Moses said to the LORD, “Look here. You have given me the job of getting this people from one place to another, but you have not given me any idea who you are going to send with me to back me up. You have told me that you know me inside out and that I am in your good-books. So if you are so on-side with me, let me know you. Let me see what makes you tick, so that I can really know you and do the right thing by you. And this is not just about me; keep it in mind that these people belong to you.”

The LORD replied, “I will go with you myself, and I will give you a place of rest.”

But Moses continued, saying, “If you are not going to stick with us for the long haul, then don’t even move us from here. After all, how will anyone be able to tell that I and your people are in your good-books unless you go with us all the way? It is your presence with us that will distinguish us from all the other peoples on the face of the earth as the one who belongs to you.”

The LORD said to Moses, “Okay, I will do for you exactly what you have asked for, because you are in my good-books and I know who you really are.”

Moses said, “Let me see you in all your glory. Please!”

The LORD replied;

“With your own eyes, you are about to see the full extent of my goodwill to all life. With your own ears, you will hear me, the LORD, and you will know who I really am. I will put in my good-books the one I choose to put in my good-books. I will let off the hook the one I choose to let off the hook. But you can not see me face to face in all my glory, because no one could survive such an encounter. Look here, though. There is a place just over here where you can stand on the rock. I am going to pass by in all my glory, and while I do, I will put you in a hole in the rock and shield you with my hand until the danger has passed. Then I will take away my hand and you will see my rear end; but you will not see me face to face.”

©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

You, LORD, rule over everything!
Enthroned in glory, surrounded by awesome creatures,
your presence sends shivers down our spines
and makes even the earth tremble and quake!

LORD, your greatness is celebrated in Zion,
and in every nation you are number one.
At the mere mention of your name,
people everywhere burst into praise,
for your greatness and holiness are awesome!

Ruling in strength; loving justice with a passion;
you have seen to it that everyone gets a fair go.
You have laid down the law
so that your people will do what is right.

We fall at your feet and sing your praises, O LORD our God,
for your greatness and holiness are awesome!

Moses and Aaron served you as priests,
Samuel was another who reached out to you.
They cried out to you on the world’s behalf,
and from the awesome cloud you answered them.

They stuck to what you had told them, LORD,
and did whatever you asked of them.
When they did wrong you set them straight,
in no uncertain terms;
but you forgave them, LORD,
and never failed to answer them.

We sing your praises, O LORD our God.
We climb your holy mountain to worship you,
for your greatness and holiness are awesome!

©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

To the church in Thessalonica; a people who belong to God the Father and the Lord Jesus the Messiah.

This letter comes to you from the three of us: Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy.

We greet you and wish you all the best — God’s love and peace.

We are always thanking God for you all and including you in our prayers. The memories of your work, so full of faith and love, and your rock-solid hope in our Lord Jesus the Messiah, are constantly in our minds, fuelling the prayers we bring to the God who conceived us all. You are our brothers and sisters, and it is clear to us that God loves you greatly and has chosen you for something special. We are sure of this because when our message — the great news about God’s love — came to you, your response was not just a matter of words, but was full of the power and passion and confidence that are clear signs of the Holy Spirit at work. The proof of the pudding is in the eating, and we could tell that you were made of the right stuff, just as you could tell what kind of people we were from what you experienced of us at that time.

When you first received the Word of God, you responded to it with whole-hearted enthusiasm inspired by the Holy Spirit, and you were not deterred by the flak you copped as a result. You set about modelling your lives on us and on the Lord, and you did such a good job of it that now all the believers in the regions of Macedonia and Achaia look up to you as their model for how to live the Christian life. You have served to amplify the word of the Lord all over the place. People are talking about your faithful trust in God well beyond Macedonia and Achaia. Wherever we go it seems that we don’t have to tell people about you. Instead we hear from them the stories about how you welcomed us and what we had to say, and how you turned your lives around, giving your whole-hearted service to the living and true God and giving up your devotion to other things. We hear too of how you are now living in faithful expectation of the arrival of God’s Son from heaven, the one whom God raised from the dead — Jesus, who rescues us from the vengeful fury that is threatening to explode everywhere.

©2023 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Some members of the devoutly religious Pharisee Party were out to get Jesus. They put their heads together and came up with a plan to get him to trip himself up with what he said in public. They sent a delegation to him consisting of some of their own followers and some members of Herod’s party. The group approached him in the Temple and said, “Teacher, we know that you are a man of integrity. You are honest and straight down the line in your teaching about the way of God. It is clear that you do not think anyone is above the law, because you call a spade a spade, without fear or favour, no matter who is listening. So give us your opinion on this: is it okay by our law to pay taxes to the Roman emperor, or not?”

But sensing the venom that lay behind their attempts to butter him up, Jesus replied, “Why are you trying to force me into a catch twenty-two, you hypocrites? Show me the coin that is required for paying the tax.”

So they handed him one of the Roman coins that was the only legal tender for the tax. He held it up and said to them, “Who is shown in this graven image? Who is named with a divine title on this coin?”

They answered, “The emperor.”

