The Season of Advent | 3rd Monday 18 Dec 2023
+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Opening:
O Lord Jesus Christ,
you sent your messengers the prophets to preach repentance
and prepare the way for our salvation:
Grant that the ministers and stewards of your mysteries
may likewise make ready your way,
by turning the hearts of the disobedient
toward the wisdom of the just,
that at your second coming to judge the world,
we may be found a people acceptable in your sight;
for with the Father and the Holy Spirit you live and reign,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.
“Put on all the armor that God supplies.
In this way you can take a stand
against the devil’s strategies.”
(Ephesians 6:11)
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From Psalms: Psalm 125 – Sons of Korah [Ed Sullivan]
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OT Reading: 1 Kings 18:1-18 (GW)
Elijah Comes to King Ahab
18:1 A while later in the third year of the drought, the Lord spoke his word to Elijah: “Present yourself to Ahab. I will allow rain to fall on the ground.” So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab.
The famine was particularly severe in Samaria. Ahab sent for Obadiah, who was in charge of the palace. Obadiah was a devout worshiper of the Lord. (When Jezebel was killing the Lord’s prophets, Obadiah had hidden 100 prophets in caves. He put 50 prophets in each cave and kept them alive by providing bread and water for them.) Ahab told Obadiah, “Let’s go throughout the countryside to every spring and stream. If we can find grass, then we can keep the horses and mules alive and not lose any animals.” So they split up in order to cover the entire countryside. Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went the other way by himself.
Obadiah was on the road when he met Elijah. Obadiah recognized him and immediately bowed down to the ground. “Is it you, my master Elijah?” he asked.
“Yes,” Elijah answered him. “Tell your master that Elijah is here.”
Obadiah asked, “What have I done wrong to make you hand me over to Ahab to be killed? I solemnly swear, as the Lord your God lives, my master has searched for you in every region and kingdom. When people would say, ‘He isn’t here,’ my master made that kingdom or region take an oath that they hadn’t found you.
“Now you say, ‘Tell your master that Elijah is here.’ This is what will happen: When I leave you, the Lord’s Spirit will take you away to some unknown place. I’ll tell Ahab, but he won’t be able to find you. Then he will kill me.
“I have been faithful to the Lord since I was a child. Haven’t you heard what I did when Jezebel killed the Lord’s prophets? Haven’t you heard how I hid 100 of the Lord’s prophets in caves? I hid 50 prophets in each cave and provided bread and water for them. Now you say that I should tell my master that Elijah is here. He will kill me.”
Elijah said, “I solemnly swear, as the Lord of Armies whom I serve lives, I will present myself to Ahab.”
So Obadiah went to tell Ahab.
Elijah and the Prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel
Ahab went to meet Elijah. When he saw Elijah, Ahab said, “Is that you, you troublemaker of Israel?”
18:1 Elijah answered, “I haven’t troubled Israel. You and your father’s family have done it by disobeying the Lord’s commands and following the various Baal gods.
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Show Your Power – Live Vineyard Worship [taken from Spirit Burn – Live from London]
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NT Reading: Ephesians 6:10-17 (GW)
Put On All the Armor That God Supplies
6:10 Finally, receive your power from the Lord and from his mighty strength. 
Put on all the armor that God supplies. In this way you can take a stand against the devil’s strategies. This is not a wrestling match against a human opponent. We are wrestling with rulers, authorities, the powers who govern this world of darkness, and spiritual forces that control evil in the heavenly world. For this reason, take up all the armor that God supplies. Then you will be able to take a stand during these evil days. Once you have overcome all obstacles, you will be able to stand your ground.
So then, take your stand! Fasten truth around your waist like a belt. Put on God’s approval as your breastplate. Put on your shoes so that you are ready to spread the Good News that gives peace. In addition to all these, take the Christian faith as your shield. With it you can put out all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Also take salvation as your helmet and God’s word as the sword that the Spirit supplies.
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Spiritual Warfare | Put on the Armor of God – Inspirational & Motivational Video
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+ O God, our heavenly Father: Pour out your Spirit on your faithful people in the Middle East, that your Son’s life-giving Gospel may be preached to every tribe and nation. 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.
+ Almighty God, we commend to your gracious care and keeping all the men and women of the Israeli Defense Forces. Defend them day by day with your heavenly grace; strengthen them in their trials and temptations; give them courage to face the perils which beset them; and grant them a sense of your abiding presence wherever they may be; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
+ Lord of Heaven’s Armies, we pray for swift and total victory over all evil in the Holy Land. Set free the hostages, and deliver from bondage every person captivated by the evil death cult terrorizing the Middle East. And finally, grant heavenly wisdom to those guiding Israel militarily, politically, diplomatically, and especially those who will restore Israel spiritually, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Closing: FaithandWorship.com | John Birch
May the Lord, when he comes,
find us watching and waiting.
+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
5:23 May the God who gives peace make you holy in every way. May he keep your whole being—spirit, soul, and body—blameless when our Lord Jesus Christ comes. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do this.
“Which of the two sons did what the father wanted?”
I threw it all away in order to gain Christ and to have a relationship with him. This means that I didn’t receive God’s approval by obeying his laws. The opposite is true! I have God’s approval through faith in Christ. This is the approval that comes from God and is based on faith that knows Christ. Faith knows the power that his coming back to life gives and what it means to share his suffering. In this way I’m becoming like him in his death, with the confidence that I’ll come back to life from the dead.
The Peanut Gallery 