The Lenten Season | Monday 18 Mar 2024
+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Opening:
Almighty God,
you alone can bring into order
the unruly wills and affections of sinners:
Grant your people grace to love what you command
and desire what you promise; that,
among the swift and varied changes of this world,
our hearts may surely there be fixed
where true joys are to be found;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.
[God] has also qualified us
to be ministers of a new promise,
a spiritual promise, not a written one.
(2 Corinthians 3:4-11)
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From Psalms: Psalm 119:9-16 // I Delight | Rob & Beth [The Upper Room Session]
Blessed are you, O Lord;
Teach me your statutes.
With my lips I declare
All the rules of your mouth.
In the way of Your testimonies
I delight as much as in riches;
I delight as much as in riches.
Chorus
I will meditate on Your precepts,
I will fix my eyes on Your ways.
I will delight in Your statutes,
I will not forget Your word.
How can a young man keep his way pure?
By guarding it with Your word.
With my heart I seek you.
Let me not wander.
I have stored up your word in my heart.
In the way of Your testimonies
I delight As much as in riches
I delight As much as in riches
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OT Reading: Isaiah 43:8-13 (GW)
43:8 Bring the people who are blind but still have eyes,
the people who are deaf but still have ears.
All nations have gathered together, and people have assembled.
Who among them could have revealed this?
Who among them could have foretold this to us?
They should bring their witnesses to prove that they were right.
Let the people hear them. Then they will say that it is true.
“You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord.
“I have chosen you as my servant
so that you can know and believe in me
and understand that I am the one ⌞who did this⌟.
No god was formed before me,
and there will be none after me.
I alone am the Lord,
and there is no savior except me.
I have revealed it to you, I have saved you,
and I have announced it to you.
There was no foreign ⌞god⌟ among you.
You are my witnesses that I am God,” declares the Lord.
“From the ⌞first⌟ day I was the one ⌞who did this⌟.
No one can rescue people from my power.
When I do something, who can undo it?”
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Woe to my Country | Hebrew music video // One For Israel Ministry
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NT Reading: 2 Corinthians 3:4-11 (GW)
3:4 Christ gives us confidence about you in God’s presence. By ourselves we are not qualified in any way to claim that we can do anything. Rather, God makes us qualified. He has also qualified us to be ministers of a new promise, a spiritual promise, not a written one. Clearly, what was written brings death, but the Spirit brings life.
The ministry that brought death was inscribed on stone. Yet, it came with such glory that the people of Israel couldn’t look at Moses’ face. His face was shining with glory, even though that glory was fading. Won’t the ministry that brings the Spirit have even more glory? If the ministry that brings punishment has glory, then the ministry that brings God’s approval has an overwhelming glory. In fact, the ministry that brings punishment lost its glory because of the superior glory of the other ministry. If that former ministry faded away despite its glory, how much more does that ministry which remains continue to be glorious?
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In Christ Alone | Celtic Worship ft. Steph Macleod
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+ 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.
+ Lord of Heaven’s Armies, we pray for swift justice and total victory over all evil in the Holy Land. Deliver the hostages from captivity and restore their souls. Destroy every stronghold of the evil death cult terrorizing the Middle East. And grant your heavenly wisdom to those guiding Israel militarily, politically, diplomatically – and especially to those who will restore Israel spiritually – through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
+ Almighty God our Savior, you desire that none should perish, and you have taught us through your Son that there is great joy in heaven over every sinner who repents: Grant that our hearts may ache for a lost and broken world. May your Holy Spirit work through our words, deeds, and prayers, that the lost may be found and the dead made alive, and that all your redeemed may rejoice around your throne; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Closing: FaithandWorship.com | John Birch
May Christ, who bore our sins on the cross,
set us free to serve him with joy.
+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The Peanut Gallery 