Come down, O Love divine,
seek thou this soul of mine,
and visit it with thine own ardor glowing;
O Comforter, draw near,
within my heart appear,
and kindle it, thy holy flame bestowing.
—-
2 O let it freely burn,
till earthly passions turn
to dust and ashes in its heat consuming;
and let thy glorious light
shine ever on my sight,
and clothe me round, the while my path illuming.
—-
3 Let holy charity
mine outward vesture be,
and lowliness become mine inner clothing:
true lowliness of heart,
which takes the humbler part,
and o'er its own shortcomings weeps with loathing.
—-
4 And so the yearning strong,
with which the soul will long,
shall far outpass the power of human telling;
for none can guess its grace,
till Love create a place
wherein the Holy Spirit makes a dwelling.
seek thou this soul of mine,
and visit it with thine own ardor glowing;
O Comforter, draw near,
within my heart appear,
and kindle it, thy holy flame bestowing.
—-
2 O let it freely burn,
till earthly passions turn
to dust and ashes in its heat consuming;
and let thy glorious light
shine ever on my sight,
and clothe me round, the while my path illuming.
—-
3 Let holy charity
mine outward vesture be,
and lowliness become mine inner clothing:
true lowliness of heart,
which takes the humbler part,
and o'er its own shortcomings weeps with loathing.
—-
4 And so the yearning strong,
with which the soul will long,
shall far outpass the power of human telling;
for none can guess its grace,
till Love create a place
wherein the Holy Spirit makes a dwelling.
Wednesday, 24 July 2024
+++
Preparation
O Lord, open our lips
and our mouth shall proclaim your praise.
The night has passed, and the day lies open before us; let us pray with one heart and mind.
Silence is kept.
As we rejoice in the gift of this new day, so may the light of your presence, O God, set our hearts on fire with love for you; now and for ever.
Amen.
+++
Morning
Jeremiah 15, 21, 2 readers
Punishment Is Inevitable
15 Then the Lord said to me: Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my heart would not turn toward this people. Send them out of my sight, and let them go! 2 And when they say to you, “Where shall we go?” you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord:
Those destined for pestilence, to pestilence,
and those destined for the sword, to the sword;
those destined for famine, to famine,
and those destined for captivity, to captivity.
3 And I will appoint over them four kinds of destroyers, says the Lord: the sword to kill, the dogs to drag away, and the birds of the air and the wild animals of the earth to devour and destroy. 4 I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth because of what King Manasseh son of Hezekiah of Judah did in Jerusalem.
5
Who will have pity on you, O Jerusalem,
or who will bemoan you?
Who will turn aside
to ask about your welfare?
6
You have rejected me, says the Lord;
you are going backward,
so I have stretched out my hand against you and destroyed you--
I am weary of relenting.
7
I have winnowed them with a winnowing fork
in the gates of the land;
I have bereaved them; I have destroyed my people;
they did not turn from their ways.
8
Their widows became more numerous
than the sand of the seas;
I have brought against the mothers of youths
a destroyer at noonday;
I have made anguish and terror
fall upon her suddenly.
9
She who bore seven has languished;
she has swooned away;
her sun went down while it was yet day;
she has been shamed and disgraced.
And the rest of them I will give to the sword
before their enemies,
says the Lord.
Jeremiah Complains Again and Is Reassured
10 Woe is me, my mother, that you ever bore me, a man of strife and contention to the whole land! I have not lent, nor have I borrowed, yet all of them curse me.
Second reader
11 The Lord said: Surely I have intervened in your life[a] for good; surely I have brought enemies upon you[b] in a time of trouble and in a time of distress. 12 Can one break iron, iron from the north, and bronze?
13 Your wealth and your treasures I will give as plunder, without price, for all your sins, throughout all your territory. 14 I will make you serve your enemies in a land that you do not know, for in my anger a fire is kindled that shall burn against you.
15
O Lord, you know;
remember me and visit me,
and bring down retribution for me on my persecutors.
In your forbearance do not take me away;
know that on your account I suffer insult.
16
Your words were found, and I ate them,
and your words became to me a joy
and the delight of my heart,
for I am called by your name,
O Lord, God of hosts.
17
I did not sit in the company of merrymakers,
nor did I rejoice;
under the weight of your hand I sat alone,
for you had filled me with indignation.
