(~) Bible Readings for Sunday April 18
Second Sunday of Easter
Acts 5:12a, 17-22,25-29
or Job 42:1-6
Revelation 1:(1-8)9-19
or Acts 5:12a,17-22,25-29
John 20:19-31
The First Lesson Acts 5:12a,17-22,25-29
Now many signs and wonders were done among the people through the
apostles. Then the high priest took action; he and all who were with him
(that is, the sect of the Sadducees), being filled with jealousy, arrested
the apostles and put them in the public prison. But during the night an
angel of the Lord opened the prison doors, brought them out, and said,
"Go, stand in the temple and tell the people the whole message about this
life." When they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and went
on with their teaching. When the high priest and those with him arrived,
they called together the council and the whole body of the elders of
Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought. But when the temple
police went there, they did not find them in the prison; so they returned
and reported. Then someone arrived and announced, "Look, the men whom you
put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people!" Then
the captain went with the temple police and brought them, but without
violence, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people. When they
had brought them, they had them stand before the council. The high priest
questioned them, saying, "We gave you strict orders not to teach in this
name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and you are
determined to bring this man's blood on us" But Peter and the apostles
answered, "We must obey God rather than any human authority."
or
Old Testament Job 42:1-6
Then Job answered the LORD:
"I know that you can do all things,
and that no purpose of yours 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 you by the hearing of the ear,
but now my eye sees you;
therefore I despise myself,
and repent in dust and ashes."
The Epistle Revelation 1:9-19
I, John, your brother who share with you in Jesus the persecution and the
kingdom and the patient endurance, was on the island called Patmos because
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 in a book what you see and send it to the seven churches, to
Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamum, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia,
and to Laodicea." Then I turned to see whose voice it was that spoke to
me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the
lampstands I saw one like the Son of Man, clothed with a long robe and
with a golden sash across his chest. 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, and
from his mouth came a sharp, two-edged sword, and his face was like the
sun shining with full force. When I saw him. I fell at his feet as though
dead. But he placed his right hand on me, saying, "Do not be afraid; I am
the first and the last, and the living one. I was dead, and see, I am
alive forever and ever; and I have the keys of Death and of Hades. Now
write what you have seen, what is, and what is to take place after this."
or
The Second Lesson Acts 5:12a,17-22,25-29
[see above]
The Gospel John 20:19-31
When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors
of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews,
Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." After he
said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples
rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with
you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." 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 them; if your retain the sins
of any, they are retained." But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of
the twelve, 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 the mark
of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and
my hand in his side, I will not believe." A week later his disciples were
again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were
shut, 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. Reach our your
hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe." 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 have come to
believe." Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples,
which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may
come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that
through believing you may have life in his name.
Ninure Saunders aka Rainbow Christian
http://Rainbow-Christian.tk
The Lord is my Shepherd and He knows I'm Gay
http://Ninure-Saunders.tk
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