Opening response

Lord, open our lips.
Our mouth will declare your praise.

Of old, you laid the foundation of the earth.
The heavens are the work of your hands.

Prayer of thanksgiving

Blessed are you, sovereign God,
creator of heaven and earth,
to you be praise and glory forever.
As your living Word, eternal in heaven,
assumed the frailty of our mortal flesh,
may the light of your love be born in us
to fill our hearts with joy as we sing:
Blessed be God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Blessed be God forever.

The night has passed, and the day lies open before us;
let us pray with one heart and mind.

Silence is kept.

As we rejoice in the gift of this new day,
so may the light of your presence, O God,
set our hearts on fire with love for you;
now and forever.
Amen.

Hymn

Infinite God, To Thee We Raise

Charles Wesley

Infinite God, to Thee we raise
Our hearts in solemn songs of praise,
By all thy works on earth adored,
We worship thee, the common Lord;
The everlasting Father own,
And bow our souls before thy throne.

Thee all the choir of angels sings,
The Lord of hosts, the King of kings;
Cherubs proclaim thy praise aloud,
And seraphs shout the triune God;
And, holy, holy, holy, cry,
Thy glory fills both earth and sky!

Head of the martyrs’ noble host,
Of thee they justly make their boast;
The church, to earth’s remotest bounds,
Her heavenly Founder’s praise resounds;
And strives, with those around the throne,
To hymn the mystic three in one.

Father of endless majesty,
All might and love they render thee;
Thy true and only Son adore,
The same in dignity and power;
And God the Holy Ghost declare,
The saints’ eternal Comforter.

Confession of sin

Come, Holy Spirit of God,
and search our hearts with the light of Christ.

Our Lord Jesus Christ said:
The first commandment is this:
‘Hear, Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’

The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’
No other commandment is greater than these.
The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.

Amen. Lord, have mercy.

After a period of reflection

Come, let us return to the Lord and say:

Lord our God,
in our sin we have avoided your call.
Our love for you is like a morning cloud,
like the dew that disappears early.
Have mercy on us;
deliver us from judgment;
bind up our wounds and revive us;
in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

cf Hosea 6

May almighty God,
who sent his Son into the world to save sinners,
bring us his pardon and peace, now and forever.
Amen.

Psalm 18:1-30

Refrain:
My God will light up my darkness.

I love you, LORD, my strength.
The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer;
my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge;
my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower.
I call on the LORD, who is worthy to be praised;
and I am saved from my enemies.
The cords of death surrounded me.
The floods of ungodliness made me afraid.
The cords of Sheol were around me.
The snares of death came on me.
In my distress I called on the LORD,
and cried to my God.
He heard my voice out of his temple.
My cry before him came into his ears.
Then the earth shook and trembled.
The foundations also of the mountains quaked and were shaken,
because he was angry.
Smoke went out of his nostrils.
Consuming fire came out of his mouth.
Coals were kindled by it.
He bowed the heavens also, and came down.
Thick darkness was under his feet.
He rode on a cherub, and flew.
Yes, he soared on the wings of the wind.
He made darkness his hiding place, his pavilion around him,
darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies.
At the brightness before him his thick clouds passed,
hailstones and coals of fire.
The LORD also thundered in the sky.
The Most High uttered his voice:
hailstones and coals of fire.
He sent out his arrows, and scattered them.
He routed them with great lightning bolts.
Then the channels of waters appeared.
The foundations of the world were laid bare at your rebuke, LORD,
at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.
He sent from on high.
He took me.
He drew me out of many waters.
He delivered me from my strong enemy,
from those who hated me; for they were too mighty for me.
They came on me in the day of my calamity,
but the LORD was my support.
He brought me out also into a large place.
He delivered me, because he delighted in me.
The LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness.
According to the cleanness of my hands, he has recompensed me.
For I have kept the ways of the LORD,
and have not wickedly departed from my God.
For all his ordinances were before me.
I didn’t put away his statutes from me.
I was also blameless with him.
I kept myself from my iniquity.
Therefore the LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness,
according to the cleanness of my hands in his eyesight.
With the merciful you will show yourself merciful.
With the perfect man, you will show yourself perfect.
With the pure, you will show yourself pure.
With the crooked you will show yourself shrewd.
For you will save the afflicted people,
but the arrogant eyes you will bring down.
For you will light my lamp, LORD.
My God will light up my darkness.
For by you, I advance through a troop.
By my God, I leap over a wall.
As for God, his way is perfect.
The LORD’s word is tried.
He is a shield to all those who take refuge in him.

