Advent | Friday – 09 Dec 2022: Psalm 146:5-10; Ruth 4:13-17; 2 Peter 3:11-18 ~ Live holy and godly lives.

Advent | Friday – 09 Dec 2022

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

Opening:

Blessed Lord, who caused all Holy Scriptures to be written for
our learning: Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and
inwardly digest them, that by patience and the comfort of your
holy Word we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope
of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus
Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one
God, for ever and ever. Amen.

“Since everything around us
is going to be destroyed like this,
what holy and godly lives you should live,
looking forward to the day of God
and hurrying it along.”
(2 Peter 3:11)

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Psalms: Psalm 146:5-10 – The Corner Room

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OT Reading: Ruth 4:13-17 (NLT)

The Descendants of Boaz

4:13 So Boaz took Ruth into his home, and she became his wife. When he slept with her, the Lord enabled her to become pregnant, and she gave birth to a son. Then the women of the town said to Naomi, “Praise the Lord, who has now provided a redeemer for your family! May this child be famous in Israel. May he restore your youth and care for you in your old age. For he is the son of your daughter-in-law who loves you and has been better to you than seven sons!”

Naomi took the baby and cuddled him to her breast. And she cared for him as if he were her own. The neighbor women said, “Now at last Naomi has a son again!” And they named him Obed. He became the father of Jesse and the grandfather of David.

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Come Thou Long Expected Jesus | First City Church

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NT Reading: 2 Peter 3:11-18 (NLT)

3:11 Since everything around us is going to be destroyed like this, what holy and godly lives you should live, looking forward to the day of God and hurrying it along. On that day, he will set the heavens on fire, and the elements will melt away in the flames. But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness.

And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight.

And remember, our Lord’s patience gives people time to be saved. This is what our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you with the wisdom God gave him— speaking of these things in all of his letters. Some of his comments are hard to understand, and those who are ignorant and unstable have twisted his letters to mean something quite different, just as they do with other parts of Scripture. And this will result in their destruction.

Peter’s Final Words

3:17 You already know these things, dear friends. So be on guard; then you will not be carried away by the errors of these wicked people and lose your own secure footing. Rather, you must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

All glory to him, both now and forever! Amen.

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In Christ Alone (My Hope Is Found) – Adrienne Liesching

Hadleigh Baptist Church

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Prayer: ACNA | BCP2019

+ 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.

+ Almighty and everliving God, we beg you to strengthen us for witness and ministry through the power of your Holy Spirit. Daily increase in us your manifold virtues of grace: the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and true godliness, and the spirit of holy fear, now and for ever. Amen.

+ Almighty and eternal God, so draw our hearts to you, so guide our minds, so fill our imaginations, so control our wills, that we may be wholly yours, utterly dedicated to you; and then use us, we pray, as you will, and always to your glory and the welfare of your people; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Closing: FaithandWorship.com | John Birch

God of hope, the rock we stand upon,
be the center, the focus of our lives
always, and particularly this Advent time.

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

Advent | Thursday – 08 Dec 2022: Psalm 146:5-10; Ruth 1:6-18; 2 Peter 3:1-10 ~ “The day of the Lord will come unexpectedly.”

Advent | Thursday – 08 Dec 2022

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

Opening:

“But the day of the Lord will come
as unexpectedly as a thief.”
(2 Peter 3:10)

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Psalms: Psalm 146:5-10: “Blessed Is The One Who Truly”

The “Sing Psalms” Psalter

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OT Reading: Ruth 1:6-18 (NLT)

Naomi and Ruth Return

1:6 Then Naomi heard in Moab that the Lord had blessed his people in Judah by giving them good crops again. So Naomi and her daughters-in-law got ready to leave Moab to return to her homeland. With her two daughters-in-law she set out from the place where she had been living, and they took the road that would lead them back to Judah.

But on the way, Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back to your mothers’ homes. And may the Lord reward you for your kindness to your husbands and to me. May the Lord bless you with the security of another marriage.” Then she kissed them good-bye, and they all broke down and wept.

“No,” they said. “We want to go with you to your people.”

