Opening response

O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.

Reveal among us the light of your presence
that we may behold your power and glory.

Prayer of thanksgiving

Blessed are you, Sovereign God of all,
to you be praise and glory forever.
In your tender compassion
the dawn from on high is breaking upon us
to dispel the lingering shadows of night.
As we look for your coming among us this day,
open our eyes to behold your presence
and strengthen our hands to do your will,
that the world may rejoice and give you praise.
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

Arm of the Lord, awake, awake!

Charles Wesley

Arm of the Lord, awake, awake!
thine own immortal strength put on;
with terror clothed, hell's kingdom shake
and cast thy foes with fury down.

As in the ancient days appear;
the sacred annals speak thy fame:
be now omnipotently near,
to endless ages still the same.

Thine arm, Lord, is not shortened now;
it lacks not now the power to save;
still present with thy people, thou
bearest them through life's disparted wave.

By death and hell pursued in vain,
to thee the ransomed seed shall come,
shouting, their heavenly Zion gain,
and pass through death triumphant home.

Where pure essential joy is found,
the Lord's redeemed their heads shall raise,
with everlasting gladness crowned,
and filled with love, and lost in praise.

Confession of sin

O King enthroned on high,
filling the earth with your glory:
holy is your name,
Lord God almighty.

A time of silence and self-examination may be kept.

In our sinfulness we cry to you
to take our guilt away,
and to cleanse our lips to speak your word,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

May the God of all healing and forgiveness
draw us to himself,
and cleanse us from all our sins
that we may behold the glory of his Son,
the Word made flesh,
Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Psalm 85

𝙍: Show us Your loving devotion, O LORD.

You showed favor to Your land, O LORD;
You restored Jacob from captivity.
You forgave the iniquity of Your people;
You covered all their sin.

You withheld all Your fury;
You turned from Your burning anger.

Restore us, O God of our salvation,
and put away Your displeasure toward us.
Will You be angry with us forever?
Will You draw out Your anger to all generations?
Will You not revive us again,
that Your people may rejoice in You?
Show us Your loving devotion, O LORD,
and grant us Your salvation. 𝙍

I will listen to what God the LORD will say;
for He will surely speak peace to His people and His saints;
He will not let them return to folly.
Surely His salvation is near to those who fear Him,
that His glory may dwell in our land. 𝙍

Loving devotion and faithfulness have joined together;
righteousness and peace have kissed.
Faithfulness sprouts from the earth,
and righteousness looks down from heaven.
The LORD will indeed provide what is good,
and our land will yield its increase.
Righteousness will go before Him
to prepare the way for His steps.

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.

𝙍: Show us Your loving devotion, O LORD.

Psalm prayer

Most holy God,
when we come to you fearing that
truth condemns us,
show us that truth is one with love
in your Word made flesh,
our Savior Jesus Christ.

Psalm 86

𝙍: All the nations You have made will come and bow before You, O Lord.

Incline Your ear, O LORD, and answer me,
for I am poor and needy.
Preserve my soul, for I am godly.
You are my God; save Your servant who trusts in You.
Be merciful to me, O Lord,
for I call to You all day long.
Bring joy to Your servant,
for to You, O Lord, I lift up my soul. 𝙍

For You, O Lord, are kind and forgiving,
rich in loving devotion to all who call on You.
Hear my prayer, O LORD,
and attend to my plea for mercy.
In the day of my distress I call on You,
because You answer me. 𝙍

O Lord, there is none like You among the gods,
nor any works like Yours.
All the nations You have made
will come and bow before You, O Lord,
and they will glorify Your name.
For You are great and perform wonders;
You alone are God. 𝙍

Teach me Your way, O LORD,
that I may walk in Your truth.
Give me an undivided heart,
that I may fear Your name.
I will praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart;
I will glorify Your name forever.
For great is Your loving devotion to me;
You have delivered me from the depths of Sheol. 𝙍

The arrogant rise against me, O God;
a band of ruthless men seeks my life,
with no regard for You.
But You, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God,
slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness.

Turn to me and have mercy;
grant Your strength to Your servant;
save the son of Your maidservant.
Show me a sign of Your goodness,
that my enemies may see and be ashamed;
for You, O LORD, have helped me and comforted me.

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.

𝙍: All the nations You have made will come and bow before You, O Lord.

Psalm prayer

God of mercy,
who in your great love
drew your Son from the depths of the Pit,
bring your people from death to life,
that we may rejoice in your compassion
and praise you now and forever.

Old Testament reading

Isaiah 33:1-22

Woe to you, O destroyer never destroyed,
O traitor never betrayed!
When you have finished destroying,
you will be destroyed.
When you have finished betraying,
you will be betrayed.

O LORD, be gracious to us!
We wait for You.
Be our strength every morning
and our salvation in time of trouble.
The peoples flee the thunder of Your voice;
the nations scatter when You rise.
Your spoil, O nations, is gathered as by locusts;
like a swarm of locusts men sweep over it.

