Epiphany Season | Wednesday 17 Jan 2024
+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Opening:
Almighty God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ
is the light of the world: Grant that your people,
illumined by your Word and Sacraments,
may shine with the radiance of Christ’s glory,
that he may be known, worshiped, and obeyed
to the ends of the earth;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.
“I can guarantee this truth:
Whoever doesn’t receive God’s kingdom
as a little child receives it
will never enter it.”
(Luke 18:17)
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From Psalms: Psalm 86 – Abounding In Love – Mike Jantzen
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OT Reading: Genesis 16:1-14 (GW)
Abram and Hagar
16:1 Sarai, Abram’s wife, was not able to have children. She owned an Egyptian slave named Hagar. So Sarai said to Abram, “The Lord has kept me from having children. Why don’t you sleep with my slave? Maybe I can build a family through her.” Abram agreed with Sarai.
After Abram had lived in Canaan for ten years, Abram’s wife Sarai took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife. He slept with Hagar, and she became pregnant. When Hagar realized that she was pregnant, she began to be disrespectful to Sarai, her owner.
So Sarai complained to Abram, “I’m being treated unfairly! And it’s your fault! I know that I gave my slave to you, but now that she’s pregnant, she’s being disrespectful to me. May the Lord decide who is right—you or me.”
Abram answered Sarai, “Here, she’s your slave. Do what you like with her.” Then Sarai mistreated Hagar so much that she ran away.
The Messenger of the Lord found her by a spring in the desert, the spring on the way to Shur. He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s slave, where have you come from, and where are you going?”
She answered, “I’m running away from my owner Sarai.” The Messenger of the Lord said to her, “Go back to your owner, and place yourself under her authority.” The Messenger of the Lord also said to her, “I will give you many descendants. No one will be able to count them because there will be so many.” Then the Messenger of the Lord said to her,
“You are pregnant,
and you will give birth to a son.
You will name him Ishmael [God Hears],
because the Lord has heard your cry of distress.
He will be as free and wild as an untamed donkey.
He will fight with everyone, and everyone will fight with him.
He will have conflicts with all his relatives.”
Hagar named the Lord, who had been speaking to her, “You Are the God Who Watches Over Me.” She said, “This is the place where I watched ⌞the one⌟ who watches over me.” This is why the well is named Beer Lahai Roi [Well of the Living One Who Watches Over Me]. It is still there between Kadesh and Bered.
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מי שברך לחיילי צה”ל – יונתן שטרן | The Prayer for the IDF Soldiers – Yonatan Stern
He Who blessed our forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob — may He bless the fighters of the Israel Defense Forces, who stand guard over our land and the cities of our God, from the border of the Lebanon to the desert of Egypt, and from the Great Sea unto the approach of the Aravah, on the land, in the air, and on the sea.
May the Almighty cause the enemies who rise up against us to be struck down before them. May the Holy One, Blessed is He, preserve and rescue our fighters from every trouble and distress and from every plague and illness, and may He send blessing and success in their every endeavor.
May He lead our enemies under our soldiers’ sway and may He grant them salvation and crown them with victory. And may there be fulfilled for them the verse: For it is the Lord your God, Who goes with you to battle your enemies for you to save you.
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NT Reading: Luke 18:15-17 (GW)
Jesus Blesses Children
18:15 Some people brought infants to Jesus to have him hold them. When the disciples saw this, they told the people not to do that.
But Jesus called the infants to him and said, “Don’t stop the children from coming to me! Children like these are part of God’s kingdom. I can guarantee this truth: Whoever doesn’t receive God’s kingdom as a little child receives it will never enter it.”
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Like A Child | Souvenirs Worship
I lay down my pride
Jesus I put You first
Put You first
I lay down my doubt
Lord I believe in You
Believe in You
Lord take me back to where we started
A simple love for Jesus
My life is Yours my heart devoted
A simple love for Jesus
I wanna be just like a child with You
Where everything You say I do
I wanna be just like a child with You
Where everything You say I do
I give You my life
You deserve everything
Everything
I give You my praise
Thank You for loving me
Loving me
Take me back to the start
Where You had my heart completely
Where I do what You say
I trust and obey You fully
Take me back to the start
Where You had my heart completely
Jesus I’m Yours
Jesus I’m Yours
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+ O God, our heavenly Father: Pour out your Spirit on your faithful people in the Middle East, that your Son’s life-giving Gospel may be preached to every tribe and nation. 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.
+ Lord of Heaven’s Armies, we pray for swift and total victory over all evil in the Holy Land. Bring home the hostages, and deliver from bondage every person captivated by the evil death cult terrorizing the Middle East. And finally, grant heavenly wisdom to those guiding Israel militarily, politically, diplomatically, and especially to those who will restore Israel spiritually, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
+ Hasten, O Father, the coming of your kingdom; and grant that we your servants, who now live by faith, may with joy behold your Son at his coming in glorious majesty; even Jesus Christ, our only Mediator and Advocate. Amen.
Closing: FaithandWorship.com | John Birch
May Christ, who sends us to the nations,
give us the power of his Spirit.
+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The Peanut Gallery 