Saturday, March 11, 2023

The Daily Lectionary for Saturday, March 11, 2023

 

The Daily Lectionary
Saturday, March 11, 2023
Psalm 95; Exodus 16:27-35; John 4:1-6

(Revised Common Lectionary Year A)

A Psalm and A Prayer
Responsive Readings from the Psalms and Prayers
for Public Worship and Private Devotions

Psalm 95
The rock of our salvation
Venite, exultemus

1 Come, let us sing to the LORD; *
  let us shout for joy to the Rock of our salvation.

2 Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving *
  and raise a loud shout to him with psalms.

3 For the LORD is a great God, *
  and a great King above all gods.

4 In his hand are the caverns of the earth, *
  and the heights of the hills are his also.

5 The sea is his, for he made it, *
  and his hands have molded the dry land.

6 Come, let us bow down, and bend the knee, *
  and kneel before the LORD our Maker.

7 For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. *
  Oh, that today you would hearken to his voice!

8 Harden not your hearts, as your forebears did in the wilderness, *
  at Meribah, and on that day at Massah, when they tempted me.

9 They put me to the test, *
  though they had seen my works.

10 Forty years long I detested that generation and said, *
   “This people are wayward in their hearts; they do not know my ways.”

11 So I swore in my wrath, *
   “They shall not enter into my rest.”

Father God, we gather together to thank You for the gift of Your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. He demonstrated Your great love for us by dying on the cross in our behalf, and He has promised to cleanse us from our sins when we confess them to You and repent of them. Pour out Your grace within us, and empower us to live in ways that will bring You and others great joy, especially as we seek to serve as vessels overflowing with Your unmerited love. Guide us in our study of the Scriptures. Shine the light of Your Holy Spirit into our minds and hearts, and encourage us to conform our lives to Your perfect will as we follow our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, Who taught us to pray:
“Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.”

Exodus 16:27-35
Manna and the sabbath


16:27 Nevertheless, some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather it, but they found none. 28 Then the Lord said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep my commands and my instructions? 29 Bear in mind that the Lord has given you the Sabbath; that is why on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Everyone is to stay where they are on the seventh day; no one is to go out.” 30 So the people rested on the seventh day.

31 The people of Israel called the bread manna. It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey. 32 Moses said, “This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Take an omer of manna and keep it for the generations to come, so they can see the bread I gave you to eat in the wilderness when I brought you out of Egypt.’”

33 So Moses said to Aaron, “Take a jar and put an omer of manna in it. Then place it before the Lord to be kept for the generations to come.”

34 As the Lord commanded Moses, Aaron put the manna with the tablets of the covenant law, so that it might be preserved. 35 The Israelites ate manna forty years, until they came to a land that was settled; they ate manna until they reached the border of Canaan.

John 4:1-6
Jesus travels to Jacob’s well in Samaria


4:1 Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John— 2 although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. 3 So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.

4 Now he had to go through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.


Optional parts of the readings are set off in [square brackets.]

The Bible texts of the Old Testament, Epistle, and Gospel lessons are from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Responsive Readings from the Common Book of Prayer (1789).

The Daily Lectionary is a three year cyclical lectionary. We are currently in Year A. Beginning with the first Sunday of Advent in 2023, we will be in Year B. The year which ended at Advent 2022 was Year A. These readings complement the Sunday and festival readings: Thursday through Saturday readings help prepare the reader for the Sunday ahead; Monday through Wednesday readings help the reader reflect and digest on what they heard in worship. Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings, copyright © 2005 Consultation on Common Texts. www.commontexts.org
The Daily Lectionary for Saturday, March 11, 2023
Psalm 95; Exodus 16:27-35; John 4:1-6

The Morning Prayer for Saturday, March 11, 2023

 

The Morning Prayer
Saturday, March 11, 2023


Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.
Romans 5:1–2, NIV


Dear Father in heaven, grant that we may share in the community of your Holy Spirit. In community with you our earthly troubles fall away and we remain in your peace in spite of all our failures and shortcomings, in spite of all the toil we must gladly take upon ourselves. Watch over us. Keep our hearts unshaken, clear, and steady. Keep us in the certainty that your kingdom is coming, is already beginning and can be plainly seen, so that all people can receive the good you have planned for them. Be with us this night. Amen.

Verse of the Day for Saturday, March 11, 2023

 

Verse of the Day
Saturday, March 11, 2023

Deuteronomy 7:9
Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments.
In Romans 8:35, the apostle Paul rhetorically asks what could separate us from the love of God. The answer: absolutely nothing! Even before God’s chosen people entered the Promised Land, God assured them of His everlasting love.

Read all of Deuteronomy Chapter 7

Listen to Deuteronomy Chapter 7

Scripture from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.

The Lenten Prayer for Saturday, March 11, 2023

 

40 Days of Lenten Prayers
Day 16 — Saturday of the Second Week of Lent


God of infinite love, you shower me with limitless gifts in my life. In my every thought and action today guide me to the bright and loving light of your kingdom. Help me to be aware of the many ways you allow me to share in your life so intimately today. Thank you for the gifts you have placed in my life. Let me be grateful every moment of this day. Amen.

That The World May Know, Volume 3 | Episode 6 | Language of Culture

 

That The World May Know
Language of Culture

Volume 3 | Episode 6

The ancient land of Israel is a testimony, an evidence if you will, of the greatness of what God did in that country, a testimony to the truth of the words that we find in the pages of the Bible.

Volume 3 focuses on the birth of Jesus, his life, and his short but powerful ministry—a ministry that has shaped empires and changed the course of history.

In Episode 6, in a Hellenistic cultural setting, Jesus sometimes used theatrical terms in communicating. We, too, must understand our society to be spiritually relevant.



Volume 3 | Episode 6 | Language of Culture