"Well then,” said Jesus, “if it belongs to the emperor, then give it to the emperor. But don’t go short-changing God. Give to God everything that rightly belongs to God.”

His reply left them in shock, and they turned tail and left.

©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Prior to the revision of the Lectionary in 1992, the 1st reading and the psalm that responded to it were chosen to link thematically with the gospel reading. After hearing the critique of those who said that the Hebrew Scriptures, from which the first reading is usually chosen, should be allowed to speak with their own voice rather than just add support to the gospel reading, the Lectionary was revised so that during Ordinary Time, the 1st reading runs in its own semi-continuous series, working through various books of the Hebrew Bible. The older themed series continues to be available as an alternative.

The weekly prayers offered here at LaughingBird Resources are based on the four readings above, and do not draw on the themed 1st reading and psalm.

I, the LORD, have chosen you, King Cyrus of Persia,
as a messiah to do my work.
I am leading you by the hand to subdue world powers
and to strip despots of the trappings of office.
Because I am with you, every door will open to you
and you will come and go wherever you please.

I will go before you
to smooth the way.
I will smash down every obstacle
and blast through the strongest defences.

I will hand their ill-gotten gains over to you;
the fortunes they have stashed away in secret.
Then you will know that it is I
– the LORD God whom the Israelites worship –
who has singled you out for this job.

I am calling you by name and giving you your title,
even though you do not know who I am.
I am doing this for the benefit of my own people,
my chosen ones, Israel, who serve me.

I am the LORD, the one and only.
There is no other god, just me.
I am the one who arms you,
even though you do not know who I am.
From one end of the earth to the other,
in every place under the sun,
everyone will know that there is no god but me;
that I am the LORD, the one and only.

I create all things and commission them.
Light and dark, good times and bad,
I, the LORD, am at work in them all.

©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

We sing like we’ve never sung before, LORD;
singing to you with all the earth.
Every mention of your name sets us singing your praises.

We never tire of telling the story of how you bailed us out;
all over the world, we speak of your incredible accomplishments;
everyone we meet hears us giving the credit to you.

You are the greatest, LORD; we can’t praise you enough!
When it comes to gods, you are in a league of your own;
all other objects of devotion are powerless.

But you, LORD, created the whole cosmos;
you are surrounded by majesty and celebration;
strength and beauty are signs of your presence.

People of every race and creed recognise you, LORD;
they recognise you behind all that is strong and true;
they name you as the one who deserves all the glory.

We offer ourselves to you, LORD;
we fall to our knees in this beautiful place of worship;
with all the earth, we celebrate you alone.

You are our king, LORD; we’ll tell everyone everywhere!
You have set the world on firm foundations,
and with you in charge, everyone will get a fair go.

Let the heavens and the earth celebrate;
let the roar of the sea join in;
let everything that walks, flies or swims join the party!

You are on your way, LORD,
and even the roadside trees cheer as you approach,
for you are coming to set things right on the earth.

You will sort things out and put things right,
and reveal the truth about everything and everyone.

©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

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 you love justice and strengthen the upright,
and you have shown us your goodness.

You are the living and true God who created all things
and whose voice sets the earth shaking.
You rescued a people from slavery
and promised your presence to go with them.
To Moses you revealed your glory
and through your prophets you made known your justice.

In your child, Jesus, you have come to us in person,
teaching us your ways in sincerity and truth.
In him we have learned to give to you all that is yours —
the work of faith, the labour of love, and a steadfast hope.
Though his enemies put him to death,
you raised him from the dead
and through the power of his gospel in the Holy Spirit
you have given us mercy and rest.

Therefore with .....

©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

We give thanks for your child, Jesus,
who came to us teaching your ways in sincerity and truth.
In him we have learned to give to you all that is yours —
the work of faith, the labour of love, and a steadfast hope —
and in him you have given us mercy and rest.

©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

(Preface reformatted for use apart from communion)

We give you all thanks and praise, O God,
for you love justice and strengthen the upright,
and you have shown us your goodness.

You are the living and true God who created all things
and whose voice sets the earth shaking.
You rescued a people from slavery
and promised your presence to go with them.
To Moses you revealed your glory
and through your prophets you made known your justice.

In your child, Jesus, you have come to us in person,
teaching us your ways in sincerity and truth.
In him we have learned to give to you all that is yours —
the work of faith, the labour of love, and a steadfast hope.
Though his enemies put him to death,
you raised him from the dead
and through the power of his gospel in the Holy Spirit
you have given us mercy and rest.

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

In the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ,
we have seen God’s goodness and generous mercy.
It is God’s pleasure to forgive all who cry out for help.
Jesus has rescued us from the fury that is coming.

Sisters and Brothers,
  your sins are forgiven;
    be at peace.

©2023 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Go now as those who have found favour in the sight of God.
Be imitators of Jesus Christ
and an example to all of the life of faith.
To the world in which you live, give your love and service,
and to God, give all that you are and all that you shall be.

And may the glory of God’s goodness be revealed to you;
May the grace and peace of Jesus Christ take root in you;
And may the inspiration of the Holy Spirit fill you with joy.

We go in peace to love and serve the Lord,
   In the name of Christ. Amen.

©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net