Wednesday morning March 23
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Preparation
Opening response
Lord, open our lips
and our mouth will proclaim your praise.
Let your ways be known upon earth,
your saving power among the nations.
Prayer of thanksgiving
Blessed are you, Lord God of our salvation,
to you be praise and glory forever.
As a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief
your only Son was lifted up
that he might draw the whole world to himself.
May we walk this day in the way of the cross
and always be ready to share its weight,
declaring your love for all the world.
Blessed be God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Blessed be God forever.
Hymn
See the Lord, thy keeper, stand
Charles Wesley
See the Lord, thy keeper, stand,
Omnipotently near;
Lo! He holds thee by the hand,
And banishes thy fear;
Shadows with his wings thy head;
Guards from all impending harms;
Round thee and beneath are spread
The everlasting arms.
God shall bless thy going out,
Shall bless thy coming in;
Kindly compass thee about,
And guard from every sin.
Lean upon thy Father’s breast;
He thy quiet spirit keeps;
Rest in Him, securely rest;
Thy Guardian never sleeps.
O, my soul, unceasing pray,
And in thy God confide!
He our faltering steps shall stay,
Nor suffer us to slide:
He is still our sure defense,
We his ceaseless care shall prove,
Kept by watchful providence
And ever-waking love.
Confession of sin
When we cry out to the Lord in our distress,
he will save us from our desperate circumstances.
God will bring us out of darkness
and out of the shadow of death.
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
A time of silence and self-examination may be kept.
May the Father forgive us
by the death of his Son
and strengthen us
to live in the power of the Spirit
all our days.
Amen.
Let us thank the Lord for his faithful love,
and his wondrous works for all people.
Let us offer thanksgiving sacrifices
and declare what God has done in songs of joy.
cf Psalm 107
The Word of God
Psalm 102
Refrain:
You, Lord, rule forever! Your fame lasts from one generation to the next!
Lord, hear my prayer!
Let my cry reach you!
Don’t hide your face from me
in my time of trouble!
Listen to me!
Answer me quickly as I cry out!
Because my days disappear like smoke,
my bones are burned up as if in an oven;
my heart is smashed like dried-up grass.
I even forget to eat my food
because of my intense groans.
My bones are protruding from my skin.
I’m like some wild owl—
like some screech owl in the desert.
I lie awake all night.
I’m all alone like a bird on a roof.
All day long my enemies make fun of me;
those who mock me curse using my name!
I’ve been eating ashes instead of bread.
I’ve been mixing tears into my drinks
because of your anger and wrath,
because you picked me up and threw me away.
My days are like a shadow soon gone.
I’m dried up like dead grass.
But you, Lord, rule forever!
Your fame lasts from one generation to the next!
You will stand up—
you’ll have compassion on Zion
because it is time to have mercy on her—
the time set for that has now come!
Your servants cherish Zion’s stones;
they show mercy even to her dirt.
The nations will honor the Lord’s name;
all the earth’s rulers will honor your glory
because the Lord will rebuild Zion;
he will be seen there in his glory.
God will turn to the prayer of the impoverished;
he won’t despise their prayers.
Let this be written down for the next generation
so that people not yet created will praise the Lord:
The Lord looked down from his holy summit,
surveyed the earth from heaven,
to hear the prisoners’ groans,
to set free those condemned to death,
that the Lord’s name may be declared in Zion
and his praise declared in Jerusalem,
when all people are gathered together—
all kingdoms—to serve the Lord.
God broke my strength in midstride,
cutting my days short.
I said, “My God, don’t take me away in the prime of life—
your years go on from one generation to the next!
You laid the earth’s foundations long ago;
the skies are your handiwork.
These things will pass away, but you will last.
All of these things will wear out like clothing;
you change them like clothes, and they pass on.
But you are the one!
Your years never end!
Let your servants’ children live safe;
let your servants’ descendants live secure in your presence.”
Glory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning is now
and will be forever. Amen.
