week of May 11th, 2025

March-May Bonus Readings

Community of Christ will be holding its 2025 World Conference at the end of May and beginning of June. In the weeks leading up to the conference, the resolutions that will be discussed and debated there will be available here on the Someday School website. Taking some time to read over and annotate these resolutions will let you stay aware of what’s being discussed as a whole church—and share your thoughts on what direction the church should go in.

This Week’s Lectionary Scripture

Fourth Sunday of Easter¹

Today is the fourth Sunday of the Easter season. The Easter season continues for fifty days and concludes with the Day of Pentecost.

Revelation 7:9-17

After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands. They cried out in a loud voice, saying,

“Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne and to the Lamb!”

And all the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, singing,

“Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”

Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, robed in white, and where have they come from?” I said to him, “Sir, you are the one who knows.” Then he said to me, “These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

For this reason they are before the throne of God and worship him day and night within his temple, and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them. They will hunger no more and thirst no more; the sun will not strike them, nor any scorching heat, for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

• How is the entire book of Revelation used today to threaten and bring fear? How can we find hope in its message instead?
• Earlier in Revelation, those who are given white robes are told to “rest a little longer.” What might be the significance of that to the early Christians?
• What is the implication of the multitude being “from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages?” How might we apply Community of Christ’s Enduring Principle of Worth of All Persons to this multitude?

This Week’s Text from Sharing in Community of Christ

We Share Sacraments ²

Look especially to the sacraments to enrich the spiritual life of the body.

—Doctrine and Covenants 158:11c

Generously share the invitation, ministries, and sacraments through which people can encounter the Living Christ who heals and reconciles through redemptive relationships in sacred community.

—Doctrine and Covenants 163:2b

The Sacraments

We encounter God through the sacraments of the church, which touch lives at important times and places. Sacraments bring God’s grace, the influence of the Holy Spirit, and the example of the life of Jesus Christ together with one’s personal commitment of faith. Through the sacraments, we discover the presence of God everywhere and realize that all life is sacred. These encounters point to God’s loving desire to bring all people to peace, wholeness, and right relationships with one another and the Divine, which is the meaning of salvation. The sacraments refresh, renew, and challenge us to continue on Christ’s mission, our mission, for the sake of all creation.

Community of Christ has eight sacraments, most of which are celebrated in worship experiences at appropriate times.