After Pentecost | Sunday 29 Sep 2024
+ In the name the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen
Opening prayer:
O merciful Lord,
grant to your faithful people pardon and peace,
that we may be cleansed from all our sins
and serve you with a quiet mind;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.
“Whoever isn’t against us is for us.”
(Mark 9:40)
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Oh, For a Thousand Tongues to Sing (The New Irish Choir and Orchestra.) // Chet Valley Churches
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OT Reading: Numbers 11:4-6/10-16/ 24-29 (GW)
11:4 Some foreigners among the Israelites had a strong craving for ⌞other kinds of⌟ food. Even the Israelites started crying again and said, “If only we had meat to eat! Remember all the free fish we ate in Egypt and the cucumbers, watermelons, leeks, onions, and garlic we had? But now we’ve lost our appetite! Everywhere we look there’s nothing but manna!”
11:10 Moses heard people from every family crying at the entrance to their tents. The Lord became very angry, and Moses didn’t like it either. So he asked, “Lord, why have you brought me this trouble? How have I displeased you that you put the burden of all these people on me? Am I their mother? Did I give birth to them? Are you really asking me to carry them in my arms—as a nurse carries a baby—all the way to the land you promised their ancestors with an oath? Where can I get meat for all these people? They keep crying for me to give them meat to eat. I can’t take care of all these people by myself. This is too much work for me! If this is how you’re going to treat me, why don’t you just kill me? I can’t face this trouble anymore.”
The Lord answered Moses, “Bring me 70 Israelite men who you know are leaders and officers of the people. Take them to the tent of meeting, and have them stand with you.
11:24 Moses went out and told the people what the Lord said. He gathered 70 of the leaders of the people and had them stand around the tent. Then the Lord came down in the ⌞column of⌟ smoke and spoke with him. He took some of the Spirit that was on Moses and put it on the 70 leaders. When the Spirit came to rest on them, they prophesied, but they never prophesied again.
Two men, named Eldad and Medad, had stayed in the camp. They were on the list with the other leaders but hadn’t gone with them to the tent. The Spirit came to rest on them, too, and they prophesied in the camp.
Then a young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” So Joshua, son of Nun, who had been Moses’ assistant ever since he was a young man, spoke up and said, “Stop them, sir!”
But Moses asked him, “Do you think you need to stand up for me? I wish all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put his Spirit on them.”
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From the Psalms: Psalm 19:7-14 / The Law of the LORD is Perfect (Exalted God: Praise & Harmony) // Nina Vera
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NT Reading: James 5:13-20 (GW)
Prayer Is Powerful
5:13 If any of you are having trouble, pray. If you are happy, sing psalms. If you are sick, call for the church leaders. Have them pray for you and anoint you with olive oil in the name of the Lord. (Prayers offered in faith will save those who are sick, and the Lord will cure them.) If you have sinned, you will be forgiven. So admit your sins to each other, and pray for each other so that you will be healed.
Prayers offered by those who have God’s approval are effective. Elijah was human like us. Yet, when he prayed that it wouldn’t rain, no rain fell on the ground for three-and-a-half years. Then he prayed again. It rained, and the ground produced crops.
Help Those Who Have Wandered Away from the Truth
5:19 My brothers and sisters, if one of you wanders from the truth, someone can bring that person back. Realize that whoever brings a sinner back from the error of his ways will save him from death, and many sins will be forgiven.
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Comfort My People (Callanan) | Clara Slate Sings
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Gospel Reading: Mark 9:38-50 (GW)
Using the Name of Jesus
9:38 John said to Jesus, “Teacher, we saw someone forcing demons out of a person by using the power and authority of your name. We tried to stop him because he was not one of us.”
Jesus said, “Don’t stop him! No one who works a miracle in my name can turn around and speak evil of me. Whoever isn’t against us is for us. I can guarantee this truth: Whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ will certainly not lose his reward.”
Causing Others to Lose Faith
9:42 “These little ones believe in me. It would be best for the person who causes one of them to lose faith to be thrown into the sea with a large stone hung around his neck.
“So if your hand causes you to lose your faith, cut it off! It is better for you to enter life disabled than to have two hands and go to hell, to the fire that cannot be put out. If your foot causes you to lose your faith, cut it off! It is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. If your eye causes you to lose your faith, tear it out! It is better for you to enter God’s kingdom with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell. In hell worms that eat the body never die, and the fire is never put out. Everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good. But if salt loses its taste, how will you restore its flavor? Have salt within you, and live in peace with one another.”
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I Speak Jesus (Here Be Lions) // Integrity Music
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We speak the Name of Jesus:
+ Over the Church, fill it with all truth, in all truth with all peace. Where it is corrupt, purify it; where it is in error, direct it; where in anything it is amiss, reform it. Where it is right, strengthen it; where it is in want, provide for it; where it is divided, reunite it. Amen.
+ Over the world, kindle in the hearts of all people the true love of peace, and guide with your pure and peaceable wisdom those who take counsel for the nations of the earth; that in tranquility your kingdom may go forward, till the earth is filled with the knowledge of your love. Amen.
+ Over the Holy Land, have mercy on your faithful followers throughout the Middle East; especially those who are in trouble, sorrow, need, sickness, and bereavement in Lebanon. Amen.
+ Over Jerusalem, fill it with lasting peace. Comfort your faithful followers; and use the Messianic community to restore your people to their proper place in your Kingdom. Amen.
+ Over those we love, care for them and love them in this life and the life to come; for you can do far better things than anything we can ask or imagine for them. Amen.
+ Over those who preach the Gospel, 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. Amen.
For Answered Prayer:
+ Heavenly Father, grant these our prayers for the sake of Jesus Christ, our only Mediator and Advocate, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. 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 