Paraphrases
of the Scripture
Lections
for the Paschal Vigil
- 7/8 April 2012
Lections from The Revised
Common Lectionary.
Copyright 1992 by the Consultation on Common
Texts (CCT)
P. O. Box 340003, Room 381, Nashville, TN 37203-0003,
USA. Used with Permission.
* Genesis
1:1 - 2:4a
At the outset, when
God created the universe,
........the
earth was lifeless and shapeless;
a deep ocean of chaos, shrouded
in darkness;
........brooded over by
the Spirit of God.
Then God called for light,
........and
light appeared.
God saw that light was a good thing,
........and
separated it from the darkness.
God named the light
Day,
........and the darkness
Night.
Evening passed and morning came;
........the
first day was done.
Then God called for a clear
space
........to keep out the water
on either side.
God made the clear space
........and
the water was split in two, above and below.
That is what
happened,
........and God named the
space Sky.
Evening passed and morning came;
........the
second day was done.
Then God called for the waters under the
sky
........to be pooled into one
place
................and for dry
land to appear elsewhere.
That is what happened,
........and
God named the dry land Earth
................and
the pooled waters Sea.
God saw that this was a good
thing.
Then God called for the earth to produce
vegetation:
........plants and trees,
rich with fertile fruits and seed,
................and
that is what happened.
The earth burst forth with vegetation of
every kind;
........grasses and
vines, shrubs and trees,
................fertile
with seeds and fruits of every kind.
God saw that this was a good
thing.
........Evening passed and
morning came;
................the
third day was done.
Then God called for lights in the space
called sky;
........lights to shine
from above and light up the earth,
................to
separate day from night,
........................and
to mark out the months, seasons and years.
That is what
happened;
........God made stars to
fill the sky
................and two
big lights:
........a bright one to
dominate the day,
................and
a soft one to take over at night.
God set them all in the
sky
........to light up the earth and
determine day and night;
................to
separate out the light from the darkness.
God saw that this was a
good thing.
........Evening passed
and morning came;
................the
fourth day was done.
Then God called for the waters to fill
with living creatures,
........and
for the skies to fill with birds flying over the earth.
God
created all the creatures that live and move in the
water,
........the enormous monsters
of the sea and the teeming fish,
................and
every kind of bird that wings its way through the air.
God saw
that this was a good thing
........and
set them up for life,
encouraging the fish to multiply and fill
the seas
........and the birds to
multiply all over the earth.
Evening passed and morning
came;
........the fifth day was
done.
Then God called for the earth to bring forth all sorts
of living creatures:
........insects,
reptiles, mammals;
................animals
of every kind, tame and wild.
That is what happened;
........God
made the wild animals of every kind to fill the
earth,
................every kind of
herd and flock,
........and every
creature that runs or jumps or crawls on land.
................God
saw that this was a good thing.
Then God said:
........“We
will make people in our own image,
................modelling
them on ourselves.
........We will
entrust to them the fish of the sea,
................the
birds of the air, the flocks and herds,
........................and
all the wild animals and creepy-crawlies.”
So God
created people as a reflection of God,
........created
them to be like God,
................created
them male and female.
God set them up for life,
........and
encouraged them to multiply and fill the earth.
God told them to
exercise control over the earth
........and
to manage the fish of the sea,
................the
birds of the air and every living thing on earth.
God said to
the people:
........“Look, I
have given you the grain crops
................that
grow and reproduce themselves all over the earth,
........and
all the trees that grow from seed and bear
fruit;
................they are all
yours for food.
........I have also
provided vegetation galore
................as
food for the animals, birds and
creepy-crawlies,
........................for
everything that lives and breathes.
So it all happened, just
as God said.
........Everything God
had made was there to be seen
................and
God was delighted with it all.
........Evening
passed and morning came;
................the
sixth day was done.
With that, the universe was
completed,
........along with
everything that fills it.
With the work finished,
........God
took the seventh day off.
After all the work God had
done,
........the seventh day was a
well earned rest.
So God made the seventh day special,
........a
sacred day,
because that day was God’s day off
........after
all the work of creating everything.
So that’s the
family lineage of the universe;
........the
story of how everything came to be.
©2002
Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net
*
Psalm 136: 1-9, 23-26
Sorry, not available yet
*
Genesis 7: 1-5, 11-18 ; 8: 6-18 ; 9: 8-13
The
LORD said to Noah:
“I want you and your family to board the giant lifeboat you have built, because you are the only person alive who does the right thing in my eyes. It is time to move the animals on board as well. Take seven breeding pairs of every kind of animal that can be offered in worship, one breeding pair of every kind that cannot, and seven pairs of every kind of flying bird. In this way we will ensure the survival of all their species on the earth. You’ve only got seven days before the rain starts, so get cracking. I will make it bucket down, day and night, for forty days, to wipe every living thing from the face of the earth, everything I have created.”
