After Pentecost | Monday 19 Aug 2024
+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Opening:
Keep your Church, O Lord,
by your perpetual mercy; and because without you
the frailty of our nature causes us to fall,
keep us from all things hurtful,
and lead us to all things profitable for our salvation;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
“So, brothers and sisters,
choose seven men whom the people know
are spiritually wise.”
(John 4:14b)
__________
From Psalms: Psalm 101 – Poor Bishop Hooper
i will sing of your love and justice
i will sing to you and you alone
i will be careful to lead a blameless life
i will be careful when will you come for me
i will walk in my house with a blameless heart
i will set before my eyes no vile thing
the deeds of the faithless man i despise
they will not have a part of me
i will sing of your love and justice
i will sing to you and you alone
i will be careful to lead a blameless life
i will be careful when will you come for me
__________
OT Reading: 1 Kings 3:16-28 (GW)
Solomon’s Wisdom in Action
3:16 A short time later two prostitutes came to the king and stood in front of him. One woman said to him, “Sir, this woman and I live in the same house. I gave birth ⌞to a son⌟ while she was with me in the house. Two days later this woman also gave birth ⌞to a son⌟. We were alone. No one else was with us. Just the two of us were in the house. That night this woman’s son died because she rolled over on top of him. So she got up during the night and took my son, who was beside me, while I was asleep. She held him in her arms. Then she laid her dead son in my arms. When I got up in the morning to nurse my son, he was dead! I took a good look at him and realized that he wasn’t my son at all!”
The other woman said, “No! My son is alive—your son is dead.”
The first woman kept on saying, “No! Your son is dead—my son is alive.” So they argued in front of the king.
The king said, “This one keeps saying, ‘My son is alive—your son is dead,’ and that one keeps saying, ‘No! Your son is dead—my son is alive.’ ”
So the king told his servants to bring him a sword. When they brought it, he said, “Cut the living child in two. Give half to the one and half to the other.”
Then the woman whose son was still alive was deeply moved by her love for the child. She said to the king, “Please, sir, give her the living child. Please don’t kill him!”
But the other woman said, “He won’t be mine or yours. Cut him ⌞in two⌟.”
The king replied, “Give the living child to the first woman. Don’t kill him. She is his mother.”
All Israel heard about the decision the king made. They respected the king very highly, because they saw he possessed wisdom from God to do what was right.
__________
Wisdom Song | Laura Woodley Osman
__________
NT Reading: Acts 6:1-7 (GW)
The Disciples Choose Seven Men to Help the Apostles
6:1 At that time, as the number of disciples grew, Greek-speaking Jews complained about the Hebrew-speaking Jews. The Greek-speaking Jews claimed that the widows among them were neglected every day when food and other assistance was distributed.
The twelve apostles called all the disciples together and told them, “It’s not right for us to give up God’s word in order to distribute food. So, brothers and sisters, choose seven men whom the people know are spiritually wise. We will put them in charge of this problem. However, we will devote ourselves to praying and to serving in ways that are related to the word.”
The suggestion pleased the whole group. So they chose Stephen, who was a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and they chose Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus, who had converted to Judaism in the city of Antioch. The disciples had these men stand in front of the apostles, who prayed and placed their hands on these seven men.
God’s word continued to spread, and the number of disciples in Jerusalem grew very large. A large number of priests accepted the faith.
__________
Christ Our Wisdom | Sovereign Grace Music
__________
+ Lord Jesus, you are the Good Shepherd who cares for his flock: We ask you to bestow upon your people the gifts of the Holy Spirit in abundance, and to raise up from among us faithful and able persons called to ordained ministries. Inspire them to spend and be spent for the sake of the Gospel, and make them holy and loving servants and shepherds of the flock for whom you shed your most precious blood. Grant this for the sake of your unfailing love for your people. Amen.
Benedict of Nursia
+ Gracious and holy Father, please give us intellect to understand you, reason to discern you, diligence to seek you, wisdom to find you, a spirit to know you, hearts to meditate upon you, ears to hear you, eyes to see you, tongues to proclaim you, ways of life pleasing to you, patience to wait for you, and perseverance to look for you. Grant us a perfect end, your holy presence, a blessed resurrection, and life everlasting. Amen.
+ Sovereign Lord: We pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
-
- Protect Israel from the fiery darts of the evil one coming from every direction, both within and without.
- Grant your heavenly wisdom to those guiding Israel militarily, politically, and diplomatically;
- Give them hearts to receive, and the courage to do, what’s right in your sight.
- Comfort those who grieve and mourn the loss of loved ones;
- Rebuke those who would use grief for evil purposes.
- Bring swift and certain justice to all those complicit in the October 7th atrocities;
- Deliver the hostages from captivity, and restore their souls.
- Destroy every stronghold of the evil death cult terrorizing the Middle East.
- Strengthen the Messianic communities – Jew and Arab alike – bind them together in love, that they may be a source of help, and healing, and hope;
- Use them in the restoration of your people to their proper place in your Kingdom.
- We pray in Jesus’ Name. 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
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.
3:16 Then two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him. The one woman said, “Oh, my lord, this woman and I live in the same house, and I gave birth to a child while she was in the house. Then on the third day after I gave birth, this woman also gave birth. And we were alone. There was no one else with us in the house; only we two were in the house. And this woman’s son died in the night, because she lay on him. And she arose at midnight and took my son from beside me, while your servant slept, and laid him at her breast, and laid her dead son at my breast. When I rose in the morning to nurse my child, behold, he was dead. But when I looked at him closely in the morning, behold, he was not the child that I had borne.” But the other woman said, “No, the living child is mine, and the dead child is yours.” The first said, “No, the dead child is yours, and the living child is mine.” Thus they spoke before the king.
The Peanut Gallery 