Nepsis

Author: Derek Winterburn

  • Jude 17-23

    So you, beloved,
    remember the sayings
    having been pronounced
    by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ
    that they said to you all:
    ‘At the last time
    there will be mockers,
    going according to their own desires of ungodlinesses.
    These are the divisive people,
    – natural
    – not having the Spirit.

    But you, beloved,
    by building yourselves up
    in your most holy faith
    by praying in the Holy Spirit,
    keep yourselves in the love of God,
    waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ,
    for the life eternal.
    And
    have mercy on those who are disputing
    save others by snatching them from the fire
    have mercy on others in fear
    even hating the clothes
    stained by the flesh.



    God, give me grace to accept with serenity
    the things that cannot be changed,
    Courage to change the things
    which should be changed,
    and the Wisdom to distinguish
    the one from the other.

    Living one day at a time,
    Enjoying one moment at a time,
    Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,
    Taking, as Jesus did,
    This sinful world as it is,
    Not as I would have it,
    Trusting that You will make all things right,
    If I surrender to Your will,
    So that I may be reasonably happy in this life,
    And supremely happy with You forever in the next.

    Amen.

  • Jude 14-16

    And so
    Enoch,
    the seventh man from Adam
    prophesied
    saying:
    ‘Behold,
    ‘The Lord came
    with his ten thousands of holy ones,
    to make judgement against all and
    to convict all souls
    about all their works of ungodliness
    which they-have-done-in-ungodly-ways and
    about all the hard things
    which they have said
    against him:
    –godless sinners!    1

    These are complainers, grumblers
    going
    according to their own desires
    and their mouths speak ‘big words’
    ‘amazing faces’
    for the sake of gain.

    1. 1 Enoch 1 9 ↩︎

    Teach us, good Lord,
    to serve thee as thou deservest;
    to give and not to count the cost;
    to fight and not to heed the wounds;
    to toil and not to seek for rest;
    to labour and not to ask for any reward,
    save that of knowing that we do thy will,
    through Jesus Christ our Lord.
    Amen

    St Ignatius

  • Jude 11-13

    Woe to them! –
    because they have gone the way of Cain,
    and have plunged themselves
    into Balaam’s error
    for a reward
    and have been destroyed
    by the controversy of Korah.

    These people
    at your love feasts
    are dangerous-reefs
    feasting with you
    without reverence;
    -shepherds who look after themselves
    -waterless clouds,
    blown along by the wind
    – trees, belonging to late autumn,
    fruitless
    (twice dead)
    being uprooted
    –wild waves of the sea
    foaming up their own shame
    – wandering stars
    for whom the gloom, that is darkness
    has been kept for ever.

    Grant, Lord,
    that we may hold to you without parting,
    worship you without wearying,
    serve you without failing;
    faithfully seek you,
    happily find you,
    and forever possess you,
    the only God,blessed now and for ever.
    Amen

    St Anselm

  • Jude 8-9

    Actually
    these people
    who ‘have dreams’,
    defile flesh
    reject the authority-of-the-Lord
    and slander the glorious ones.

    But Michael, the archangel,
    when he was arguing with the devil
    and disputing
    about the body of Moses,
    did not dare to pronounce judgement
    for slander
    but he said:
    ‘May the Lord rebuke you.’
    But these people
    – as many things they do not understand
    they slander
    – as many things
    that by instinct
    they understand
    like irrational animals
    by these things
    they are being destroyed

    Thank you, dear Jesus,
    for all you have given me,
    for all you have taken away from me,
    for all you have left me.

    Thomas More (c.1478-1535)

  • Jude 6=7

    And next (you will remember)
    the angels
    who did not keep to their own domain
    but left their proper dwelling
    he has kept
    for the judgement of the great day
    in eternal chains
    in deep darkness,
    And so too
    Sodom and Gomorrah
    and the towns around them
    in the same way as these
    lived immorally
    and went after flesh of another kind
    are displayed as evidence
    that is by undergoing eternal fire.

    Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
    Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
    Where there is injury, pardon;
    Where there is discord, union;
    Where there is doubt, faith;
    Where there is despair, hope;
    Where there is darkness, light;
    Where there is sadness, joy,
    For your mercy and for your truth’s sake. Amen

  • Jude 5

    So I want to remind you,
    – who know all this:
    that once
    the Lord
    having saved the People from the Egyptians
    later
    destroyed
    those who did not believe.

