Almighty God,

who through your only-begotten Son Jesus Christ

have overcome death and opened to us the gate of everlasting life:

grant that, as by your grace going before us you put into our minds good desires,

so by your continual help

we may bring them to good effect;

through Jesus Christ our risen Lord,

who is alive and reigns with you,

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever.

or

Risen Christ,

your wounds declare your love for the world

and the wonder of your risen life:

give us compassion and courage

to risk ourselves for those we serve,

to the glory of God the Father.

Readings

[Baruch 3.9-15, 32-4.4

⁹ Hear the commandments of life, O Israel;
   give ear, and learn wisdom! 
¹⁰ Why is it, O Israel, why is it that you are in the land of your enemies,
   that you are growing old in a foreign country,
that you are defiled with the dead, 
¹¹   that you are counted among those in Hades? 
¹² You have forsaken the fountain of wisdom. 
¹³ If you had walked in the way of God,
   you would be living in peace for ever. 
¹⁴ Learn where there is wisdom,
   where there is strength,
   where there is understanding,
so that you may at the same time discern
   where there is length of days, and life,
   where there is light for the eyes, and peace. 

¹⁵ Who has found her place?
   And who has entered her storehouses? 
³² But the one who knows all things knows her,
   he found her by his understanding.
The one who prepared the earth for all time
   filled it with four-footed creatures; 
³³ the one who sends forth the light, and it goes;
   he called it, and it obeyed him, trembling; 
³⁴ the stars shone in their watches, and were glad;
   he called them, and they said, ‘Here we are!’
   They shone with gladness for him who made them. 
³⁵ This is our God;
   no other can be compared to him. 
³⁶ He found the whole way to knowledge,
   and gave her to his servant Jacob
   and to Israel, whom he loved. 
³⁷ Afterwards she appeared on earth
   and lived with humankind. 

4She is the book of the commandments of God,
   the law that endures for ever.
All who hold her fast will live,
   and those who forsake her will die. 
² Turn, O Jacob, and take her;
   walk towards the shining of her light. 
³ Do not give your glory to another,
   or your advantages to an alien people. 
⁴ Happy are we, O Israel,
   for we know what is pleasing to God. 

This is the word of the Lord.

AllThanks be to God.

or Genesis 22.1-18]

22After these things God tested Abraham. He said to him, ‘Abraham!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ ²He said, ‘Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt-offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you.’ ³So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac; he cut the wood for the burnt-offering, and set out and went to the place in the distance that God had shown him. ⁴On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place far away. ⁵Then Abraham said to his young men, ‘Stay here with the donkey; the boy and I will go over there; we will worship, and then we will come back to you.’ ⁶Abraham took the wood of the burnt-offering and laid it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together. ⁷Isaac said to his father Abraham, ‘Father!’ And he said, ‘Here I am, my son.’ He said, ‘The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for a burnt-offering?’ ⁸Abraham said, ‘God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt-offering, my son.’ So the two of them walked on together.

9 When they came to the place that God had shown him, Abraham built an altar there and laid the wood in order. He bound his son Isaac, and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. ¹⁰Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to kill his son. ¹¹But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, and said, ‘Abraham, Abraham!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ ¹²He said, ‘Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.’ ¹³And Abraham looked up and saw a ram, caught in a thicket by its horns. Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt-offering instead of his son. ¹⁴So Abraham called that place ‘The Lord will provide’; as it is said to this day, ‘On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.’

15 The angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven, ¹⁶and said, ‘By myself I have sworn, says the Lord: Because you have done this, and have not withheld your son, your only son, ¹⁷I will indeed bless you, and I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of their enemies,¹⁸and by your offspring shall all the nations of the earth gain blessing for themselves, because you have obeyed my voice.’

This is the word of the Lord.

AllThanks be to God.

