This week’s Readings and Sermon for the Fifth Sunday of Easter
The Collect for This Week
Risen Christ, your wounds declare your love for the world and the wonder of your risen life: give us compassion and courage to risk ourselves for those we serve, to the glory of God the Father.Amen
The Post Communion Prayer for this week
The Psalm for this Sunday is Psalm 31, verses 1 to 5 and 15 - 16
1 In you, O Lord, have I taken refuge; let me never be put to shame; deliver me in your righteousness. 2 Incline your ear to me; make haste to deliver me. 3 Be my strong rock, a fortress to save me, for you are my rock and my stronghold; guide me, and lead me for your name’s sake. 4 Take me out of the net that they have laid secretly for me, for you are my strength. 5 Into your hands I commend my spirit, for you have redeemed me, O Lord God of truth.
15 ‘My times are in your hand; deliver me from the hand of my enemies, and from those who persecute me. 16 ‘Make your face to shine upon your servant, and save me for your mercy’s sake.’
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning is now and shall be forever. Amen
The First Reading for this Sunday is taken from the Book of the Acts of the Apostles, Chapter 7, verses 55 to 60
55 But filled with the Holy Spirit, he gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 ‘Look,’ he said, ‘I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!’ 57 But they covered their ears, and with a loud shout all rushed together against him. 58 Then they dragged him out of the city and began to stone him; and the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 While they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’ 60 Then he knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them.’ When he had said this, he died.
This is the Word of the Lord Thanks be to God
The New Testament reading for this Sunday is taken from the First Letter of St Peter, Chapter 2, verses 2 to 10
2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow into salvation - 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. 4 Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and 5 like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For it stands in scripture: ‘See, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.’ 7 To you then who believe, he is precious; but for those who do not believe, ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the very head of the corner’, 8 and ‘A stone that makes them stumble, and a rock that makes them fall.’They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. 9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.
10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
This is the Word of the Lord Thanks be to God
The Gospel reading for this Sunday is taken from the Gospel of St John, Chapter 14, verses 1 to 14
Hear the Gospel of our Lord, Jesus Christ, according to Luke Glory to You, o Lord
1 ‘Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house there are many dwelling-places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. 4 And you know the way to the place where I am going.’ 5 Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?’ 6 Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.’ 8 Philip said to him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.’ 9 Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, “Show us the Father”? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. 12 Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.
.This is the Gospel of the Lord. Praise to You, o Christ
Note :All readings are shared from the Church of England Lectionary App and are subject to copyright . © The Archbishop’s Council
This week’s sermon is delivered by Rev Denise Smith
This is one reading I know off by heart because it is so often chosen for funerals to try to bring comfort to the grieving family left behind.
Who according to the reading can show us the way to our Father’s house, in other words heaven?
ANSWER. Jesus. BUT Jesus did not say he could show us the way, he said “I am the way”
If we want to get to our Father’s house then we need to go with Jesus. When Jesus was on earth, he did not call people to simply listen to him speak as he told them the good news about God’s Kingdom. He did not call people simply to watch as he healed the sick and set people free. Jesus called people to “Follow him “ ----- to be with him as they journeyed through life. The reason being is that Jesus called people to follow him as he is the only way to heaven. If WE follow Jesus and walk with him, he will lead us to heaven. Wonderfully, Jesus is the way for us to know Father God today and become part of God’s family. Now there are people who will argue that there are many ways to come to know God our Father, and to get to our final destination of heaven. BUT the Bible tells us and makes it very clear that Jesus tells us there is only one way, and that is Him. Just watch this little drama.
DRAMA
Does anyone know where Prince William and Kate live now?
ANSWER. Within the grounds of Windsor in something called a cottage, but it looks like a palace.
Can anyone tell me the way to Windsor? I want exact directions as I do not want to get lost. It is hard isn’t it? But do not worry I have my phone and trust my Google maps. It says just short of 4 hours to drive there. It is wonderful and I can use Bluetooth, so that the directions go straight into my hearing aids and no one else need listen. I could not have managed driving to churches all over the Diocese without my Sat nav. Sometimes, however, they let us down and drive us to odd places. Big delivery vans are often sent down Driving Gate, which is now an overgrown dirt track and they get stuck!!
Even better than having a sat nav would be someone sitting in the car who knew the way well; giving me directions.
Now instead of asking the way to Windsor, what if I said, “Who can tell me the way to heaven?” I want exact directions, because I do not want to get lost. When you put heaven in the satnav it just comes up with fancy restaurants and beauty parlours with the same name, and not the place where God dwells.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if there was someone who could actually show us the way to heaven? Let us just listen to our Bible reading to see what is written there.
If Jesus is “”The Way” to relationship with Father God, it makes sense to listen to what Jesus says and then to obey him, doesn’t it?
One of the main ways that we listen to Jesus is by reading what he has said to us in our Bibles. The most important thing we can all do each day is to pick up our Bibles, read what Jesus says , talk with him about it and then obey him. Can I encourage you, if you don’t already do this to make time to read a few verses from your Bible each day?
Not only did Jesus say he is the Way, but he also said he is the Truth. If we are to put our trust in someone and follow them, we need to know that they will always tell us the truth don’t we?
Jesus said that HE IS THE TRUTH. He did not say that He tells us the truth all the time, which of course he does, but He said that “He is the truth.”
That seems like on odd thing for a man to say, doesn’t it? Unless Jesus is more than a man!!!
He also said that he is THE LIFE. Jesus isn’t an add on to our lives --- someone to fit in to a few minutes each day or into an hour on a Sunday. Jesus should be our life. A relationship with God is what we have been created for. Jesus is THE WAY to having that relationship. Jesus is THE TRUTH and we can trust what he says. Jesus is THE LIFE and so following him each day will bring us life to the full now and then on into eternity.
So if you would like to choose to follow him I invite you to write your name on a footprint and I will ask the children to collect them and lay the on the carpet up to the big wooden cross.
Prayer.
Lord Jesus, thank you for calling us to follow you. We believe that you are the Way, the Truth and The Life. Today we choose to put our trust in you, help us to walk closely with you each day. Thank you for the promise of eternal life. Amen.