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

Blest Be Our Everlasting Lord

Charles Wesley

Blest be our everlasting Lord,
Our Father, God, and King!
Thy sovereign goodness we record,
Thy glorious power we sing.

By thee the victory is given:
The majesty divine,
Wisdom and might, and earth and heaven,
And all therein are thine.

The kingdom, Lord, is thine alone,
Who dost thy right maintain,
And high on thine eternal throne,
Over men and angels reign.

Riches, as seemeth good to thee,
Thou dost, and honor give;
And kings their power and dignity
Out of thy hand receive.

Thou hast on us the grace bestowed,
Thy greatness to proclaim;
And therefore now thank we our God,
And praise thy glorious name.

Thy glorious name, thy nature’s powers,
Thou hast to man made known;
And all the Deity is ours,
Through thy incarnate Son.

Confession of sin

When we cry out to the LORD in our trouble,
he will bring us out of our distress.

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 give thanks to the LORD for his loving devotion,
and his wonders to the sons of men.

Let us offer sacrifices of thanksgiving
and declare God’s works with rejoicing.

cf Psalm 107

Psalm 121

𝙍: The LORD will guard you from all evil.

I lift up my eyes to the hills.
From where does my help come?
My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
He will not allow your foot to slip;
your Protector will not slumber.
Behold, the Protector of Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep. 𝙍

The LORD is your keeper;
the LORD is the shade on your right hand.
The sun will not strike you by day,
nor the moon by night.
The LORD will guard you from all evil;
He will preserve your soul.
The LORD will watch over your coming and going,
both now and forevermore.

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: The LORD will guard you from all evil.

Psalm prayer

Lord, ever watchful and faithful,
we look to you to be our defense
and we lift our hearts to know your help;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Psalm 122

𝙍: How lovely is Your dwelling place, O LORD of Hosts!

I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the LORD.”
Our feet are standing in your gates,
O Jerusalem.

Jerusalem is built up
as a city united together,
where the tribes go up,
the tribes of the LORD,
as a testimony for Israel,
to give thanks to the name of the LORD.
For there the thrones of judgment stand,
the thrones of the house of David. 𝙍

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
“May those who love you prosper.
May there be peace within your walls,
and prosperity inside your fortresses.”
For the sake of my brothers and friends,
I will say, “Peace be within you.”
For the sake of the house of the LORD our God,
I will seek your prosperity.

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: How lovely is Your dwelling place, O LORD of Hosts!

Psalm prayer

God of our pilgrimage,
bring us with joy to the eternal city
founded on the rock,
and give to our earthly cities
the peace that comes from above;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Psalm 123

𝙍: Our eyes are on the LORD our God.

I lift up my eyes to You,
the One enthroned in heaven.
As the eyes of servants
look to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a maidservant
look to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes are on the LORD our God
until He shows us mercy. 𝙍

Have mercy on us, O LORD, have mercy,
for we have endured much contempt.
We have endured much scorn from the arrogant,
much contempt from the proud.

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: Our eyes are on the LORD our God.

Psalm prayer

Sovereign God, enthroned in the heavens,
look upon us with your eyes of mercy,
as we look on you with humility and love,
and fill our souls with your peace
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Silence may be kept.

Old Testament reading

Zephaniah 1:1-2:3

This is the word of the LORD that came to Zephaniah son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah:

“I will completely sweep away
everything from the face of the earth,”
declares the LORD.
“I will sweep away man and beast;
I will sweep away the birds of the air,
and the fish of the sea,
and the idols with their wicked worshipers.
I will cut off mankind
from the face of the earth,”
declares the LORD.
“I will stretch out My hand against Judah
and against all who dwell in Jerusalem.
I will cut off from this place every remnant of Baal,
the names of the idolatrous and pagan priests—
those who bow on the rooftops
to worship the host of heaven,
those who bow down and swear by the LORD
but also swear by Milcom,
and those who turn back
from following the LORD,
neither seeking the LORD
nor inquiring of Him.”

Be silent in the presence of the Lord GOD,
for the Day of the LORD is near.
Indeed, the LORD has prepared a sacrifice;
He has consecrated His guests.

“On the Day of the LORD’s sacrifice
I will punish the princes,
the sons of the king,
and all who are dressed in foreign apparel.
On that day I will punish
all who leap over the threshold,
who fill the house of their master
with violence and deceit.
On that day,” declares the LORD,
“a cry will go up from the Fish Gate,
a wail from the Second District,
and a loud crashing from the hills.
Wail, O dwellers of the Hollow,
for all your merchants will be silenced;
all who weigh out silver will be cut off.

And at that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps
and punish the men settled in complacency,
who say to themselves,
‘The LORD will do nothing,
either good or bad.’
Their wealth will be plundered
and their houses laid waste.
They will build houses but not inhabit them,
and plant vineyards but never drink their wine.

The great Day of the LORD is near—
near and coming quickly.
Listen, the Day of the LORD!
Then the cry of the mighty will be bitter.
That day will be
a day of wrath,
a day of trouble and distress,
a day of destruction and desolation,
a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and blackness,
a day of horn blast and battle cry
against the fortified cities,
and against the high corner towers.
I will bring such distress on mankind
that they will walk like the blind,
because they have sinned against the LORD.
Their blood will be poured out like dust
and their flesh like dung.
Neither their silver nor their gold
will be able to deliver them
on the Day of the LORD’s wrath.
The whole earth will be consumed
by the fire of His jealousy.”

For indeed, He will make a sudden end
of all who dwell on the earth.

Gather yourselves, gather together,
O shameful nation,
before the decree takes effect
and the day passes like chaff,
before the burning anger of the LORD comes upon you,
before the Day of the LORD’s anger comes upon you.
Seek the LORD, all you humble of the earth
who carry out His justice.
Seek righteousness; seek humility.
Perhaps you will be sheltered
on the day of the LORD’s anger.

Silence may be kept.

New Testament reading

Matthew 17:22-27

When they gathered together in Galilee, Jesus told them, “The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men. They will kill Him, and on the third day He will be raised to life.” And the disciples were deeply grieved.

After they had arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma tax came to Peter and asked, “Does your Teacher pay the two drachmas?”

“Yes,” he answered.

When Peter entered the house, Jesus preempted him. “What do you think, Simon?” He asked. “From whom do the kings of the earth collect customs and taxes: from their own sons, or from others?”

“From others,” Peter answered.

“Then the sons are exempt,” Jesus declared. “But so that we may not offend them, go to the sea, cast a hook, and take the first fish you catch. When you open its mouth, you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for My tax and yours.”

Silence may be kept.

The Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah)

Luke 1:68-79

𝙍: Like the sun in the morning sky, the Savior of the world will dawn; like rain upon the meadows, the Christ will come down upon us.

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: Like the sun in the morning sky, the Savior of the world will dawn; like rain upon the meadows, the Christ will come down upon us.

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

In faith we pray
We pray to you, our God.

Silence may be kept.

Collect of the day

Lord Jesus Christ,
who at your first coming sent your messenger
to prepare your way before you:
grant that the ministers and stewards of your mysteries
may likewise so prepare and make ready your way
by turning the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just,
that at your second coming to judge the world
we may be found an acceptable people in your sight;
for you are alive and reign with the Father
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, 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.