Sunday 25 March 2012

Psalm 107: 1-22
O give thanks to the Lord, for he is gracious, for his steadfast love endures for ever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say this, those he redeemed from the hand of the enemy, And gathered out of the lands
from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south. Some went astray in desert wastes and found no path to a city to dwell in. Hungry and thirsty, their soul was fainting within them. So they cried to the Lord in their trouble and he delivered them from their distress. He set their feet on the right way till they came to a city to dwell in. Let them give thanks to the Lord for his goodness and the wonders he does for his children. For he satisfies the longing soul and fills the hungry soul with good.  Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, bound fast in misery and iron, for they had rebelled against the words of God and despised the counsel of the Most High. So he bowed down their heart with heaviness; they stumbled and there was none to help them. Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. He brought them out of darkness and out of the shadow of death, and broke their bonds asunder. Let them give thanks to the Lord for his goodness
and the wonders he does for his children. For he has broken the doors of bronze and breaks the bars of iron in pieces. Some were foolish and took a rebellious way, and were plagued because of their wrongdoing. Their soul abhorred all manner of food and drew near to the gates of death. Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. He sent forth his word and healed them, and saved them from destruction. Let them give thanks to the Lord for his goodness and the wonders he does for his children. Let them offer him sacrifices of thanksgiving and tell of his acts with shouts of joy.

Exodus 24: 3-8
Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the ordinances; and all the people answered with one voice, and said, ‘All the words that the Lord has spoken we will do.’ And Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. He rose early in the morning, and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and set up twelve pillars, corresponding to the twelve tribes of Israel. He sent young men of the people of Israel, who offered burnt-offerings and sacrificed oxen as offerings of well-being to the Lord. Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he dashed against the altar. Then he took the book of the covenant, and read it in the hearing of the people; and they said, ‘All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.’ Moses took the blood and dashed it on the people, and said, ‘See the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.’

Hebrews 12:18-29
You have not come to something that can be touched, a blazing fire, and darkness, and gloom, and a tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that not another word be spoken to them. (For they could not endure the order that was given, ‘If even an animal touches the mountain, it shall be stoned to death.’ Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, ‘I tremble with fear.’) But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
See that you do not refuse the one who is speaking; for if they did not escape when they refused the one who warned them on earth, how much less will we escape if we reject the one who warns from heaven! At that time his voice shook the earth; but now he has promised, ‘Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heaven.’ This phrase ‘Yet once more’ indicates the removal of what is shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us give thanks, by which we offer to God an acceptable worship with reverence and awe; for indeed our God is a consuming fire.

The Collect
Most merciful God, who by the death and resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ delivered and saved the world: grant that by faith in him who suffered on the cross we may triumph in the power of his victory; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

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