Sunday, April 22, 2018

Unless I see April 22, 2017

Worship on Sunday, April 22 …
We continue with our series – Raised with Him – as we focus on the interplay of faith and doubt in the lives of believers.



╬ “Unless I see …”

 People through the ages have been critical of Thomas.  This one refuses to believe unless he sees the marks of Christ’s passion, unless he engages them physically!  Doubting Thomas!  “He of little faith.”   And yet the story of Thomas becomes instructive for all of us about the ways in which questioning and doubt seem to come hand-in-hand with the faith that God invites us into.  As people living in the light of the Resurrection, what does it mean to be faithful?  And how are we to deal with the doubt that accompanies us on the journey of faith? 


The Prayer of the Day and Readings are below.

God’s blessings of faith and peace to you all,

- Pr. Brad Highum
bhighum@abidinglove.org

PRAYER OF THE DAY --------------------------------------------

 God of life, as we walk with you into new days, help our faith to grow and deepen.  Guide us and teach us through our shared experience and the power of your Spirit to hold to our faith in you.  Amen.

READINGS -------------------------------------------------------- 

 First Reading:  Isaiah 12:2-6
2 Surely God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid, for the Lord God is my strength and my might; he has become my salvation.  3 With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. 4 And you will say in that day: Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name; make known his deeds among the nations; proclaim that his name is exalted.  5 Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously; let this be known in all the earth.  6 Shout aloud and sing for joy, O royal Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.

Psalm 146
1 Praise the Lord!  Praise the Lord, O my soul!

 2 I will praise the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God all my life long.

 3 Do not put your trust in princes, in mortals, in whom there is no help.

 4 When their breath departs, they return to the earth; on that very day their plans perish.

 5 Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God,

 6 who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them; who keeps faith forever;

 7 who executes justice for the oppressed; who gives food to the hungry.  The Lord sets the prisoners free;

 8 the Lord opens the eyes of the blind.  The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous.

 9 The Lord watches over the strangers; he upholds the orphan and the widow, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.

 10 The Lord will reign forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations.  Praise the Lord!

Second Reading:  1 John 1:1-10
1 We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life — 2 this life was revealed, and we have seen it and testify to it, and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us — 3 we declare to you what we have seen and heard so that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4 We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.  5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with him while we are walking in darkness, we lie and do not do what is true; 7 but if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

Gospel:  John 20:19-31
19 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." 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." 22 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 retain the sins of any, they are retained."  24 But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, 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 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."  26 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." 27 Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt 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 come to believe."  30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. 31 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.
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