2018-11 Lectionary Slides

4th November

Ruth 1:1–18 GNB

1 Long ago, in the days before Israel had a king, there was a famine in the land. So a man named Elimelech, who belonged to the clan of Ephrath and who lived in Bethlehem in Judah, went with his wife Naomi and their two sons Mahlon and Chilion to live for a while in the country of Moab. While they were living there, 3 Elimelech died, and Naomi was left alone with her two sons, 4 who married Moabite women, Orpah and Ruth. About ten years later 5 Mahlon and Chilion also died, and Naomi was left all alone, without husband or sons. 6 Some time later Naomi heard that the Lord had blessed his people by giving them a good harvest; so she got ready to leave Moab with her daughters-in-law. 7 They started out together to go back to Judah, but on the way 8 she said to them, “Go back home and stay with your mothers. May the Lord be as good to you as you have been to me and to those who have died. 9 And may the Lord make it possible for each of you to marry again and have a home.” So Naomi kissed them goodbye. But they started crying 10 and said to her, “No! We will go with you to your people.” 11 “You must go back, my daughters,” Naomi answered. “Why do you want to come with me? Do you think I could have sons again for you to marry? 12 Go back home, for I am too old to get married again. Even if I thought there was still hope, and so got married tonight and had sons, 13 would you wait until they had grown up? Would this keep you from marrying someone else? No, my daughters, you know that’s impossible. The Lord has turned against me, and I feel very sorry for you.” 14 Again they started crying. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye and went back home, but Ruth held on to her. 15 So Naomi said to her, “Ruth, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her god. Go back home with her.” 16 But Ruth answered, “Don’t ask me to leave you! Let me go with you. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. 17 Wherever you die, I will die, and that is where I will be buried. May the Lord’s worst punishment come upon me if I let anything but death separate me from you!” 18 When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she said nothing more.

Psalm 146 GNB

1 Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, my soul! 2 I will praise him as long as I live; I will sing to my God all my life. 3 Don’t put your trust in human leaders; no human being can save you. 4 When they die, they return to the dust; on that day all their plans come to an end. 5 Happy are those who have the God of Jacob to help them and who depend on the Lord their God, 6 the Creator of heaven, earth, and sea, and all that is in them. He always keeps his promises; 7 he judges in favour of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets prisoners free 8 and gives sight to the blind. He lifts those who have fallen; he loves his righteous people. 9 He protects the strangers who live in our land; he helps widows and orphans, but takes the wicked to their ruin. 10 The Lord is king for ever. Your God, O Zion, will reign for all time. Praise the Lord!

Hebrews 9:11–14 GNB

11 But Christ has already come as the High Priest of the good things that are already here. The tent in which he serves is greater and more perfect; it is not a tent made by human hands, that is, it is not a part of this created world. 12 When Christ went through the tent and entered once and for all into the Most Holy Place, he did not take the blood of goats and bulls to offer as a sacrifice; rather, he took his own blood and obtained eternal salvation for us. 13 The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a burnt calf are sprinkled on the people who are ritually unclean, and this purifies them by taking away their ritual impurity. 14 Since this is true, how much more is accomplished by the blood of Christ! Through the eternal Spirit he offered himself as a perfect sacrifice to God. His blood will purify our consciences from useless rituals, so that we may serve the living God.

Mark 12:28–34 GNB

28 A teacher of the Law was there who heard the discussion. He saw that Jesus had given the Sadducees a good answer, so he came to him with a question: “Which commandment is the most important of all?” 29 Jesus replied, “The most important one is this: ‘Listen, Israel! The Lord our God is the only Lord. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ 31 The second most important commandment is this: ‘Love your neighbour as you love yourself.’ There is no other commandment more important than these two.” 32 The teacher of the Law said to Jesus, “Well done, Teacher! It is true, as you say, that only the Lord is God and that there is no other god but he. 33 And to love God with all your heart and with all your mind and with all your strength, and to love your neighbour as yourself, is more important than to offer animals and other sacrifices to God.” 34 Jesus noticed how wise his answer was, and so he told him, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.” After this nobody dared to ask Jesus any more questions.

11th November

Ruth 3:1–5 GNB

1 Some time later Naomi said to Ruth, “I must find a husband for you, so that you will have a home of your own. 2 Remember that this man Boaz, whose women you have been working with, is our relative. Now listen. This evening he will be threshing the barley. 3 So wash yourself, put on some perfume, and get dressed in your best clothes. Then go where he is threshing, but don’t let him know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking. 4 Be sure to notice where he lies down, and after he falls asleep, go and lift the covers and lie down at his feet. He will tell you what to do.” 5 Ruth answered, “I will do everything you say.”

Ruth 4:13–17 GNB

13 So Boaz took Ruth home as his wife. The Lord blessed her, and she became pregnant and had a son. 14 The women said to Naomi, “Praise the Lord! He has given you a grandson today to take care of you. May the boy become famous in Israel! 15 Your daughter-in-law loves you, and has done more for you than seven sons. And now she has given you a grandson, who will bring new life to you and give you security in your old age.” 16 Naomi took the child, held him close, and took care of him. 17 The women of the neighbourhood named the boy Obed. They told everyone, “A son has been born to Naomi!” Obed became the father of Jesse, who was the father of David.

