triumph o’er His foes,

How Deep the Father's Love for Us

How deep the Father's love for us
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure

In Christ Alone

In Christ Alone was written by Stuart Townsend and Keith Getty. Townsend explains, “The song came about in an unusual way. Keith and I met in the autumn of 2000 at a worship event, and we resolved to try to work together on some songs. A few weeks later Keith sent some melody ideas, and the first one on the CD was a magnificent, haunting melody that I loved, and immediately started writing down some lyrical ideas on what I felt should be a timeless theme commensurate with the melody. So the theme of the life, death, resurrection of Christ, and the implications of that for us just began to tumble out, and when we got together later on to fine-tune it, we felt we had encapsulated what we wanted to say.”

In Christ alone my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This Cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm…

Read more about the story behind 'In Christ Alone' on Crosswalk.com

In the Garden

According to this article on History Behind The Hymn, Austin Miles, an amateur photographer (and pharmacist-turned-church music director), was waiting on film to develop in the darkroom when he saw a deeply moving spiritual vision. He saw Mary Magdalene visiting the empty tomb, leaving, and walking into the garden where she met our Lord!

And He walks with me
And He talks with me
And He tells me I am His own

Click here to read the rest of the story, as written by Mike Jeshurun.

Jesus Loves Me

Jesus loves me still today,
Walking with me on my way,
Wanting as a friend to give
Light and love to all who live.

To learn more about the lyrics and meaning behind Jesus Loves Me click here.

Jesus Paid it All

Lord, now indeed I find thy power and thine alone
Can change the leper's spots and melt the heart of stone

Jesus Saves

Bear the news to every land,
Climb the mountains, cross the waves;
Onward! ’tis our Lord’s command;
Jesus saves! Jesus saves!

Oh Happy Day

He taught me how to watch, fight and pray, fight and pray
And live rejoicing every, everyday
Oh happy day

Power In The Blood

Would you be free from your passion and pride
There’s power in the blood, power in the blood
Come for a cleansing to Calvary’s tide
There's wonderful power in the blood

Resurrection Power

Now I have resurrection power
Living on the inside
Jesus, You have given us freedom

The Old Rugged Cross

So I'll cherish the old rugged Cross
Till my trophies at last I lay down
I will cling to the old rugged Cross
And exchange it some day for a crown

There is a Fountain Filled with Blood

E'er since by faith I saw the stream
Thy flowing wounds supply
Redeeming love has been my theme
And shall be till I die

This Little Light of Mine

This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine
Let it shine, shine, shine
Let it shine!

Washed by the Blood of the Lamb

Are you washed in the blood
In the soul-cleansing blood of the lamb?
Are your garments spotless? Are they white as snow?
Are you washed in the blood of the lamb?

What a Beautiful Name

Hillsong Worship's Ben Fielding writes, "I am an ardent believer in the necessity for the songs we sing in our churches to be firmly founded in the scriptures." He continues, breaking down the inspiration for each of the lyrics in the song, verse by verse.

On his blog, he shares, "Verse 1 begins with Jesus (the Word) at the beginning of all creation (John 1); He was with God and was (and is!) God (John 1:1). The mysteries of our infinitely beautiful and glorious God, once hidden for generations, have now been revealed through Jesus (Col 1:26). When Jesus took on flesh we (humanity) got to see the glory of God (John 1:14); the Name of Jesus reveals the beauty and glory of God."

Read the rest of Ben's scriptural inspiration behind the lyrics for What a Beautiful Name on his blog.

Death could not hold You, the veil tore before You
You silenced the boast, of sin and grave
The heavens are roaring, the praise of Your glory
For You are raised to life again

'What A Beautiful Name' - A Cappella Worship From Voices Of Lee

When I Survey the Wondrous Cross

Isaac Watts wrote this hymn—a meditation on the cross of Christ—as a means of preparation for the Lord’s Supper. Having reflected on the cross, he can only marvel at God’s wondrous grace and pledge his life to God’s service. “Were the whole realm of nature mine, / That were a present far too small; / Love so amazing, so divine, / Demands my soul, my life, my all.” source: Christianity.com

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ my God!
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.

Top Performances of Easter Hymns and Songs