After Epiphany | Saturday 11 Jan 2025
+ In the name the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen
Opening prayer:
O God, by the leading of a star
you manifested your only Son to the peoples of the earth:
Lead us, who know you now by faith, to your presence,
where we may see your glory face to face;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.
“The spiritual person judges all things,
but is himself to be judged by no one.”
(1 Corinthians 2:15)
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From the Psalms: Psalm 29 | “Holy (Psalm 29)” | First Dallas Choir & Orchestra | March 15, 2020
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OT Reading: Ecclesiastes 3:1-15 (ESV)
A Time for Everything
3:1 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
+ a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
+ a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
+ a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
+ a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
+ a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
+ a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
+ a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.
The God-Given Task
1:9 What gain has the worker from his toil? I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God’s gift to man.
I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him. That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God seeks what has been driven away.
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There Is None Like You | Steffany Gretzinger
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NT Reading: 1 Corinthians 2:11-16 (ESV)
2:11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.
The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
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Christ Be All Around Me – All Sons & Daughters / Breathe Back Ministries
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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.
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, our heavenly Father, you manifested your love by sending your only-begotten Son into the world, that all might live through him: Pour out your Spirit on your Church, that we may fulfill his command to preach the Gospel to all people. Send forth laborers into your harvest; defend them in all dangers and temptations; and hasten the time when the fullness of the Gentiles shall be gathered in, and faithful Israel shall be saved; through your Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Closing: FaithandWorship.com | John Birch
May Christ, who sends us to the nations,
give us the power of his Spirit.
+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
25:31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’
The Peanut Gallery 