Prayer & Praise

Collect

O Lord, from whom all good proceeds: Grant us the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may always think those things that are good, and by your merciful guidance may accomplish the same; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Ezekiel 31:1-6,10-14

In the eleventh year, in the third month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his multitude:

“Whom are you like in your greatness?
     Behold, Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon,
with beautiful branches and forest shade,
and of towering height,
its top among the clouds.[a]
 The waters nourished it;
the deep made it grow tall,
making its rivers flow
around the place of its planting,
sending forth its streams
to all the trees of the field.
 So it towered high
above all the trees of the field;
its boughs grew large
and its branches long
from abundant water in its shoots.
 All the birds of the heavens
made their nests in its boughs;
under its branches all the beasts of the field
gave birth to their young,
and under its shadow
lived all great nations.

  “Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because it towered high and set its top among the clouds, and its heart was proud of its height, I will give it into the hand of a mighty one of the nations. He shall surely deal with it as its wickedness deserves. I have cast it out.  Foreigners, the most ruthless of nations, have cut it down and left it. On the mountains and in all the valleys its branches have fallen, and its boughs have been broken in all the ravines of the land, and all the peoples of the earth have gone away from its shadow and left it.  On its fallen trunk dwell all the birds of the heavens, and on its branches are all the beasts of the field.  All this is in order that no trees by the waters may grow to towering height or set their tops among the clouds,[d] and that no trees that drink water may reach up to them in height. For they are all given over to death, to the world below, among the children of man,[e] with those who go down to the pit.

 Psalm 92

It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto your Name, O Most High;

To tell of your loving-kindness early in the morning, and of your faithfulness in the night season;

Upon an instrument of ten strings and upon the lute,  ith the sound of melody upon the harp.

For you, Lord, have made me glad by your deeds, and I will shout for joy because of your handiwork.

O Lord, how glorious are your works; our thoughts are very deep.

The dull of heart does not consider this, and a fool does not understand it:

Though the ungodly are as green as the grass, and though all the workers of wickedness flourish, they shall be destroyed for ever; but you, Lord, are the Most High for evermore.

For lo, your enemies, O Lord, lo, your enemies shall perish, and all the workers of wickedness shall be destroyed.

But my horn shall be exalted like the horns of wild bulls; for I am anointed with fresh oil.

My eye also shall see its desire upon my enemies, and my ear shall hear with joy the end of the wicked who rise up against me.

 The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, and shall spread abroad like a cedar in Lebanon.

 Those who are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God.

 They also shall bring forth fruit in their old age, and shall be green and full of sap,

 That they may show how upright the Lord is, my rock, in whom there is no unrighteousness

 2 Corinthians 5:1-10

 For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.  For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling,  if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked.  For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.  He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.

So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

Mark 4:26-34

And he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it?  It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth,  yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”

With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it.  He did not speak to them without a parable, but privately to his own disciples he explained everything.