Refrain:
You, Lord, rule forever! Your fame lasts from one generation to the next!
Psalm prayer
Have pity on our frailty, O God,
and in the hour of our death
cast us not away as clothing that is worn,
for you are our eternal refuge;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Old Testament reading
Jeremiah 11:18-20
The Lord informed me and I knew.
Then he helped me see what they were up to.
I was like a young lamb led to the slaughter;
I didn’t realize that they were planning
their schemes against me:
“Let’s destroy the tree with its fruit;
let’s cut him off from the land of the living
so that even any knowledge of him will be wiped out.”
Lord of heavenly forces, righteous judge,
who tests the heart and mind,
let me see your revenge upon them,
because I have committed my case to you.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
Luke 22:54-71
After they arrested Jesus, they led him away and brought him to the high priest’s house. Peter followed from a distance. When they lit a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat among them.
Then a servant woman saw him sitting in the firelight. She stared at him and said, “This man was with him too.”
But Peter denied it, saying, “Woman, I don’t know him!”
A little while later, someone else saw him and said, “You are one of them too.”
But Peter said, “Man, I’m not!”
An hour or so later, someone else insisted, “This man must have been with him, because he is a Galilean too.”
Peter responded, “Man, I don’t know what you are talking about!” At that very moment, while he was still speaking, a rooster crowed. The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter, and Peter remembered the Lord’s words: “Before a rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.” And Peter went out and cried uncontrollably.
The men who were holding Jesus in custody taunted him while they beat him. They blindfolded him and asked him repeatedly, “Prophesy! Who hit you?” Insulting him, they said many other horrible things against him.
As morning came, the elders of the people, both chief priests and legal experts, came together, and Jesus was brought before their council.
They said, “If you are the Christ, tell us!”
He answered, “If I tell you, you won’t believe. And if I ask you a question, you won’t answer. But from now on, the Human One will be seated on the right side of the power of God.”
They all said, “Are you God’s Son, then?”
He replied, “You say that I am.”
Then they said, “Why do we need further testimony? We’ve heard it from his own lips.”
Silence may be kept.
Gospel canticle
The Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah)
Refrain:
The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are being destroyed. But it is the power of God for those of us who are being saved.
Bless the Lord God of Israel
because he has come to help and has delivered his people.
He has raised up a mighty savior for us in his servant David’s house,
just as he said through the mouths of his holy prophets long ago.
He has brought salvation from our enemies
and from the power of all those who hate us.
He has shown the mercy promised to our ancestors,
and remembered his holy covenant,
the solemn pledge he made to our ancestor Abraham.
He has granted that we would be rescued
from the power of our enemies
so that we could serve him without fear,
in holiness and righteousness in God’s eyes,
for as long as we live.
You, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High,
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way.
You will tell his people how to be saved
through the forgiveness of their sins.
Because of our God’s deep compassion,
the dawn from heaven will break upon us,
to give light to those who are sitting in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
to guide us on the path of peace.”
Luke 1:68-79
Glory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning is now
and will be forever. Amen.
Refrain:
The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are being destroyed. But it is the power of God for those of us who are being saved.
Brief silence.
The Apostle’s Creed
Let us unite in this historic confession of the Christian faith:
I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
Prayers
Intercession and thanksgiving
Prayers are offered
for the day and its tasks
for the world and its needs
for the Church and her life
Response
In faith we pray
We pray to you, our God.
Silence may be kept.
Collect of the day
Almighty and everlasting God,
who in your tender love towards the human race
sent your Son our Savior Jesus Christ
to take upon him our flesh
and to suffer death upon the cross:
grant that we may follow the example of his patience and humility,
and also be made partakers of his resurrection;
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 forever.
Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
Standing at the foot of the cross,
as our Savior taught us, so we pray
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours
now and forever.
Amen.
Conclusion
May Christ, who bore our sins on the cross,
set us free to serve him with joy.
Amen.