    O Lord Jesus Christ,
    stay beside me to defend me,
    within me to guide me,
    before me to lead me,
    and above me to bless me,
    that with you and in you,
    I may live, and move and have my being,
    for ever and ever.
    Amen.

    (unknown)

  • Jude 1-4

    Judah1,
    a slave of Jesus Christ,
    a brother of Jacob2,
    to those who are called,
    beloved in God the Father
    and kept for Jesus Christ;

    Mercy to you all,
    and peace
    and may love be multiplied!

    Beloved,
    making all speed to write to you all
    about our common salvation
    I had need to write to you
    encouraging you
    to continue to struggle
    for the faith
    which was passed onto the saints
    once-and-for-all

    For certain people have slipped in,
    who long ago
    were marked out
    for this condemnation
    -godless
    who are changing the grace of our God,
    into immorality
    and denying
    our only master
    and our Lord
    Jesus Christ.

    1. Jude ↩︎
    2. James ↩︎

    Steer the ship of my life, good Lord, to your quiet harbour,
    where I can be safe from the storms of sin and conflict.
    Show me the course I should take.
    Renew in me the gift of discernment,
    so that I can always see the right direction in which I should go.
    And give me the strength and the courage to choose the right course,
    even when the sea is rough and the waves are high,
    knowing that through enduring hardship and danger in your name
    we shall find comfort and peace.
    Amen

    Basil of Caesarea (c.329-379)

  • Psalm 134

    A song of the ascents.

    1There, bless Yahweh, all you servants of Yahweh,
    you who stand in Yahweh’s house at night.
    2Raise your hands to the sacred place
    and bless Yahweh.

    3May Yahweh bless you from Tsiyyon
    – the one who is maker of heavens and earth.

    Lord God,,
    you feed us with the living bread from heaven;
    you renew our faith,
    increase our hope,
    and strengthen our love.

    Teach us to hunger
    for Christ who is the true and living bread,
    and to live by every word
    that comes from your mouth,
    through Jesus Christ our Lord.
    Amen.

  • Psalm 133

    A song of the ascents. David’s.

    Mount Hermon

    Mount Hermon

    1There, how good and how lovely
    is brothers living as one,
    2Like good oil on the head,
    going down on to the beard,
    Aharon’s beard,
    which goes down on the collar of his clothes,
    3Like the dew of Hermon,
    which goes down on the mountains of Tsiyyon.
    Because there Yahweh ordered blessing,
    life for evermore.

    O thou, who art the light of the minds that know thee,
    the life of the souls that love thee,
    and the strength of the wills that serve thee;
    help us so to know thee that we may truly love thee;
    so to love thee that we may fully serve thee,
    whom to serve is perfect freedom.
    Amen

  • Psalm 132

    A song of the ascents.

    1Yahweh, be mindful for David
    of all his being humbled,
    2In that he swore to Yahweh,
    pledged to Ya’aqob’s Champion,
    3‘If I come into my tent, my house,
    if I climb into my bed, my couch,
    4If I give sleep to my eyes,
    slumber to my eyelids,
    5Until I find the place belonging to Yahweh,
    the dwelling belonging to Ya’aqob’s Champion . . .’

    6There, we heard of it at Ephrata,
    we found it in the Ya’ar fields.
    7Let’s come to his dwelling,
    let’s bow low to his footstool.
    8Rise, Yahweh, to your place, to settle down,
    you and your powerful chest.
    9Your priests put on faithfulness,
    the people who are committed to you resound.
    10For the sake of David your servant,
    don’t turn back the face of your anointed one.

    11Yahweh swore to David in truthfulness;
    he will not turn back from it:
    ‘One from the fruit of your body
    I will put on your throne.
    12If your sons keep my pact,
    my affirmations that I will teach them,
    For all time their sons
    also will sit on your throne.
    13Because Yahweh chose Tsiyyon,
    which he wanted as a seat for himself.
    14For all time this is my place to settle down,
    where I will sit, because I wanted it.
    15Its supplies I will greatly bless;
    its needy people I will fill with bread.
    16Its priests I will clothe with deliverance,
    its committed people will resound loudly.
    17There I will make David’s horn flourish;
    I am setting up a lamp for my anointed one.
    18Its enemies I will clothe in shame,
    but on him his crown will sparkle.’

    O thou, who art the light of the minds that know thee,
    the life of the souls that love thee,
    and the strength of the wills that serve thee;
    help us so to know thee that we may truly love thee;
    so to love thee that we may fully serve thee,
    whom to serve is perfect freedom.
    Amen