Friday evening January 15
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Preparation
Opening response
O God, make speed to save us.
O Lord, make haste to help us.
From the rising of the sun to its setting
your glory is proclaimed in all the world.
Prayer of thanksgiving
Blessed are you, Sovereign God,
our light and our salvation,
to you be glory and praise forever.
You gave your Christ as a light to the nations,
and through the anointing of the Spirit
you established us as a royal priesthood.
As you call us into your marvelous light,
may our lives bear witness to your truth
and our lips never cease to proclaim your praise.
Blessed be God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Blessed be God forever.
Hymn
Partners of a glorious hope
Charles Wesley
Partners of a glorious hope,
Lift your hearts and voices up!
Nobly let us bear the strife,
Keep the holiness, of life;
Still forget the things behind,
Follow Christ in heart and mind,
To the mark unwearied press,
Seize the crown of righteousness.
Jesus, fill us with thy love,
Never from our souls remove,
Heart to heart unite and bless,
Keep us in thy perfect peace!
In our lives our faith be known,
Faith by holy actions shown;
Faith that mountains can remove,
Faith that always works by love.
Confession of sin
The Lord is compassionate and merciful,
very patient, and full of faithful love.
He doesn’t deal with us according to our sin
or repay us according to our wrongdoing.
Because as high as heaven is above the earth,
that’s how large God’s faithful love is for those who honor him.
Silence is kept for reflection.
Holy God,
Holy and strong,
Holy and immortal,
have mercy upon us.
As far as east is from west—
that’s how far God has removed our sin from us.
As a father has compassion on his children,
that’s how the Lord feels compassion for those who honor him.
Let my whole being bless the Lord.
Let everything inside me bless his holy name.
Let my whole being bless the Lord,
and never forget all his good deeds.
The Word of God
Psalm 68
Refrain:
Sing to God! Sing praises to his name!
Let God rise up;
let his enemies scatter;
let those who hate him
run scared before him!
Like smoke is driven away,
drive them away!
Like wax melting before fire,
let the wicked perish before God!
But let the righteous be glad
and celebrate before God.
Let them rejoice with gladness!
Sing to God! Sing praises to his name!
Exalt the one who rides the clouds!
The Lord is his name.
Celebrate before him!
Father of orphans and defender of widows
is God in his holy habitation.
God settles the lonely in their homes;
he sets prisoners free with happiness,
but the rebellious dwell in a parched land.
When you went forth before your people, God,
when you marched through the wasteland,
the earth shook!
Yes, heaven poured down
before God, the one from Sinai—
before God, the God of Israel!
You showered down abundant rain, God;
when your inheritance grew weary,
you restored it yourself,
and your creatures settled in it.
In your goodness, God,
you provided for the poor.
My Lord gives the command—
many messengers are bringing good news:
“The kings of armies are on the run!
The women back home divide the spoil.
Even if you lie down among the sheepfolds,
there are wings of a dove covered with silver;
its pinions covered in precious gold.”
When the Almighty scattered the kings there,
snow fell on Mount Zalmon.
Mighty mountain, Mount Bashan;
many-peaked mountain, Mount Bashan!
You many-peaked mountain:
Why do you look with envy
at the mountain God desired for his dwelling,
the mountain where the Lord dwells forever?
God’s chariots are twice ten thousand—
countless thousands!
My Lord came from Sinai into the sanctuary.
You ascended the heights,
leading away your captives,
receiving tribute from people,
even from those who rebel
against the Lord God’s dwelling there.
Bless the Lord!
The God of our salvation
supports us day after day!
Our God is the God of salvation,
and escape from certain death comes through God my Lord.
Yes, God will shatter the heads of his enemies—
the very skulls of those who walk in guilt.
My Lord has spoken:
“From Bashan I will bring those people back.
I will bring them back from the ocean’s depths
so that you can wash your feet in their blood,
so that your dogs’ tongues
can lap up their share of your enemies.”
They saw your procession, God—
the procession of my God,
my king, into the sanctuary.
First came the singers,
then the musicians;
between them the young women
were playing hand drums:
“Bless God in the great congregation;
bless the Lord from Israel’s fountain!”
There’s Benjamin leading them,
though he’s little;
then the princes of Judah,
their speaker;
then the princes of Zebulun
and the princes of Naphtali.
Summon your strength, God!
Show how strong you are, God,
just as you’ve done for us before,
from your temple above Jerusalem,
where kings bring you gifts.
Rebuke the wild animals of the marshland,
the herd of bulls among the calves of the peoples.
Trample those who delight in money;
scatter the peoples who take pleasure in battles.
Let ambassadors come from Egypt;
let Cush stretch out its hands to God.
Sing to God, all kingdoms of the earth!
Sing praises to my Lord.
Sing to the one who rides through heaven,
the most ancient heaven.
Look! God sends forth his voice,
his mighty voice.
Recognize how strong God is!
His majesty extends over Israel;
his strength is in the clouds.
You are awesome, God, in your sanctuaries—
the God of Israel who gives strength and power to his people!
Bless God!
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:
Sing to God! Sing praises to his name!
Psalm prayer
Blessed are you, gracious God;
you make your home among the weak,
you deliver us from death,
you bring us joy beyond our imagining
to the praise of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Old Testament reading
Amos 5:1-17
Hear this word—a funeral song—that I am lifting up against you, house of Israel:
Fallen, no more to rise,
is virgin Israel,
deserted on her land,
with no one to raise her up.
