The Easter Threshold

St Barnabas readers and intercessors rota

Introduction to the Season

See what a morning, gloriously bright
With the dawning of hope in Jerusalem;
Folded the grave-clothes
Tomb filled with light,
As the angels announce Christ is risen!
See God’s salvation plan, wrought in love,
Borne in pain, paid in sacrifice,
Fulfilled in Christ, the Man, for He lives,
Christ is risen from the dead!

Every generation of Christians has to work out afresh what resurrection means. The Chinese Christian teacher Watchman Nee (1903–1972) lived much of his life in circumstances not so different in spirit from those faced by the first disciples. His ministry unfolded during a time of political upheaval in China, and he eventually spent many years in prison because of his Christian faith. Like the first disciples themselves, he had to discover what it meant to live by the power of the resurrection when life itself felt precarious. Reflecting on that experience, he wrote:

“The greatest negative in the universe is the cross, for with it God wiped out everything that was not of Himself. The greatest positive in the universe is the resurrection, the threshold of the new creation. Everything that had its beginning before resurrection must be wiped out. Resurrection is God’s new starting-point.”

Threshold. Threshold is a powerful image. A threshold is the place where one space gives way to another. You cross it when you step from the familiar into something new. The resurrection of Jesus is exactly such a moment. The disciples encountered the risen Christ, but they then had to learn what life looked like on the other side of that event. Resurrection was not simply a truth to believe but an environment they had to inhabit — a new world into which they had to grow.

This year, our Sunday worship will follow that discovery through the first of the New Testament epistles bearing St Peter’s name. Each Sunday the passage from 1 Peter will sit at the centre of the service, alongside the Gospel and the reading from Acts, helping us listen for what the resurrection means for the life of the church. The letter speaks with remarkable clarity about hope, courage, humility, suffering and community — themes that continue to shape Christian life today. Across the weeks, a clear movement emerges — like stepping stones across the threshold into resurrection life:

Season overview

Click the link above the season’s guidance notes. The quick summary of the weeks is below:

12th April From resurrection flows hope. Easter begins with the sheer fact of Christ raised, and the church learning to breathe in that new air. 1 Peter opens with a “living hope” born from the resurrection — not optimism, but a new birth into God’s future.
19th April From hope flows holiness. Hope cannot remain a feeling. It must take shape in a life that looks different — a life that carries the weight of belonging to God. Holiness is hope stretched into practice.
26th April From holiness flows witness. A holy life cannot be hidden. It becomes visible, sometimes painfully so. The early church found that holiness placed them under scrutiny; 1 Peter prepares us for the same.
3rd May From witness flows suffering. Faithful witness often provokes resistance. The letter refuses to treat suffering as failure; instead, it becomes participation in Christ’s own path.
10th May From suffering flows community. Pressure reveals our need for one another. 1 Peter shows a pattern of shared shepherding, humble care, and mutual dependence — the only kind of community that weather troubled times.
17th May From community flows strength. As the season draws toward Ascension, the readings show a people held together by God’s sustaining hand. Strength is not self‑generated; it is given, established, restored.
24th May From strength flows sending. Pentecost completes the movement. The Spirit breathes life into the gathered community and carries them outward into the world. The threshold crossed at Easter becomes a doorway through which the church is sent.

Throughout the centuries, Easter has never been a single day but a fifty‑day sabbath, stretching from sunrise on Easter morning to the Spirit falling upon the disciples at nine o’clock on Pentecost morning. Last year we tried something new by giving those fifty days a clearer shape in our life together through ABIDE resources called The Road to Pentecost. This year we revisit that intention with a new ABIDE season called The Easter Threshold, helping us inhabit these weeks more deliberately as we walk through them together. As ever, the idea behind this ABIDE season is that exploration happens at our own pace in our own way. Some people will encounter the season mainly through Sunday worship, others through using the ABIDE booklets at home, and others again through the Wednesday or Friday groups meeting at the Vicarage. Together they form a shared attempt to give the Easter season the attention it deserves — learning, week by week, what it means to live on the far side of the resurrection.

