After Pentecost | Saturday 23 Nov 2024
+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Opening:
Stir up, O Lord,
the wills of your faithful people,
that bringing forth in abundance
the fruit of good works, they may be
abundantly rewarded when our Savior Jesus Christ
comes to restore all things;
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
“The Father loves his Son
and has put everything in his power.”
(John 3:35)
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From the Psalms: Psalm 132 (NKJV) | “This is My Resting Place Forever” (Grace Soon) / Christian Worship & Scripture Songs (Esther Mui)
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OT Reading: 2 Kings 23:1-14 (GW)
King Josiah’s Religious Reforms
23:1 Then the king sent for all the respected leaders of Judah and Jerusalem to join him. The king, everyone in Judah, everyone living in Jerusalem, the priests, the prophets, and all the people (young and old) went to the Lord’s temple. Josiah read everything written in the Book of the Promise found in the Lord’s temple so that they could hear it. The king stood beside the pillar and made a promise to the Lord that he would follow the Lord and obey his commands, instructions, and laws with all his heart and soul. He confirmed the terms of the promise written in this book. And all the people joined in the promise.
Then the king ordered the chief priest Hilkiah, the priests who served under Hilkiah, and the doorkeepers to take out of the Lord’s temple all the utensils that had been made for Baal, Asherah, and the entire army of heaven. Josiah burned the utensils outside Jerusalem in an open field near the Kidron Brook. Then he carried their ashes to Bethel.
He got rid of the pagan priests whom the kings of Judah had appointed to sacrifice at the illegal places of worship in the cities of Judah and all around Jerusalem. They had been sacrificing to Baal, the sun god, the moon god, the zodiac, and the entire army of heaven. He took the pole dedicated to the goddess Asherah from the temple to the Kidron Valley outside Jerusalem. He burned it in the Kidron Valley, ground it to dust, and threw its ashes on the tombs of the common people. He tore down the houses of the male temple prostitutes who were in the Lord’s temple, where women did weaving for Asherah.
He brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah from Geba to Beersheba and made the places where those priests sacrificed unclean. He tore down the worship site at the entrance of the Gate of Joshua, the gate named after the mayor of the city. (The worship site was to the left of anyone going through the city gate.)
The priests of the illegal worship sites had never gone to the Lord’s altar in Jerusalem. Instead, they ate their unleavened bread among the other worshipers.
Josiah also made Topheth in the valley of Ben Hinnom unclean so that people would never again sacrifice their sons or daughters by burning them to the god Molech.
He removed the horses that Judah’s kings had dedicated to the sun god at the entrance of the Lord’s temple. They were in the temple courtyard near the room of the eunuch Nathan Melech. He also burned the chariots of the sun god, the altars that Judah’s kings had made and placed on the roof of Ahaz’s upstairs room, and the altars Manasseh had made in the two courtyards of the Lord’s temple. The king tore them down from there, crushed them, and dumped their rubble in the Kidron Valley.
The king made the illegal places of worship east of Jerusalem unclean. They were on the southern part of the Hill of Destruction. King Solomon of Israel had built them for Astarte (the disgusting goddess of the Sidonians), Chemosh (the disgusting god of Moab), and Milcom (the disgusting god of the Ammonites). Josiah crushed the sacred stones, cut down the poles dedicated to Asherah, and filled their places with human bones.
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Choose Life – Big Tent Revival / KAFM
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NT Reading: John 3:31-36 (GW)
3:31 “The person who comes from above is superior to everyone. I, a person from the earth, know nothing but what is on earth, and that’s all I can talk about. The person who comes from heaven is superior to everyone and tells what he has seen and heard. Yet, no one accepts what he says. I have accepted what that person said, and I have affirmed that God is truthful. The man whom God has sent speaks God’s message. After all, God gives him the Spirit without limit. The Father loves his Son and has put everything in his power. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life. Instead, he will see God’s constant anger.”
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Worship: John 3:16 in Hebrew, Arabic, Russian, English, Korean and Persian | ONE FOR ISRAEL Ministry
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Prayer of Belief
Lord Jesus Christ, I admit that I am weaker and more sinful than I ever dared admit, but through you I am more loved and accepted than I ever dared hope. I thank you for paying my debt on the cross, taking what I deserved in order to offer me complete forgiveness. Knowing that you have been raised from the dead, I turn from my sins and receive you as my Savior and Lord. Please come into my life through the power of your Holy Spirit. Thank you. Amen.
Prayer for Local Congregations
Almighty and everlasting God, you govern all things in heaven and on earth: Mercifully hear our prayers, and grant that in our local congregations the pure Word of God may be preached and the Sacraments duly administered. Strengthen and confirm the faithful; protect and guide the children; visit and relieve the sick; turn and soften the wicked; arouse the careless; recover the fallen; restore the penitent; remove all hindrances to the advancement of your truth; and bring us all to be of one heart and mind within your holy Church, to the honor and glory of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Sovereign Lord: We pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
+ Do what only you can do to make your faithful people the blessing promised to every family on earth.
+ Protect them from the assaults of the evil one, coming from every direction and in every form.
+ Grant your heavenly wisdom to Israel’s leadership; give them the courage to do what’s right in your sight.
+ Comfort all those who mourn the loss of loved ones; deliver the hostages from captivity and restore their souls.
+ Destroy every stronghold and every expression of the evil death cult terrorizing the Middle East.
+ Protect the Israel Defense Forces and every soldier engaged in their mission to root out this evil.
+ Strengthen the Messianic communities; use them to restore your faithful people to their proper place in your kingdom.
+ Unify your faithful people around your promise to Abraham – to bless every family on earth through them.
+ Intervene in the Middle East in ways that only you can; protect the innocent and punish the guilty, that all may live in peace.
We ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.
O God, by whom the meek are guided in judgment, and light rises up in darkness for the godly: Grant us, in all our doubts and uncertainties, the grace to ask what you would have us do, that the Spirit of wisdom may save us from all false choices; that in your light we may see light, and in your straight path we may not stumble; 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 