Preparation

Opening response

Favor us, Lord, and deliver us.
Lord, come quickly and help us.

Teach me to do what pleases you, because you are my God.
Guide me by your good spirit into good land.

Psalm 143:10

Praise

Come, my Way, my Truth, my Life:
Such a Way, as gives us breath:
Such a Truth, as ends all strife:
And such a Life, as killeth death.

Come, my Light, my Feast, my Strength:
Such a Light, as shows a Feast:
Such a Feast, as mends in length:
Such a Strength, as makes his guest.

Come, my Joy, my Love, my Heart:
Such a Joy, as none can move:
Such a Love, as none can part:
Such a Heart, as joys in Love.

George Herbert (1633)

The Word of God

Psalm 107:1-16

Refrain:
Give thanks to the Lord because he is good,
because his faithful love lasts forever.

“Give thanks to the Lord because he is good,
because his faithful love lasts forever!”
That’s what those who are redeemed by the Lord say,
the ones God redeemed from the power of their enemies,
the ones God gathered from various countries,
from east and west, north and south.

Some of the redeemed had wandered into the desert, into the wasteland.
They couldn’t find their way to a city or town.
They were hungry and thirsty;
their lives were slipping away.
So they cried out to the Lord in their distress,
and God delivered them from their desperate circumstances.
God led them straight to human habitation.
Let them thank the Lord for his faithful love
and his wondrous works for all people,
because God satisfied the one who was parched with thirst,
and he filled up the hungry with good things!

Some of the redeemed had been sitting in darkness and deep gloom;
they were prisoners suffering in chains
because they had disobeyed God’s instructions
and rejected the Most High’s plans.
So God humbled them with hard work.
They stumbled, and there was no one to help them.
So they cried out to the Lord in their distress,
and God saved them from their desperate circumstances.
God brought them out from the darkness and deep gloom;
he shattered their chains.
Let them thank the Lord for his faithful love
and his wondrous works for all people,
because God has shattered bronze doors
and split iron bars in two!

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:
Give thanks to the Lord because he is good,
because his faithful love lasts forever.

Psalm prayer

Living Christ,
rescue us from foolish passion
and still the storms of our self-will;
and, as you are our anchor in this life,
so bring us to the haven you have prepared for us;
for your mercy’s sake.

Scripture reading
John 17:18-23

As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. I made myself holy on their behalf so that they also would be made holy in the truth.

“I’m not praying only for them but also for those who believe in me because of their word. I pray they will be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. I pray that they also will be in us, so that the world will believe that you sent me. I’ve given them the glory that you gave me so that they can be one just as we are one. I’m in them and you are in me so that they will be made perfectly one. Then the world will know that you sent me and that you have loved them just as you loved me.

Silence may be kept.

Response

Jesus said, I assure you that I am the gate of the sheep.
I came so that they could have life — indeed, so that they could live life to the fullest.

John 10.7,10b

Prayers

Intercession and thanksgiving

Prayers may include these concerns:

Local government, community leaders
All who provide local services
Those who work with young or elderly people
Schools, colleges and universities
Emergency and rescue organizations

Other intercessions and supplications may be offered as the Holy Spirit leads.

Prayer

O gracious and holy Father,
give us wisdom to perceive you,
diligence to seek you,
patience to wait for you,
eyes to behold you,
a heart to meditate upon you,
and a life to proclaim you,
through the power of the Spirit
of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Benedict of Nursia (c.550)

The Lord’s Prayer

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 kindle in us the fire of love.
Amen.