Opening response

O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.

Hear my voice, O LORD, according to your loving devotion;
give me 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

Ah! What Avails My Strife

Charles Wesley

Ah! what avails my strife,
My wandering to and fro?
Thou hast the words of endless life;
Ah! whither should I go?

Thy condescending grace
To me did freely move;
It calls me still to seek thy face,
And stoops to ask my love.

My worthless heart to gain,
The God of all that breathe,
Was found in fashion as a man,
And died a curséd death.

And can I yet delay
My little all to give?
To tear my soul from earth away,
For Jesus to receive?

Ah! no; I all forsake,
I all to thee resign:
Gracious Redeemer, take, oh, take,
And seal me ever thine!

Confession of sin

Seek the LORD while he may be found;
call on him while he is near.
Let the wicked forsake their own ways
and the unrighteous their own thoughts.
Let them return to the LORD so that he may have compassion,
and 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 done what is evil in your sight.
We are sorry and repent.
Have mercy on us according to your loving devotion.
Wash us clean of our iniquity and cleanse us from our sin.
Renew a right spirit within us,
and restore to us the joy of your salvation
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.

Bless be the LORD,
for he has heard our cry for mercy.
Therefore our hearts rejoice
and we give thanks to him with our song.

cf Psalm 28:7, 9

Psalm 35

𝙍: Vindicate me by Your righteousness, O LORD my God.

Contend with my opponents, O LORD;
fight against those who fight against me.
Take up Your shield and buckler;
arise and come to my aid.
Draw the spear and javelin against my pursuers;
say to my soul: “I am your salvation.”

May those who seek my life
be disgraced and put to shame;
may those who plan to harm me
be driven back and confounded.
May they be like chaff in the wind,
as the angel of the LORD drives them away.
May their path be dark and slick,
as the angel of the LORD pursues.
For without cause they laid their net for me;
without reason they dug a pit for my soul.
May ruin befall them by surprise;
may the net they hid ensnare them;
may they fall into the hazard they created.

Then my soul will rejoice in the LORD
and exult in His salvation.
All my bones will exclaim,
“Who is like You, O LORD,
who delivers the afflicted from the aggressor,
the poor and needy from the robber?”

Hostile witnesses come forward;
they make charges I know nothing about.
They repay me evil for good,
to the bereavement of my soul.
Yet when they were ill,
I put on sackcloth;
I humbled myself with fasting,
but my prayers returned unanswered.
I paced about
as for my friend or brother;
I was bowed down with grief,
like one mourning for his mother.
But when I stumbled, they assembled in glee;
they gathered together against me.
Assailants I did not know
slandered me without ceasing.
Like godless jesters at a feast,
they gnashed their teeth at me.

How long, O Lord, will You look on?
Rescue my soul from their ravages,
my precious life from these lions.
Then I will give You thanks in the great assembly;
I will praise You among many people.
Let not my enemies gloat over me without cause,
nor those who hate me without reason wink in malice.
For they do not speak peace,
but they devise deceitful schemes
against those who live quietly in the land.
They gape at me and say,
“Aha, aha! Our eyes have seen!”

O LORD, You have seen it; be not silent.
O Lord, be not far from me.
Awake and rise to my defense,
to my cause, my God and my Lord!
Vindicate me by Your righteousness, O LORD my God,
and do not let them gloat over me.
Let them not say in their hearts,
“Aha, just what we wanted!”
Let them not say,
“We have swallowed him up!”

May those who gloat in my distress
be ashamed and confounded;
may those who exalt themselves over me
be clothed in shame and reproach.
May those who favor my vindication
shout for joy and gladness;
may they always say, “Exalted be the LORD
who delights in His servant’s well-being.”

Then my tongue will proclaim Your righteousness
and Your praises all day long.

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: Vindicate me by Your righteousness, O LORD my God.

Psalm prayer

Free us, righteous God, from all oppression,
and bring justice to the nations,
that all the world may know you
as King of kings and Lord of lords,
now and forever.

Old Testament reading

Genesis 44:18-34

Then Judah approached Joseph and said, “Sir, please let your servant speak personally to my lord. Do not be angry with your servant, for you are equal to Pharaoh himself. My lord asked his servants, ‘Do you have a father or a brother?’

And we answered, ‘We have an elderly father and a younger brother, the child of his old age. The boy’s brother is dead. He is the only one of his mother’s sons left, and his father loves him.’

Then you told your servants, ‘Bring him down to me so that I can see him for myself.’

So we said to my lord, ‘The boy cannot leave his father. If he were to leave, his father would die.’

But you said to your servants, ‘Unless your younger brother comes down with you, you will not see my face again.’

Now when we returned to your servant my father, we relayed your words to him.

Then our father said, ‘Go back and buy us some food.’

But we answered, ‘We cannot go down there unless our younger brother goes with us. So if our younger brother is not with us, we cannot see the man.’

And your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons. When one of them was gone, I said: “Surely he has been torn to pieces.” And I have not seen him since. Now if you also take this one from me and harm comes to him, you will bring my gray hair down to Sheol in sorrow.’

So if the boy is not with us when I return to your servant, and if my father, whose life is wrapped up in the boy’s life, sees that the boy is not with us, he will die. Then your servants will have brought the gray hair of your servant our father down to Sheol in sorrow. Indeed, your servant guaranteed the boy’s safety to my father, saying, ‘If I do not return him to you, I will bear the guilt before you, my father, all my life.’

Now please let your servant stay here as my lord’s slave in place of the boy. Let him return with his brothers. For how can I go back to my father without the boy? I could not bear to see the misery that would overwhelm him.”

Silence may be kept.

New Testament reading

Hebrews 2:10-18

In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting for God, for whom and through whom all things exist, to make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering. For both the One who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers. He says:

“I will proclaim Your name to My brothers;
I will sing Your praises in the assembly.”

And again:

“I will put My trust in Him.”

And once again:

“Here am I, and the children God has given Me.”

Now since the children have flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity, so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death, that is, the devil, and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.

For surely it is not the angels He helps, but the descendants of Abraham. For this reason He had to be made like His brothers in every way, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, in order to make atonement for the sins of the people. Because He Himself suffered when He was tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted.

Silence may be kept.

The Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah)

Luke 1:68-79

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

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

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.