After Pentecost | Sunday 20 Oct 2024
+ In the name the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen
Opening prayer:
Set us free, loving Father,
from the bondage of our sins,
and in your goodness and mercy
give us the liberty of that abundant life which
you have made known to us in our Savior Jesus Christ;
who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.
“[Jesus] came to serve and to give his life
as a ransom for many people.”
(Mark 10:45)
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Love Divine All Loves Excelling – (Tune: Love Divine/ Guildford Cathedral) [Chet Valley Churches]
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OT Reading: Isaiah 53:4-12 (GW)
53:4 He certainly has taken upon himself our suffering
and carried our sorrows,
but we thought that God had wounded him,
beat him, and punished him.
He was wounded for our rebellious acts.
He was crushed for our sins.
He was punished so that we could have peace,
and we received healing from his wounds.
We have all strayed like sheep.
Each one of us has turned to go his own way,
and the Lord has laid all our sins on him.
He was abused and punished,
but he didn’t open his mouth.
He was led like a lamb to the slaughter.
He was like a sheep that is silent
when its wool is cut off.
He didn’t open his mouth.
He was arrested, taken away, and judged.
Who would have thought that he would be removed
from the world?
He was killed because of my people’s rebellion.
He was placed in a tomb with the wicked.
He was put there with the rich when he died,
although he had done nothing violent
and had never spoken a lie.
Yet, it was the Lord’s will to crush him with suffering.
When the Lord has made his life a sacrifice for our wrongdoings,
he will see his descendants for many days.
The will of the Lord will succeed through him.
He will see and be satisfied
because of his suffering.
My righteous servant will acquit many people
because of what he has learned ⌞through suffering⌟.
He will carry their sins as a burden.
So I will give him a share among the mighty,
and he will divide the prize with the strong,
because he poured out his life in death
and he was counted with sinners.
He carried the sins of many.
He intercedes for those who are rebellious.
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From the Psalms: Psalm 91:9-16 | Mary Munson
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NT Reading: Hebrews 5:1-10 (GW)
5:1 Every chief priest is chosen from humans to represent them in front of God, that is, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sin. The chief priest can be gentle with people who are ignorant and easily deceived, because he also has weaknesses. Because he has weaknesses, he has to offer sacrifices for his own sins in the same way that he does for the sins of his people.
No one takes this honor for himself. Instead, God calls him as he called Aaron. So Christ did not take the glory of being a chief priest for himself. Instead, the glory was given to him by God, who said,
“You are my Son.
Today I have become your Father.”
In another place in Scripture, God said,
“You are a priest forever,
in the way Melchizedek was a priest.”
During his life on earth, Jesus prayed to God, who could save him from death. He prayed and pleaded with loud crying and tears, and he was heard because of his devotion to God. Although Jesus was the Son ⌞of God⌟, he learned to be obedient through his sufferings. After he had finished his work, he became the source of eternal salvation for everyone who obeys him. God appointed him chief priest in the way Melchizedek was a priest.
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Stricken, Smitten and Afflicted | Hymns of Grace
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Gospel Reading: Mark 10:35-45 (GW)
James and John Make a Request
10:35 James and John, sons of Zebedee, went to Jesus. They said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do us a favor.”
“What do you want me to do for you?” he asked them.
They said to him, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.”
Jesus said, “You don’t realize what you’re asking. Can you drink the cup that I’m going to drink? Can you be baptized with the baptism that I’m going to receive?”
“We can,” they told him.
Jesus told them, “You will drink the cup that I’m going to drink. You will be baptized with the baptism that I’m going to receive. But I don’t have the authority to grant you a seat at my right or left. Those positions have already been prepared for certain people.”
When the other ten apostles heard about it, they were irritated with James and John. Jesus called the apostles and said, “You know that the acknowledged rulers of nations have absolute power over people and their officials have absolute authority over people. But that’s not the way it’s going to be among you. Whoever wants to become great among you will be your servant. Whoever wants to be most important among you will be a slave for everyone. It’s the same way with the Son of Man. He didn’t come so that others could serve him. He came to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many people.”
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My Ransom | Hymns of Grace
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For the Unrepentant: Merciful God, you desire not the death of sinners, but rather that they should turn to you and live; and through your only Son you have revealed yourself as the God who pardons iniquity. Have mercy on the unrepentant and those who do not believe. Awaken in them, by your Word and Holy Spirit, a deep sense of their sinfulness and peril. Take from them all ignorance, hardness of heart, and contempt of your Word. Grant them to know and believe that there is no other Name under heaven given among men by which they must be saved, but only the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so bring them home and number them among your children, that they may be yours for ever; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.
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 those who are in trouble, sorrow, need, sickness, and bereavement; protect the innocent and punish the guilty. Amen.
+ Over Jerusalem, fill it with lasting peace; comfort your faithful followers; and use them to restore your people to their proper place in your Kingdom. 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.
+ Over our Families, fill us all with faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, and true godliness; so enkindle fervent charity among us, that we may evermore be joined to one another with bonds of loving-kindness. 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.
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 