........So Noah got stuck into it and
followed the LORD’s instructions to the
letter. Noah was six hundred years old at the time, and sure enough,
on the seventeenth day of the second month that year, great torrents
of water came flooding up from beneath the ground and the clouds
burst from above. Rain bucketed down, day and night, for forty days.
The very day it began, Noah finished loading the lifeboat and moved
in with his wife, his three sons — Shem, Ham and Japheth —
and their three wives. On board they had loaded every kind of animal,
wild and domestic, every kind of creepy-crawlie, and every kind of
bird and flying animal. There were breeding pairs of every species
that lives and breathes on the earth, and they all went on board the
lifeboat with Noah. Noah had rounded them all up and herded them into
the boat, just as God had instructed him, and when they were all
aboard, the LORD closed the door to keep them
in.
........The flood waters surged
over the earth for forty days, and as the waters rose the lifeboat
floated up well clear of the ground below. The waters continued to
swell, becoming deeper and deeper over the earth, but the lifeboat
floated safely on the surface.
........When
the rain stopped after forty days, Noah opened a window in the
lifeboat he had built, and released a crow. It never came back, but
kept flying back and forth until the waters had dried up. So Noah
released a pigeon, in order to find out whether the waters had
subsided enough to find dry land. But the pigeon returned to the
boat, because the water was still too deep and it couldn’t find
anywhere else to land. Noah put out his hand for the bird to land on
and brought it back inside. He waited another seven days and then
released the pigeon from the boat again. That evening the pigeon came
back carrying a freshly plucked olive leaf in its beak, so Noah knew
that the waters had subsided enough for the land to begin drying out.
Seven days later he released the pigeon again, and this time it never
came back.
........They had been in
the lifeboat for nearly a year before the flood was gone completely.
It was New Year’s Day when Noah opened up the roof of the boat
and took a look around. He could see that the ground was still soggy,
but drying fast. Eventually, on the twenty seventh day of the second
month that year, the earth was dry enough, and God said to Noah:
“It is time for you and your whole family to leave the lifeboat. Unload all the living creatures that are with you; all the birds and animals and creepy-crawlies of every kind. Release them so that they can breed prolifically and restock the earth.”
So Noah disembarked with his wife and their sons and their son’s wives. Then God said to Noah and his family:
“I, myself, am forging an alliance with you, and with all your descendants to come, and with every living creature; all the birds, domestic animals, and wild animals of the earth who came out of the lifeboat with you. In the terms of this alliance which I am forging with you, I am giving you my word that never again will all life be wiped out by a flood. There will never be another flood that will totally destroy the earth. I am making this alliance between me and you and all the living creatures that are with you, and I am signing it in the clouds. The rainbow that I have put in the clouds for you all to see is my signature on the alliance between me and the earth.”
©2003
Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net
*
Psalm 46
Our refuge, our shelter, our fortress,
our security;
........you are all
these things to us, God.
................You
are always there for us when we need you.
Because of you, we
will not panic
........even if our
world comes crashing down around our ears;
................even
if the earth splits open beneath us;
........even
if chaos pours in like a raging flood;
................even
if life as we know it goes up in smoke.
You are the LORD
of cosmic power — the God of our ancestors —
........our
safety, our refuge.
A river flowing with life-giving water
runs through your holy city
........bringing
joy and peace to your sacred home.
You are the most high God, and
the city where you live
........will
rest secure and greet the new day with confidence.
The world
may be in chaos, nations tearing apart at the seams,
........but
when you speak, the earth sinks to its knees.
You are the LORD
of cosmic power — the God of our ancestors —
........our
safety, our refuge.
What you have done is a sight for sore
eyes, LORD;
........you
have left a trail of destruction across the
earth:
................weapons of war
crushed and burned;
................implements
of fear smashed to pieces;
........conflicts
and wars closed down for good.
You call us to a peaceful
calm
........and invite us to know
you as God.
You stand supreme above the nations,
........unmatched
in all the earth.
You are the LORD of
cosmic power — the God of our ancestors —
........our
safety, our refuge.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton
LaughingBird.net
*
Genesis 22: 1-18
........This
is the story of how God put Abraham to the test to find out whether
he really had what it takes.
........God
called to him, saying, “Abraham!”
........“At
your service,” Abraham replied.
........God
said, “Go and get Isaac, your son, your only son whom you love.
Take him to the mountain that I will point out to you in the land of
Moriah. There you are to sacrifice him to me on an altar as a burnt
offering.”