18
Why is my pain unceasing,
my wound incurable,
refusing to be healed?
Truly, you are to me like a deceitful brook,
like waters that fail.
19
Therefore thus says the Lord:
If you turn back, I will take you back,
and you shall stand before me.
If you utter what is precious and not what is worthless,
you shall serve as my mouth.
It is they who will turn to you,
not you who will turn to them.
20
And I will make you to this people
a fortified wall of bronze;
they will fight against you,
but they shall not prevail over you,
for I am with you
to save you and deliver you,
says the Lord.
21
I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked
and redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning is now and shall be for ever. Amen.
+++
John 12, 50, 2 readers
Mary Anoints Jesus
12 Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 2 There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him. 3 Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’s feet, and wiped them[a] with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, 5 “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?” 6 (He said this not because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) 7 Jesus said, “Leave her alone. She bought it[b] so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. 8 You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”
The Plot to Kill Lazarus
9 When the great crowd of the Jews learned that he was there, they came not only because of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 10 So the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death as well, 11 since it was on account of him that many of the Jews were deserting and were believing in Jesus.
Jesus’s Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem
12 The next day the great crowd that had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. 13 So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, shouting,
“Hosanna!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord--
the King of Israel!”
14 Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written:
15
“Do not be afraid, daughter of Zion.
Look, your king is coming,
sitting on a donkey’s colt!”
16 His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written of him and had been done to him. 17 So the crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to testify.[c] 18 It was also because they heard that he had performed this sign that the crowd went to meet him. 19 The Pharisees then said to one another, “You see, you can do nothing. Look, the world has gone after him!”
Some Greeks Wish to See Jesus
20 Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. 21 They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went and told Andrew, then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. 23 Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain, but if it dies it bears much fruit. 25 Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.
Second reader
Jesus Speaks about His Death
27 “Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say: ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” 29 The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” 30 Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. 31 Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out.32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people[d] to myself.” 33 He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die. 34 The crowd answered him, “We have heard from the law that the Messiah[e] remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?” 35 Jesus said to them, “The light is in you[f] for a little longer. Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. If you walk in the darkness, you do not know where you are going. 36 While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of light.”
The Unbelief of the People
After Jesus had said this, he departed and hid from them. 37 Although he had performed so many signs in their presence, they did not believe in him. 38 This was to fulfill the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah:
“Lord, who has believed our message,
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”
39 And so they could not believe, because Isaiah also said,
40
“He has blinded their eyes
and hardened their heart,
so that they might not look with their eyes
and understand with their heart and turn--
and I would heal them.”
41 Isaiah said this because[g] he saw his glory and spoke about him. 42 Nevertheless many, even of the authorities, believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they did not confess it, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue, 43 for they loved human glory more than the glory that comes from God.
Summary of Jesus’s Teaching
44 Then Jesus cried aloud: “Whoever believes in me believes not in me but in him who sent me.45 And whoever sees me sees him who sent me. 46 I have come as light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me should not remain in the darkness. 47 I do not judge anyone who hears my words and does not keep them, for I came not to judge the world but to save the world. 48 The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; on the last day the word that I have spoken will serve as judge, 49 for I have not spoken on my own, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment about what to say and what to speak. 50 And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I speak, therefore, I speak just as the Father has told me.”
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning is now and shall be for ever. Amen.
+++
Psalm 116, 19
Thanksgiving for Recovery from Illness
1
I love the Lord because he has heard
my voice and my supplications.
2
Because he inclined his ear to me,
therefore I will call on him as long as I live.
3
The snares of death encompassed me;
the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me;
I suffered distress and anguish.
4
Then I called on the name of the Lord,
“O Lord, I pray, save my life!”
5
Gracious is the Lord and righteous;
our God is merciful.
6
The Lord protects the simple;
when I was brought low, he saved me.
7
Return, O my soul, to your rest,
for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.
8
For you have delivered my soul from death,
my eyes from tears,
my feet from stumbling.
9
I walk before the Lord
in the land of the living.
10
[a]I kept my faith, even when I said,
“I am greatly afflicted”;
11
I said in my consternation,
“Everyone is a liar.”
12
What shall I return to the Lord
for all his bounty to me?
13
I will lift up the cup of salvation
and call on the name of the Lord;
14
I will pay my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his people.
