Friday evening January 13
“Cain and Abel” (c. 1603) by Palma il Giovane. Public domain.
Opening response
Hurry, God, to deliver us.
LORD, come quickly to help us.
From the rising of the sun to its setting
your glory is proclaimed in all the world.
Prayer of thanksgiving
Blessed are you, Sovereign God,
our light and our salvation,
to you be glory and praise forever.
You gave your Christ as a light to the nations,
and through the anointing of the Spirit
you established us as a royal priesthood.
As you call us into your marvelous light,
may our lives bear witness to your truth
and our lips never cease to proclaim your praise.
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 soul and all its powers
Charles Wesley
My soul and all its powers
Thine, wholly thine, shall be;
All, all my happy hours
I consecrate to thee:
Me to thine image now restore,
And I shall praise thee evermore.
Long as I live beneath,
To thee O let me live;
To thee my every breath
In thanks and praises give:
Whatever I have, whatever I am
Shall magnify my maker’s name.
I wait thy will to do,
As angels do in heaven;
In Christ a creature new,
Most graciously forgiven;
I wait thy perfect will to prove,
All sanctified by spotless love.
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 loving kindness.
Wash us thoroughly from our iniquity; 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 the LORD,
because he has listened to our request for mercy.
Therefore our hearts will rejoice
and we will thank him with our song.
cf Psalm 28:7,9
Psalm 68
Refrain:
Sing to God! Sing praises to his name!
Let God arise!
Let his enemies be scattered!
Let them who hate him also flee before him.
As smoke is driven away,
so drive them away.
As wax melts before the fire,
so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.
But let the righteous be glad.
Let them rejoice before God.
Yes, let them rejoice with gladness.
Sing to God! Sing praises to his name!
Extol him who rides on the clouds:
to the LORD, his name!
Rejoice before him!
A father of the fatherless, and a defender of the widows,
is God in his holy habitation.
God sets the lonely in families.
He brings out the prisoners with singing,
but the rebellious dwell in a sun-scorched land.
God, when you went out before your people,
when you marched through the wilderness... Selah.
The earth trembled.
The sky also poured down rain at the presence of the God of Sinai—
at the presence of God, the God of Israel.
You, God, sent a plentiful rain.
You confirmed your inheritance when it was weary.
Your congregation lived therein.
You, God, prepared your goodness for the poor.
The Lord announced the word.
The ones who proclaim it are a great company.
“Kings of armies flee! They flee!”
She who waits at home divides the plunder,
while you sleep amongst the camp fires,
the wings of a dove sheathed with silver,
her feathers with shining gold.
When the Almighty scattered kings in her,
it snowed on Zalmon.
The mountains of Bashan are majestic mountains.
The mountains of Bashan are rugged.
Why do you look in envy, you rugged mountains,
at the mountain where God chooses to reign?
Yes, the LORD will dwell there forever.
The chariots of God are tens of thousands and thousands of thousands.
The Lord is amongst them, from Sinai, into the sanctuary.
You have ascended on high.
You have led away captives.
You have received gifts amongst people,
yes, amongst the rebellious also, that the LORD God might dwell there.
Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burdens,
even the God who is our salvation. Selah.
God is to us a God of deliverance.
To the LORD, the Lord, belongs escape from death.
But God will strike through the head of his enemies,
the hairy scalp of such a one as still continues in his guiltiness.
The Lord said, “I will bring you again from Bashan,
I will bring you again from the depths of the sea,
that you may crush them, dipping your foot in blood,
that the tongues of your dogs may have their portion from your enemies.”
They have seen your processions, God,
even the processions of my God, my King, into the sanctuary.
The singers went before, the minstrels followed after,
amongst the ladies playing with tambourines,
“Bless God in the congregations,
even the Lord in the assembly of Israel!”
There is little Benjamin, their ruler,
the princes of Judah, their council,
the princes of Zebulun, and the princes of Naphtali.
Your God has commanded your strength.
Strengthen, God, that which you have done for us.
Because of your temple at Jerusalem,
kings shall bring presents to you.
Rebuke the wild animal of the reeds,
the multitude of the bulls with the calves of the peoples.
Trample under foot the bars of silver.
Scatter the nations who delight in war.
Princes shall come out of Egypt.
Ethiopia shall hurry to stretch out her hands to God.
Sing to God, you kingdoms of the earth!
Sing praises to the Lord— Selah—
to him who rides on the heaven of heavens, which are of old;
behold, he utters his voice, a mighty voice.
Ascribe strength to God!
