Monday, 20 Sep 2021:

+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Opening:

O Lord, you have taught us that without love, all our deeds are
worth nothing: Send your Holy Spirit and pour into our hearts
that most excellent gift of charity, the true bond of peace and of
all virtues, without which whoever lives is counted dead before
you; grant this for the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, who lives
and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and
ever. Amen.

“You do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life?
For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.
Instead you ought to say,
“If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.””
(James 4:14-15)

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Psalms: Psalm 128 – Sons of Korah
Blessed Is Everyone Who Fears the Lord
A Song of Ascents.

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OT Reading: Proverbs 27:1-27 (ESV)

27:1  Do not boast about tomorrow,
for you do not know what a day may bring.

2 Let another praise you, and not your own mouth;
a stranger, and not your own lips.

3 A stone is heavy, and sand is weighty,
but a fool’s provocation is heavier than both.

4 Wrath is cruel, anger is overwhelming,
but who can stand before jealousy?

5 Better is open rebuke
than hidden love.

6 Faithful are the wounds of a friend;
profuse are the kisses of an enemy.

7 One who is full loathes honey,
but to one who is hungry everything bitter is sweet.

8 Like a bird that strays from its nest
is a man who strays from his home.

9 Oil and perfume make the heart glad,
and the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel.

10 Do not forsake your friend and your father’s friend,
and do not go to your brother’s house in the day of your calamity.

Better is a neighbor who is near
than a brother who is far away.

11 Be wise, my son, and make my heart glad,
that I may answer him who reproaches me.

12 The prudent sees danger and hides himself,
but the simple go on and suffer for it.

13 Take a man’s garment when he has put up security for a stranger,
and hold it in pledge when he puts up security for an adulteress.

14 Whoever blesses his neighbor with a loud voice,
rising early in the morning,
will be counted as cursing.

15 A continual dripping on a rainy day
and a quarrelsome wife are alike;
16 to restrain her is to restrain the wind
or to grasp oil in one’s right hand.

17 Iron sharpens iron,
and one man sharpens another.

18 Whoever tends a fig tree will eat its fruit,
and he who guards his master will be honored.

19 As in water face reflects face,
so the heart of man reflects the man.

20 Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied,
and never satisfied are the eyes of man.

21 The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold,
and a man is tested by his praise.
22 Crush a fool in a mortar with a pestle
along with crushed grain,
yet his folly will not depart from him.

23 Know well the condition of your flocks,
and give attention to your herds,
24 for riches do not last forever;
and does a crown endure to all generations?
25 When the grass is gone and the new growth appears
and the vegetation of the mountains is gathered,
26 the lambs will provide your clothing,
and the goats the price of a field.
27 There will be enough goats’ milk for your food,
for the food of your household
and maintenance for your girls.

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NT Reading: James 4:8-17 (ESV)

4:8  Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?

Boasting About Tomorrow

4:13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

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Known Only to Him – Elvis Presley

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Prayer:

+ Most loving Father, you will us to give thanks for all things, to dread nothing but the loss of you, and to cast all our care on the One who cares for us.  Preserve us from faithless fears and worldly anxieties, and grant that no clouds of this mortal life may hide from us the light of that love which is immortal, and which you have manifested unto us in your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

+ O God of peace, you have taught us that in returning and rest we shall be saved, in quietness and in confidence shall be our strength: By the might of your Spirit lift us, we pray, into your presence, where we may be still and know that you are God; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

+ Christ as a light, illumine and guide us. Christ as a shield, overshadow us. Christ under us; Christ over us; Christ beside us on our left and our right. This day be within and without us, lowly and meek, yet all-powerful. Be in the heart of each to whom we speak; in the mouth of each who speaks to us. This day be within and without us, lowly and meek, yet all-powerful. Christ as a light; Christ as a shield; Christ beside us on our left and our right.

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Blessing

May the peace of the Lord Christ go with us, wherever He may send us.
May He guide us through the wilderness, protect us through the storm.
May He bring us home rejoicing at the wonders He has shown us.
May He bring us home rejoicing once again into our doors.

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+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.