[Sunday's Worship Service and Scripture Readings]

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The Second Sunday of Easter  4-12-26

Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up to salvation—

if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

Oh give thanks to the LORD; call upon his name;

make known his deeds among the peoples!

Sing to him, sing praises to him;

tell of all his wondrous works!

Glory in his holy name;

let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice!

Seek the LORD and his strength;

seek his presence continually!

Remember the wondrous works that he has done,

his miracles, and the judgments he uttered.

He remembers his covenant forever,

the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son

and to the Holy Spirit;

as it was in the beginning,

is now, and will be forever. Amen.

Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up to salvation—

if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

 

Collect 

Almighty God, grant that we who have celebrated the Lord’s resurrection may by Your grace confess in our life and conversation that Jesus is Lord and God; through the same Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

 

[Acts 5:29-42]   29 But Peter and the apostles replied, "We must obey God rather than human authority. 

30 The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead after you killed him by crucifying him.  31 Then God put him in the place of honor at his right hand as Prince and Savior. He did this to give the people of Israel an opportunity to turn from their sins and turn to God so their sins would be forgiven.  32 We are witnesses of these things and so is the Holy Spirit, who is given by God to those who obey him."  33 At this, the high council was furious and decided to kill them.  34 But one member had a different perspective. He was a Pharisee named Gamaliel, who was an expert on religious law and was very popular with the people. He stood up and ordered that the apostles be sent outside the council chamber for a while.  35 Then he addressed his colleagues as follows: "Men of Israel, take care what you are planning to do to these men!  36 Some time ago there was that fellow Theudas, who pretended to be someone great. About four hundred others joined him, but he was killed, and his followers went their various ways. The whole movement came to nothing.  37 After him, at the time of the census, there was Judas of Galilee. He got some people to follow him, but he was killed, too, and all his followers were scattered.  38 "So my advice is, leave these men alone. If they are teaching and doing these things merely on their own, it will soon be overthrown.  39 But if it is of God, you will not be able to stop them. You may even find yourselves fighting against God."  40 The council accepted his advice. They called in the apostles and had them flogged. Then they ordered them never again to speak in the name of Jesus, and they let them go.  41 The apostles left the high council rejoicing that God had counted them worthy to suffer dishonor for the name of Jesus.  42 And every day, in the Temple and in their homes, they continued to teach and preach this message: "The Messiah you are looking for is Jesus."

 

[1 Peter 1:3-9]   All honor to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for it is by his boundless mercy that God has given us the privilege of being born again. Now we live with a wonderful expectation because Jesus Christ rose again from the dead. 4 For God has reserved a priceless inheritance for his children. It is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. 5 And God, in his mighty power, will protect you until you receive this salvation, because you are trusting him. It will be revealed on the last day for all to see. 6 So be truly glad! There is wonderful joy ahead, even though it is necessary for you to endure many trials for a while.  7 These trials are only to test your faith, to show that it is strong and pure. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold-- and your faith is far more precious to God than mere gold. So if your faith remains strong after being tried by fiery trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.  8 You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him, you trust him; and even now you are happy with a glorious, inexpressible joy.  9 Your reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls.

 

[John 20:19-31]  That evening, on the first day of the week, the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them! "Peace be with you," he said.  20 As he spoke, he held out his hands for them to see, and he showed them his side. They were filled with joy when they saw their Lord!  21 He spoke to them again and said, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you."  22 Then he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit.  23 If you forgive anyone's sins, they are forgiven. If you refuse to forgive them, they are unforgiven."  24 One of the disciples, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), was not with the others when Jesus came.  25 They told him, "We have seen the Lord!" But he replied, "I won't believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side." 26 Eight days later the disciples were together again, and this time Thomas was with them. The doors were locked; but suddenly, as before, Jesus was standing among them. He said, "Peace be with you."  27 Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don't be faithless any longer. Believe!"  28 "My Lord and my God!" Thomas exclaimed.  29 Then Jesus told him, "You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who haven't seen me and believe anyway." 30 Jesus' disciples saw him do many other miraculous signs besides the ones recorded in this book.  31 But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life.

 

 

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