His excellency is over Israel,
his strength is in the skies.
You are awesome, God, in your sanctuaries.
The God of Israel gives strength and power to his people.
Praise be to God!
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:
Sing to God! Sing praises to his name!
Psalm prayer
Blessed are you, gracious God;
you make your home among the weak,
you deliver us from death,
you bring us joy beyond our imagining
to the praise of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Old Testament reading
Genesis 4:1-16, 25-26
The man knew Eve his wife. She conceived, and gave birth to Cain, and said, “I have gotten a man with the LORD’s help.” Again she gave birth, to Cain’s brother Abel. Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. As time passed, Cain brought an offering to the LORD from the fruit of the ground. Abel also brought some of the firstborn of his flock and of its fat. The LORD respected Abel and his offering, but he didn’t respect Cain and his offering. Cain was very angry, and the expression on his face fell. The LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why has the expression of your face fallen? If you do well, won’t it be lifted up? If you don’t do well, sin crouches at the door. Its desire is for you, but you are to rule over it.” Cain said to Abel, his brother, “Let’s go into the field.” While they were in the field, Cain rose up against Abel, his brother, and killed him.
The LORD said to Cain, “Where is Abel, your brother?”
He said, “I don’t know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”
The LORD said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries to me from the ground. Now you are cursed because of the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. From now on, when you till the ground, it won’t yield its strength to you. You will be a fugitive and a wanderer in the earth.”
Cain said to the LORD, “My punishment is greater than I can bear. Behold, you have driven me out today from the surface of the ground. I will be hidden from your face, and I will be a fugitive and a wanderer in the earth. Whoever finds me will kill me.”
The LORD said to him, “Therefore whoever slays Cain, vengeance will be taken on him sevenfold.” The LORD appointed a sign for Cain, so that anyone finding him would not strike him.
Cain left the LORD’s presence, and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
Adam knew his wife again. She gave birth to a son, and named him Seth, saying, “for God has given me another child instead of Abel, for Cain killed him.” A son was also born to Seth, and he named him Enosh. At that time men began to call on the LORD’s name.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
Matthew 22:15-33
Then the Pharisees went and took counsel how they might entrap him in his talk. They sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are honest, and teach the way of God in truth, no matter whom you teach; for you aren’t partial to anyone. Tell us therefore, what do you think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?”
But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, “Why do you test me, you hypocrites? Show me the tax money.”
They brought to him a denarius.
He asked them, “Whose is this image and inscription?”
They said to him, “Caesar’s.”
Then he said to them, “Give therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”
When they heard it, they marvelled, and left him and went away.
On that day Sadducees (those who say that there is no resurrection) came to him. They asked him, saying, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother.’ Now there were with us seven brothers. The first married and died, and having no offspring left his wife to his brother. In the same way, the second also, and the third, to the seventh. After them all, the woman died. In the resurrection therefore, whose wife will she be of the seven? For they all had her.”
But Jesus answered them, “You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like God’s angels in heaven. But concerning the resurrection of the dead, haven’t you read that which was spoken to you by God, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?’ God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”
When the multitudes heard it, they were astonished at his teaching.
Silence may be kept.
The Magnificat (The Song of Mary)
Luke 1:46-55
Refrain:
Those who keep and teach the commandments
will be considered great in the Kingdom of Heaven.
My soul magnifies the Lord.
My spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior,
for he has looked at the humble state 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.
Holy is his name.
His mercy is for generations and generations on those who fear him.
He has shown strength with his arm.
He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He has put down princes from their thrones,
and has exalted the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things.
He has sent the rich away empty.
He has given help to Israel, his servant, that he might remember mercy,
as he spoke to our fathers,
to Abraham and his offspring 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.
Refrain:
Those who keep and teach the commandments
will be considered great in the Kingdom of Heaven.
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.
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:
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
Lord of life
In your mercy, hear us.
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 again by 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
Believing the promises 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 Christ, who sends us to the nations, give us the power of his Spirit.
Amen.
Thursday evening January 12
“Eve and the Serpent” (1909) by Joakim Skovgaard. Public domain.
Opening response
Hurry, God, to deliver us.
LORD, come quickly to help us.
From the rising of the sun to its setting
your glory is proclaimed in all the world.
Prayer of thanksgiving
Blessed are you, Sovereign God,
our light and our salvation,
to you be glory and praise forever.
You gave your Christ as a light to the nations,
and through the anointing of the Spirit
you established us as a royal priesthood.
As you call us into your marvelous light,
may our lives bear witness to your truth
and our lips never cease to proclaim your praise.
