Opening response
O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
All your saints shall bless you.
They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom.
Prayer of thanksgiving
Blessed are you, Sovereign God, ruler and judge of all, to you be praise and glory forever. In the darkness of this age that is passing away, may the light of your presence which the saints enjoy surround our steps as we journey on. May we reflect your glory this day and so be made ready to see your face in the heavenly city where night shall be no more.
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
All Creatures of Our God and King
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 26
𝙍: LORD, I love the place where Your glory dwells.
Vindicate me, O LORD,
for I have walked in my integrity,
and I have trusted in the LORD;
therefore I will not waver.
Examine me, O LORD, and prove me;
try my mind and my heart.
For Your lovingkindness is before my eyes,
and I have walked in Your truth.
I have not sat with the worthless,
nor will I consort with hypocrites.
𝙍: LORD, I love the place where Your glory dwells.
I have hated the assembly of evildoers,
and will not sit with the wicked.
I will wash my hands in innocence;
thus will I go around Your altar, O LORD,
that I may proclaim with the voice of thanksgiving,
and tell of all Your wondrous works.
LORD, I have loved the habitation of Your house,
and the place where Your glory dwells.
𝙍: LORD, I love the place where Your glory dwells.
Do not gather my soul with sinners,
nor my life with murderers,
in whose hands is wickedness,
and whose right hand is full of bribes.
But as for me, I will walk in my integrity;
redeem me and be gracious to me.
My foot stands on level ground;
in the congregations I will bless 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: LORD, I love the place where Your glory dwells.
Psalm prayer
Have mercy on us and redeem us, Lord, for our merits are your mercies, and in your judgment is our salvation; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Psalm 27
𝙍: The LORD is my light and my salvation.
The LORD is my light and my salvation;
whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the strength of my life;
of whom shall I be afraid?
When the wicked came against me
to devour my flesh —
my enemies and my foes—
they stumbled and fell.
Though an army may encamp against me,
my heart will not fear;
though war may rise against me,
yet I will be confident.
One thing have I asked of the LORD,
that will I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life,
to behold the beauty of the LORD,
and to inquire in His temple.
For in the time of trouble
He will hide me in His pavilion;
in the shelter of His tabernacle He will hide me;
He will set me high upon a rock.
Now my head will be lifted up
above my enemies all around me;
therefore will I offer sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle;
I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the LORD.
𝙍: The LORD is my light and my salvation.
Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice!
Be gracious to me and answer me!
When You said, “Seek My face,”
my heart said to You, “Your face, LORD, will I seek.”
Do not hide Your face from me;
do not turn thrust Your servant away in anger;
You have been my help.
Do not leave me nor forsake me,
O God of my salvation.
If my father and my mother forsake me,
then the LORD will take me in.
Teach me Your way, O LORD,
and lead me on a level path,
because of my enemies.
Do not deliver me to the will of my enemies;
for false witnesses have risen against me,
and they breathe out violence.
I believe
that I will see the goodness of the LORD
in the land of the living.
Wait on the LORD;
be strong, and let your heart take courage;
wait on 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: The LORD is my light and my salvation.
Psalm prayer
God, our light and our salvation, illuminate our lives, that we may see your goodness in the land of the living, and, looking on your beauty, may be changed into the likeness of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Old Testament reading
Daniel 6
It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom one hundred and twenty officials, so that they would be over the whole kingdom, and over them three presidents, of whom Daniel was first, so that the officials might give accounts to them and the king not suffer loss. Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and officials because an excellent spirit was in him, and the king thought to set him over the whole realm. Then the presidents and officials sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom, but they could find no occasion or fault, because he was faithful, nor was there any error or fault found in him. Then these men said, “We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, unless we find it against him concerning the law of his God.”
Then these presidents and officials assembled together to the king, and said to him: “King Darius, live forever! All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the officials, the counselors, and the captains have consulted together to establish a royal statute and to make a firm decree, that whoever shall ask a petition of any god or man for thirty days, save of you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions. Now, O king, establish the decree and sign the writing, that it not be changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which may not be altered.” Therefore King Darius signed the writing, even the decree.
Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house. And his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he knelt on his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he had been doing previously. Then these men assembled and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God. Then they approached the king and said concerning the king’s decree: “Have you not signed a decree, that every man who asks a petition of any god or man within thirty days, save of you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions?”
The king answered, “The thing is true, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which may not be altered.”
Then they replied to the king, “That Daniel, who is of the sons of the captivity of Judah, does not regard you, O king, or the decree that you have signed, but makes his petition three times a day.” Then the king, when he heard these words, was sorely displeased with himself and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him. And he labored until sunset to deliver him.
Then these men came by agreement to the king and said to the king, “Know, O king, that it is the law of the Medes and Persians that no decree or statute which the king establishes may be changed.”
Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel and cast him into the den of lions. Now the king spoke and said to Daniel, “Your God whom you serve continually, He will deliver you.”
A stone was brought and laid upon the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet and with the signet of his lords so that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel. Then the king went to his palace and passed the night fasting, and no instruments of music were brought before him. And his sleep fled from him.
Then the king arose very early in the morning and went in haste to the den of lions. When he came to the den, he cried with a voice full of sorrow to Daniel. And the king spoke and said to Daniel, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God whom you serve continually been able to deliver you from the lions?”
Then Daniel said to the king, “O king, live forever! My God has sent His angel and has shut the lions’ mouths so that they have not hurt me, because innocence was found in me before Him; and also before you, O king, I have done no harm.”
Then the king was exceeding glad for him and commanded that they take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no manner of harm was found on him, because he believed in his God.
Then the king commanded, and they brought those men who had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions—them, their children, and their wives. And the lions overpowered them and broke all their bones in pieces before they came to the bottom of the den.
Then King Darius wrote:
To all peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth:
“Peace be multiplied unto you.
“I make a decree that in every dominion of my kingdom men are to fear and tremble before the God of Daniel.
“For He is the living God,
enduring forever;
His kingdom shall never be destroyed,
and His dominion shall be forever.
He delivers and rescues,
and He works signs and wonders
in heaven and on earth,
who has delivered Daniel
from the power of the lions.”
So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
Revelation 8
When He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.
And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.
Another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar which was before the throne. The smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel’s hand. Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it onto the earth. And there were noises, thundering, lightning, and an earthquake.
Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound them.
The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mixed with blood, and they were thrown upon the earth. One-third of the trees and all the green grass were burned up.
Then the second angel sounded, and something like a great mountain, burning with fire, was thrown into the sea. One-third of the sea became blood, one-third of the living creatures in the sea died, and one-third of the ships were destroyed.
The third angel sounded, and a great star from heaven, burning like a torch, fell on one-third of the rivers and on the springs of waters. The name of this star is Wormwood. One-third of the waters became wormwood, and many men died from the waters, because they were made bitter.
The fourth angel sounded, and one-third of the sun was struck, and one-third of the moon, and one-third of the stars, so that one-third of them were darkened. One-third of the day had no light, and likewise one-third of the night.
Then I watched, and I heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, “Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the other trumpet blasts of the three angels, who are yet to sound!”
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 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.
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:
The saints on earth, that they may live as citizens of heaven
All people, that they may hear and believe the word of God
All who fear the winter months
All sovereigns and political leaders, that they may imitate the righteous rule of Christ
All who grieve or wait with the dying
Other intercessions and supplications may be offered as the Holy Spirit leads.
Response
In faith we pray
We pray to you, our God.
Silence may be kept.
Collect of the day
Almighty Father, whose will is to restore all things in your beloved Son, the King of all: govern the hearts and minds of those in authority, and bring the families of the nations, divided and torn apart by the ravages of sin, to be subject to his just and gentle rule; who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
Uniting our prayers with the whole company of heaven, 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
May Christ, who has opened the kingdom of heaven, bring us to reign with him in glory.
Amen.