Thursday of The 7th Week of Easter, 28 May 2020

+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Opening:

Lord God, let your Spirit come upon us in power and fill us with his gifts, to render our minds pleasing to you and make us docile to your will. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

“I pray that they will all be one in us so that the world will believe you sent me.”

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A Reading from the Gospels: John 17:20-26 (NLT)

“I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.

“I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one. I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me. Father, I want these whom you have given me to be with me where I am. Then they can see all the glory you gave me because you loved me even before the world began!

“O righteous Father, the world doesn’t know you, but I do; and these disciples know you sent me. I have revealed you to them, and I will continue to do so. Then your love for me will be in them, and I will be in them.”
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Blessed Quietness – The Swan Silvertones

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A Reading from the Book of Acts: Acts 22:30; 23:6-11 (NLT)

Paul before the High Council

The next day the commander ordered the leading priests into session with the Jewish high council He wanted to find out what the trouble was all about, so he released Paul to have him stand before them.
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Paul realized that some members of the high council were Sadducees and some were Pharisees, so he shouted, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, as were my ancestors! And I am on trial because my hope is in the resurrection of the dead!”

This divided the council—the Pharisees against the Sadducees— for the Sadducees say there is no resurrection or angels or spirits, but the Pharisees believe in all of these. So there was a great uproar. Some of the teachers of religious law who were Pharisees jumped up and began to argue forcefully. “We see nothing wrong with him,” they shouted. “Perhaps a spirit or an angel spoke to him.” As the conflict grew more violent, the commander was afraid they would tear Paul apart. So he ordered his soldiers to go and rescue him by force and take him back to the fortress.

That night the Lord appeared to Paul and said, “Be encouraged, Paul. Just as you have been a witness to me here in Jerusalem, you must preach the Good News in Rome as well.”
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Psalm 16 (Fullness of Joy) – Shane & Shane

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Closing: John John 17:21 (NLT)

I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me. 

+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.