Shane Raynor 2/23/26 Shane Raynor 2/23/26

Mon. evening Feb. 23

Opening response

Make haste, O God, to deliver me!
Make haste to help me, O LORD!

Hear my voice according to your lovingkindness.
O LORD, give me life according to your judgment.

Prayer of thanksgiving

Blessed are you, Lord God of our salvation, to you be glory and praise forever. In the darkness of our sin you have shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Open our eyes to acknowledge your presence, that freed from the misery of sin and shame we may grow into your likeness from glory to glory.

Blessed be God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Blessed be God forever.

That this evening may be holy, good and peaceful, let us pray with one heart and mind.

Silence is kept.

As our evening prayer rises before you, O God, so may your mercy come down upon us to cleanse our hearts and set us free to sing your praise now and forever.
Amen.

Hymn

He Leadeth Me: O Blessed Thought

Words: Joseph H. Gilmore (1862)
Music: William B. Bradbury (1864)
Our Great Redeemer’s Praise (#73)

He leadeth me: O blessed thought!
O words with heavenly comfort fraught!
Whate'er I do, where'er I be,
still 'tis God's hand that leadeth me.

Refrain:
He leadeth me, he leadeth me;
by his own hand he leadeth me:
his faithful follower I would be,
for by his hand he leadeth me.

Sometimes mid scenes of deepest gloom,
sometimes where Eden's flowers bloom,
by waters calm, o'er troubled sea,
still 'tis God's hand that leadeth me. [Refrain]

And when my task on earth is done,
when, by thy grace, the victory's won,
e'en death's cold wave I will not flee,
since God through Jordan leadeth me. [Refrain]

Confession of Sin

The LORD is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in mercy.
He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
nor recompensed us according to our iniquities.
For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so great is his mercy toward those who fear Him.

Silence is kept for reflection.

Holy God,
Holy and strong,
Holy and immortal,
have mercy upon us.

As far as the east is from the west,
so far has He removed our transgressions from us.

As a father pities his children,
so the LORD pities those who fear Him.

Bless the LORD, O my soul;
and all that is within me, bless His holy name.

Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all His benefits.

Psalm 12

Help, LORD, for the godly man comes to an end,
for the faithful disappear from the sons of men.
They speak empty words, each with his own neighbor;
with flattering lips and a deceitful heart they speak.

The LORD will cut off all flattering lips,
and the tongue that speaks proud things,
those who say, “With our tongue will we prevail;
our lips are in our control. Who is our master?”

“Because the poor are plundered,
because the needy sigh,
now I will arise,” says the LORD;
“I will place him in the safety for which he yearns.”
The words of the LORD are pure words,
silver tried in an earthen furnace,
purified seven times.

You will keep them, O LORD;
You will preserve them from this generation forever.
The wicked prowl on every side,
as vileness is exalted among the sons of men.

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

Lord, when faith is faint and speech veils our intentions, restore us by your word of power and purity, both now and forever.

Psalm 13

𝙍: I love the LORD, because He has heard my voice and my supplications.

How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever?
How long will You hide Your face from me?
How long must I take counsel in my soul,
having sorrow in my heart daily?
How long will my enemy be exalted over me?

𝙍: I love the LORD, because He has heard my voice and my supplications.

Consider and answer me, O LORD my God.
Enlighten my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death,
lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed against him,”
lest my adversaries rejoice when I stumble.

𝙍: I love the LORD, because He has heard my voice and my supplications.

But I have trusted in Your mercy;
my heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.
I will sing to the LORD,
because He has dealt bountifully with me.

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: I love the LORD, because He has heard my voice and my supplications.

Psalm prayer

Jesus Christ, Son of God, who passed through the dark sleep of death, remember those who cry to you in shame and silence and defeat and raise them to your risen life, for you are alive and reign forever.

Psalm 14

𝙍: The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.

The fool has said in his heart,
“There is no God.”
They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds,
there is no one who does good.

The LORD looks down from heaven
on the sons of men,
to see if there are any who are wise,
who seek after God.
They have all gone astray;
they have together become corrupt;
there is no one who does good,
no, not one.

𝙍: The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.

