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Second
Sunday of Easter |
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Blessed are those who have not
seen and yet believe |
Almighty and everlasting God, who in the Paschal mystery hast established
the new covenant of reconciliation: Grant that all who have been reborn into
the fellowship of Christs Body may show forth in their lives what they
profess by their faith; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth
and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
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Lesson - Acts 5:12a,17-22,25-29 or Job 42:1-6 |
The Apostles Heal Many
Now many signs and wonders were done among the people by the hands of the
apostles. And they were all together in Solomon's Portico.
The Apostles are Persecuted
But the high priest rose up and all who were with him, that is, the party of
the Sad'ducees, and filled with jealousy they arrested the apostles and put
them in the common prison. But at night an angel of the Lord opened the
prison doors and brought them out and said, "Go and stand in the temple and
speak to the people all the words of this Life." And when they heard this,
they entered the temple at daybreak and taught. Now the high priest came and
those who were with him and called together the council and all the senate
of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought. But when the
officers came, they did not find them in the prison, and they returned and
reported, And some one came and told them, "The men whom you put in prison
are standing in the temple and teaching the people." Then the captain with
the officers went and brought them, but without violence, for they were
afraid of being stoned by the people. And when they had brought them, they
set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them, saying,
"We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled
Jerusalem with your teaching and you intend to bring this man's blood upon
us." But Peter and the apostles answered, "We must obey God rather than men.
or
Job is Humbled and Satisfied
Then Job answered the LORD: "I know that thou canst do all things, and
that no purpose of thine can be thwarted. 'Who is this that hides counsel
without knowledge?' Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. 'Hear, and I will speak;
I will question you, and you declare to me.' I had heard of thee by the
hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees thee; therefore I despise myself,
and repent in dust and ashes."
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Epistle - Revelation 1:(1-8)9-19 or Acts 5:12a,17-22,25-29 |
Introduction and Salutation
The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants
what must soon take place; and he made it known by sending his angel to his
servant John, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of
Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. Blessed is he who reads aloud the
words of the prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is
written therein; for the time is near. John to the seven churches that are
in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to
come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus
Christ the faithful witness, the first-born of the dead, and the ruler of
kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his
blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory
and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. Behold, he is coming with the clouds,
and every eye will see him, every one who pierced him; and all tribes of the
earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen. "I am the Alpha and the
Omega," says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the
Almighty.
A Vision of Christ
I John, your brother, who share with you in Jesus the tribulation and the
kingdom and the patient endurance, was on the island called Patmos on
account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. I was in the Spirit
on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet saying,
"Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus
and to Smyrna and to Per'gamum and to Thyati'ra and to Sardis and to
Philadelphia and to La-odice'a." Then I turned to see the voice that was
speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the
midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and
with a golden girdle round his breast; his head and his hair were white as
white wool, white as snow; his eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were
like burnished bronze, refined as in a furnace, and his voice was like the
sound of many waters; in his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth
issued a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in
full strength. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he
laid his right hand upon me, saying, "Fear not, I am the first and the last,
and the living one; I died, and behold I am alive for evermore, and I have
the keys of Death and Hades. Now write what you see, what is and what is to
take place hereafter. As for the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in
my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the
angels of the seven churches and the seven lampstands are the seven
churches.
or
The Apostles Heal Many
Now many signs and wonders were done among the people by the hands of the
apostles. And they were all together in Solomon's Portico.
The Apostles are Persecuted
But the high priest rose up and all who were with him, that is, the party of
the Sad'ducees, and filled with jealousy they arrested the apostles and put
them in the common prison. But at night an angel of the Lord opened the
prison doors and brought them out and said, "Go and stand in the temple and
speak to the people all the words of this Life." And when they heard this,
they entered the temple at daybreak and taught. Now the high priest came and
those who were with him and called together the council and all the senate
of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought. But when the
officers came, they did not find them in the prison, and they returned and
reported, And some one came and told them, "The men whom you put in prison
are standing in the temple and teaching the people." Then the captain with
the officers went and brought them, but without violence, for they were
afraid of being stoned by the people. And when they had brought them, they
set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them, saying,
"We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled
Jerusalem with your teaching and you intend to bring this man's blood upon
us." But Peter and the apostles answered, "We must obey God rather than men.
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Gospel - John 20:19-31 |
Jesus Appears to the Disciples
On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being shut
where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among
them and said to them, "Peace be with you." When he had said this, he showed
them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the
Lord. Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent
me, even so I send you." And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and
said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they
are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."
Jesus and Thomas
Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus
came. So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said
to them, "Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails, and place my
finger in the mark of the nails, and place my hand in his side, I will not
believe." Eight days later, his disciples were again in the house, and
Thomas was with them. The doors were shut, but Jesus came and stood among
them, and said, "Peace be with you." Then he said to Thomas, "Put your
finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my
side; do not be faithless, but believing." Thomas answered him, "My Lord and
my God!" Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me?
Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe."
The Purpose of this Book
Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are
not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that
Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in
his name.
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