Shane Raynor Shane Raynor

Sat. morning Sep. 19

Opening response

O Lord, open my lips,
and my 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

To God Be the Glory

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;
andall that is within me, bless His holy name.

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

Psalm 41

𝙍: LORD, be merciful to me.

Blessed is he who considers the poor;
the LORD will deliver him in the day of trouble.
The LORD will preserve him and keep him alive,
and he will be blessed on the earth;
You will not deliver him to the will of his enemies.
The LORD will sustain him on his sickbed;
in his illness, You will restore him to health.

I said, “LORD, be merciful to me;
heal my soul, for I have sinned against You.”

𝙍: LORD, be merciful to me.

My enemies speak evil of me:
“When will he die, and his name perish?”
And if he comes to see me, he speaks vain words;
his heart gathers iniquity to itself;
when he goes out, he tells it.

All who hate me whisper together against me;
against me they devise my hurt.
They say, “An evil disease clings to him.
And now that he lies down, he will not rise again.”
Even my own familiar friend,
in whom I trusted, who ate of my bread,
has lifted up the heel against me.

𝙍: LORD, be merciful to me.

But You, O LORD, be gracious to me,
and raise me up, that I may repay them.
By this I know that You are well pleased with me:
because my enemy does not triumph over me.
As for me, You uphold me in my integrity,
and set me in Your presence forever.

Blessed be the LORD God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting.
Amen and Amen.

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: LORD, be merciful to me.

Psalm prayer

God our deliverer, raise up the poor and comfort the betrayed, through the one who for our sakes became poor and whose betrayal brought our salvation, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Psalm 42

As the deer pants for the water brooks,
so my soul pants for You, O God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When shall I come and appear before God?
My tears have been my food
day and night,
while they continually say to me,
“Where is your God?”
When I remember these things,
I pour out my soul within me.
For I would go with the throng of people,
and lead them in procession to the house of God,
with the voice of joy and praise,
a multitude keeping festival.

Why are you cast down, O my soul?
And why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God,
for I shall again praise Him
for the help of His presence.

O my God, my soul is cast down within me;
therefore I remember You
from the land of Jordan,
and of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.
Deep calls to deep
at the thunder of Your waterfalls;
all Your waves and Your billows
have gone over me.

The LORD will command His lovingkindness in the daytime,
and in the night His song will be with me,
a prayer to the God of my life.

I will say to God, my rock,
“Why have You forgotten me?
Why do I go mourning
because of the oppression of the enemy?”
As a shattering of my bones,
my enemies reproach me,
while they say to me all day long,
“Where is your God?”

Why are you cast down, O my soul?
And why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God;
for I shall again praise Him,
my salvation and my 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.

Psalm prayer

Come, creator Spirit, source of life; sustain us when our hearts are heavy and our wells have run dry, for you are the Father’s gift, with him who is our living water, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Psalm 43

Vindicate me, O God,
and plead my cause against an ungodly people;
deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man!
For You are the God of my refuge;
why have You cast me off?
Why do I walk about mourning
because of the oppression of the enemy?
Oh send out Your light and Your truth;
let them lead me;
let them bring me to Your holy hill
and to Your dwelling.
Then I will go to the altar of God,
to God my exceeding joy,
and with the harp I will praise You,
O God, my God.

Why are you cast down, O my soul?
And why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God;
for I shall again praise Him,
my salvation and my 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.

Psalm prayer

Come, Holy Spirit, light and truth; bring us to the altar of life, and renew our joy and gladness in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Old Testament reading

1 Kings 12:1-24

And Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had gone to Shechem to make him king. When Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who was still in Egypt, heard of it (for he had fled from King Solomon and stayed in Egypt), they called and sent for him. And Jeroboam and all the congregation of Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam, saying, “Your father made our yoke unbearable. Now, therefore, make the grievous service to your father and the heavy yoke he put upon us lighter, and we will serve you.”

He said to them, “Depart for three days, and then come back to me.” And the people departed.