Have they no knowledge, all the workers of iniquity,
who eat my people as they eat bread,
and do not call upon the LORD?
There they are in great fear,
for God is with the company of the righteous.
You shame the plans of the poor,
but the LORD is his refuge.

Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come from Zion!
When the LORD turns back the captivity of His people,
Jacob will rejoice; Israel will be glad.

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: The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.

Psalm prayer

God of heaven, look with mercy on all who are consumed by ignorance and greed, and let the children of earth know that you are God forever.

Old Testament reading

Jeremiah 4:19-31

My soul, my soul!
I am pained at my very heart.
My heart makes a noise in me.
I cannot hold my peace,
because you have heard, O my soul,
the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.
Destruction upon destruction is proclaimed,
for the whole land is devastated.
Suddenly are my tents devastated,
and my curtains in a moment.
How long shall I see the standard
and hear the sound of the trumpet?

“For My people are foolish,
they have not known Me.
They are foolish children,
and they have no understanding.
They are wise to do evil,
but to do good they have no knowledge.”

I looked on the earth,
And behold, it was without form and void.
And to the heavens,
and they had no light.
I looked on the mountains,
and behold, they trembled,
and all the hills moved to and fro.
I looked, and behold, there was no man,
and all the birds of the heavens had fled.
I looked, and behold, the fruitful place was a wilderness,
and all the cities were broken down
at the presence of the LORD, and by His fierce anger.

For thus says the LORD:

The whole land shall be desolate.
Yet I will not make a full end.
For this the earth shall mourn,
and the heavens above be black,
because I have spoken it, I have purposed it,
and will not relent, nor will I turn back from it.

The whole city shall flee
for the noise of the horsemen and bowmen.
They shall go into thickets
and climb up upon the rocks.
Every city shall be forsaken,
and not a man dwell in it.

When you are devastated, what will you do?
Though you clothe yourself with crimson,
though you deck yourself with ornaments of gold,
though you enlarge your eyes with paint,
in vain you will make yourself fair.
Your lovers will despise you;
they will seek your life.

For I have heard a voice as of a woman in labor,
and the anguish as of her who brings forth her first child,
the voice of the daughter of Zion,
that bewails herself, that spreads her hands, saying,
“Ah, woe is me,
for my soul is wearied because of murderers.”

Silence may be kept.

New Testament reading

John 5:1-18

After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate there is a pool, which in Hebrew is called Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great crowd of invalids, blind, lame, and paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water. After the stirring of the water, whoever stepped in first was healed of whatever disease he had. A certain man was there who had an illness for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he had been in that condition now a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to be healed?”

The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred. But while I am coming, another steps down before me.”

Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.” Immediately the man was healed, took up his bed, and walked.

That day was the Sabbath. The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, “It is the Sabbath day. It is not lawful for you to carry your bed.”

He answered them, “He who healed me said to me, ‘Take up your bed and walk.’ ”

So they asked him, “Who is the Man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?”

Now the man who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in that place.

Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, “See, you have become whole. Sin no more lest something worse happens to you.” The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him.

So the Jews persecuted Jesus and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath day. Jesus answered them, “My Father is working still, and I am working.” So the Jews sought even more to kill Him, because He not only had broken the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.

Silence may be kept.

The Magnificat (The Song of Mary)

Luke 1:46-55

My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.
For He has regarded
the low estate of His servant.
For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed.
For He who is mighty has done great things for me,
and holy is His name.
His mercy is on those who fear Him
from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with His arm;
He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He has pulled down the mighty from their thrones
and exalted those of low degree.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich He has sent away empty.
He has helped His servant Israel,
in remembrance of His mercy,
as He spoke to our fathers,
to Abraham and to his descendants forever.

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.

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.

Thanksgiving and intercession

Thanksgiving may be made for the day.

Intercessions are offered
for peace
for individuals and their needs

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

Lord, hear your people
and answer our prayers.

Silence may be kept.

Collect of the day

Almighty God, whose Son Jesus Christ fasted forty days in the wilderness, and was tempted as we are, yet without sin: give us grace to discipline ourselves in obedience to your Spirit; and, as you know our weakness, so may we know your power to save; 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

Trusting in the compassion of God, 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 God our Redeemer show us compassion and love.
Amen.

