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

O That Thou Wouldst the Heavens Rend

Charles Wesley

O, that thou wouldst the heavens rend,
In majesty come down,
Stretch out thine arm omnipotent,
And seize me for thine own.

Descend, and let thy lightnings burn
The stubble of thy foe;
My sins overturn, overturn, overturn,
And make the mountains flow.

Thou my impetuous spirit guide,
And curb my headstrong will;
Thou only canst drive back the tide,
And bid the sun stand still.

What though I can not break my chain,
Or ever throw off my load;
The things impossible to men,
Are possible to God.

Is there a thing too hard for thee,
Almighty Lord of all;
Whose threatening looks dry up the sea,
And make the mountains fall?

Sworn to destroy, let earth assail;
Nearer to save thou art;
Stronger than all the powers of hell,
And greater than my heart.

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 124

𝙍: Our help is in the name of the LORD.

If the LORD had not been on our side—
let Israel now declare—
if the LORD had not been on our side
when men attacked us,
when their anger flared against us,
then they would have swallowed us alive,
then the floods would have engulfed us,
then the torrent would have overwhelmed us,
then the raging waters
would have swept us away. 𝙍

Blessed be the LORD,
who has not given us as prey to their teeth.
We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowler;
the net is torn, and we have slipped away.
Our help is in the name of the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.

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 help is in the name of the LORD.

Psalm prayer

O God, maker of heaven and earth,
through the blood of your Son you have set us free;
help us to put our trust in his victory
and to know the salvation won for us
by Jesus Christ our Lord.

Psalm 125

𝙍: Glorious things are ascribed to you, O city of God.

Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion.
It cannot be moved; it abides forever.
As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
so the LORD surrounds His people,
both now and forevermore.

For the scepter of the wicked will not rest
upon the land allotted to the righteous,
so that the righteous will not put forth
their hands to injustice.

Do good, O LORD, to those who are good,
and to the upright in heart.
But those who turn to crooked ways
the LORD will banish with the evildoers.

Peace be upon Israel.

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: Glorious things are ascribed to you, O city of God.

Psalm prayer

God of power,
you are strong to save
and you never fail those who trust in you;
keep us under your protection
and spread abroad your reign of peace
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Psalm 126

𝙍: The LORD has done great things for us.

When the LORD restored the captives of Zion,
we were like dreamers.
Then our mouths were filled with laughter,
our tongues with shouts of joy.
Then it was said among the nations,
“The LORD has done great things for them.”
The LORD has done great things for us;
we are filled with joy. 𝙍

Restore our captives, O LORD,
like streams in the Negev.
Those who sow in tears
will reap with shouts of joy.
He who goes out weeping,
bearing a trail of seed,
will surely return with shouts of joy,
carrying sheaves of grain.

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 has done great things for us.

Psalm prayer

Lord, as you send rain and flowers
even to the wilderness,
renew us by your Holy Spirit,
help us to sow good seed in time of adversity
and to live to rejoice in your good harvest of all creation;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Psalm 127

𝙍: The Lord will watch over your coming and going, both now and forevermore.

Unless the LORD builds the house,
its builders labor in vain;
unless the LORD protects the city,
its watchmen stand guard in vain.
In vain you rise early
and stay up late,
toiling for bread to eat—
for He gives sleep to His beloved.

Children are indeed a heritage from the LORD,
and the fruit of the womb is His reward.
Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,
so are children born in one’s youth.
Blessed is the man
whose quiver is full of them.
He will not be put to shame
when he confronts the enemies at the gate.

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 watch over your coming and going, both now and forevermore.

Psalm prayer

Lord, you are ever watchful
and bless us with your gifts;
as you provide for all our needs,
so help us to build only what pleases you;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Silence may be kept.

Old Testament reading

Zephaniah 3:1-13

Woe to the city of oppressors,
rebellious and defiled!
She heeded no voice;
she accepted no correction.
She does not trust in the LORD;
she has not drawn near to her God.
Her princes are roaring lions;
her judges are evening wolves,
leaving nothing for the morning.
Her prophets are reckless,
faithless men.
Her priests profane the sanctuary;
they do violence to the law.
The LORD within her is righteous;
He does no wrong.
He applies His justice morning by morning;
He does not fail at dawn,
yet the unjust know no shame.

“I have cut off the nations;
their corner towers are destroyed.
I have made their streets deserted
with no one to pass through.
Their cities are laid waste,
with no man, no inhabitant.
I said, ‘Surely you will fear Me
and accept correction.’
Then her dwelling place would not be cut off
despite all for which I punished her.
But they rose early
to corrupt all their deeds.
Therefore wait for Me,”
declares the LORD,
“until the day
I rise to testify.
For My decision is to gather nations,
to assemble kingdoms,
to pour out upon them My indignation—
all My burning anger.
For all the earth will be consumed
by the fire of My jealousy.

For then I will restore
pure lips to the peoples,
that all may call upon the name of the LORD
and serve Him shoulder to shoulder.
From beyond the rivers of Cush
My worshipers, My scattered people,
will bring Me an offering.
On that day you will not be put to shame
for any of the deeds
by which you have transgressed against Me.
For then I will remove from among you
those who rejoice in their pride,
and you will never again be haughty
on My holy mountain.
But I will leave within you a meek and humble people,
and they will trust in the name of the LORD.
The remnant of Israel
will no longer do wrong or speak lies,
nor will a deceitful tongue
be found in their mouths.
But they will feed and lie down,
with no one to make them tremble.”

Silence may be kept.

New Testament reading

Matthew 18:1-20

At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who then is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

Jesus invited a little child to stand among them. “Truly I tell you,” He said, “unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes a little child like this in My name welcomes Me.

But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.

Woe to the world for the causes of sin. These stumbling blocks must come, but woe to the man through whom they come!

If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than to have two hands and two feet and be thrown into the eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.

See that you do not look down on any of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of My Father in heaven.

What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go out to search for the one that is lost? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he rejoices more over that one sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray. In the same way, your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.

If your brother sins against you, go and confront him privately. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, regard him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.

Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

Again, I tell you truly that if two of you on the earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by My Father in heaven. For where two or three gather together in My name, there am I with them.”

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

Father, by your Spirit
Bring in your kingdom.

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.