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:
My God will light up my darkness.

Psalm prayer

From your royal throne, O God,
you sent your living Word
to pierce the gloom of oppression;
so, in our souls’ night,
come with your saving help
and penetrate our darkness with the
rays of your glory
in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Old Testament reading

Isaiah 60:1-12

“Arise, shine; for your light has come,
and the LORD’s glory has risen on you!
For behold, darkness will cover the earth,
and thick darkness the peoples;
but the LORD will arise on you,
and his glory shall be seen on you.
Nations will come to your light,
and kings to the brightness of your rising.

“Lift up your eyes all around, and see:
they all gather themselves together.
They come to you.
Your sons will come from far away,
and your daughters will be carried in arms.
Then you shall see and be radiant,
and your heart will thrill and be enlarged;
because the abundance of the sea will be turned to you.
The wealth of the nations will come to you.
A multitude of camels will cover you,
the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah.
All from Sheba will come.
They will bring gold and frankincense,
and will proclaim the praises of the LORD.
All the flocks of Kedar will be gathered together to you.
The rams of Nebaioth will serve you.
They will be accepted as offerings on my altar;
and I will beautify my glorious house.

“Who are these who fly as a cloud,
and as the doves to their windows?
Surely the islands will wait for me,
and the ships of Tarshish first,
to bring your sons from far away,
their silver and their gold with them,
for the name of the LORD your God,
and for the Holy One of Israel,
because he has glorified you.

“Foreigners will build up your walls,
and their kings will serve you;
for in my wrath I struck you,
but in my favour I have had mercy on you.
Your gates also shall be open continually;
they shall not be shut day nor night,
that men may bring to you the wealth of the nations,
and their kings led captive.
For that nation and kingdom that will not serve you shall perish;
yes, those nations shall be utterly wasted.

Silence may be kept.

New Testament reading

John 1:35-42

Again, the next day, John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as he walked, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. Jesus turned and saw them following, and said to them, “What are you looking for?”

They said to him, “Rabbi” (which is to say, being interpreted, Teacher), “where are you staying?”

He said to them, “Come and see.”

They came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day. It was about the tenth hour.

One of the two who heard John and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his own brother, Simon, and said to him, “We have found the Messiah!” (which is, being interpreted, Christ). He brought him to Jesus.

Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas” (which is by interpretation, Peter).

Silence may be kept.

The Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah)

Luke 1:68-79

Refrain:
Those who are wise will shine as the brightness of the expanse. Those who turn many to righteousness will shine as the stars forever and ever.

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
for he has visited and redeemed his people;
and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David
(as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets who have been from of old),
salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us;
to show mercy toward our fathers,
to remember his holy covenant,
the oath which he swore to Abraham our father,
to grant to us that we, being delivered out of the hand of our enemies,
should serve him without fear,
in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life.
And you, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High;
for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways,
to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the remission of their sins,
because of the tender mercy of our God,
by which the dawn from on high will visit us,
to shine on those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death;
to guide our feet into the way of peace.

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:
Those who are wise will shine as the brightness of the expanse. Those who turn many to righteousness will shine as the stars forever and ever.

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.

Intercession and thanksgiving

Prayers may be offered for:

the day and its tasks
the world and its needs
the church and her life

Prayers may include the following concerns:

The church, especially in places of conflict
The Holy Land, for peace with justice, and reconciliation
Refugees and asylum seekers
Homeless people
Families with young children

Other intercessions and supplications may be offered as the Holy Spirit leads.

Response

Lord, in your mercy
hear our prayer.

Silence may be kept.

Collect of the day

Almighty God,
who wonderfully created us in your own image
and yet more wonderfully restored us
through your Son Jesus Christ:
grant that, as he came to share in our humanity,
so we may share the life of his divinity;
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.
Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer

Rejoicing in the presence of God here among us, 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 God, who has called us out of darkness
into his marvelous light,
bless us and fill us with peace.
Amen.