15
Precious in the sight of the Lord
is the death of his faithful ones.
16
O Lord, I am your servant;
I am your servant, the child of your serving girl.
You have loosed my bonds.
17
I will offer to you a thanksgiving sacrifice
and call on the name of the Lord.
18
I will pay my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his people,
19
in the courts of the house of the Lord,
in your midst, O Jerusalem.
Praise the Lord!
Psalm 117, 2
Universal Call to Worship
1
Praise the Lord, all you nations!
Extol him, all you peoples!
2
For great is his steadfast love toward us,
and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.
Praise the Lord!
Psalm 118, 29, 2 readers
A Song of Victory
1
O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his steadfast love endures forever!
2
Let Israel say,
“His steadfast love endures forever.”
3
Let the house of Aaron say,
“His steadfast love endures forever.”
4
Let those who fear the Lord say,
“His steadfast love endures forever.”
5
Out of my distress I called on the Lord;
the Lord answered me and set me in a broad place.
6
With the Lord on my side I do not fear.
What can mortals do to me?
7
The Lord is on my side to help me;
I shall look in triumph on those who hate me.
8
It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to put confidence in mortals.
9
It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to put confidence in princes.
10
All nations surrounded me;
in the name of the Lord I cut them off!
11
They surrounded me, surrounded me on every side;
in the name of the Lord I cut them off!
12
They surrounded me like bees;
they blazed[a] like a fire of thorns;
in the name of the Lord I cut them off!
13
I was pushed hard,[b] so that I was falling,
but the Lord helped me.
14
The Lord is my strength and my might;
he has become my salvation.
15
There are glad songs of victory in the tents of the righteous:
“The right hand of the Lord does valiantly;
Second reader
16
the right hand of the Lord is exalted;
the right hand of the Lord does valiantly.”
17
I shall not die, but I shall live
and recount the deeds of the Lord.
18
The Lord has punished me severely,
but he did not give me over to death.
19
Open to me the gates of righteousness,
that I may enter through them
and give thanks to the Lord.
20
This is the gate of the Lord;
the righteous shall enter through it.
21
I thank you that you have answered me
and have become my salvation.
22
The stone that the builders rejected
has become the chief cornerstone.
23
This is the Lord’s doing;
it is marvelous in our eyes.
24
This is the day that the Lord has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.[c]
25
Save us, we beseech you, O Lord!
O Lord, we beseech you, give us success!
26
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.[d]
We bless you from the house of the Lord.
27
The Lord is God,
and he has given us light.
Bind the festal procession with branches,
up to the horns of the altar.[e]
28
You are my God, and I will give thanks to you;
you are my God; I will extol you.
29
O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning is now and shall be for ever. Amen.
+++
Let us pray.
God the Father,
have mercy upon us.
God the Son,
have mercy upon us.
God the Holy Spirit,
have mercy upon us.
Holy, blessed and glorious Trinity,
have mercy upon us.
Leader prays a short prayer
+++
The Collect of the day is said
Almighty Lord and everlasting God,
we beseech you to direct, sanctify and govern
both our hearts and bodies
in the ways of your laws
and the works of your commandments;
that through your most mighty protection, both here and ever,
we may be preserved in body and soul;
through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.
+++
The Lord’s Prayer is said
Rejoicing in the presence of God here among us, as our Saviour taught us, so we pray
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours
now and for ever.
Amen.
+++
The conclusion
The Lord bless us, and preserve us from all evil,
and keep us in eternal life.
Amen.
Let us bless the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
+++
Evening
Jeremiah 16, 21
Jeremiah’s Celibacy and Message
16 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 You shall not take a wife, nor shall you have sons or daughters in this place. 3 For thus says the Lord concerning the sons and daughters who are born in this place and concerning the mothers who bear them and the fathers who father them in this land:4 They shall die of deadly diseases. They shall not be lamented, nor shall they be buried; they shall become like dung on the surface of the ground. They shall perish by the sword and by famine, and their dead bodies shall become food for the birds of the air and for the wild animals of the earth.
5 For thus says the Lord: Do not enter the house of mourning or go to lament or bemoan them, for I have taken away my peace from this people, says the Lord, my steadfast love and mercy. 6 Both great and small shall die in this land; they shall not be buried, and no one shall lament for them; there shall be no gashing, no shaving of the head for them. 7 No one shall break bread[a] for the mourner, to offer comfort for the dead, nor shall anyone give them the cup of consolation to drink for their fathers or their mothers. 8 You shall not go into the house of feasting to sit with them, to eat and drink. 9 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: I am going to banish from this place, in your days and before your eyes, the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride.