King Rehoboam consulted with the old men who advised his father Solomon while he was still alive and asked, “How do you advise me to answer the people?”

And they spoke to him, saying, “If you will be a servant to this people this day and will serve them and answer them and speak kind words to them, they will be your servants forever.”

But he rejected the advice that the old men gave him and consulted with the young men who grew up with him and who stood before him, and he said to them, “What advice do you give on how we should answer this people, who have spoken to me saying, ‘Make the yoke your father put on us lighter’?”

And the young men who grew up with him said, “Thus shall you answer this people who said to you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but make it lighter for us’; thus shall you say to them, ‘My little finger will be thicker than my father’s loins! Whereas my father loaded you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your burden. My father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions!’ ”

So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day, just as the king had appointed, saying, “Come to me again the third day.” The king answered the people roughly and forsook the counsel the old men gave him, and instead spoke to them following the advice of the young men. He said, “My father made your yoke heavy, and I will add to your burden. My father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.” Thus the king did not listen to the people, for the cause was from the LORD, that He might fulfill His saying, which the LORD spoke by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

So when all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people responded to the king, saying,

“What portion do we have in David?
We also do not have an inheritance in the son of Jesse.
To your tents, O Israel,
and see to your own house, David!”

So the people of Israel departed to their tents. But the people of Israel living in the cities of Judah were ruled over by Rehoboam.

Then King Rehoboam sent Adoniram, who was in charge of the forced labor, and all Israel stoned him to death. As a result, King Rehoboam quickly mounted his chariot and fled to Jerusalem. So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.

When all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, they sent and called him before the congregation and made him king over all Israel. Only the tribe of Judah followed the house of David.

When Rehoboam arrived at Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah along with the tribe of Benjamin, one hundred and eighty thousand chosen men who were warriors, to fight against the house of Israel and to bring the kingdom back to Rehoboam the son of Solomon.

But the word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying: Speak to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all the house of Judah and Benjamin and to the remnant of the people, saying, “Thus says the LORD: You shall not go up, nor fight against your brothers the Israelites. Every man is to return to his house, for this thing is from Me.” They listened therefore to the word of the LORD and turned to depart, according to the word of the LORD.

Silence may be kept.

New Testament reading

Acts 18:22-19:7

When he had landed at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the church and then went down to Antioch.

After spending some time there, he departed and passed through the entire region of Galatia and Phrygia in sequence, strengthening all the disciples.

Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, born in Alexandria, who was an eloquent man and powerful in the Scriptures, came to Ephesus. This man was instructed in the way of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John, but being fervent in spirit, he accurately spoke and taught the things concerning the Lord. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Aquila and Priscilla heard him, they took him and explained the way of God more accurately.

When Apollos intended to pass into Achaia, the brothers wrote to encourage the disciples to welcome him. On arriving, he greatly helped those who had believed through grace. For he vehemently refuted the Jews publicly, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ.

While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the upper regions and came to Ephesus. He found some disciples and said to them, “Have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed?”

They said to him, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”

He said to them, “Into what then were you baptized?”

They said, “Into John’s baptism.”

Paul said, “John indeed baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people that they should believe in the One coming after him, that is, in Christ Jesus.” When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. When Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied. There were about twelve men in all.

Silence may be kept.

The Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah)

Luke 1:68-79

Blessed be the Lord 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 of long ago,
that we should be saved from our enemies
and from the hand of all who hate us,
to perform the mercy promised to our fathers
and to remember His holy covenant,
the oath which He swore to our father Abraham,
to grant us that we, being delivered out of the hand of our enemies,
might serve Him without fear,
in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our lives.

And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest;
for you will go before the presence of the Lord to prepare His ways,
to give knowledge of salvation to His people
by the remission of their sins,
through the tender mercy of our God,
whereby the sunrise from on high has visited us;
to give light to those who sit in darkness
and in 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.

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.

