During the terrible drought, Elijah got word from the LORD saying, “Go and live in the Sidonian town of Zarephath. There is a destitute widow there who I have told to feed you.”

So Elijah hit the road and headed for Zarephath. When he arrived on the outskirts of the town, he saw a destitute widow gathering firewood. He called out to her, saying, “Could you please bring me a cup of water; I need a drink.” As she went to get the water, he called out again, saying, “And grab me a chunk of bread too, please.”

But she stopped and said, “I swear by God, the LORD your God, that I haven’t got any bread to give you. I am down to the last handful of flour in my jar and the last dribble of oil in my jug. With them and the firewood I am collecting here, I will prepare one last meal for myself and my son, and when we’ve eaten that, we will starve to death.

Elijah said to her, “Don’t worry; it will be okay. Go and make the bread as you planned, but make two loaves. Bring one to me, and then share the second one with your son. For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, is promising you: “The flour jar will never be empty and the oil jug will never run dry until the day that the LORD sends down rain on the land.”

She went and made the bread as Elijah had said, and they all had enough to eat for many days. The flour in the jar never ran out and the oil in the jug never ran dry. It was just as Elijah had said: the LORD had given his word.

Some time later, while Elijah was still staying in the woman’s house, the woman’s son fell sick. He got sicker and sicker and eventually he breathed his last. The woman turned on Elijah, saying, “What did I do to deserve this, you man of God? Have you come to drag up my sin from the past and make my son die for it?”

But he said to her, “Here, give me your son.”

He took the child from her arms, carried him upstairs to the room where he was staying and laid his body on the bed. He cried out to the LORD, saying, “O LORD, my God, what are you doing? Are you even bringing disaster on the widow who is putting a roof over my head by striking down her son?”

Then he pressed himself against the child three times, crying out to the LORD, “O LORD, my God, give this child back his life again.”

The LORD listened to Elijah’s prayer: the child came back to life and began breathing again. Elijah took the child back downstairs to the main room of the house and gave him back to his mother, saying, “Look, your son is alive.”

At that, the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you really are a man of God, and that when you say you are speaking the word of the LORD, it is for real.”

©2007 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

You are the best, LORD!
With all my heart I sing your praises.
I will never stop talking you up;
I won’t stop spruiking your goodness till the day I die.

There is no one but you that we can depend on, LORD;
not experts, not leaders, no one.
No human being can give what we most need;
no matter what their plans and schemes promise,
the minute they’re gone, their promises die with them.

But we hit the jackpot when we look to you for help, LORD;
when we put all our hopes in you – the God of our ancestors.
You are the one who made earth and sky,
who poured out the seas and filled them with life.
You are true to your word no matter what;
when people are ground into the dirt, you bring about justice;
when people are left to starve, you come with food.

You, LORD, set the prisoners free.
You, LORD, open the eyes of those who can’t see.
You, LORD, put the downtrodden back on their feet.

You, LORD, love those who do the right thing.
You, LORD, keep a caring eye on the asylum seekers.
You stick up for those who have no one else to stick up for them,
but you make the schemes of the corrupt backfire on them.

Take charge forever, LORD,
rule from your sacred Mountain for all time.
You’re the best, LORD. We’re with you all the way!

©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Let me set you straight on this, brothers and sisters. The message that you heard me announcing is not something that somebody just cooked up one day. I can assure you that I didn’t get it second hand from any human source, and nor did anybody word me up about it. Instead, the message was the result of Jesus the Messiah revealing himself directly.

No doubt you have heard about my past in militant Judaism. I was out to destroy God’s church, and my attacks were violent and targeted. When it came to proving my passion for the Jewish values and ways passed down by our ancestors, I was way out in front of most people my age. But God had had other plans for me even before I was born. In an act of over-the-top generosity, God called me — like the prophets of old — and made his Son known in me so that I might talk him up among those who aren’t even Jews. And when God called me, that was it. I didn’t get any flesh-and-blood input on it, and I didn’t run off to Jerusalem to be worded up by those who had been God’s ambassadors for longer than me. Instead I disappeared off into Arabia, and later returned to Damascus.

I have since been to Jerusalem and met Peter, but that was three years later and I stayed with him for only fifteen days. I didn’t even meet any of the other church leaders there except for James, the Lord’s brother. I swear to you before God, that what I am writing to you is without a word of a lie! After that I headed way off into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. The churches of Judea — those who are in Christ there — had still never laid eyes on me. All they knew was what people were saying: “The bloke who was victimising us before is now broadcasting the faith he was previously trying to destroy.” And they rightly gave God all the credit for what they heard about me.

©2007 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Jesus went to a town called Nain. His closest followers and a large crowd tagged along. When he arrived on the outskirts of the town, he ran into a funeral procession. The only son of a widow had died and was being carried out to the graveyard, followed by his mother and a large crowd of the townsfolk. When the Lord saw the widow, he felt very sorry for her, and said to her, “Dry your eyes.”

