Sunday morning December 16

Monday morning
Saturday morning

Preparation

Opening response

Lord, open our lips

and our mouth will proclaim your praise.

Reveal among us the light of your presence

that we may behold your power and glory.

Prayer of thanksgiving

Blessed are you, Sovereign God of all,

to you be praise and glory forever.

In your tender compassion

the dawn from on high is breaking upon us

to dispel the lingering shadows of night.

As we look for your coming among us this day,

open our eyes to behold your presence

and strengthen our hands to do your will,

that the world may rejoice and give you praise.

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

Being of Beings, God of Love

Charles Wesley

Being of beings, God of love,

To thee our hearts we raise;

Thy all-sustaining power we prove,

And gladly sing thy praise.

Thine, wholly thine, we pant to be;

Our sacrifice receive!

Made, and preserved, and saved by thee,

To thee ourselves we give.

Heavenward our every wish aspires

For all thy mercy’s store,

The sole return thy love requires,

Is that we ask for more.

For more we ask; we open then

Our hearts to embrace thy will,

Turn and revive us, Lord again,

With all thy fullness fill.

Come, Holy Ghost, the Savior’s love

Shed in our hearts abroad:

So shall we ever live and move,

And be with Christ in God.

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.

The Word of God

Psalm 12

Refrain:

You, Lord, will keep us, protecting us from this generation forever.

Help, Lord, because the godly are all gone;

the faithful have completely disappeared

from the human race!

Everyone tells lies to everyone else;

they talk with slick speech and divided hearts.

Let the Lord cut off all slick-talking lips

and every tongue that brags and brags,

that says, “We’re unbeatable with our tongues!

Who could get the best of us with lips like ours?”

But the Lord says,

“Because the poor are oppressed,

because of the groans of the needy,

I’m now standing up.

I will provide the help they are gasping for.”

The Lord’s promises are pure,

like silver that’s been refined in an oven,

purified seven times over!

You, Lord, will keep us,

protecting us from this generation forever.

The wicked roam all over the place,

while depravity is praised by human beings.

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, Lord, will keep us, protecting us from this generation forever.

Psalm prayer

Lord, when faith is faint

and speech veils our intentions,

restore us by your word of power and purity,

both now and forever.

Psalm 14

Refrain:

The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord; the knowledge of the holy one is understanding.

Fools say in their hearts, There is no God.

They are corrupt and do evil things;

not one of them does anything good.

The Lord looks down from heaven on humans

to see if anyone is wise,

to see if anyone seeks God,

but all of them have turned bad.

Everyone is corrupt.

No one does good—

not even one person!

Are they dumb, all these evildoers,

devouring my people

like they are eating bread

but never calling on the Lord?

Count on it: they will be in utter panic

because God is with the righteous generation.

You evildoers may humiliate

the plans of those who suffer,

but the Lord is their refuge.

Let Israel’s salvation come out of Zion!

When the Lord changes

his people’s circumstances for the better,

Jacob will rejoice;

Israel will celebrate!

Glory to the Father and to the Son

and to the Holy Spirit;

as it was in the beginning is now

and will be forever. Amen.

Refrain:

The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord; the knowledge of the holy one is understanding.

Psalm prayer

God of heaven,

look with mercy on all who are consumed

by ignorance and greed,

and let the children of earth know

that you are God forever.

Old Testament reading
Isaiah 25:1-9

Lord, you are my God.

I will exalt you; I will praise your name,

for you have done wonderful things,

planned long ago, faithful and sure.

You have turned the city into rubble,

the fortified town into a ruin,

the fortress of foreigners into a city no more,

never to be rebuilt.

Therefore, strong people will glorify you;

the towns of tyrant nations will fear you.

You have been a refuge for the poor,

a refuge for the needy in distress,

a hiding place from the storm,

a shade from the heat.

When the breath of tyrants is like a winter storm

or like heat in the desert,

you subdue the roar of foreigners.

Like heat shaded by a cloud,

the tyrants’ song falls silent.

On this mountain,

the Lord of heavenly forces will prepare for all peoples

a rich feast, a feast of choice wines,

of select foods rich in flavor,

of choice wines well refined.

He will swallow up on this mountain the veil that is veiling all peoples,

the shroud enshrouding all nations.

He will swallow up death forever.

The Lord God will wipe tears from every face;

he will remove his people’s disgrace from off the whole earth,

for the Lord has spoken.

They will say on that day,

“Look! This is our God,

for whom we have waited—

and he has saved us!

This is the Lord, for whom we have waited;

let’s be glad and rejoice in his salvation!”

Silence may be kept.

New Testament reading
1 Corinthians 4:1-5

So a person should think about us this way—as servants of Christ and managers of God’s secrets. In this kind of situation, what is expected of a manager is that they prove to be faithful. I couldn’t care less if I’m judged by you or by any human court; I don’t even judge myself. I’m not aware of anything against me, but that doesn’t make me innocent, because the Lord is the one who judges me. So don’t judge anything before the right time—wait until the Lord comes. He will bring things that are hidden in the dark to light, and he will make people’s motivations public. Then there will be recognition for each person from God.

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:

The church, that she may be ready for the coming of Christ

The leaders of the church

The nations, that they may be subject to the rule of God

Those who are working for justice in the world

The broken, that they may find God’s healing

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

O Lord, raise up, we pray, your power

and come among us,

and with great might succor us;

that whereas, through our sins and wickedness

we are grievously hindered

in running the race that is set before us,

your bountiful grace and mercy

may speedily help and deliver us;

through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,

to whom with you and the Holy Spirit,

be honor and glory, now and forever.

Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer

Awaiting his coming in glory, 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 the Lord, when he comes, find us watching and waiting.

Amen.