New Year’s Day | Wednesday 01 Jan 2025
+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Opening:
God of new beginnings,
you wipe away our tears
and call us to care for one another.
Give us eyes to see your gifts,
hearts to embrace all creation,
and hands to serve you every day of our lives.
We ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.
“And the King will answer them,
‘Truly, I say to you,
as you did it to one of the least of these
my brothers, you did it to me.’”
(Matthew 25:40)
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Come Thou Almighty King | (Live from Sing! ’21) Keith & Kristyn Getty, Tommy Bailey
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OT Reading: Ecclesiastes 3:1-13 (ESV)
A Time for Everything
3:1 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
+ a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
+ a time to kill, and a time to heal;
+ time to break down, and a time to build up;
+ a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
+ a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
+ a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
+ a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
+ a time to seek, and a time to lose;
+ a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
+ a time to tear, and a time to sew;
+ a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
+ a time to love, and a time to hate;
+ a time for war, and a time for peace.
The God-Given Task
3:9 What gain has the worker from his toil? I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God’s gift to man.
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From the Psalms: Psalm 8 | (How Majestic) [Live] | Shane & Shane
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NT Reading: Revelation 21:1-6 (ESV)
The New Heaven and the New Earth
21:1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.
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Alpha And Omega | Gaither Music TV /Live At Majestic Theatre, San Antonio, TX/2009)
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Gospel Reading: Matthew 25:31-46 (ESV)
The Final Judgment
25:31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’
“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
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To the Least of These | The ZOE Group
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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.
Almighty God our Savior, you desire that none should perish, and you have taught us through your Son that there is great joy in heaven over every sinner who repents: Grant that our hearts may ache for a lost and broken world. May your Holy Spirit work through our words, deeds, and prayers, that the lost may be found and the dead made alive, and that all your redeemed may rejoice around your throne; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Hasten, O Father, the coming of your kingdom; and grant that we your servants, who now live by faith, may with joy behold your Son at his coming in glorious majesty; even Jesus Christ, our only Mediator and Advocate. Amen.
Closing: FaithandWorship.com | John Birch
May God, who has called us out of darkness
into his marvelous light,
bless us and fill us with peace.
+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The Peanut Gallery 