New Testament Readings         

Romans 5:5b-11
A reading from the letter of Paul to the Romans
God’s love has been poured into our hearts
through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
For while we were still weak,
at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person—
though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die.
But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners
Christ died for us.
Much more surely then,
now that we have been justified by his blood,
will we be saved through Christ from the wrath of God.
For if, while we were enemies,
we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son,
much more surely, having been reconciled,
will we be saved by his life.
The Word of the Lord.
 
Romans 5:17-21
A reading from the letter of Paul to the Romans
If, by the transgression of one person,
death came to reign through that one,
how much more will those who receive the abundance of grace
and of the gift of justification come to reign in life
through the person Jesus Christ.
In conclusion,
just as through one transgression condemnation came upon all,
so through one righteous act acquittal and life came to all.
For just as through the disobedience of one person
the many were made sinners,
so through the obedience of one the many will be made righteous.
The law entered in so that transgression might increase but,
where sin increased grace overflowed all the more,
so that, as sin reigned in death,
grace also might reign through justification for eternal life
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
The Word of the Lord.
 
Romans 6:3-9
A reading from the letter of Paul to the Romans
My brothers and sisters:
Do you not know
that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus
were baptized into his death?
Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death,
so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead
by the glory of the Father,
so we too might walk in newness of life.
For if we have grown into union with him through a death like his,
we shall also be united with him in the resurrection.
We know that our old self was crucified with him,
so that our sinful body might be done away with,
that we might no longer be in slavery to sin.
For a dead person has been absolved from sin.
But if we have died with Christ,
we believe that we will also live with him.
We know that Christ, being raised from the dead,
will never die again;
death no longer has dominion over him.
The Word of the Lord.
 
Romans 6:3-4,8-9
Short Form
A reading from the letter of Paul to the Romans
My brothers and sisters:
Do you not know
that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus
were baptized into his death?
Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death,
so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead
by the glory of the Father,
so we too might walk in newness of life.
But if we have died with Christ,
we believe that we will also live with him.
We know that Christ, being raised from the dead,
will never die again;
death no longer has dominion over him.
The Word of the Lord.
 
Romans 8:14-23
A reading from the letter of Paul to the Romans
For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.
For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear,
but you have received a spirit of adoption.
When we cry, “Abba! Father!”
it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God,
and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ –
if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.
I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us.
For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God;
for the creation was subjected to futility,
not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it,
in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay
and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now;
and not only the creation, but we ourselves,
who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.
The Word of the Lord.
 
Romans 8:31b-35,37-39
A reading from the letter of Paul to the Romans
If God is for us, who is against us?
He who did not withhold his own Son,
but gave him up for all of us,
will he not with him also give us everything else?
Who will bring any charges against God’s elect?
It is God who justifies.
Who is to condemn?
It is Christ Jesus, who died,
yes, who was raised,
who is at the right hand of God,
who indeed intercedes for us.
Who will separate us from the love of Christ?
Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine,
or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors
through him who loved us.
For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers,
nor things present, nor things to come,
nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation,
will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The Word of the Lord.
 
Romans 14:7-9
A reading from the letter of Paul to the Romans
We do not live to ourselves,
and we do not die to ourselves.
If we live, we live to the lord,
and if we die, we die to the Lord;
so then, whether we live or whether we die,
we are the Lord’s.
For to this end Christ died and lived again,
so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.
The Word of the Lord.
 
1 Corinthians 13:4-7
A reading from the first letter of Paul to the Corinthians
Love is patient; love is kind;
love is not envious or boastful,
or arrogant, or rude.
It does not insist on its own way;
it is not irritable or resentful;
it does not rejoice in wrongdoing,
but rejoices in the truth.
It bears all things, believes all things,
hopes all things, endures all things.
The Word of the Lord.
 
1 Corinthians 15:20-23
A reading from the first letter of Paul to the Corinthians
In fact, Christ has been raised from the dead,
the first fruits of those who have died.
For since death came through a human being,
the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human being;
for as all die in Adam,
so all will be made alive in Christ.
But each in his own order:
Christ the first fruits,
then at his coming those who belong to Christ.
The Word of the Lord.
 
1 Corinthians 15:51-57
A reading from the first letter of Paul to the Corinthians
Listen, I will tell you a mystery!
We will not all die, but we will all be changed,
in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye,
at the last trumpet.
For the trumpet will sound,
and the dead will be raised imperishable,
and we will be changed.
For this perishable body must put on imperishability,
and this mortal body must put on immortality.
When this perishable body puts on imperishability,
and this mortal body puts on immortality,
then the saying that is written will be fulfilled:
“Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
“Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God,
who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Word of the Lord.
 
