After Pentecost | Tuesday 16 Jul 2024
+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Opening:
Let your merciful ears, O Lord,
be open to the prayers of your humble servants;
and, that we may receive what we ask,
teach us by your Holy Spirit to ask
only those things that are pleasing to you;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who with you and the same Spirit
lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.
“Provide an animal for Paul to ride,
and take him safely to Governor Felix.”
(Acts 23:24)
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From Psalms: Psalm 68: “Let God Arise” | Gregory Wilbur
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OT Reading: 2 Samuel 3:12-16 (GW)
3:12 Then Abner sent messengers to David to speak on his behalf. “Who owns this country?” he asked. “Make an agreement with me,” he said. “I’ll support you and bring all Israel to you.”
“Good!” David answered. “I’ll make an agreement with you. But there’s one condition: You can’t come to see me unless you bring Michal, Saul’s daughter, when you come.”
Then David sent messengers to Saul’s son Ishbosheth to say, “Give me my wife Michal. I made a payment of 100 Philistine foreskins for her.”
So Ishbosheth sent men to take her from her husband Paltiel, son of Laish. Her husband went with her and cried over her all the way to Bahurim. “Go home,” Abner told him. So he went home.
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Rescue – Bethel Music feat. Lauren Daigle | Peace, Vol II
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NT Reading: Acts 23:12-35 (GW)
Some Jews Plot to Kill Paul
23:12 In the morning the Jews formed a conspiracy. They asked God to curse them if they ate or drank anything before they had killed Paul. More than forty men took part in this plot.
They went to the chief priests and leaders ⌞of the people⌟ and said, “We’ve asked God to curse us if we taste any food before we’ve killed Paul. Here’s our plan: You and the council must go to the Roman officer on the pretext that you need more information from Paul. You have to make it look as though you want to get more accurate information about him. We’ll be ready to kill him before he gets to you.”
But Paul’s nephew heard about the ambush. He entered the barracks and told Paul. Then Paul called one of the sergeants and told him, “Take this young man to the officer. He has something to tell him.”
The sergeant took the young man to the officer and said, “The prisoner Paul called me. He asked me to bring this young man to you because he has something to tell you.”
The officer took the young man by the arm, went where they could be alone, and asked him, “What do you have to tell me?”
The young man answered, “The Jews have planned to ask you to bring Paul to the Jewish council tomorrow. They’re going to make it look as though they want more accurate information about him. Don’t let them persuade you to do this. More than forty of them are planning to ambush him. They have asked God to curse them if they eat or drink anything before they have murdered him. They are ready now and are expecting you to promise ⌞that you will bring Paul⌟.”
The officer dismissed the young man and ordered him not to tell this information to anyone else.
Then the officer summoned two of his sergeants and told them, “I want 200 infantrymen, 70 soldiers on horseback, and 200 soldiers with spears. Have them ready to go to Caesarea at nine o’clock tonight. Provide an animal for Paul to ride, and take him safely to Governor Felix.” The officer wrote a letter to the governor with the following message:
Claudius Lysias sends greetings to Your Excellency, Governor Felix:
The Jews had seized this man and were going to murder him. When I found out that he was a Roman citizen, I went with my soldiers to rescue him. I wanted to know what they had against him. So I took him to their Jewish council and found their accusations had to do with disputes about their own laws. He wasn’t accused of anything for which he deserved to die or to be put into prison. Since I was informed that there was a plot against this man, I immediately sent him to you. I have also ordered his accusers to state their case against him in front of you.
So the infantrymen did as they had been ordered. They took Paul to the city of Antipatris during the night. They returned to their barracks the next day and let the soldiers on horseback travel with Paul. When the soldiers arrived in the city of Caesarea with Paul, they delivered the letter to the governor and handed Paul over to him.
After the governor had read the letter, he asked Paul which province he was from. When he found out that Paul was from the province of Cilicia, he said, “I’ll hear your case when your accusers arrive.” Then the governor gave orders to keep Paul under guard in Herod’s palace.
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My Life Is In Your Hands (The Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir) | Alexandre Soares
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William Temple
+ 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.
+ Sovereign Lord: We pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
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- Protect Israel from the fiery darts of the evil one coming from every direction, both within and without.
- Grant your heavenly wisdom to those guiding Israel militarily, politically, and diplomatically;
- Give them hearts to receive, and the courage to do, what’s right in your sight.
- Comfort those who grieve and mourn the loss of loved ones;
- Rebuke those who would use grief for evil purposes.
- Bring swift and certain justice to all those complicit in the October 7th atrocities;
- Deliver the hostages from captivity, and restore their souls.
- Destroy every stronghold of the evil death cult terrorizing the Middle East.
- Strengthen the Messianic communities – Jew and Arab alike – bind them together in love, that they may be a source of help, and healing, and hope;
- Use them in the restoration of your people to their proper place in your Kingdom.
- We pray in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
+ O God of peace, who has taught us that in returning and rest we shall be saved, in quietness and in confidence shall be our strength: By the might of your Spirit lift us, we pray, into your presence, where we may be still and know that you are God; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Closing: FaithandWorship.com | John Birch
The Lord bless us, and preserve us from all evil,
and keep us in eternal life.
+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The Peanut Gallery 