+ In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!
Opening Sentence
I call all heaven to witness today that I have put on Christ.
I choose no other Lord than the Maker of heaven and earth.
This day I walk with Him and He will walk with me.
Reading: Psalm 70:2-4 (NLT)
May those who try to kill me be humiliated and put to shame. May those who take delight in my trouble be turned back in disgrace. Let them be horrified by their shame, for they said, “Aha! We’ve got him now!”
But may all who search for you be filled with joy and gladness in you. May those who love your salvation repeatedly shout, “God is great!”
Reading: Joshua 5:13-15 (NLT)
When Joshua was near the town of Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with sword in hand. Joshua went up to him and demanded, “Are you friend or foe?”
“Neither one,” he replied. “I am the commander of the Lord’s army.”
At this, Joshua fell with his face to the ground in reverence. “I am at your command,” Joshua said. “What do you want your servant to do?”
The commander of the Lord’s army replied, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did as he was told.
Reading: Luke 11:21-22, 24 (NLT)
For when a strong man is fully armed and guards his palace, his possessions are safe — until someone even stronger attacks and overpowers him, strips him of his weapons, and carries off his belongings.
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“When an evil spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert, searching for rest. But when it finds none, it says, ‘I will return to the person I came from.’”
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My Prayer:
Protecting Father:
+ Keep watch over all who seek You; fill us with joy and gladness in the Holy Spirit.
+ Keep our feet on the narrow path that leads to life, abundant and eternal.
+ Deliver us from those who would do us harm and expose their evil, wicked ways.
Conquering Son:
+ Humble us before Your holy presence and Your mighty power.
+ Fill us with an awareness of the eternal significance of the spiritual battles before us.
+ Train us and send us into the fray as confident soldiers of the cross.
Liberating Spirit:
+ Free us from bondage to the forces at work around us, that would squeeze us into this world’s mold.
+ Show us how to pray when we can’t find words to express the passion and longing in our hearts.
+ Fill the empty places in our lives with Your love and light, that deceit and darkness will have no place to reside within us.
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“Holy Ground” – Sandi Patty
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Blessing
May the peace of the Lord Jesus Christ go with you, wherever He may send you. May He guide you through the wilderness, protect you through the storm. May He bring you home rejoicing at the wonders He has shown you. May He bring you home rejoicing once again into our doors.
+ In the name of the Protecting Father, in the name of the Conquering Son, and in the name of the Liberating Spirit. Amen!
Come let us worship our God of kindness – who calls us to repentance and, like a patient gardener, always gives his people a second chance.
+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Opening Prayer:
God of salvation, we stand before you on holy ground, for your name is glorified and your mercy revealed wherever your mighty deeds are remembered. Since you are holy and forbearing, turn us from every rash and shallow judgement to seek the way of repentance. We ask this through Christ, our deliverance and hope, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, holy and mighty God for ever and ever.
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Hymn: “Great I Am” – New Life Worship
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A Reading from the Old Testament: Exodus 3:1-8, 13-15 (NLT)
[God reveals his name to Moses, who removes his sandals, a sign of his deep respect for God’s presence and power.]
One day Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock far into the wilderness and came to Sinai, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the middle of a bush. Moses stared in amazement. Though the bush was engulfed in flames, it didn’t burn up. “This is amazing,” Moses said to himself. “Why isn’t that bush burning up? I must go see it.”
When the Lord saw Moses coming to take a closer look, God called to him from the middle of the bush, “Moses! Moses!”
“Here I am!” Moses replied.
“Do not come any closer,” the Lord warned. “Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground. I am the God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” When Moses heard this, he covered his face because he was afraid to look at God.
Then the Lord told him, “I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their cries of distress because of their harsh slave drivers. Yes, I am aware of their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and lead them out of Egypt into their own fertile and spacious land. It is a land flowing with milk and honey—the land where the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites now live.
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But Moses protested, “If I go to the people of Israel and tell them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ they will ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what should I tell them?”
God replied to Moses, “I am who i am. Say this to the people of Israel: I am has sent me to you.” God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: Yahweh, the God of your ancestors—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.
This is my eternal name, my name to remember for all generations.
__________
A Reading from the Psalms: Psalm 103 (Hillsong)
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A Reading from the Letters: 1 Corinthians 10:1-6, 10-12 (NLT)
[Paul draws lessons from Jewish history, warning people to be careful.]
I don’t want you to forget, dear brothers and sisters, about our ancestors in the wilderness long ago. All of them were guided by a cloud that moved ahead of them, and all of them walked through the sea on dry ground. In the cloud and in the sea, all of them were baptized as followers of Moses. All of them ate the same spiritual food, and all of them drank the same spiritual water. For they drank from the spiritual rock that traveled with them, and that rock was Christ. Yet God was not pleased with most of them, and their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.
These things happened as a warning to us, so that we would not crave evil things as they did….
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And don’t grumble as some of them did, and then were destroyed by the angel of death. These things happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us who live at the end of the age.
If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall.
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A Reading from the Gospels: Luke 13:1-9 (NLT)
[The Gospel combines a call to repentance with a reminder of God’s willingness to give us a second chance.]