........So Abraham
got up early the next morning and chopped wood for the fire on the
altar. He saddled his donkey and set out for the place that God had
told him to go with Isaac and two of his hired hands. After three
day’s journey, Abraham could finally see their destination in
the distance. He said to the two hired hands, “Wait here with
the donkey while the boy and I go on up there to worship. We will
then return and meet you back here.”
........Abraham
got Isaac to carry the wood for the burnt offering, and he himself
carried the knife and the coals for starting the fire. As the two of
them walked on together, Isaac spoke to Abraham saying,
“Father!”
........“At
your service, son,” Abraham replied.
........“Haven’t
we forgotten something?” Isaac asked. “We’ve got
everything we need to get the fire going, but we haven’t
brought a lamb to sacrifice as a burnt offering.”
........Abraham
said, “God will personally provide the lamb for the sacrifice,
my son.”
........So the two of
them walked on together. When they arrived at the spot that God had
shown him, Abraham built an altar and stacked the wood on it ready
for the fire. Then he tied up his son Isaac, and laid him on top of
the wood on the altar. He took the knife in hand and was about to
kill his son, when the messenger of the LORD
called to him from heaven, saying, “Abraham,
Abraham!”
........“At
your service,” he replied.
........The
messenger said, “Put down your knife and don’t hurt the
boy in any way, for now I know what I needed to know. Since you have
not even drawn the line at giving up your only son for me, I know
that you trust God, no matter what.”
As he looked up,
Abraham saw a ram with its horns entangled in the scrub. So he went
and got it, and offered up the ram on the altar as a burnt offering
in place of his son.
........From
then on, Abraham called that place “The LORD
will provide,” and a saying was coined that you still hear
today: “On the LORD’s mountain all
will be provided.”
........The
messenger of the LORD called to Abraham from
heaven again, saying, “This is what the LORD
says to you:
I swear to you, and give you my personal guarantee, that because you have done what I told you to do, and not even drawn the line at giving up your only son for me, I will do the right thing by you and set you up for life. I will see to it that your descendants become as countless as the stars in the sky and the grains of sand on the seashore. They will defeat their enemies and take over their cities and towns. Through your offspring, a better life will be available to everyone on earth, because you obeyed when I spoke to you.”
©2002
Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net
*
Psalm 16
Protect me, God,
........you
are my place of refuge.
I’m acknowledging you as the one
in charge, LORD;
........you
are the best thing that’s ever happened to me.
I delight
in the company of those
........who
dedicate themselves to you;
................they
are the salt of the earth.
Those who worship other
things
........will have nothing but
grief.
I will not buy into their futile devotions;
........I
will not utter the names they revere.
You are all I want,
LORD, and all I need;
........you
hold my future in your hands.
You mark out the best of
everything for me;
........you’ve
set me up with a bright future.
I heap accolades on you,
LORD,
........for
you always give me wise advice;
even in the dead of
night
........you fill my heart with
your teachings.
I’ll always stick close behind you,
LORD;
........with
you near by,
................I’ll
never be pushed off track.
You fill me with delight,
LORD;
........joy
erupts from deep in my bones;
................my
body relaxes, safe in your care.
You’ll never let the
grave drag me down;
........your
faithful servants are never left for dead.
You set my feet on
a life-giving track, LORD.
........To
be in your presence is absolute bliss.
................All
I could dream of comes from your hand.
©2001
Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net
*
Exodus 14: 10-31 ; 15: 20-21
When the Israelites
stopped near the Red Sea, they looked back over their shoulders and
saw the King of Egypt and his whole army in hot pursuit. They began
to cry out in panic:
“God help us! What are you doing to us, Moses? Why did you bring us out of Egypt? Weren’t there enough graves there, so you had to take us off to be slaughtered in the outback? Didn’t we tell you it would come to this, when we were still safe in Egypt? We said ‘Don’t rock the boat, Moses. Leave us be. We are better off working as slaves in Egypt than ending up dead in the outback.’ Didn’t we tell you?”
But Moses replied in a speech, saying:
“Don’t panic! Hold your nerve, and you will see the LORD take action to rescue you, here and now. Take a last look at your oppressors while you can, because you will never see them alive again. The LORD will fight this battle for you. That should shut you up!”
Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying:
“Why all this whinging to me? Tell the Israelites to get travelling. Hold up your walking stick and stretch out your hand towards the sea. Slice it open, so that the Israelites can walk into the sea on dry track through the middle. The Egyptian army are so pig-headed that they will go in after the people, and when they do, I will cover myself in glory by defeating the King of Egypt and all his armoured vehicles and soldiers. Then all Egypt will understand that I AM the LORD.”
