After Pentecost | Thursday 03 Oct 2024
+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Opening:
O merciful Lord,
grant to your faithful people pardon and peace,
that we may be cleansed from all our sins
and serve you with a quiet mind;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.
“If you belong to Christ,
then you are Abraham’s descendants
and heirs, as God promised.”
(Galatians 3:29)
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From Psalms: Psalm 26 // Psalm Musicals – Christian Music Channel
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OT Reading: Job 2:11-3:26 (GW)
2:11 When Job’s three friends heard about all the terrible things that had happened to him, each of them came from his home—Eliphaz of Teman, Bildad of Shuah, Zophar of Naama. They had agreed they would go together to sympathize with Job and comfort him.
When they saw him from a distance, they didn’t even recognize him. They cried out loud and wept, and each of them tore his own clothes in grief. They threw dust on their heads. Then they sat down on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him because they saw that he was in such great pain.
Job Speaks: Job Curses the Day He Was Born
3:1 After all this, Job ⌞finally⌟ opened his mouth and cursed the day he was born. Job said,
“Scratch out the day I was born
and the night that said, ‘A boy has been conceived!’
“That day—
let it be pitch-black.
Let God above not ⌞even⌟ care about it.
Let no light shine on it.
Let the darkness and long shadows claim it as their own.
Let a dark cloud hang over it.
Let the gloom terrify it.
“That night—
let the blackness take it away.
Let it not be included in the days of the year
or be numbered among the months.
Let that night be empty.
Let no joyful singing be heard in it.
Let those who curse the day
(those who know how to wake up Leviathan)
curse that night.
Let its stars turn dark before dawn.
Let it hope for light and receive none.
Let it not see the first light of dawn
because it did not shut the doors of the womb ⌞from which I came⌟
or hide my eyes from trouble.
Why Did I Survive at Birth?
3:11 “Why didn’t I die as soon as I was born
and breathe my last breath when I came out of the womb?
Why did knees welcome me?
Why did breasts let me nurse?
Instead of being alive,
I would now be quietly lying down.
I would now be sleeping peacefully.
I would be with the kings and the counselors of the world
who built for themselves ⌞what are now⌟ ruins.
I would be with princes
who had gold,
who filled their homes with silver.
I would be buried like a stillborn baby.
I would not exist.
I would be like infants who never saw the light.
There the wicked stop their raging.
There the weary are able to rest.
There the captives have no troubles at all.
There they do not hear the shouting of the slave driver.
There ⌞you find⌟ both the unimportant and important people.
There the slave is free from his master.
Why Do I Go on Living?
3:20 “Why give light to one in misery
and life to those who find it so bitter,
to those who long for death but it never comes—
though they dig for it more than for buried treasure?
They are ecstatic,
delighted to find the grave.
Why give light to those whose paths have been hidden,
to those whom God has fenced in?
“When my food is in front of me, I sigh.
I pour out my groaning like water.
What I fear most overtakes me.
What I dread happens to me.
I have no peace!
I have no quiet!
I have no rest!
And trouble keeps coming!”
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Ana Bekoach – Hila Ben David (Halo) | אנא בכח – הילה בן דוד | for the HOSTAGES and for redemption.
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NT Reading: Galatians 3:23-29 (GW)
3:23 We were kept under control by Moses’ laws until this faith came. We were under their control until this faith which was about to come would be revealed.
Before Christ came, Moses’ laws served as our guardian. Christ came so that we could receive God’s approval by faith. But now that this faith has come, we are no longer under the control of a guardian. You are all God’s children by believing in Christ Jesus. Clearly, all of you who were baptized in Christ’s name have clothed yourselves with Christ. There are neither Jews nor Greeks, slaves nor free people, males nor females. You are all the same in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants and heirs, as God promised.
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I Belong to Jesus (Dylan’s Song) | Brooke Ligertwood (live)
It is written in the book of life
And on the palm of Jesus’ hand
In the story of redeeming love
There I recognize my name
On the day I chose to trust in Him
When I turned from death to life
He was waiting with a robe and ring
And now I can testify
I belong, I belong
I belong to Jesus
He is my Rock
My strength, my song
Yes I belong to Jesus
When it’s clear the world is not my home
Or if I forget it’s not
May He turn my eyes upon Himself
So it’s Him for whom I long
When the brokenness of sin surrounds
When people fail and leaders fall
Still the Lord will be my Hiding Place
I am safe upon the Rock
I belong, I belong
I belong to Jesus
He is my Rock
My strength, my song
Yes I belong to Jesus
Everything the Father gives
Everything that Jesus paid for
Is my inheritance
All because I belong to Him
Anything the world could give
Anything that earth can offer
Has no comparison
All because I know
I belong, I belong
I belong to Jesus
He is my Rock
My strength, my song
Yes I belong to Jesus
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Dear Lord and Savior Jesus Christ: I hold up all my weakness to your strength, my failure to your faithfulness, my sinfulness to your perfection, my loneliness to your compassion, my little pains to your great agony on the Cross. I pray that you will cleanse me, strengthen me, guide me, so that in all ways my life may be lived as you would have it lived, without cowardice and for you alone. Show me how to live in true humility, true contrition, and true love. Amen.
Sovereign Lord: We pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
+ Do what only you can do to make your faithful people the promised blessing to every family on earth.
+ Protect them from the assaults of the evil one, coming in every form and from every direction.
+ Grant your heavenly wisdom to Israel’s leadership; give them the courage to do what’s right in your sight.
+ Comfort all those who mourn the loss of loved ones; deliver the hostages from captivity and restore their souls.
+ Destroy every stronghold and every expression of the evil death cult terrorizing the Middle East.
+ Protect the Israel Defense Forces and every soldier engaged in their mission to root out this evil.
+ Strengthen the Messianic communities; use them to restore your faithful people to their proper place in your kingdom.
+ Unify your faithful people around your promise to Abraham to bless every family on earth through them.
+ Intervene in the Middle East in ways that only you can; protect the innocent and punish the guilty, that all may live at peace.
O God, of your goodness, give me yourself, for you are enough for me. I can ask for nothing less that is completely to your honor, and if I do ask anything less, I shall always be in want. Only in you I have all. Amen.
Closing: FaithandWorship.com | John Birch
The Lord bless us, and preserve us from all evil,
and keep us in eternal life.
+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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