After Pentecost | Friday 09 Jun 2023

+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Opening:

O God, the protector of all those who trust in you, without
whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy: Increase and multiply
upon us your mercy, that, with you as our ruler and guide, we
may so pass through things temporal that we lose not the things
eternal; grant this, heavenly Father, for the sake of your Son
Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

You heard me when I cried,
“Listen to my pleading! Hear my cry for help!”
(Lamentations 3:56)

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From Psalms: Psalm 50||| Koine

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OT Reading: Lamentations 3:40-58 (NLT)

3:40 Instead, let us test and examine our ways.
Let us turn back to the Lord.
Let us lift our hearts and hands
to God in heaven and say,
“We have sinned and rebelled,
and you have not forgiven us.

“You have engulfed us with your anger, chased us down,
and slaughtered us without mercy.
You have hidden yourself in a cloud
so our prayers cannot reach you.
You have discarded us as refuse and garbage
among the nations.

“All our enemies
have spoken out against us.
We are filled with fear,
for we are trapped, devastated, and ruined.”
Tears stream from my eyes
because of the destruction of my people!

My tears flow endlessly;
they will not stop
until the Lord looks down
from heaven and sees.
My heart is breaking
over the fate of all the women of Jerusalem.

My enemies, whom I have never harmed,
hunted me down like a bird.
They threw me into a pit
and dropped stones on me.
The water rose over my head,
and I cried out, “This is the end!”

But I called on your name, Lord,
from deep within the pit.
You heard me when I cried, “Listen to my pleading!
Hear my cry for help!”
Yes, you came when I called;
you told me, “Do not fear.”

Lord, you have come to my defense;
you have redeemed my life.

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Hear My Cry – Voices In Prayer (Providence)

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NT Reading: Acts 28:1-10 (NLT)

Paul on the Island of Malta

28:1 Once we were safe on shore, we learned that we were on the island of Malta. The people of the island were very kind to us. It was cold and rainy, so they built a fire on the shore to welcome us.

As Paul gathered an armful of sticks and was laying them on the fire, a poisonous snake, driven out by the heat, bit him on the hand. The people of the island saw it hanging from his hand and said to each other, “A murderer, no doubt! Though he escaped the sea, justice will not permit him to live.” But Paul shook off the snake into the fire and was unharmed. The people waited for him to swell up or suddenly drop dead. But when they had waited a long time and saw that he wasn’t harmed, they changed their minds and decided he was a god.

Near the shore where we landed was an estate belonging to Publius, the chief official of the island. He welcomed us and treated us kindly for three days. As it happened, Publius’s father was ill with fever and dysentery. Paul went in and prayed for him, and laying his hands on him, he healed him. Then all the other sick people on the island came and were healed. As a result we were showered with honors, and when the time came to sail, people supplied us with everything we would need for the trip.

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Be Near To Me | Davy Flowers