[Sunday's Worship Service and Scripture Readings]

     

 

 

The Sixth Sunday of Easter 5-5-24

Come and hear, all you who fear God,

and I will tell what he has done for my soul.

Shout for joy to God, all the earth;

sing the glory of his name; give to him glorious praise!

Bless our God, O peoples;

let the sound of his praise be heard,

who has kept our soul among the living

and has not let our feet slip.

Blessèd be God,

because he has not rejected my prayer or removed his steadfast love from me!

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.

Come and hear, all you who fear God,

and I will tell what he has done for my soul.

 

Collect 

O God, the giver of all that is good, by Your holy inspiration grant that we may think those things that are right and by Your merciful guiding accomplish them; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

 

[Acts 10:34 – 43]  Then Peter replied, "I see very clearly that God doesn't show partiality.  35 In every nation he accepts those who fear him and do what is right.  36 I'm sure you have heard about the Good News for the people of Israel -- that there is peace with God through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. 

37 You know what happened all through Judea, beginning in Galilee after John the Baptist began preaching.  38 And no doubt you know that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. Then Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the Devil, for God was with him.  39 "And we apostles are witnesses of all he did throughout Israel and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by crucifying him,  40 but God raised him to life three days later. Then God allowed him to appear,  41 not to the general public,1 but to us whom God had chosen beforehand to be his witnesses. We were those who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.  42 And he ordered us to preach everywhere and to testify that Jesus is ordained of God to be the judge of all -- the living and the dead.  43 He is the one all the prophets testified about, saying that everyone who believes in him will have their sins forgiven through his name." 

 

[1 John 5:1-8]  Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is a child of God. And everyone who loves the Father loves his children, too.  2 We know we love God's children if we love God and obey his commandments.  3 Loving God means keeping his commandments, and really, that isn't difficult. 4 For every child of God defeats this evil world by trusting Christ to give the victory.  5 And the ones who win this battle against the world are the ones who believe that Jesus is the Son of God.  6 And Jesus Christ was revealed as God's Son by his baptism in water and by shedding his blood on the cross1 -- not by water only, but by water and blood. And the Spirit also gives us the testimony that this is true.  7 So we have these three witnesses--  8 the Spirit, the water, and the blood -- and all three agree.

 

[John 15:9-17]  "I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love.  10 When you obey me, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father and remain in his love.  11 I have told you this so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!  12 I command you to love each other in the same way that I love you.  13 And here is how to measure it -- the greatest love is shown when people lay down their lives for their friends. 

14 You are my friends if you obey me.  15 I no longer call you servants, because a master doesn't confide in his servants. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me.  16 You didn't choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name.  17 I command you to love each other.

 

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