After Pentecost | Tuesday 13 Aug 2024
+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Opening:
Almighty God, give us the increase
of faith, hope, and love; and,
that we may obtain what you have promised,
make us love what you command;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
“But grow in the good will and knowledge
of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
(2 Peter 3:18)
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From Psalms: Psalm 81 – Poor Bishop Hooper
sing aloud to god our strength
shout for joy to the god of jacob
raise a song sound the tambourine
with the lyre harp
blow the horn on the day of feasts
to the moon for it is a statute
this is israel’s decree
from the land of egypt
i hear a language that i had not known
i delivered your shoulder from the burden you were carrying
i answered your distress from the secret place of thundering
listen listen oh my people to my warning
listen listen oh my people to this warning
there will be no strange foreign gods among you
for i am the lord god
i would feed you with the finest of wheat
with honey from the rock so satisfying
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OT Reading: Ruth 2:1-23 (GW)
Ruth Gathers Grain in the Field of Boaz
2:1 Naomi had a relative. He was from Elimelech’s side of the family. He was a man of outstanding character named Boaz.
Ruth, who was from Moab, said to Naomi, “Please let me go to the field of anyone who will be kind to me. There I will gather the grain left behind by the reapers.”
Naomi told her, “Go, my daughter.”
So Ruth went. She entered a field and gathered the grain left behind by the reapers. Now it happened that she ended up in the part of the field that belonged to Boaz, who was from Elimelech’s family.
Just then, Boaz was coming from Bethlehem, and he said to his reapers, “May the Lord be with all of you!”
They answered him, “May the Lord bless you!”
Boaz asked the young man in charge of his reapers, “Who is this young woman?”
The young man answered, “She’s a young Moabite woman who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab. She said, ‘Please let me gather grain. I will only gather among the bundles behind the reapers.’ So she came here and has been on her feet from daybreak until now. She just sat down this minute in the shelter.”
Boaz Speaks with Ruth
2:8 Boaz said to Ruth, “Listen, my daughter. Don’t go in any other field to gather grain, and don’t even leave this one. Stay here with my young women. Watch where my men are reaping, and follow the young women in that field. I have ordered my young men not to touch you. When you’re thirsty, go to the jars and drink some of the water that the young men have drawn.”
Ruth immediately bowed down to the ground and said to him, “Why are you so helpful? Why are you paying attention to me? I’m only a foreigner.”
Boaz answered her, “People have told me about everything you have done for your mother-in-law after your husband died. They told me how you left your father and mother and the country where you were born. They also told me how you came to people that you didn’t know before. May the Lord reward you for what you have done! May you receive a rich reward from the Lord God of Israel, under whose protection you have come for shelter.”
Ruth replied, “Sir, may your kindness to me continue. You have comforted me and reassured me, and I’m not even one of your own servants.”
When it was time to eat, Boaz told her, “Come here. Have some bread, and dip it into the sour wine.” So she sat beside the reapers, and he handed her some roasted grain. She ate all she wanted and had some left over.
When she got up to gather grain, Boaz ordered his servants, “Let her gather grain even among the bundles. Don’t give her any problems. Even pull some grain out of the bundles and leave it for her to gather. Don’t give her a hard time about it.”
Ruth and Naomi Talk about Boaz
2:17 So Ruth gathered grain in the field until evening. Then she separated the grain from its husks. She had about half a bushel of barley. She picked it up and went into the town, and her mother-in-law saw what she had gathered. Ruth also took out what she had left over from lunch and gave it to Naomi.
Her mother-in-law asked her, “Where did you gather grain today? Just where did you work? May the man who paid attention to you be blessed.”
Ruth told her mother-in-law about the person with whom she worked. She said, “The man I worked with today is named Boaz.”
Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May the Lord bless him. The Lord hasn’t stopped being kind to people—living or dead.” Then Naomi told her, “That man is a relative of ours. He is a close relative, one of those responsible for taking care of us.”
Ruth, who was from Moab, told her, “He also said to me, ‘Stay with my younger workers until they have finished the harvest.’ ”
Naomi told her daughter-in-law Ruth, “It’s a good idea, my daughter, that you go out to the fields with his young women. If you go to someone else’s field, you may be molested.”
So Ruth stayed with the young women who were working for Boaz. She gathered grain until both the barley harvest and the wheat harvest ended. And she continued to live with her mother-in-law.
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Song of Ruth (Wherever You Go) / Kevin & Bethany Paige
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NT Reading: 2 Peter 3:14-18 (GW)
3:14 Therefore, dear friends, with this to look forward to, make every effort to have him find you at peace, without ⌞spiritual⌟ stains or blemishes. Think of our Lord’s patience as an opportunity ⌞for us⌟ to be saved. This is what our dear brother Paul wrote to you about, using the wisdom God gave him. He talks about this subject in all his letters. Some things in his letters are hard to understand. Ignorant people and people who aren’t sure of what they believe distort what Paul says in his letters the same way they distort the rest of the Scriptures. These people will be destroyed.
Dear friends, you already know these things. So be on your guard not to be carried away by the deception of people who have no principles. Then you won’t fall from your firm position. But grow in the good will [a] and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Glory belongs to him now and for that eternal day! Amen.
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Oh, I Want To Know You More | Aini Sabino (Cover) | MUSIC OF HOPE
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+ Gracious and holy Father, please give us intellect to understand you, reason to discern you, diligence to seek you, wisdom to find you, a spirit to know you, hearts to meditate upon you, ears to hear you, eyes to see you, tongues to proclaim you, ways of life pleasing to you, patience to wait for you, and perseverance to look for you. Grant us a perfect end, your holy presence, a blessed resurrection, and life everlasting. Amen.
+ O God, our heavenly Father, you manifested your love by sending your only-begotten Son into the world, that all might live through him: Pour out your Spirit on your Church, that we may fulfill his command to preach the Gospel to all people. 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; through your Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
+ Sovereign Lord: We pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
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- 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 October 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.
+ Heavenly Father, you have promised to hear what we ask in the Name of your Son: Accept and fulfill our petitions, we pray, not as we ask in our ignorance, nor as we deserve in our sinfulness, but as you know and love us in your Son 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 