Shane Raynor 2/22/26 Shane Raynor 2/22/26

Sun. evening Feb. 22

First Sunday in Lent

“Parable of the Lost Piece of Silver” (c. 1680) by Godfried Schalcken.

Opening response

Make haste, O God, to deliver me!
Make haste to help me, O LORD!

Hear my voice according to your lovingkindness.
O LORD, give me life according to your judgment.

Prayer of thanksgiving

Blessed be God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Blessed be God forever.

That this evening may be holy, good and peaceful, let us pray with one heart and mind.

Silence is kept.

As our evening prayer rises before you, O God, so may your mercy come down upon us to cleanse our hearts and set us free to sing your praise now and forever.
Amen.

Hymn

The King of Love My Shepherd Is

Words: Henry W. Baker (1868)
Music: Irish melody
Our Great Redeemer’s Praise (#90)

The King of love my shepherd is,
whose goodness faileth never.
I nothing lack if I am his,
and he is mine forever.

Where streams of living water flow,
my ransomed soul he leadeth;
and where the verdant pastures grow,
with food celestial feedeth.

In death's dark vale I fear no ill,
with thee, dear Lord, beside me;
thy rod and staff my comfort still,
thy cross before to guide me.

And so through all the length of days,
thy goodness faileth never;
Good Shepherd, may I sing thy praise
within thy house forever.

Confession of Sin

Let us confess our sins to God.

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

My God, for love of you, I desire to hate and forsake all sins by which I have ever displeased you; and I resolve by the help of your grace to commit them no more; and to avoid all opportunities of sin. Help me to do this, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Lord enrich us with his grace, and nourish us with his blessing; the Lord defend us in trouble and keep us from all evil; the Lord accept our prayers, and absolve us from our offenses, for the sake of Jesus Christ, our Savior.
Amen.

Psalm 50:1-15

𝙍: Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving.

The Mighty One, God the LORD,
has spoken and summoned the earth
from the rising of the sun to its setting.
Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,
God has shined forth.
Our God shall come, and shall not keep silent;
a devouring fire shall precede Him,
and it shall be very tempestuous all around Him.
He shall call to the heavens above,
and to the earth, that He may judge His people:
“Gather My faithful ones to Me,
those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.”
The heavens shall declare His righteousness,
for God Himself is Judge.

𝙍: Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving.

“Hear, O My people, and I will speak,
O Israel, I will testify against you;
I am God, your God.
Not for your sacrifices will I rebuke you;
your burnt offerings are continually before Me.
I will not accept a young bull from your house,
or goats from your folds.
For every beast of the forest is Mine,
and the cattle on a thousand hills.
I know all the birds of the mountains,
and the wild beasts of the field are Mine.
If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
for the world and all its fullness are Mine.
Will I eat the flesh of bulls,
or drink the blood of goats?
“Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving,
and pay your vows to the Most High.
Call on Me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you will glorify Me.”

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: Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving.

Psalm prayer

Mighty God, dwelling in unapproachable light, forgive our vain attempts to appease you, and show us your full salvation in Jesus Christ your Son our Lord.

Old Testament reading

Deuteronomy 6:4-9, 16-25

Hear, O Israel: The LORD is our God, the LORD alone! And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

You shall not tempt the LORD your God, as you tempted Him in Massah. You shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and His testimonies and His statutes which He has commanded you. You shall do what is right and good in the sight of the LORD that it may be well with you and that you may go in and possess the good land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to drive out all your enemies before you, just as the LORD has spoken.

When your son asks you in time to come, saying, “What do the testimonies and the statutes and the judgments mean which the LORD our God has commanded you?” then you shall say to your son, “We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, and the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. And the LORD showed great and devastating signs and wonders upon Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his household before our eyes. He brought us out from there, so that He might bring us in, to give us the land which He swore to our fathers. The LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that He might preserve us, as He has to this day. It will be our righteousness if we are careful to keep all these commandments before the LORD our God, just as He has commanded us.”

Silence may be kept.

New Testament reading

Luke 15:1-10

Now all the tax collectors and sinners drew near to Him to hear Him. But the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, “This Man receives sinners and eats with them.”

