Opening response

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

Send your Holy Spirit upon us,
and clothe us with power from on high.

Prayer of thanksgiving

Blessed are you, creator God,
to you be praise and glory forever.
As your Spirit moved over the face of the waters
bringing light and life to your creation,
pour out your Spirit on us today
that we may walk as children of light
and by your grace reveal your presence.
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

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

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 give thanks to the LORD for his loving devotion,
and his wonders to the sons of men.

Let us offer sacrifices of thanksgiving
and declare God’s works with rejoicing.

cf Psalm 107

Psalm 24

𝙍: The LORD of Hosts—He is the King of Glory.

The earth is the LORD’s, and the fullness thereof,
the world and all who dwell therein.
For He has founded it upon the seas
and established it upon the waters. 𝙍

Who may ascend the hill of the LORD?
Who may stand in His holy place?
He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not lift up his soul to an idol
or swear deceitfully.
He will receive blessing from the LORD
and vindication from the God of his salvation.
Such is the generation of those who seek Him,
who seek Your face, O God of Jacob. 𝙍

Lift up your heads, O gates!
Be lifted up, O ancient doors,
that the King of Glory may enter!
Who is this King of Glory?
The LORD strong and mighty,
the LORD mighty in battle.
Lift up your heads, O gates!
Be lifted up, O ancient doors,
that the King of Glory may enter!
Who is He, this King of Glory?
The LORD of Hosts—
He is the King of Glory.

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: The LORD of Hosts—He is the King of Glory.

Psalm prayer

O Lord of hosts,
purify our hearts
that the King of glory may come in,
your Son, Jesus our redeemer.

Psalm 72

𝙍: The LORD reigns, let the earth rejoice

Endow the king with Your justice, O God,
and the son of the king with Your righteousness.
May he judge Your people with righteousness
and Your afflicted with justice.

May the mountains bring peace to the people,
and the hills bring righteousness.
May he vindicate the afflicted among the people;
may he save the children of the needy
and crush the oppressor. 𝙍

May they fear him as long as the sun shines,
as long as the moon remains,
through all generations.
May he be like rain that falls on freshly cut grass,
like spring showers that water the earth.
May the righteous flourish in his days
and prosperity abound,
until the moon is no more. 𝙍

May he rule from sea to sea,
and from the Euphrates to the ends of the earth.
May the nomads bow before him,
and his enemies lick the dust.
May the kings of Tarshish and distant shores bring tribute;
may the kings of Sheba and Seba offer gifts.
May all kings bow down to him
and all nations serve him. 𝙍

For he will deliver the needy who cry out
and the afflicted who have no helper.
He will take pity on the poor and needy
and save the lives of the oppressed.
He will redeem them from oppression and violence,
for their blood is precious in his sight. 𝙍

Long may he live!
May gold from Sheba be given him.
May people ever pray for him;
may they bless him all day long.
May there be an abundance of grain in the land;
may it sway atop the hills.
May its fruit trees flourish like the forests of Lebanon,
and its people like the grass of the field.
May his name endure forever;
may his name continue as long as the sun shines.
In him may all nations be blessed;
may they call him blessed. 𝙍

Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel,
who alone does marvelous deeds.
And blessed be His glorious name forever;
may all the earth be filled with His glory.

Amen and amen.

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: The LORD reigns, let the earth rejoice

Psalm prayer

O God, may your kingdom come,
with deliverance for the needy,
with peace for the righteous,
with overflowing blessing for all nations,
with glory, honor and praise
for Christ, the only Savior.

Old Testament reading

Numbers 24

And when Balaam saw that it pleased the LORD to bless Israel, he did not resort to sorcery as on previous occasions, but he turned his face toward the wilderness. When Balaam looked up and saw Israel encamped tribe by tribe, the Spirit of God came upon him, and he lifted up an oracle, saying:

“This is the prophecy of Balaam son of Beor,
the prophecy of a man whose eyes are open,
the prophecy of one who hears the words of God,
who sees a vision from the Almighty,
who bows down with eyes wide open:
How lovely are your tents, O Jacob,
your dwellings, O Israel!
They spread out like palm groves,
like gardens beside a stream,
like aloes the LORD has planted,
like cedars beside the waters.
Water will flow from his buckets,
and his seed will have abundant water.
His king will be greater than Agag,
and his kingdom will be exalted.
God brought him out of Egypt
with strength like a wild ox,
to devour hostile nations and crush their bones,
to pierce them with arrows.
He crouches, he lies down like a lion;
like a lioness, who dares to rouse him?
Blessed are those who bless you
and cursed are those who curse you.”

