Friday March 4, 2022

St. Thomas Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/St.Thomas.the.Apostle.Cambridgehttps://www.facebook.com/groups/969531309814142 (this is St. Luke’s page)  Friday, March 4, 2022 CollectAlmighty God and Father, your beloved Son willingly endured the agony and shame of the cross for our redemption.  Give us the courage to take up our cross and follow him in newness of life and hope.  He lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  AMEN.Come, let us worship.   The Proclamation of the Word-1st Reading:  Deuteronomy 7:12-16 (NRSV)

Blessings for Obedience

If you heed these ordinances, by diligently observing them, the Lord your God will maintain with you the covenant loyalty that he swore to your ancestors; he will love you, bless you, and multiply you; he will bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your wine and your oil, the increase of your cattle and the issue of your flock, in the land that he swore to your ancestors to give you.  You shall be the most blessed of peoples, with neither sterility nor barrenness among you or your livestock. The Lord will turn away from you every illness; all the dread diseases of Egypt that you experienced, he will not inflict on you, but he will lay them on all who hate you. You shall devour all the peoples that the Lord your God is giving over to you, showing them no pity; you shall not serve their gods, for that would be a snare to you. Psalm 95 (Book of Alternative Services page 833):1.           Come, let us sing to the Lord; * let us shout for joy to the rock of our salvation. 2.           Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving * and raise a loud shout to him with psalms. 3.           For the Lord is a great God, * and a great king above all gods.   4.           In his hand are the caverns of the earth, * and the heights of the hills are his also. 5            The sea is his, for he made it, * and his hands have molded the dry land. 6            Come, let us bow down, and bend the knee, * and kneel before the Lord our Maker. 7            For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. *  Oh, that today you would hearken to his voice! 8            Harden not your hearts, as your forebears did in the wilderness, * at Meribah, and on that day at Massah, when they tempted me. 9            They put me to the test, * though they had seen my works. 10          Forty years long I detested that generation and said, * “This people are wayward in their hearts; they do not know my ways.” 11          So I swore in my wrath, * “They shall not enter into my rest.”  Creator of all, we give you thanks for a world full of wonder, but above all because you have called us into a holy fellowship with you and with each other. Guide us in the ways of this your new creation, rooted and grounded in Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.  2nd Reading:  Titus 2:1-15 (NRSV)

Teach Sound Doctrine

But as for you, teach what is consistent with sound doctrine. Tell the older men to be temperate, serious, prudent, and sound in faith, in love, and in endurance.Likewise, tell the older women to be reverent in behaviour, not to be slanderers or slaves to drink; they are to teach what is good, so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be self-controlled, chaste, good managers of the household, kind, being submissive to their husbands, so that the word of God may not be discredited.Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled. Show yourself in all respects a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, gravity, and sound speech that cannot be censured; then any opponent will be put to shame, having nothing evil to say of us.Tell slaves to be submissive to their masters and to give satisfaction in every respect; they are not to answer back, not to pilfer, but to show complete and perfect fidelity, so that in everything they may be an ornament to the doctrine of God our Saviour.For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all, training us to renounce impiety and worldly passions, and in the present age to live lives that are self-controlled, upright, and godly, while we wait for the blessed hope and the manifestation of the glory of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ. He it is who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify for himself a people of his own who are zealous for good deeds.Declare these things; exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no one look down on you. Gospel Reading:  John 1:35-42 (NRSV)

The First Disciples of Jesus

The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, ‘Look, here is the Lamb of God!’ The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, ‘What are you looking for?’ They said to him, ‘Rabbi’ (which translated means Teacher), ‘where are you staying?’ He said to them, ‘Come and see.’ They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon. One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his brother Simon and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (which is translated Anointed). He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, ‘You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas’ (which is translated Peter). The Lord’s Prayer Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread.  And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.  And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.  For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, forever and ever.  Amen. Closing PrayerFaithful God, your loving kindness for all people is revealed in Jesus Christ.  Let your kingdom come now in peace and justice in all the world.  We ask this in his name. May the grace of God uphold you, the peace of God surround you, the love of God flow from you and the strength of God protect and bring you safely through this day.  Amen. God bless and keep us through this season of our lives -