15. For the Ministry I

Collect:
For those to be ordained
Almighty God, the giver of all good gifts, in your divine providence you have appointed various orders in your Church: Give your grace, we humbly pray, to all who are [now] called to any office and ministry for your people; and so fill them with the truth of your doctrine and clothe them with holiness of life, that they may faithfully serve before you, to the glory of your great Name and for the benefit of your holy Church; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

First Lesson: Numbers 11:16-17,24-29
The LORD said to Moses: "Bring me seventy of Israel's elders who are known to you as leaders and officials among the people. Have them come to the Tent of Meeting, that they may stand there with you. I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take of the Spirit that is on you and put the Spirit on them. They will help you carry the burden of the people so that you will not have to carry it alone."

24So Moses went out and told the people what the LORD had said. He brought together seventy of their elders and had them stand around the Tent. Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke with him, and he took of the Spirit that was on him and put the Spirit on the seventy elders. When the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied, but they did not do so again.

However, two men, whose names were Eldad and Medad, had remained in the camp. They were listed among the elders, but did not go out to the Tent. Yet the Spirit also rested on them, and they prophesied in the camp. A young man ran and told Moses, "Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp."

Joshua son of Nun, who had been Moses' aide since youth, spoke up and said, "Moses, my lord, stop them!"

But Moses replied, "Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the LORD's people were prophets and that the LORD would put his Spirit on them!"

Second Lesson: 1 Corinthians 3:5-11
What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe--as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building.

By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.

Psalm: 99

  1. The LORD is King;
    let the people tremble; *
    he is enthroned upon the cherubim;
    let the earth shake.
  2. The LORD is great in Zion; *
    he is high above all peoples.
  3. Let them confess his Name, which is great and awesome; *
    he is the Holy One.
  4. "O mighty King, lover of justice,
    you have established equity; *
    you have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob."
  5. Proclaim the greatness of the LORD our God
    and fall down before his footstool; *
    he is the Holy One.
  6. Moses and Aaron among his priests,
    and Samuel among those who call upon his Name, *
    they called upon the LORD, and he answered them.
  7. He spoke to them out of the pillar of cloud; *
    they kept his testimonies and the decree that he gave them.
  8. O LORD our God, you answered them indeed; *
    you were a God who forgave them,
    yet punished them for their evil deeds.
  9. Proclaim the greatness of the LORD our God
    and worship him upon his holy hill; *
    for the LORD our God is the Holy One.

or 27:1-9

  1. The LORD is my light and my salvation;
    whom then shall I fear? *
    the LORD is the strength of my life;
    of whom then shall I be afraid?
  2. When evildoers came upon me to eat up my flesh, *
    it was they, my foes and my adversaries, who
    stumbled and fell.
  3. Though an army should encamp against me, *
    yet my heart shall not be afraid;
  4. And though war should rise up against me, *
    yet will I put my trust in him.
  5. One thing have I asked of the LORD;
    one thing I seek; *
    that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days
    of my life;
  6. To behold the fair beauty of the LORD *
    and to seek him in his temple.

John 4:31-38
Meanwhile his disciples urged him, "Rabbi, eat something."

But he said to them, "I have food to eat that you know nothing about."

Then his disciples said to each other, "Could someone have brought him food?"

"My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. Do you not say, 'Four months more and then the harvest'? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. Thus the saying 'One sows and another reaps' is true. I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor."

Collect & Psalm from the Book of Common Prayer
Other excerpts from the New International Bible

Various Occasions