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Proper 18
Closest to September 7 |
| Grant us, O Lord, we pray thee, to trust in thee with all our
heart; seeing that, as thou dost alway resist the proud who
confide in their own strength, so thou dost not forsake those
who make their boast of thy mercy; through Jesus Christ our
Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen. |
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Lesson |
Deuteronomy 30:15-20
Exhortation to Choose Life
"See, I have set before you this day life and good, death and evil. If you obey the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you
this day, by loving the LORD your God, by walking in his ways, and by
keeping his commandments and his statutes and his ordinances, then you shall
live and multiply, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land which
you are entering to take possession of it. But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away
to worship other gods and serve them, I declare to you this day, that you shall perish; you shall not live
long in the land which you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess. I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set
before you life and death, blessing and curse; therefore choose life, that
you and your descendants may live, loving the LORD your God, obeying his voice, and cleaving to him; for
that means life to you and length of days, that you may dwell in the land
which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to
give them." |
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Epistle |
Philemon 1-20
Philemon's Love and Faith
Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, to Philemon
our beloved and fellow worker, and Ap'phia our sister and Archip'pus our fellow soldier, and the church
in your house: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers, because I hear of your love and of the faith which you have toward the
Lord Jesus and all the saints, and I pray that the sharing of your faith may promote the knowledge of
all the good that is ours in Christ. For I have derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother,
because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you.
Paul's Plea for Onesimus
Accordingly, though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do what
is required, yet for love's sake I prefer to appeal to you -- I, Paul, an ambassador
and now a prisoner also for Christ Jesus -- I appeal to you for my child, Ones'imus, whose father I have become in
my imprisonment. (Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and
to me.) I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart. I would have been glad to keep him with me, in order that he might serve
me on your behalf during my imprisonment for the gospel; but I preferred to do nothing without your consent in order that your
goodness might not be by compulsion but of your own free will. Perhaps this is why he was parted from you for a while, that you might
have him back for ever, no longer as a slave but more than a slave, as a beloved brother,
especially to me but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the
Lord. So if you consider me your partner, receive him as you would receive me. If he has wronged you at all, or owes you anything, charge that to my
account. I, Paul, write this with my own hand, I will repay it -- to say nothing
of your owing me even your own self. Yes, brother, I want some benefit from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart
in Christ. |
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Gospel |
Luke 14:25-33
The Cost of Discipleship
Now great multitudes accompanied him; and he turned and said to them, "If any one comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and
wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he
cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me, cannot be my
disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and
count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation, and is not able to finish, all
who see it begin to mock him, saying, `This man began to build, and was not able to finish.' Or what king, going to encounter another king in war, will not sit down
first and take counsel whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who
comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends an embassy
and asks terms of peace. So therefore, whoever of you does not renounce all that he has cannot be
my disciple. |
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