The groups meet at the Vicarage on:
Friday mornings at 10.30am, from 17 April to 22 May
Wednesday evenings at 7.00pm, from 15 April to 20 May

Sunday 12th April

Week 1 The Easter Threshold
… from RESURRECTION to HOPE …

10am St Barnabas Communion Rev Sarah
11.15 St Wulstans SES/Communion Rev Rosie

The links below will go live as materials are uploaded

Common Worship Additional Collect
Risen Christ, for whom no door is locked, no entrance barred: open the doors of our hearts, that we may seek the good of others and walk the joyful road of sacrifice and peace, to the praise of God the Father.
Amen.

Acts 2:14a, 22-32
John 20:19-31
1 Peter 1:1-12*

The starting place: The word resurrection can be understood in different ways: as something that had disappeared being brought back into use or existence; as Jesus Christ returning to life on the third day after his death; or as the promise that all people will be raised to life at the end. Which of these matters to you most this Spring?

Listening to Acts: Read the first sermon preached by Peter in Acts 2:14a, 22–32. Do you think Peter is speaking more in metaphors about resurrection or more as an eyewitness?

Listening to the Gospel: Read about Thomas meeting the risen Jesus in John 20:19–31. Think of three things you would ask Thomas about these moments.

Listening to Peter: 1 Peter is a New Testament letter, between CE 60 and 90, in the name of the apostle Peter. Scholars differ on whether Peter himself wrote it or whether it comes from a later writer in his tradition. The letter is encouraging believers to live with living hope grounded in the resurrection of Jesus even amid hardship. Read our first extract that follows and look out for the excited words that Peter uses to talk about the resurrection. You might like to use a highlighter pen!

1 Peter 1:1–12

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,

To the exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who have been chosen and destined by God the Father and sanctified by the Spirit to be obedient to Jesus Christ and to be sprinkled with his blood: May grace and peace be yours in abundance.

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, and 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.

Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that was to be yours made careful search and inquiry, inquiring about the person or time that the Spirit of Christ within them indicated, when it testified in advance to the sufferings destined for Christ and the subsequent glory. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in regard to the things that have now been announced to you through those who brought you good news by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things into which angels long to look.

The threshold: If the living hope Peter describes — new birth, joy, glory, salvation, and an inheritance that cannot fade — were ten out of ten, what score would you give your own sense of that hope at the moment?

Moving forward: In this spring season, what might you nurture, and what could you prune back, so that this living hope can blossom for you?

A Prayer for this Week
God who awakens each spring of our lives, you have given us new birth into a living hope by raising Jesus Christ from the dead: root that hope deeply in the soils of our own times and seasons, that we may live with joy in the life you have begun; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Sunday 19th April

Week 2 The Easter Threshold
… from HOPE to HOLINESS …

10am St Barnabas Something Else Sunday Rev Sarah and John D
11.15 St Wulstans Communion Rev Paul and Chris W

The links below will go live as materials are uploaded

Common Worship Additional Collect
Risen Christ, you filled your disciples with boldness and fresh hope: strengthen us to proclaim your risen life and fill us with your peace, to the glory of God the Father.
Amen.

Acts 2:14a, 36-41
Luke 24:13-35
1 Peter 1:13-2:10*

The starting place: Hope can be a powerful beginning: it can inspire vision and courage, but it can also slip into pie-in-the-sky thinking. When have you found that hope needed support from outside you, or action from within you, to give it real weight or direction?

Listening to Acts: Read Acts 2:14a, 36–41. A particular kind of hope appears when people realise that something has gone badly wrong and begin searching for a way out. Notice the ways that this desperate hope shows in the crowd.

Listening to the Gospel: Read Luke 24:13–35. Hope can fade when events seem to contradict everything we once trusted. What do you notice about this account of disappointed hope?

