2nd Sunday of Easter: 11 Apr 2021

+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Opening:

God of life, source of all faith,
through the waters of baptism you have raised us up in Jesus
and given us life that endures.
Day by day refine our faith, that we who have not seen the Christ
may truly confess him as our Lord and God
and share the blessedness of those who believe.
Grant this through Jesus Christ, the resurrection and the life,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever.

Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me?
Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
(John 20:29)

__________

See What a Morning – Stuart Townend (Hadleigh Baptist Church, UK)

__________

OT Reading: Isa 26:1-9,19 (ESV)

You Keep Him in Perfect Peace

26:1 In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:

“We have a strong city;
he sets up salvation
as walls and bulwarks.
2 Open the gates,
that the righteous nation that keeps faith may enter in.
3 You keep him in perfect peace
whose mind is stayed on you,
because he trusts in you.
4 Trust in the Lord forever,
for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.
5 For he has humbled
the inhabitants of the height,
the lofty city.
He lays it low, lays it low to the ground,
casts it to the dust.
6 The foot tramples it,
the feet of the poor,
the steps of the needy.”

7 The path of the righteous is level;
you make level the way of the righteous.
8 In the path of your judgments,
O Lord, we wait for you;
your name and remembrance
are the desire of our soul.
9 My soul yearns for you in the night;
my spirit within me earnestly seeks you.
For when your judgments are in the earth,
the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.

26:19 Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise.
You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy!
For your dew is a dew of light,
and the earth will give birth to the dead.

__________

Psalms: Ps 111,112 (ESV)

Great Are the Lord’s Works

MIQEDEM – Psalm 111/112 (Live in Studio) תהילים קי״א/קי״ב
Psalm 111 and 112 (first 4 verses of each) in the original Hebrew – for translation turn on CC!

__________

Gospel Reading: John 20:19-31 (ESV)

Jesus Appears to the Disciples

20:19 On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”

Jesus and Thomas

24 Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”

26 Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” 28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

The Purpose of This Book

30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

__________

Goodness Of God ~ Bethel Music

__________

NT Reading: 1 John 5:1-5 (ESV)

Overcoming the World

5:1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

__________

Overcome The World – ENCS Music | Singapore

__________

Prayer –

Gracious and Merciful God: hear our prayers and help us, in this our time of need –

+ For the peace of the whole world, and for the well-being and unity of the people of God, preserve us….
+ For all those who proclaim the Gospel at home and abroad; and for all who teach and disciple others, protect us….
+ For our brothers and sisters in Christ who are persecuted for their faith, deliver us….
+ For our nation, for those in authority, and for all in public service, guide and direct them….
+ For all those who are in trouble, sorrow, need, sickness, or any other adversity, heal us….
+ For all those who have departed this life in the certain hope of the resurrection, comfort us….

Heavenly Father, grant these our prayers for the sake of Jesus Christ, our only Mediator and Advocate, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

__________

Blessing

May the peace of the Lord Christ go with us, wherever He may send us.
May He guide us through the wilderness, protect us through the storm.
May He bring us home rejoicing at the wonders He has shown us.
May He bring us home rejoicing once again into our doors.

__________

+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.