So He told them this parable, saying, “What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he places it on his shoulders, rejoicing. Then when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost.’ Likewise, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous men who need no repentance.

“Or what woman, having ten silver coins and losing one, does not light a candle and sweep the house and search diligently until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost.’ Likewise, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

Silence may be kept.

The Magnificat (The Song of Mary)

Luke 1:46-55

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.

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 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.

Thanksgiving and intercession

Thanksgiving may be made for the day.

Intercessions are offered
for peace
for individuals and their needs

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

Father, by your Spirit
Bring in your kingdom.

Silence may be kept.

Collect of the day

The Lord’s Prayer

Trusting in the compassion of God, as our Savior taught us, so we pray

Conclusion

May God our Redeemer show us compassion and love.
Amen.

Shane Raynor 2/21/26 Shane Raynor 2/21/26

Sat. evening Feb. 21

Become a member of Methodist Prayer today.

Opening response

Make haste, O God, to deliver me!
Make haste to help me, O LORD!

Hear my voice according to your lovingkindness.
O LORD, give me life according to your judgment.

Prayer of thanksgiving

Blessed be God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Blessed be God forever.

That this evening may be holy, good and peaceful, let us pray with one heart and mind.

Silence is kept.

As our evening prayer rises before you, O God, so may your mercy come down upon us to cleanse our hearts and set us free to sing your praise now and forever.
Amen.

Hymn

My Faith Looks Up to Thee

Words: Ray Palmer (1875)
Music: Lowell Mason (1831)
Our Great Redeemer’s Praise (#351)

My faith looks up to Thee,
Thou Lamb of Calvary,
Savior divine!
Now hear me while I pray,
take all my guilt away;
O let me from this day
be wholly Thine.

May Thy rich grace impart
strength to my fainting heart,
my zeal inspire;
as Thou hast died for me,
O may my love to Thee
pure, warm, and changeless be,
a living fire.

While life’s dark maze I tread,
and griefs around me spread,
be Thou my Guide;
bid darkness turn to day,
wipe sorrow’s tears away,
nor let me ever stray
from Thee aside.

When ends life's transient dream,
when death’s cold, sullen stream
shall o'er me roll,
blest Savior, then in love,
fear and distrust remove;
O bear me safe above,
a ransomed soul.

Confession of Sin

Seek the LORD while He may be found,
call upon Him while He is near.
Let the wicked forsake his way,
and the unrighteous man his thoughts;
and let him return to the LORD, and He will have mercy upon him,
and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.

cf Isaiah 55

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

Lord God, I have sinned against you; I have done what is evil in your sight. I am sorry and repent. Have mercy on me according to your lovingkindness. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. Renew a right spirit within me, and restore unto me the joy of your salvation, through Jesus Christ my 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 my supplications.
Therefore my heart rejoices,
and with my song I will thank Him.

cf Psalm 28:7,9

Psalm 73

𝙍: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD.

Truly God is good to Israel,
to those who are pure in heart.

But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled;
my steps had almost slipped.
For I was envious of the boastful
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

For there are no pangs in their death,
but their strength is firm.
They are not in trouble as other men are,
nor are they plagued like other men.
Therefore pride is their necklace;
violence covers them like a garment.
Their eyes bulge with fatness;
they have more than a heart could wish.

𝙍: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD.

They mock and wickedly speak of oppression;
they speak loftily.
They set their mouths against the heavens,
and their tongue parades through the earth.
Therefore his people return here,
and waters of abundance are drunk by them.
They say, “How does God know?
Is there knowledge in the Most High?”

Behold, these are the wicked; always at ease,
they increase in riches.

Surely I have kept my heart clean in vain,
and washed my hands in innocence.
For all the day long I have been plagued,
and chastened every morning.

If I had said, “I will speak thus,”
I would have been untrue to the generation of Your children.

𝙍: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD.

When I thought how to understand this,
it was troublesome in my sight,
until I went into the sanctuary of God;
then I understood their end.

Surely You set them in slippery places;
You cast them down to destruction.
How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment!
They are utterly consumed by terrors!
Like a dream when one awakes,
O Lord, when awakened,
You will despise their image.

