Opening response

Lord, open our lips
and our mouth shall proclaim your praise.

Prayer of thanksgiving

Blessed are you, Sovereign God, creator of all,
to you be glory and praise forever.
You founded the earth in the beginning
and the heavens are the work of your hands.
In the fullness of time you made us in your image,
and in these last days you have spoken to us
in your Son Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh.
As we rejoice in the gift of your presence among us
let the light of your love always shine in our hearts,
your Spirit ever renew our lives
and your praises ever be on our lips.
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

Jesus, Thou Sovereign Lord of All

Charles Wesley

Jesus, thou sovereign Lord of all,
The same through one eternal day,
Attend thy feeblest follower’s call,
And O, instruct us how to pray!
Pour out the supplicating grace,
And stir us up to seek thy face.

We cannot think a gracious thought,
We cannot feel a good desire,
Till thou, who callest worlds from nought,
The power into our hearts inspire;
And then we in the Spirit groan,
And then we give thee back thine own.

Jesus, regard the joint complaint
Of all thy tempted followers here,
And now supply the common want,
And send us down the Comforter,
The spirit of ceaseless prayer impart,
And fix thy Agent in our heart.

Come in thy pleading Spirit down
To us who for thy coming stay;
Of all thy gifts we ask but one,
We ask the constant power to pray;
Indulge us, Lord, in this request,
Thou canst not then deny the rest.

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 55

𝙍: Cast your burden upon the LORD, and He will sustain you.

Listen to my prayer, O God,
and do not ignore my plea.
Attend to me and answer me.
I am restless in my complaint,
and distraught at the voice of the enemy,
at the pressure of the wicked.
For they release disaster upon me
and revile me in their anger.

My heart murmurs within me,
and the terrors of death assail me.
Fear and trembling grip me,
and horror has overwhelmed me. 𝙍

I said, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!
I would fly away and find rest.
How far away I would flee!
In the wilderness I would remain.

I would hurry to my shelter,
far from this raging tempest.”

O Lord, confuse and confound their speech,
for I see violence and strife in the city.
Day and night they encircle the walls,
while malice and trouble lie within.
Destruction is within;
oppression and deceit never leave the streets. 𝙍

For it is not an enemy who insults me;
that I could endure.
It is not a foe who rises against me;
from him I could hide.
But it is you, a man like myself,
my companion and close friend.
We shared sweet fellowship together;
we walked with the crowd into the house of God.

Let death seize them by surprise;
let them go down to Sheol alive,
for evil is with them in their homes. 𝙍

But I call to God,
and the LORD saves me.
Morning, noon, and night, I cry out in distress,
and He hears my voice.
He redeems my soul in peace
from the battle waged against me,
even though many oppose me.
God will hear and humiliate them—
the One enthroned for the ages—
because they do not change
and they have no fear of God. 𝙍

My companion attacks his friends;
he violates his covenant.
His speech is smooth as butter,
but war is in his heart.
His words are softer than oil,
yet they are swords unsheathed.

Cast your burden upon the LORD
and He will sustain you;
He will never let the righteous be shaken.
But You, O God, will bring them down
to the Pit of destruction;
men of bloodshed and deceit
will not live out half their days.

But I will trust in You.

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: Cast your burden upon the LORD, and He will sustain you.

Psalm prayer

Lord, in all times of fear and dread,
grant that we may so cast our burdens upon you,
that you may bear us on the holy wings of the Spirit
to the stronghold of your peace;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Old Testament reading

Job 31

“I have made a covenant with my eyes.
How then could I gaze with desire at a virgin?
For what is the allotment of God from above,
or the heritage from the Almighty on high?
Does not disaster come to the unjust
and calamity to the workers of iniquity?
Does He not see my ways
and count my every step?

If I have walked in falsehood
or my foot has rushed to deceit,
let God weigh me with honest scales,
that He may know my integrity.
If my steps have turned from the path,
if my heart has followed my eyes,
or if impurity has stuck to my hands,
then may another eat what I have sown,
and may my crops be uprooted.

If my heart has been enticed by my neighbor’s wife,
or I have lurked at his door,
then may my own wife grind grain for another,
and may other men sleep with her.
For that would be a heinous crime,
an iniquity to be judged.
For it is a fire that burns down to Abaddon;
it would root out my entire harvest.

If I have rejected the cause of my manservant or maidservant
when they made a complaint against me,
what will I do when God rises to judge?
How will I answer when called to account?
Did not He who made me in the womb also make them?
Did not the same One form us in the womb?

If I have denied the desires of the poor
or allowed the widow’s eyes to fail,
if I have eaten my morsel alone,
not sharing it with the fatherless—
though from my youth I reared him as would a father,
and from my mother’s womb I guided the widow—
if I have seen one perish for lack of clothing,
or a needy man without a cloak,
if his heart has not blessed me
for warming him with the fleece of my sheep,
if I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless
because I saw that I had support in the gate,
then may my arm fall from my shoulder
and be torn from its socket.
For calamity from God terrifies me,
and His splendor I cannot overpower.

If I have put my trust in gold
or called pure gold my security,
if I have rejoiced in my great wealth
because my hand had gained so much,
if I have beheld the sun in its radiance
or the moon moving in splendor,
so that my heart was secretly enticed
and my hand threw a kiss from my mouth,
this would also be an iniquity to be judged,
for I would have denied God on high.

If I have rejoiced in my enemy’s ruin,
or exulted when evil befell him—
I have not allowed my mouth to sin
by asking for his life with a curse—
if the men of my house have not said,
‘Who is there who has not had his fill?’—
but no stranger had to lodge on the street,
for my door has been open to the traveler—
if I have covered my transgressions like Adam
by hiding my guilt in my heart,
because I greatly feared the crowds
and the contempt of the clans terrified me,
so that I kept silent
and would not go outside—

(Oh, that I had one to hear me!
Here is my signature.
Let the Almighty answer me;
let my accuser compose an indictment.
Surely I would carry it on my shoulder
and wear it like a crown.
I would give account of all my steps;
I would approach Him like a prince.)—

if my land cries out against me
and its furrows weep together,
if I have devoured its produce without payment
or broken the spirit of its tenants,
then let briers grow instead of wheat
and stinkweed instead of barley.”

Thus conclude the words of Job.

Silence may be kept.

New Testament reading

Romans 13:8

Be indebted to no one, except to one another in love. For he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. The commandments “Do not commit adultery,” “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” “Do not covet,” and any other commandments, are summed up in this one decree: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

And do this, understanding the occasion. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day has drawn near. So let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Instead, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh.

Silence may be kept.

The Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah)

Luke 1:68-79

Refrain:
In your tender compassion, O God, the dawn from on high shall break 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.

Refrain:
In your tender compassion, O God, the dawn from on high shall break 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:

Political leaders and the armed forces
Peace and justice in the world
Those who work for reconciliation
All whose lives are devastated by war and civil strife
Prisoners, refugees and homeless people

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

Almighty God,
you have broken the tyranny of sin
and have sent the Spirit of your Son into our hearts
whereby we call you Father:
give us grace to dedicate our freedom to your service,
that we and all creation may be brought
to the glorious liberty of the children of God;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.
Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer

As our Savior taught us, so we pray

Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those
who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
forever. Amen.

Conclusion

The Lord bless us, and preserve us from all evil, and keep us in eternal life.
Amen.