The Sixth Sunday of Easter
THE COLLECT
O God, you have prepared for those who love you such good things as
surpass our understanding: Pour into our hearts such love towards you,
that we, loving you in all things and above all things, may obtain your
promises, which exceed all that we can desire; through Jesus Christ our
Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for
ever and ever. Amen.
FIRST LESSON: Acts 16:9-15
During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia
pleading with him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”
When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to
Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good
news to them. We set sail from Troas and took a straight course to
Samothrace, the following day to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi,
which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony.
We remained in this city for some days. On the sabbath day we went
outside the gate by the river, where we supposed there was a place of
prayer; and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered
there. A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening
to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The
Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul. When she and her
household were baptized, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be
faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home.” And she prevailed upon us.
Reader: The Word of the Lord People: Thanks be to God
PSALM Psalm 67
1 May God be merciful to us and bless us, *
show us the light of his countenance and come to us.
2 Let your ways be known upon earth, *
your saving health among all nations.
3 Let the peoples praise you, O God; *
let all the peoples praise you.
4 Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, *
for you judge the peoples with equity and guide all the nations upon earth.
5 Let the peoples praise you, O God; *
let all the peoples praise you.
6 The earth has brought forth her increase; *
may God, our own God, give us his blessing.
7 May God give us his blessing, *
and may all the ends of the earth stand in awe of him.
SECOND LESSON: Revelation 21:10, 22-22:5
And in the spirit, he carried me away to a great, high mountain and
showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from
God. I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the
Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to
shine on it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb.
The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring
their glory into it. Its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be
no night there. People will bring into it the glory and the honor of the
nations. But nothing unclean will enter it, nor anyone who practices
abomination or falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s
book of life. Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life,
bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb
through the middle of the street of the city. On either side of the river is
the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each
month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.
Nothing accursed will be found there anymore. But the throne of God
and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him; they will
see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And there will be
no more night; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will
be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.
Reader: The Word of the Lord People: Thanks be to God
THE GOSPEL of our Lord Jesus Christ according to:
John 14:23-29 People: Glory to You Lord Christ
”I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the
Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name,
will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to
you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to
you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not
let them be afraid. You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I
am coming to you.’ If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am
going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I. And now I
have told you this before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you
may believe.
Reader: The Gospel of the Lord People: Praise to you, Lord Christ