The Lord God proclaims:
The city that marched out one thousand people
will have one hundred left,
and the city that marched out one hundred will have ten left in the house of Israel.
The Lord proclaims to the house of Israel:
Seek me and live.
But don’t seek Bethel,
don’t enter into Gilgal,
or cross over to Beer-sheba;
for Gilgal will go into exile,
and Bethel will come to nothing.
Seek the Lord and live,
or else God might rush like a fire against the house of Joseph.
The fire will burn up Bethel, with no one to put it out.
Doom to you who turn justice into poison,
and throw righteousness to the ground!
The one who made the Pleiades and Orion,
and turns deep darkness into the morning,
and darkens the day into night;
who summons the waters of the sea,
and pours them out on the surface of the earth—
this one’s name is the Lord—
who causes destruction to flash out against the strong,
so that destruction comes upon the fortress.
They hate the one who judges at the city gate,
and they reject the one who speaks the truth.
Truly, because you crush the weak,
and because you tax their grain,
you have built houses of carved stone,
but you won’t live in them;
you have planted pleasant vineyards,
but you won’t drink their wine.
I know how many are your crimes,
and how numerous are your sins—
afflicting the righteous,
taking money on the side,
turning away the poor who seek help.
Therefore, the one who is wise will keep silent in that time;
it is an evil time.
Seek good and not evil,
that you may live;
and so the Lord, the God of heavenly forces,
will be with you just as you have said.
Hate evil, love good,
and establish justice at the city gate.
Perhaps the Lord God of heavenly forces
will be gracious to what is left of Joseph.
Truly, the Lord proclaims,
the God of heavenly forces, the Lord:
Crying will be heard in all the squares.
In all the streets they will say, “Oh no! Oh no!”
They will call upon the farmers to wail,
and those skilled in mourning to lament.
In all the vineyards there will be bitter crying because
I will pass through your midst,
says the Lord.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
1 Corinthians 4
So a person should think about us this way—as servants of Christ and managers of God’s secrets. In this kind of situation, what is expected of a manager is that they prove to be faithful. I couldn’t care less if I’m judged by you or by any human court; I don’t even judge myself. I’m not aware of anything against me, but that doesn’t make me innocent, because the Lord is the one who judges me. So don’t judge anything before the right time—wait until the Lord comes. He will bring things that are hidden in the dark to light, and he will make people’s motivations public. Then there will be recognition for each person from God.
Brothers and sisters, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit. I’ve done this so that you can learn what it means not to go beyond what has been written and so none of you will become arrogant by supporting one of us against the other. Who says that you are better than anyone else? What do you have that you didn’t receive? And if you received it, then why are you bragging as if you didn’t receive it? You’ve been filled already! You’ve become rich already! You rule like kings without us! I wish you did rule so that we could be kings with you! I suppose that God has shown that we apostles are at the end of the line. We are like prisoners sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle in the world, both to angels and to humans. We are fools for Christ, but you are wise through Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, but we are dishonored! Up to this very moment we are hungry, thirsty, wearing rags, abused, and homeless. We work hard with our own hands. When we are insulted, we respond with a blessing; when we are harassed, we put up with it; when our reputation is attacked, we are encouraging. We have become the scum of the earth, the waste that runs off everything, up to the present time.
I’m not writing these things to make you ashamed but to warn you, since you are my loved children. You may have ten thousand mentors in Christ, but you don’t have many fathers. I gave birth to you in Christ Jesus through the gospel, so I encourage you to follow my example. This is why I’ve sent Timothy to you; he’s my loved and trusted child in the Lord; he’ll remind you about my way of life in Christ Jesus. He’ll teach the same way as I teach everywhere in every church. Some have become arrogant as if I’m not coming to see you. But, if the Lord is willing, I’ll come to you soon. Then I won’t focus on what these arrogant people say, but I’ll find out what power they possess. God’s kingdom isn’t about words but about power. Which do you want? Should I come to you with a big stick to punish you, or with love and a gentle spirit?
Silence may be kept.
Gospel canticle
The Magnificat (The Song of Mary)
Refrain:
Here is my servant, the one I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; the anointed one on whom my Spirit rests.
With all my heart I glorify the Lord!
In the depths of who I am I rejoice in God my savior.
He has looked with favor on the low status of his servant.
Look! From now on, everyone will consider me highly favored
because the mighty one has done great things for me.
Holy is his name.
He shows mercy to everyone,
from one generation to the next,
who honors him as God.
He has shown strength with his arm.
He has scattered those with arrogant thoughts and proud inclinations.
He has pulled the powerful down from their thrones
and lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things
and sent the rich away empty-handed.
He has come to the aid of his servant Israel,
remembering his mercy,
just as he promised to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to Abraham’s descendants forever.
Luke 1:46-55
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:
Here is my servant, the one I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; the anointed one on whom my Spirit rests.
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
Thanksgiving and intercession
Thanksgiving may be made for the day.
Intercessions are offered
for peace
for individuals and their needs
Response
Lord, hear your people
and answer our prayers.
Silence may be kept.
Collect of the day
Eternal Father,
who at the baptism of Jesus
revealed him to be your Son,
anointing him with the Holy Spirit:
grant to us, who are born of water and the Spirit,
that we may be faithful to our calling as your adopted children;
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
Believing the promises of God,
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 sends us to the nations,
give us the power of his Spirit.
Amen.