10 And when you tell this people all these words, and they say to you, “Why has the Lord pronounced all this great evil against us? What is our iniquity? What is the sin that we have committed against the Lord our God?” 11 then you shall say to them: It is because your ancestors have forsaken me, says the Lord, and have gone after other gods and have served and worshiped them and have forsaken me and have not kept my law, 12 and because you have behaved worse than your ancestors, for here you are, every one of you, following your stubborn evil will, refusing to listen to me. 13 Therefore I will hurl you out of this land into a land that neither you nor your ancestors have known, and there you shall serve other gods day and night, for I will show you no favor.
God Will Restore Israel
14 Therefore, the days are surely coming, says the Lord, when it shall no longer be said, “As the Lordlives who brought the people of Israel up out of the land of Egypt,” 15 but “As the Lord lives who brought the people of Israel up out of the land of the north and out of all the lands where he had driven them.” For I will bring them back to their own land that I gave to their ancestors.
16 I am now sending for many fishermen, says the Lord, and they shall catch them, and afterward I will send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain and every hill and out of the clefts of the rocks. 17 For my eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from my presence, nor is their iniquity concealed from my sight. 18 And[b] I will doubly repay their iniquity and their sin because they have polluted my land with the carcasses of their detestable idols and have filled my inheritance with their abominations.
19
O Lord, my strength and my stronghold,
my refuge in the day of trouble,
to you shall the nations come
from the ends of the earth and say:
“Our ancestors have inherited nothing but lies,
worthless things in which there is no profit.
20
Can mortals make for themselves gods?
Such are no gods!”
21 “Therefore I am surely going to teach them, this time I am going to teach them my power and my might, and they shall know that my name is the Lord.”
+++
2 Timothy 3, 17
Godlessness in the Last Days
3 You must understand this, that in the last days distressing times will come. 2 For people will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 unfeeling, implacable, slanderers, profligates, brutes, haters of good,4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 holding to the outward form of godliness but denying its power. Avoid them! 6 For among them are those who make their way into households and captivate immature women, overwhelmed by their sins and swayed by all kinds of desires, 7 who are always studying yet never able to recognize truth. 8 As Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these people, of corrupt mind and counterfeit faith, also oppose the truth. 9 But they will not make much progress because, as in the case of those two men,[a]their folly will become plain to everyone.
Paul’s Charge to Timothy
10 Now you have observed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, 11 my persecutions, and my sufferings, the things that happened to me in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. What persecutions I endured! Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them.12 Indeed, all who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. 13 But wicked people and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving others and being deceived. 14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it 15 and how from childhood you have known sacred writings that are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All scripture is inspired by God and is[b] useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 so that the person of God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.
+++
Psalm 119, 1-32
The Glories of God’s Law
1
Happy are those whose way is blameless,
who walk in the law of the Lord.
2
Happy are those who keep his decrees,
who seek him with their whole heart,
3
who also do no wrong
but walk in his ways.
4
You have commanded your precepts
to be kept diligently.
5
O that my ways may be steadfast
in keeping your statutes!
6
Then I shall not be put to shame,
having my eyes fixed on all your commandments.
7
I will praise you with an upright heart,
when I learn your righteous ordinances.
8
I will observe your statutes;
do not utterly forsake me.
9
How can young people keep their way pure?
By guarding it according to your word.
10
With my whole heart I seek you;
do not let me stray from your commandments.
11
I treasure your word in my heart,
so that I may not sin against you.
12
Blessed are you, O Lord;
teach me your statutes.
13
With my lips I declare
all the ordinances of your mouth.
14
I delight in the way of your decrees
as much as in all riches.
15
I will meditate on your precepts
and fix my eyes on your ways.
16
I will delight in your statutes;
I will not forget your word.
17
Deal bountifully with your servant,
so that I may live and observe your word.
18
Open my eyes, so that I may behold
wondrous things out of your law.
19
I live as an alien in the land;
do not hide your commandments from me.
20
My soul is consumed with longing
for your ordinances at all times.
