Fri. morning Oct. 24
Opening response
Lord, open our lips
and our mouth shall 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
Hail! Holy, Holy, Holy Lord
Music by The Hymnodist: Spotify, Apple, Amazon, iHeart, YouTube Music, Pandora, Boomplay, Deezer
Lyrics by Charles Wesley
Chorus
Hail! holy, holy, holy Lord
Whom One in Three we know
By all Thy heavenly host adored
By all Thy church below
By all Thy church below
Verse 1
One undivided Trinity
With triumph we proclaim
Thy universe is full of Thee
And speaks Thy glorious name
And speaks Thy glorious name
Chorus
Verse 2
Thee, Holy Father, we confess
Thee, Holy Son, adore
Thee, Spirit of truth and holiness
We worship evermore
We worship evermore
Chorus
Verse 3
Three Persons equally divine
We magnify and love
And both the choirs ere long shall join
To sing Thy praise above
To sing Thy praise above
Chorus
Hail! holy, holy, holy Lord
Our heavenly song shall be
Supreme, essential One, adored
In co-eternal Three
In co-eternal Three
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.
Psalm 88
𝙍: You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.
O LORD, the God of my salvation,
day and night I cry out before You.
May my prayer come before You;
incline Your ear to my cry.
For my soul is full of troubles,
and my life draws near to Sheol.
I am counted among those descending to the Pit.
I am like a man without strength.
I am forsaken among the dead,
like the slain who lie in the grave,
whom You remember no more,
who are cut off from Your care.
𝙍: You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.
You have laid me in the lowest Pit,
in the darkest of the depths.
Your wrath weighs heavily upon me;
all Your waves have submerged me.
You have removed my friends from me;
You have made me repulsive to them;
I am confined and cannot escape.
My eyes grow dim with grief.
𝙍: You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.
I call to You daily, O LORD;
I spread out my hands to You.
Do You work wonders for the dead?
Do departed spirits rise up to praise You?
Can Your loving devotion be proclaimed in the grave,
Your faithfulness in Abaddon ?
Will Your wonders be known in the darkness,
or Your righteousness in the land of oblivion?
𝙍: You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.
But to You, O LORD, I cry for help;
in the morning my prayer comes before You.
Why, O LORD, do You reject me?
Why do You hide Your face from me?
From my youth I was afflicted and near death.
I have borne Your terrors; I am in despair.
Your wrath has swept over me;
Your terrors have destroyed me.
All day long they engulf me like water;
they enclose me on every side.
You have removed my beloved and my friend;
darkness is my closest companion.
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: You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.
Psalm prayer
In the depths of our isolation, we cry to you, Lord God; give light in our darkness and bring us out of the prison of our despair through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Psalm 95
𝙍: O come, let us worship and bow down.
Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD;
let us shout to the Rock of our salvation!
Let us enter His presence with thanksgiving;
let us make a joyful noise to Him in song.
For the LORD is a great God,
a great King above all gods.
𝙍: O come, let us worship and bow down.
In His hand are the depths of the earth,
and the mountain peaks belong to Him.
The sea is His, for He made it,
and His hands formed the dry land.
O come, let us worship and bow down;
let us kneel before the LORD our Maker.
For He is our God,
and we are the people of His pasture,
the sheep under His care.
𝙍: O come, let us worship and bow down.
Today, if you hear His voice,
do not harden your hearts
as you did at Meribah,
in the day at Massah in the wilderness,
where your fathers tested and tried Me,
though they had seen My work.
For forty years I was angry with that generation,
and I said, “They are a people whose hearts go astray,
and they have not known My ways.”
So I swore on oath in My anger,
“They shall never enter My rest.”
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: O come, let us worship and bow down.
Psalm prayer
Lord God, the maker of all,
as we bow down in praise this day,
make us attentive to your voice
and do not test us beyond our enduring;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Old Testament reading
2 Chronicles 22:10-23:21
When Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she proceeded to annihilate all the royal heirs of the house of Judah. But Jehoshabeath daughter of King Jehoram took Joash son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the sons of the king who were being murdered, and she put him and his nurse in a bedroom. Because Jehoshabeath, the daughter of King Jehoram and the wife of Jehoiada the priest, was Ahaziah’s sister, she hid Joash from Athaliah so that she could not kill him.
And Joash remained hidden with them in the house of God for six years while Athaliah ruled the land.