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:

Our homes, families, friends, and all whom we love
Those whose time is spent caring for others
Those who are close to death
Those who have lost hope
The worship of the church

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

God, who in generous mercy sent the Holy Spirit upon your Church in the burning fire of your love: grant that your people may be fervent in the fellowship of the gospel that, always abiding in you, they may be found steadfast in faith and active in service; 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, 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

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

Read More
Shane Raynor Shane Raynor

Fri. morning Sep. 18

Opening response

O Lord, open my lips,
and my 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

O Sacred Head , Now Wounded

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 31

𝙍: Into Your hand I commit my spirit.

In You, O LORD, do I seek refuge;
let me never be ashamed;
deliver me in Your righteousness.
Incline Your ear to me;
deliver me speedily;
be my rock of refuge,
a strong fortress to save me.
For You are my rock and my fortress;
for Your name’s sake, lead me and guide me.
Pull me out of the net that they have hidden for me,
for You are my strength.
Into Your hand I commit my spirit;
You have redeemed me, O LORD, God of truth.

𝙍: Into Your hand I commit my spirit.

I have hated those who regard worthless idols,
but I trust in the LORD.
I will be glad and rejoice in Your lovingkindness,
for You have seen my trouble;
You have known my soul in adversities,
and have not delivered me into the hand of the enemy;
You have set my feet in a broad place.

𝙍: Into Your hand I commit my spirit.

Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am in distress;
my eye wastes away from grief,
yes, my soul and my body.
For my life is spent with grief,
and my years with sighing;
my strength fails because of my iniquity,
and my bones waste away.
I have become a reproach among all my enemies,
but especially among my neighbors,
and an object of dread to my acquaintances;
those who see me outside flee from me.
I am forgotten like a dead man, out of mind;
I am like a broken vessel.
For I hear the slander of many;
fear is on every side;
while they take counsel together against me,
they plot to take away my life.

𝙍: Into Your hand I commit my spirit.

But I trust in You, O LORD;
I say, “You are my God.”
My times are in Your hand;
deliver me from the hand of my enemies,
and from those who persecute me.
Make Your face shine upon Your servant;
save me by Your lovingkindness.
Do not let me be ashamed, O LORD,
for I have called upon You;
let the wicked be ashamed,
and let them go silently to Sheol.
Let the lying lips be put to silence,
which speak insolently
with pride and contempt against the righteous.

𝙍: Into Your hand I commit my spirit.

Oh, how great is Your goodness,
which You have laid up for those who fear You,
which You have prepared for those
who take refuge in You before the sons of men!
You will hide them in the shelter of Your presence
from the plots of man;
You will keep them secretly in a shelter
from contentious tongues.

Blessed be the LORD,
for He has shown me His marvelous lovingkindness
in a fortified city.
For I said in my haste,
“I am cut off from before Your eyes.”
Nevertheless You heard the voice of my supplications
when I cried out to You.

𝙍: Into Your hand I commit my spirit.

Oh, love the LORD, all you His saints!
The LORD preserves the faithful,
but fully repays the one who acts in pride.
Be strong, and He will strengthen your heart,
all you who wait for the LORD.

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: Into Your hand I commit my spirit.

Psalm prayer

Lord Jesus Christ, when scorn and shame besiege us, and hope is veiled in grief, hold us in your wounded hands and make your face shine on us again, for you are our Lord and God.

Old Testament reading

1 Kings 11:26-43

Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephraimite of Zeredah, who was Solomon’s servant and whose mother’s name was Zeruah, a widow woman, even he lifted up his hand against the king.

This is what led to his rebellion against the king. Solomon built Millo and repaired the wall of the City of David his father. Jeroboam was a mighty man of valor, and when Solomon saw that the young man was industrious, he made him ruler over all the labor force of the house of Joseph.

