John Roberts

The Collect

Almighty God, who raised up your servant John Roberts to be a witness among the Shoshone and Arapahoe peoples: May we, inspired by his example and prayers, invite all people to the riches of your grace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Old Testament

Deuteronomy 31:30–32:4,6b–12a

Moses recited the words of this song, to the very end, in the hearing of the whole assembly of Israel:

Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak;
let the earth hear the words of my mouth.

May my teaching drop like the rain,
my speech condense like the dew;

like gentle rain on grass,
like showers on new growth.

For I will proclaim the name of the Lord;
ascribe greatness to our God!

The Rock, his work is perfect,
and all his ways are just.

A faithful God, without deceit,
just and upright is he.

Is not he your father, who created you,
who made you and established you?

Remember the days of old,
consider the years long past;

ask your father, and he will inform you;
your elders, and they will tell you.

When the Most High apportioned the nations,
when he divided humankind,

he fixed the boundaries of the peoples
according to the number of the gods;

the Lord’s own portion was his people,
Jacob his allotted share.

He sustained him in a desert land,
in a howling wilderness waste;

he shielded him, cared for him,
guarded him as the apple of his eye.

As an eagle stirs up its nest,
and hovers over its young;

as it spreads its wings, takes them up,
and bears them aloft on its pinions,

the Lord alone guided him.

The Response

Psalm 90:13–17

Domine, refugium

13 Return, O LORD; how long will you tarry? *
be gracious to your servants.

14 Satisfy us by your loving-kindness in the morning; *
so shall we rejoice and be glad all the days of our life.

15 Make us glad by the measure of the days that you afflicted us *
and the years in which we suffered adversity.

16 Show your servants your works *
and your splendor to their children.

17 May the graciousness of the LORD our God be upon us; *
prosper the work of our hands;
prosper our handiwork.

The New Testament

Acts 3:18–25

Peter said, “In this way God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, that his Messiah would suffer. Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Messiah appointed for you, that is, Jesus, who must remain in heaven until the time of universal restoration that God announced long ago through his holy prophets. Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you from your own people a prophet like me. You must listen to whatever he tells you. And it will be that everyone who does not listen to that prophet will be utterly rooted out of the people.’ And all the prophets, as many as have spoken, from Samuel and those after him, also predicted these days. You are the descendants of the prophets and of the covenant that God gave to your ancestors, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your descendants all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ ”

The Gospel

John 7:37–41a

On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, he cried out, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, ‘Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.’ ” Now he said this about the Spirit, which believers in him were to receive; for as yet there was no Spirit, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

When they heard these words, some in the crowd said, “This is really the prophet.” Others said, “This is the Messiah.”

The Lessons Appointed for Use on
the Feast of