The Sixth Sunday of Easter 2025: God’s Endless Love

We warmly invite you to St. John the Divine Episcopal Church in Burlington, Wisconsin, for our Sixth Sunday of Easter 2025 service on Sunday, May 25, 2025, at 9:00 AM. This Sunday, we reflect on the expansive reach of God’s love and the transformative power of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

For those unable to attend in person, we offer a live stream, podcast, and replay video of the service, ensuring everyone can participate in this meaningful celebration.

Join us online for the Sixth Sunday of Easter 2025

We understand that you may not always be able to join us in person, but we still want you to participate! We have several ways for you to do this.

Live Stream/Video Replay

If you cannot join us in person, you can still worship with us during our worship time via live stream or watch the replay anytime thereafter.

Podcast

You can join us on the go with our podcast, which covers everything from the opening hymn to the “Sharing of the Peace.” You can find our podcast on your favorite podcast player, so why not follow or subscribe today? We strive to produce the podcast as soon as possible after the service ends.

You can find our podcast on your favorite podcast player so why not follow or subscribe today!

We try to produce the podcast as soon as we can after the service ends.

Collect of the Day for the Sixth Sunday of Easter 2025

O God, you have prepared for those who love you such good things as surpass our understanding: Pour into our hearts such love towards you, that we, loving you in all things and above all things, may obtain your promises, which exceed all that we can desire; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

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Readings for the Sixth Sunday of Easter 2025

Acts 16:9–15

Paul receives a vision calling him to Macedonia. He obeys the calling and travels to Philippi, where he encounters Lydia, a worshiper of God. The Lord opens her heart to Paul’s message, resulting in Lydia and her household’s baptism. Lydia’s hospitality exemplifies the welcoming nature of early Christian communities.

⁹During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”¹⁰When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them. ¹¹We set sail from Troas and took a straight course to Samothrace, the following day to Neapolis, ¹²and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city for some days. ¹³On the sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there. ¹⁴A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul. ¹⁵When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home.” And she prevailed upon us.

Psalm 67

A joyful hymn urging all nations to praise God, highlighting His mercy, blessings, and the universal call for all peoples to acknowledge and revere the Lord.

¹ May God be merciful to us and bless us, *
       show us the light of his countenance and come to us.
² Let your ways be known upon earth, *
       your saving health among all nations.
³ Let the peoples praise you, O God; *
       let all the peoples praise you.
⁴ Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, *
       for you judge the peoples with equity
       and guide all the nations upon earth.
⁵ Let the peoples praise you, O God; *
       let all the peoples praise you.
⁶ The earth has brought forth her increase; *
       may God, our own God, give us his blessing.
⁷ May God give us his blessing, *
       and may all the ends of the earth stand in awe of him.

Revelation 21:10, 22–22:5

John envisions the New Jerusalem, shining with God’s glory. In this city, there is no need for a temple or the sun because God’s presence provides all the light. A river of life flows through the city, and the tree of life offers healing to the nations, symbolizing eternal communion with God.

¹⁰And in the spirit he carried me away to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God.²²I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. ²³And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb. ²⁴The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. ²⁵Its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there.²⁶People will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. ²⁷But nothing unclean will enter it, nor anyone who practices abomination or falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

¹Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb ²through the middle of the street of the city. On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. ³Nothing accursed will be found there any more. But the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him; ⁴they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. ⁵And there will be no more night; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

John 14:23–29

Jesus assures his disciples that those who love him will follow his teachings, and he will dwell with them along with the Father. He promises to send the Holy Spirit, also known as the Advocate, to teach them and remind them of his teachings, providing them with peace in the face of future challenges.

²³Jesus answered him, “Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. ²⁴Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me.

²⁵”I have said these things to you while I am still with you. ²⁶But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.²⁷Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.

²⁸You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I am coming to you.’ If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I. ²⁹And now I have told you this before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe.

Or John 5:1-9

Jesus heals a man who has been ill for thirty-eight years and lies near the pool of Beth-zatha in Jerusalem. Observing the man’s struggle and isolation, Jesus asks him if he wants to be made well. Out of compassion, Jesus instructs him to stand up, take his mat, and walk, restoring the man instantly, even though it was the Sabbath.

¹After this there was a festival of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. ²Now in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate there is a pool, called in Hebrew Beth-zatha, which has five porticoes. ³In these lay many invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. ⁵One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. ⁶When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be made well?” ⁷The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; and while I am making my way, someone else steps down ahead of me.” ⁸Jesus said to him, “Stand up, take your mat and walk.” ⁹At once the man was made well, and he took up his mat and began to walk. Now that day was a sabbath.

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Reflection for the Sixth Sunday of Easter 2025

This Sunday’s readings highlight God’s love’s inclusive and transformative nature. From Lydia’s conversion and hospitality to the universal praise in Psalm 67, we’re reminded of the Gospel’s expansive reach. Revelation offers a hopeful vision of eternal communion with God, while the Gospel assures us of the Holy Spirit’s guidance and the peace Christ offers.

As we gather, we’re called to open our hearts, embrace God’s promises, and share the message of love and peace with the world.

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All are welcome—come as you are and join us in worship and fellowship as we celebrate the risen Lord and the new life he offers to all.