Listening to Peter: In this next section of Peter’s letter, the living hope we encountered last time is drawn forward into holiness. For him, holiness is not something we drum up to get right with God; it is the shape of how we think, act, and belong in response to God. As you read, look out for the “before” and “after” language Peter uses.

1 Peter 1:13–2:10

Therefore prepare your minds for action; discipline yourselves; set all your hope on the grace that Jesus Christ will bring you when he is revealed. Like obedient children, do not be conformed to the desires that you formerly had in ignorance. Instead, as he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct; for it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.’ If you invoke as Father the one who judges all people impartially according to their deeds, live in reverent fear during the time of your exile. You know that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish. He was destined before the foundation of the world, but was revealed at the end of the ages for your sake. Through him you have come to trust in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are set on God.

Now that you have purified your souls by your obedience to the truth so that you have genuine mutual love, love one another deeply from the heart. You have been born anew, not of perishable but of imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God. For ‘All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord endures for ever.’ That word is the good news that was announced to you. Rid yourselves, therefore, of all malice, and all guile, insincerity, envy, and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in scripture: ‘See, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.’ To you then who believe, he is precious; but for those who do not believe, ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the very head of the corner’, and ‘A stone that makes them stumble, and a rock that makes them fall.’ They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

The threshold: Peter uses striking phrases to describe the life of holiness. For instance, how comfortable would you feel saying, “I am a living stone,” or “My hope is set on God”? Which of his phrases would you be happy to wear as a badge of your life at the moment, and which still feels some way off?

Moving forward: In this spring season, what might you nurture, and what could you prune back, so that holiness can blossom for you?

A Prayer for this Week
God who calls us into holiness, you have given us a living hope: shape our lives to match that gift; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Sunday 26th April

Week 3 The Easter Threshold
… from HOLINESS to WITNESS …

Acts 2:42-47
John 10:1-10
1 Peter 2:11-3:12*

10am St Barnabas Communion Rev Andy
Intercessor: Sue S
Readers: John D and Noah
Organist Sunday
Opening hymn
Gospel hymn
Offertory hymn
Communion setting
Communion hymn
Sending hymn

11.15 St Wulstans Communion Rev Sarah
Opening hymn: I heard the voice of Jesus say HOAN 231
Gloria: St Thomas Thorne (on the service leaflet)
Offertory hymn: Ubi caritas HOAN 525
Sung Sanctus, said Agnus
Communion hymn: I will offer up my life (Matt Redman) video
Sending hymn: The King of Love my shepherd is HOAN 148

The links below will go live as materials are uploaded

Common Worship Additional Collect
Risen Christ, faithful shepherd of your Father’s sheep: teach us to hear your voice and to follow your command, that all your people may be gathered into one flock, to the glory of God the Father.
Amen.

The starting place: Holiness is a word that can both attract and repel. Some people hear in it the beauty of a life close to God; others hear the weight of judgment or moral pressure. When you hear the word holiness, what draws you towards it, and what makes you uneasy about it?

Listening to Acts: Read Acts 2:42–47. Notice all the ways in which the community practised conspicuous holiness.

Listening to the Gospel: Read John 10:1–10. Jesus speaks about sheep who recognise the shepherd’s voice and follow him. What does this image suggest about holiness as belonging?

Listening to Peter: The good Shepherd is not a gentle image but rather one of separation: those who know the shepherd’s voice stand out from those who do not. As you read our next passage from Peter, below, take time to notice how holiness creates distinction, distinction creates exposure, and exposure creates accountability.

1 Peter 2:11–3:12

Beloved, I urge you as aliens and exiles to abstain from the desires of the flesh that wage war against the soul. Conduct yourselves honourably among the Gentiles, so that, though they malign you as evildoers, they may see your honourable deeds and glorify God when he comes to judge. For the Lord’s sake accept the authority of every human institution, whether of the emperor as supreme, or of governors, as sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to praise those who do right. For it is God’s will that by doing right you should silence the ignorance of the foolish. As servants of God, live as free people, yet do not use your freedom as a pretext for evil. Honour everyone. Love the family of believers. Fear God. Honour the emperor.

