Collect, Readings and Prayers for Second Sunday of Easter

Collect

Almighty Father,

you have given your only Son to die for our sins

and to rise again for our justification:

grant us so to put away the leaven of malice and wickedness

that we may always serve you

in pureness of living and truth;

through the merits of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord,

who is alive and reigns with you,

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever.

Readings

Exodus 14: 10-31; 15:20-21

¹⁰ As Pharaoh drew near, the Israelites looked back, and there were the Egyptians advancing on them. In great fear the Israelites cried out to the Lord. ¹¹ They said to Moses, ‘Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us, bringing us out of Egypt? ¹² Is this not the very thing we told you in Egypt, “Let us alone and let us serve the Egyptians”? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.’ ¹³ But Moses said to the people, ‘Do not be afraid, stand firm, and see the deliverance that the Lord will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you see today you shall never see again. ¹⁴ The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to keep still.’

¹⁵ Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Why do you cry out to me? Tell the Israelites to go forward. ¹⁶ But you lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the Israelites may go into the sea on dry ground. ¹⁷ Then I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them; and so I will gain glory for myself over Pharaoh and all his army, his chariots, and his chariot drivers. ¹⁸ And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gained glory for myself over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his chariot drivers.’

¹⁹ The angel of God who was going before the Israelite army moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from in front of them and took its place behind them. ²⁰ It came between the army of Egypt and the army of Israel. And so the cloud was there with the darkness, and it lit up the night; one did not come near the other all night.

²¹ Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. The Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night, and turned the sea into dry land; and the waters were divided. ²² The Israelites went into the sea on dry ground, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left. ²³ The Egyptians pursued, and went into the sea after them, all of Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and chariot drivers. ²⁴ At the morning watch the Lord in the pillar of fire and cloud looked down upon the Egyptian army, and threw the Egyptian army into panic. ²⁵ He clogged their chariot wheels so that they turned with difficulty. The Egyptians said, ‘Let us flee from the Israelites, for the Lord is fighting for them against Egypt.’

The Pursuers Drowned

²⁶ Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Stretch out your hand over the sea, so that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots and chariot drivers.’ ²⁷ So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at dawn the sea returned to its normal depth. As the Egyptians fled before it, the Lord tossed the Egyptians into the sea. ²⁸ The waters returned and covered the chariots and the chariot drivers, the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea; not one of them remained. ²⁹ But the Israelites walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left.

³⁰ Thus the Lord saved Israel that day from the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. ³¹ Israel saw the great work that the Lord did against the Egyptians. So the people feared the Lord and believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses.

Exodus 15:20-21

The Song of Miriam

²⁰ Then the prophet Miriam, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand; and all the women went out after her with tambourines and with dancing. ²¹ And Miriam sang to them:

‘Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously;
horse and rider he has thrown into the sea.’

Acts 2:14a; 22-32

Peter Addresses the Crowd

14 On the day of Pentecost ^,Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them: ‘Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say.

²² ‘You that are Israelites,^[a] listen to what I have to say: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with deeds of power, wonders, and signs that God did through him among you, as you yourselves know— ²³ this man, handed over to you according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of those outside the law. ²⁴ But God raised him up, having freed him from death, because it was impossible for him to be held in its power. ²⁵ For David says concerning him,

“I saw the Lord always before me,
    for he is at my right hand so that I will not be shaken;
²⁶ therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced;
    moreover, my flesh will live in hope.
²⁷ For you will not abandon my soul to Hades,
    or let your Holy One experience corruption.
²⁸ You have made known to me the ways of life;
    you will make me full of gladness with your presence.”

²⁹ ‘Fellow Israelites, I may say to you confidently of our ancestor David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. ³⁰ Since he was a prophet, he knew that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would put one of his descendants on his throne. ³¹ Foreseeing this, David spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, saying,

“He was not abandoned to Hades,
    nor did his flesh experience corruption.”

³² This Jesus God raised up, and of that all of us are witnesses.’