21
You rebuke the insolent, accursed ones,
who wander from your commandments;
22
take away from me their scorn and contempt,
for I have kept your decrees.
23
Even though princes sit plotting against me,
your servant will meditate on your statutes.
24
Your decrees are my delight;
they are my counselors.
25
My soul clings to the dust;
revive me according to your word.
26
When I told of my ways, you answered me;
teach me your statutes.
27
Make me understand the way of your precepts,
and I will meditate on your wondrous works.
28
My soul melts away for sorrow;
strengthen me according to your word.
29
Put false ways far from me,
and graciously teach me your law.
30
I have chosen the way of faithfulness;
I set your ordinances before me.
31
I cling to your decrees, O Lord;
let me not be put to shame.
32
I run the way of your commandments,
for you enlarge my understanding.
+++
Preparation
O Lord, open our lips
and our mouth shall proclaim your praise.
The night has passed, and the day lies open before us; let us pray with one heart and mind.
Silence is kept.
As we rejoice in the gift of this new day, so may the light of your presence, O God, set our hearts on fire with love for you; now and for ever.
Amen.
+++
Morning
Jeremiah 15, 21, 2 readers
Punishment Is Inevitable
15 Then the Lord said to me: Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my heart would not turn toward this people. Send them out of my sight, and let them go! 2 And when they say to you, “Where shall we go?” you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord:
Those destined for pestilence, to pestilence,
and those destined for the sword, to the sword;
those destined for famine, to famine,
and those destined for captivity, to captivity.
3 And I will appoint over them four kinds of destroyers, says the Lord: the sword to kill, the dogs to drag away, and the birds of the air and the wild animals of the earth to devour and destroy. 4 I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth because of what King Manasseh son of Hezekiah of Judah did in Jerusalem.
5
Who will have pity on you, O Jerusalem,
or who will bemoan you?
Who will turn aside
to ask about your welfare?
6
You have rejected me, says the Lord;
you are going backward,
so I have stretched out my hand against you and destroyed you--
I am weary of relenting.
7
I have winnowed them with a winnowing fork
in the gates of the land;
I have bereaved them; I have destroyed my people;
they did not turn from their ways.
8
Their widows became more numerous
than the sand of the seas;
I have brought against the mothers of youths
a destroyer at noonday;
I have made anguish and terror
fall upon her suddenly.
9
She who bore seven has languished;
she has swooned away;
her sun went down while it was yet day;
she has been shamed and disgraced.
And the rest of them I will give to the sword
before their enemies,
says the Lord.
Jeremiah Complains Again and Is Reassured
10 Woe is me, my mother, that you ever bore me, a man of strife and contention to the whole land! I have not lent, nor have I borrowed, yet all of them curse me.
Second reader
11 The Lord said: Surely I have intervened in your life[a] for good; surely I have brought enemies upon you[b] in a time of trouble and in a time of distress. 12 Can one break iron, iron from the north, and bronze?
13 Your wealth and your treasures I will give as plunder, without price, for all your sins, throughout all your territory. 14 I will make you serve your enemies in a land that you do not know, for in my anger a fire is kindled that shall burn against you.
15
O Lord, you know;
remember me and visit me,
and bring down retribution for me on my persecutors.
In your forbearance do not take me away;
know that on your account I suffer insult.
16
Your words were found, and I ate them,
and your words became to me a joy
and the delight of my heart,
for I am called by your name,
O Lord, God of hosts.
17
I did not sit in the company of merrymakers,
nor did I rejoice;
under the weight of your hand I sat alone,
for you had filled me with indignation.
18
Why is my pain unceasing,
my wound incurable,
refusing to be healed?
Truly, you are to me like a deceitful brook,
like waters that fail.
19
Therefore thus says the Lord:
If you turn back, I will take you back,
and you shall stand before me.
If you utter what is precious and not what is worthless,
you shall serve as my mouth.
It is they who will turn to you,
not you who will turn to them.
20
And I will make you to this people
a fortified wall of bronze;
they will fight against you,
but they shall not prevail over you,
for I am with you
to save you and deliver you,
says the Lord.
21
I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked
and redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning is now and shall be for ever. Amen.
