After Pentecost | Friday 02 Aug 2024
+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Opening:
Almighty and everlasting God,
you are always more ready to hear than we to pray,
and to give more than we either desire or deserve:
Pour down upon us the abundance of your mercy,
forgiving us those things of which our conscience is afraid,
and giving us those good things for which we are not worthy to ask,
except through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ our Savior;
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
“Individuals must determine
whether what they are doing is proper
when they eat the bread and drink from the cup.”
(1 Corinthians 11:28)
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From Psalms: Psalm 51:1-12 (tune: Ottawa) *acapella* | St Peter’s Free Church, Dundee
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OT Reading: Joshua 23 (GW)
A Reminder to Follow Moses’ Teachings
23:1 A long time afterward, the Lord gave the Israelites peace with all their enemies around them. Joshua was old, near the end of his life. So he called all the leaders, chiefs, judges, and officers of Israel together. He said to them, “I am old, near the end of my life. You have seen for yourselves everything the Lord your God did to all those nations. The Lord your God fought for you! I have given you the territory of the nations that still remain as an inheritance for your tribes. This includes the territory of all the nations I have already destroyed from the Jordan River westward to the Mediterranean Sea. The Lord your God will expel them right in front of your eyes and force them out of your way. You will take their land as the Lord your God told you. Now you must be very strong to keep and to do everything written in the Book of Moses’ Teachings. Don’t turn away from them. Don’t get mixed up with the nations left in your territory. Don’t ever mention the names of their gods or swear an oath to them. Don’t ever serve their gods or bow down to them. But you must be loyal to the Lord your God, as you have been until now. The Lord has forced important and powerful nations out of your way. Not one person has ever been able to stand up to you. One of you used to chase a thousand. That was because the Lord your God was fighting for you, as he had promised you. Be very careful to love the Lord your God.
“But if you turn away and go along with the other nations within your ⌞borders⌟, if you intermarry with them or associate with them, then you should know that the Lord your God will never again force these people out of your way. Instead, they will be a snare and a trap for you, a whip laid to your sides, and thorns in your eyes until none of you are left in this good land that the Lord your God has given you.
“Pay attention, because I will soon die like everyone else. You know with all your heart and soul that not one single promise which the Lord your God has given you has ever failed to come true. Every single word has come true.
“Every good word the Lord your God has promised you has come true for you. In the same way the Lord will bring about every evil curse until he has destroyed you from this good land that he has given you. When you ignore the conditions placed on you by the Lord your God and follow other gods, serve them and bow down to them, the Lord will be angry with you. Then you will quickly disappear from the good land he has given you.”
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All Your Promises Are True – Shannon Wexelberg / Naomi Kelvin
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NT Reading: 1 Corinthians 11:27-34 (GW)
11:27 Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks from the Lord’s cup in an improper way will be held responsible for the Lord’s body and blood. With this in mind, individuals must determine whether what they are doing is proper when they eat the bread and drink from the cup. Anyone who eats and drinks is eating and drinking a judgment against himself when he doesn’t recognize the Lord’s body.
This is the reason why many of you are weak and sick and quite a number ⌞of you⌟ have died. If we were judging ourselves correctly, we would not be judged. But when the Lord judges us, he disciplines us so that we won’t be condemned along with the rest of the world.
Therefore, brothers and sisters, when you gather to eat, wait for each other. Whoever is hungry should eat at home so that you don’t have a gathering that brings judgment on you.
I will give directions concerning the other matters when I come.
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O Lord, I am not worthy (Catholic Gregorian Chant) / Richard Wellner
1. O Lord, I am not worthy
That Thou should’st come to me,
But speak the words of comfort,
My spirit healed shall be.
2. Oh, come, all you who labor
In sorrow and in pain,
Come, eat This Bread from heaven;
Thy peace and strength regain.
3. O Jesus, we adore Thee,
Our Victim and our Priest,
Whose precious Blood and Body
Become our sacred Feast.
4. O Sacrament most holy,
O Sacrament divine!
All praise and all thanksgiving
Be ev’ry moment Thine.
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+ Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid: Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy Name; through Christ our Lord. Amen.
+ Dear Jesus, I believe that you are truly present in the Holy Sacrament. I love you above all things, and I desire to possess you within my soul. And since I cannot now receive you sacramentally, I beseech you to come spiritually into my heart. I unite myself to you, together with all your faithful people gathered around every altar of your Church, and I embrace you with all the affections of my soul. Never permit me to be separated from you. 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.
+ 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
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.
Be very careful, therefore, to love the Lord your God. For if you turn back and cling to the remnant of these nations remaining among you and make marriages with them, so that you associate with them and they with you, know for certain that the Lord your God will no longer drive out these nations before you, but they shall be a snare and a trap for you, a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good ground that the Lord your God has given you.
The Peanut Gallery 