At that time, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him along the way, and he had dressed himself in a new garment, and the two of them were alone in the field. Ahijah took off the new garment that he wore and tore it into twelve pieces, and he said to Jeroboam: Take ten pieces, for thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, “Behold, I will tear the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon and will give ten tribes to you (but he shall have one tribe for My servant David’s sake and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel), because they have forsaken Me and have worshipped Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and Chemosh, the god of the Moabites, and Molech, the god of the Ammonites and have not walked in My ways and have not done that which is right in My eyes, to keep My statutes and judgments, as his father David had done.

“However, I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand, but I will make him prince all the days of his life for David My servant’s sake, whom I chose, because he kept My commandments and My statutes. But I will take the kingdom out of his son’s hand and will give ten tribes to you. To his son will I give one tribe, so that My servant David will always have a light before Me in Jerusalem, the city in which I have chosen to put My name. I will take you, and you shall reign according to all that your soul desires and shall be king over Israel. It shall be, if you will listen to all that I command you and will walk in My ways and do what is right in My sight to keep My statutes and My commandments, as David My servant did, I will be with you and build you a sure house, as I built for David, and will give Israel to you. I will thus afflict the seed of David, but not forever.”

Solomon therefore sought to kill Jeroboam. And Jeroboam arose and fled to Egypt to Shishak, king of Egypt, and he stayed in Egypt until the death of Solomon.

The rest of the acts of Solomon and all that he did and his wisdom, are they not written in the book of the acts of Solomon? And the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years. Solomon slept with his fathers and was buried in the City of David his father, and his son Rehoboam reigned after him.

Silence may be kept.

New Testament reading

Acts 18:1-21

After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. He found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. And he went to them. And because he was of the same trade, he remained with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade. He lectured in the synagogue every Sabbath and persuaded Jews and Greeks.

When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul was pressed by the Spirit and testified to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. But when they opposed him and blasphemed, he shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood be upon your heads. I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”

Then he departed from there and entered the house of a man named Justus, one who worshipped God, whose house was next door to the synagogue. Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord with his entire household. And many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized.

The Lord spoke to Paul in the night through a vision, “Do not be afraid, but speak and do not be silent. For I am with you, and no one shall attack you and hurt you, for I have many people in this city.” So for one year and six months he sat among them, teaching the word of God.

When Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews in unity attacked Paul and brought him to court, saying, “This man is persuading men to worship God contrary to the law.”

When Paul was about to speak, Gallio said to the Jews, “O Jews, if it were a matter of a misdemeanor or serious crime, I would rightly bear with you. But if it is a question of words and names and your law, look into it yourselves. For I do not intend to be a judge of these matters.” So he drove them out of court. Then all the Greeks seized Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before the judgment seat. But none of these things mattered to Gallio.

Yet Paul remained many days. He had his hair cut in Cenchrea, for he had taken a vow. Then, bidding farewell to the brothers, he sailed to Syria, and Priscilla and Aquila were with him. He arrived at Ephesus and left them there. But he himself went into the synagogue and lectured the Jews. When they asked him to remain for a while longer, he did not consent, but, bidding farewell, said, “I must by all means attend this upcoming feast in Jerusalem, but I will return to you if God wills.” And he set sail from Ephesus.

Silence may be kept.

The Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah)

Luke 1:68-79

Blessed be the Lord 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 of long ago,
that we should be saved from our enemies
and from the hand of all who hate us,
to perform the mercy promised to our fathers
and to remember His holy covenant,
the oath which He swore to our father Abraham,
to grant us that we, being delivered out of the hand of our enemies,
might serve Him without fear,
in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our lives.

And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest;
for you will go before the presence of the Lord to prepare His ways,
to give knowledge of salvation to His people
by the remission of their sins,
through the tender mercy of our God,
whereby the sunrise from on high has visited us;
to give light to those who sit in darkness
and in 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.

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.