Then he stepped forward and touched the coffin, and the bearers came to a halt. Jesus said, “Young man, listen to me. Rise up!”

The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him back to his mother. Everybody was quaking in their boots and they were quick to give God the credit for what was going on. They were saying things like, “A great prophet has risen up among us!” and “God must be pleased with his people!”

The news about Jesus spread like wildfire throughout the Jewish territory and all the surrounding areas.

©2007 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.

While Elijah was still staying in the widow’s house at Zarephath, the woman’s son fell sick. He got sicker and sicker and eventually he breathed his last. The woman turned on Elijah, saying, “What did I do to deserve this, you man of God? Have you come to drag up my sin from the past and make my son die for it?”

But he said to her, “Here, give me your son.”

He took the child from her arms, carried him upstairs to the room where he was staying and laid his body on the bed. He cried out to the LORD, saying, “O LORD, my God, what are you doing? Are you even bringing disaster on the widow who is putting a roof over my head by striking down her son?”

Then he pressed himself against the child three times, crying out to the LORD, “O LORD, my God, give this child back his life again.”

The LORD listened to Elijah’s prayer: the child came back to life and began breathing again. Elijah took the child back downstairs to the main room of the house and gave him back to his mother, saying, “Look, your son is alive.”

At that, the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you really are a man of God, and that when you say you are speaking the word of the LORD, it is for real.”

©2007 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

I’ll be singing your praises, every chance I get, LORD,
because you got me out of deep trouble
and spared me the gloating of my enemies.

I pleaded for help, LORD God,
and you stepped in and healed me.

They were nearly ready to pronounce me dead
but your brought me back, LORD;
you put me back on my feet
when I was about to be carried to the morgue.

So I’m singing your praises,
and I’m encouraging everyone to do the same;
to name you with joyful thanks.

We manage to get you angry at times,
but it blows over in a moment
because your mercy keeps on keeping on.
We may have an evening of bitter tears,
but by morning your mercy has us smiling again.

I was guilty of taking your goodness for granted;
I thought I had it made.
You had put me on top of the world
but I got all too full of myself.
You stepped aside – made me stand alone —
and I turned to jelly!

I realised how much I needed you, LORD,
and in my panic I begged you for mercy.

“What good is my blood to you?” I cried.
“How will it help if I’m in the grave?
Can a corpse sing your praises?
Will a gravestone publicise your goodness?
Give me another chance, LORD.
Please, LORD, bail me out one more time.”

And sure enough, you did, LORD.
You turned my tears to laughter;
you set my dragging feet dancing;
you dusted me off and dressed me up for a party.
So now I’m singing your praises
from the bottom of my heart,
and no one can shut me up!

You are my God, LORD,
and I’m eternally grateful.

©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 watch over the strangers and the needy
and raise us from death to new life.

You made heaven and earth,
the sea and all that is in them.
You raised up prophets among your people
and through them spoke your word of life and truth.

When we went the way of wickedness and ruin
and our resources came to an end,
you had compassion
and sent your only Son, Jesus, among us.
He opened the eyes of the blind,
lifted up those who were bowed down,
gave food to the hungry,
and set free the prisoners of death.
When the powers of death rose against him
and destroyed him,
you spoke your word of life again,
raising him to new life,
as the revelation of your grace
who will reign forever in justice and truth.

Therefore with .....

©2007 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

We give thanks for your only Son, Jesus,
who was killed but raised to life by your word
and now reveals you grace to us,
opening the eyes of the blind,
lifting up those who are bowed down,
giving food to the hungry,
and setting free the prisoners of death.

©2007 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

(Preface reformatted for use apart from communion)

We give you all thanks and praise, O God,
for you watch over the strangers and the needy
and raise us from death to new life.

You made heaven and earth,
the sea and all that is in them.
You raised up prophets among your people
and through them spoke your word of life and truth.

When we went the way of wickedness and ruin
and our resources came to an end,
you had compassion
and sent your only Son, Jesus, among us.
He opened the eyes of the blind,
lifted up those who were bowed down,
gave food to the hungry,
and set free the prisoners of death.
When the powers of death rose against him
and destroyed him,
you spoke your word of life again,
raising him to new life,
as the revelation of your grace
who will reign forever in justice and truth.

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.

©2007 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Christ Jesus has not come to punish sin with death,
but to call us through God’s grace
and, in compassion, to raise us from death to life
through the word of truth, the gospel.

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

©2007 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Go now, and do not be afraid.
Put your hope in the Lord your God
who called you before you were born
that you might sing praises to God all your life long
and proclaim the gospel of grace through faith.

And may God watch over you with favour;
May Christ Jesus have compassion for you and give you life;
And may the Holy Spirit put a song of praise in your heart
and sustain your faith forever.

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

©2007 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net