1 Peter 1:3-9

A Living Hope

³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴ and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, ⁵ who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. ⁶ In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials, ⁷ so that the genuineness of your faith—being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed. ⁸ Although you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, ⁹ for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

John 20:19-31

Jesus Appears to the Disciples

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.’

Jesus and Thomas

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.’

The Purpose of This Book

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.

Prayers

Lord, we come to you in prayer today, with thanks for the “countless gifts of love” with which you bless our daily lives.

• God, made known to us in Jesus,

you come to meet us in every moment.

Forgive us

when we do not recognise you in other people;

when we choose the easy way because it will

cause us less hassle;

when we put ourselves first and

deliberately turn away from you.

Today we are sorry,

forgive us and make us new.

Lord, we hear your words of comfort and assurance

“Your sins are forgiven; go in peace”.

• Risen Jesus,

Thank you for Easter Love,

May that love fill everyone who worships you

and overflow into the lives of the people around us.

Risen Jesus,

Thank you for Easter Peace,

We remember all those who live in the midst of conflict.

Stand alongside them.

Risen Jesus,

Thank you for Easter Faith,

We pray for those who find it difficult to believe.

Open their hearts and minds to your truth.

Risen Jesus,

Thank you for Easter Hope,

We [ray for those who are bereaved,

May they be comforted

and know that your life is stronger than death.

Amen.

• Lord, we remember that Christ has risen and there is nothing at all to separate us from your love and so we give you thanks and praise. And yet your resurrection challenges us.  We can identify with Thomas and the women – full of questions, doubts and fears – panicking when confronted by strange events which cannot be explained.

Help us Lord:

- lift our eyes to see the obstacles rolled away

- encourage us to enter the unknown with faith

- meet us even when we turn away.

Lord, we believe. Help us to believe even more and to live in you the new life - resurrection life – your life in us.  Amen.

• Loving God, we thank you that your Son, Jesus, came to bring us life in all its fullness. Reach out and touch your troubled world, when it seems full of hatred and suffering, famine and poverty; when pride and self-gratification mean more than striving for peace and love for others. We think particularly today of the war in Iran and Lebanon, the conflict in Gaza and the war in Ukraine and pray that you will prosper the current initiatives for peace in the Middle East. Lord, help us to listen to your voice and respond to your call to bring hope to this troubled world by whatever means we may. Amen

• Loving God, reach out and bless our local communities: those we worship with, live with and work with, and especially those known to us who are ill or in need of comfort. Help us to listen to your voice and respond to your call to speak out for the voiceless and support those who are troubled wherever they may be. Amen.

• Loving God, reach out and inspire those who hold positions of leadership, in government and business, churches and charities, education and health. Encourage in all leaders a spirit of integrity and generosity and enable them to see the way ahead clearly. In particular, today we hold before you those who are leaders of worship in your church, who preach and teach, lead and inspire, nurture and encourage the people of God and we pray too for all those with responsibilities for the maintenance and administration of our churches and churchyards, for your guidance, strength and blessing upon them.

Lord, help us to listen to your voice and respond to your call to lead or to serve wherever you need us. Amen

• All-powerful God, we thank you, as we find ourselves alive in this gorgeous universe and blessed by your presence today.  We know that you extend your presence both to the smallest of creatures and to the vastness of our ever-unfolding universe. We praise You for the beauty of the expanding cosmos – the spinning knots of stars and blue shadow moons and circling planets and spiralling galaxies. We thank you for the abilities given to men and women which have enabled them to begin to explore space, both through the use of scientific equipment and through human observation and experience. We give thanks for the skills and bravery of the crew of the Artemis II crew and for the success of their trip so far and pray for their safe return and for productive use of all the images and information which they bring back with them.

Grant that we may journey through our life ever conscious of the wonder of this planet, our own part of the universe, Pour out upon us your love and inspire us to reach out to protect the community of life on the earth, in a sustainable manner.  Amen

• Lord,

Pull down my barriers,

Strip away my pretensions,

Dislodge my excuses,

Tear out my sins.

Wrap me in your love,

Clothe me in your wisdom,

Gird me with your strength,

envelop me with your compassion,

that I may bring beauty and hope to my neighbour.

Amen