Each week of the liturgical year, a reading from Second Advent Scripture is delivered as part of the Saturday Communion of Fellowship Service held in the Chapel of the Holy Child. This reading follows the Sacred Calendar of the Church; that is, Prophecies and Revelations that have been received by The Church on sacred dates are recalled in a liturgical context during the appropriate season each year. This reading is delivered just before the final blessings. Each service also includes a reading from the ancient scriptures, prayers, or wisdom sayings of various world religions past and present and is usually thematically related to the Second Advent Reading. This reading is delivered by the Reader right after the announcements that begin the service and is thus the first reading of the service. An audio recording of the reading from Second Advent Scripture delivered on the date above is provided here below together with a transcript of the first reading of the service that day.
Click here to watch this week’s readings on YouTube. (8:37 minutes)
SECOND ADVENT PROPHECY AND REVELATION
A Reading from The Book of God’s Revelation, Book II: The Seal of God’s New Law (pp. 115-120).
ANCIENT SCRIPTURE AND WISDOM SAYINGS
A Reading from the Prophet Ezekiel:
Then the angel brought me back to the entrance of the temple. I noticed that water was flowing from under the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was flowing down from under the right side of the temple, from south of the altar. He led me out by way of the north gate and brought me around the outside of the outer gate that faces toward the east; I noticed that the water was trickling out from the south side.
When the angel went out toward the east with a measuring line in his hand, he measured a thousand feet and then he led me through water, which was ankle deep. Again he measured a thousand feet and led me through the water, which was now knee deep. Once more he measured a thousand feet and led me through the water, which was waist deep. Again he measured a thousand feet, and it was a river I could not cross, for the water had risen; it was deep enough to swim in, a river that could not be crossed. He said to me, “Son of man, have you seen this?”
Then he led me to the bank of the river. When I had returned, I noticed a vast number of trees on the banks of the river, on both sides. He said to me, “These waters go out toward the eastern region and flow down into the Arabah; when they enter the Dead Sea, where the water is stagnant, the waters become fresh. Every living creature which swarms where the river flows will live; there will be many fish, for these waters flow there. It will become fresh and everything will live where the river flows. . . . On both sides of the river’s banks, every kind of tree will grow for food. Their leaves will not wither nor will their fruit fail, but they will bear fruit every month, because their water source flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food and their leaves for healing.
Click here to watch this week’s readings on YouTube. (8:37 minutes)