After Epiphany | Wednesday 19 Feb 2025
+ In the name the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen
Opening prayer:
Almighty God,
look mercifully upon your people,
that by your great goodness
they may be governed and preserved evermore;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
now and for ever. Amen.
“But woe to you Pharisees!
For you tithe mint and rue and every herb,
and neglect justice and the love of God.”
(Luke 11:42)
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From the Psalms: Psalm 120 – “In My Distress I Cried unto the Lord” | Barratt Ministries
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OT Reading: Jeremiah 22:11-17 (ESV)
Message to the Sons of Josiah
22:11 For thus says the Lord concerning Shallum the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah his father, and who went away from this place: “He shall return here no more, but in the place where they have carried him captive, there shall he die, and he shall never see this land again.”
“Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness,
and his upper rooms by injustice,
who makes his neighbor serve him for nothing
and does not give him his wages,
who says, ‘I will build myself a great house
with spacious upper rooms,’
who cuts out windows for it,
paneling it with cedar
and painting it with vermilion.
Do you think you are a king
because you compete in cedar?
Did not your father eat and drink
and do justice and righteousness?
Then it was well with him.
He judged the cause of the poor and needy;
then it was well.
Is not this to know me?
declares the Lord.
But you have eyes and heart
only for your dishonest gain,
for shedding innocent blood,
and for practicing oppression and violence.”
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From The Depths Of Woe – Indelible Grace / Scott Bacher
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NT Reading: Luke 11:37-52 (ESV)
Woes to the Pharisees and Lawyers
11:37 While Jesus was speaking, a Pharisee asked him to dine with him, so he went in and reclined at table. The Pharisee was astonished to see that he did not first wash before dinner. And the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You fools! Did not he who made the outside make the inside also? But give as alms those things that are within, and behold, everything is clean for you.
“But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seat in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces. Woe to you! For you are like unmarked graves, and people walk over them without knowing it.”
One of the lawyers answered him, “Teacher, in saying these things you insult us also.” And he said, “Woe to you lawyers also! For you load people with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers. Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets whom your fathers killed. So you are witnesses and you consent to the deeds of your fathers, for they killed them, and you build their tombs. Therefore also the Wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute,’ so that the blood of all the prophets, shed from the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it will be required of this generation. Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering.”
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From The Inside Out | Hillsong Worship – Patrick Phiaphakdy
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Almighty God, you have not dealt with us according to our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities; grant that we, who for our evil deeds deserve to be punished, by the might of your grace may mercifully be relieved; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Almighty God, we pray for the peace of Jerusalem: Intervene in ways that only you can, so the whole world will know that you alone are God. Protect your people from the assaults of the evil one, and grant Israel’s leaders the wisdom and courage to do what’s right in your sight. Deliver all the hostages from captivity, and restore their souls. Protect the innocent and punish the guilty, that all may live in peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. 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
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.
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