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
A Fountain of Life and Grace
Charles Wesley
A fountain of life and grace
In Christ, our Redeemer we see:
For us, who his offers embrace,
For all, it is open and free.
Jehovah himself doth invite
To drink of his pleasures unknown
The streams of immortal delight
That flow from his heavenly throne
As soon as in him we believe,
By faith of his Spirit we take,
And, freely forgiven, receive,
The mercy for Jesus’ sake!
We gain a pure drop of his love,
The life of eternity know;
Angelical happiness prove,
And witness a heaven below
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 61
Refrain:
God, you have been a refuge for me, a strong tower from the enemy.
Hear my cry, God.
Listen to my prayer.
From the end of the earth, I will call to you when my heart is overwhelmed.
Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
For you have been a refuge for me,
a strong tower from the enemy.
I will dwell in your tent forever.
I will take refuge in the shelter of your wings. Selah.
For you, God, have heard my vows.
You have given me the heritage of those who fear your name.
You will prolong the king’s life.
His years will be for generations.
He shall be enthroned in God’s presence forever.
Appoint your loving kindness and truth, that they may preserve him.
So I will sing praise to your name forever,
that I may fulfill my vows daily.
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:
God, you have been a refuge for me, a strong tower from the enemy.
Psalm prayer
Risen Christ,
as you knew the discipline of suffering
and the victory that brings us salvation,
so grant us your presence in our weakness
and a place in your unending kingdom
now and forevermore.
Psalm 65
Refrain:
Make a joyful shout to God, all the earth!
Praise waits for you, God, in Zion.
Vows shall be performed to you.
You who hear prayer,
all men will come to you.
Sins overwhelmed me,
but you atoned for our transgressions.
Blessed is the one whom you choose and cause to come near,
that he may live in your courts.
We will be filled with the goodness of your house,
your holy temple.
By awesome deeds of righteousness, you answer us,
God of our salvation.
You who are the hope of all the ends of the earth,
of those who are far away on the sea.
By your power, you form the mountains,
having armed yourself with strength.
You still the roaring of the seas,
the roaring of their waves,
and the turmoil of the nations.
They also who dwell in faraway places are afraid at your wonders.
You call the morning’s dawn and the evening with songs of joy.
You visit the earth, and water it.
You greatly enrich it.
The river of God is full of water.
You provide them grain, for so you have ordained it.
You drench its furrows.
You level its ridges.
You soften it with showers.
You bless it with a crop.
You crown the year with your bounty.
Your carts overflow with abundance.
The wilderness grasslands overflow.
The hills are clothed with gladness.
The pastures are covered with flocks.
The valleys also are clothed with grain.
They shout for joy!
They also sing.
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:
Make a joyful shout to God, all the earth!
Psalm prayer
May the richness of your creation, Lord,
and the mystery of your providence
lead us to that heavenly city
where all peoples will bring their wealth,
forsake their sins and find their true joy,
Jesus Christ our Lord.
Old Testament reading
Genesis 3
Now the serpent was more subtle than any animal of the field which the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Has God really said, ‘You shall not eat of any tree of the garden’?”
The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees of the garden, but not the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden. God has said, ‘You shall not eat of it. You shall not touch it, lest you die.’ ”
The serpent said to the woman, “You won’t really die, for God knows that in the day you eat it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took some of its fruit, and ate. Then she gave some to her husband with her, and he ate it, too. Their eyes were opened, and they both knew that they were naked. They sewed fig leaves together, and made coverings for themselves. They heard the LORD God’s voice walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.
The LORD God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?”
The man said, “I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; so I hid myself.”
God said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”
The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
The LORD God said to the woman, “What have you done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
The LORD God said to the serpent,
“Because you have done this,
you are cursed above all livestock,
and above every animal of the field.
You shall go on your belly
and you shall eat dust all the days of your life.
I will put hostility between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring.
He will bruise your head,
and you will bruise his heel.”
To the woman he said,
“I will greatly multiply your pain in childbirth.
You will bear children in pain.
Your desire will be for your husband,
and he will rule over you.”
To Adam he said,
“Because you have listened to your wife’s voice,
and have eaten from the tree,
about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it,’
the ground is cursed for your sake.
You will eat from it with much labour all the days of your life.
It will yield thorns and thistles to you;
and you will eat the herb of the field.
You will eat bread by the sweat of your face until you return to the ground,
for you were taken out of it.
For you are dust,
and you shall return to dust.”
