Janani Luwum
Janani Luwum was born in 1922 and became Bishop of Northern Uganda in 1969 and Archbishop of the Church of Uganda in 1974. He was murdered on the orders of President Idi Amin on 16 February 1977. His death was a direct result of protests made by the Ugandan bishops about the abuse of human rights under Amin’s regime. With great courage he had carried a personal protest to the president on behalf of the Church of Uganda, knowing that in doing so he was probably signing his own death warrant. FATS
Antiphon https://tinyurl.com/r5j8et73
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice.
Indeed, the Lord is near.
God of mercy,
you sent Jesus Christ to seek and save the lost.
We confess that we have strayed from you
and turned aside from your way.
We are misled by pride,
for we see ourselves pure when we are stained,
and great when we are small.
We have failed in love,
neglected justice,
and ignored your truth.
Have mercy, O God, and forgive our sin.
Return us to paths of righteousness
through Jesus Christ, our Savior. Amen. BCW
Music: https://tinyurl.com/ufxekitx
God, come to my assistance.
Lord, make haste to help me.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
HYMN: John Ernest Bode
Tune: Wolvercote http://tinyurl.com/2p8wkrpp
1 O Jesus, I have promised
to serve Thee to the end;
be Thou forever near me,
my Master and my Friend;
I shall not fear the battle
if Thou art by my side,
nor wander from the pathway
if Thou wilt be my Guide.
2 O let me feel Thee near me,
the world is ever near;
I see the sights that dazzle,
the tempting sounds I hear;
my foes are ever near me,
around me and within;
but, Jesus, draw Thou nearer,
and shield my soul from sin.
3 O let me hear Thee speaking
in accents clear and still,
above the storms of passion,
the murmurs of self-will;
O speak to reassure me,
to hasten or control!
O speak, and make me listen,
Thou Guardian of my soul!
4 O Jesus, Thou hast promised
to all who follow Thee
that where Thou art in glory
there shall Thy servant be;
and, Jesus, I have promised
to serve Thee to the end;
O give me grace to follow,
my Master and my Friend!
PSALMS
Psalm 89 (Anglican Chant: https://tinyurl.com/ydygwbyj)
1 My song shall be alway of the loving kindness of the Lord *
with my mouth will I ever be shewing thy truth
from one generation to another.
2 For I have said, Mercy shall be set up for ever *
thy truth shalt thou stablish in the heavens.
3 I have made a covenant with my chosen *
I have sworn unto David my servant;
4 Thy seed will I stablish for ever *
and set up thy throne from one generation to another.
5 O Lord, the very heavens shall praise thy wondrous works *
and thy truth in the congregation of the saints.
6 For who is he among the clouds *
that shall be compared unto the Lord?
7 And what is he among the gods *
that shall be like unto the Lord?
8 God is very greatly to be feared in the council of the saints *
and to be had in reverence of all them that are round about him.
9 O Lord God of hosts, who is like unto thee *
thy truth, most mighty Lord, is on every side.
10 Thou rulest the raging of the sea *
thou stillest the waves thereof when they arise.
11 Thou hast subdued Egypt, and destroyed it *
thou hast scattered thine enemies abroad with thy mighty arm.
12 The heavens are thine, the earth also is thine *
thou hast laid the foundation of the round world, and all that therein is.
13 Thou hast made the north and the south *
Tabor and Hermon shall rejoice in thy Name.
14 Thou hast a mighty arm *
strong is thy hand, and high is thy right hand.
15 Righteousness and equity are the habitation of thy seat *
mercy and truth shall go before thy face.
16 Blessed is the people, O Lord, that can rejoice in thee *
they shall walk in the light of thy countenance.
17 Their delight shall be daily in thy Name *
and in thy righteousness shall they make their boast.
18 For thou art the glory of their strength *
and in thy loving-kindness thou shalt lift up our horns.
19 For the Lord is our defence *
the Holy One of Israel is our King.
20 Thou spakest sometime in visions unto thy saints, and saidst *
I have laid help upon one that is mighty;
I have exalted one chosen out of the people.
21 I have found David my servant *
with my holy oil have I anointed him.
22 My hand shall hold him fast *
and my arm shall strengthen him.
23 The enemy shall not be able to do him violence *
the son of wickedness shall not hurt him.
24 I will smite down his foes before his face *
and plague them that hate him.
25 My truth also and my mercy shall be with him *
and in my Name shall his horn be exalted.
26 I will set his dominion also in the sea *
and his right hand in the floods.
27 He shall call me, Thou art my Father *
my God, and my strong salvation.
28 And I will make him my first-born *
higher than the kings of the earth.
29 My mercy will I keep for him for evermore *
and my covenant shall stand fast with him.