Acts 11.1-18†

11Now the apostles and the believers who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also accepted the word of God. ²So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him, ³saying, ‘Why did you go to uncircumcised men and eat with them?’ ⁴Then Peter began to explain it to them, step by step, saying, ⁵‘I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision. There was something like a large sheet coming down from heaven, being lowered by its four corners; and it came close to me. ⁶As I looked at it closely I saw four-footed animals, beasts of prey, reptiles, and birds of the air. ⁷I also heard a voice saying to me, “Get up, Peter; kill and eat.” ⁸But I replied, “By no means, Lord; for nothing profane or unclean has ever entered my mouth.”⁹But a second time the voice answered from heaven, “What God has made clean, you must not call profane.” ¹⁰This happened three times; then everything was pulled up again to heaven. ¹¹At that very moment three men, sent to me from Caesarea, arrived at the house where we were. ¹²The Spirit told me to go with them and not to make a distinction between them and us. These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered the man’s house. ¹³He told us how he had seen the angel standing in his house and saying, “Send to Joppa and bring Simon, who is called Peter; ¹⁴he will give you a message by which you and your entire household will be saved.” ¹⁵And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as it had upon us at the beginning. ¹⁶And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said, “John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” ¹⁷If then God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God?’ ¹⁸When they heard this, they were silenced. And they praised God, saying, ‘Then God has given even to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life.’ 

This is the word of the Lord.

AllThanks be to God.

† The reading from Acts must be used as either the first or second reading.

Psalm 148

1  Alleluia.
      Praise the Lord from the heavens; •
   praise him in the heights.
2  Praise him, all you his angels; •
   praise him, all his host.
3  Praise him, sun and moon; •
   praise him, all you stars of light.
4  Praise him, heaven of heavens, •
   and you waters above the heavens.
5  Let them praise the name of the Lord, •
   for he commanded and they were created.
6  He made them fast for ever and ever; •
   he gave them a law which shall not pass away.
7  Praise the Lord from the earth, •
   you sea monsters and all deeps;
8  Fire and hail, snow and mist, •
   tempestuous wind, fulfilling his word;
9  Mountains and all hills, •
   fruit trees and all cedars;
10  Wild beasts and all cattle, •
   creeping things and birds on the wing;
11  Kings of the earth and all peoples, •
   princes and all rulers of the world;
12  Young men and women,
      old and young together; •
   let them praise the name of the Lord.
13  For his name only is exalted, •
   his splendour above earth and heaven.
14  He has raised up the horn of his people
      and praise for all his faithful servants, •
   the children of Israel, a people who are near him.
      Alleluia.

[or Psalm 148.1-6]

1  Alleluia.
      Praise the Lord from the heavens; •
   praise him in the heights.
2  Praise him, all you his angels; •
   praise him, all his host.
3  Praise him, sun and moon; •
   praise him, all you stars of light.
4  Praise him, heaven of heavens, •
   and you waters above the heavens.
5  Let them praise the name of the Lord, •
   for he commanded and they were created.
6  He made them fast for ever and ever; •
   he gave them a law which shall not pass away.

Revelation 21.1-6

21Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. ²And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. ³And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
‘See, the home of God is among mortals.
He will dwell with them;
they will be his peoples,
and God himself will be with them; 
⁴ he will wipe every tear from their eyes.
Death will be no more;
mourning and crying and pain will be no more,
for the first things have passed away.’

5 And the one who was seated on the throne said, ‘See, I am making all things new.’ Also he said, ‘Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.’⁶Then he said to me, ‘It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life.

This is the word of the Lord.

AllThanks be to God.

Gospel Reading

Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John.

AllGlory to you, O Lord.

John 13.31-35

31 When he had gone out, Jesus said, ‘Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. ³²If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. ³³Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, “Where I am going, you cannot come.” ³⁴I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. ³⁵By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.’

This is the Gospel of the Lord.

AllPraise to you, O Christ.

Post Communion

Eternal God,

whose Son Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life:

grant us to walk in his way,

to rejoice in his truth,

and to share his risen life;

who is alive and reigns, now and for ever.