Friday morning October 12

Saturday morning
Thursday morning

Preparation

Opening response

Lord, open our lips

and our mouth will proclaim your praise.

Prayer of thanksgiving

Blessed are you, Sovereign God, creator of all,

to you be glory and praise forever.

You founded the earth in the beginning

and the heavens are the work of your hands.

In the fullness of time you made us in your image,

and in these last days you have spoken to us

in your Son Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh.

As we rejoice in the gift of your presence among us

let the light of your love always shine in our hearts,

your Spirit ever renew our lives

and your praises ever be on our lips.

Blessed be God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Blessed be God forever.

The night has passed, and the day lies open before us;

let us pray with one heart and mind.

Silence is kept.

As we rejoice in the gift of this new day,

so may the light of your presence, O God,

set our hearts on fire with love for you;

now and forever.

Amen.

Hymn

God of All Power, and Truth, and Grace

Charles Wesley

God of all power, and truth, and grace,

Which shall from age to age endure,

Whose word, when heaven and earth shall pass,

Remains and stands forever sure.

That I thy mercy may proclaim,

That all mankind thy truth may see,

Hallow thy great and glorious name,

And perfect holiness in me.

Thy sanctifying Spirit pour,

To quench my thirst, and make me clean;

Now, Father, let the gracious shower

Descend, and make me pure from sin.

Purge me from every sinful blot;

My idols all be cast aside;

Cleanse me from every sinful thought,

From all the filth of self and pride.

Give me a new, a perfect heart,

From doubt, and fear, and sorrow free;

The mind which was in Christ impart,

And let my spirit cleave to thee.

Confession of sin

O King enthroned on high,

filling the earth with your glory:

holy is your name,

Lord God almighty.

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

In our sinfulness we cry to you

to take our guilt away,

and to cleanse our lips to speak your word,

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

May the God of all healing and forgiveness

draw us to himself,

and cleanse us from all our sins

that we may behold the glory of his Son,

the Word made flesh,

Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

The Word of God

Psalm 139

Refrain:

Examine me, God! Look at my heart!

Lord, you have examined me.

You know me.

You know when I sit down and when I stand up.

Even from far away, you comprehend my plans.

You study my traveling and resting.

You are thoroughly familiar with all my ways.

There isn’t a word on my tongue, Lord,

that you don’t already know completely.

You surround me—front and back.

You put your hand on me.

That kind of knowledge is too much for me;

it’s so high above me that I can’t fathom it.

Where could I go to get away from your spirit?

Where could I go to escape your presence?

If I went up to heaven, you would be there.

If I went down to the grave, you would be there too!

If I could fly on the wings of dawn,

stopping to rest only on the far side of the ocean—

even there your hand would guide me;

even there your strong hand would hold me tight!

If I said, “The darkness will definitely hide me;

the light will become night around me,”

even then the darkness isn’t too dark for you!

Nighttime would shine bright as day,

because darkness is the same as light to you!

You are the one who created my innermost parts;

you knit me together while I was still in my mother’s womb.

I give thanks to you that I was marvelously set apart.

Your works are wonderful—I know that very well.

My bones weren’t hidden from you

when I was being put together in a secret place,

when I was being woven together in the deep parts of the earth.

Your eyes saw my embryo,

and on your scroll every day was written that was being formed for me,

before any one of them had yet happened.

God, your plans are incomprehensible to me!

Their total number is countless!

If I tried to count them—they outnumber grains of sand!

If I came to the very end—I’d still be with you.

If only, God, you would kill the wicked!

If only murderers would get away from me—

the people who talk about you, but only for wicked schemes;

the people who are your enemies,

who use your name as if it were of no significance.

Don’t I hate everyone who hates you?

Don’t I despise those who attack you?

Yes, I hate them—through and through!

They’ve become my enemies too.

Examine me, God! Look at my heart!

Put me to the test! Know my anxious thoughts!

Look to see if there is any idolatrous way in me,

then lead me on the eternal path!

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:

Examine me, God! Look at my heart!

Psalm prayer

Creator God,

may every breath we take be for your glory,

may every footstep show you as our way,

that, trusting in your presence in this world,

we may, beyond this life, still be with you

where you are alive and reign

forever and ever.

Old Testament reading
2 Kings 19:20-36

Then Isaiah, Amoz’s son, sent a message to Hezekiah: “This is what the Lord, Israel’s God, says: I have heard your prayer about Assyria’s King Sennacherib. This is the message that the Lord has spoken against him:

The young woman, Daughter Zion, despises you and mocks you;

Daughter Jerusalem shakes her head behind your back.

Whom did you insult and ridicule?

Against whom did you raise your voice

and pridefully lift your eyes?

It was against the holy one of Israel!

You’ve insulted the Lord with your messengers;

you said, ‘I, with my many chariots,

have gone up to the highest mountains,

to the farthest reaches of Lebanon.

I have cut down its tallest cedars,

the best of its pine trees.

I have reached its most remote lodging place,

its best forest.

I have dug wells,

have drunk waters in foreign lands.

With my own feet, I dried up

all of Egypt’s streams.’

Haven’t you heard?

I set this up long ago;

I planned it in the distant past!

Now I have made it happen,

making fortified cities

collapse into piles of rubble.

Their citizens have lost their power.

They are frightened and ashamed.

They’ve become like plants in a field,

tender green shoots,

the grass on rooftops,

burned up before it matures.

