After Pentecost | Tuesday 02 Jul 2024
+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Opening:
O God, your never-failing providence
sets in order all things both in heaven and on earth:
Put away from us all hurtful things,
and give us those things that are profitable for us;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
“I know how willing you are to help,
and I brag about you to the believers
in the province of Macedonia.”
(2 Corinthians 9:2)
__________
From Psalms: Psalm 18 – ‘Caught up and Entangled’ ‘I called to The LORD’
(Poor Bishop Hooper) – Psalm Musicals – Christian Music Channel
__________
OT Reading: 1 Samuel 31 (GW)
The Death of Saul
31:1 When the Philistines were fighting against Israel, the men of Israel fled from the Philistines and were killed in battle on Mount Gilboa. The Philistines caught up to Saul and his sons. They killed Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua, Saul’s sons. The heaviest fighting was against Saul. When the archers got him in their range, he was badly wounded by them.
Saul told his armorbearer, “Draw your sword! Stab me, or these godless men will come, stab me, and make fun of me.” But his armorbearer refused because he was terrified. So Saul took the sword and fell on it. When the armorbearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword and died with him. So Saul, his three sons, his armorbearer, and all his men died together that day.
When the people of Israel on the other side of the valley and across the Jordan River saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their cities. So the Philistines came to live in these cities.
The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the dead, they found Saul and his three sons lying on Mount Gilboa. They cut off his head and stripped off his armor. Then they sent men throughout Philistine territory to tell the people this good news in their idols’ temples. They put his armor in the temple of their goddesses—the Asherahs—and fastened his corpse to the wall of Beth Shan.
When the people living in Jabesh Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, all the fighting men marched all night and took the dead bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall of Beth Shan. They came back to Jabesh and burned the bodies there. They took the bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh. Then they fasted seven days.
__________
The Ancient, Aramaic Kaddish Sung and Played to a Melody – Ash Soular
__________
NT Reading: 2 Corinthians 9:1-5 (GW)
The Reason to Give to the Christians in Jerusalem
9:1 I don’t need to write anything further to you about helping the Christians ⌞in Jerusalem⌟. I know how willing you are to help, and I brag about you to the believers in the province of Macedonia. I tell them, “The people of Greece have been ready ⌞to send their collection⌟ since last year,” and your enthusiasm has moved most of them ⌞to act⌟. I’ve sent my coworkers so that when we brag that you’re ready, we can back it up. Otherwise, if any Macedonians come with me, they might find out that you’re not ready after all. This would embarrass us for feeling so confident as much as it would embarrass you. So I thought that I should encourage our coworkers to visit you before I do and make arrangements for this gift that you had already promised to give. Then it will be the blessing it was intended to be, and it won’t be something you’re forced to do.
__________
Here’s My Offering | Hopestream Worship
__________
Offertory Prayer
+ Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for everything in heaven and on earth is yours; yours is the Kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as Head above all. All things come from you, O Lord. And of your own have we given you. Amen.
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:
-
- 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 Oct 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.
+ Go before us, O Lord, in all our doings with your most gracious favor, and further us with your continual help; that in all our works begun, continued, and ended in you, we may glorify your holy Name, and finally, through your mercy, obtain everlasting life; 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.
With him we have sent our Christian brother whom all the churches praise for the way he tells the Good News. More than that, the churches elected him to travel with us and bring this gift of God’s kindness. We are administering it in a way that brings glory to the Lord and shows that we are doing it willingly. We don’t want anyone to find fault with the way we are administering this generous gift. We intend to do what is right, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of people.
In the synagogue was a man possessed by a spirit, an evil demon. He shouted very loudly, “Oh, no! What do you want with us, Jesus from Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”
8:1 Brothers and sisters, we want you to know how God showed his kindness to the churches in the province of Macedonia. While they were being severely tested by suffering, their overflowing joy, along with their extreme poverty, has made them even more generous. I assure you that by their own free will they have given all they could, even more than they could afford. They made an appeal to us, begging us to let them participate in the ministry of God’s kindness to his holy people ⌞in Jerusalem⌟. They did more than we had expected. First, they gave themselves to the Lord and to us, since this was God’s will. This led us to urge Titus to finish his work of God’s kindness among you in the same way as he had already started it.
When you became distressed in a godly way, look at how much devotion it caused you to have. You were ready to clear yourselves of the charges against you. You were disgusted with the wrong that had been done. You were afraid. You wanted to see us. You wanted to show your concern for us. You were ready to punish the wrong that had been done. In every way you have demonstrated that you are people who are innocent in this matter. So, when I wrote to you, I didn’t write because of the man who did the wrong or the man who was hurt by it. Rather, I wrote because I wanted you to show your devotion to us in God’s sight. This is what has comforted us.
The Peanut Gallery 