........The angel of God who had been
in front of the Israelites now moved around and took up a new
position, covering them from the rear. The pillar of cloud also moved
from in front of them and settled in a position behind them, making
it impossible for the Egyptians and the Israelites to see each other.
The cloud shrouded the Egyptian camp in darkness and lit up the night
over the Israelite camp, and the night passed without any contact
between the two.
........Then Moses
stretched out his hand towards the sea, and, with a violent wind that
blew all night, the LORD forced back the sea,
carving out a track of dry ground right through the middle of the
water. The Israelites trooped into the sea on the dry track with the
angry waters towering over them on either side. The Egyptian soldiers
gave chase, charging into the middle of the sea aboard their horses
and armoured vehicles. Just before dawn, the LORD
looked down on the Egyptian army from the pillar of fire and cloud,
and began to wreak havoc among them, bogging their vehicles and
leaving them stuck in the middle. In panic, the soldiers began
shouting, “Run for your lives! Get away from these Israelites
because the LORD is on their side fighting
against us!”
........Then the
LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand
towards the sea again so that the water will surge back over the
Egyptian army and all their soldiers and armoured
vehicles.”
........So Moses
stretched out his hand towards the sea, and as the dawn broke, the
sea came crashing back down on top of the fleeing army. The LORD
trapped the soldiers in the middle of the sea, and when the waters
had closed over and returned to normal, there wasn’t a soldier
or a vehicle left. The Israelites had walked through the sea on a dry
track with the angry waters towering over them on either side, but
the entire army of the King of Egypt had been swallowed up by the sea
while pursuing them.
........So that
day the LORD rescued the people of Israel from
their oppressors, and the people saw all the dead soldiers washed up
on the shore. When they saw the power of the LORD’s
action against their oppressors, the people were in awe of the LORD
and put their trust in the LORD and in Moses who
was working for the LORD.
........Then
the prophet Miriam, who was Aaron’s sister, led the women in a
dance of celebration, playing tambourines and singing:
“Our song is for you, LORD, for you have won a glorious victory!
........You have tossed the soldiers and warhorses into the sea!”
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net
*
Exodus 15: 1b-13, 17-18
Our
song is for you, LORD, for you have won a
glorious victory!
........You have
tossed the soldiers and warhorses into the sea!
We would be
nothing without you, LORD,
........but
with you, we are strong.
You are our God, and we sing your
praises;
........the God of our
ancestors, and we applaud you long and loud.
You are the
greatest hero, LORD;
........LORD
by name, LORD by reputation.
You swept the
tyrant’s armoured vehicles and soldiers into the
sea;
........all his top brass
disappeared beneath the waves.
The surging waters closed over
them,
........and they sank like a
stone into the murky depths.
With your bare hands, LORD,
you put on an awesome display of power;
........you
rolled up your sleeves and decimated the enemy.
With the full
force of your majestic power, you defeated your
opponents;
........they ignited your
anger and were gone like dry grass in a bushfire.
The fearsome
blast of your fury cut a swathe through the waters;
........the
surging depths were heaped up on each side;
................the
wild ocean set like jelly, all the way down.
The tyrants said,
“We’ll give chase, we can catch them.
........All
that they have will be ours, all we could ever
want.
................We will turn
our weapons on them and wipe them out.”
You sent your
wind howling after them and closed the sea over them;
........they
went down like a lead balloon and were never seen again.
You
are in a league of your own, LORD;
........Nothing
else is worthy of our devotion.
Nothing can compete with you for
awesome grandeur;
........Nothing
else can match your record
................for
getting the job done against the odds.
When you got involved,
LORD,
........the
planet opened its mouth and swallowed up our oppressors.
With
love and loyalty, you led the people you had reclaimed;
........with
protective strength, you guided them to your sacred home.
You
brought them home to your holy mountain, LORD,
........and
let them put down roots in the place you call your
own,
................the sacred place
that you built with your own hands.
May you rule forever and
ever, LORD!
©2002 Nathan
Nettleton LaughingBird.net
*
Isaiah 55: 1-11
This is what the LORD
says:
Hey you! Are you thirsty?
........Come,
then; drink from these fresh waters!
Are you hungry and
penniless?
........Never mind! Come;
help yourselves; eat your fill!
Come and stock up with food, wine
and milk.
........What will it cost
you? Not a red cent!
Why sink all your money into things that
leave you hungry?
........Why bust a
gut working for things that can never satisfy?
Listen carefully to
what I have to say
........and you
will feast at a rich banquet of fine foods.
Stick with me and
tune in to what I’m saying,
........for
without my words, life is bland and tasteless.
I will surround
your lives with love and loyalty,
........making
a permanent alliance, just as I did with David.