I know where you live,

how you go out and come in,

and how you rage against me.

And because you rage against me

and because your pride has reached my ears,

I will put my hook in your nose,

and my bit in your mouth.

I will make you go back

the same way you came.

“Now this will be the sign for you, Hezekiah: This year you will eat what grows by itself. Next year you will eat what grows from that. But in the third year, sow seed and harvest it; plant vineyards and eat their fruit. The survivors of the house of Judah who have escaped will take root below and bear fruit above. Those who remain will go out from Jerusalem, and those who survive will go out from Mount Zion. The zeal of the Lord of heavenly forces will do this.

“Therefore, this is what the Lord says about Assyria’s king: He won’t enter this city. He won’t shoot a single arrow there. He won’t come near the city with a shield. He won’t build a ramp to besiege it. He will go back by the same way he came. He won’t enter this city, declares the Lord. I will defend this city and save it for my sake and for the sake of my servant David.”

That night the Lord’s messenger went out and struck down one hundred eighty-five thousand soldiers in the Assyrian camp. When people got up the next morning, there were dead bodies everywhere. So Assyria’s King Sennacherib departed, returning to Nineveh, where he stayed.

Silence may be kept.

New Testament reading
Philippians 3:1-4:1

So then, my brothers and sisters, be glad in the Lord. It’s no trouble for me to repeat the same things to you because they will help keep you on track. Watch out for the “dogs.” Watch out for people who do evil things. Watch out for those who insist on circumcision, which is really mutilation. We are the circumcision. We are the ones who serve by God’s Spirit and who boast in Christ Jesus. We don’t put our confidence in rituals performed on the body, though I have good reason to have this kind of confidence. If anyone else has reason to put their confidence in physical advantages, I have even more:

I was circumcised on the eighth day.

I am from the people of Israel and the tribe of Benjamin.

I am a Hebrew of the Hebrews.

With respect to observing the Law, I’m a Pharisee.

With respect to devotion to the faith, I harassed the church.

With respect to righteousness under the Law, I’m blameless.

These things were my assets, but I wrote them off as a loss for the sake of Christ. But even beyond that, I consider everything a loss in comparison with the superior value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have lost everything for him, but what I lost I think of as sewer trash, so that I might gain Christ and be found in him. In Christ I have a righteousness that is not my own and that does not come from the Law but rather from the faithfulness of Christ. It is the righteousness of God that is based on faith. The righteousness that I have comes from knowing Christ, the power of his resurrection, and the participation in his sufferings. It includes being conformed to his death so that I may perhaps reach the goal of the resurrection of the dead.

It’s not that I have already reached this goal or have already been perfected, but I pursue it, so that I may grab hold of it because Christ grabbed hold of me for just this purpose. Brothers and sisters, I myself don’t think I’ve reached it, but I do this one thing: I forget about the things behind me and reach out for the things ahead of me. The goal I pursue is the prize of God’s upward call in Christ Jesus. So all of us who are spiritually mature should think this way, and if anyone thinks differently, God will reveal it to him or her. Only let’s live in a way that is consistent with whatever level we have reached.

Brothers and sisters, become imitators of me and watch those who live this way—you can use us as models. As I have told you many times and now say with deep sadness, many people live as enemies of the cross. Their lives end with destruction. Their god is their stomach, and they take pride in their disgrace because their thoughts focus on earthly things. Our citizenship is in heaven. We look forward to a savior that comes from there—the Lord Jesus Christ. He will transform our humble bodies so that they are like his glorious body, by the power that also makes him able to subject all things to himself.

Therefore, my brothers and sisters whom I love and miss, who are my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord.

Silence may be kept.

Gospel canticle
The Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah)

Refrain:

You have shown the mercy promised to our ancestors, and remembered your holy covenant.

Bless the Lord God of Israel

because he has come to help and has delivered his people.

He has raised up a mighty savior for us in his servant David’s house,

just as he said through the mouths of his holy prophets long ago.

He has brought salvation from our enemies

and from the power of all those who hate us.

He has shown the mercy promised to our ancestors,

and remembered his holy covenant,

the solemn pledge he made to our ancestor Abraham.

He has granted that we would be rescued

from the power of our enemies

so that we could serve him without fear,

in holiness and righteousness in God’s eyes,

for as long as we live.

You, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High,

for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way.

You will tell his people how to be saved

through the forgiveness of their sins.

Because of our God’s deep compassion,

the dawn from heaven will break upon us,

to give light to those who are sitting in darkness

and in the shadow of death,

to guide us on the path of peace.”

Luke 1:68-79

Glory to the Father and to the Son

and to the Holy Spirit;

as it was in the beginning is now

and will be forever. Amen.

Refrain:

You have shown the mercy promised to our ancestors, and remembered your holy covenant.

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.

Prayers

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:

National leaders, public officials 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

Father, by your Spirit

Bring in your kingdom.

Silence may be kept.

Collect of the day

O God, forasmuch as without you

we are not able to please you;

mercifully grant that your Holy Spirit

may in all things direct and rule our hearts;

through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,

who is alive and reigns with you,

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and forever.

Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer

As our Savior taught us, so we pray

Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins

as we forgive those who sin against us.

Lead us not into temptation

but deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power,

and the glory are yours

now and forever.

Amen.

Conclusion

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

Amen.