After Pentecost | Thursday 25 Jul 2024
+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Opening:
O God, you declare your almighty power
chiefly in showing mercy and pity:
Grant us the fullness of your grace, that we,
running to obtain your promises,
may become partakers of your heavenly treasure;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
“We ask ⌞God⌟ to fill you
with the knowledge of his will
through every kind of spiritual wisdom and insight.”
(Colossians 1:9b)
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From Psalms: Psalm 14 – “The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of men” / Psalm Musicals – Christian Music Channel
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OT Reading: 2 Samuel 10:1-5 (GW)
David Defeats Ammon and Aram
10:1 Later the king of Ammon died, and his son Hanun became king in his place. David thought, “I will show kindness to Hanun as his father Nahash showed me kindness.” So David sent his servants to comfort Hanun after his father’s ⌞death⌟. But when David’s servants entered Ammonite territory, the Ammonite princes asked their master Hanun, “Do you think David is honoring your father because he sent men to comfort you? Hasn’t David sent his men to explore the city, spy on it, and destroy it?” So Hanun took David’s men, shaved off half of each man’s beard, cut off their clothes from the waist down, and sent them away.
After David was told ⌞what had happened⌟, he sent ⌞someone⌟ to meet them because they were deeply humiliated. The king said to them, “Stay in Jericho until your beards have grown back, and then return ⌞to Jerusalem⌟.”
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An inspiring prayer in song for the return of Israeli hostages – ‘AFIKIM BA NEGEV’ / ICEJ Canada
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NT Reading: Colossians 1:9-14 (GW)
1:9 For this reason we have not stopped praying for you since the day we heard about you. We ask ⌞God⌟ to fill you with the knowledge of his will through every kind of spiritual wisdom and insight. We ask this so that you will live the kind of lives that prove you belong to the Lord. Then you will want to please him in every way as you grow in producing every kind of good work by this knowledge about God. 
We ask him to strengthen you by his glorious might with all the power you need to patiently endure everything with joy. You will also thank the Father, who has made you able to share the light, which is what God’s people inherit.
What God Has Done Through Christ
1:13 God has rescued us from the power of darkness and has brought us into the kingdom of his Son, whom he loves. His Son paid the price to free us, which means that our sins are forgiven.
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I’m Forgiven, Praise & Worship Music / Anointed Family
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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:
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- 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.
+ O God, by whom the meek are guided in judgment, and light rises up in darkness for the godly: Grant us, in all our doubts and uncertainties, the grace to ask what you would have us do, that the Spirit of wisdom may save us from all false choices; that in your light we may see light, and in your straight path we may not stumble; through 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.
1:9 And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
The Peanut Gallery 