The Baptism of Christ

Opening response

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

Your light springs up for the righteous
and all people have seen your glory.

Prayer of thanksgiving

Blessed are you, Sovereign God,
king of the nations,
to you be praise and glory forever.
From the rising of the sun to its setting
your name is proclaimed in all the world.
As the Sun of Righteousness dawns in our hearts
anoint our lips with the seal of your Spirit
that we may witness to your gospel
and sing your praise in all the earth.
Blessed be God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Blessed be God forever.

Hymn

Baptized into thy name, mysterious one in three

Charles Wesley

Baptized into thy name,
Mysterious One in Three,
Our souls and bodies claim,
A sacrifice to thee;
And let us live our faith to prove,
The faith which works by humble love.

O that our light may shine,
And all our lives express
The character divine,
The real holiness;
And then receive us up, to adore
The triune God forevermore.

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 89:19-29

You once spoke in a vision;
to Your godly ones You said,
“I have bestowed help on a warrior;
I have exalted one chosen from the people.
I have found My servant David;
with My sacred oil I have anointed him.
My hand will sustain him;
surely My arm will strengthen him.

No enemy will exact tribute;
no wicked man will oppress him.
I will crush his foes before him
and strike down those who hate him.
My faithfulness and loving devotion will be with him,
and through My name his horn will be exalted.
I will set his hand over the sea,
and his right hand upon the rivers.
He will call to Me, ‘You are my Father,
my God, the Rock of my salvation.’

I will indeed appoint him as My firstborn,
the highest of the kings of the earth.
I will forever preserve My loving devotion for him,
and My covenant with him will stand fast.
I will establish his line forever,
his throne as long as the heavens endure.

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 God,
remember your promise
fulfilled in your anointed Son Jesus Christ,
in whose strength alone we stand,
now and forever.

Old Testament reading

Isaiah 42:1-9

“Here is My Servant, whom I uphold,
My Chosen One, in whom My soul delights.
I will put My Spirit on Him,
and He will bring justice to the nations.
He will not cry out or raise His voice,
nor make His voice heard in the streets.
A bruised reed He will not break
and a smoldering wick He will not extinguish;
He will faithfully bring forth justice.
He will not grow weak or discouraged
before He has established justice on the earth.
In His law the islands will put their hope.”

This is what God the LORD says—
He who created the heavens
and stretched them out,
who spread out the earth and its offspring,
who gives breath to the people on it
and life to those who walk in it:

“I, the LORD, have called you
for a righteous purpose,
and I will take hold of your hand.
I will keep you and appoint you
to be a covenant for the people
and a light to the nations,
to open the eyes of the blind,
to bring prisoners out of the dungeon
and those sitting in darkness
out from the prison house.

I am the LORD;
that is My name!
I will not yield My glory to another
or My praise to idols.
Behold, the former things have happened,
and now I declare new things.
Before they spring forth
I proclaim them to you.”

Silence may be kept.

New Testament reading

Acts 19:1-7

While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the interior and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?”

“No,” they answered, “we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”

“Into what, then, were you baptized?” Paul asked.

“The baptism of John,” they replied.

Paul explained: “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the One coming after him, that is, in Jesus.”

On hearing this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. There were about twelve men in all.

Silence may be kept.

The Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah)

Luke 1:68-79

𝙍: Jesus is baptized and the whole world is made holy;
Christ washes away our sins and purifies us with the Holy Spirit.

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: Jesus is baptized and the whole world is made holy;
Christ washes away our sins and purifies us with the Holy Spirit.

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 are offered
for the day and its tasks
for the world and its needs
for the Church and her life

The unity of the church
The peace of the world
The healing of the sick
The revelation of Christ to those from whom his glory is hidden
All who travel

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

Eternal Father,
who at the baptism of Jesus
revealed him to be your Son,
anointing him with the Holy Spirit:
grant to us, who are born of water and the Spirit,
that we may be faithful to our calling as your adopted children;
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

Rejoicing in the presence of God here among us,
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 Christ, who sends us to the nations, give us the power of his Spirit.
Amen.