The Season of Advent | 2nd Saturday 09 Dec 2023
+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Opening:
Almighty God, give us grace
to cast away the works of darkness,
and put on the armor of light,
now in the time of this mortal life in which
your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility;
that in the last day, when he shall come again
in his glorious majesty
to judge both the living and the dead,
we may rise to the life immortal;
through him who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit, one God,
now and for ever. Amen.
“I will give you a new heart and
put a new spirit in you.
I will remove your stubborn hearts
and give you obedient hearts.”
(Ezekiel 36:26)
__________
From Psalms: Psalm 85 – Anglican Chant | Choir of St. John’s College Cambridge (eugenx)
_________
OT Reading: Ezekiel 36:24-28 (GW)
36:24 “ ‘I will take you from the nations and gather you from every country. I will bring you back to your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you and make you clean instead of unclean. Then I will cleanse you from all your idols. 
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you. I will remove your stubborn hearts and give you obedient hearts. I will put my Spirit in you. I will enable you to live by my laws, and you will obey my rules. Then you will live in the land that I gave your ancestors. You will be my people, and I will be your God.
__________
Whole Heart (Hold Me Now) ~ Hillsong UNITED (music meets heaven)
__________
NT Reading: Mark 11:27-33 (GW)
Jesus’ Authority Challenged
11:27 Jesus and his disciples returned to Jerusalem. As he was walking in the temple courtyard, the chief priests, the experts in Moses’ Teachings, and the leaders came to him. They asked him, “What gives you the right to do these things? Who told you that you could do this?”
Jesus said to them, “I’ll ask you a question. Answer me, and then 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? Answer me!”
They discussed this among themselves. They said, “If we say, ‘from heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ But if we say, ‘from humans,’ ⌞then what will happen⌟?” They were afraid of the people. All the people thought of John as a true 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.”
__________
When You Walk Into the Room – Bryan & Katie Torwalt – Jesus Culture Music
__________
+ 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, our heavenly Father, you manifested your love by sending your Son, Christ Jesus, into the world, that all might live through him: Pour out your Spirit on your faithful people in the Middle East, that his life-giving Gospel may be preached to every tribe and nation. 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.
+ Lord of Heaven’s Armies, we pray for swift and total victory over all evil in the Holy Land. Set free the hostages, and deliver from bondage every person captivated by the evil death cult terrorizing the Middle East. And finally, grant heavenly wisdom to those guiding Israel militarily, as well as those who will restore Israel politically and spiritually, through Jesus Christ our Lord. 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
May the Lord, when he comes,
find us watching and waiting.
+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
They started to spread the Good News about the Lord Jesus to Greeks. The Lord’s power was with his followers, and a large number of people believed and turned to the Lord.
You imitated us and the Lord. In spite of a lot of suffering, you welcomed God’s word with the kind of joy that the Holy Spirit gives. This way, you became a model for all the believers in the province of Macedonia and Greece. From you the Lord’s word has spread out not only through the province of Macedonia and Greece but also to people everywhere who have heard about your faith in God. We don’t need to say a thing about it. They talk about how you welcomed us when we arrived. They even report how you turned away from false gods to serve the real, living God and to wait for his Son to come from heaven. His Son is Jesus, whom he brought back to life. Jesus is the one who rescues us from ⌞God’s⌟ coming anger.
Be alert at all times. Pray so that you have the power to escape everything that is about to happen and to stand in front of the Son of Man.”
I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of Babylon, my people, so that you do not participate in her sins and suffer from any of her plagues. Her sins are piled as high as heaven, and God has remembered her crimes. Do to her what she has done. Give her twice as much as she gave. Serve her a drink in her own cup twice as large as the drink she served others. She gave herself glory and luxury. Now give her just as much torture and misery. She says to herself, ‘I’m a queen on a throne, not a widow. I’ll never be miserable.’ For this reason her plagues of death, misery, and starvation will come in a single day. She will be burned up in a fire, because the Lord God, who judges her, is powerful.
The Peanut Gallery 