Year
A
Proper 26
Sunday
2 November 2014
Eucharistic Preface
Let
us lift up our hearts.
........We
lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our
God.
........It is right to
give our thanks and praise.
It is indeed right to give
you our thanks and praise,
O God of lasting love and Lord of
goodness,
for you have lifted the burden of oppression from us
and
called us into your own kingdom and glory.
You created the
earth, both dry lands and fertile valleys,
and entrusted it to us
to tend and harvest.
Under your servants Moses and Joshua
you
saved your people from the oppressors might
and led them safely
through the waters
into the land of promise.
In your child,
Jesus the Messiah,
your Word has come to us as good news,
working
within us that we might live lives worthy of you.
When he was
killed by those
who mouth the truth but live a lie,
you raised
him to life
and sent your Spirit as our true teacher,
leading
us in the way of humility
to the exaltation of your
Kingdom.
Therefore with .....
©2002
Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net
Short
Preface
(for insertion into Eucharistic prayers with
fixed prefaces)
We thank you for your Word which has come to
us as good news
in your child, Jesus the Messiah,
and works
within us that we might live lives worthy of you
and walk in the
ways of humility
to the exaltation of your Kingdom.
©2002
Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net
General
Prayer of Thanksgiving
(Preface reformatted for use
apart from communion)
We give you all
thanks and praise, O God,
O God of lasting love and Lord of
goodness,
for you have lifted the burden of oppression from us
and
called us into your own kingdom and glory.
You created the
earth, both dry lands and fertile valleys,
and entrusted it to us
to tend and harvest.
Under your servants Moses and Joshua
you
saved your people from the oppressors might
and led them safely
through the waters
into the land of promise.
In your child,
Jesus the Messiah,
your Word has come to us as good news,
working
within us that we might live lives worthy of you.
When he was
killed by those
who mouth the truth but live a lie,
you raised
him to life
and sent your Spirit as our true teacher,
leading
us in the way of humility
to the exaltation of your
Kingdom.
Therefore, with our hearts lifted high,
we offer
you thanks and praise at all times
through Jesus Christ our
Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one
God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
©2002
Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net
Declaration
of Grace / Absolution
Through Christ,
God
snatches us from the oppression of sin
and calls us into his own
kingdom and glory,
fulfilling the promise
to exalt all who
humble themselves.
Sisters and Brothers,
........your
sins are forgiven;
................be
at peace.
©2002 Nathan
Nettleton LaughingBird.net
Commission
& Benediction
Go now, in the freedom of
the gospel of Christ.
Encourage one another to lead lives worthy
of God
and walk together in service and humility.
Let your
words and your lives be one in Christ.
And may the God of
lasting love open the way before you;
May Jesus the Messiah be
your one instructor;
And may the Holy Spirit lead you on
........into the promised land
of God’s kingdom and glory.
We go in peace to
love and serve the Lord,
........In
the name of Christ. Amen.
©2002
Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net
Paraphrases
of the Scripture
Lections
for Proper 26 - Year
A - Sunday 2 November 2014
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.
* Joshua 3: 7-17
The
LORD said to Joshua:
“Today I am going to begin making a hero of you in the eyes of the people, so that they will recognise that I am with you in the same way that I was with Moses. You are the one who will give the order to the priests who carry the sacred Ark of the Covenant, telling them to step into the waters of the Jordan with the Ark and then stand still in the river.”
So Joshua called an assembly of the people, and said to them:
“Gather round and hear what the LORD your God wants to say. The living God is in your midst and is ready to clear the way for you by driving out the seven nations that are occupying the land. This is how you will know it is true. Today the Ark of the Covenant — the sacred possession of the Lord of all the earth — will be carried into the Jordan River before your very eyes. And the minute the priests who carry the Ark of the LORD step into the water, the flow of the river will be cut off upstream and the water will pile up in a heap. You are to select one person from each of the twelve tribes of Israel to participate in marking this occasion.”
So the people packed up their camp and got ready to cross the Jordan
River into the land, with the priests carrying the Ark of the
Covenant at the front. Now this was the wet season and the Jordan was
in full flood, breaking its banks in all directions. But when the
people reached the river’s edge, and the priests carrying the
sacred Ark took their first steps into the water, the swollen waters
rushing down from upstream stood still, and piled up in a heap up
near Adaam, a city near Zarethan. The waters flowing towards the Dead
Sea were turned off like a tap, leaving the riverbed dry, and so the
people were able to cross the river opposite Jericho. While the
entire Israelite population were crossing through the river on a dry
track, the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD
stood on the dry riverbed in the middle of the Jordan. They stayed
there, with the Ark, until the whole nation had passed through the
Jordan to the other side.
©2002 Nathan
Nettleton LaughingBird.net
*
Psalm 107: 1-7, 33-37
Thank you, LORD!
Thank you for being so good.
........Your
rock-solid love will never end.
