After Pentecost | Monday 27 May 2024
+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Opening:
O Lord,
we entreat you mercifully to hear us,
and grant that we,
to whom you have given the desire to pray,
may by your mighty aid
be defended and comforted in all our adversities;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
After these things
I saw a door standing open in heaven.
I heard the first voice like a trumpet speaking to me.
It said, “Come up here, and I will show you
what must happen after this.”
(Revelation 4:1)
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From Psalms: Psalm 20 – Psalm 20 (Radio Edit) – The Psalms Project
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OT Reading: Numbers 9:15-23 (GW)
The Column of Smoke Leads Israel through the Desert
9:15 On the day the tent of the words of God’s promise was set up, the ⌞column of⌟ smoke covered it. From evening until morning, the smoke over the tent glowed like fire. The smoke always glowed this way. At night the smoke covering the tent glowed like fire. Whenever the smoke moved from the tent, the Israelites would break camp, and wherever it stopped, the Israelites would set up camp. At the Lord’s command the Israelites would break camp, and at his command they would set up camp. As long as the ⌞column of⌟ smoke stayed over the tent, they would stay in the same place. When the smoke stayed over the tent for a long time, the Israelites obeyed the Lord’s command and wouldn’t break camp. The same thing happened when the smoke stayed only a few days over the tent: At the Lord’s command they would set up camp, and at his command they would break camp. Sometimes the ⌞column of⌟ smoke stayed only from evening until morning. When the smoke moved in the morning, they broke camp. Day or night, when the smoke moved, they broke camp. Whether it was two days, a month, or a year, as long as the ⌞column of⌟ smoke stayed over the tent, the Israelites would stay in the same place and not break camp. But when the smoke moved, they would break camp. At the Lord’s command they set up camp, and at his command they broke camp. They obeyed the command that the Lord had given through Moses.
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Spirit Lead Me – Hillsong UNITED / One In Praise
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NT Reading: Revelation 4:1-8 (GW)
A Vision of God’s Throne in Heaven
4:1 After these things I saw a door standing open in heaven. I heard the first voice like a trumpet speaking to me. It said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must happen after this.”
Instantly, I came under the Spirit’s power. I saw a throne in heaven, and someone was sitting on it. The one sitting there looked like gray quartz and red quartz. There was a rainbow around the throne which looked like an emerald.
Around that throne were 24 other thrones, and on these thrones sat 24 leaders wearing white clothes. They had gold crowns on their heads. Lightning, noise, and thunder came from the throne. Seven flaming torches were burning in front of the throne. These are the seven spirits of God.
In front of the throne, there was something like a sea of glass as clear as crystal. In the center near the throne and around the throne were four living creatures covered with eyes in front and in back. The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like a young bull, the third had a face like a human, and the fourth was like a flying eagle. Each of the four living creatures had six wings and were covered with eyes, inside and out. Without stopping day or night they were singing,
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,
who was, who is, and who is coming.”
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Revelation Song – Phillips, Craig & Dean
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+ O God, without whose beauty and goodness our souls are unfed, without whose truth our reason withers: Consecrate our lives to your will, giving us such purity of heart, such depth of faith, and such steadfastness of purpose, that in time we may come to think your own thoughts after you; through Jesus Christ our Savior. 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, 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, and 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.
- Send your heavenly hosts to 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, healing, and hope;
- And use them in the restoration of your people to their proper place in your Kingdom.
- We pray in Jesus’ Name.
+ 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 the Spirit kindle in us the fire of God’s love.
+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
15:18 “If the world hates you, realize that it hated me before it hated you. If you had anything in common with the world, the world would love you as one of its own. But you don’t have anything in common with the world. I chose you from the world, and that’s why the world hates you. Remember what I told you: ‘A servant isn’t greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they did what I said, they will also do what you say….
8:9 But if God’s Spirit lives in you, you are under the control of your spiritual nature, not your corrupt nature.
Those who live by the corrupt nature have the corrupt nature’s attitude. But those who live by the spiritual nature have the spiritual nature’s attitude. The corrupt nature’s attitude leads to death. But the spiritual nature’s attitude leads to life and peace. This is so because the corrupt nature has a hostile attitude toward God. It refuses to place itself under the authority of God’s standards because it can’t. Those who are under the control of the corrupt nature can’t please God.
Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” After he had said this, he breathed on the disciples and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whenever you forgive sins, they are forgiven. Whenever you don’t forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
The Peanut Gallery 