Opening response

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

Prayer of thanksgiving

Blessed are you, Sovereign God, creator of all,
to you be glory and praise forever.
You founded the earth in the beginning
and the heavens are the work of your hands.
In the fullness of time you made us in your image,
and in these last days you have spoken to us
in your Son Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh.
As we rejoice in the gift of your presence among us
let the light of your love always shine in our hearts,
your Spirit ever renew our lives
and your praises ever be on our lips.
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

Let the Redeemed Give Thanks and Praise

Charles Wesley

Let the redeemed give thanks and praise
To a forgiving God!
My feeble voice I cannot raise
Till washed in Jesus’ blood:

Till, at thy coming from above,
My mountain-sins depart,
And fear gives place to filial love,
And peace overflows my heart.

Prisoner of hope, I still attend
The appearing of my Lord,
These endless doubts and fears to end,
And speak my soul restored;

Restored by reconciling grace,
With present pardon blest,
And fitted by true holiness
For my eternal rest.

The peace which man can never conceive,
The love and joy unknown,
Now, Father, to thy servant give,
And claim me for thine own.

My God, in Jesus pacified,
My God, thyself declare,
And draw me to his open side,
And plunge the sinner there.

Confession of sin

Seek the LORD while he may be found.
Call on him while he is near.
Let the wicked forsake their ways,
and the unrighteous their thoughts.
Let them return to the LORD, and he will have mercy on them,
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 committed evil in your sight.
We are sorry and repent.
Have mercy on us according to your faithful love.
Wash us completely clean of our guilt; purify us from our sin.
Put a new, faithful spirit deep inside us,
and return the joy of your salvation to us
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.

Blessed be the LORD,
because he has heard the voice of our petitions.

Therefore our hearts greatly rejoice.
With our song we will thank him.

cf Psalm 28:7, 9

Psalm 44

Refrain:
Rise up, O Lord, to help us.

We have heard with our ears, God;
our fathers have told us what work you did in their days,
in the days of old.
You drove out the nations with your hand,
but you planted them.
You afflicted the peoples,
but you spread them abroad.
For they didn’t get the land in possession by their own sword,
neither did their own arm save them;
but your right hand, your arm, and the light of your face,
because you were favourable to them.
God, you are my King.
Command victories for Jacob!
Through you, we will push down our adversaries.
Through your name, we will tread down those who rise up against us.
For I will not trust in my bow,
neither will my sword save me.
But you have saved us from our adversaries,
and have shamed those who hate us.
In God we have made our boast all day long.
We will give thanks to your name forever. Selah.

But now you rejected us, and brought us to dishonour,
and don’t go out with our armies.
You make us turn back from the adversary.
Those who hate us take plunder for themselves.
You have made us like sheep for food,
and have scattered us amongst the nations.
You sell your people for nothing,
and have gained nothing from their sale.
You make us a reproach to our neighbours,
a scoffing and a derision to those who are around us.
You make us a byword amongst the nations,
a shaking of the head amongst the peoples.
All day long my dishonour is before me,
and shame covers my face,
at the taunt of one who reproaches and verbally abuses,
because of the enemy and the avenger.
All this has come on us,
yet we haven’t forgotten you.
We haven’t been false to your covenant.
Our heart has not turned back,
neither have our steps strayed from your path,
though you have crushed us in the haunt of jackals,
and covered us with the shadow of death.
If we have forgotten the name of our God,
or spread out our hands to a strange god,
won’t God search this out?
For he knows the secrets of the heart.
Yes, for your sake we are killed all day long.
We are regarded as sheep for the slaughter.
Wake up!
Why do you sleep, Lord?
Arise!
Don’t reject us forever.
Why do you hide your face,
and forget our affliction and our oppression?
For our soul is bowed down to the dust.
Our body clings to the earth.
Rise up to help us.
Redeem us for your loving kindness’ sake.

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:
Rise up, O Lord, to help us.

Psalm prayer

In the darkness of unknowing,
when your love seems absent,
draw near to us, O God,
in Christ forsaken,
in Christ risen,
our Redeemer and our Lord.

Old Testament reading

Jeremiah 36:19-32

Then the princes said to Baruch, “You and Jeremiah go hide. Don’t let anyone know where you are.”

They went in to the king into the court, but they had laid up the scroll in the room of Elishama the scribe. Then they told all the words in the hearing of the king. So the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and he took it out of the room of Elishama the scribe. Jehudi read it in the hearing of the king, and in the hearing of all the princes who stood beside the king. Now the king was sitting in the winter house in the ninth month, and there was a fire in the brazier burning before him. When Jehudi had read three or four columns, the king cut it with the penknife, and cast it into the fire that was in the brazier, until all the scroll was consumed in the fire that was in the brazier. The king and his servants who heard all these words were not afraid, and didn’t tear their garments. Moreover Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah had made intercession to the king that he would not burn the scroll; but he would not listen to them. The king commanded Jerahmeel the king’s son, and Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel, to arrest Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet; but the LORD hid them.

Then the LORD’s word came to Jeremiah, after the king had burnt the scroll, and the words which Baruch wrote at the mouth of Jeremiah, saying, “Take again another scroll, and write in it all the former words that were in the first scroll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah has burnt. Concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah you shall say, ‘The LORD says: “You have burnt this scroll, saying, ‘Why have you written therein, saying, “The king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land, and will cause to cease from there man and animal”?’ ” Therefore the LORD says concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: “He will have no one to sit on David’s throne. His dead body will be cast out in the day to the heat, and in the night to the frost. I will punish him, his offspring, and his servants for their iniquity. I will bring on them, on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and on the men of Judah, all the evil that I have pronounced against them, but they didn’t listen.” ’ ”

Then Jeremiah took another scroll, and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah, who wrote therein from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burnt in the fire; and many similar words were added to them.

Silence may be kept.

New Testament reading

Mark 1:1-13

The beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
As it is written in the prophets,

“Behold, I send my messenger before your face,
who will prepare your way before you:
the voice of one crying in the wilderness,
‘Make ready the way of the Lord!
Make his paths straight!’ ”

John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching the baptism of repentance for forgiveness of sins. All the country of Judea and all those of Jerusalem went out to him. They were baptized by him in the Jordan river, confessing their sins. John was clothed with camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist. He ate locusts and wild honey. He preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and loosen. I baptized you in water, but he will baptize you in the Holy Spirit.”

In those days, Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan. Immediately coming up from the water, he saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. A voice came out of the sky, “You are my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

Immediately the Spirit drove him out into the wilderness. He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals; and the angels were serving him.

Silence may be kept.

The Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah)

Luke 1:68-79

Refrain:
You are the God who does wonders.
You have made your strength known amongst the peoples.

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:
You are the God who does wonders.
You have made your strength known amongst the peoples.

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:

The media and the arts
Farming and fishing
Commerce and industry
Those whose work is unfulfilling, stressful or fraught with danger
All who are unemployed

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,
who sent your Holy Spirit
to be the life and light of your church:
open our hearts to the riches of your grace,
that we may bring forth the fruit of the Spirit
in love and joy and peace;
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

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

The Lord bless us,
preserve us from all evil,
and keep us in eternal life.
Amen.