About this time Jesus was informed that Pilate had murdered some people from Galilee as they were offering sacrifices at the Temple. “Do you think those Galileans were worse sinners than all the other people from Galilee?” Jesus asked. “Is that why they suffered? Not at all! And you will perish, too, unless you repent of your sins and turn to God. And what about the eighteen people who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them? Were they the worst sinners in Jerusalem? No, and I tell you again that unless you repent, you will perish, too.”
Then Jesus told this story: “A man planted a fig tree in his garden and came again and again to see if there was any fruit on it, but he was always disappointed. Finally, he said to his gardener, ‘I’ve waited three years, and there hasn’t been a single fig! Cut it down. It’s just taking up space in the garden.’
“The gardener answered, ‘Sir, give it one more chance. Leave it another year, and I’ll give it special attention and plenty of fertilizer. If we get figs next year, fine. If not, then you can cut it down.’”
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Hymn: “Lord, Have Mercy (Kyrie)” – Lindell Cooley
Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!
Lord we have placed all our hope in Thee.
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Intercessions:
Gracious God, full of compassion and mercy, hear your people as we present our concerns to you today:
+ For your Church throughout the world to bear witness to your love, compassion and mercy…. Lord, hear us.
+ For an end to wars and trouble, especially in Syria and the Middle East…. Lord, hear us.
+ For Christian charities who look after the dispossessed…. Lord, hear us.
+ For refugees seeking safety and support as they wait to return home…. Lord, hear us.
+ For those who have asked for our prayers, especially our neighbors, families and friends…. Lord, hear us.
+ For all who have died in Christ before us, especially family, friends and neighbors, they may enjoy the heavenly rest that we all seek…. Lord, hear us.
God of mercy and compassion, hear our prayers. Forgive us our sins and give us the grace to love one another as you have loved us, and to forgive one another as you have forgiven us. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in unity with the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.
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Hymn: “Let Your Kingdom Come” – Sovereign Grace
Benediction:
To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. (1 Timothy 1:17)
+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen
+ In the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
Opening sentences
One thing I have asked of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life; to behold the beauty of the Lord and to seek Him in His temple.
Praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ, King of endless glory.
Pilgrimage
Psalm 134:2
Lift your hands toward the sanctuary, and praise the Lord.
Joshua 5:13-15
When Joshua was near the town of Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with sword in hand. Joshua went up to him and demanded, “Are you friend or foe?”
“Neither one,” he replied. “I am the commander of the Lord’s army.”
At this, Joshua fell with his face to the ground in reverence. “I am at your command,” Joshua said. “What do you want your servant to do?”
The commander of the Lord’s army replied, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did as he was told.
Matthew 28:17
When they saw him, they worshiped him — but some of them doubted!
Down the wide open road
the pilgrim travels on,
his face towards the sun,
beyond the open road he
travels on.
And the waves steal the footprints
of the summer from the sand;
beneath the silver moon
the North wind blows the
fading leaves again.
(Chris Simpson, ‘Seasons’)
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And now perhaps our travels will bring us again to the Holy Island of Lindisfarne like so many, pilgrims and tourists alike. Most will venture over only between the tides when the island is an island in name only. The tide comes in and the place becomes quieter. With tourists and holiday-maker less in evidence. Islander and island speak, and smile, then leave us to thoughts of our own. It has always been that way.
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Here was a sequence both of access and
inaccessibility. There were hours when the tide
closed it for prayer.
(Ronald Blythe)
_____
The tide did now its flood-mark gain
and girdled in the Saint’s domain;
for, with the flow and the ebb, its style
varies from continent to isle;
dry-shod, o’er sands, twice every day,
the pilgrims to the shrine find way;
twice every day the waves efface
of staves and sandaled feet the trace.
(Walter Scott)
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Canticle:
Christ, as a light
illumine and guide me.
Christ, as a shield
overshadow me.
Christ under me;
Christ over me;
Christ beside me
on my left and my right.
This day be within and without me,
lowly and meek, yet all-powerful.
Be in the heart of each to whom I speak;
in the mouth of each who speaks unto me.
This day be within and without me,
lowly and meek, yet all-powerful.
Christ as a light;
Christ as a shield;
Christ beside me
on my left and my right.
Blessing
May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you,
wherever He may send you.
May He guide you through the wilderness,
protect you through the storm.
May He bring you home rejoicing
at the wonders He has shown you.
May He bring you home rejoicing
once again into our doors.
+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
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Peanut Gallery: The general format for Morning Prayer is adapted from the Northumbrian Community‘s Daily Office, as found in Celtic Daily Prayer (see online resources here.) Our Scripture readings and reflections will be taken from the Aidan Daily Readings (Celtic Daily Prayer) during the month of July. On Sundays, we’ll return to the USCCB readings (see online resources here) and various liturgical resources in order to reflect the Church’s worship and concerns throughout the world. Photo illustrations and music videos, available online, are included as they illustrate or illuminate the readings. I will try to give credit and link to sources as best I can.
The Peanut Gallery 