Year
C
Proper 24
Sunday
20 October 2013
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,
for your promises are sweeter
than honey
and you bring justice to your people.
You
created the earth,
and raised humans and animals upon it.
You
led your people by the hand out of slavery
and yet still they
broke your covenant
and turned away from listening to the
truth.
In Jesus the Christ, you came to us again,
offering
a new covenant, written on our hearts,
so that you might be our
God,
and we might know you,
from the least to the
greatest.
When he was killed,
you raised him to new life,
and
through him, you inspired sacred writings
to bring us to salvation
through faith in Jesus Christ
and to equip us for every good
work,
as with persistent prayer
we seek to build your justice
and plant your faithfulness on the earth.
Therefore with
.....
©2001 Nathan
Nettleton LaughingBird.net
Short
Preface
(for insertion into Eucharistic prayers with
fixed prefaces)
We thank you for your sacred writings
that
lead us to salvation through faith in Jesus Christ
and to equip us
for every good work
as with persistent prayer
we seek to build
your justice
and plant your faithfulness on the earth.
©2001
Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net
General
Prayer of Thanksgiving
(Preface reformatted for use
apart from communion)
We give you all
thanks and praise, O God,
for your promises are sweeter than honey
and you bring justice to your people.
You created the
earth,
and raised humans and animals upon it.
You led your
people by the hand out of slavery
and yet still they broke your
covenant
and turned away from listening to the truth.
In
Jesus the Christ, you came to us again,
offering a new covenant,
written on our hearts,
so that you might be our God,
and we
might know you,
from the least to the greatest.
When he was
killed,
you raised him to new life,
and through him, you
inspired sacred writings
to bring us to salvation through faith in
Jesus Christ
and to equip us for every good work,
as with
persistent prayer
we seek to build your justice
and plant
your faithfulness on the earth.
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.
©2001
Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net
Declaration
of Grace / Absolution
The Lord comes to us with a
new covenant, saying:
“I will write my law on your hearts;
I
will forgive your wrongdoing
and remember your sins no
more.”
Sisters and Brothers,
........your
sins are forgiven;
................be
at peace.
©2001 Nathan
Nettleton LaughingBird.net
Commission
& Benediction
Go now and continue in
what you have learned and believed.
Pray always, and do not lose
heart.
Proclaim God’s message;
endure hostility;
carry
out your ministry fully.
And may God be quick to answer your
prayers;
May Christ Jesus inspire faith within you;
And may the
Holy Spirit tutor your hearts and
........equip
you for every good work.
We go in peace to love and serve the
Lord,
........In the name of
Christ. Amen.
©2001 Nathan
Nettleton LaughingBird.net
Paraphrases
of the Scripture
Lections
for Proper 24 - Year
C - Sunday 20 October 2013
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.
* Jeremiah 31:
27-34
........You can
count on this, says the LORD, the time is coming
when I will replant the land of Israel and Judah and raise a new crop
of people and animals. In the past I dedicated myself to wreaking
havoc among them, and crushing, demolishing and devastating them. But
soon I will dedicate myself to healing them, and to rebuilding and
giving life, says the LORD. No longer will people
repeat the old saying:
“When the parents eat junk,
........it is the children whose teeth rot.”
It will be clear that everyone will pay for their own sins. If it
is you who eats the junk, it will be your teeth that rot.
........You
can count on this, says the LORD, the time is
coming when I will once again take Israel and Judah as my marriage
partner. Our marriage will not be like the marriage I entered with
their ancestors. Back then I took them by the hand and led them out
of the land of slavery and carried them across the threshold into a
home of their own. But even though I was loving and faithful, says
the LORD, they broke our marriage
vows.
........But listen to the new
marriage vows I will soon make with the people of Israel, says the
LORD:
“I will write my values into your hearts and minds;
........I will be your God, and you will be my people.”
No longer will
they need lessons to learn how to live my way. They won’t need
to spur each other on, saying, “Get to know the LORD,”
because all of them, from all walks of life, will know me well, says
the LORD. I will erase all record of their past
wrongs and let them start over with a clean slate.
©2001
Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net
*
Psalm 119: 97-104
LORD, how I love your
teachings!
........I keep them in my
thoughts all day long.
I’m able to stay a jump ahead of
my enemies
........because your
guidance is always with me.
Studying your instructions has
taught me far more
........than I
could ever learn from the best teachers.
Following your rules
to the letter
........has given me
more wisdom than old age brings.
I steer clear of the paths of
corruption
........so that I can
stick to the track you have set.
You have taught me
well
........and I won’t dodge
any of your directions.
Your words taste so sweet on my
tongue,
........they are like
strawberries and cream!
Your commands have given me great
understanding
........and made me
allergic to lies and corruption!
