Lent | Tuesday 25 Mar 2025
+ In the name the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen
Opening prayer:
Heavenly Father,
you have made us for yourself,
and our hearts are restless until they rest in you:
Look with compassion
upon the heartfelt desires of your servants,
and purify our disordered affections,
that we may behold your eternal glory
in the face of Christ Jesus;
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
“God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.”
(Romans 2:16)
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From the Psalms: Psalm 39 | Poor Bishop Hooper
god remind me just how brief
my time on this shallow earth will be
god remind me that every single morning
my days are numbered and they’re not that many
how fleeting this life is
my entire life is but a moment to you
at very best a breath in the way you see it see it see it
heaping mounds of wealth are merely shadows on the move
all our busy rushing ends in nothing nothing nothing nothing
so where can my hope go
where can my hope go
my hope is in you
in you alone
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OT Reading: Ezekiel 17:1-10 (ESV)
Parable of Two Eagles and a Vine
17:1 The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, propound a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Israel; say, Thus says the Lord God: A great eagle with great wings and long pinions, rich in plumage of many colors, came to Lebanon and took the top of the cedar. He broke off the topmost of its young twigs and carried it to a land of trade and set it in a city of merchants. Then he took of the seed of the land and planted it in fertile soil. He placed it beside abundant waters. He set it like a willow twig, and it sprouted and became a low spreading vine, and its branches turned toward him, and its roots remained where it stood. So it became a vine and produced branches and put out boughs.
“And there was another great eagle with great wings and much plumage, and behold, this vine bent its roots toward him and shot forth its branches toward him from the bed where it was planted, that he might water it. It had been planted on good soil by abundant waters, that it might produce branches and bear fruit and become a noble vine.
“Say, Thus says the Lord God: Will it thrive? Will he not pull up its roots and cut off its fruit, so that it withers, so that all its fresh sprouting leaves wither? It will not take a strong arm or many people to pull it from its roots. Behold, it is planted; will it thrive? Will it not utterly wither when the east wind strikes it—wither away on the bed where it sprouted?”
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Be The Center | Vineyard Worship UK & Ireland
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NT Reading: Romans 2:12-16(ESV)
God’s Judgment and the Law
2:12 For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.
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“Wonderful Merciful Savior” | Selah
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Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid: Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy Name; through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Give me, O Lord, a steadfast heart, which no unworthy thought can drag down; an unconquered heart, which no tribulation can wear out; an upright heart, which no unworthy purpose can tempt aside. Bestow upon me understanding to know you, diligence to seek you, wisdom to find you, and faithfulness that finally may embrace you. Amen. | Thomas Aquinas
Almighty God, we pray for the peace of Jerusalem: Intervene in ways that only you can, so the whole world will know that you alone are God. Protect your people from the assaults of the evil one, and grant Israel’s leaders the wisdom and courage to do what’s right in your sight. Deliver all the hostages from captivity, and restore their souls. Comfort those who grieve and mourn the loss of loved ones. Protect the innocent and punish the guilty, that all may live in peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. 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
May God our Redeemer show us compassion and love.
+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
2:1 Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.
13:6 And he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’ And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’”
6:43 “For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
“‘I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you. Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments, and they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’
The Peanut Gallery 