After Pentecost | Saturday 14 Sep 2024
+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Opening:
O Lord God, grant your people grace
to withstand the temptations of
the world, the flesh, and the devil,
and with pure hearts and minds to follow you,
the only God;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.
“His son replied, ‘I don’t want to!’
But later he changed his mind and went.
(Matthew 21:29)
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From Psalms: Psalm 19 // The Law of the LORD is Perfect / Scott Brenner / Levites Music
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OT Reading: Proverbs 21:1-17 (GW)
The Lord Controls Wise and Foolish People
21:1 The king’s heart is like streams of water.
Both are under the Lord’s control.
He turns them in any direction he chooses.
A person thinks everything he does is right,
but the Lord weighs hearts.
Doing what is right and fair
is more acceptable to the Lord than offering a sacrifice.
A conceited look and an arrogant attitude,
which are the lamps of wicked people, are sins.
The plans of a hard-working person lead to prosperity,
but everyone who is ⌞always⌟ in a hurry ends up in poverty.
Those who gather wealth by lying are wasting time.
They are looking for death.
The violence of wicked people will drag them away
since they refuse to do what is just.
The way of a guilty person is crooked,
but the behavior of those who are pure is moral.
Better to live on a corner of a roof
than to share a home with a quarreling woman.
The mind of a wicked person desires evil
and has no consideration for his neighbor.
When a mocker is punished, a gullible person becomes wise,
and when a wise person is instructed, he gains knowledge.
A righteous person wisely considers the house of a wicked person.
He throws wicked people into disasters.
Whoever shuts his ear to the cry of the poor will call and not be answered.
A gift ⌞given⌟ in secret calms anger,
and a secret bribe calms great fury.
When justice is done, a righteous person is delighted,
but troublemakers are terrified.
A person who wanders from the way of wise behavior
will rest in the assembly of the dead.
Whoever loves pleasure will become poor.
Whoever loves wine and expensive food will not become rich.
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“Lead Me Lord” – Cathedral Choir – Cathedral of our Lady of the Angels // Scott Weber
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NT Reading: Matthew 21:23-32 (GW)
Jesus’ Authority Challenged
21:23 Then Jesus went into the temple courtyard and began to teach. The chief priests and the leaders of the people came to him. They asked, “What gives you the right to do these things? Who told you that you could do this?”
Jesus answered them, “I, too, have a question for you. If you answer it for me, I’ll tell you why I have the right to do these things. Did John’s right to baptize come from heaven or from humans?”
They discussed this among themselves. They said, “If we say, ‘from heaven,’ he will ask us, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ But if we say, ‘from humans,’ we’re afraid of what the crowd might do. All those people think of John as a prophet.” So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”
Jesus told them, “Then I won’t tell you why I have the right to do these things.
A Story about Two Sons
21:28 “What do you think about this? A man had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go to work in the vineyard today.’
“His son replied, ‘I don’t want to!’ But later he changed his mind and went.
“The father went to the other son and told him the same thing. He replied, ‘I will, sir,’ but he didn’t go.
“Which of the two sons did what the father wanted?”
“The first,” they answered.
Jesus said to them, “I can guarantee this truth: Tax collectors and prostitutes are going into God’s kingdom ahead of you. John came to you and showed you the way that God wants you to live, but you didn’t believe him. The tax collectors and prostitutes believed him. But even after you had seen that, you didn’t change your minds and believe him.
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Lead Me, Lord – John D. Becker arr. by Mark Hayes – 臺南雅歌合唱團 Song of Songs Singers
Blessed are the poor in spirit, longing for their Lord,
For God’s coming kingdom shall be theirs.
Blessed are the sorrowing, for they shall be consoled,
and the meek shall come to rule the world.
Lead me, Lord, lead me Lord,
by the light of truth to seek and to find the narrow way.
Be my way; be my truth; be my life, my Lord,
and lead me, Lord, today.
Blessed are the merciful, for mercy shall be theirs,
and the pure in heart shall see their God.
Blest are they whose hunger only holiness can fill,
for I say they shall be satisfied.
Blest are they who through their lifetimes sow the seeds of peace,
all will call them children of the Lord.
Blest are you, though persecuted in your holy life,
for in heaven, great is your reward.
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+ O God, without whose beauty and goodness our souls are unfed, without whose truth our reason withers: Consecrate our lives to your will, giving us such purity of heart, such depth of faith, and such steadfastness of purpose, that in time we may come to think your own thoughts after you; through Jesus Christ our Savior. 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.
+ 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.
You fool! Do you have to be shown that faith which does nothing is useless? Didn’t our ancestor Abraham receive God’s approval as a result of what he did when he offered his son Isaac as a sacrifice on the altar? You see that Abraham’s faith and what he did worked together. His faith was shown to be genuine by what he did. The Scripture passage came true. It says, “Abraham believed God, and that faith was regarded as the basis of Abraham’s approval by God.” So Abraham was called God’s friend. You see that a person receives God’s approval because of what he does, not only because of what he believes. The same is true of the prostitute Rahab who welcomed the spies and sent them away on another road. She received God’s approval because of what she did.
11:17 When God tested Abraham, faith led him to offer his son Isaac. Abraham, the one who received the promises from God, was willing to offer his only son as a sacrifice. God had said to him, “Through Isaac your descendants will carry on your name.” Abraham believed that God could bring Isaac back from the dead. Abraham did receive Isaac back from the dead in a figurative sense.
Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and asked, “Why couldn’t we force the demon out of the boy?”
Endure your discipline. God corrects you as a father corrects his children. All children are disciplined by their fathers. If you aren’t disciplined like the other children, you aren’t part of the family. On earth we have fathers who disciplined us, and we respect them. Shouldn’t we place ourselves under the authority of God, the father of spirits, so that we will live? For a short time our fathers disciplined us as they thought best. Yet, God disciplines us for our own good so that we can become holy like him. We don’t enjoy being disciplined. It always seems to cause more pain than joy. But later on, those who learn from that discipline have peace that comes from doing what is right.
The Peanut Gallery 