30 His seed also will I make to endure for ever *
and his throne as the days of heaven.
31 But if his children forsake my law *
and walk not in my judgements;
32 If they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments *
I will visit their offences with the rod, and their sin with scourges.
33 Nevertheless, my loving-kindness will I not utterly take from him *
nor suffer my truth to fail.
34 My covenant will I not break,
nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips *
I have sworn once by my holiness, that I will not fail David.
35 His seed shall endure for ever *
and his seat is like as the sun before me.
36 He shall stand fast for evermore as the moon *
and as the faithful witness in heaven.
37 But thou hast abhorred and forsaken thine Anointed *
and art displeased at him.
38 Thou hast broken the covenant of thy servant *
and cast his crown to the ground.
39 Thou hast overthrown all his hedges *
and broken down his strong holds.
40 All they that go by spoil him *
and he is become a reproach to his neighbours.
41 Thou hast set up the right hand of his enemies *
and made all his adversaries to rejoice.
42 Thou hast taken away the edge of his sword *
and givest him not victory in the battle.
43 Thou hast put out his glory *
and cast his throne down to the ground.
44 The days of his youth hast thou shortened *
and covered him with dishonour.
45 Lord, how long wilt thou hide thyself, for ever *
and shall thy wrath burn like fire?
46 O remember how short my time is *
wherefore hast thou made all men for nought?
47 What man is he that liveth, and shall not see death *
and shall he deliver his soul from the hand of hell?
48 Lord, where are thy old loving-kindnesses *
which thou swarest unto David in thy truth?
49 Remember, Lord, the rebuke that thy servants have *
and how I do bear in my bosom the rebukes of many people;
50 Wherewith thine enemies have blasphemed thee,
and slandered the footsteps of thine Anointed *
Praised be the Lord for evermore. Amen, and Amen.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son :
and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be :
world without end. Amen.
Psalm 89 (Karl Kohlhase: http://oremus.org/chant/Psalm-89-KH.mp3)
I will sing of the LORD’s love forever,
tell your faithfulness to all generations.
Say “His love is established forever,
and his faithfulness set in the heavens.”
With my chosen one I made a covenant;
I have sworn to David My servant,
“I’ll establish your seed forever,
build your throne to all generations.”
I will establish his children forever,
and his throne like the days of heaven
LORD, the heavens will praise your wonders;
in the holy assembly Your faithfulness.
Who is like the LORD in the skies?
Or among the sons of the mighty?
A God greatly feared in the holy court,
and awesome above all around him?
O LORD God of hosts, who is like you?
Mighty LORD, surrounded by faithfulness.
You master the sea in its swelling,
when its waves rise up You still them;
Crushing Rahab like one who is slain;
with your strong arm scatter your foes
The heavens are yours, the earth also,
the world and all it contains,
Creating both north and south,
Tabor and Hermon rejoice in your name.
I will establish his children forever,
and his throne like the days of heaven
Your arm is strong, your hand mighty,
and your right hand is exalted.
Right and just the foundation of your throne;
love and truth proceed before you.
Blessed are they who know joyful shouting!
LORD, they walk by the light of your face.
In your name they’ll rejoice all day,
by your righteousness they are lifted.
For you are the glory of our strength,
by your favor our horn is exalted.
For our shield belongs to the LORD,
and our king to the Holy One of Israel.
Saying once to your saints in a vision,
“I will help a mighty one;
From the people I’ll lift up a chosen one;
then I found my servant, David.”
I will establish his children forever,
and his throne like the days of heaven
I anointed him with my holy oil,
my hand was set, and my arm gave strength.
His foe will not deceive him,
nor the son of wickedness hurt him;
I will crush his foes before him,
and strike all those who hate him.
Faithfulness and love will be with him;
in My name his horn will be lifted.
I will set his hand on the sea,
and his right hand on the rivers.
He will cry to me, ‘You are my Father;
my God, my rock of salvation.’
I will make him as my firstborn,
the highest of kings on the earth.
I will bear my love for him always,
my covenant shall be confirmed.
I will establish his children forever,
and his throne like the days of heaven
If his sons forsake my law,
not walking in my judgments;
If they violate my statutes,
not keeping my commandments,
I will punish their sins with the rod,
their iniquity with stripes;
but I will not break off my love,
nor will I betray my faithfulness.
I will not break off my covenant,
change the utterance of my lips
Once I have sworn by my holiness,
unto David I will not lie
His descendants shall last forever,
his throne like the sun before Me.
Like the moon established forever,
and the witness in the sky is faithful.
I will establish his children forever,
and his throne like the days of heaven
But you cast off and reject him,
full of wrath against your anointed.
You have spurned your servant’s covenant,
and profaned his crown in the dust.
