The week in Bible reading and prayer:
Sunday: LUKE the Evangelist: Isaiah 35.3-6; Psalm 147.1-7; 2 Timothy 4.5-17; Luke 10.1-9; Pray for those living in Spencers Drive and St Helen’s Well; for the medical profession, Christian health care workers, and chaplains.
Monday: Henry Martyn, translator, missionary, 1812; Ephesians 2.1-10; Ps. 100; Luke 12.13-21; pray for Christians in the Indian sub-continent and Persia; for the national government and civil servants;
Tuesday: Ephesians 2.12-end; Ps. 85.7-end; Luke 12.35-38; pray for those without a permanent home;
Wednesday: Ephesians 3.2-12; Ps. 98; Luke 12.39-48; pray for the economy of the nation; for the Mothers’ Union; for Tarleton APCM;
Thursday: Ephesians 3.14-end; Ps. 33.1-6; Luke 12.49-53; pray for those in the areas harder hit by the pandemic;
Friday: Ephesians 4.1-6; Ps. 243.1-6; Luke 12.54-end; pray for all prisoners and prison staff, for all in the criminal justice system;
Saturday: Ephesians 4.7-16; Ps. 122; Luke 13.1-9; pray for schools, in our benefice and across the diocese;
Next Sunday: Last Sunday after Trinity: Leviticus 19.1-2,15-18; Psalm 1; 1 Thessalonians 2.1-8; Matthew 22.34-end; Pray for those living in Sutton Avenue and Sutton Lane; for our Cathedral church, the Chapter and staff.
Sunday Readings
The Collect
Almighty God, you called Luke the physician, whose praise is in the gospel, to be an evangelist and physician of the soul: by the grace of the Spirit and through the wholesome medicine of the gospel, give your Church the same love and power to heal; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
Old Testament Isaiah 35.3-6
3 Strengthen the weak hands,
and make firm the feeble knees.
4 Say to those who are of a fearful heart,
‘Be strong, do not fear!
Here is your God.
He will come with vengeance, with terrible recompense.
He will come and save you.’
5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
6 then the lame shall leap like a deer,
and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.
For waters shall break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert.
Psalm 147.1-7 Refrain:
The Lord heals the brokenhearted.
Epistle 2 Timothy 4.5-17
5 As for you, always be sober, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, carry out your ministry fully.
6 As for me, I am already being poured out as a libation, and the time of my departure has come.
7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
9 Do your best to come to me soon, 10 for Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica; Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. 11 Only Luke is with me.
Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful in my ministry. 12 I have sent Tychicus to Ephesus. 13 When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments. 14 Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; the Lord will pay him back for his deeds. 15 You also must beware of him, for he strongly opposed our message.
16 At my first defence no one came to my support, but all deserted me. May it not be counted against them! 17 But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth.
Gospel: Luke 10.1-9
10 1 The Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go.
2 He said to them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest. 3 Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. 4 Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road.
5 Whatever house you enter, first say, “Peace to this house!” 6 And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you. 7 Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the labourer deserves to be paid. Do not move about from house to house. 8 Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you;
9 cure the sick who are there, and say to them, “The kingdom of God has come near to you.” ’