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John 12, 50, 2 readers
Mary Anoints Jesus
12 Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 2 There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him. 3 Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’s feet, and wiped them[a] with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, 5 “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?” 6 (He said this not because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) 7 Jesus said, “Leave her alone. She bought it[b] so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. 8 You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”
The Plot to Kill Lazarus
9 When the great crowd of the Jews learned that he was there, they came not only because of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 10 So the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death as well, 11 since it was on account of him that many of the Jews were deserting and were believing in Jesus.
Jesus’s Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem
12 The next day the great crowd that had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. 13 So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, shouting,
“Hosanna!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord--
the King of Israel!”
14 Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written:
15
“Do not be afraid, daughter of Zion.
Look, your king is coming,
sitting on a donkey’s colt!”
16 His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written of him and had been done to him. 17 So the crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to testify.[c] 18 It was also because they heard that he had performed this sign that the crowd went to meet him. 19 The Pharisees then said to one another, “You see, you can do nothing. Look, the world has gone after him!”
Some Greeks Wish to See Jesus
20 Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. 21 They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went and told Andrew, then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. 23 Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain, but if it dies it bears much fruit. 25 Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.
Second reader
Jesus Speaks about His Death
27 “Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say: ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” 29 The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” 30 Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. 31 Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out.32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people[d] to myself.” 33 He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die. 34 The crowd answered him, “We have heard from the law that the Messiah[e] remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?” 35 Jesus said to them, “The light is in you[f] for a little longer. Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. If you walk in the darkness, you do not know where you are going. 36 While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of light.”
The Unbelief of the People
After Jesus had said this, he departed and hid from them. 37 Although he had performed so many signs in their presence, they did not believe in him. 38 This was to fulfill the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah:
“Lord, who has believed our message,
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”
39 And so they could not believe, because Isaiah also said,
40
“He has blinded their eyes
and hardened their heart,
so that they might not look with their eyes
and understand with their heart and turn--
and I would heal them.”
41 Isaiah said this because[g] he saw his glory and spoke about him. 42 Nevertheless many, even of the authorities, believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they did not confess it, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue, 43 for they loved human glory more than the glory that comes from God.
Summary of Jesus’s Teaching
44 Then Jesus cried aloud: “Whoever believes in me believes not in me but in him who sent me.45 And whoever sees me sees him who sent me. 46 I have come as light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me should not remain in the darkness. 47 I do not judge anyone who hears my words and does not keep them, for I came not to judge the world but to save the world. 48 The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; on the last day the word that I have spoken will serve as judge, 49 for I have not spoken on my own, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment about what to say and what to speak. 50 And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I speak, therefore, I speak just as the Father has told me.”
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning is now and shall be for ever. Amen.
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Psalm 116, 19
Thanksgiving for Recovery from Illness
1
I love the Lord because he has heard
my voice and my supplications.
2
Because he inclined his ear to me,
therefore I will call on him as long as I live.
3
The snares of death encompassed me;
the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me;
I suffered distress and anguish.
4
Then I called on the name of the Lord,
“O Lord, I pray, save my life!”
5
Gracious is the Lord and righteous;
our God is merciful.
6
The Lord protects the simple;
when I was brought low, he saved me.
7
Return, O my soul, to your rest,
for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.
8
For you have delivered my soul from death,
my eyes from tears,
my feet from stumbling.
9
I walk before the Lord
in the land of the living.
10
[a]I kept my faith, even when I said,
“I am greatly afflicted”;
11
I said in my consternation,
“Everyone is a liar.”
12
What shall I return to the Lord
for all his bounty to me?
13
I will lift up the cup of salvation
and call on the name of the Lord;
14
I will pay my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his people.
15
Precious in the sight of the Lord
is the death of his faithful ones.
16
O Lord, I am your servant;
I am your servant, the child of your serving girl.
You have loosed my bonds.
17
I will offer to you a thanksgiving sacrifice
and call on the name of the Lord.
18
I will pay my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his people,
19
in the courts of the house of the Lord,
in your midst, O Jerusalem.
Praise the Lord!
Psalm 117, 2
Universal Call to Worship
1
Praise the Lord, all you nations!
Extol him, all you peoples!
2
For great is his steadfast love toward us,
and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.
Praise the Lord!
Psalm 118, 29, 2 readers
A Song of Victory
1
O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his steadfast love endures forever!
2
Let Israel say,
“His steadfast love endures forever.”
3
Let the house of Aaron say,
“His steadfast love endures forever.”
