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

God of Unbounded Power

Charles Wesley

God of unbounded power,
God of unwearied love,
Be present in our dangerous hour
Our danger to remove:
Jesus, Jehovah, Lord,
Thy wonted aid we claim;
Not trusting in our bow or sword,
But in thy saving name!

Our lives are hid with thine,
Our hairs are numbered all,
Nor can without the will divine
One worthless sparrow fall.
And shall a nation bleed,
And shall a kingdom fail,
While thou, O Christ, art Lord and head
Over heaven and earth and hell?

Beneath thy wings secure,
In patience we possess
Our souls, and quietly endure
Whatever our God decrees.
Teach us to understand
The thunder of thy power,
And thus, O Lord, to see thy hand,
Thy truth and love adore.

Escaped the hostile sword,
O may we fly to thee,
And find in our redeeming Lord
Our life and liberty.
Our strength and righteousness,
O let us hold thee fast,
With confidence divine, and peace
That shall forever last.

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 87

Refrain:
The LORD has chosen Zion for himself.

His foundation is in the holy mountains.
The LORD loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob.
Glorious things are spoken about you, city of God. Selah.
I will record Rahab and Babylon amongst those who acknowledge me.
Behold, Philistia, Tyre, and also Ethiopia:
“This one was born there.”
Yes, of Zion it will be said, “This one and that one was born in her;”
the Most High himself will establish her.
The LORD will count, when he writes up the peoples,
“This one was born there.” Selah.
Those who sing as well as those who dance say,
“All my springs are in you.”

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:
The LORD has chosen Zion for himself.

Psalm prayer

Lord, as you call us to your city
founded on the rock of ages,
let the springs of living water
rise within us to eternal life;
in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Psalm 89:1-18

Refrain:
Truly the Lord is our shield.

I will sing of the loving kindness of the LORD forever.
With my mouth, I will make known your faithfulness to all generations.
I indeed declare, “Love stands firm forever.
You established the heavens.
Your faithfulness is in them.”

“I have made a covenant with my chosen one,
I have sworn to David, my servant,
‘I will establish your offspring forever,
and build up your throne to all generations.’ ” Selah.

The heavens will praise your wonders, LORD,
your faithfulness also in the assembly of the holy ones.
For who in the skies can be compared to the LORD?
Who amongst the sons of the heavenly beings is like the LORD,
a very awesome God in the council of the holy ones,
to be feared above all those who are around him?
LORD, God of Armies, who is a mighty one, like you?
The LORD, your faithfulness is around you.
You rule the pride of the sea.
When its waves rise up, you calm them.
You have broken Rahab in pieces, like one of the slain.
You have scattered your enemies with your mighty arm.
The heavens are yours.
The earth also is yours,
the world and its fullness.
You have founded them.
You have created the north and the south.
Tabor and Hermon rejoice in your name.
You have a mighty arm.
Your hand is strong, and your right hand is exalted.
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne.
Loving kindness and truth go before your face.
Blessed are the people who learn to acclaim you.
They walk in the light of your presence, LORD.
In your name they rejoice all day.
In your righteousness, they are exalted.
For you are the glory of their strength.
In your favour, our horn will be exalted.
For our shield belongs to the LORD,
our king to the Holy One of Israel.

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:
Truly the Lord is our shield.

Psalm prayer

As we sing of your love, O Lord,
anoint us with the Spirit’s seal,
that we may praise your faithfulness
and proclaim your truth from age to age;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Old Testament reading

Micah 2

Woe to those who devise iniquity
and work evil on their beds!
When the morning is light, they practice it,
because it is in the power of their hand.
They covet fields and seize them,
and houses, then take them away.
They oppress a man and his house,
even a man and his heritage.
Therefore the LORD says:
“Behold, I am planning against these people a disaster,
from which you will not remove your necks,
neither will you walk haughtily,
for it is an evil time.
In that day they will take up a parable against you,
and lament with a doleful lamentation, saying,
‘We are utterly ruined!
My people’s possession is divided up.
Indeed he takes it from me and assigns our fields to traitors!’ ”
Therefore you will have no one who divides the land by lot in the LORD’s assembly.
“Don’t prophesy!”—they prophesy—
“Don’t prophesy about these things.
Disgrace won’t overtake us.”
Shall it be said, O house of Jacob,
“Is the LORD’s Spirit angry?
Are these his doings?
Don’t my words do good to him who walks blamelessly?”
But lately my people have risen up as an enemy.
You strip the robe and clothing from those who pass by without a care, returning from battle.
You drive the women of my people out from their pleasant houses;
from their young children you take away my blessing forever.
Arise, and depart!
For this is not your resting place,
because of uncleanness that destroys,
even with a grievous destruction.
If a man walking in a spirit of falsehood lies, saying,
“I will prophesy to you of wine and of strong drink,”
he would be the prophet of this people.
I will surely assemble all of you, Jacob.
I will surely gather the remnant of Israel.
I will put them together as the sheep of Bozrah,
as a flock in the middle of their pasture.
They will swarm with people.
He who breaks open the way goes up before them.
They break through the gate, and go out.
Their king passes on before them,
with the LORD at their head.

Silence may be kept.

New Testament reading

Mark 5:21-34

When Jesus had crossed back over in the boat to the other side, a great multitude was gathered to him; and he was by the sea. Behold, one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, came; and seeing him, he fell at his feet and begged him much, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Please come and lay your hands on her, that she may be made healthy, and live.”

He went with him, and a great multitude followed him, and they pressed upon him on all sides. A certain woman who had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and had suffered many things by many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better, but rather grew worse, having heard the things concerning Jesus, came up behind him in the crowd and touched his clothes. For she said, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be made well.” Immediately the flow of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction.

Immediately Jesus, perceiving in himself that the power had gone out from him, turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”

His disciples said to him, “You see the multitude pressing against you, and you say, ‘Who touched me?’ ”

He looked around to see her who had done this thing. But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had been done to her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth.

He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be cured of your disease.”

Silence may be kept.

The Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah)

Luke 1:68-79

Refrain:
You have raised up a horn of salvation for us
in the house of your servant David.

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 have raised up a horn of salvation for us
in the house of your servant David.

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:

All who are sick in body, mind or spirit
Those in the midst of famine or disaster
Victims of abuse and violence, intolerance and prejudice
Those who are bereaved
All who work in the medical and healing professions

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

Response

Lord, in your mercy
hear our prayer.

Silence may be kept.

Collect of the day

O God, you declare your almighty power
most chiefly in showing mercy and pity:
mercifully grant to us such a measure of your grace,
that we, running the way of your commandments,
may receive your gracious promises,
and be made partakers of your heavenly treasure;
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.