Sunday 29 September 2024 – St Michael and All Angels

Collect
Everlasting God,
you have ordained and constituted
the ministries of angels and mortals
in a wonderful order:
grant that as your holy angels
always serve you in heaven,
so, at your command,
they may help and defend us on earth;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen

Revelation 12. 7 – 12
And war broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels fought against the dragon.
The dragon and his angels fought back,
but they were defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven.
The great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan,
the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, proclaiming,
“Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Messiah,
for the accuser of our comrades has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.
But they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony,
for they did not cling to life even in the face of death.
Rejoice then, you heavens and those who dwell in them!
But woe to the earth and the sea, for the devil has come down to you with great wrath,
because he knows that his time is short!”

Hebrews 1. 5 – 14
To which of the angels did God ever say, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you”?
Or again, “I will be his Father, and he will be my Son”?
And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all God’s angels worship him.”
Of the angels he says, “He makes his angels winds, and his servants flames of fire.”
But of the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever,
and the righteous scepter is the scepter of your kingdom.
You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God,
has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.”
And, “In the beginning, Lord, you founded the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands;
they will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like clothing;
like a cloak you will roll them up, and like clothing they will be changed.
But you are the same, and your years will never end.”
But to which of the angels has he ever said,
“Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”?
Are not all angels spirits in the divine service, sent to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?

John 1. 47 – 51
When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him,
“Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!”
Nathanael asked him, “Where did you get to know me?”
Jesus answered, “I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.”
Nathanael replied, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”
Jesus answered, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree?
You will see greater things than these.”
And he said to him, “Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened
and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”