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Ember Friday
First Lesson
Isaiah 52:1-10
1 Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful
garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall
no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean.
2 Shake thyself from the dust; arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem:
loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter
of Zion.
3 For thus saith the LORD, Ye have sold yourselves for nought;
and ye shall be redeemed without money.
4 For thus saith the Lord GOD, My people went down aforetime
into Egypt to sojourn there; and the Assyrian oppressed them
without cause.
5 Now therefore, what have I here, saith the LORD, that my people
is taken away for nought? they that rule over them make them
to howl, saith the LORD; and my name continually every day is
blasphemed.
6 Therefore my people shall know my name: therefore they shall
know in that day that I am he that doth speak: behold, it is
I.
7 How
beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth
good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings
of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy
God reigneth!
8 Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together
shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the LORD
shall bring again Zion.
9 Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem:
for the LORD hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem.
10 The
LORD hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations;
and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our
God.
1st Lesson Questions -
Are my feet beautiful? (V 7) What must I do in life, in order to make them so? When people looked at me today, was there any inkling of the salvation of our God (V. 10) for them to see? RESOLVE.
Second Lesson
Acts 6
1 And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied,
there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews,
because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration.
2 Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto
them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word
of God, and serve tables.
3 Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest
report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint
over this business.
4 But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the
ministry of the word.
5 And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose
Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip,
and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas
a proselyte of Antioch:
6 Whom they set before the apostles: and when they had prayed,
they laid their hands on them.
7 And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples
multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests
were obedient to the faith.
8 And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and
miracles among the people.
9 Then there arose certain of the synagogue, which is called
the synagogue of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians,
and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with Stephen.
10 And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit
by which he spake.
11 Then they suborned men, which said, We have heard him speak
blasphemous words against Moses, and against God.
12 And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes,
and came upon him, and caught him, and brought him to the council,
13 And set up false witnesses, which said, This man ceaseth not
to speak blasphemous words against this holy place, and the law:
14 For we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall
destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses
delivered us.
15 And
all that sat in the council, looking stedfastly on him, saw his
face as it had been the face of an angel.
2nd Lesson Questions -
What is the purpose and ministry of the diaconate? Stephen's face "was as it had been the face of an angel." (V. 15) When folk look at me, do they catch a bit of heaven in my countenance? RESOLVE.