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:

Political leaders and the armed forces
Peace and justice in the world
Those who work for reconciliation
All whose lives are devastated by war and civil strife
Prisoners, refugees, and homeless people

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

God, who in generous mercy sent the Holy Spirit upon your Church in the burning fire of your love: grant that your people may be fervent in the fellowship of the gospel that, always abiding in you, they may be found steadfast in faith and active in service; 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, 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

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

Read More
Shane Raynor Shane Raynor

Thu. morning Sep. 17

Opening response

O Lord, open my lips,
and my 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

The Old Rugged Cross

Confession of Sin

When we cry to the LORD in our trouble,
He will save us from our distress.

God will bring us out of darkness
and out of the shadow of death.

Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

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

May the Father forgive us by the death of his Son, and strengthen us to live in the power of the Spirit all our days.
Amen.

Let us give thanks to the LORD for His goodness,
and for His wonderful works to all people!

Let us offer sacrifices of thanksgiving,
and declare God’s works with rejoicing.

cf Psalm 107

Psalm 37

𝙍: The salvation of the righteous is from the LORD.

Fret not because of evildoers,
nor be envious of the workers of iniquity.
For they will soon fade like the grass,
and wither like the green herb.

Trust in the LORD, and do good;
dwell in the land, and shepherd faithfulness.
Delight yourself in the LORD,
and He will give you the desires of your heart.

Commit your way to the LORD;
trust also in Him, and He will bring it to pass.
He will bring forth your righteousness as the light,
and your justice as the noonday.

𝙍: The salvation of the righteous is from the LORD.

Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him;
fret not because of those who prosper in their way,
because of those who bring wicked schemes to pass.

Let go of anger and forsake wrath;
fret not—it leads only to evil.
For evildoers shall be cut off,
but those who wait on the LORD shall inherit the earth.

Yet a little while, and the wicked will be no more;
though you look diligently for his place, he will not be there.
But the meek shall inherit the land,
and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.

𝙍: The salvation of the righteous is from the LORD.

The wicked plots against the righteous,
and gnashes his teeth at him.
The Lord laughs at him,
for He sees that his day is coming.

The wicked have drawn the sword
and have bent their bows,
to cast down the poor and needy,
and to slay those who walk uprightly.
Their sword shall enter their own heart,
and their bows shall be broken.

Better is a little that the righteous man has
than the abundance of many wicked.
For the arms of the wicked shall be broken,
but the LORD upholds the righteous.

𝙍: The salvation of the righteous is from the LORD.

The LORD knows the days of the blameless,
and their heritage will abide forever.
They shall not be ashamed in evil times,
and in the days of famine they shall have abundance.

But the wicked shall perish,
and the enemies of the LORD, like the glory of the meadows,
shall vanish; like smoke they shall vanish away.

The wicked borrows and does not repay,
but the righteous is generous and gives.
For those blessed by Him shall inherit the earth,
but those cursed by Him shall be cut off.

𝙍: The salvation of the righteous is from the LORD.

The steps of a man are made firm by the LORD
when He delights in his way.
Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down,
for the LORD upholds him with His hand.

I have been young, and now am old;
yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken,
nor his descendants begging bread.
The righteous is ever generous and lends,
and his descendants become a blessing.

𝙍: The salvation of the righteous is from the LORD.

Depart from evil, and do good;
so shall you abide forever.
For the LORD loves justice,
and does not forsake His saints;
they are preserved forever,
but the descendants of the wicked shall be cut off.
The righteous shall inherit the land,
and live in it forever.

𝙍: The salvation of the righteous is from the LORD.

The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom,
and his tongue speaks justice.
The law of his God is in his heart;
none of his steps shall slip.

The wicked watches the righteous,
and seeks to kill him.
The LORD will not abandon him to his power,
or let him be condemned when he is judged.

𝙍: The salvation of the righteous is from the LORD.

Wait on the LORD,
and keep His way,
and He will exalt you to inherit the land;
when the wicked are cut off, you will look on.

I have seen the wicked in great power,
and spreading himself like a luxuriant tree.
Yet he passed by, and behold, he was no more;
though I sought him, he could not be found.

Mark the blameless man, and behold the upright,
for there is a future for the man of peace.

𝙍: The salvation of the righteous is from the LORD.

