The Season of Lent | Thursday 23 Mar 2023
+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Opening:
Gracious Father,
whose blessed Son Jesus Christ
came down from heaven to be the true bread
which gives life to the world:
Evermore give us this bread,
that he may live in us, and we in him;
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Then I was told,
“You must prophesy again
about many peoples, nations,
languages, and kings.”
(Revelation 10:11)
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From Psalms: Psalm 130 – I Will Wait For You – Shane & Shane
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OT Reading: Ezekiel 1:1-3, 2:8-3:3 (NLT)
A Vision of Living Beings
1:1 On July 31 of my thirtieth year, while I was with the Judean exiles beside the Kebar River in Babylon, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God. This happened during the fifth year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity. (The Lord gave this message to Ezekiel son of Buzi, a priest, beside the Kebar River in the land of the Babylonians, and he felt the hand of the Lord take hold of him.)
2:8 Son of man, listen to what I say to you. Do not join them in their rebellion. Open your mouth, and eat what I give you.”
Then I looked and saw a hand reaching out to me. It held a scroll, which he unrolled. And I saw that both sides were covered with funeral songs, words of sorrow, and pronouncements of doom.
The voice said to me, “Son of man, eat what I am giving you—eat this scroll! Then go and give its message to the people of Israel.” So I opened my mouth, and he fed me the scroll. “Fill your stomach with this,” he said. And when I ate it, it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth.
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I Saw the Lord (Dallas Holm) Emmanuel Church Eastleigh
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NT Reading: Revelation 10:1-11 (NLT)
The Angel and the Small Scroll
10:1 Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, surrounded by a cloud, with a rainbow over his head. His face shone like the sun, and his feet were like pillars of fire. And in his hand was a small scroll that had been opened. He stood with his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land. And he gave a great shout like the roar of a lion. And when he shouted, the seven thunders answered.
When the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write. But I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Keep secret what the seven thunders said, and do not write it down.”
Then the angel I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand toward heaven. He swore an oath in the name of the one who lives forever and ever, who created the heavens and everything in them, the earth and everything in it, and the sea and everything in it. He said, “There will be no more delay. When the seventh angel blows his trumpet, God’s mysterious plan will be fulfilled. It will happen just as he announced it to his servants the prophets.”
Then the voice from heaven spoke to me again: “Go and take the open scroll from the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.”
So I went to the angel and told him to give me the small scroll. “Yes, take it and eat it,” he said. “It will be sweet as honey in your mouth, but it will turn sour in your stomach!” So I took the small scroll from the hand of the angel, and I ate it! It was sweet in my mouth, but when I swallowed it, it turned sour in my stomach.
Then I was told, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages, and kings.”
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Prophesy Your Promise ~ Bryan & Katie Torwalt
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+ Gracious God and most merciful Father, you have granted us the rich and precious jewel of your holy Word: Assist us with your Spirit, that the same Word may be written in our hearts to our everlasting comfort, to reform us, to renew us according to your own image, to build us up and edify us into the perfect dwelling place of your Christ, sanctifying and increasing in us all heavenly virtues; grant this, O heavenly Father, for Jesus Christ’s sake. Amen.
+ O God, without whose beauty and goodness our souls are unfed, without whose truth our reason withers: Consecrate our lives to your will, giving us such purity of heart, such depth of faith, and such steadfastness of purpose, that in time we may come to think your own thoughts after you; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
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Closing: FaithandWorship.com | John Birch
Your Word is the light we see,
a guide for our footsteps
to where you are found.
Your Word is the strength we find
when darkness threatens
to overwhelm.
Your Word is the power we need
to become servants
of a Heavenly King.
Your Word is the reason we live
in the sure knowledge
you are everything.
+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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