Slaves, accept the authority of your masters with all deference, not only those who are kind and gentle but also those who are harsh. For it is to your credit if, being aware of God, you endure pain while suffering unjustly. If you endure when you are beaten for doing wrong, where is the credit in that? But if you endure when you do right and suffer for it, you have God’s approval. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his steps. ‘He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.’ When he was abused, he did not return abuse; when he suffered, he did not threaten; but he entrusted himself to the one who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that, free from sins, we might live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. For you were going astray like sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.

Wives, in the same way, accept the authority of your husbands, so that, even if some of them do not obey the word, they may be won over without a word by their wives’ conduct, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. Do not adorn yourselves outwardly by braiding your hair, and by wearing gold ornaments or fine clothing; rather, let your adornment be the inner self with the lasting beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in God’s sight. It was in this way long ago that the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves by accepting the authority of their husbands. Thus Sarah obeyed Abraham and called him lord. You have become her daughters as long as you do what is good and never let fears alarm you. Husbands, in the same way, show consideration for your wives in your life together, paying honour to the woman as the weaker sex, since they too are also heirs of the gracious gift of life—so that nothing may hinder your prayers.

Finally, all of you, have unity of spirit, sympathy, love for one another, a tender heart, and a humble mind. Do not repay evil for evil or abuse for abuse; but, on the contrary, repay with a blessing. It is for this that you were called—that you might inherit a blessing. For ‘Those who desire life and desire to see good days, let them keep their tongues from evil and their lips from speaking deceit; let them turn away from evil and do good; let them seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.’

The threshold: Think about the places where your life is most visible — work, home, friendships, community. Where might your faith already be speaking for itself, for better or for worse?

Moving forward: This spring, what might you nurture, and what might you prune back, so that your life bears clearer witness to Good Shepherd you follow?

A Prayer for this Week
Good Shepherd, give us courage to live lives that cannot be hidden; that all we do may bear faithful witness to you.
Amen.

Sunday 3rd May

Week 4 The Easter Threshold
… from WITNESS to SUFFERING …

Acts 7:55-60
John 14:1-14
1 Peter 3:13-4:19*

10am St Barnabas Communion Rev Sarah
Intercessor: Rev Sarah
Readers: Helen (Acts 7) and Margaret (John 14)
Band Sunday
Opening hymn: All glory, laud and honour A&M 159 vv 1-5
Gospel hymn: The Clapping Gloria
Offertory hymn: O Jesus I have promised A&M 748 vv 1,3,4 (upbeat tune)
Communion setting: Israeli Mass
Communion hymn: The servant king A&M 489
Sending hymn: At the name of Jesus A&M 593 vv 1,3,6 (ideally Camberwell)

11.15 St Wulstans Communion Rev Nick
Opening hymn: All glory, laud and honour HOAN 11 vv 1-5
Gloria: St Thomas Thorne (on the service leaflet)
Offertory hymn: The servant king HOAN 148
Sung Sanctus, said Agnus
Communion hymn: Awesome God (Vicky Beeching) video
Sending hymn: All I once held dear (words on weekly link sheet)

The links below will go live as materials are uploaded

Common Worship Additional Collect
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.
Amen.

The starting place: Take a moment to see how many sentences you can make that include the word witness.

Listening to Acts: Our reading this time is Acts 7:55–60, but you may well want to read the fuller account of Stephen’s final moments which begins a chapter earlier. Look out for the presence of the different ways you used the word witness in the previous question. Are they all there? Are there any present that you did not include to begin with?

Listening to the Gospel: Read Thomas and Phillip in conversation with Jesus on the night of his arrest in John 14:1-14. As you listen to their questions and Jesus’s answers, what kind of life does Jesus suggest awaits those who bear witness to him?