You have broken down all his walls;
you have brought his strongholds to ruin.
All who pass his way now plunder him;
he’s become a reproach to his neighbors.
You exalt the hand of his enemies;
you have made his foes rejoice.
You turn back the edge of his sword,
and have not let him stand in the battle.
You have made his glory to cease,
and have cast his throne to the ground.
You have shortened the days of his youth;
you have covered him over with shame.
How long, O LORD will you hide yourself?
Will your anger burn like fire?
Remember the span of my life;
you create sons of men for such vanity
What man can live and not see death?
Spare his soul from Sheol’s power?
Lord, where are your former graces,
which you swore to David in faithfulness?
I will establish his children forever,
and his throne like the days of heaven
Lord, remember your servant’s reproach;
my heart bears from the nations,
with which your foes reproach, O LORD,
the steps of your anointed.
I will establish his children forever,
and his throne like the days of heaven
Blessed be the LORD, forever! Amen and Amen.
PRAYER
Remember us, gracious God,
when we cannot see your way and purpose,
and renew in us the joy of your kingdom of light and life.
We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ the Lord. Amen. BCW
THE WORD OF GOD
The Lord’s word came to Jonah a second time: “Get up and go to Nineveh, that great city, and declare against it the proclamation that I am commanding you.” And Jonah got up and went to Nineveh, according to the Lord’s word. (Now Nineveh was indeed an enormous city, a three days’ walk across.)
Jonah started into the city, walking one day, and he cried out, “Just forty days more and Nineveh will be overthrown!” And the people of Nineveh believed God. They proclaimed a fast and put on mourning clothes, from the greatest of them to the least significant.
When word of it reached the king of Nineveh, he got up from his throne, stripped himself of his robe, covered himself with mourning clothes, and sat in ashes. Then he announced, “In Nineveh, by decree of the king and his officials: Neither human nor animal, cattle nor flock, will taste anything! No grazing and no drinking water! Let humans and animals alike put on mourning clothes, and let them call upon God forcefully! And let all persons stop their evil behavior and the violence that’s under their control!” He thought, Who knows? God may see this and turn from his wrath, so that we might not perish.
God saw what they were doing—that they had ceased their evil behavior. So God stopped planning to destroy them, and he didn’t do it.
But Jonah thought this was utterly wrong, and he became angry. He prayed to the Lord, “Come on, Lord! Wasn’t this precisely my point when I was back in my own land? This is why I fled to Tarshish earlier! I know that you are a merciful and compassionate God, very patient, full of faithful love, and willing not to destroy. At this point, Lord, you may as well take my life from me, because it would be better for me to die than to live.”
The Lord responded, “Is your anger a good thing?” But Jonah went out from the city and sat down east of the city. There he made himself a hut and sat under it, in the shade, to see what would happen to the city.
Then the Lord God provided a shrub, and it grew up over Jonah, providing shade for his head and saving him from his misery. Jonah was very happy about the shrub. But God provided a worm the next day at dawn, and it attacked the shrub so that it died. Then as the sun rose God provided a dry east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah’s head so that he became faint. He begged that he might die, saying, “It’s better for me to die than to live.”
God said to Jonah, “Is your anger about the shrub a good thing?” Jonah said, “Yes, my anger is good—even to the point of death!” But the Lord said, “You ‘pitied’ the shrub, for which you didn’t work and which you didn’t raise; it grew in a night and perished in a night. Yet for my part, can’t I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than one hundred twenty thousand people who can’t tell their right hand from their left, and also many animals?”
HYMN: John Newton
Tune: Belgrave http://tinyurl.com/4k365duw
1 Great Shepherd of thy people, hear,
thy presence now display;
as thou hast given a place for prayer,
so give us hearts to pray.
2 Within these walls let holy peace
and love and concord dwell;
here give the troubled conscience ease,
the wounded spirit heal.
3 May we in faith receive thy word,
in faith present our prayers,
and in the presence of our Lord
unbosom all our cares.
4 The hearing ear, the seeing eye,
the contrite heart, bestow;
and shine upon us from on high,
that we in grace may grow.
It was appropriate for God, for whom and through whom everything exists, to use experiences of suffering to make perfect the pioneer of salvation. This salvation belongs to many sons and daughters whom he’s leading to glory. This is because the one who makes people holy and the people who are being made holy all come from one source. That is why Jesus isn’t ashamed to call them brothers and sisters when he says,
I will publicly announce your name to my brothers and sisters.
I will praise you in the middle of the assembly.
He also says,
I will rely on him.
And also,
Here I am with the children whom God has given to me.
Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, he also shared the same things in the same way. He did this to destroy the one who holds the power over death—the devil—by dying. He set free those who were held in slavery their entire lives by their fear of death. Of course, he isn’t trying to help angels, but rather he’s helping Abraham’s descendants. Therefore, he had to be made like his brothers and sisters in every way. This was so that he could become a merciful and faithful high priest in things relating to God, in order to wipe away the sins of the people. He’s able to help those who are being tempted, since he himself experienced suffering when he was tempted.
HYMN: Thomas Kelly
Tune: St Magnus http://tinyurl.com/3n4jztp5
1 The head that once was crowned with thorns
is crowned with glory now;
a royal diadem adorns
the mighty Victor’s brow.
2 The highest place that heav’n affords
is His, is His by right,
the King of kings and Lord of lords,
and heav’n’s eternal Light.
3 The joy of all who dwell above,
the joy of all below,
to whom He manifests His love,
and grants His name to know.
4 To them the cross with all its shame,
with all its grace, is giv’n,
their name, an everlasting name,
their joy, the joy of heav’n.
5 They suffer with their Lord below,
they reign with Him above,
their profit and their joy to know
the myst’ry of His love.
6 The cross He bore is life and health,
tho’ shame and death to Him:
His people’s hope, His people’s wealth,
their everlasting theme.
When the disciples came together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Human One is about to be delivered over into human hands. They will kill him. But he will be raised on the third day.” And they were heartbroken.
When they came to Capernaum, the people who collected the half-shekel temple tax came to Peter and said, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?” “Yes,” he said.
But when they came into the house, Jesus spoke to Peter first.“What do you think, Simon? From whom do earthly kings collect taxes, from their children or from strangers?” “From strangers,” he said.
Jesus said to him, “Then the children don’t have to pay. But just so we don’t offend them, go to the lake, throw out a fishing line and hook, and take the first fish you catch. When you open its mouth, you will find a shekel coin. Take it and pay the tax for both of us.”
CANTICLE Philippians 2:6-11
(Chant by John Michael Talbot: https://tinyurl.com/y8ljx8y7)
Though he was in the form of God,
Jesus did not deem equality with God
something to be grasped at.
Rather, he emptied himself
and took the form of a slave,
being born in the likeness of men.
He was known to be of human estate
and it was thus that he humbled himself,
obediently accepting even death,
death on a cross!
Because of this,
God highly exalted him
and bestowed on him the name
above every other name,
So that at Jesus’ name
every knee must bend
in the heavens, on the earth,
and under the earth,
and every tongue proclaim
to the glory of God the Father:
JESUS CHRIST IS LORD!
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.
THE PRAYERS WS2
Giver of life, we wait with you to offer the hope
that comes from the cross to earth’s darkest places.
Where pain is deep and affection is denied:
let love break through.
Where justice is destroyed,
let sensitivity to right spring up.
Where hope is crucified,
let faith persist.
Where peace has no chance,
let passion live on.
Where truth is trampled underfoot,
let the struggle continue.
Where fear paralyzes,
let forgiveness break through.
Eternal God, reach into the silent darkness of our souls
with the radiance of the cross.
O you who are the bearer of all pain,
have mercy on us.
Giver of life,
have mercy on us.
Merciful God,
have mercy on us. Amen.
(Plainsong Mode 2: https://tinyurl.com/yctqq8cf)DL
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your Name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread;
and forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial
and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours,
now and for ever. Amen.
Everliving God,
you gave to Janani Luwum
an infectious enthusiasm for your gospel
and courage to proclaim a prophet’s word
at the cost of his life;
give us zeal in your service
and hope in the face of adversity;
through Jesus Christ our Redeemer. Amen. FATS
Music: https://tinyurl.com/y9efvwm5
Let us bless the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God,
and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with us all. Amen. 2 Cor. 13:14
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BCW Book of Common Worship, Presbyterian Church U.S.A., 1993.
FATS For All the Saints, © The Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia, 2014
WS2 The Worship Sourcebook, 2nd edition, © 2013, Faith Alive Christian Resources
The scripture readings are © 2011 Common English Bible.
The traditional language psalms are from The Book of Common Prayer (1662). The modern language version of Psalm 89 is by Karl Kohlhase http://www.k4communications.com/karl/index.html
Musical links are usually either to artists’ albums posted on Spotify or to recordings made available at smallchurchmusic.com. Audio stripped from YouTube videos is footnoted accordingly above.
Compilation © 2024 Stephen T. Benner. All links worked at the time they were created, but I cannot accept responsibility for their content or any damage resulting from their use. The linked content is under the control of the respective content creators and is subject to change at any time. Any copyright texts included in this compilation are provided for non-commercial purposes related to study or worship. Please contact the respective copyright holders for permission to use the texts in other contexts.
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