Then Balak’s anger burned against Balaam, and he struck his hands together and said to Balaam, “I summoned you to curse my enemies, but behold, you have persisted in blessing them these three times. Therefore, flee at once to your home! I said I would richly reward you, but instead the LORD has denied your reward.”

Balaam answered Balak, “Did I not already tell the messengers you sent me that even if Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not do anything of my own accord, good or bad, to go beyond the command of the LORD? I will speak whatever the LORD says. Now I am going back to my people, but come, let me warn you what this people will do to your people in the days to come.”

Then Balaam lifted up an oracle, saying,

“This is the prophecy of Balaam son of Beor,
the prophecy of a man whose eyes are open,
the prophecy of one who hears the words of God,
who has knowledge from the Most High,
who sees a vision from the Almighty,
who bows down with eyes wide open:
I see him, but not now;
I behold him, but not near.
A star will come forth from Jacob,
and a scepter will arise from Israel.
He will crush the skulls of Moab
and strike down all the sons of Sheth.
Edom will become a possession,
as will Seir, his enemy;
but Israel will perform with valor.
A ruler will come from Jacob
and destroy the survivors of the city.”

Then Balaam saw Amalek and lifted up an oracle, saying:

“Amalek was first among the nations,
but his end is destruction.”

Next he saw the Kenites and lifted up an oracle, saying:

“Your dwelling place is secure,
and your nest is set in a cliff.
Yet Kain will be destroyed
when Asshur takes you captive.”

Once more Balaam lifted up an oracle, saying:

“Ah, who can live
unless God has ordained it?
Ships will come from the coasts of Cyprus;
they will subdue Asshur and Eber,
but they too will perish forever.”

Then Balaam arose and returned to his homeland, and Balak also went on his way.

Silence may be kept.

New Testament reading

Luke 8:26-39

Then they sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, across the lake from Galilee. When Jesus stepped ashore, He was met by a demon-possessed man from the town. For a long time this man had not worn clothing or lived in a house, but he stayed in the tombs.

When the man saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before Him, shouting in a loud voice, “What do You want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You not to torture me!” For Jesus had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized him, and though he was bound with chains and shackles, he had broken the chains and been driven by the demon into solitary places.

“What is your name?” Jesus asked.

“Legion,” he replied, because many demons had gone into him. And the demons kept begging Jesus not to order them to go into the Abyss.

There on the hillside a large herd of pigs was feeding. So the demons begged Jesus to let them enter the pigs, and He gave them permission.

Then the demons came out of the man and went into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.

When those tending the pigs saw what had happened, they ran off and reported this in the town and countryside. So the people went out to see what had happened. They came to Jesus and found the man whom the demons had left, sitting at Jesus’ feet, clothed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. Meanwhile, those who had seen it reported how the demon-possessed man had been healed.

Then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to depart from them, because great fear had taken hold of them. So He got into the boat and started back.

The man whom the demons had left begged to go with Jesus. But He sent him away, saying, “Return home and describe how much God has done for you.” So the man went away and proclaimed all over the town how much Jesus had done for him.

Silence may be kept.

The Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah)

Luke 1:68-79

𝙍: Christ has gone up on high and has led captivity captive. Alleluia.

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: Christ has gone up on high and has led captivity captive. Alleluia.

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:

God’s royal priesthood, for empowerment by the Spirit
Those who wait on God, that they may find renewal
All people, that they may acknowledge the kingdom of the ascended Christ
The earth, for productivity and for fruitful harvests
All who are struggling with broken relationships

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 King of glory,
you have exalted your only Son Jesus Christ
with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven:
we beseech you, leave us not comfortless,
but send your Holy Spirit to strengthen us
and exalt us to the place where our Savior Christ is gone before,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.
Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer

Being made one by the power of the Spirit, 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 the Spirit kindle in us the fire of God’s love.
Amen.