Then in the seventh year, Jehoiada strengthened himself and made a covenant with the commanders of hundreds—with Azariah son of Jeroham, Ishmael son of Jehohanan, Azariah son of Obed, Maaseiah son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat son of Zichri. So they went throughout Judah and gathered the Levites from all the cities of Judah and the heads of the families of Israel. And when they came to Jerusalem, the whole assembly made a covenant with the king in the house of God.
“Behold, the king’s son!” said Jehoiada. “He must reign, just as the LORD promised concerning the descendants of David. This is what you are to do: A third of you priests and Levites who come on duty on the Sabbath shall keep watch at the doors, a third shall be at the royal palace, and a third at the Foundation Gate, while all the others are in the courtyards of the house of the LORD. No one is to enter the house of the LORD except the priests and those Levites who serve; they may enter because they are consecrated, but all the people are to obey the requirement of the LORD. The Levites must surround the king with weapons in hand, and anyone who enters the temple must be put to death. You must stay close to the king wherever he goes.”
So the Levites and all Judah did everything that Jehoiada the priest had ordered. Each of them took his men—those coming on duty on the Sabbath and those going off duty—for Jehoiada the priest had not released any of the divisions. Then Jehoiada the priest gave to the commanders of hundreds the spears and the large and small shields of King David that were in the house of God. He stationed all the troops, with their weapons in hand, surrounding the king by the altar and the temple, from the south side to the north side of the temple.
Then Jehoiada and his sons brought out the king’s son, put the crown on him, presented him with the Testimony, and proclaimed him king. They anointed him and shouted, “Long live the king!”
When Athaliah heard the noise of the people running and cheering the king, she went out to them in the house of the LORD. And she looked out and saw the king standing by his pillar at the entrance. The officers and trumpeters were beside the king, and all the people of the land were rejoicing and blowing trumpets, while the singers with musical instruments were leading the praises.
Then Athaliah tore her clothes and screamed, “Treason, treason!”
And Jehoiada the priest sent out the commanders of hundreds in charge of the army, saying, “Bring her out between the ranks, and put to the sword anyone who follows her.” For the priest had said, “She must not be put to death in the house of the LORD.”
So they seized Athaliah as she reached the entrance of the Horse Gate to the palace grounds, and there they put her to death.
Then Jehoiada made a covenant between himself and the king and the people that they would be the LORD’s people. So all the people went to the temple of Baal and tore it down. They smashed the altars and idols to pieces and killed Mattan the priest of Baal in front of the altars.
Moreover, Jehoiada put the oversight of the house of the LORD into the hands of the Levitical priests, whom David had appointed over the house of the LORD, to offer burnt offerings to the LORD as is written in the Law of Moses, with rejoicing and song, as ordained by David. He stationed gatekeepers at the gates of the house of the LORD, so that nothing unclean could enter for any reason.
He also took with him the commanders of hundreds, the nobles, the rulers of the people, and all the people of the land, and they brought the king down from the house of the LORD and entered the royal palace through the Upper Gate. They seated King Joash on the royal throne, and all the people of the land rejoiced. And the city was quiet, because Athaliah had been put to the sword.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
Mark 16:1-8
When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so they could go and anoint the body of Jesus. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they went to the tomb. They were asking one another, “Who will roll away the stone from the entrance of the tomb?” But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away, even though it was extremely large.
When they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here! See the place where they put Him. But go, tell His disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see Him, just as He told you.’ ”
So the women left the tomb and ran away, trembling and bewildered. And in their fear they did not say a word to anyone.
Silence may be kept.
The Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah)
Luke 1:68-79
𝙍: You have raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of your servant David.
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
because He has visited and redeemed His people.
He has raised up a horn of salvation for us
in the house of His servant David,
as He spoke through His holy prophets,
those of ages past,
salvation from our enemies
and from the hand of all who hate us,
to show mercy to our fathers
and to remember His holy covenant,
the oath He swore to our father Abraham,
to grant us deliverance from hostile hands,
that we may serve Him without fear,
in holiness and righteousness before Him
all the days of our lives.
And you, child, will be called
a prophet of the Most High;
for you will go on before the Lord
to prepare the way for Him,
to give to His people the knowledge of salvation
through the forgiveness of their sins,
because of the tender mercy of our God,
by which the Dawn will visit us from on high,
to shine on those who live in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet
into the path 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.
𝙍: You have raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of your servant David.
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:
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
Almighty and everlasting God, increase in us your gift of faith that, forsaking what lies behind and reaching out to that which is before, we may run the way of your commandments and win the crown of everlasting joy; 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.