Easter 6

“Down by the Riverside”

Worship for the 6th Sunday of Easter: May 25, 2025
IN-PERSON and ONLINE at 10:30 a.m.

The Rev. Matthew Emery, lead minister, preaching

Revelation 21:10, 21:22 - 22:5 and Acts 16:6-15

Through the Season of Easter this year, we are hearing from scriptures that point us toward the question of “what happens next?”—as in, what comes after Easter. We’ve heard readings from the book of Acts, which chronicles what happened among the very first generation of disciples and Christ-followers in the first couple of decades after Jesus' resurrection. We’ve also heard from the book of Revelation, which speaks in an imaginative and visionary way about what God has in store for the culmination of all creation.

This week, we're shifting back into the stories told in the book of Acts, with a scene in which openness to the guidance of the Holy Spirit turns the course of the apostle Paul to new lands and new peoples -- including a woman named Lydia, who becomes the first "European" convert to Christianity and goes on to be a great supporter of the early Christian movement.