Listening to Peter: Peter writes today as someone who lived long enough to see both Jesus’ promises and the suffering of those who bear witness to him. What strands of wisdom do you find in his reflections?

1 Peter 3:13–4:19

Now who will harm you if you are eager to do what is good? But even if you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear, and do not be intimidated, but in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defence to anyone who demands from you an account of the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and reverence. Keep your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who abuse you for your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if suffering should be God’s will, than to suffer for doing evil. For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight people, were saved through water. And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you—not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him.

Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same intention (for whoever has suffered in the flesh has finished with sin), so as to live for the rest of your earthly life no longer by human desires but by the will of God … The end of all things is near; therefore be serious and discipline yourselves for the sake of your prayers. Above all, maintain constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins. Be hospitable to one another without complaining. Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received. Whoever speaks must do so as one speaking the very words of God; whoever serves must do so with the strength that God supplies, so that God may be glorified in all things through Jesus Christ. To him belong the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that is taking place among you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice in so far as you are sharing Christ’s sufferings, so that you may also be glad and shout for joy when his glory is revealed. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the spirit of glory, which is the Spirit of God, is resting on you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, a criminal, or even as a mischief-maker. Yet if any of you suffers as a Christian, do not consider it a disgrace, but glorify God because you bear this name. For the time has come for judgement to begin with the household of God; if it begins with us, what will be the end for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And ‘If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinners?’ Therefore, let those suffering in accordance with God’s will entrust themselves to a faithful Creator, while continuing to do good.

The threshold: Where have you noticed that faithfulness to Christ carries even a small cost in your own life? How willingly did you pay it?

Moving forward: Think about struggles that churches face and ones that you carry personally. As you read Peter’s words this week, is there any of them you might begin to see differently, or find more bearable?

A Prayer for this Week
Generous God, whose way is love, whose truth is searching, whose life is freely given in Jesus Christ our Lord: may we too make a place for the rejected and unloved and share in your work of peace.
Amen.

Sunday 10th May

Week 5 The Easter Threshold
… from SUFFERING to COMMUNITY …

Common Worship Additional Collect
Risen Christ, by the lakeside you renewed your call to your disciples: help your Church to obey your command and draw the nations to the fire of your love, to the glory of God the Father.
Amen.

Acts 17:22-31
John 14:15-21
1 Peter 5:1-5*

10am St Barnabas Communion Rev Sarah
Intercessor: Rev Andy
Readers: Ann C (Acts 17) and Richard W (John 14)
Opening hymn: In Christ there is no east or west A&M 679
The Peruvian Gloria (cantor needed)
Offertory hymn: Come down O love dine A&M 238
Communion setting: Israeli Mass
Communion hymn: Father we adore you A&M 275
Sending hymn: The Spirit lives to set us free A&M 264

11.15 St Wulstans SES / Communion Rev Rosie
local arrangements

The links below will go live as materials are uploaded

The starting place: How big does something have to become before we’re willing to call it suffering? Why isn’t the answer the same for everyone everywhere?

Listening to Acts: Often, Paul found himself beaten and arrested for preaching. In Acts 17:22–31, he is in Athens, a city of many gods, far from the shared assumptions of Jerusalem. In the middle of such risks, how does Paul hold together finding common ground with his listeners and remaining distinctive about the God we meet in Jesus?

Listening to the Gospel: Read Jesus speaking to his disciples in John 14:15-21. What does his promise of the Advocate suggest about the struggles his followers would face when he is no longer physically with them?

Listening to Peter: Read 1 Peter 5:1–5 below. How does Peter recommend we build community?