But Naomi replied, “Why should you go on with me? Can I still give birth to other sons who could grow up to be your husbands? No, my daughters, return to your parents’ homes, for I am too old to marry again. And even if it were possible, and I were to get married tonight and bear sons, then what? Would you wait for them to grow up and refuse to marry someone else? No, of course not, my daughters! Things are far more bitter for me than for you, because the Lord himself has raised his fist against me.”

And again they wept together, and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-bye. But Ruth clung tightly to Naomi. “Look,” Naomi said to her, “your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods. You should do the same.”

But Ruth replied, “Don’t ask me to leave you and turn back. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. Wherever you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord punish me severely if I allow anything but death to separate us!” When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she said nothing more.

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Wherever You Go (Song of Ruth)
Irish Wedding Singer, Harpist, Pianist

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NT Reading: 2 Peter 3:1-10 (NLT)

The Day of the Lord Is Coming

3:1 This is my second letter to you, dear friends, and in both of them I have tried to stimulate your wholesome thinking and refresh your memory. I want you to remember what the holy prophets said long ago and what our Lord and Savior commanded through your apostles.

Most importantly, I want to remind you that in the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their own desires. They will say, “What happened to the promise that Jesus is coming again? From before the times of our ancestors, everything has remained the same since the world was first created.”

They deliberately forget that God made the heavens long ago by the word of his command, and he brought the earth out from the water and surrounded it with water. Then he used the water to destroy the ancient world with a mighty flood. And by the same word, the present heavens and earth have been stored up for fire. They are being kept for the day of judgment, when ungodly people will be destroyed.

But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment.

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Reba McEntire – Back to God ft Lauren Daigle
GLorious Gospel

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Prayer: ACNA | BCP2019

Closing: FaithandWorship.com | John Birch

God of hope, the rock we stand upon,
be the center, the focus of our lives
always, and particularly this Advent time.

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

Advent | Wednesday – 07 Dec 2022: Psalm 21; Genesis 15:1-18; Matthew 12:33-37 ~ Your heart determines what you say.

Advent | Wednesday – 07 Dec 2022

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

Opening:

For whatever is in your heart
determines what you say…. And I tell you this,
you must give an account on judgment day
for every idle word you speak.
(Matthew 12:34b,36)

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Psalms: Psalm 21:

– Victory – Jason Silver

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OT Reading: Genesis 15:1-18 (NLT)

The Lord’s Covenant Promise to Abram

15:1 Some time later, the Lord spoke to Abram in a vision and said to him, “Do not be afraid, Abram, for I will protect you, and your reward will be great.”

But Abram replied, “O Sovereign Lord, what good are all your blessings when I don’t even have a son? Since you’ve given me no children, Eliezer of Damascus, a servant in my household, will inherit all my wealth. You have given me no descendants of my own, so one of my servants will be my heir.”

Then the Lord said to him, “No, your servant will not be your heir, for you will have a son of your own who will be your heir.” Then the Lord took Abram outside and said to him, “Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can. That’s how many descendants you will have!”

And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith.

Then the Lord told him, “I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land as your possession.”

But Abram replied, “O Sovereign Lord, how can I be sure that I will actually possess it?”

The Lord told him, “Bring me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” So Abram presented all these to him and killed them. Then he cut each animal down the middle and laid the halves side by side; he did not, however, cut the birds in half. Some vultures swooped down to eat the carcasses, but Abram chased them away.

As the sun was going down, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a terrifying darkness came down over him. Then the Lord said to Abram, “You can be sure that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign land, where they will be oppressed as slaves for 400 years. But I will punish the nation that enslaves them, and in the end they will come away with great wealth. (As for you, you will die in peace and be buried at a ripe old age.) After four generations your descendants will return here to this land, for the sins of the Amorites do not yet warrant their destruction.”

After the sun went down and darkness fell, Abram saw a smoking firepot and a flaming torch pass between the halves of the carcasses. So the Lord made a covenant with Abram that day and said, “I have given this land to your descendants, all the way from the border of Egypt to the great Euphrates River.