I gave him
influence and authority over the nations,
........and
he was my witness among them.
You will be the same — a
light to which others flock;
........even
those who don’t know you will come running;
they’ll be
drawn to my glory, seen in you,
........the
glory of the LORD, the one and only God of
Israel.
The LORD says,
Track me down
before it is too late,
........make
contact while I’m in your neck of the woods.
Clean up your
act and get your head straight;
........give
up your corrupt practices and plans.
Get yourself back on my
wavelength
........and I’ll
pour out mercy and generous forgiveness.
I don’t think
the way you think, says the LORD,
........and
I don’t do things the way you do.
Your ways and mine are
like cheese and chalk,
........your
thoughts and mine are lightyears apart.
Everything I say has a
powerful purpose;
........no empty
words ever pass my lips.
My words are like drops of rain in the
cycle of nature:
........wherever
they fall they give life;
they replenish, renew and nourish
life,
........and then the earth
gives them back and they start again.
My words always achieve
their purpose;
........they flourish
where I plant them,
................they
nourish all who feed on them.
©2001 Nathan
Nettleton LaughingBird.net
*
Isaiah 12: 2-6
You alone, LORD,
are able to set us free,
so we put our trust in you, and have
nothing to fear.
All our strength and power come from you, LORD
GOD,
you have become our hero, our
saviour!
You will put your saving love on tap,
deep
draughts to be enjoyed by everyone.
On that day we will all say to
one another,
“Thank the LORD! Let God’s
name be on everyone’s lips!”
We will tell the
world what you have done,
we will shout your name and declare you
to be number 1.
We will sing your praises for all you have
accomplished,
and give you the glory all over the earth.
With
all the citizens of Zion, we lift our voices to you
with shouts
and laughter and songs of celebration,
for you are the ultimate,
the greatest, the Holy One
and you live among us, your
people!
©2001 Nathan Nettleton
LaughingBird.net
*
Baruch 3: 9-15, 32 - 4:4
Sorry, not available
yet
or
* Proverbs 8:1-8, 19-21 ; 9:
4b-6
Wisdom calls;
her voice full of promise.
........Can’t
you hear her, offering herself to all who pass by?
On the
station steps at rush hour, there she is.
........On
a busy corner where everyone passes;
........leaning
on the gate as the crowd comes through;
................wherever
people are, her voice rings out.
This is what she has to
say:
“Come one and all, and hear me out;
........If
you’re in the land of the living, what I have to offer is for
you.
To the thick-headed, I offer lessons in good
sense;
........to you who know
nothing, I offer a solid education.
Listen up! What I have to
say is worth hearing.
........Every
word that passes my lips can be trusted.
From my mouth you’ll
hear only the truth;
........corrupt
and deceitful talk makes me sick.
Whenever I speak, it is
straight down the line;
........I
don’t twist the truth or put a shifty spin on it.
Invest
in me and you’ll reap the rewards;
........rich
benefits, more than money could ever buy.
I stick to the track
of those who do the right thing;
........I
steer a straight line on the road of justice.
I heap riches on
those who love me;
........their
lives are chock full of good things.
To the ignorant and
confused, Wisdom makes her invitation,
........“Come
over to my place and we’ll chew the fat.
................Share
my bread and wine and things will fall into place.
........The
time has come to turn the corner, to grow up, to embrace
life.
................Think before
you act and walk with understanding.”
©2001
Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net
*
Psalm 19
Your glory is written in the
sky,God;
........your artistry is
carved on the face of the earth.
From one day to another, the
message passes on,
........and each
night puts the next one in the know.
Not a word is
spoken,
........not a sound do they
make;
yet their silence reverberates around the earth
........and
their unspoken message echoes from pole to pole.
You made the
sun at home flying across the sky.
........It
takes to its task with the eagerness of a
bridegroom;
................as
exultant as an athlete breasting the tape.
As your messenger, God,
it does its rounds,
........from one
end of the sky to the other,
................warming
everything in its path.
Your revealed will is right on the
mark, LORD;
........it
gives our souls their second wind.
What you says goes,
........and
any fool can wise up by taking note.
Your instructions are
spot on, LORD;
........anyone
who follows them will be glad they did.
What you direct us to do
is easy to see,
........and once
seen, everything become clear.
Respect for you keeps us true,
LORD,
........nothing
can corrupt it, now or ever.
What you decide is always
accurate;
........a fair ruling,
beyond dispute.
Your Word is worth far more
........than
even diamond encrusted gold!
It is sweeter by far
........than
any mouth watering delicacy,
................even
chocolate dipped strawberries with cream!
But that’s not
all!
........Your Word, O LORD,
keeps me out of danger,
................and
following it pays off richly.
