Tuesday, 31 Aug 2021:
+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Opening:
O Lord, we pray that your grace may always precede and follow
after us, that we may continually be given to good works;
through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you
and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
“When [Christ] was reviled, he did not revile in return;
when he suffered, he did not threaten,
but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. ”
(1 Peter 2:23)
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Psalms: Psalm 106:1-5 Milton Scottish Metrical Psalter 1650
1 Give praise and thanks unto the Lord,
for bountiful is he;
His tender mercy doth endure
unto eternity.
2 God’s mighty works who can express?
or shew forth all his praise?
3 Blessed are they that judgment keep,
and justly do always.
4 Remember me, Lord, with that love
which thou to thine dost bear;
With thy salvation, O my God,
to visit me draw near:
5 That I thy chosen’s good may see,
and in their joy rejoice;
And may with thine inheritance
triumph with cheerful voice.
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OT Reading: Deuteronomy 4:15-20 (ESV)
Idolatry Forbidden
4:15 “Therefore watch yourselves very carefully. Since you saw no form on the day that the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, beware lest you act corruptly by making a carved image for yourselves, in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female, the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air, the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth. And beware lest you raise your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, you be drawn away and bow down to them and serve them, things that the Lord your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven. But the Lord has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be a people of his own inheritance, as you are this day.
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You Are God Alone – Phillips, Craig & Dean
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NT Reading: 1 Peter 2:19-25 (ESV)
2:19 For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
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In God We Trust – OPEN HEAVEN / River Wild – Hillsong Worship
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Prayer:
+ Almighty God, from whom all thoughts of truth and peace proceed: Kindle, we pray, in the hearts of all people the true love of peace, and guide with your pure and peaceable wisdom those who take counsel for the nations of the earth; that in tranquility your kingdom may go forward, till the earth is filled with the knowledge of your love; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
+ Almighty God, we commend to your gracious care and keeping all the men and women of our armed forces at home and abroad. Defend them day by day with your heavenly grace; strengthen them in their trials and temptations; give them courage to face the perils which beset them; and grant them a sense of your abiding presence wherever they may be; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
+ Most loving Father, you will us to give thanks for all things, to dread nothing but the loss of you, and to cast all our care on the One who cares for us. Preserve us from faithless fears and worldly anxieties, and grant that no clouds of this mortal life may hide from us the light of that love which is immortal, and which you have manifested unto us in your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
+ Christ as a light, illumine and guide us. Christ as a shield, overshadow us. Christ under us; Christ over us; Christ beside us on our left and our right. This day be within and without us, lowly and meek, yet all-powerful. Be in the heart of each to whom we speak; in the mouth of each who speaks to us. This day be within and without us, lowly and meek, yet all-powerful. Christ as a light; Christ as a shield; Christ beside us on our left and our right.
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Blessing
May the peace of the Lord Christ go with us, wherever He may send us.
May He guide us through the wilderness, protect us through the storm.
May He bring us home rejoicing at the wonders He has shown us.
May He bring us home rejoicing once again into our doors.
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+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.