2 Corinthians 4:13 – 5:1
A reading from the second letter of Paul to the Corinthians
Just as we have the same spirit of faith
that is in accordance with scripture—
“I believe, and so I spoke”—
we also believe, and so we speak,
because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus
will raise us also with Jesus,
and will bring us with you into his presence.
Yes, everything is for your sake,
so that grace, as it extends to more and more people,
may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.
So we do not lose heart.
Even though our outer nature is wasting away,
our inner nature is being renewed day by day.
For this slight momentary affliction
is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure,
because we look not at what can be seen,
but at what cannot be seen
for what can be seen is temporary,
but what cannot be seen is eternal.
For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed,
we have a building from God,
a house not made with hands,
eternal in the heavens.
The Word of the Lord.
 
2 Corinthians 5:1,6-10
A reading from the second letter of Paul to the Corinthians
We know that when the tent that we live in on earth is folded up, there is a house built by God for us, an everlasting home not made by human hands, in the heavens.
We are always full of confidence, then, when we remember that to live in the body means to be exiled from the Lord, going as we do by faith and not by sight—we are full of confidence, I say, and actually want to be exiled from the body and make our home with the Lord.
Whether we are living in the body or exiled from it, we are intent on pleasing him. For all the truth about us will be brought out in the law court of Christ, and each of will get what he deserves for the things he did in the body, good or bad.
The Word of the Lord.
 
Ephesians 3:14-21
A reading from the letter of Paul to the Ephesians
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,
from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name.
I pray that, according to the riches of his glory,
God may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being
with power through his Spirit,
and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith,
as you are being rooted and grounded in love.
I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints,
what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge,
so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Now to God who by the power at work within us
is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine,
to him be glory in the church
and in Christ Jesus to all generations,
forever and ever. Amen.
The Word of the Lord.
 
Philippians 3:20-21
A reading from the letter of Paul to the Philippians
But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
He will transform the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, by the power that also enables him to make all things subject to himself.
The Word of the Lord.
 
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
A reading from the first letter of Paul to the Thessalonians
But we do not want you to be uninformed,
brothers and sisters, about those who have died,
so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.
For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again,
even so, through Jesus,
God will bring with him those who have died.
For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord,
that we who are alive,
who are left until the coming of the Lord,
will by no means precede those who have died.
For the Lord himself, with a cry of command,
with the archangel’s call and with the sound of God’s trumpet,
will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will arise first.
Then we who are alive, who are left,
will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air;
and so we will be with the Lord forever.
Therefore encourage one another with these words.
The Word of the Lord.
 
2 Timothy 2:8-13
A reading from the second letter of Paul to Timothy
Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David—
that is my gospel, for which I suffer hardship,
even to the point of being chained like a criminal.
But the word of God is not chained.
Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect,
so that they may also obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus,
with eternal glory.
The saying is sure:
If we have died with him, we will also live with him:
if we endure, we will also reign with him;
if we deny him, he will also deny us;
if we are faithless, he remains faithful—
for he cannot deny himself.
The Word of the Lord.
 
2 Timothy 4:6-8.17-18
A reading from the second letter of Paul to Timothy
As for me,
I am already being poured out as a libation,
and the time of my departure has come.
I have fought the good fight,
I have finished the race,
I have kept the faith.
From now on
there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness,
which the Lord, the righteous judge,
will give me on that day,
and not only to me
but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
But the Lord stood by me
and gave me strength,
so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed
and all the Gentiles might hear it.
So I was rescued from the lions mouth.
The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack
and save me for this heavenly kingdom.
To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen
The Word of the Lord.
 
1 Peter 1:3-9
A reading from the first letter of Peter
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:
a birth into an inheritance,
that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading,
kept in heaven for you,
who are being protected by the power of God through faith
for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
In this you rejoice,
even if now for a little while
you have had to suffer various trials,
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.
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,
for you are receiving the outcome of your faith,
the salvation of your souls.
The Word of the Lord.
 
1 John 3:1-2
A reading from the first letter of John
See what love the Father has given us,
that we should be called children of God;
and that is what we are.
The reason the world does not know us
is that it did not know him.
Beloved, we are God’s children now;
what we will be has not yet been revealed.
What we do know is this:
When he is revealed,
we will be like him,
for we will see him as he is.
The Word of the Lord.
 
The Word of the Lord.