Readings

Acts 2.14, 22-32

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UanBauOU3Hw

Psalm 16 

1 Peter 1.3-9

GOSPEL

John 20.19-31

On the evening of that first day of the week,
when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews,
Jesus came and stood in their midst
and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side.
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.”
And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them,
“Receive the Holy Spirit.
Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them,
and whose sins you retain are retained.”

Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve,
was not with them when Jesus came.
So the other disciples said to 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 into the nailmarks
and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

Now a week later his disciples were again inside and Thomas was with them.
Jesus came, although the doors were locked,
and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands,
and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.”
Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
Jesus said to him, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”

Now, Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book.
But these are written that you may come to believe
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God,
and that through this belief you may have life in his name.

Hymns

Alleluia! Sing to Jesus;
His the sceptre, His the throne.
Alleluia! His the triumph,
His the victory alone.
Hark! The songs of peaceful Zion
thunder like a mighty flood;
“Jesus out of ev’ry nation
has redeemed us by His blood.

Alleluia! Not as orphans
are we left in sorrow now.
Alleluia! He is near us;
faith believes, nor questions how.
Though the cloud from sight received Him
when the forty days were o’er,
shall our hearts forget His promise,
“I am with you evermore”?

Alleluia! Bread of heaven,
here on earth our food, our stay.
Alleluia! Here the sinful
flee to You from day to day.
Intercessor, Friend of sinners,
earth’s Redeemer, hear our plea
where the songs of all the sinless
sweep across the crystal sea

Now the green blade riseth, from the buried grain,
Wheat that in dark earth many days has lain;
Love lives again, that with the dead has been:
Love is come again like wheat that springeth green.

In the grave they laid Him, Love who had been slain,
Thinking that He never would awake again,
Laid in the earth like grain that sleeps unseen:
Love is come again like wheat that springeth green.

Forth He came at Easter, like the risen grain,
Jesus who for three days in the grave had lain;
Quick from the dead the risen One is seen:
Love is come again like wheat that springeth green.

When our hearts are wintry, grieving, or in pain,
Jesus’ touch can call us back to life again,
Fields of our hearts that dead and bare have been:
Love is come again like wheat that springeth green.

Jesus lives, thy terrors now (Listen)

Jesus lives, thy terrors now

Can, O death, no more appall us;
Jesus lives: by this we know
Thou, O grave, cannot enthrall us.
Alleluia!

Jesus lives: henceforth is death
But the gate to life immortal;
This shall calm our trembling breath
When we pass its gloomy portal.
Alleluia!

Jesus lives: our hearts know well
Nought from us his love shall sever;
Life nor death nor pow’rs of hell
Tear us from his keeping ever.
Alleluia!

Jesus lives: to him the throne
Over all the world is given:
May we go where he is gone,
Rest and reign with him in heaven.
Alleluia!

Intercessions

From Peter Day

In this time of trouble and confusion, O Lord, we pray that you will keep us in your mercy and protection. Bring the light of the Resurrection to our darkness.

We pray for those who are ill, and those who are fearful of illness.

We ask for God’s help for those who are thrown out of work, and those who have far too much work to do. We pray for the isolated and the lonely, that they may be consoled.

We give thanks for all those who love their neighbours: in particular for those who care for the sick, and the many who continue to provide the services our society relies upon.

We pray for those who are deeply worried about people they love.

We pray for those who have recently died, and for those who grieve for them, and also for those whose anniversaries we remember.

And we pray that our national and international leaders may be guided to make wise decisions for the wellbeing of our future world.

We give thanks for St Peter’s, and we pray for God’s blessing on Julia, on Sarah and on all who worship and support our Church.

Oh Lord, every day in this parish, hundreds of prayers are offered to you by many people inside and outside this church, like arrows shot to heaven. They echo our thoughts and fears, our joys and our sorrows. They continue our formal worship into our everyday life. Oh Lord in your mercy hear our prayers now, and listen for those we will utter up in the coming weeks and years.

Merciful God, accept these prayers for the sake of your son our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.

Reflection

(shared by Sarah Dallas)

When

A Poem by John O’Donnell

And when this ends we will emerge, shyly
and then all at once, dazed, longhaired as we embrace
loved ones the shadow spared, and weep for those
it gathered in its shroud. A kind of rapture,this longed-for
laying on of hands, high cries as we nuzzle, leaning in
to kiss, and whisper that now things will be different,
although a time will come when we’ll forget
the curve’s approaching wave, the hiss and sigh
of ventilators, the crowded, makeshift morgues;
a time when we may even miss the old-world
arm’s-length courtesy, small kindnesses left on doorsteps,
the drifting, idle days, and nights when we flung open
all the windows to arias in the darkness, our voices
reaching out, holding each other till this passes.

Read this week’s message from Rev’d Julia Porter-Pryce.

Enjoy this wonderful octet singing Thomas Tallis ‘If Ye Love Me’, from John 14.