Worship & Prayers for The Fifth Sunday of Easter

Opening Rite

If you’re at home you might wish to light a candle, make sure you are sitting comfortably and take a few deep breaths to still yourself. 

Alleluia! Christ is risen!  He is risen indeed! Alleluia.

Prayers of Penitence

In baptism we died with Christ, so that as Christ was raised from the dead, we might walk in newness of life. Let us receive new life in him as we confess our sins in penitence and faith.                                                                         cf Romans 6.4

Silence for reflection 

Like Mary at the empty tomb, we fail to grasp the wonder of your presence. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.

Like the disciples behind locked doors, we are afraid to be seen as your followers. Christ, have mercy. Christ, have mercy.

Like Thomas in the upper room, we are slow to believe.  Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.

May the God of love and power forgive us and free us from our sins, heal and strengthen us by his Spirit, and raise us to new life in Christ our Lord. Amen

The Collect  

You might like to keep a few moments of silence

Almighty God, who through your only-begotten Son Jesus Christ have overcome death and opened to us the gate of everlasting life: grant that, as by your grace going before us you put into our minds good desires, so by your continual help we may bring them to good effect; through Jesus Christ our risen Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen

Acts 7.55-end

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. ‘Look,’ he said, ‘I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!’ But they covered their ears, and with a loud shout all rushed together against him. 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. While they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’ 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.

Psalm 31.1-5,15-16

/R: Let your face shine on your servants and we shall be saved

In you, O Lord, have I taken refuge; let me never be put to shame; deliver me in your righteousness. Incline your ear to me; make haste to deliver me. /R:

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. /R:

Take me out of the net that they have laid secretly for me, for you are my strength. Into your hands I commend my spirit, for you have redeemed me, O Lord God of truth. /R:

‘My times are in your hand; deliver me from the hand of my enemies, and from those who persecute me. ‘Make your face to shine upon your servant, and save me for your mercy’s sake.’ /R:

1 Peter 2.2-10

Like new-born infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.  Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and 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. 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.’  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’, 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.

The Gospel according to John                                           Chapter 14:1-14

Jesus said, Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. 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? 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. And you know the way to the place where I am going.’ Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.’  Philip said to him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.’ 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”? 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. 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. 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. I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 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

Reflection

These verses are part of the address Jesus offers his disciples at the Last Supper. It follows Peter’s question, ‘Lord, where are you going?’ (13:36) and Jesus’ reply that, for the moment, he must go alone. Yet he offers his disciples comfort in all this. When he leaves, it is to prepare a place for them in the community of God’s house. In departing, he will show them the way to God through dying and rising as he confronts the world with the truth and then reveals the power of life. When he is with the Father, even greater works will follow. This section precedes the new teaching that the Father will give the disciples the Spirit of truth.  Jesus transforms the questions from Thomas and Philip into opportunities to explain more about himself and his relationship to God in ways that invite the disciples to be part of his life with the Father. Speaking of ‘the Way’, he invites them to follow. Truth links them to the God of all truth. Life is the gift of the living God. And in all this, seeing Jesus, they are witnesses to the unbreakable bond of identity between Father and Son.

Linking the readings

God offers us a place to belong. Each of Peter’s ‘living stones’ fits in the wall of the spiritual temple held together by Christ, the cornerstone. John recalls how Jesus spoke of the place he has made ready for us. The Greek word here means a safe, welcoming, night-time stopover. We might imagine this depicts a place where we belong because Jesus makes us welcome. Stephen, too, in the violence of his death, recognises that he is going home where he belongs. These ‘safe spaces’ enable us to find our place and our role within the community of Jesus’ followers, so that life’s anxieties are lessened because Jesus gives our lives meaning and security.

Reproduced with permission www.rootsontheweb.com 2002-2021  

Prayers

Spend a few moments praying for the people you know and love, for the world, for peace and for the relief of refugees everywhere. 

On The Fifth Sunday of Easter            

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

Praying for the Earth                                                              The Oceans     

In the beginning your Spirit swept over the face of the waters, and the mighty oceans of the world reflect your majesty and glory.  May the wind and the waves remind us of your creative power.  In your mercy protect all who work and travel on the sea,  and preserve the teeming life of coral reef and ocean depth. Amen

From the Diocesan Cycle of Prayer for the Church

Porvoo Communion: Diocese of Southwark and the Diocese of Björgvin (Church of Norway)

Anglican Communion: The Church of North India (United)) Moderator: The Most Reverend Paritosh Canning

Hexham Deanery:   For the appointment of a Deanery Secretary and a Deanery Finance Officer

From our Parish Prayer Cycle this week 

Pray for all food store staff and all vehicle servicing centre staff in the parish

For the sick and those being cared for in hospital or at home      

For those in residential care    

For those whose year’s minds are this week 

Robert Stark, Ruth Rattenbury, William John Roe, Wilhemina Barry Martin, James Nicholson, Thomas Robson & Samuel Cross

You might like to end your prayers with The Lord's Prayer  

Our Father,  who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.  And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever.  Amen.

The Conclusion

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all evermore. Amen

Let us bless the Lord! Alleluia! Alleluia! Thanks be to God! Alleluia! Alleluia!