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The Blessing (Multi-lingual version) – Fellowship Dubai

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NT Reading: Matthew 12:33-37 (NLT)

12:33 “A tree is identified by its fruit. If a tree is good, its fruit will be good. If a tree is bad, its fruit will be bad. You brood of snakes! How could evil men like you speak what is good and right? For whatever is in your heart determines what you say. A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. And I tell you this, you must give an account on judgment day for every idle word you speak. The words you say will either acquit you or condemn you.”

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Listen To Our Hearts – Casting Crowns

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Prayer: ACNA | BCP2019

Closing: FaithandWorship.com | John Birch

Father God…
Grant us courage and a real willingness
to talk about the love that came down to earth
and walked among us. Amen

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

Advent | Tuesday – 06 Dec 2022: Psalm 21; Isaiah 41:14-20; Romans 15:14-21 ~ Teach each other about the Good News.

Advent | Tuesday – 06 Dec 2022

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

Opening:

“I am fully convinced, my dear brothers and sisters,
that you are full of goodness.
You know these things so well
you can teach each other all about them.”
(Romans 15:14)

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Psalms: Psalm 21: Poor Bishop Hooper – (EveryPsalm)

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OT Reading: Isaiah 41:14-20 (NLT)

14:1 Though you are a lowly worm, O Jacob,
don’t be afraid, people of Israel, for I will help you.
I am the Lord, your Redeemer.
I am the Holy One of Israel.’
You will be a new threshing instrument
with many sharp teeth.
You will tear your enemies apart,
making chaff of mountains.
You will toss them into the air,
and the wind will blow them all away;
a whirlwind will scatter them.
Then you will rejoice in the Lord.
You will glory in the Holy One of Israel.

“When the poor and needy search for water and there is none,
and their tongues are parched from thirst,
then I, the Lord, will answer them.
I, the God of Israel, will never abandon them.
I will open up rivers for them on the high plateaus.
I will give them fountains of water in the valleys.
I will fill the desert with pools of water.
Rivers fed by springs will flow across the parched ground.
I will plant trees in the barren desert—
cedar, acacia, myrtle, olive, cypress, fir, and pine.
I am doing this so all who see this miracle
will understand what it means—
that it is the Lord who has done this,
the Holy One of Israel who created it.

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There Is a Redeemer – Robin Mark

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NT Reading: Romans 15:14-21 (NLT)

Paul’s Reason for Writing

15:14 I am fully convinced, my dear brothers and sisters, that you are full of goodness. You know these things so well you can teach each other all about them. Even so, I have been bold enough to write about some of these points, knowing that all you need is this reminder. For by God’s grace, I am a special messenger from Christ Jesus to you Gentiles. I bring you the Good News so that I might present you as an acceptable offering to God, made holy by the Holy Spirit. So I have reason to be enthusiastic about all Christ Jesus has done through me in my service to God. Yet I dare not boast about anything except what Christ has done through me, bringing the Gentiles to God by my message and by the way I worked among them. They were convinced by the power of miraculous signs and wonders and by the power of God’s Spirit. In this way, I have fully presented the Good News of Christ from Jerusalem all the way to Illyricum.

My ambition has always been to preach the Good News where the name of Christ has never been heard, rather than where a church has already been started by someone else. I have been following the plan spoken of in the Scriptures, where it says,

“Those who have never been told about him will see,
and those who have never heard of him will understand.”

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Your Words ft. Harvest – Third Day

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Prayer: ACNA | BCP2019

Closing: FaithandWorship.com | John Birch

Father God…
Grant us courage and a real willingness
to talk about the love that came down to earth
and walked among us. Amen

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

Advent | Monday – 05 Dec 2022: Psalm 21; Isaiah 24:1-16a; 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12 ~ Live in a way that pleases God.