©2001
Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net
*
2 Timothy 3:14 - 4:5
........Timothy,
stick to the trusted tracks you have been taught to follow and have
found to be true. You know your teachers and you know you can trust
them. Ever since you were a little fella, you have had a good grasp
of the sacred scriptures. From them you can learn what is needed to
gain the life for which we are saved through trusting in Christ
Jesus. All scripture is alive with the life-force of God and can be
usefully employed in many ways: teaching people; exposing lies and
bullshit; getting people back on track; and training people in how to
live right. In these ways, the scriptures help prepare and equip
God’s people for their life-giving work.
........Don’t
underestimate the importance of your work. God is watching everything
you do. Christ Jesus is the one who will judge its value, as he will
for everyone, past and present. He will appear and bring everything
under his rule. In light of all this, I am spelling out your job
description once again and urging you to give it everything you’ve
got:
• preach God’s message;
• stick at it, when it seems to be going well and when it doesn’t;
• teach clearly and persuasively;
• set people straight when they need it;
• be encouraging.
You will need tonnes of patience as you do
all this, because there will be times when people will not be able to
stomach solid truths. Instead they will start collecting gurus who
will pander to their weaknesses and sell them whatever they are
itching to hear. They will block their ears to the truth and swallow
fantasies. But as for you, keep your wits about you at all times.
When hostility comes, take it on the chin. Work hard at spreading the
message. God has given you this work — carry it out to the
max.
©2001 Nathan
Nettleton LaughingBird.net
*
Luke 18: 1-8
Jesus told this story to encourage
people to be persistent in prayer and never lose heart:
Once upon a time there was a town magistrate who took no notice of God and had no respect for anyone. There was a widowed woman in the town who had very little in the way of resources or influence, but who kept contacting the magistrate and demanding that he take action to protect her rights in a dispute with a powerful opponent. For a while he just kept brushing her off, but eventually he said to himself, “I couldn’t care less what happens to this woman, and all her talk of God’s justice means nothing to me; but I’m going to give her what she wants because I’m sick to death of her nagging and I just want to get her off my back.”
And the Lord commented on his story, saying:
“Do you hear the point in what the callous magistrate is saying? If he can be pressured into acting for justice, can’t you see how much more certain it is that God will bring about justice for those who have dedicated themselves to God and cry out for help night and day. Will God brush them off and ignore their pleas. You can take it from me: God will waste no time in bringing about justice for them. And yet, will the New Human find much of that sort of persistent faith on earth when he makes his entrance?
©2001
Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net
Alternative
Hebrew Bible Lections themed to the Gospel Lection
*
Genesis 32: 22-31
........As
he returned from his self-imposed exile, Jacob set up camp for a
night at the place where the road crossed through the Jabbok Creek.
During the night, he got up and decided that it would be safer to
shift everyone across to the other side of the creek. So he sent his
two wives, his two maids, his eleven children, and all their
belongings across the creek while he stayed on alone at the original
campsite. There in the darkness, he suddenly found himself wrestling
with a stranger. The fight continued until the first light of dawn.
Unable to subdue Jacob, the stranger swung a low blow that caught
Jacob off-guard and dislocated his hip. Still Jacob would not give
up, and the stranger said, “Call it quits! The sun is coming up
and you’ve got a big day ahead of you, so let me
go.”
........But Jacob replied,
“I will not release my grip until you give me a
blessing.”
........So the
stranger said, “What is your name?”
........“Jacob,”
he replied.
........“Not any
more,” the stranger said. “From now on you will be known
as Israel, because you have struggled against God and against people
and you have held your own.”
........Then
Jacob said to the stranger, “Please tell me your
name.”
........“Do you
really need to ask who I am?” the stranger replied, and then
gave Jacob a blessing.
........As the
stranger departed, Jacob said to himself, “I have come face to
face with God and survived to tell the tale!” So he named that
place ‘Peniel’ which means ‘face of God’. The
sun was fully risen as he left Peniel, walking with a painful limp
because of his dislocated hip.
©2001 Nathan
Nettleton LaughingBird.net
*
Psalm 121
If we look to the
mountains,
........will we find
security there?
No, our security comes from you
alone,
........the LORD,
the maker of earth and sky.
You are on the alert, twenty four
hours a day,
........making sure that
we don’t lose our footing.
You never slack off or take a
nap,
........but constantly guard
your people.
You keep us safe, LORD,
........you
are always at our side to shield us.
While the sun shines,
nothing can harm us;
........the moon
comes up, but still we are safe.
You stand between us and all
evil, LORD;
........you
keep our lives clear of danger.
Whether we are coming or
going,
........you look after us,
LORD;
................you
always have and always will.
©2001 Nathan
Nettleton LaughingBird.net