25 June 2016
Collects
Prayers developed from the daily readings
Saturday 25 June 2016
Morning Prayer
Psalm
135
This
psalm is a song of praise and thanksgiving to God. Calls upon the priestly
tribes of Israel to praise the Lord.
There
is a warning too, those who follow the idols of silver and gold will be like
them: have eyes yet not see, have ears yet not hear and have mouths yet not
breath.
2 Chronicles 15
A prophet Azariah, comes to
Asa the king and reminds him that while the people seek God and are faithful,
God will be found, but if they abandon God he will also abandon them. Asa
orders all the idols taken from the conquest be destroyed and orders all Judah
to worship only God. Each person is to enter into a covenant with God. Those
who do not are put to death. Even the King’s mother was removed from her
position and the idol she had is destroyed. Asa though fierce, is true to God
all his days.
Acts 13: 42 – 52
Paul and Barnabas leave the
synagogue and as they go the people ask them to come again next Sabbath and preach.
They do. Crowds gather and jealousy overtakes some of the Jews who dispute in
an extreme way. Paul responds saying that it was only right they preach to the
Jews first and if they reject their testimony they will go to the Gentiles to
whom they are also sent. The Gentiles rejoice. Key Jewish community leaders are
incited to persecute Paul and Barnabas and drive them from the city. Filled
with joy and the Holy Spirit they leave and go to Iconium.
Collect for Morning Prayer
Open Armadale WA L Osburn |
Holy Lord you ask us to seek you and to trust you no
matter our circumstances: being priest, ruling a nation or preaching your word.
Keep our hearts and minds seeking you and open to you so that we can do your
will and feel your spirit present in our lives and actions and thus serve you
with joy praise and thanksgiving through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, and
the power of your Holy Spirit. Amen.
Saturday 25 June 2016
Evening Prayer
Psalm 136
This
psalm proclaims God’s greatness and enduring love. Here we praise the overwhelming,
overflowing, generosity of God.
Ezekiel 6
Ezekiel prophesies against
the mountains. The altars and idols on them will be destroyed. Towns will be
ruined and wasted. People will die by famine, sword and pestilence. Some will
survive, scattered in other places and they will remember that the Lord did not
threaten in a hollow way. They will know God is the Lord, the Almighty.
James 5
If you are rich and have
defrauded people of their fair wages or rewards, be assured that God knows. It
is as bad as being part of the crowd who had Jesus killed. For the rest, be
patient – like a farmer that waits for the crop to grow- do not grumble about
each other, have instead the endurance of Job. Be honourable and reliable: let
your “Yes” be “Yes” and your “No” be “No”. If you are suffering, pray. If you
are cheerful sing songs of praise. If you are ill, call for the elders and be
anointed. Confess your sins to each other, pray for one another and be healed
because the prayers of the righteous are powerful and effective.
Finally if any of you
wanders from the truth and is brought back, then that friend has saved their
soul from death.
Collect for Evening Prayer
Bringing in the catch Fremantle Harbour WA L Osburn |
Almighty, generous and loving God you
listen to our prayers and give us the power to save each others' souls from
death. Be with us now. Take away the obstacles, our blindness, our idols, our
impatience, our frailty and our fears so that we may examine our own lives,
turn ourselves around and be a good friend to someone else and bring them back
to you through the power of your Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Please leave a comment or
feedback.
No comments:
Post a Comment