When my heart was embittered,
and I was pierced in my heart,
I was foolish and ignorant;
I was like a beast before You.

𝙍: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD.

Nevertheless I am continually with You;
You have held me by my right hand.
You will guide me with Your counsel,
and afterward receive me to glory.
Whom have I in heaven but You?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides You.
My flesh and my heart fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.

For behold, those who are far from You shall perish;
You have destroyed all those who are unfaithful to You.
But it is good for me to draw near to God;
I have put my trust in the Lord GOD,
that I may declare all Your works.

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: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD.

Psalm prayer

Holy God, may we find wisdom in your presence and set our hope not on uncertain riches, but on the love that holds us to the end; in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Old Testament reading

Jeremiah 4:1-18

If you will return, O Israel,
says the LORD,
return to Me.
And if you will put away your abominations out of My sight,
then you shall not be moved.
You shall swear, “As the LORD lives,”
in truth, in justice, and in righteousness;
then the nations shall bless themselves in Him,
and in Him they shall glory.

For thus says the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem:

Break up your fallow ground,
and do not sow among thorns.
Circumcise yourselves to the LORD,
and take away the foreskins of your heart,
you men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem,
lest My fury come forth like fire,
and burn so that no one can quench it,
because of the evil of your deeds.

Declare in Judah and proclaim in Jerusalem, and say:
Blow the trumpet in the land.
Cry aloud and say,
“Assemble yourselves,
and let us go into the fortified cities.”
Set up the standard toward Zion.
Seek refuge, do not delay.
For I will bring disaster from the north,
and a great destruction.

The lion has come up from his thicket,
and the destroyer of the nations is on his way.
He has gone forth from his place
to make your land desolate.
And your cities shall be laid waste
without an inhabitant.
For this gird yourself with sackcloth,
lament and howl.
For the fierce anger of the LORD
is not turned back from us.

It shall come to pass in that day, says the LORD,
that the heart of the king will fail and the heart of the officials;
and the priests will be astonished
and the prophets will wonder.

Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD! Surely You have greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, ‘You shall have peace,’ whereas the sword reaches the throat.”

At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem: A dry wind of the high places in the wilderness toward the daughter of My people, not to fan or to cleanse, even a full wind from those places, will come to Me. Now also I will pronounce judgments against them.

Behold, he shall come up as clouds,
and his chariots shall be as a whirlwind.
His horses are swifter than eagles.
Woe to us, for we are ruined!
O Jerusalem, wash your heart from wickedness, that you may be saved.
How long shall your evil thoughts lodge within you?
For a voice declares from Dan,
and proclaims wickedness from Mount Ephraim:
“Report it to the nations, now!”
Indeed, proclaim against Jerusalem:
“Besiegers come from a far country,
and lift their voices against the cities of Judah.
As watchmen of a field, they are against her all around,
because she has been rebellious against Me,
says the LORD.
Your way and your deeds
have procured these things to you.
This is your wickedness.
How bitter it is!
How it touches your heart!”

Silence may be kept.

New Testament reading

John 4:43-54

After the two days He departed from there and went to Galilee. For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country. Then, when He came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed Him, having seen all the things He did at Jerusalem at the feast. For they had also gone to the feast.

So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee where He had made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman whose son was sick in Capernaum. When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him, pleading that He would come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.

Then Jesus said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders, you will not believe.”

The nobleman said to Him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.”

Jesus said to him, “Go your way. Your son lives.”

And the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way. While he was going down, his servants met him and told him, “Your son lives!” When he inquired of them the hour when he began to heal, they answered, “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.”

Then the father knew that it was at the same hour in which Jesus said to him, “Your son lives.” So he and his whole household believed.

This was the second sign that Jesus did when He had come from Judea to Galilee.

Silence may be kept.

The Magnificat (The Song of Mary)

Luke 1:46-55

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.

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 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.

Thanksgiving and intercession

Thanksgiving may be made for the day.

Intercessions are offered
for peace
for individuals and their needs

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

In faith we pray
We pray to you, our God.

Silence may be kept.

Collect of the day

The Lord’s Prayer

Trusting in the compassion of God, as our Savior taught us, so we pray

Conclusion

May God our Redeemer show us compassion and love.
Amen.