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 it 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. The entire Israelite population crossed through the river on a dry track while 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

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.

©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

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

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 what they teach 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 bending over backwards for others. Those who big-note themselves will be knocked off their perches, but those who avoid the limelight will end up as everyone’s hero.”

©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.

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 Jerusalem on a foundation of 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.
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.
The Temple hill will be nothing but a tangled mass of weeds.

©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

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

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

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

(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

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

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