Holy Week | Tuesday 26 Mar 2024
+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Opening:
Almighty and everlasting God,
in your tender love for us you sent your Son
our Savior Jesus Christ to take upon himself
our nature, and to suffer death upon the Cross,
giving us the example of his great humility:
Mercifully grant that we may walk in the way of his suffering,
and come to share in his resurrection;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Jesus has become our wisdom sent from God,
our approval, our holiness,
and our ransom from sin.
(1 Corinthians 1:30)
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I Stand Amazed | Celtic Worship ft. Steph Macleod
I stand amazed in the presence
Of Jesus the Nazarene
And wonder how He could love me A sinner, condemned, unclean
How marvellous, how wonderful And my song shall ever be
How marvellous, how wonderful Is my Saviour’s love for me
For me it was in the garden
He prayed, not my will, but Thine He had no tears for His own griefs But sweat drops of blood for mine
He took my sins and my sorrows He made them His very own
He bore the burden of Calvary And suffered and died alone
When with the ransomed in glory His face I at last shall see
‘Twill be my joy through the ages To sing of His love for me
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From the OT Prophets: Isaiah 49:1-7 (GW)
The Lord’s Servant Will Bring Salvation to the Nations
49:1 Listen to me, you islands.
Pay attention, you people far away.
Before I was born, the Lord chose me.
While I was in my mother’s womb, he recorded my name.
He made my tongue like a sharp sword
and hid me in the palm of his hand.
He made me like a sharpened arrow
and hid me in his quiver.
He said to me,
“You are my servant Israel.
I will display my glory through you.”
But I said,
“I have worked hard for nothing.
I have used my strength, but I didn’t accomplish anything.
Yet, certainly my case is in the Lord’s hands,
and my reward is with my God.”
The Lord formed me in the womb to be his servant
in order to bring Jacob back to him
and gather Israel to him.
(The Lord honors me,
and my God has become my strength.)
Now, the Lord says,
“You are not just my servant
who restores the tribes of Jacob
and brings back those in Israel whom I have preserved.
I have also made you a light for the nations
so that you would save people all over the world.”
The Lord is the defender of Israel, its Holy One.
This is what the Lord says to the despised one, to the one scorned by the nation, to the slave of rulers:
Kings will see ⌞you⌟ and stand.
Princes will see ⌞you⌟ and bow.
The Lord is faithful.
The Holy One of Israel has chosen you.
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From the Psalms: Psalm 71 – “Even in My Old Age || Aaron Shust
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From the NT Letters: 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 (GW)
1:18 The message about the cross is nonsense to those who are being destroyed, but it is God’s power to us who are being saved. Scripture says,
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise.
I will reject the intelligence of intelligent people.”
Where is the wise person? Where is the scholar? Where is the persuasive speaker of our time? Hasn’t God turned the wisdom of the world into nonsense? The world with its wisdom was unable to recognize God in terms of his own wisdom. So God decided to use the nonsense of the Good News we speak to save those who believe. Jews ask for miraculous signs, and Greeks look for wisdom, but our message is that Christ was crucified. This offends Jewish people and makes no sense to people who are not Jewish. But to those Jews and Greeks who are called, he is Christ, God’s power and God’s wisdom. God’s nonsense is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.
Brothers and sisters, consider what you were when God called you to be Christians. Not many of you were wise from a human point of view. You were not in powerful positions or in the upper social classes. But God chose what the world considers nonsense to put wise people to shame. 
God chose what the world considers weak to put what is strong to shame. God chose what the world considers ordinary and what it despises—what it considers to be nothing—in order to destroy what it considers to be something. As a result, no one can brag in God’s presence. You are partners with Christ Jesus because of God. Jesus has become our wisdom sent from God, our approval, our holiness, and our ransom from sin. As Scripture says, “Whoever brags must brag about what the Lord has done.”
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“See What the LORD has Done” – Nathaniel Bassey – heart_beat lyrics
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From the Gospels: John 12:20-36 (GW)
Some Greeks Ask to See Jesus
12:20 Some Greeks were among those who came to worship during the Passover festival. They went to Philip (who was from Bethsaida in Galilee) and told him, “Sir, we would like to meet Jesus.” Philip told Andrew, and they told Jesus.
Jesus replied to them, “The time has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. I can guarantee this truth: A single grain of wheat doesn’t produce anything unless it is planted in the ground and dies. If it dies, it will produce a lot of grain. Those who love their lives will destroy them, and those who hate their lives in this world will guard them for everlasting life. Those who serve me must follow me. My servants will be with me wherever I will be. If people serve me, the Father will honor them.
“I am too deeply troubled now to know how to express my feelings. Should I say, ‘Father, save me from this time ⌞of suffering⌟’? No! I came for this time of suffering. Father, give glory to your name.”
A voice from heaven said, “I have given it glory, and I will give it glory again.”
The crowd standing there heard the voice and said that it had thundered. Others in the crowd said that an angel had talked to him. Jesus replied, “That voice wasn’t for my benefit but for yours.
“This world is being judged now. The ruler of this world will be thrown out now. When I have been lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people toward me.” By saying this, he indicated how he was going to die.
The crowd responded to him, “We have heard from the Scriptures that the Messiah will remain here forever. So how can you say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up from the earth’? Who is this ‘Son of Man’?”
Jesus answered the crowd, “The light will still be with you for a little while. Walk while you have light so that darkness won’t defeat you. Those who walk in the dark don’t know where they’re going. While you have the light, believe in the light so that you will become people whose lives show the light.”
After Jesus had said this, he was concealed as he left.
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Christ Our Wisdom | Sovereign Grace Music
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+ 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.
+ Lord of Heaven’s Armies, we pray for swift justice and total victory over all evil in the Holy Land. Deliver the hostages from captivity and restore their souls. Destroy every stronghold of the evil death cult terrorizing the Middle East. And grant your heavenly wisdom to those guiding Israel militarily, politically, diplomatically – and especially to those who will restore Israel spiritually – 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 Christ, who bore our sins on the cross,
set us free to serve him with joy.
+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The Peanut Gallery 