Now as an elder myself and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as one who shares in the glory to be revealed, I exhort the elders among you to tend the flock of God that is in your charge, exercising the oversight, not under compulsion but willingly, as God would have you do it — not for sordid gain but eagerly. Do not lord it over those in your charge but be examples to the flock. And when the chief shepherd appears, you will win the crown of glory that never fades away. In the same way, you who are younger must accept the authority of the elders. And all of you must clothe yourselves with humility in your dealings with one another, for ‘God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’

The threshold: In John 14 Jesus spoke to his disciples together, even though English only gives us the single word ‘you’ where other languages distinguish between singular and plural. He knows that the struggles ahead have the power to bring them together. Peter has just described something of that community in reality. The momentum here is about the unexpected blessing that comes with struggle — suffering as the condition, community as the life that forms within it. Why is it that shared hardship so often draws people into community? Where have you known this to be true?

Moving forward: Communities often take shape in difficult seasons, when people discover that they need one another. Peter describes a pattern of life in which people care for one another, lead by example, accept guidance, and clothe themselves with humility. The French priest Michel Quoist once prayed, “Lord, grant that I may be a meeting place.” In other words, a person through whom others can find connection and belonging. As you carry these readings with you this week, first take a moment to notice where others have already made space for you — times when someone’s kindness, welcome, or patience helped draw you into community. And then ask yourself where you might offer that same gift to someone else?

A Prayer for this Week
Trinity of love, as your people you call us to live close to you: guide us by your Spirit of truth wherever we go — in busy places and quiet ones, in easy times and hard ones; so that through us your love may reach the hearts of people everywhere, through Jesus Christ our brother.
Amen.

Sunday 17th May

Week 6 The Easter Threshold
… from COMMUNITY to STRENGTH …

Common Worship Additional Collect
Risen, ascended Lord, as we rejoice at your triumph, fill your Church on earth with power and compassion, that all who are estranged by sin may find forgiveness and know your peace, to the glory of God the Father.
Amen.

Acts 1:6-14
John 17:1-11
1 Peter 5:6-11*

10am St Barnabas Something Else Ascension Sunday Special Chris W & team

11.15 St Wulstans Communion for Ascension Sunday Rev Sarah

The links below will go live as materials are uploaded

The starting place: Take a moment to see how many sentences you can make that include the word community. What does this tell us about how flexible the word is, and about the many different ways it can be used?

Listening to Acts: Read Acts 1:6–14 as Jesus ascends, he promises them that they will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon them; and then build communities in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. As you read, keep an eye out for every sign that they are already acting as a community rather than as separate individuals.

Listening to the Gospel: In Acts Jesus is leaving the disciples without his physical presence. Some six weeks earlier, on the night before his arrest, Jesus had prayed for his disciples. As you read John 17:1–11, trace the relationships that are named in the passage. Who belongs to whom, and how are those relationships connected?

Listening to Peter: Read 1 Peter 5:6–11 below. As you read, note the habits Peter encourages for the life of this community. You might like to use a highlighter pen.

Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you. Discipline yourselves; keep alert. Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour. Resist him, steadfast in your faith, for you know that your brothers and sisters throughout the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering. And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.

The threshold: John shows Jesus praying for their unity, and Acts shows that unity taking root. In 1 Peter, the habits you noted describe how that shared life is lived. What do these habits show about the paradox that the community becomes strong precisely as it learns to depend on God?

Moving forward: In this spring season, is there a particular habit you noted in 1 Peter that stirs something in you? What might you nurture, and what might you prune back, in response?

A Prayer for this Week
No wonder when Jesus teaches his disciples to pray, he begins, “Our Father in heaven,” not “My Father.” In that word “our” we hear a people held together before God, learning humility, bringing their anxieties to him, and depending on his care. It is the same life Peter describes: a community shaped by trust in God, and strengthened not by itself but by him.

And so, as our Saviour taught us, so we pray

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory
are yours now and for ever. Amen.

Sunday 24th May

Week 7 The Easter Threshold
… from STRENGTH to SENDING …

Common Worship Additional Collect
Holy Spirit, sent by the Father, ignite in us your holy fire; strengthen your children with the gift of faith, revive your Church with the breath of love, and renew the face of the earth, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

1 Peter 5:12-14
John 20:19-23
Acts 2:1-21

10am St Barnabas Pentecost Communion Rev Andy & Rev Nick
Intercessor: Rev Philip
Readers: Steve Ruddle and Philip Jones

11.15 St Wulstans Pentecost Communion Rev Sarah

The links below will go live as materials are uploaded

The starting place: Make a list of the strongest things you can think of.