Psalm 127 GNB

1 If the Lord does not build the house, the work of the builders is useless; if the Lord does not protect the city, it is useless for the sentries to stand guard. 2 It is useless to work so hard for a living, getting up early and going to bed late. For the Lord provides for those he loves, while they are asleep. 3 Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a real blessing. 4 The sons a man has when he is young are like arrows in a soldier’s hand. 5 Happy is the man who has many such arrows. He will never be defeated when he meets his enemies in the place of judgement.

Hebrews 9:24–28 GNB

24 For Christ did not go into a Holy Place made by human hands, which was a copy of the real one. He went into heaven itself, where he now appears on our behalf in the presence of God. 25 The Jewish High Priest goes into the Most Holy Place every year with the blood of an animal. But Christ did not go in to offer himself many times, 26 for then he would have had to suffer many times ever since the creation of the world. Instead, now when all ages of time are nearing the end, he has appeared once and for all, to remove sin through the sacrifice of himself. 27 Everyone must die once, and after that be judged by God. 28 In the same manner Christ also was offered in sacrifice once to take away the sins of many. He will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are waiting for him.

Mark 12:38–44 GNB

38 As he taught them, he said, “Watch out for the teachers of the Law, who like to walk around in their long robes and be greeted with respect in the market place, 39 who choose the reserved seats in the synagogues and the best places at feasts. 40 They take advantage of widows and rob them of their homes, and then make a show of saying long prayers. Their punishment will be all the worse!” 41 As Jesus sat near the temple treasury, he watched the people as they dropped in their money. Many rich men dropped in a lot of money; 42 then a poor widow came along and dropped in two little copper coins, worth about a penny. 43 He called his disciples together and said to them, “I tell you that this poor widow put more in the offering box than all the others. 44 For the others put in what they had to spare of their riches; but she, poor as she is, put in all she had—she gave all she had to live on.”

18th November

1 Samuel 1:4–20 GNB

4 Each time Elkanah offered his sacrifice, he would give one share of the meat to Peninnah and one share to each of her children. 5 And even though he loved Hannah very much he would give her only one share, because the Lord had kept her from having children. 6 Peninnah, her rival, would torment and humiliate her, because the Lord had kept her childless. 7 This went on year after year; whenever they went to the house of the Lord, Peninnah would upset Hannah so much that she would cry and refuse to eat anything. 8 Her husband Elkanah would ask her, “Hannah, why are you crying? Why won’t you eat? Why are you always so sad? Don’t I mean more to you than ten sons?” 9 One day, after they had finished their meal in the house of the Lord at Shiloh, Hannah got up. She was deeply distressed, and she cried bitterly as she prayed to the Lord. Meanwhile, Eli the priest was sitting in his place by the door. 11 Hannah made a solemn promise: “Almighty Lord, look at me, your servant! See my trouble and remember me! Don’t forget me! If you give me a son, I promise that I will dedicate him to you for his whole life and that he will never have his hair cut.” 12 Hannah continued to pray to the Lord for a long time, and Eli watched her lips. 13 She was praying silently; her lips were moving, but she made no sound. So Eli thought that she was drunk, 14 and said to her, “Stop making a drunken show of yourself! Stop your drinking and sober up!” 15 “No, I’m not drunk, sir,” she answered. “I haven’t been drinking! I am desperate, and I have been praying, pouring out my troubles to the Lord. 16 Don’t think I am a worthless woman. I have been praying like this because I’m so miserable.” 17 “Go in peace,” Eli said, “and may the God of Israel give you what you have asked him for.” 18 “May you always think kindly of me,” she replied. Then she went away, ate some food, and was no longer sad. 19 The next morning Elkanah and his family got up early, and after worshipping the Lord, they went back home to Ramah. Elkanah had intercourse with his wife Hannah, and the Lord answered her prayer. 20 So it was that she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, and explained, “I asked the Lord for him.”

1 Samuel 2:1–10 GNB

1 Hannah prayed: “The Lord has filled my heart with joy; how happy I am because of what he has done! I laugh at my enemies; how joyful I am because God has helped me! 2 “No one is holy like the Lord; there is none like him, no protector like our God. 3 Stop your loud boasting; silence your proud words. For the Lord is a God who knows, and he judges all that people do. 4 The bows of strong soldiers are broken, but the weak grow strong. 5 The people who once were well fed now hire themselves out to get food, but the hungry are hungry no more. The childless wife has borne seven children, but the mother of many is left with none. 6 The Lord kills and restores to life; he sends people to the world of the dead and brings them back again. 7 He makes some poor and others rich; he humbles some and makes others great. 8 He lifts the poor from the dust and raises the needy from their misery. He makes them companions of princes and puts them in places of honour. The foundations of the earth belong to the Lord; on them he has built the world. 9 “He protects the lives of his faithful people, but the wicked disappear in darkness; a man does not triumph by his own strength. 10 The Lord’s enemies will be destroyed; he will thunder against them from heaven. The Lord will judge the whole world; he will give power to his king, he will make his chosen king victorious.”

