Mon. morning Dec. 15
Opening response
O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare 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 light. 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
O For a Thousand Tongues
John Wesley
Music by The Hymnodist: Spotify, Apple, Amazon, iHeart, YouTube Music, Pandora, Boomplay, Deezer
Lyrics by Charles Wesley
O for a thousand tongues to sing
My great Redeemer's praise
The glories of my God and King
The triumphs of his grace
My gracious Master and my God
Assist me to proclaim
To spread through all the earth abroad
The honors of thy name
Jesus, the name that charms our fears
That bids our sorrows cease
'Tis music in the sinner's ears
'Tis life, and health, and peace
He breaks the power of canceled sin
He sets the prisoner free
His blood can make the foulest clean
His blood availed for me
He speaks, and listening to his voice
New life the dead receive
The mournful, broken hearts rejoice
The humble poor believe
Hear him, ye deaf; his praise, ye dumb
Your loosened tongues employ
Ye blind, behold your savior come
And leap, ye lame, for joy
In Christ, your head, you then shall know
Shall feel your sins forgiven
Anticipate your heaven below
And own that love is heaven
Confession of Sin
Seek the LORD while He may be found,
call upon Him while He is near.
Let the wicked forsake his way,
and the unrighteous man his thoughts;
and let him return to the LORD, and He will have mercy upon him,
and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.
cf Isaiah 55
A time of silence and self-examination may be kept.
Lord God, I have sinned against you; I have done what is evil in your sight. I am sorry and repent. Have mercy on me according to your lovingkindness. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. Renew a right spirit within me, and restore unto me the joy of your salvation, through Jesus Christ my 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.
Blessed be the LORD,
because He has heard the voice of my supplications.
Therefore my heart rejoices,
and with my song I will thank Him.
cf Psalm 28:7,9
Psalm 40
𝙍: You have multiplied your wondrous deeds, O LORD.
I waited patiently for the LORD,
and He turned to me and heard my cry.
He also brought me up out of a horrible pit,
out of the miry clay,
and set my feet upon a rock,
and established my steps.
He has put a new song in my mouth,
praise to our God;
many will see it and fear,
and will trust in the LORD.
Blessed is the man
who makes the LORD his trust,
who does not turn to the proud,
to those who go astray after lies.
You have multiplied, O LORD my God,
Your wondrous deeds
and Your thoughts toward us;
none can compare with You.
if I would declare and speak of them,
they are more than can be numbered.
𝙍: You have multiplied your wondrous deeds, O LORD.
Sacrifice and offering You did not desire;
my ears You have opened.
Burnt offering and sin offering
You have not required.
Then I said, “Behold, I have come;
in the scroll of the book it is written of me.
I delight to do Your will, O my God;
Your law is within my heart.”
I have proclaimed the glad news of righteousness in the great congregation;
behold, I have not restrained my lips,
O LORD, as You know.
I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart;
I have declared Your faithfulness and Your salvation;
I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth
from the great congregation.
𝙍: You have multiplied your wondrous deeds, O LORD.
Withhold not Your mercy from me, O LORD;
let Your lovingkindness and Your truth continually preserve me.
For innumerable evils have surrounded me;
my iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to look up;
they are more than the hairs of my head;
therefore my heart fails me.
Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me;
O LORD, make haste to help me.
Let them be ashamed and confounded together
who seek to snatch away my life;
let them be driven backward and dishonored
who desire my hurt.
Let them be appalled because of their shame
who say to me, “Aha, aha!”
𝙍: You have multiplied your wondrous deeds, O LORD.
Let all those who seek You
rejoice and be glad in You;
let those who love Your salvation say continually,
“The LORD be magnified!”
But I am poor and needy;
yet the LORD is mindful of me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
do not delay, O my God.
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 multiplied your wondrous deeds, O LORD.
Psalm prayer
Free us from our sins, God, and may our sacrifices be of praise to the glory of your Son, our Redeemer, Jesus Christ.
Old Testament reading
Isaiah 38:1-8, 21-22
In those days Hezekiah was mortally ill. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, came to him and said to him, “Thus says the LORD: Set your house in order, for you shall die, and not live.”
Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to the LORD, and said, “Remember now, O LORD, I beseech You, how I have walked before You in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done what is good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
Then the word of the LORD came to Isaiah, saying: “Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus says the LORD, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add to your days fifteen years. I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and I will defend this city.
“This shall be a sign to you from the LORD, that the LORD will do this thing that He has spoken: Behold, I will cause the shadow on the sundial, which has gone down with the sun on the sundial of Ahaz, to go back ten steps.” So the sun’s shadow returned ten steps on the sundial by which it had gone down.
For Isaiah had said, “Let them take a cake of figs and lay it on the boil, and he shall recover.”
Hezekiah also had said, “What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the LORD?”
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
Matthew 16:13-28
When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?”
They said, “Some say that You are John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Then He commanded His disciples to tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ.
From that time on, Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised on the third day.
Then Peter took Him and began rebuking Him, saying, “Far be it from You, Lord! This shall not happen to You.”
But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things that are of God, but those that are of men.”
Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man shall come with His angels in the glory of His Father, and then He will repay every man according to his works. Truly I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”
Silence may be kept.
The Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah)
Luke 1:68-79
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.
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 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
Father, hear our prayer,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Silence may be kept.
Collect of the day
Lord Jesus Christ, who at your first coming sent your messenger to prepare your way before you: grant that the ministers and stewards of your mysteries may likewise so prepare and make ready your way by turning the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, that at your second coming to judge the world we may be found an acceptable people in your sight; for you are alive and reign with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
Awaiting his coming in glory, 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 the Lord, when he comes, find us watching and waiting.
Amen.