Can anyone put their finger on all
their own faults?
........LORD,
eradicate the bugs I haven’t even identified yet.
Remind
me not to entertain sour contemptuous thoughts,
........and
don’t let them start pulling my strings.
Without them, I can
stay on course,
........and keep my
record clean.
That’s what I want, O LORD.
........I
want all the things I say,
................and
all the things I mull over in my heart,
........to
be things I’d be proud to offer to you,
................for
you are the bedrock of my life;
........................the
one who puts me back where I belong.
©2001
Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net
*
Ezekiel 36: 24-28
I, the LORD,
will bring you home from exile;
........I
will gather you from your refuge in foreign
lands,
................and settle you
safely in your own homeland.
I will wash you down with clean
water;
........scrub the defilement
from your lives,
................and
clean off the filthy residue of your devotion to idols.
I will
renovate your lives from the inside out,
........and
give you a new heart and new spirit.
I will remove your cold stone
hearts,
........and replace them with
hearts of healthy flesh.
I will put my spirit inside
you,
........to give you a passion
for following my ways
................and
a commitment to doing what I say.
Then you will live in the
homeland I gave to your ancestors.
........You
will be my people,
................and
I will be your God.
©2003 Nathan Nettleton
LaughingBird.net
*
Psalm 42 & 43
Like a wallaby searching for a
waterhole,
........I crave you, God,
with every fibre of my being.
Everything inside me thirsts for
you, God,
........for you, the Living
God.
When will the drought break
........so
I can be with you, face to face.
I’ve had nothing but
tears to sustain me;
........day and
night it’s been the same;
I can’t shut out the jeers
and taunts,
........“Where is
this God of yours?”
Cherished memories flood my
mind,
........rubbing salt in the
wound;
memories of past celebrations
........when
I led the worship in your house.
I can still hear the laughter and
joyous singing;
........the crowds
celebrating your goodness.
Why do I feel so
defeated?
........Why am I so anxious
and agitated?
I tell myself not to give up hope,
........for
you are my God and my help
................and
I’ll be glad of that again.
I feel so defeated
inside;
........I try to remind
myself of your goodness
as I walk along the beach to the river
mouth
........and look towards the
mountains.
But all I hear is the roar of waves
........and
churning waters;
I feel like chaos is breaking over me
........and
sucking me down, deeper and deeper.
Every day I read of your
rock-solid love, LORD;
........and
every night I sing your songs
................and
pray to you as the God of my life.
But still I find myself
asking the question:
........“Why
has your rock-solid love let me down?
................Why
are so many out to get me,
........................making
my life such a misery?”
My wounds are deep and
painful
........but the torture goes
on;
over and over I hear the taunts,
........“Where
is this God of yours?”
Why do I feel so
defeated?
........Why am I so anxious
and agitated?
I tell myself not to give up hope,
........for
you are my God and my help
................and
I’ll be glad of that again.
Clear my name,
God;
........side with me against
these godless tormentors.
Rescue me from their lies and abuse.
I
trusted you to look after me, God;
........why
have you pushed me aside?
Why are so many out to get
me,
........making my life such a
misery?
Let your truth blaze like a beacon
........so
I can see the way to go;
let it light up the path and lead
me
........to your home on the sacred
mountain.
Then I will offer myself to you in worship,
God;
........offer myself with
uninhibited joy.
I will praise you with music and song,
........O
God, my God!
Why do I feel so defeated?
........Why
am I so anxious and agitated?
I tell myself not to give up
hope,
........for you are my God and
my help
................and I’ll
be glad of that again.
©2001 Nathan
Nettleton LaughingBird.net
*
Ezekiel 37: 1-14
........The
LORD took hold of me and the LORD’s
Spirit carried me off and put me down in the middle of Death Valley.
I took a look around but there was nothing to see but bones - old
bones baked dry in the sun - thousands and thousands of them. The
LORD questioned me saying, “Ezekiel, mortal
man, can these bones come back to life?”
........I
replied, “Lord GOD, only you can answer
such a question.”
........Then
the LORD told me to preach boldly to the bones,
saying:
“All you dry bones, listen to what the LORD
is saying to you. Though you are long dead, I, the Lord, will put
breath into you again, and you will live. Muscles, ligaments, organs,
veins; all these I will give you, wrapped in healthy new skin. You
will have whole new bodies and I will breathe life into you. Then you
will know for sure that I am the LORD.”
........So I did what the LORD
told me and preached to the bones. Even while I was in full flight,
the noise of rattling bones began to echo through the valley. They
were coming together, linking up, one bone to another. As I watched,
muscles appeared and grew. Bodies filled out with new flesh, and
fresh skin was wrapped around them. But they were still
lifeless.
