“Jesus and the Centurion” (10th century) from Codex Egberti. Public domain.

Opening response

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

Hear our voice according to your loving kindness.
Revive us, LORD, according to your ordinances.

Prayer of thanksgiving

Blessed are you, God of compassion and mercy,
to you be praise and glory forever.
In the darkness of our sin,
your light breaks forth like the dawn
and your healing springs up for deliverance.
As we rejoice in the gift of your saving help,
sustain us with your bountiful Spirit
and open our lips to sing your 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

Inspirer of the ancient seers

Charles Wesley

Inspirer of the ancient seers
Who wrote from thee the sacred page,
The same through all succeeding years;
To us, in our degenerate age,
The spirit of thy word impart,
And breathe the life into our heart.

While now thine oracles we read
With earnest prayer and strong desire,
O let thy Spirit from thee proceed,
Our souls to awaken and inspire,
Our weakness help, our darkness chase,
And guide us by the light of grace.

Whenever in error’s path we rove,
The living God through sin forsake,
Our conscience by thy word reprove,
Convince and bring the wanderers back,
Deep wounded by thy Spirit’s sword,
And then by Gilead’s balm restored.

The sacred lessons of thy grace,
Transmitted through thy word, repeat,
And train us up in all thy ways
To make us in thy will complete;
Fulfill thy love’s redeeming plan,
And bring us to a perfect man.

Thus furnished from thy treasury,
O may we always ready stand
To help the souls redeemed by thee,
In what their various states demand
To teach, convince, correct, reprove,
And build them up in holiest love!

Confession of sin

Seek the LORD while he may be found.
Call on him while he is near.
Let the wicked forsake their ways,
and the unrighteous their thoughts.
Let them return to the LORD, and he will have mercy on them,
to our God, for he will freely pardon.

cf Isaiah 55

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

Lord God,
we have sinned against you;
we have committed evil in your sight.
We are sorry and repent.
Have mercy on us according to your faithful love.
Wash us completely clean of our guilt; purify us from our sin.
Put a new, faithful spirit deep inside us,
and return the joy of your salvation to us
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

cf Psalm 51

May the Father of all mercies
cleanse us from our sins,
and restore us in his image
to the praise and glory of his name,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Blessed be the LORD,
because he has heard the voice of our petitions.

Therefore our hearts greatly rejoice.
With our song we will thank him.

cf Psalm 28:7,9

Psalm 74

Refrain:
God is my King of old,
working salvation throughout the earth.

God, why have you rejected us forever?
Why does your anger smoulder against the sheep of your pasture?
Remember your congregation, which you purchased of old,
which you have redeemed to be the tribe of your inheritance:
Mount Zion, in which you have lived.
Lift up your feet to the perpetual ruins,
all the evil that the enemy has done in the sanctuary.
Your adversaries have roared in the middle of your assembly.
They have set up their standards as signs.
They behaved like men wielding axes,
cutting through a thicket of trees.
Now they break all its carved work down with hatchet and hammers.
They have burnt your sanctuary to the ground.
They have profaned the dwelling place of your Name.
They said in their heart, “We will crush them completely.”
They have burnt up all the places in the land where God was worshipped.
We see no miraculous signs.
There is no longer any prophet,
neither is there amongst us anyone who knows how long.
How long, God, shall the adversary reproach?
Shall the enemy blaspheme your name forever?
Why do you draw back your hand, even your right hand?
Take it from your chest and consume them!

Yet God is my King of old,
working salvation throughout the earth.
You divided the sea by your strength.
You broke the heads of the sea monsters in the waters.
You broke the heads of Leviathan in pieces.
You gave him as food to people and desert creatures.
You opened up spring and stream.
You dried up mighty rivers.
The day is yours, the night is also yours.
You have prepared the light and the sun.
You have set all the boundaries of the earth.
You have made summer and winter.

Remember this, that the enemy has mocked you, LORD.
Foolish people have blasphemed your name.
Don’t deliver the soul of your dove to wild beasts.
Don’t forget the life of your poor forever.
Honour your covenant,
for haunts of violence fill the dark places of the earth.
Don’t let the oppressed return ashamed.
Let the poor and needy praise your name.
Arise, God! Plead your own cause.
Remember how the foolish man mocks you all day.
Don’t forget the voice of your adversaries.
The tumult of those who rise up against you ascends continually.

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:
God is my King of old,
working salvation throughout the earth.

Psalm prayer

Redeeming God,
renew your broken people
with your Holy Spirit,
that they may walk your narrow way,
and greet your coming dawn
in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Old Testament reading

Jeremiah 22:1-9

The LORD said, “Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak this word there: ‘Hear the LORD’s word, king of Judah, who sits on David’s throne—you, your servants, and your people who enter in by these gates. The LORD says: “Execute justice and righteousness, and deliver him who is robbed out of the hand of the oppressor. Do no wrong. Do no violence to the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widow. Don’t shed innocent blood in this place. For if you do this thing indeed, then kings sitting on David’s throne will enter in by the gates of this house, riding in chariots and on horses—they, their servants, and their people. But if you will not hear these words, I swear by myself,” says the LORD, “that this house will become a desolation.” ’ ”

For the LORD says concerning the house of the king of Judah:
“You are Gilead to me,
the head of Lebanon.
Yet surely I will make you a wilderness,
cities which are not inhabited.
I will prepare destroyers against you,
everyone with his weapons,
and they will cut down your choice cedars,
and cast them into the fire.

“Many nations will pass by this city, and they will each ask his neighbour, ‘Why has the LORD done this to this great city?’ Then they will answer, ‘Because they abandoned the covenant of the LORD their God, worshipped other gods, and served them.’ ”

Silence may be kept.

New Testament reading

Matthew 8:1-13

When he came down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him. Behold, a leper came to him and worshipped him, saying, “Lord, if you want to, you can make me clean.”

Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I want to. Be made clean.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed. Jesus said to him, “See that you tell nobody; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”

When he came into Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking him for help, saying, “Lord, my servant lies in the house paralysed, grievously tormented.”

Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.”

The centurion answered, “Lord, I’m not worthy for you to come under my roof. Just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I am also a man under authority, having under myself soldiers. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and tell another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and tell my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

When Jesus heard it, he marvelled and said to those who followed, “Most certainly I tell you, I haven’t found so great a faith, not even in Israel. I tell you that many will come from the east and the west, and will sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven, but the children of the Kingdom will be thrown out into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Jesus said to the centurion, “Go your way. Let it be done for you as you have believed.” His servant was healed in that hour.

Silence may be kept.

The Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah)

Luke 1:68-79

Refrain:
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they shall be filled.

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:
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they shall be filled.

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:

Those preparing for baptism and confirmation
Those serving through leadership
Those looking for forgiveness
Those misled by the false gods of this present age
All who are hungry

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

Response

Father, hear our prayer,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Silence may be kept.

Collect of the day

Almighty God,
you show to those who are in error the light of your truth,
that they may return to the way of righteousness:
grant to all those who are admitted
into the fellowship of Christ’s religion,
that they may reject those things
that are contrary to their profession,
and follow all such things as are agreeable to the same;
through our Lord Jesus Christ,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.
Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer

Trusting in the compassion 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 God our Redeemer show us compassion and love.
Amen.