Readings for Sunday – 4/28/24
COLLECT
Almighty God, whom truly to know is everlasting life: Grant us so perfectly to
know your Son Jesus Christ to be the way, the truth, and the life, that we may
steadfastly follow his steps in the way that leads to eternal life; through Jesus Christ
your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
FIRST LESSON A Reading from: Acts 8:26-40
An angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Get up and go toward the south to the
road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a wilderness road.) So,
he got up and went. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the
Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of her entire treasury. He had
come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning home; seated in his chariot, he
was reading the prophet Isaiah. Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over to this
chariot and join it.” So, Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet
Isaiah. He asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” He replied,
“How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to get in and
sit beside him. Now the passage of the scripture that he was reading was this:
“Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter, and like a lamb silent before its
shearer, so he does not open his mouth. In his humiliation justice was denied
him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the
earth.” The eunuch asked Philip, “About whom, may I ask you, does the prophet say
this, about himself or about someone else?” Then Philip began to speak, and
starting with this scripture, he proclaimed to him the good news about Jesus.
As they were going along the road, they came to some water; and the eunuch
said, “Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized?” He
commanded the chariot to stop, and both of them, Philip and the eunuch, went
down into the water, and Philip baptized him. When they came up out of the
water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; the eunuch saw him no
more, and went on his way rejoicing. But Philip found himself at Azotus, and
as he was passing through the region, he proclaimed the good news to all the
towns until he came to Caesarea.
Reader: The Word of the Lord People: Thanks be to God
PSALM: Psalm 22:24-30
Deus, Deus meus
24 My praise is of him in the great assembly; *
I will perform my vows in the presence of those who worship him.
25 The poor shall eat and be satisfied,
and those who seek the LORD shall praise him: *
“May your heart live for ever!”
26 All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD, *
and all the families of the nations shall bow before him.
27 For kingship belongs to the LORD; *
he rules over the nations.
28 To him alone all who sleep in the earth bow down in worship; *
all who go down to the dust fall before him.
29 My soul shall live for him; my descendants shall serve him; *
they shall be known as the LORD’s for ever.
30 They shall come and make known to a people yet unborn *
the saving deeds that he has done.
THE EPISTLE A Reading from: 1 John 4:7-21
Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who
loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know
God, for God is love. God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent
his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love,
not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning
sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to
love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives
in us, and his love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in him and
he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and do testify
that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world. God abides in those
who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God. So we have
known and believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and those who
abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. Love has been perfected
among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because
as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts
out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached
perfection in love. We love because he first loved us. Those who say, “I love
God,” and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a
brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not
seen. The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must
love their brothers and sisters also.
Reader: The Word of the Lord People: Thanks be to God
GOSPEL HYMN: Lord of the Dance
- I danced in the morning, When the world was begun, And I danced in the
moon, And the stars and the sun, And I came down from heaven, And I danced on the earth, At Bethlehem I had my birth. - They cut me down, And I leapt up high; I am the life, That’ll never, never die;
I’ll live in you, If you’ll live in me – I am the Lord Of the Dance, said he.
Reprise: Dance, then, wherever you may be, I am the Lord of the Dance, said he,
And I’ll lead you all, wherever you may be, And I’ll lead you all in the Dance, said he.
The Holy GOSPEL of our Lord Jesus Christ according to:
John 15:1-8
Jesus said to his disciples, ”I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower.
He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he
prunes to make it bear more fruit. You have already been cleansed by the word that
I have spoken to you. Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear
fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me.
I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear
much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. Whoever does not abide in
me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown
into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for
whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that
you bear much fruit and become my disciples.”
Reader: The Gospel of the Lord People: Praise to you, Lord Christ