But the transgressors shall be destroyed together;
the future of the wicked shall be cut off.

But the salvation of the righteous is from the LORD;
He is their refuge in the time of trouble.
The LORD shall help them and deliver them;
He shall deliver them from the wicked,
and save them, because they take refuge in Him.

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 salvation of the righteous is from the LORD.

Psalm prayer

Blessed and holy God, ever merciful and forgiving, may we turn from what is evil and do what is good in your sight, for you have saved us by the cross of your Son, our Savior Jesus Christ.

Old Testament reading

1 Kings 11:1-13

But King Solomon loved many foreign women in addition to the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites, from the nations which the LORD warned the Israelites about, saying, “You shall not go in to them, nor shall they come in to you, for they will surely turn your heart away toward their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love. He had seven hundred wives who were princesses and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned his heart away. For when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away after other gods, and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God as the heart of David his father had been. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Molech, the abomination of the Ammonites. Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and did not fully follow the LORD as his father David had done.

Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is close to Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the Ammonites. He did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.

The LORD was angry with Solomon because he turned his heart away from the LORD God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice, and had warned him about this, that he should not follow other gods, but he was disobedient to the LORD’s command. Therefore the LORD said to Solomon, “Since you have done this and have not kept My covenant and statutes, which I commanded you, I will surely take the kingdom from you and give it to your servant. I will not do this in your lifetime for your father David’s sake, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son. However, I will not take the whole kingdom away, but will preserve one tribe for your son for David My servant’s sake and for the sake of Jerusalem which I chose.”

Silence may be kept.

New Testament reading

Acts 17:16-34

While Paul waited for them in Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols. Therefore he disputed in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace daily with those who happened to be there. Then some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encountered him. And some said, “What will this babbler say?” Others said, “He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods,” because he preached Jesus and the resurrection to them. They took hold of him and led him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new teaching is of which you speak? For you are bringing strange things to our ears. Therefore we want to know what these things mean.” For all the Athenians and foreigners who lived there spent their time in nothing else, but either telling or hearing something new.

Then Paul stood in the middle of the Areopagus, and said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious. For as I passed by and looked up at your objects of worship, I found an altar with this inscription:

TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.

Therefore, whom you worship as unknown, Him I proclaim to you.

“God who made the world and all things in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by hands. Nor is He served by men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives all men life and breath and all things. He has made from one blood every nation of men to live on the entire surface of the earth, having appointed fixed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they should seek the Lord so perhaps they might reach for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us. ‘For in Him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are His offspring.’

“Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to suppose that the Deity is like gold or silver or stone or an engraved work of art or an image of the reflection of man. God overlooked the times of ignorance, but now He commands all men everywhere to repent. For He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by a Man whom He has appointed, having given assurance of this to all men by raising Him from the dead.”

When they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some scoffed. But others said, “We will hear you again concerning this matter.” So Paul departed from them. However, some men joined him and believed. Among them were Dionysius, member of the Areopagus, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.

Silence may be kept.

The Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah)

Luke 1:68-79

Blessed be the Lord 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 of long ago,
that we should be saved from our enemies
and from the hand of all who hate us,
to perform the mercy promised to our fathers
and to remember His holy covenant,
the oath which He swore to our father Abraham,
to grant us that we, being delivered out of the hand of our enemies,
might serve Him without fear,
in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our lives.

And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest;
for you will go before the presence of the Lord to prepare His ways,
to give knowledge of salvation to His people
by the remission of their sins,
through the tender mercy of our God,
whereby the sunrise from on high has visited us;
to give light to those who sit in darkness
and in 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.

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.

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:

Local government, community leaders
All who provide local services
Those who work with young or elderly people
Schools, colleges, and universities
Emergency and rescue organizations

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

God, who in generous mercy sent the Holy Spirit upon your Church in the burning fire of your love: grant that your people may be fervent in the fellowship of the gospel that, always abiding in you, they may be found steadfast in faith and active in service; 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, 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

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

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