After Pentecost | Wednesday 02 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.
“How horrible it will be for
the person who causes someone
to lose his faith!”
(Matthew 18:7)
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From Psalms: Psalm 140 // chris kopko
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OT Reading: Esther 8:1-17 (GW)
8:1 On that same day King Xerxes gave the property of Haman, the enemy of the Jews, to Queen Esther. Also, Mordecai came to the king because Esther had told him how Mordecai was related to her. Then the king took off his signet ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther put Mordecai in charge of Haman’s property.
Esther Brings Her Request to the King
8:3 Esther spoke again to the king. She fell down at his feet crying and begged him to have mercy and to undo the evil plot of Haman, who was from Agag, and his conspiracy against the Jews. The king held out his golden scepter to Esther, and Esther got up and stood in front of the king. She said, “Your Majesty, if it pleases you, and if I have found favor with you, if you consider my cause to be reasonable and if I am pleasing to you, cancel the official orders ⌞concerning⌟ the plot of Haman (who was the son of Hammedatha and was from Agag). He signed ⌞the order⌟ to destroy the Jews in all your provinces, Your Majesty. I cannot bear to see my people suffer such evil. And I simply cannot bear to see the destruction of my relatives.”
King Xerxes said to Queen Esther and Mordecai the Jew, “I have given Haman’s property to Esther, and Haman’s ⌞dead body⌟ was hung on the pole because he tried to kill the Jews. You write what you think is best for the Jews in the king’s name. Seal it also with the king’s signet ring, because whatever is written in the king’s name and sealed with the king’s signet ring cannot be canceled.”
Mordecai Uses His Position to Save the Jews
8:9 At that time on the twenty-third day of Sivan, the third month, the king’s scribes were summoned. What Mordecai had ordered was written to the Jews and to the satraps, governors, and officers of the 127 provinces from India to Sudan. It was written to each province in its own script, to each people in their own language, and to the Jews in their own script and their own language.
Mordecai wrote in King Xerxes’ name and sealed the official documents with the king’s signet ring. Then he sent them by messengers who rode special horses bred for speed. ⌞He wrote⌟ that the king had given permission for the Jews in every city to assemble, to defend themselves, to wipe out, to kill, and to destroy every armed force of the people and province that is hostile to them, even women and children, and to seize their goods. ⌞This was permitted⌟ on one day in all the provinces of King Xerxes, on the thirteenth day of Adar, the twelfth month. The copy of the document was made public in a decree to every province for all people. On that day the Jews were to be ready to take revenge on their enemies.
The messengers rode the king’s fastest horses. They left quickly, in keeping with the king’s command. The decree was issued also in the fortress of Susa.
Mordecai went out from the presence of the king wearing the royal violet and white robe, a large gold crown, and a purple outer robe of fine linen. And the city of Susa cheered and rejoiced.
So the Jews were cheerful, happy, joyful, and successful. In every province and every city where the king’s message and decree arrived, the Jews were happy and joyful, feasting and enjoying a holiday. Then many common people pretended to be Jews because they were terrified of the Jews.
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What Makes Rosh Hashanah Beautiful // AishJewish
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NT Reading: Matthew 18:6-9 (GW)
Causing Others to Lose Faith
18:6 “These little ones believe in me. It would be best for the person who causes one of them to lose faith to be drowned in the sea with a large stone hung around his neck. How horrible it will be for the world because it causes people to lose their faith. Situations that cause people to lose their faith will arise. How horrible it will be for the person who causes someone to lose his faith!
“If your hand or your foot causes you to lose your faith, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life disabled or injured than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into everlasting fire. If your eye causes you to lose your faith, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hellfire.
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– Al Kol Eleh | The Israel Philharmonic with the IDF Orchestra
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Almighty God, you have not dealt with us according to our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities; grant that we, who for our evil deeds deserve to be punished, by the might of your grace may mercifully be relieved; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. 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 your faithful people 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 hearts to receive and the courage to do what’s right in your sight.
+ Destroy every stronghold of the evil death cult terrorizing the Middle East, especially in Israel and Lebanon.
+ Bring swift and certain justice to all those complicit in this atrocious evil; separate from them and protect those who are truly innocent.
+ Comfort all those who grieve and mourn the loss of loved ones; deliver the hostages from captivity and restore their souls.
+ Use the Messianic communities – Jew and Arab alike – to restore your people to their proper place in your kingdom.
+ Unify your faithful people around your promise to bless every family on earth through them.
+ Intervene in Lebanon in ways only you can; protect the innocent and punish the guilty, and enable the people of Lebanon to live at peace with its neighbor Israel.
Thomas à Kempis
Our God, in whom we trust: Strengthen us not to regard overmuch who is for us or who is against us, but to see to it that we be with you in everything we do. 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.
18:6 but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.
The Peanut Gallery 