The LORD is exalted, for He dwells on high;
He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness.
He will be the sure foundation for your times,
a storehouse of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge.
The fear of the LORD is Zion’s treasure.

Behold, their valiant ones cry aloud in the streets;
the envoys of peace weep bitterly.
The highways are deserted;
travel has ceased.
The treaty has been broken,
the witnesses are despised,
and human life is disregarded.
The land mourns and languishes;
Lebanon is ashamed and decayed.
Sharon is like a desert;
Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves.

“Now I will arise,” says the LORD.
“Now I will lift Myself up. Now I will be exalted.
You conceive chaff; you give birth to stubble.
Your breath is a fire that will consume you.
The peoples will be burned to ashes,
like thorns cut down and set ablaze.
You who are far off, hear what I have done;
you who are near, acknowledge My might.”

The sinners in Zion are afraid;
trembling grips the ungodly:
“Who of us can dwell with a consuming fire?
Who of us can dwell with everlasting flames?”
He who walks righteously
and speaks with sincerity,
who refuses gain from extortion,
whose hand never takes a bribe,
who stops his ears against murderous plots
and shuts his eyes tightly against evil—
he will dwell on the heights;
the mountain fortress will be his refuge;
his food will be provided
and his water assured.

Your eyes will see the King in His beauty
and behold a land that stretches afar.
Your mind will ponder the former terror:
“Where is he who tallies? Where is he who weighs?
Where is he who counts the towers?”
You will no longer see the insolent,
a people whose speech is unintelligible,
who stammer in a language you cannot understand.

Look upon Zion,
the city of our appointed feasts.
Your eyes will see Jerusalem,
a peaceful pasture, a tent that does not wander;
its tent pegs will not be pulled up,
nor will any of its cords be broken.
But there the Majestic One, our LORD,
will be for us a place of rivers and wide canals,
where no galley with oars will row,
and no majestic vessel will pass.

For the LORD is our Judge,
the LORD is our lawgiver,
the LORD is our King.
It is He who will save us.

Your ropes are slack;
they cannot secure the mast or spread the sail.
Then an abundance of spoils will be divided,
and even the lame will carry off plunder.
And no resident of Zion will say, “I am sick.”
The people who dwell there
will be forgiven of iniquity.

Silence may be kept.

New Testament reading

Matthew 15:29-39

Moving on from there, Jesus went along the Sea of Galilee. Then He went up on a mountain and sat down. Large crowds came to Him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute, and many others, and laid them at His feet, and He healed them. The crowd was amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled restored, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they glorified the God of Israel.

Then Jesus called His disciples to Him and said, “I have compassion for this crowd, because they have already been with Me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may faint along the way.”

The disciples replied, “Where in this desolate place could we find enough bread to feed such a large crowd?”

“How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked.

“Seven,” they replied, “and a few small fish.”

And He instructed the crowd to sit down on the ground. Taking the seven loaves and the fish, He gave thanks and broke them. Then He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people.

They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. A total of four thousand men were fed, in addition to women and children.

After Jesus had dismissed the crowds, He got into the boat and went to the region of Magadan.

Silence may be kept.

The Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah)

Luke 1:68-79

𝙍: Look towards the east, O Jerusalem, and see the glory that is coming from God.

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
because He has visited and redeemed His people.
He has raised up a horn of salvation for us
in the house of His servant David,
as He spoke through His holy prophets,
those of ages past,
salvation from our enemies
and from the hand of all who hate us,
to show mercy to our fathers
and to remember His holy covenant,
the oath He swore to our father Abraham,
to grant us deliverance from hostile hands,
that we may serve Him without fear,
in holiness and righteousness before Him
all the days of our lives.

And you, child, will be called
a prophet of the Most High;
for you will go on before the Lord
to prepare the way for Him,
to give to His people the knowledge of salvation
through the forgiveness of their sins,
because of the tender mercy of our God,
by which the Dawn will visit us from on high,
to shine on those who live in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet
into the path 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.

𝙍: Look towards the east, O Jerusalem, and see the glory that is coming from God.

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, that she may be ready for the coming of Christ
The leaders of the church
The nations, that they may be subject to the rule of God
Those who are working for justice in the world
The broken, that they may find God’s healing

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

Response

Father, by your Spirit
Bring in your kingdom.

Silence may be kept.

Collect of the day

O Lord, raise up, we pray, your power
and come among us,
and with great might succor us;
that whereas, through our sins and wickedness
we are grievously hindered
in running the race that is set before us,
your bountiful grace and mercy
may speedily help and deliver us;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
to whom with you and the Holy Spirit,
be honor and glory, now and forever.
Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer

Awaiting his coming in glory, 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 the Lord, when he comes, find us watching and waiting.
Amen.