The man called his wife Eve because she would be the mother of all the living. The LORD God made garments of animal skins for Adam and for his wife, and clothed them.
The LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand, and also take of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever—” Therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken. So he drove out the man; and he placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
Matthew 22:1-14
Jesus answered and spoke to them again in parables, saying, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a certain king, who made a wedding feast for his son, and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come. Again he sent out other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “Behold, I have prepared my dinner. My cattle and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding feast!” ’ But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his merchandise; and the rest grabbed his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them. When the king heard that, he was angry, and sent his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burnt their city.
“Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited weren’t worthy. Go therefore to the intersections of the highways, and as many as you may find, invite to the wedding feast.’ Those servants went out into the highways and gathered together as many as they found, both bad and good. The wedding was filled with guests.
“But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man who didn’t have on wedding clothing, and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here not wearing wedding clothing?’ He was speechless. Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and throw him into the outer darkness. That is where the weeping and grinding of teeth will be.’ For many are called, but few chosen.”
Silence may be kept.
The Magnificat (The Song of Mary)
Luke 1:46-55
Refrain:
Behold, my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
the anointed one on whom my Spirit rests.
My soul magnifies the Lord.
My spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior,
for he has looked at the humble state 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.
Holy is his name.
His mercy is for generations and generations on those who fear him.
He has shown strength with his arm.
He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He has put down princes from their thrones,
and has exalted the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things.
He has sent the rich away empty.
He has given help to Israel, his servant, that he might remember mercy,
as he spoke to our fathers,
to Abraham and his offspring 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.
Refrain:
Behold, my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
the anointed one on whom my Spirit rests.
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.
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:
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, by your Spirit
Bring in your kingdom.
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 again by 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
Believing the promises 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 Christ, who sends us to the nations, give us the power of his Spirit.
Amen.
Wednesday evening January 11
Photo by Khoa Võ via Pexels.
Opening response
Hurry, God, to deliver us.
LORD, come quickly to help us.
From the rising of the sun to its setting
your glory is proclaimed in all the world.
Prayer of thanksgiving
Blessed are you, Sovereign God,
our light and our salvation,
to you be glory and praise forever.
You gave your Christ as a light to the nations,
and through the anointing of the Spirit
you established us as a royal priesthood.
As you call us into your marvelous light,
may our lives bear witness to your truth
and our lips never cease to proclaim your praise.
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
A Thousand Oracles Divine
Charles Wesley
A thousand oracles divine
Their common beams unite,
That sinners may with angels join
To worship God aright.
To praise a Trinity adored
By all the hosts above,
And one thrice-holy God and Lord
Through endless ages love.
Triumphant host! they never cease
To laud and magnify
The triune God of holiness,
Whose glory fills the sky.
Whose glory to this earth extends,
When God himself imparts,
And the whole Trinity descends
Into our faithful hearts.
By faith the upper choir we meet,
And challenge them to sing
Jehovah on his shining seat,
Our maker and our king.
But God made flesh is wholly ours,
And asks our nobler strain;
The Father of celestial powers,
The friend of earthborn man!
Ye seraphs nearest to the throne,
With rapturous amaze
On us, poor ransomed worms look down
For heaven’s superior praise.
The king whose glorious face ye see,
For us his crown resigned;
That fullness of the Deity,
He died for all mankind!
Confession of sin
Let us confess our sins against God and our neighbor.
Silence may be kept.
Most merciful God,
we confess that we have sinned against you
in thought, word, and deed,
by what we have done,
and by what we have left undone.
We have not loved you with our whole heart;
we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.
We are truly sorry and we humbly repent.
For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ,
have mercy on us and forgive us;
that we may delight in your will,
and walk in your ways,
to the glory of your name. Amen.
Almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us all our sins
through our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen us in all
goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep us in
eternal life.
Amen.
Psalm 47
Refrain:
Sing praises to God! Sing praises!
Oh clap your hands, all you nations.
Shout to God with the voice of triumph!
For the LORD Most High is awesome.
He is a great King over all the earth.
He subdues nations under us,
and peoples under our feet.
He chooses our inheritance for us,
the glory of Jacob whom he loved. Selah.
God has gone up with a shout,
the LORD with the sound of a trumpet.
Sing praises to God! Sing praises!
Sing praises to our King! Sing praises!
For God is the King of all the earth.
Sing praises with understanding.
God reigns over the nations.
God sits on his holy throne.
The princes of the peoples are gathered together,
the people of the God of Abraham.
For the shields of the earth belong to God.
He is greatly exalted!
