After Pentecost | Friday 05 Jun
+ In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen
Opening prayer:
O God,
the strength of all who put their trust in you:
Mercifully accept our prayers, and because,
through the weakness of our mortal nature,
we can do no good thing without you,
grant us the help of your grace to keep your commandments,
that we may please you in will and deed;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
“Then Abram gave Melchizedek
a tenth of all the goods he had recovered.“
(Genesis 14:20)
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Psalms: Psalm 33 – “Stand in Awe” | The Psalms Project
33:1 Let the godly sing for joy to the Lord;
it is fitting for the pure to praise him.
+ Praise the Lord with melodies on the lyre;
make music for him on the ten-stringed harp.
+ Sing a new song of praise to him;
play skillfully on the harp, and sing with joy.
+ For the word of the Lord holds true,
and we can trust everything he does.
+ He loves whatever is just and good;
the unfailing love of the Lord fills the earth.
33:6 The Lord merely spoke,
and the heavens were created.
He breathed the word,
and all the stars were born.
+ He assigned the sea its boundaries
and locked the oceans in vast reservoirs.
+ Let the whole world fear the Lord,
and let everyone stand in awe of him.
+ For when he spoke, the world began!
It appeared at his command.
33:10 The Lord frustrates the plans of the nations
and thwarts all their schemes.
+ But the Lord’s plans stand firm forever;
his intentions can never be shaken.
33:12 What joy for the nation whose God is the Lord,
whose people he has chosen as his inheritance.
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OT Reading: Genesis 14:17-24 (NLT)
Melchizedek Blesses Abram
14:17 After Abram returned from his victory over Kedorlaomer and all his allies, the king of Sodom went out to meet him in the valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley).
+ And Melchizedek, the king of Salem and a priest of God Most High, brought Abram some bread and wine. Melchizedek blessed Abram with this blessing:
“Blessed be Abram by God Most High,
Creator of heaven and earth.
+ And blessed be God Most High,
who has defeated your enemies for you.”
Then Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of all the goods he had recovered.
+ The king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give back my people who were captured. But you may keep for yourself all the goods you have recovered.”
+ Abram replied to the king of Sodom, “I solemnly swear to the Lord, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, + that I will not take so much as a single thread or sandal thong from what belongs to you. Otherwise you might say, ‘I am the one who made Abram rich.’ I will accept only what my young warriors have already eaten, and I request that you give a fair share of the goods to my allies—Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre.”
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We Give Thee But Thine Own – St. Paul Lutheran Church Austin
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NT Reading: Acts 28:1-10 (NLT)
Paul on the Island of Malta
28:1 Once we were safe on shore, we learned that we were on the island of Malta. The people of the island were very kind to us. It was cold and rainy, so they built a fire on the shore to welcome us.
28:3 As Paul gathered an armful of sticks and was laying them on the fire, a poisonous snake, driven out by the heat, bit him on the hand. The people of the island saw it hanging from his hand and said to each other, “A murderer, no doubt! Though he escaped the sea, justice will not permit him to live.” But Paul shook off the snake into the fire and was unharmed. The people waited for him to swell up or suddenly drop dead. But when they had waited a long time and saw that he wasn’t harmed, they changed their minds and decided he was a god.
28:7 Near the shore where we landed was an estate belonging to Publius, the chief official of the island. He welcomed us and treated us kindly for three days. As it happened, Publius’s father was ill with fever and dysentery. Paul went in and prayed for him, and laying his hands on him, he healed him. Then all the other sick people on the island came and were healed. As a result we were showered with honors, and when the time came to sail, people supplied us with everything we would need for the trip.
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Come, Ye Disconsolate – Gracias Choir
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Almighty God our Savior, you desire that none should perish, and you have taught us through your Son that there is great joy in heaven over every sinner who repents: Grant that our hearts may ache for a lost and broken world. May your Holy Spirit work through our words, deeds, and prayers, that the lost may be found and the dead made alive, and that all your redeemed may rejoice around your throne; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Lord Jesus: Bless all those who work together for the spread of the Gospel; make them faithful and true witnesses to proclaim your glorious Name. Send down the grace of the Holy Spirit upon all your people, that we may give cheerfully of our substance for the evangelization of the world, and that the light of your truth may shine brightly in every place. Hear us, O merciful Savior, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit live and reign, one God, world without end. Amen.
O God, our heavenly Father: Send forth laborers into your harvest; defend them in all dangers and temptations; and hasten the time when the fullness of the Gentiles shall be gathered in, and faithful Israel shall be saved; through your Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Closing: FaithandWorship.com | John Birch
The Lord bless us, and preserve us from all evil,
and keep us in eternal life.
+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
2:17 These people are as useless as dried-up springs or as mist blown away by the wind. They are doomed to blackest darkness. They brag about themselves with empty, foolish boasting. With an appeal to twisted sexual desires, they lure back into sin those who have barely escaped from a lifestyle of deception. They promise freedom, but they themselves are slaves of sin and corruption. For you are a slave to whatever controls you. And when people escape from the wickedness of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and then get tangled up and enslaved by sin again, they are worse off than before. It would be better if they had never known the way to righteousness than to know it and then reject the command they were given to live a holy life. They prove the truth of this proverb: “A dog returns to its vomit.” And another says, “A washed pig returns to the mud.”
12:7 A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge. The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said. It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.
Spiritual Gifts
The Peanut Gallery 