After Pentecost | Thursday 04 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.
“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.”
(2 Peter 2:20)
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Psalms: Psalm 33:1-12 – “Psalm 33” – Albert Keever
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 13:1-18 (NLT)
Abram and Lot Separate
13:1 So Abram left Egypt and traveled north into the Negev, along with his wife and Lot and all that they owned. (Abram was very rich in livestock, silver, and gold.) From the Negev, they continued traveling by stages toward Bethel, and they pitched their tents between Bethel and Ai, where they had camped before. This was the same place where Abram had built the altar, and there he worshiped the Lord again.
33:5 Lot, who was traveling with Abram, had also become very wealthy with flocks of sheep and goats, herds of cattle, and many tents. But the land could not support both Abram and Lot with all their flocks and herds living so close together. So disputes broke out between the herdsmen of Abram and Lot. (At that time Canaanites and Perizzites were also living in the land.)
33:8 Finally Abram said to Lot, “Let’s not allow this conflict to come between us or our herdsmen. After all, we are close relatives! The whole countryside is open to you. Take your choice of any section of the land you want, and we will separate. If you want the land to the left, then I’ll take the land on the right. If you prefer the land on the right, then I’ll go to the left.”
33:10 Lot took a long look at the fertile plains of the Jordan Valley in the direction of Zoar. The whole area was well watered everywhere, like the garden of the Lord or the beautiful land of Egypt. (This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) Lot chose for himself the whole Jordan Valley to the east of them. He went there with his flocks and servants and parted company with his uncle Abram. So Abram settled in the land of Canaan, and Lot moved his tents to a place near Sodom and settled among the cities of the plain. But the people of this area were extremely wicked and constantly sinned against the Lord.
33:14 After Lot had gone, the Lord said to Abram, “Look as far as you can see in every direction—north and south, east and west. I am giving all this land, as far as you can see, to you and your descendants as a permanent possession. And I will give you so many descendants that, like the dust of the earth, they cannot be counted! Go and walk through the land in every direction, for I am giving it to you.”
33:18 So Abram moved his camp to Hebron and settled near the oak grove belonging to Mamre. There he built another altar to the Lord.
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התקווה (המנון ישראל) – הילה בן דוד | Hatikvah (The Hope – National Anthem of Israel) Hila Ben David
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NT Reading: 2 Peter 2:17-22
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.”
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The Lord’s Prayer (Live from Monte Bianco) – Andrea Bocelli, Matteo Bocelli
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Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid: Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy Name; through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Almighty God, you have not dealt with us according to our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities; grant that we, who for our evil deeds deserve to be punished, by the might of your grace may mercifully be relieved; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
O God, our heavenly Father: Pour out your Spirit on your Church, that we may fulfill Christ’s command to preach the Gospel to all people. 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.
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
28:16 Then the eleven disciples left for Galilee, going to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him—but some of them doubted!
The Peanut Gallery 