4
Let those who fear the Lord say,
“His steadfast love endures forever.”
5
Out of my distress I called on the Lord;
the Lord answered me and set me in a broad place.
6
With the Lord on my side I do not fear.
What can mortals do to me?
7
The Lord is on my side to help me;
I shall look in triumph on those who hate me.
8
It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to put confidence in mortals.
9
It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to put confidence in princes.
10
All nations surrounded me;
in the name of the Lord I cut them off!
11
They surrounded me, surrounded me on every side;
in the name of the Lord I cut them off!
12
They surrounded me like bees;
they blazed[a] like a fire of thorns;
in the name of the Lord I cut them off!
13
I was pushed hard,[b] so that I was falling,
but the Lord helped me.
14
The Lord is my strength and my might;
he has become my salvation.
15
There are glad songs of victory in the tents of the righteous:
“The right hand of the Lord does valiantly;
Second reader
16
the right hand of the Lord is exalted;
the right hand of the Lord does valiantly.”
17
I shall not die, but I shall live
and recount the deeds of the Lord.
18
The Lord has punished me severely,
but he did not give me over to death.
19
Open to me the gates of righteousness,
that I may enter through them
and give thanks to the Lord.
20
This is the gate of the Lord;
the righteous shall enter through it.
21
I thank you that you have answered me
and have become my salvation.
22
The stone that the builders rejected
has become the chief cornerstone.
23
This is the Lord’s doing;
it is marvelous in our eyes.
24
This is the day that the Lord has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.[c]
25
Save us, we beseech you, O Lord!
O Lord, we beseech you, give us success!
26
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.[d]
We bless you from the house of the Lord.
27
The Lord is God,
and he has given us light.
Bind the festal procession with branches,
up to the horns of the altar.[e]
28
You are my God, and I will give thanks to you;
you are my God; I will extol you.
29
O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning is now and shall be for ever. Amen.
+++
Let us pray.
God the Father,
have mercy upon us.
God the Son,
have mercy upon us.
God the Holy Spirit,
have mercy upon us.
Holy, blessed and glorious Trinity,
have mercy upon us.
Leader prays a short prayer
+++
The Collect of the day is said
Almighty Lord and everlasting God,
we beseech you to direct, sanctify and govern
both our hearts and bodies
in the ways of your laws
and the works of your commandments;
that through your most mighty protection, both here and ever,
we may be preserved in body and soul;
through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.
+++
The Lord’s Prayer is said
Rejoicing in the presence of God here among us, as our Saviour taught us, so we pray
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours
now and for ever.
Amen.
+++
The conclusion
The Lord bless us, and preserve us from all evil,
and keep us in eternal life.
Amen.
Let us bless the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
+++
Evening
Jeremiah 16, 21
Jeremiah’s Celibacy and Message
16 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 You shall not take a wife, nor shall you have sons or daughters in this place. 3 For thus says the Lord concerning the sons and daughters who are born in this place and concerning the mothers who bear them and the fathers who father them in this land:4 They shall die of deadly diseases. They shall not be lamented, nor shall they be buried; they shall become like dung on the surface of the ground. They shall perish by the sword and by famine, and their dead bodies shall become food for the birds of the air and for the wild animals of the earth.
5 For thus says the Lord: Do not enter the house of mourning or go to lament or bemoan them, for I have taken away my peace from this people, says the Lord, my steadfast love and mercy. 6 Both great and small shall die in this land; they shall not be buried, and no one shall lament for them; there shall be no gashing, no shaving of the head for them. 7 No one shall break bread[a] for the mourner, to offer comfort for the dead, nor shall anyone give them the cup of consolation to drink for their fathers or their mothers. 8 You shall not go into the house of feasting to sit with them, to eat and drink. 9 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: I am going to banish from this place, in your days and before your eyes, the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride.
10 And when you tell this people all these words, and they say to you, “Why has the Lord pronounced all this great evil against us? What is our iniquity? What is the sin that we have committed against the Lord our God?” 11 then you shall say to them: It is because your ancestors have forsaken me, says the Lord, and have gone after other gods and have served and worshiped them and have forsaken me and have not kept my law, 12 and because you have behaved worse than your ancestors, for here you are, every one of you, following your stubborn evil will, refusing to listen to me. 13 Therefore I will hurl you out of this land into a land that neither you nor your ancestors have known, and there you shall serve other gods day and night, for I will show you no favor.
