Fourth Sunday after Pentecost	June 16, 2024
Prayer of the Day
O Lord, our God, arrange the course of this world that peace may come and your tranquil Church rejoice through greater service. Grant this, we pray, through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord. He lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
First Reading: Ezekiel 17:22-24
22Thus says the Lord God: “I myself will take a sprig from the lofty top of the cedar and will set it out. I will break off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one, and I myself will plant it on a high and lofty mountain. 23On the mountain height of Israel will I plant it, that it may bear branches and produce fruit and become a noble cedar. And under it will dwell every kind of bird; in the shade of its branches birds of every sort will nest. 24And all the trees of the field shall know that I am the Lord; I bring low the high tree, and make high the low tree, dry up the green tree, and make the dry tree flourish. I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it.”
Psalm 1 (LBW)
1Happy are they who have not walked in the counsel | of the wicked,* 
	nor lingered in the way of sinners, nor sat in the seats | of the scornful!
2Their delight is in the law | of the Lord,*
	and they meditate on his law | day and night.
3They are like trees planted by streams of water, bearing fruit in due season, 
with leaves that | do not wither;*
	everything they | do shall prosper.
4It is not so | with the wicked;*
	they are like chaff which the wind | blows away.
5Therefore the wicked shall not stand upright when | judgment comes,*
	nor the sinner in the council | of the righteous.
6For the Lord knows the way | of the righteous,*
	but the way of the wick- | ed is doomed.
Psalm 1 (ESV)
1Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, 
	nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
2but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.
3He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does 
	not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.
4The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
5Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the 
	righteous;
6for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

Second Reading: 2 Corinthians 5:1-10 [11-17]
1For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, 3if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. 4For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened — not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. 6So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, 7for we walk by faith, not by sight. 8Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. 10For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. [11Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience. 12We are not commending ourselves to you again but giving you cause to boast about us, so that you may be able to answer those who boast about outward appearance and not about what is in the heart. 13For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. 14For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; 15and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. 16From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.]
Gospel: Mark 4:26-34
26{Jesus} said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. 27He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. 28The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. 29But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.” 30And he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it? 31It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, 32yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.” 33With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it. 34He did not speak to them without a parable, but privately to his own disciples he explained everything.
Next Week’s Readings:
Job 38:1-11; Psalm 124; 2 Corinthians 6:1-13; Mark 4:35-41