Wednesday morning April 13

Thursday morning
Tuesday morning

Preparation

Opening response

Lord, open our lips
and our mouth will proclaim your praise.

Let your way become known on earth,
your salvation among all the nations.

Prayer of thanksgiving

Blessed are you, Lord God of our salvation,
to you be praise and glory forever.
As a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief
your only Son was lifted up
that he might draw the whole world to himself.
May we walk this day in the way of the cross
and always be ready to share its weight,
declaring your love for all the world.
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

Ah! What Avails My Strife

Charles Wesley
           
Ah! what avails my strife, 
My wandering to and fro? 
Thou hast the words of endless life; 
Ah! whither should I go? 

Thy condescending grace
To me did freely move; 
It calls me still to seek thy face, 
And stoops to ask my love. 

My worthless heart to gain, 
The God of all that breathe, 
Was found in fashion as a man, 
And died a curséd death. 

And can I yet delay
My little all to give? 
To tear my soul from earth away, 
For Jesus to receive? 

Ah! no; I all forsake, 
I all to thee resign: 
Gracious Redeemer, take, oh, take, 
And seal me ever thine!

Confession of sin

Seek the Lord when he can still be found;
call him while he is yet near.
Let the wicked abandon their ways
and the sinful their schemes.
Let them return to the Lord so that he may have mercy on them,
to our God, because he is generous with forgiveness.

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 faithful love.
Wash us completely clean of our guilt; purify us from our sin.
Put a new, faithful spirit deep inside us,
and return the joy of your salvation to us
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

The Word of God

Psalm 102

Refrain:
You, Lord, rule forever! Your fame lasts from one generation to the next!

Lord, hear my prayer!
    Let my cry reach you!
Don’t hide your face from me
    in my time of trouble!
Listen to me!
    Answer me quickly as I cry out!
Because my days disappear like smoke,
    my bones are burned up as if in an oven;
    my heart is smashed like dried-up grass.
    I even forget to eat my food
    because of my intense groans.
    My bones are protruding from my skin.
I’m like some wild owl—
    like some screech owl in the desert.
I lie awake all night.
    I’m all alone like a bird on a roof.
All day long my enemies make fun of me;
    those who mock me curse using my name!
I’ve been eating ashes instead of bread.
    I’ve been mixing tears into my drinks
        because of your anger and wrath,
        because you picked me up and threw me away.
My days are like a shadow soon gone.
    I’m dried up like dead grass.

But you, Lord, rule forever!
    Your fame lasts from one generation to the next!
You will stand up—
        you’ll have compassion on Zion
        because it is time to have mercy on her—
    the time set for that has now come!
Your servants cherish Zion’s stones;
    they show mercy even to her dirt.
The nations will honor the Lord’s name;
    all the earth’s rulers will honor your glory
    because the Lord will rebuild Zion;
    he will be seen there in his glory.
God will turn to the prayer of the impoverished;
    he won’t despise their prayers.

Let this be written down for the next generation
    so that people not yet created will praise the Lord:
    The Lord looked down from his holy summit,
        surveyed the earth from heaven,
        to hear the prisoners’ groans,
        to set free those condemned to death,
        that the Lord’s name may be declared in Zion
        and his praise declared in Jerusalem,
        when all people are gathered together—
        all kingdoms—to serve the Lord.

God broke my strength in midstride,
    cutting my days short.
I said, “My God, don’t take me away in the prime of life—
    your years go on from one generation to the next!
You laid the earth’s foundations long ago;
    the skies are your handiwork.
These things will pass away, but you will last.
    All of these things will wear out like clothing;
    you change them like clothes, and they pass on.
But you are the one!
    Your years never end!
Let your servants’ children live safe;
    let your servants’ descendants live secure in your presence.”

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, rule forever! Your fame lasts from one generation to the next!

Psalm prayer

Have pity on our frailty, O God,
and in the hour of our death
cast us not away as clothing that is worn,
for you are our eternal refuge;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Old Testament reading
Jeremiah 11:18-20

The Lord informed me and I knew.
    Then he helped me see what they were up to.
I was like a young lamb led to the slaughter;
    I didn’t realize that they were planning
        their schemes against me:
“Let’s destroy the tree with its fruit;
    let’s cut him off from the land of the living
    so that even any knowledge of him will be wiped out.”
Lord of heavenly forces, righteous judge,
    who tests the heart and mind,
        let me see your revenge upon them,
        because I have committed my case to you.

Silence may be kept.

New Testament reading
Luke 22:54-71

After they arrested Jesus, they led him away and brought him to the high priest’s house. Peter followed from a distance. When they lit a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat among them.

Then a servant woman saw him sitting in the firelight. She stared at him and said, “This man was with him too.”

But Peter denied it, saying, “Woman, I don’t know him!”

A little while later, someone else saw him and said, “You are one of them too.”

But Peter said, “Man, I’m not!”

An hour or so later, someone else insisted, “This man must have been with him, because he is a Galilean too.”

Peter responded, “Man, I don’t know what you are talking about!” At that very moment, while he was still speaking, a rooster crowed. The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter, and Peter remembered the Lord’s words: “Before a rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.” And Peter went out and cried uncontrollably.

The men who were holding Jesus in custody taunted him while they beat him. They blindfolded him and asked him repeatedly, “Prophesy! Who hit you?” Insulting him, they said many other horrible things against him.

As morning came, the elders of the people, both chief priests and legal experts, came together, and Jesus was brought before their council.

They said, “If you are the Christ, tell us!”

He answered, “If I tell you, you won’t believe. And if I ask you a question, you won’t answer. But from now on, the Human One will be seated on the right side of the power of God.”

They all said, “Are you God’s Son, then?”

He replied, “You say that I am.”

Then they said, “Why do we need further testimony? We’ve heard it from his own lips.”

Silence may be kept.

Gospel canticle
The Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah)

Refrain: 
The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are being destroyed. But it is the power of God for those of us who are being saved.

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: 
The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are being destroyed. But it is the power of God for those of us who are being saved.

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 persecuted church
The oppressed peoples of the world
All who are lonely
All who are near to death
All who are facing loss

Other intercessions and supplications may be offered as the Holy Spirit leads.

Response

Father, hear our prayer,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Silence may be kept.

Collect of the day

Almighty and everlasting God,
who in your tender love toward the human race
      sent your Son our Savior Jesus Christ
to take upon him our flesh
and to suffer death upon the cross:
grant that we may follow the example of his patience and humility,
and also be made partakers of his resurrection;
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

Standing at the foot of the cross, 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 bore our sins on the cross, set us free to serve him with joy.
Amen.