Opening response

Lord, open our lips.
Our mouth will declare your praise.

Hear our voice according to your loving kindness.
Revive us, LORD, according to your ordinances.

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

Let us admit to God the sin which always confronts us.

A time of silence and self-examination may be kept.

Almighty God,
patient and of great goodness:
I confess to you,
I confess with my whole heart
my neglect and forgetfulness of your commandments,
my wrong doing, thinking, and speaking;
the hurts I have done to others,
and the good I have left undone.
O God, forgive me, for I have sinned against you;
and raise me to newness of life;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

May the God of love and power
forgive us and free us from our sins,
heal and strengthen us by his Spirit,
and raise us to new life in Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Psalm 70

Refrain:
Let all those who seek you rejoice and be glad in you.

Hurry, God, to deliver me.
Come quickly to help me, LORD.
Let them be disappointed and confounded who seek my soul.
Let those who desire my ruin be turned back in disgrace.
Let them be turned because of their shame
who say, “Aha! Aha!”
Let all those who seek you rejoice and be glad in you.
Let those who love your salvation continually say,
“Let God be exalted!”
But I am poor and needy.
Come to me quickly, God.
You are my help and my deliverer.
LORD, don’t delay.

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:
Let all those who seek you rejoice and be glad in you.

Psalm prayer

O God, our helper and defender,
deliver us in our weakness,
answer our longings
and vindicate our faith,
that we may see your glory
in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Psalm 77

Refrain:
You are the God who works wonders; you have demonstrated your strength among all peoples.

My cry goes to God!
Indeed, I cry to God for help,
and for him to listen to me.
In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord.
My hand was stretched out in the night, and didn’t get tired.
My soul refused to be comforted.
I remember God, and I groan.
I complain, and my spirit is overwhelmed. Selah.

You hold my eyelids open.
I am so troubled that I can’t speak.
I have considered the days of old,
the years of ancient times.
I remember my song in the night.
I consider in my own heart;
my spirit diligently enquires:
“Will the Lord reject us forever?
Will he be favourable no more?
Has his loving kindness vanished forever?
Does his promise fail for generations?
Has God forgotten to be gracious?
Has he, in anger, withheld his compassion?” Selah.

Then I thought, “I will appeal to this:
the years of the right hand of the Most High.”
I will remember the LORD’s deeds;
for I will remember your wonders of old.
I will also meditate on all your work,
and consider your doings.
Your way, God, is in the sanctuary.
What god is great like God?
You are the God who does wonders.
You have made your strength known amongst the peoples.
You have redeemed your people with your arm,
the sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah.

The waters saw you, God.
The waters saw you, and they writhed.
The depths also convulsed.
The clouds poured out water.
The skies resounded with thunder.
Your arrows also flashed around.
The voice of your thunder was in the whirlwind.
The lightnings lit up the world.
The earth trembled and shook.
Your way was through the sea,
your paths through the great waters.
Your footsteps were not known.
You led your people like a flock,
by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

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:
You are the God who works wonders; you have demonstrated your strength among all peoples.

Psalm prayer

God our shepherd,
you led us and saved us in times of old;
do not forget your people in their troubles,
but raise up your power
to sustain the poor and helpless;
for the honor of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Old Testament reading

Jeremiah 17:5-18

The LORD says:
“Cursed is the man who trusts in man,
relies on strength of flesh,
and whose heart departs from the LORD.
For he will be like a bush in the desert,
and will not see when good comes,
but will inhabit the parched places in the wilderness,
an uninhabited salt land.

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
and whose confidence is in the LORD.
For he will be as a tree planted by the waters,
who spreads out its roots by the river,
and will not fear when heat comes,
but its leaf will be green,
and will not be concerned in the year of drought.
It won’t cease from yielding fruit.
The heart is deceitful above all things
and it is exceedingly corrupt.
Who can know it?

“I, the LORD, search the mind.
I try the heart,
even to give every man according to his ways,
according to the fruit of his doings.”

As the partridge that sits on eggs which she has not laid,
so is he who gets riches, and not by right.
In the middle of his days, they will leave him.
At his end, he will be a fool.
A glorious throne, set on high from the beginning,
is the place of our sanctuary.
LORD, the hope of Israel,
all who forsake you will be disappointed.
Those who depart from me will be written in the earth,
because they have forsaken the LORD,
the spring of living waters.
Heal me, O LORD, and I will be healed.
Save me, and I will be saved;
for you are my praise.
Behold, they ask me,
“Where is the LORD’s word?
Let it be fulfilled now.”
As for me, I have not hurried from being a shepherd after you.
I haven’t desired the woeful day. You know.
That which came out of my lips was before your face.
Don’t be a terror to me.
You are my refuge in the day of evil.
Let them be disappointed who persecute me,
but don’t let me be disappointed.
Let them be dismayed,
but don’t let me be dismayed.
Bring on them the day of evil,
and destroy them with double destruction.

Silence may be kept.

New Testament reading

John 9:18-41

The Jews therefore didn’t believe concerning him, that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of him who had received his sight, and asked them, “Is this your son, whom you say was born blind? How then does he now see?”

His parents answered them, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but how he now sees, we don’t know; or who opened his eyes, we don’t know. He is of age. Ask him. He will speak for himself.” His parents said these things because they feared the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that if any man would confess him as Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue. Therefore his parents said, “He is of age. Ask him.”

So they called the man who was blind a second time, and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.”

He therefore answered, “I don’t know if he is a sinner. One thing I do know: that though I was blind, now I see.”

They said to him again, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”

He answered them, “I told you already, and you didn’t listen. Why do you want to hear it again? You don’t also want to become his disciples, do you?”

They insulted him and said, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses. But as for this man, we don’t know where he comes from.”

The man answered them, “How amazing! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshipper of God and does his will, he listens to him. Since the world began it has never been heard of that anyone opened the eyes of someone born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”

They answered him, “You were altogether born in sins, and do you teach us?” Then they threw him out.

Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and finding him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of God?”

He answered, “Who is he, Lord, that I may believe in him?”

Jesus said to him, “You have both seen him, and it is he who speaks with you.”

He said, “Lord, I believe!” and he worshipped him.

Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgement, that those who don’t see may see; and that those who see may become blind.”

Those of the Pharisees who were with him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?”

Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, ‘We see.’ Therefore your sin remains.

Silence may be kept.

The Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah)

Luke 1:68-79

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

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
for he has visited and redeemed his people;
and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David
(as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets who have been from of old),
salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us;
to show mercy toward our fathers,
to remember his holy covenant,
the oath which he swore to Abraham our father,
to grant to us that we, being delivered out of the hand of our enemies,
should serve him without fear,
in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life.
And you, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High;
for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways,
to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the remission of their sins,
because of the tender mercy of our God,
by which the dawn from on high will visit us,
to shine on those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death;
to guide our feet into the way 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.

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

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

Loving God, we look to you.
Receive our prayer.

Silence may be kept.

Collect of the day

Merciful Lord,
absolve your people from their offenses,
that through your bountiful goodness
we may all be delivered from the chains of those sins
which by our frailty we have committed;
grant this, heavenly Father,
for Jesus Christ’s sake, our blessed Lord and Savior,
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.