After Pentecost | Thursday 21 Sep 2023
+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Opening:
O God, because without you
we are not able to please you,
mercifully grant that your Holy Spirit
may in all things direct and rule our hearts;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.
The Lord’s test of faithfulness:
He said, “If you will listen carefully
to the voice of the Lord your God
and do what is right in his sight….”
(Exodus 15:25-26)
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From Psalms: Psalm 105:1-5 – “Oh, give thanks to the Lord!…”
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OT Reading: Exodus 15:22-27 (NLT)
Bitter Water at Marah
15:22 Then Moses led the people of Israel away from the Red Sea, and they moved out into the desert of Shur. They traveled in this desert for three days without finding any water. When they came to the oasis of Marah, the water was too bitter to drink. So they called the place Marah (which means “bitter”).
Then the people complained and turned against Moses. “What are we going to drink?” they demanded. So Moses cried out to the Lord for help, and the Lord showed him a piece of wood. Moses threw it into the water, and this made the water good to drink.
It was there at Marah that the Lord set before them the following decree as a standard to test their faithfulness to him. He said, “If you will listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in his sight, obeying his commands and keeping all his decrees, then I will not make you suffer any of the diseases I sent on the Egyptians; for I am the Lord who heals you.”
After leaving Marah, the Israelites traveled on to the oasis of Elim, where they found twelve springs and seventy palm trees. They camped there beside the water.
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Jesus Is My Healer | feat. Jessie Harris | Gateway Worship
Oh, that rugged cross, the selfless pain He bore
He breathed His final breath, that I would be restored
By His body that was broken, precious blood freely shed
The spotless lamb of Heaven has forever conquered death
Jesus is my healer, He’s everything I need
He alone has triumphed, over sickness and disease
Fear, where is your power? The cross is your defeat
Jesus is my healer, He has won the victory
Oh, how great a love, I’m held by perfect peace
He walks with me through valleys, understands my suffering
Every joy and every sorrow, every triumph, every loss
I know everything is covered, by the shadow of the cross
Oh, everything is covered, by the shadow of the cross
Oh, Jesus is my healer, He’s everything I need
He alone has triumphed, over sickness and disease
Fear, where is your power? Oh, the cross is your defeat
Jesus is my healer, He has won the victory
Oh-oh, Jesus is my healer, He has won the victory
Oh, oh, all praise, all praise
To the Lamb that was slain
All praise, all praise, all praise
To the Lamb that was slain
Oh, everything bows at His name
Everything bows at His name
Sickness, darkness, chains
Break at the name of Jesus
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NT Reading: 2 Corinthians 13:1-4 (NLT)
Paul’s Final Advice
13:1 This is the third time I am coming to visit you (and as the Scriptures say, “The facts of every case must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses”. I have already warned those who had been sinning when I was there on my second visit. Now I again warn them and all others, just as I did before, that next time I will not spare them.
I will give you all the proof you want that Christ speaks through me. Christ is not weak when he deals with you; he is powerful among you. Although he was crucified in weakness, he now lives by the power of God. We, too, are weak, just as Christ was, but when we deal with you we will be alive with him and will have God’s power.
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Yet Not I, But Through Christ In Me – Selah [Official Video] (Integrity Music)
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+ Dear Lord and Savior Jesus Christ: I hold up all my weakness to your strength, my failure to your faithfulness, my sinfulness to your perfection, my loneliness to your compassion, my little pains to your great agony on the Cross. I pray that you will cleanse me, strengthen me, guide me, so that in all ways my life may be lived as you would have it lived, without cowardice and for you alone. Show me how to live in true humility, true contrition, and true love. Amen.
+ O God, of your goodness, give me yourself, for you are enough for me. I can ask for nothing less that is completely to your honor, and if I do ask anything less, I shall always be in want. Only in you I have all. Amen. (Julian of Norwich)
Closing: FaithandWorship.com | John Birch
Grant us the confidence, Lord
to step out in faith and become
the people we are meant to be.
+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The Peanut Gallery 