Opening response

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

Hear our voice, O LORD, according to Your loving devotion;
give us life according to Your justice.

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

Infinite God, To Thee We Raise

Charles Wesley

Infinite God, to Thee we raise
Our hearts in solemn songs of praise,
By all thy works on earth adored,
We worship thee, the common Lord;
The everlasting Father own,
And bow our souls before thy throne.

Thee all the choir of angels sings,
The Lord of hosts, the King of kings;
Cherubs proclaim thy praise aloud,
And seraphs shout the triune God;
And, holy, holy, holy, cry,
Thy glory fills both earth and sky!

Head of the martyrs’ noble host,
Of thee they justly make their boast;
The church, to earth’s remotest bounds,
Her heavenly Founder’s praise resounds;
And strives, with those around the throne,
To hymn the mystic three in one.

Father of endless majesty,
All might and love they render thee;
Thy true and only Son adore,
The same in dignity and power;
And God the Holy Ghost declare,
The saints’ eternal Comforter.

Confession of sin

The LORD is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion.
He has not dealt with us according to our sins
or repaid us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his loving devotion for those who fear him.

Silence is kept for reflection.

Holy God,
Holy and strong,
Holy and immortal,
have mercy upon us.

As far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

As a father has compassion on his children,
so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him.

Bless the LORD, O my soul;
all that is within me, bless his holy name.

Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and do not forget all his kind deeds.

Psalm 50

𝙍: Sacrifice a thank offering to God.

The Mighty One, God the LORD,
speaks and summons the earth
from where the sun rises to where it sets.
From Zion, perfect in beauty,
God shines forth.
Our God approaches and will not be silent!
Consuming fire precedes Him,
and a tempest rages around Him.
He summons the heavens above,
and the earth, that He may judge His people:
“Gather to Me My saints,
who made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.”
And the heavens proclaim His righteousness,
for God Himself is Judge. 𝙍

“Hear, O My people, and I will speak,
O Israel, and I will testify against you:
I am God, your God.
I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices,
and your burnt offerings are ever before Me.
I have no need for a bull from your stall
or goats from your pens,
for every beast of the forest is Mine—
the cattle on a thousand hills.
I know every bird in the mountains,
and the creatures of the field are Mine.
If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
for the world is Mine, and the fullness thereof.
Do I eat the flesh of bulls,
or drink the blood of goats?
Sacrifice a thank offering to God,
and fulfill your vows to the Most High.
Call upon Me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you will honor Me.” 𝙍

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: Sacrifice a thank offering to God.

Psalm prayer

Mighty God,
dwelling in unapproachable light,
forgive our vain attempts to appease you,
and show us your full salvation
in Jesus Christ your Son our Lord.

Old Testament reading

Micah 6:1-8

Hear now what the LORD says:

“Arise, plead your case before the mountains,
and let the hills hear your voice.
Hear, O mountains, the LORD’s indictment,
you enduring foundations of the earth.
For the LORD has a case against His people,
and He will argue it against Israel:

‘My people, what have I done to you?
Testify against Me how I have wearied you!
For I brought you up from the land of Egypt
and redeemed you from the house of slavery.
I sent Moses before you,
as well as Aaron and Miriam.
My people, remember what Balak king of Moab counseled
and what Balaam son of Beor answered.
Remember your journey from Shittim to Gilgal,
so that you may acknowledge the righteousness of the LORD.’ ”

With what shall I come before the LORD
when I bow before the God on high?
Should I come to Him with burnt offerings,
with year-old calves?
Would the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams,
with ten thousand rivers of oil?
Shall I present my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

He has shown you, O man, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you
but to act justly, to love mercy,
and to walk humbly with your God?

Silence may be kept.

New Testament reading

Luke 5:28-39

After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax booth. “Follow Me,” He told him, and Levi got up, left everything, and followed Him.

Then Levi hosted a great banquet for Jesus at his house. A large crowd of tax collectors was there, along with others who were eating with them. But the Pharisees and their scribes complained to Jesus’ disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”

Jesus answered, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”

Then they said to Him, “John’s disciples and those of the Pharisees frequently fast and pray, but Yours keep on eating and drinking.”

Jesus replied, “Can you make the guests of the bridegroom fast while He is with them? But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.”

He also told them a parable: “No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and sews it on an old one. If he does, he will tear the new garment as well, and the patch from the new will not match the old.

And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will spill, and the wineskins will be ruined. Instead, new wine is poured into new wineskins. And no one after drinking old wine wants new, for he says, ‘The old is better.’ ”

Silence may be kept.

The Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah)

Luke 1:68-79

𝙍: You have raised up for us a mighty Savior, born of the house of your servant David.

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: You have raised up for us a mighty Savior, born of the house of your servant David.

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:

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

Lord, hear your people
and answer our prayers.

Silence may be kept.

Collect of the day

Almighty God,
whose Son Jesus Christ fasted forty days in the wilderness,
and was tempted as we are, yet without sin:
give us grace to discipline ourselves in obedience to your Spirit;
and, as you know our weakness,
so may we know your power to save;
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

Trusting in the compassion of God,
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

May God our Redeemer show us compassion and love.
Amen.