........Then the LORD
told me to call to the winds, saying:
“North Wind, South
Wind, East Wind, West Wind, listen to what the LORD
is telling you to do. Come from everywhere and blow the breathe life
into these corpses, so that they can live again.”
........Again I spoke as the LORD
had said, and even as I did, gusts of wind swirled among the bodies,
resuscitating them before my very eyes. Rising to their feet like a
finals’ crowd, the could easily have filled the biggest
stadium.
........Then the LORD
explained to me what it all meant:
“Ezekiel, mortal man, my
people are just like old dry bones. They are always whinging that
life has become one long drought and they’ve been left for dead
with no reason to hope that the future might be any better. So preach
boldly, Ezekiel, and tell them this:
“All you people,
listen to what the LORD is promising: I am going
to dig up your graves, and open your coffins. I will bring you back
as my people to the promised land. When I do this for you, my people,
when I restore life to your bodies, then you will know for sure that
I am the LORD. My Spirit will be within you like
the breath in your lungs, and so you shall live. I will once again
plant your feet on your own patch of dirt. Then there will no longer
be any doubt that I, the LORD, have spoken and
that what I say goes.”
©2001 Nathan
Nettleton LaughingBird.net
*
Psalm 143
Sorry, not available yet
*
Zephaniah 3: 14-20
Lift your voices, all you
children of Israel,
........sing and
shout for joy!
Let your hair down, Jerusalem,
........celebrate
with all your heart!
The LORD has let you
out of jail
........and forced your
enemies to turn tail and run.
The one who rules over Israel - the
LORD -
........is
right alongside you, so you have nothing to fear;
................no
disaster can touch you now.
The great day is coming,
Jerusalem,
........when you will hear
this message:
........“Relax!
Don’t be afraid, people of Zion;
................your
hands can stop trembling now!
........The
LORD, your God, is right alongside
you;
................a champion who
always comes out on top.
........God
will be bursting with joy over you,
................celebrating
as though it was always your birthday!
........God
will nourish you with love
................until
the spring is back in your step.”
The LORD,
your God , says to you:
........“I
will bring your misfortune to an end;
................and
set you free from its humiliation.
........Those
who have kicked you around
................will
have me to deal with!
........I will
rescue and reunite
................the
crippled and the refugees.
........No
longer will they be treated with contempt;
................I’ll
see that they are honoured all over the world.
........When
that time comes,
................I
will gather you together and bring you all home.
........With
your own eyes
................you’ll
see me restore all that is rightly yours.
........Then
you will be honoured everywhere;
................everyone
on earth will sing your praises.
........I,
the LORD, have spoken.”
©2001
Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net
*
Psalm 98
We sing like we’ve never sung
before, LORD,
........because
you have done fantastic things.
With your sleeves rolled up you
got stuck in
........and came out on
top.
Your victory has made the headlines, LORD,
........now
the whole world can see that you were right all along.
You
have never defaulted on your rock-solid love,
........or
your loyalty to your chosen people.
From one end of the earth to
the other,
........everyone has seen
your victory.
With all the world, LORD, we
raise a noisy celebration,
........singing
our lungs out and shouting your praise.
The bands strike up in
your honour, LORD,
........filling
the air with festive music.
With a brass fanfare and a dancing
beat
........we loudly celebrate your
reign over us.
The whole creation joins in the
celebration:
........the ocean and
its creatures roar their approval;
the land and its animals, cheer
and stomp;
........rivers and lakes
give a standing ovation,
................mountains
and hills erupt in applause.
We put on the whole show in your
presence, LORD,
........celebrating
your arrival as you finally bring justice.
With you in charge we
know things will be put right;
........now
every one on earth will get a fair go.
©2001
Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net
*
Romans 6: 3-11
........Surely
you know that all of us who have been baptised into union with Christ
were, in that baptism, dying with Christ. You will understand then,
that having died in baptism, we have been buried with him; and so
now, in the same way that Christ was raised from the dead by the
awesome power of God, we too can re-enter life in a whole new
way.
........You see, if we have been
united with him in sharing the same kind of death, you can rest
assured we will be united with him further in sharing the same kind
of resurrection. We are no longer the people we used to be. Our
former selves were put to death with him on the cross in order to
eradicate the sin that had taken over our lives, and to thus allow us
to live free of it. Everyone knows that death is the only escape from
a sin-infested life — once you are dead, you are free of it.
For us, though, that’s no dead-end solution. If we have died
with Christ, we are convinced that we will live with him too. This
much we know for sure: Christ has been raised from the dead and will
never have to die again. Death has lost any further power over him.
