After the Lord’s Ascension | Tuesday 14 May 2024
+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Opening:
O God, the King of glory,
you have exalted your only Son Jesus Christ
with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven:
Do not leave us comfortless, but send us your Holy Spirit
to strengthen us, and exalt us to that place
where our Savior Christ has gone before;
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.
A spiritual leader
must have a good reputation….
(Titus 1:6)
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From Psalms: Psalm 115 – Hebrew Worship – תְּהִלִּים 115 – Psalm 115 – Biblical Hebrew
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OT Reading: Numbers 8:5-22 (GW)
The Levites Are Made Ready to Do the Lord’s Work
8:5 The Lord said to Moses, “Separate the Levites from the rest of the Israelites, and make them clean. This is what you must do to make them clean: Sprinkle them with water to take away their sins. Make them shave their whole bodies and wash their clothes. Then they will be clean. Next, they must take a young bull and the grain offering of flour mixed with olive oil that is offered with it. You must take a second young bull as an offering for sin. Bring the Levites to the front of the tent of meeting, and assemble the whole community of Israel. Then bring the Levites into the Lord’s presence, and the Israelites will place their hands on them. Aaron will present the Levites to the Lord as an offering from the Israelites. Then they will be ready to do the Lord’s work.
“The Levites will place their hands on the heads of the young bulls. Sacrifice one of them as an offering for sin and the other one as a burnt offering to the Lord. These sacrifices will make peace with the Lord for the Levites. Make the Levites stand in front of Aaron and his sons, and present them as an offering to the Lord. In this way you will separate the Levites from the other Israelites, and the Levites will be mine.
“Once you have made them clean and presented them as an offering, the Levites may come and do their work at the tent of meeting. They will be the only Israelites given to me. I have taken them to be mine as substitutes for every firstborn male offspring of the Israelites. Every firstborn in Israel, whether human or animal, is mine. The day I killed every firstborn male in Egypt, I set them apart as holy to me. So I have taken the Levites as substitutes for all the firstborn sons of the Israelites. The Levites will be the only Israelites I give to Aaron and his sons. They will work for the Israelites at the tent of meeting. They will make peace with the Lord for the Israelites. Then no plague will strike the Israelites when they come near the holy place.”
Moses, Aaron, and the whole community of Israel did what the Lord commanded Moses to do to the Levites. The Levites performed the ceremonies to take away their sins and washed their clothes. Aaron presented them as an offering to the Lord and made peace with the Lord for them in order to make them clean. After that, the Levites came and did their work at the tent of meeting in the presence of Aaron and his sons. They did as the Lord had commanded Moses.
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Take my life and let it be – Northern Baptist Association
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NT Reading: Titus 1:1-9 (GW)
Greeting
1:1 From Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ. I was sent to lead God’s chosen people to faith and to the knowledge of the truth that leads to a godly life. My message is based on the confidence of eternal life. God, who never lies, promised this eternal life before the world began. God has revealed this in every era by spreading his word. I was entrusted with this word by the command of God our Savior.
To Titus, a genuine child in the faith we share.
Good will and peace from God the Father and from Christ Jesus our Savior are yours!
Guidelines for Leaders in the Church
1:5 I left you in Crete to do what still needed to be done—appointing spiritual leaders in every city as I directed you. A spiritual leader must have a good reputation. He must have only one wife and have children who are believers. His children shouldn’t be known for having wild lifestyles or being rebellious. 
Because a bishop is a supervisor appointed by God, he must have a good reputation. He must not be a stubborn or irritable person. He must not drink too much or be a violent person. He must not use shameful ways to make money. Instead, he must be hospitable, love what is good, use good judgment, be fair and moral, and have self-control. He must be devoted to the trustworthy message we teach. Then he can use these accurate teachings to encourage people and correct those who oppose the word.
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Here I Am, Lord – Dan Schutte / OCPmusic
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+ O God, our heavenly Father, you raised up faithful servants to be spiritual leaders in your Church and to feed your flock: Give abundantly to all spiritual leaders [especially in the Holy Land] the gifts of your Holy Spirit, that they may minister in your household as true servants of Christ and stewards of your divine mysteries; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. 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 the Spirit kindle in us the fire of God’s love.
+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
I pray that your love will keep on growing because of your knowledge and insight. That way you will be able to determine what is best and be pure and blameless until the day of Christ. Jesus Christ will fill your lives with everything that God’s approval produces. Your lives will then bring glory and praise to God.
But the world has hated them because they don’t belong to the world any more than I belong to the world. I’m not asking you to take them out of the world but to protect them from the evil one. They don’t belong to the world any more than I belong to the world.
But if I go, I will send him to you. He will come to convict the world of sin, to show the world what has God’s approval, and to convince the world that God judges it. He will convict the world of sin, because people don’t believe in me. He will show the world what has God’s approval, because I’m going to the Father and you won’t see me anymore. He will convince the world that God judges it, because the ruler of this world has been judged.
His voice was like the sound of raging waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp, two-edged sword. His face was like the sun when it shines in all its brightness.
The Peanut Gallery 