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:
Sing praises to God! Sing praises!
Psalm prayer
As Christ was raised by your glory, Father,
so may we be raised to new life
and rejoice to be called your children,
both now and forever.
Psalm 48
Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised,
in the city of our God, in his holy mountain.
Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth,
is Mount Zion, on the north sides,
the city of the great King.
God has shown himself in her citadels as a refuge.
For, behold, the kings assembled themselves,
they passed by together.
They saw it, then they were amazed.
They were dismayed.
They hurried away.
Trembling took hold of them there,
pain, as of a woman in travail.
With the east wind, you break the ships of Tarshish.
As we have heard, so we have seen,
in the city of the LORD of Armies, in the city of our God.
God will establish it forever. Selah.
We have thought about your loving kindness, God,
in the middle of your temple.
As is your name, God,
so is your praise to the ends of the earth.
Your right hand is full of righteousness.
Let Mount Zion be glad!
Let the daughters of Judah rejoice because of your judgements.
Walk about Zion, and go around her.
Number its towers.
Notice her bulwarks.
Consider her palaces,
that you may tell it to the next generation.
For this God is our God forever and ever.
He will be our guide even to death.
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
Father of lights,
raise us with Christ to your eternal city,
that, with kings and nations,
we may wait in the midst of your temple
and see your glory forever and ever.
Old Testament reading
Genesis 2:4-25
This is the history of the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens. No plant of the field was yet in the earth, and no herb of the field had yet sprung up; for the LORD God had not caused it to rain on the earth. There was not a man to till the ground, but a mist went up from the earth, and watered the whole surface of the ground. The LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. The LORD God planted a garden eastward, in Eden, and there he put the man whom he had formed. Out of the ground the LORD God made every tree to grow that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food, including the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. A river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it was parted, and became the source of four rivers. The name of the first is Pishon: it flows through the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; and the gold of that land is good. Bdellium and onyx stone are also there. The name of the second river is Gihon. It is the same river that flows through the whole land of Cush. The name of the third river is Hiddekel. This is the one which flows in front of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates. The LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate and keep it. The LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but you shall not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.”
The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make him a helper comparable to him.” Out of the ground the LORD God formed every animal of the field, and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. Whatever the man called every living creature became its name. The man gave names to all livestock, and to the birds of the sky, and to every animal of the field; but for man there was not found a helper comparable to him. The LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. As the man slept, he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. The LORD God made a woman from the rib which he had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. The man said, “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh. She will be called ‘woman,’ because she was taken out of Man.” Therefore a man will leave his father and his mother, and will join with his wife, and they will be one flesh. The man and his wife were both naked, and they were not ashamed.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
Matthew 21:33-46
“Hear another parable. There was a man who was a master of a household who planted a vineyard, set a hedge about it, dug a wine press in it, built a tower, leased it out to farmers, and went into another country. When the season for the fruit came near, he sent his servants to the farmers to receive his fruit. The farmers took his servants, beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again, he sent other servants more than the first; and they treated them the same way. But afterward he sent to them his son, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But the farmers, when they saw the son, said amongst themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and seize his inheritance.’ So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard, then killed him. When therefore the lord of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those farmers?”
They told him, “He will miserably destroy those miserable men, and will lease out the vineyard to other farmers who will give him the fruit in its season.”
Jesus said to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures,
‘The stone which the builders rejected
was made the head of the corner.
This was from the Lord.
It is marvelous in our eyes’?
“Therefore I tell you, God’s Kingdom will be taken away from you and will be given to a nation producing its fruit. He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but on whomever it will fall, it will scatter him as dust.”
When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he spoke about them. When they sought to seize him, they feared the multitudes, because they considered him to be a prophet.
Silence may be kept.
The Magnificat (The Song of Mary)
Luke 1:46-55
Refrain:
Behold, my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
the anointed one on whom my Spirit rests.
My soul magnifies the Lord.
My spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior,
for he has looked at the humble state 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.
Holy is his name.
His mercy is for generations and generations on those who fear him.
He has shown strength with his arm.
He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He has put down princes from their thrones,
and has exalted the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things.
He has sent the rich away empty.
He has given help to Israel, his servant, that he might remember mercy,
as he spoke to our fathers,
to Abraham and his offspring 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.
Refrain:
Behold, my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
the anointed one on whom my Spirit rests.
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.
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:
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
Lord of life
In your mercy, hear us.
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 again by 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
Believing the promises 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 Christ, who sends us to the nations, give us the power of his Spirit.
Amen.