The Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost
THE COLLECT
Almighty and everlasting God, in Christ you have revealed your glory among the
nations: Preserve the works of your mercy, that your Church throughout the world
may persevere with steadfast faith in the confession of your Name; through Jesus
Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for
ever and ever. Amen.
OLD TESTAMENT: Jeremiah 31:27-34
The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will sow the house of Israel and
the house of Judah with the seed of humans and the seed of animals. And just as I
have watched over them to pluck up and break down, overthrow, destroy, and bring
evil, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, says the Lord. In those days
they shall no longer say: “The parents have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s
teeth are set on edge.” But all shall die for their own sins; the teeth of everyone
who eats sour grapes shall be set on edge. The days are surely coming, says the
Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of
Judah.
It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by
the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though
I was their husband, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with
the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them,
and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my
people. No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, “Know the
Lord,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the
Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.
Reader: The Word of the Lord People: Thanks be to God
PSALM: Psalm 119:97-104
97 Oh, how I love your law! *
all the day long it is in my mind.
98 Your commandment has made me wiser than my enemies, *
and it is always with me.
99 I have more understanding than all my teachers, *
for your decrees are my study.
100 I am wiser than the elders, *
because I observe your commandments.
101 I restrain my feet from every evil way, *
that I may keep your word.
102 I do not shrink from your judgments, *
because you yourself have taught me.
103 How sweet are your words to my taste! *
they are sweeter than honey to my mouth.
104 Through your commandments I gain understanding; *
therefore I hate every lying way.
EPISTLE: 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5
But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed,
knowing from whom you learned it, and how from childhood you have known
the sacred writings that are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in
Christ Jesus. All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for
reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who
belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work. In the
presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead,
and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I solemnly urge you: proclaim
the message; be persistent whether the time is favorable or unfavorable;
convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in teaching. For the
time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine, but having
itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own
desires and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to
myths. As for you, always be sober, endure suffering, do the work of an
evangelist, carry out your ministry fully.
Reader: The Word of the Lord People: Thanks be to God
THE GOSPEL of our Lord Jesus Christ according to:
Luke 18:1-8 People: Glory to You Lord Christ
Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose
heart. He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor
had respect for people. In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him
and saying, ‘Grant me justice against my opponent.’ For a while he refused;
but later he said to himself, ‘Though I have no fear of God and no respect for
anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so
that she may not wear me out by continually coming.’” And the Lord said,
“Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God grant justice to his
chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping
them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son
of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
Reader: The Gospel of the Lord People: Praise to you, Lord Christ