Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”—for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. (Revelation 19:6-8)
As we read your Word, give us vision for how you are preparing us, your bride, for the wedding feast. Amen.
Scripture Reading - Mark 2:13-22 (ESV)
He went out again beside the sea, and all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them. And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Now John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. And people came and said to him, “Why do John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day.
No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins—and the wine is destroyed, and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins.”
O Lord Jesus, the wonder of your words - I came not to call the righteous, but sinners. At just the right time, while we were still sinners, you died for the ungodly. For our sake, the Father made you who knew no sin to be sin for us. So that by your sacrifice, we might become the righteousness of God. Through faith in you, Lord Jesus, we have peace with God. Thank you for calling us and healing us from our sin-sick hearts.
Lord, we repent of all our self-righteousness, any word or deed that we think somehow achieves peace with God. Forgive us for the times we have expected others to participate in self-righteous disciplines, acting as a roadblock to the cross. Forgive us for when we have excluded those who have not yet believed on Jesus, thinking that they are beyond his healing power.
Thank you Father for preparing us, your bride the Church, for the wedding feast in heaven. We greatly rejoice in you. For you have clothed us with the garments of salvation; you covered us with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. (Isaiah 61:10) All praise be to you! Amen.
Lord, we repent of all our self-righteousness, any word or deed that we think somehow achieves peace with God. Forgive us for the times we have expected others to participate in self-righteous disciplines, acting as a roadblock to the cross. Forgive us for when we have excluded those who have not yet believed on Jesus, thinking that they are beyond his healing power.
Thank you Father for preparing us, your bride the Church, for the wedding feast in heaven. We greatly rejoice in you. For you have clothed us with the garments of salvation; you covered us with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. (Isaiah 61:10) All praise be to you! Amen.
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