Advent | Monday – 05 Dec 2022

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

Opening:

“Finally, dear brothers and sisters,
we urge you in the name of the Lord Jesus
to live in a way that pleases God….”
(1 Thessalonians 4:1)

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Psalms: Psalm 21: (Praise Your Power) (feat. Jeff Deyo) – The Psalms Project

The king will rejoice in Your strength, O Lord
And in Your salvation he finds his joy
For You’ve given him all he asked You for
You’ve welcomed him home with Your favor, Lord

You lavish him with every blessing
Set a crown of gold on his head
He cried out and You granted
Life forever

Be exalted in strength, O my God
We will sing and praise Your power
We will sing and praise Your power

His glory is great in Your victory
You’ve clothed him in splendor and majesty
He joys in Your presence, he trusts in You
In Your perfect love, he will not be moved

Your hand will find all Your enemies
You’ll seize the ones who hate You
You’ll banish them with Your fire
All-consuming

Be exalted in strength, O my God
We will sing and praise Your power
We will sing and praise Your power

Their offspring You will now end
And their descendants from the sons of men
For evil they’ve planned against You, Father
But it’s a plot they cannot perform
You’ll make them flee in fear
You’ll aim Your, You’ll aim Your
Your arrows at their faces
Be exalted, be exalted
You have overcome

Be exalted in strength, O my God
We will sing and praise Your power
We will sing and praise Your power

We will sing and praise Your power
We will sing and praise

Be exalted in strength, O my God
We will sing and praise Your power
We will sing of Your great power
We will sing and praise Your power

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OT Reading: Isaiah 24:1-16a (NLT)

Destruction of the Earth

24:1 Look! The Lord is about to destroy the earth
and make it a vast wasteland.
He devastates the surface of the earth
and scatters the people.
Priests and laypeople,
servants and masters,
maids and mistresses,
buyers and sellers,
lenders and borrowers,
bankers and debtors—none will be spared.
The earth will be completely emptied and looted.
The Lord has spoken!

The earth mourns and dries up,
and the land wastes away and withers.
Even the greatest people on earth waste away.
The earth suffers for the sins of its people,
for they have twisted God’s instructions,
violated his laws,
and broken his everlasting covenant.
Therefore, a curse consumes the earth.
Its people must pay the price for their sin.
They are destroyed by fire,
and only a few are left alive.
The grapevines waste away,
and there is no new wine.
All the merrymakers sigh and mourn.
The cheerful sound of tambourines is stilled;
the happy cries of celebration are heard no more.
The melodious chords of the harp are silent.
Gone are the joys of wine and song;
alcoholic drink turns bitter in the mouth.
The city writhes in chaos;
every home is locked to keep out intruders.
Mobs gather in the streets, crying out for wine.
Joy has turned to gloom.
Gladness has been banished from the land.
The city is left in ruins,
its gates battered down.
Throughout the earth the story is the same—
only a remnant is left,
like the stray olives left on the tree
or the few grapes left on the vine after harvest.

But all who are left shout and sing for joy.
Those in the west praise the Lord’s majesty.
In eastern lands, give glory to the Lord.
In the lands beyond the sea, praise the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.
We hear songs of praise from the ends of the earth,
songs that give glory to the Righteous One!

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The Righteous One | Austin Stone Worship

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NT Reading: 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12 (NLT)

Live to Please God

4:1 Finally, dear brothers and sisters, we urge you in the name of the Lord Jesus to live in a way that pleases God, as we have taught you. You live this way already, and we encourage you to do so even more. For you remember what we taught you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.

God’s will is for you to be holy, so stay away from all sexual sin. Then each of you will control his own body and live in holiness and honor— not in lustful passion like the pagans who do not know God and his ways. Never harm or cheat a fellow believer in this matter by violating his wife, for the Lord avenges all such sins, as we have solemnly warned you before. God has called us to live holy lives, not impure lives. Therefore, anyone who refuses to live by these rules is not disobeying human teaching but is rejecting God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.

But we don’t need to write to you about the importance of loving each other, for God himself has taught you to love one another. Indeed, you already show your love for all the believers throughout Macedonia. Even so, dear brothers and sisters, we urge you to love them even more.

Make it your goal to live a quiet life, minding your own business and working with your hands, just as we instructed you before. Then people who are not believers will respect the way you live, and you will not need to depend on others.

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Peace – Bethel Music feat. We The Kingdom | Peace