LORD, we
freely and openly acknowledge
........that
it was you who got us out of trouble;
................you
who put us back on the right track.
You gathered us from the four
corners of the globe,
........from
wherever we had been lost or exiled.
Some of us were lost in
pitiless deserts,
........desperate
to find shelter and company.
Without food or water,
........our
courage dried up and our steps grew weak.
In sheer despair, we
cried out to you, LORD,
........and
in a flash, you came to our rescue.
You guided us back to the main
road
........and got us safely to the
nearest town.
When people become corrupt, LORD,
........you
dry up their water supplies;
lakes become deserts
........and
fruitful land, a salt-scarred waste.
But you love to bring new
life, LORD;
........to
pour water down dry creek beds
................and
make the deserts burst into flower.
You love to open up arid
land
........and make new places of
plenty
where the homeless and hungry
........can
build and plant and prosper.
©2001 Nathan
Nettleton LaughingBird.net
*
1 Thessalonians 2: 9-13
........Brothers
and sisters, when we were with you, we all found ourselves jobs
around the town, as I’m sure you remember. We took night shifts
and day shifts and whatever we could get, so that we could pay our
own way. We wanted to make sure we wouldn’t have to sponge off
you while we were bringing you up to speed with the great news about
God’s love. You believers experienced first-hand the way we
conducted ourselves in our dealings with you, and God too will
witness that our behaviour was squeaky clean, straight-down-the-line,
and beyond reproach. As you know, we related to each of you
personally in the way a concerned father might relate to each of his
children. We encouraged you, and spurred you on, and spelt out to you
the importance of living a life that God would be proud to be
associated with, for you are being called to live in the realm of God
and to share the glory.
........We
are always thanking God that you recognised the word of God for what
it was and took it on board when you heard from us. You didn’t
dismiss it as just someone’s speculations, but accepted it as
God’s word and allowed it to start working within and among you
who believe.
©2002 Nathan
Nettleton LaughingBird.net
*
Matthew 23: 1-12
When the religious leaders had
given up arguing with him, Jesus turned to his followers and the
gathered crowd, and said:
“The religious experts and the devout Pharisee party hold the authority to teach in the tradition of Moses. For that reason you should pay attention to their teaching and put it into practice. But do not do the things you see them doing, because they do not practice what they preach. They weigh everyone else down with heavy demands for rigorous religious discipline, but when people stagger under the load, they themselves won’t get off their bums to help. Everything they do is done for show. They wear eye-catching ornaments displaying scripture quotes, and they are always waving their bibles around for everyone to see. They love to be seated among the distinguished guests at formal occasions. They get a kick out of always being invited to appear at openings and premieres. They love to bask in the adulation of a gullible public, and to have everyone calling them Reverend. But among you, no one is to be called Reverend, because there is only one you are to revere. To one another you are all brothers and sisters, so don’t call anyone on earth Father. Your only Father is the one you have in heaven. Nor should any of you allow yourselves to be described as anointed teachers, because you have only one anointed teacher — the Messiah. The one who will be regarded as the greatest among you will be the one who is always doing things for others. Those who big-note themselves will be knocked off their perches, but those who avoid the limelight will end up as everybody’s hero.”
©2002
Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net
Alternative
Hebrew Bible Lections themed to the Gospel Lection
*
Micah 3: 5-12
The LORD has
had a gutful of you prophets
........whose
lies cause God’s people to go off the rails.
You always have
good news
........for those who put
money in your pocket,
but you call down fear and misery
........on
those can’t afford to grease your palm.
Therefore the
LORD says:
........“Night
after night you will be without dreams or
visions;
................everything
will go dark and you will see nothing.
........You
so called prophets have had your day in the sun;
................now
your whole world is going black.
........You
visionaries will be exposed as frauds;
................you
expert forecasters will hang your heads in shame.
........You
will shut your mouths and hide your faces,
................because
I will leave you with nothing to say.”
That’s what
the LORD says to you prophets,
........but
it is different for me, Micah.
The power of the LORD
is with me
........and the spirit of
the LORD fills me,
................keeping
me honest, impartial and strong,
........so
that I can do my job of confronting God’s
people
................with the
extent of their immorality and corruption.
So hear this,
........you leaders who wield power
and influence
................over
the whole nation of God’s people;
........you
who despise and pervert justice
................and
make a mockery of hopes for a fair-go;
........you
who built your power-base on the blood of others
................and
underpinned Jerusalem with corruption!
Hear this:
........the
city’s magistrates are taking bribes;
................its
religious leaders are taking cash for
comment;
........................its
preachers have sold out to the highest bidder;
and yet they make a
big show of their trust in God, saying,
........“The
LORD is on our side for sure!
................The
LORD will not let disaster come our way.”
The
fact is, that because of you lot,
........Jerusalem
will be reduced to rubble and cleared like a
field;
................and the Temple
hill will be nothing but a tangled mass of weeds.
©2002
Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net
*
Psalm 43
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