Bible reading
John 20:19-31 (NIVUK)
Jesus appears to his disciples
19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you!’ 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
21 Again Jesus said, ‘Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.’ 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.’
Jesus appears to Thomas
24 Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, ‘We have seen the Lord!’
But he said to them, ‘Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.’
26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you!’ 27 Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.’
28 Thomas said to him, ‘My Lord and my God!’
29 Then Jesus told him, ‘Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.’
The purpose of John’s gospel
30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
Thank you so much for the service today. I appreciate all the different people that have taken part, and the IT team that have out it together so beautifully. Whoever you are, thank you. The length and content were perfect. Actually, I was tearful at various parts, just appreciating the relevance, simplicity, peace. Thank you!
PS … I set off on a hunt through the internet today for a service. I wrote my list of what I needed, and struck gold here. Honestly, thank you so much.
Hello Rachel. Thank you for your message. I’m glad you enjoyed our service. While we are unable to meet in our church building, we publish a service on our YouTube channel every Sunday at 10 a.m. that is linked from these sermon pages. Here you will also find an archive of the sound recordings of our sermons, which we podcast via a number of podcast providers. On the other days of the week we have Bread for Today at 10 a.m. on YouTube, which is a 5-10 minute reflection. The home page of this website has links to all of our on-line activities, including our YouTube channel and Facebook page, as well as some longer pieces of writing that appear only on the website. Do take a look around and join in with our on-line community. We hope to see you again soon.