When he died, he took sin out with him, once and for all. The life he
now lives, then, is lived in union with God. So you should now think
of yourselves in the same way — your former lives, ended; your
new lives, begun. Your old relationship with sin, dead; your new
relationship with God, alive and flourishing in Christ Jesus.
©2001
Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net
*
Psalm 114
When we were led out of the land
of slavery
........- the people of
Israel, coming out from under the foreign thumb -
the land of
Judah became a sacred place,
........the
land of Israel came under sovereign rule.
The wild sea took
one look, and turned tail and ran,
........the
Jordan river backed off and headed the other way.
The mountains
skipped like a rock wallaby;
........the
hills were as jumpy as a kelpie pup.
What was it that made the
wild sea turn tail?
........What was
it that made the Jordan back off?
What made the mountains quiver
and jump?
........What made the hills
shudder and shake?
It was awe of you, LORD,
God of our ancestors.
........The
whole earth trembles in your presence.
For you are the one who
melts rocks into pools of water;
........the
one who brings springs bubbling up from hard baked ground.
©2002
Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net
*
Matthew 28: 1-10 (Year A - 2005)
........The
morning after the Sabbath, as the first day of the new week was
dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to visit the tomb.
Suddenly the earth shuddered and shook beneath them and an angel from
the Lord appeared from heaven right in front of them, rolled back the
boulder that had sealed the mouth of the tomb, and sat on it. The
angel was as radiant as lightening, and wore clothes as white as
freshly fallen snow. The angel’s appearance had the security
guards quaking in their boots and falling like flies, scared stiff.
But to the women, the angel said, “Do not be afraid of me! I
know you have come here looking for Jesus, the one they executed, but
you won’t find him here. He has been raised to life, just as he
said he would be. Come and I will show you the place where his body
was laid to rest. Then run and tell the rest of his disciples that he
has been raised from the dead. Tell them that he is heading back to
Galilee and you are all to follow. There you will see him for
yourselves. This is what I have been sent to tell you.”
........So
they left the tomb on the double, awestruck and overjoyed, and ran to
tell the rest of the disciples the news. On the way, they suddenly
ran straight into Jesus himself. “Good morning!” he
said.
........They threw themselves
at him and fell down kissing his feet and worshipping him. Jesus said
to them. “There is nothing to be afraid of. Go and tell the
rest of my brothers and sisters to go on up to Galilee and I will
meet them there.”
©2002 Nathan
Nettleton LaughingBird.net
*
Mark 16: 1-8 (Year B - 2003)
........When
the Sabbath rest day was over, three of the women — Mary
Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome — went and
purchased the spices required to anoint the body of Jesus in the
customary way. At the crack of dawn on Sunday, the first day of the
week, they went to the tomb. On the way there they had been
discussing whether they would be able to find anyone to roll back the
large boulder that sealed the entrance to the tomb, but when they
arrived within sight of it, they could see that the massive stone had
already been rolled aside. They went into the tomb and nearly jumped
out of their skins when they found a young man, wearing a white robe,
sitting on the right hand side. He said to them, “Don’t
panic. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth who was executed. He has
been raised up. You won’t find him here. Look, there is the
spot where they laid his body. Off you go. Tell his disciples, and
especially Peter, that Jesus is going on up to Galilee ahead of you.
There, in Galilee, you will see him, just as he told you you
would.”
........The women
bolted out of the tomb and fled as fast as they could, shaking with
fear and their heads spinning. They were so frightened that they
didn’t breathe a word of it to anyone.
©2003
Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net
*
Luke 24: 1-12 (Year C -2004)
........Among
the followers of Jesus were some women who had come from Galilee with
him. At the crack of dawn on the Sunday, they came to the tomb where
his body had been laid, bringing with them the embalming spices they
had prepared. They found the tomb open — the stone had been
rolled aside. They went in, but there was no sign of the body. They
were standing there, shocked and confused, when out of the blue, two
men appeared right beside them. Their clothes were dazzling light and
the terrified women had to look away. The two men said, “Why
have you come looking a graveyard for one who lives? You won’t
find him here. He has risen! Remember what he told you back in
Galilee. He said that the New Human would be handed over to godless
people and executed, but that on the third day he would rise to life
again.”
........Suddenly the
memory of those words came flooding back to them. They returned from
the graveyard and told all these things to the other disciples,
including the eleven apostles. Now the group of women who brought
this news to the eleven included Mary of Magdala, Joanna, and Mary
the mother of James; but even so, the apostles wrote it off as some
sort of hysterical delusion and they didn’t believe a word of
it. Peter was the only one who ran off to look for himself. He bent
down and peered into the tomb. All he could see was the linen grave
clothes lying there by themselves. He went home scratching his head,
with no idea what to make of it all.
©2001
Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net