God Will Restore Israel
14 Therefore, the days are surely coming, says the Lord, when it shall no longer be said, “As the Lordlives who brought the people of Israel up out of the land of Egypt,” 15 but “As the Lord lives who brought the people of Israel up out of the land of the north and out of all the lands where he had driven them.” For I will bring them back to their own land that I gave to their ancestors.
16 I am now sending for many fishermen, says the Lord, and they shall catch them, and afterward I will send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain and every hill and out of the clefts of the rocks. 17 For my eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from my presence, nor is their iniquity concealed from my sight. 18 And[b] I will doubly repay their iniquity and their sin because they have polluted my land with the carcasses of their detestable idols and have filled my inheritance with their abominations.
19
O Lord, my strength and my stronghold,
my refuge in the day of trouble,
to you shall the nations come
from the ends of the earth and say:
“Our ancestors have inherited nothing but lies,
worthless things in which there is no profit.
20
Can mortals make for themselves gods?
Such are no gods!”
21 “Therefore I am surely going to teach them, this time I am going to teach them my power and my might, and they shall know that my name is the Lord.”
+++
2 Timothy 3, 17
Godlessness in the Last Days
3 You must understand this, that in the last days distressing times will come. 2 For people will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 unfeeling, implacable, slanderers, profligates, brutes, haters of good,4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 holding to the outward form of godliness but denying its power. Avoid them! 6 For among them are those who make their way into households and captivate immature women, overwhelmed by their sins and swayed by all kinds of desires, 7 who are always studying yet never able to recognize truth. 8 As Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these people, of corrupt mind and counterfeit faith, also oppose the truth. 9 But they will not make much progress because, as in the case of those two men,[a]their folly will become plain to everyone.
Paul’s Charge to Timothy
10 Now you have observed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, 11 my persecutions, and my sufferings, the things that happened to me in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. What persecutions I endured! Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them.12 Indeed, all who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. 13 But wicked people and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving others and being deceived. 14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it 15 and how from childhood you have known sacred writings that are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All scripture is inspired by God and is[b] useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 so that the person of God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.
+++
Psalm 119, 1-32
The Glories of God’s Law
1
Happy are those whose way is blameless,
who walk in the law of the Lord.
2
Happy are those who keep his decrees,
who seek him with their whole heart,
3
who also do no wrong
but walk in his ways.
4
You have commanded your precepts
to be kept diligently.
5
O that my ways may be steadfast
in keeping your statutes!
6
Then I shall not be put to shame,
having my eyes fixed on all your commandments.
7
I will praise you with an upright heart,
when I learn your righteous ordinances.
8
I will observe your statutes;
do not utterly forsake me.
9
How can young people keep their way pure?
By guarding it according to your word.
10
With my whole heart I seek you;
do not let me stray from your commandments.
11
I treasure your word in my heart,
so that I may not sin against you.
12
Blessed are you, O Lord;
teach me your statutes.
13
With my lips I declare
all the ordinances of your mouth.
14
I delight in the way of your decrees
as much as in all riches.
15
I will meditate on your precepts
and fix my eyes on your ways.
16
I will delight in your statutes;
I will not forget your word.
17
Deal bountifully with your servant,
so that I may live and observe your word.
18
Open my eyes, so that I may behold
wondrous things out of your law.
19
I live as an alien in the land;
do not hide your commandments from me.
20
My soul is consumed with longing
for your ordinances at all times.
21
You rebuke the insolent, accursed ones,
who wander from your commandments;
22
take away from me their scorn and contempt,
for I have kept your decrees.
23
Even though princes sit plotting against me,
your servant will meditate on your statutes.
24
Your decrees are my delight;
they are my counselors.
25
My soul clings to the dust;
revive me according to your word.
26
When I told of my ways, you answered me;
teach me your statutes.
27
Make me understand the way of your precepts,
and I will meditate on your wondrous works.
28
My soul melts away for sorrow;
strengthen me according to your word.
29
Put false ways far from me,
and graciously teach me your law.
30
I have chosen the way of faithfulness;
I set your ordinances before me.
31
I cling to your decrees, O Lord;
let me not be put to shame.
32
I run the way of your commandments,
for you enlarge my understanding.