Listening to Peter: In this week’s closing comments, 1 Peter closes the letter by grounding the community in the true grace of God. They are steadied, named, and connected with believers beyond themselves; this is strength understood as firm standing and shared belonging. These are real people, living real lives of faith with whom we have journeyed these last seven weeks.

1 Peter 5:12–14

Through Silvanus, whom I consider a faithful brother, I have written this short letter to encourage you, and to testify that this is the true grace of God. Stand fast in it. Your sister church in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you greetings; and so does my son Mark. Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ.

Listening to the Gospel and to Acts: What do you notice about the two different experiences of the Spirit in John 20:19–23 and Acts 2:1–21?

The threshold: Reflect on your own experience of strength and of sending. Do you recognise it more in Jesus breathing peace and the Spirit on his disciples in John 20 or in the Spirit coming with wind, fire, and speech in Acts 2?

Moving forward: Across these seven weeks, we have been moving through a series of crossings that began with the resurrection of Jesus. Each Sunday has carried us from one place into another, as Acts, John and 1 Peter have shown how the earliest believers learned to live on the far side of Easter. What began with the shock of resurrection has unfolded into a pattern of life that still shapes the church today. Our first crossing was resurrection itself. Acts and John showed the risen Christ alive among his people, and 1 Peter described this as a new birth into a living hope. Hope rises wherever Christ is present. But hope cannot remain a feeling. It draws us into holiness, not as pressure or perfectionism, but as the shape hope takes when it becomes embodied. Holiness is hope learning to walk.

From holiness we moved into witness. A holy life cannot be hidden. The early believers lived in such a way that their shared life was its own proclamation, and John’s image of the shepherd showed that those who know his voice stand out. Holiness creates distinction, and distinction creates visibility. Visibility then carried us into suffering. Stephen’s death showed that witness is costly, and Jesus’ words showed that truth provokes resistance. Peter insisted that suffering is not failure but participation in Christ’s own path. Yet suffering did not leave the early church isolated. Instead, it opened the way into community. Paul in Athens, the disciples awaiting the Advocate, and Peter’s call to humble care all revealed the same truth: pressure exposes our need for one another. Community is the life that forms when suffering is shared. From community we moved into strength. At the Ascension, Jesus entrusted his followers to one another and to the Father. They stayed together, prayed together, waited together. Peter reminded us that strength is not self-made but God-given. Community is the form, and strength is the life that grows within it.

And now, at Pentecost, we reach the final movement of the season. From strength flows sending. In 1 Peter’s closing words, the community is steadied and named, rooted in the true grace of God and connected with believers beyond themselves. In John, the risen Christ breathes peace and Spirit upon his disciples. In Acts, that same Spirit fills the gathered church and sends them outward with courage they did not possess on their own. The movement we have traced is clear. Resurrection gives birth to hope. Hope matures into holiness. Holiness becomes witness. Witness leads to suffering. Suffering forms community. Community becomes strength. Strength becomes sending. This is the life of the church.

A Prayer for Pentecost Sunday
Faithful God, who fulfilled the promises of Easter by sending us your Holy Spirit and opening to every race and nation the way of life eternal: open our lips by your Spirit, that every tongue may tell of your glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Eight Points of the Compass

resources for the journey

The Easter Threshold

Introduction to the Season

Season overview

Sunday 12th April

Sunday 19th April

Sunday 26th April

Sunday 3rd May

Sunday 10th May

Sunday 17th May

Sunday 24th May

Introduction to the Season

Season overview

Sunday 12th April

Sunday 19th April

Sunday 26th April

Sunday 3rd May

Sunday 10th May

Sunday 17th May

Sunday 24th May

Share this: