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<DIV>The following are the readings for the Sixth Sunday of Easter, May 1,
according to the Revised Common (RCL), Episcopal (ECUSA), Roman Catholic,
Canadian BAS, and the Church of England (Common Worship) lectionaries. All
readings are taken from the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) of the Bible.
Unless noted otherwise, the ECUSA, Canadian and C of E lectionaries are
identical to the RCL for this day.</DIV>
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<DIV>The readings are posted on our web site: <<A
href="http://satucket.com/lectionary">http://satucket.com/lectionary</A>>, in
RTF format, which can be read by all word processors.</DIV>
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<DIV>FIRST READING: Acts 16: 9 - 15 (RCL) </DIV>
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<DIV>Acts 16:9 (NRSV) During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of
Macedo'nia pleading with him and saying, "Come over to Macedo'nia and help us."
10 When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to
Macedo'nia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to
them. </DIV>
<DIV>11 We set sail from Tro'as and took a straight course to Sam'othrace, the
following day to Neap'olis, 12 and from there to Philip'pi, which is a leading
city of the district of Macedo'nia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city
for some days. 13 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. 14 A certain woman named Lyd'ia, a worshiper of
God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyati'ra and a dealer in
purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by
Paul. 15 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. </DIV>
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<DIV>Acts 15: 1 - 2, 22 - 29 (Roman Catholic) </DIV>
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<DIV>Acts 15:1 (NRSV) Then certain individuals came down from Judea and were
teaching the brothers, "Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of
Moses, you cannot be saved." 2 And after Paul and Bar'nabas had no small
dissension and debate with them, Paul and Bar'nabas and some of the others were
appointed to go up to Jerusalem to discuss this question with the apostles and
the elders. </DIV>
<DIV>22 Then the apostles and the elders, with the consent of the whole church,
decided to choose men from among their members and to send them to An'tioch with
Paul and Bar'nabas. They sent Judas called Barsab'bas, and Silas, leaders among
the brothers, 23 with the following letter: "The brothers, both the apostles and
the elders, to the believers of Gentile origin in An'tioch and Syria and
Cili'cia, greetings. 24 Since we have heard that certain persons who have gone
out from us, though with no instructions from us, have said things to disturb
you and have unsettled your minds, 25 we have decided unanimously to choose
representatives and send them to you, along with our beloved Bar'nabas and Paul,
26 who have risked their lives for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27 We have
therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by
word of mouth. 28 For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to impose
on you no further burden than these essentials: 29 that you abstain from what
has been sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from
fornication. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell."
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<DIV>PSALM 67 (RCL)</DIV>
<DIV>Psalm 67: 1 - 2, 5 - 6, 8 (Roman Catholic)</DIV>
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<DIV>Psal 67:1 (NRSV) May God be gracious to us and bless us </DIV>
<DIV>and make his face to shine upon us, [Se'lah] </DIV>
<DIV>2 that your way may be known upon earth, </DIV>
<DIV>your saving power among all nations. </DIV>
<DIV>3 Let the peoples praise you, O God; </DIV>
<DIV>let all the peoples praise you. </DIV>
<DIV>4 Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, </DIV>
<DIV>for you judge the peoples with equity </DIV>
<DIV>and guide the nations upon earth. [Se'lah] </DIV>
<DIV>5 Let the peoples praise you, O God; </DIV>
<DIV>let all the peoples praise you. </DIV>
<DIV>6 The earth has yielded its increase; </DIV>
<DIV>God, our God, has blessed us. </DIV>
<DIV>7 May God continue to bless us; </DIV>
<DIV>let all the ends of the earth revere him.</DIV>
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<DIV>Note: Verse numbering in Roman Catholic bibles is one greater than the
above</DIV>
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<DIV>SECOND READING: Revelation 21: 10, 22 - 22: 5 (RCL) </DIV>
<DIV>
Revelation 21: 10 - 14, 22 - 23 (Roman Catholic) </DIV>
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<DIV>Reve 21:10 (NRSV) 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. 11 It has the glory of God and a radiance like a very rare jewel, like
jasper, clear as crystal. 12 It has a great, high wall with twelve gates, and at
the gates twelve angels, and on the gates are inscribed the names of the twelve
tribes of the Israelites; 13 on the east three gates, on the north three gates,
on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. 14 And the wall of the
city has twelve foundations, and on them are the twelve names of the twelve
apostles of the Lamb. </DIV>
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<DIV>22 I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty
and the Lamb. 23 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. 24 The nations will walk by
its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. 25 Its
gates will never be shut by day--and there will be no night there. 26 People
will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. 27 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. 22:1 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 2 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. 3 Nothing accursed will be found there any more. But the throne
of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him; 4 they
will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 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. </DIV>
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<DIV>GOSPEL: John 14: 23 - 29 (all) </DIV>
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<DIV>John 14:23 (NRSV) Jesus answered him [Judas, not Iscariot], "Those who love
me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and
make our home with them. 24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and
the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me. </DIV>
<DIV>25 "I have said these things to you while I am still with you. 26 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. 27 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. 28 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. 29
And now I have told you this before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you
may believe. </DIV>
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<DIV>John 5: 1 - 9 (alt. for RCL) </DIV>
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<DIV>John 5:1 (NRSV) After this there was a festival of the Jews, and Jesus went
up to Jerusalem. </DIV>
<DIV>2 Now in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate there is a pool, called in Hebrew
Beth-za'tha, which has five porticoes. 3 In these lay many invalids--blind,
lame, and paralyzed. 4 5 One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight
years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been there a long
time, he said to him, "Do you want to be made well?" 7 The sick man answered
him, "Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up;
and while I am making my way, someone else steps down ahead of me." 8 Jesus said
to him, "Stand up, take your mat and walk." 9 At once the man was made well, and
he took up his mat and began to walk. </DIV>
<DIV>Now that day was a sabbath. </DIV>
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<DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri'; COLOR: #000000">Chad
Wohlers<BR>Woodbury, VT
USA<BR>chadwohl@satucket.com<BR></DIV></DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>