MALAGASY LUTHERAN CHURCH
Communion’s prayer, Sunday II before Easter
Week from 12 to 17 March 2018
« God makes a covenant with his people »
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Introduction: God makes a covenant with his people, those who honour Him as their Lord to whom they have complete obedience, and no one other. This is in accordance with His words: “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the LORD. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people” Je 31:33. God makes common cause and shares common life with those He made a covenant with; He is with them and stands on their side because He chose and saved and made them his own, as it is written :“But now, this is what the LORD says – He who created you, Jacob, He who formed you, Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine” Is 43:1. This is also, and primarily, how He blesses them, according to the promise and covenant He made his people Israel, saying: “If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the LORD your God” Dt 28:1-2. God gives a guarantee to all those He made a covenant with. This is maintained and founded through Jesus Christ who redeemed men by his own blood and restored them to be his partners in his kingdom and his work. Indeed, it is written: “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy (Hos.2.25)” 1 Pet 2 :9-10.
Monday 12: God makes a covenant with his people.
“I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing” Ge 12 :2.
Reading 1: Is 53 :10-12. Reading 2: Ge 12 :1-3. Preaching 1 (option). Preaching 2: Ge 12 :2. Other references:
– “Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth” Ge 9 :1.
– “To the one who is victorious, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it” Re 2 :17.
Tuesday 13: God establishes his covenant with his people.
“God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and He will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God” Re 21 :3b.
Reading 1: 2 Co 6 :14-18. Reading 2: Re 21 :1-17. Preaching 1 (option). Preaching 2: Re 21 :3. Other references:
– “I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you” Ge 17 :7.
– ““At that time,” declares the LORD, “I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they will be my people” Je 31 :1
Wednesday 14: God blesses the people He made a covenant with.
“For the Mighty One has done great things for me – holy is his name” Lk 1 :49.
Reading 1: Je 33 :1-9. Reading 2: Lk 1: 46-55. Preaching 1 (option). Preaching 2: Lk 1 :49. Other references:
– “The king rejoices in your strength, LORD. How great is his joy in the victories you give! You have granted him his heart’s desire and have not withheld the request of his lips… Surely you have granted him unending blessings and made him glad with the joy of your presence” Ps 21 :1-6.
– “Praise be to the God…, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ” Eph 1 :3.
Thursday 15: God’s covenant will never be removed.
“My covenant of peace will not be removed” Is 54 :10e.
Reading 1: Ge.17 :1-7. Reading 2: Is.54 :7-10. Preaching 1 (option). Preaching 2: Is.54 :10. Other references:
– “The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness” Je 31 :3.
– “He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful” Lk 1 :54.
Friday 16: The blood of Jesus guarantees an everlasting covenant.
“This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many,” he said to them” Mk 14 :24.
Reading 1: Heb 9 :15-22. Reading 2: Mk 14 :17-25. Preaching 1 (option). Preaching 2: Mk 14 :23-24. Other references:
– “Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words” Ex 24 :8.
– “How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them” Heb 10 :29a.
Saturday 17: Keep the covenant.
“Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes” Mt.5 :37a.
Reading 1: Ps 25 :1-11. Reading 2: Mt 5 :33-37. Preaching 1 (option). Preaching 2 : Mt 5:36-37. Other references:
– “So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who does not condemn himself by what he approves” Ro 14 :22.
– “Above all, my brothers and sisters, do not swear – not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. All you need to say is a simple “Yes” or “No.” Otherwise you will be condemned” Jm 5 :12
Note: This pericope is published in Malagasy, French, English and German and can be seen on the site www.hifi-madanet.org and on Facebook “HiFi – english “ © Madanet