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

God of Unbounded Power

Charles Wesley

God of unbounded power,
God of unwearied love,
Be present in our dangerous hour
Our danger to remove:
Jesus, Jehovah, Lord,
Thy wonted aid we claim;
Not trusting in our bow or sword,
But in thy saving name!

Our lives are hid with thine,
Our hairs are numbered all,
Nor can without the will divine
One worthless sparrow fall.
And shall a nation bleed,
And shall a kingdom fail,
While thou, O Christ, art Lord and head
Over heaven and earth and hell?

Beneath thy wings secure,
In patience we possess
Our souls, and quietly endure
Whatever our God decrees.
Teach us to understand
The thunder of thy power,
And thus, O Lord, to see thy hand,
Thy truth and love adore.

Escaped the hostile sword,
O may we fly to thee,
And find in our redeeming Lord
Our life and liberty.
Our strength and righteousness,
O let us hold thee fast,
With confidence divine, and peace
That shall forever last.

Confession of sin

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

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 praise the LORD for his loving kindness,
and his wondrous deeds for all people.

Let us offer the sacrifices of thanksgiving,
and declare God’s deeds with singing.

cf Psalm 107

Psalm 80

Hear us, O Shepherd of Israel,
who leads Joseph like a flock;
You who sit enthroned between the cherubim,
shine forth before Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh.
Rally Your mighty power
and come to save us.
Restore us, O God,
and cause Your face to shine upon us,
that we may be saved.

O LORD God of Hosts,
how long will Your anger smolder
against the prayers of Your people?
You fed them with the bread of tears
and made them drink the full measure of their tears.
You make us contend with our neighbors;
our enemies mock us.
Restore us, O God of Hosts,
and cause Your face to shine upon us,
that we may be saved.

You uprooted a vine from Egypt;
You drove out the nations and transplanted it.
You cleared the ground for it,
and it took root and filled the land.
The mountains were covered by its shade,
and the mighty cedars with its branches.
It sent out its branches to the Sea,
and its shoots toward the River.

Why have You broken down its walls,
so that all who pass by pick its fruit?
The boar from the forest ravages it,
and the creatures of the field feed upon it.
Return, O God of Hosts, we pray!
Look down from heaven and see!
Attend to this vine—
the root Your right hand has planted,
the son You have raised up for Yourself.

Your vine has been cut down and burned;
they perish at the rebuke of Your countenance.
Let Your hand be upon the man at Your right hand,
on the son of man You have raised up for Yourself.
Then we will not turn away from You;
revive us, and we will call on Your name.
Restore us, O LORD God of Hosts;
cause Your face to shine upon us,
that we may be saved.

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.

Psalm prayer

Faithful shepherd of your people,
as we look for the light of your countenance,
restore in us the image of your glory
and graft us into the risen life of your Son,
Jesus Christ our Lord.

Psalm 82

𝙍: Arise, O God, judge the earth.

God presides in the divine assembly;
He renders judgment among the gods:

“How long will you judge unjustly
and show partiality to the wicked?

Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless;
uphold the rights of the afflicted and oppressed.
Rescue the weak and needy;
save them from the hand of the wicked. 𝙍

They do not know or understand;
they wander in the darkness;
all the foundations of the earth are shaken.
I have said, ‘You are gods;
you are all sons of the Most High.’
But like mortals you will die,
and like rulers you will fall.”

Arise, O God, judge the earth,
for all the nations are Your inheritance.

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: Arise, O God, judge the earth.

Psalm prayer

God our deliverer,
when the foundations are shaken
and justice has departed,
defend the poor and needy
and give your people strength to fight all wrong
in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Old Testament reading

Job 33

“But now, O Job, hear my speech,
and listen to all my words.
Behold, I will open my mouth;
my address is on the tip of my tongue.
My words are from an upright heart,
and my lips speak sincerely what I know.
The Spirit of God has made me,
and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
Refute me if you can;
prepare your case and confront me.
I am just like you before God;
I was also formed from clay.
Surely no fear of me should terrify you;
nor will my hand be heavy upon you.

Surely you have spoken in my hearing,
and I have heard these very words:
‘I am pure, without transgression;
I am clean, with no iniquity in me.
Yet God finds occasions against me;
He counts me as His enemy.
He puts my feet in the stocks;
He watches over all my paths.’

Behold, you are not right in this matter.
I will answer you, for God is greater than man.
Why do you complain to Him
that He answers nothing a man asks?
For God speaks in one way and in another,
yet no one notices.
In a dream,
in a vision in the night,
when deep sleep falls upon men
as they slumber on their beds,
He opens their ears
and terrifies them with warnings
to turn a man from wrongdoing
and keep him from pride,
to preserve his soul from the Pit
and his life from perishing by the sword.

A man is also chastened on his bed
with pain and constant distress in his bones,
so that he detests his bread,
and his soul loathes his favorite food.
His flesh wastes away from sight,
and his hidden bones protrude.
He draws near to the Pit,
and his life to the messengers of death.

Yet if there is a messenger on his side,
one mediator in a thousand,
to tell a man what is right for him,
to be gracious to him and say,
‘Spare him from going down to the Pit;
I have found his ransom,’
then his flesh is refreshed like a child’s;
he returns to the days of his youth.
He prays to God and finds favor;
he sees God’s face and shouts for joy,
and God restores His righteousness
to that man.
Then he sings before men
with these words:
‘I have sinned and perverted what was right;
yet I did not get what I deserved.
He redeemed my soul from going down to the Pit,
and I will live to see the light.’

Behold, all these things God does to a man,
two or even three times,
to bring back his soul from the Pit,
that he may be enlightened with the light of life.
Pay attention, Job, and listen to me;
be silent, and I will speak.
But if you have something to say, answer me;
speak up, for I would like to vindicate you.
But if not, then listen to me;
be quiet, and I will teach you wisdom.”

Silence may be kept.

New Testament reading

Romans 14:13-23

Therefore let us stop judging one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother’s way.

I am convinced and fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean. If your brother is distressed by what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother, for whom Christ died.

Do not allow what you consider good, then, to be spoken of as evil. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. For whoever serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men.

So then, let us pursue what leads to peace and to mutual edification. Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to let his eating be a stumbling block. It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything to cause your brother to stumble.

Keep your belief about such matters between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who does not condemn himself by what he approves. But the one who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and everything that is not from faith is sin.

Silence may be kept.

The Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah)

Luke 1:68-79

Refrain:
You are the God who does wonders.
You have made your strength known amongst the peoples.

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:
You are the God who does wonders.
You have made your strength known amongst the peoples.

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.
He was conceived by the Holy Spirit
and born of the Virgin Mary.
He 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,
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He 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 media and the arts
Farming and fishing
Commerce and industry
Those whose work is unfulfilling, stressful or fraught with danger
All who are unemployed

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

O God, the protector of all who trust in you,
without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy:
increase and multiply upon us your mercy;
that with you as our ruler and guide
we may so pass through things temporal
that we lose not our hold on things eternal;
grant this, heavenly Father,
for our Lord Jesus Christ's sake,
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.