Hebrews 10:11–14 GNB

11 Every Jewish priest performs his services every day and offers the same sacrifices many times; but these sacrifices can never take away sins. 12 Christ, however, offered one sacrifice for sins, an offering that is effective for ever, and then he sat down at the right-hand side of God. 13 There he now waits until God puts his enemies as a footstool under his feet. 14 With one sacrifice, then, he has made perfect for ever those who are purified from sin.

Hebrews 10:19–25 GNB

19 We have, then, my brothers and sisters, complete freedom to go into the Most Holy Place by means of the death of Jesus. 20 He opened for us a new way, a living way, through the curtain—that is, through his own body. 21 We have a great priest in charge of the house of God. 22 So let us come near to God with a sincere heart and a sure faith, with hearts that have been purified from a guilty conscience and with bodies washed with clean water. 23 Let us hold on firmly to the hope we profess, because we can trust God to keep his promise. 24 Let us be concerned for one another, to help one another to show love and to do good. 25 Let us not give up the habit of meeting together, as some are doing. Instead, let us encourage one another all the more, since you see that the Day of the Lord is coming nearer.

Mark 13:1–8 GNB

1 As Jesus was leaving the Temple, one of his disciples said, “Look, Teacher! What wonderful stones and buildings!” 2 Jesus answered, “You see these great buildings? Not a single stone here will be left in its place; every one of them will be thrown down.” 3 Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, across from the Temple, when Peter, James, John, and Andrew came to him in private. 4 “Tell us when this will be,” they said, “and tell us what will happen to show that the time has come for all these things to take place.” 5 Jesus said to them, “Be on guard, and don’t let anyone deceive you. 6 Many men, claiming to speak for me, will come and say, ‘I am he!’ and they will deceive many people. 7 And don’t be troubled when you hear the noise of battles close by and news of battles far away. Such things must happen, but they do not mean that the end has come. 8 Countries will fight each other; kingdoms will attack one another. There will be earthquakes everywhere, and there will be famines. These things are like the first pains of childbirth.

25th November

2 Samuel 23:1–7 GNB

1 David son of Jesse was the man whom God made great, whom the God of Jacob chose to be king, and who was the composer of beautiful songs for Israel. These are David’s last words: 2 The spirit of the Lord speaks through me; his message is on my lips. 3 The God of Israel has spoken; the protector of Israel said to me: “The king who rules with justice, who rules in obedience to God, 4 is like the sun shining on a cloudless dawn, the sun that makes the grass sparkle after rain.” 5 And that is how God will bless my descendants, because he has made an eternal covenant with me, an agreement that will not be broken, a promise that will not be changed. That is all I desire; that will be my victory, and God will surely bring it about. 6 But godless people are like thorns that are thrown away; no one can touch them with bare hands. 7 You must use an iron tool or a spear; they will be burnt completely.

Psalm 132:1–12 GNB

1 Lord, do not forget David and all the hardships he endured. 2 Remember, Lord, what he promised, the vow he made to you, the Mighty God of Jacob: 3 “I will not go home or go to bed; 4 I will not rest or sleep, 5 until I provide a place for the Lord, a home for the Mighty God of Jacob.” 6 In Bethlehem we heard about the Covenant Box, and we found it in the fields of Jearim. 7 We said, “Let us go to the Lord’s house; let us worship before his throne.” 8 Come to the Temple, Lord, with the Covenant Box, the symbol of your power, and stay here for ever. 9 May your priests do always what is right; may your people shout for joy! 10 You made a promise to your servant David; do not reject your chosen king, Lord. 11 You made a solemn promise to David— a promise you will not take back: “I will make one of your sons king, and he will rule after you. 12 If your sons are true to my covenant and to the commands I give them, their sons, also, will succeed you for all time as kings.”

Revelation 1:4b–8 GNB

4 From John to the seven churches in the province of Asia: Grace and peace be yours from God, who is, who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits in front of his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the first to be raised from death and who is also the ruler of the kings of the world. He loves us, and by his sacrificial death he has freed us from our sins 6 and made us a kingdom of priests to serve his God and Father. To Jesus Christ be the glory and power for ever and ever! Amen. 7 Look, he is coming on the clouds! Everyone will see him, including those who pierced him. All peoples on earth will mourn over him. So shall it be! 8 “I am the first and the last,” says the Lord God Almighty, who is, who was, and who is to come.

John 18:33–37 GNB

33 Pilate went back into the palace and called Jesus. “Are you the King of the Jews?” he asked him. 34 Jesus answered, “Does this question come from you or have others told you about me?” 35 Pilate replied, “Do you think I am a Jew? It was your own people and the chief priests who handed you over to me. What have you done?” 36 Jesus said, “My kingdom does not belong to this world; if my kingdom belonged to this world, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish authorities. No, my kingdom does not belong here!” 37 So Pilate asked him, “Are you a king, then?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. I was born and came into the world for this one purpose, to speak about the truth. Whoever belongs to the truth listens to me.”