After Epiphany | Saturday – 11 Feb 2023
+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Opening:
O Lord, our heavenly Father,
keep your household the Church
continually in your true religion,
that we who trust in the hope of your heavenly grace
may always be defended by your mighty power;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
now and for ever. Amen.
“The Lord your God will change your heart
and the hearts of all your descendants,
so that you will love him
with all your heart and soul
and so you may live!”
(Deuteronomy 30:6)
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From Psalms: Psalm 119: Aleph (KJV) – Exodus Church
119:1 Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord.
2 Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart.
3 They also do no iniquity: they walk in his ways.
4 Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently.
5 O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes!
6 Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments.
7 I will praise thee with uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments.
8 I will keep thy statutes: O forsake me not utterly.
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OT Reading: Deuteronomy 30:1-9a (NLT)
A Call to Return to the Lord
30:1 “In the future, when you experience all these blessings and curses I have listed for you, and when you are living among the nations to which the Lord your God has exiled you, take to heart all these instructions. If at that time you and your children return to the Lord your God, and if you obey with all your heart and all your soul all the commands I have given you today, then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes. He will have mercy on you and gather you back from all the nations where he has scattered you. Even though you are banished to the ends of the earth, the Lord your God will gather you from there and bring you back again. The Lord your God will return you to the land that belonged to your ancestors, and you will possess that land again. Then he will make you even more prosperous and numerous than your ancestors!
“The Lord your God will change your heart and the hearts of all your descendants, so that you will love him with all your heart and soul and so you may live! The Lord your God will inflict all these curses on your enemies and on those who hate and persecute you. Then you will again obey the Lord and keep all his commands that I am giving you today.
“The Lord your God will then make you successful in everything you do.
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Come, Let Us Return to the Lord – Galkin Evangelistic Team
All of us like sheep have gone astray
Seeking our own way
We’ve left the Shepherd’s care again
Through the wilderness we wander
In the hopelessness of sin
We must run into His arms from where we’ve been
Oh come let us return to the Lord
Let our hearts yearn for the Lord
Only His love will save us
For though our lives are broken He will mend
And restore our hope again
Let us return to the Lord
Let us return to the Lord
By His grace alone we have been saved
Rescued from the grave
And through His blood we have moved on
May the passion of our first love
Bring us to our knees
We can know the heart of God
If we believe
So, come let us return to the Lord
Let our hearts yearn for the Lord
Only His love will save us
For though our lives are broken He will mend
And restore our hope again
Let us return to the Lord
Let us return
To the One who breaks our heart so He can heal us
To the One who binds our wounds and knows our scars
Let us return to the Lord
Let our hearts yearn for the Lord
Only His love will save us
For though our lives are broken
He will mend
And restore our hope again
Let us return to the Lord
Let us return to the Lord
For though our lives are broken
He will mend
And restore our hope again
Let us return to the Lord
Let us return to the Lord
Let us return to the Lord
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NT Reading: Matthew 15:1-9 (NLT)
Jesus Teaches about Inner Purity
15:1 Some Pharisees and teachers of religious law now arrived from Jerusalem to see Jesus. They asked him, “Why do your disciples disobey our age-old tradition? For they ignore our tradition of ceremonial hand washing before they eat.”
Jesus replied, “And why do you, by your traditions, violate the direct commandments of God? For instance, God says, ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and ‘Anyone who speaks disrespectfully of father or mother must be put to death.’ But you say it is all right for people to say to their parents, ‘Sorry, I can’t help you. For I have vowed to give to God what I would have given to you. ’In this way, you say they don’t need to honor their parents. And so you cancel the word of God for the sake of your own tradition. You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote,
‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
Their worship is a farce,
for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.’
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Heart Wide Open ~ Mack Brock
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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.
Hear what our Lord Jesus Christ says:
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:37-40)
+ Almighty and eternal God, so draw our hearts to you, so guide our minds, so fill our imaginations, so control our wills, that we may be wholly yours, utterly dedicated to you; and then use us, we pray, as you will, and always to your glory and the welfare of your people; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
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Closing: FaithandWorship.com | John Birch
Be the Life I live
Be the Love I give
+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The Peanut Gallery 