Tue. morning Dec. 16
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
Let Earth and Heaven Agree
Words: Charles Wesley Recorded by: The Hillside Singers, Hillside Methodist Church, Brinscall, Chorley, England
Confession of Sin
Come, Holy Spirit of God,
and search our hearts with the light of Christ.
Our Lord Jesus Christ said:
“The first of all the commandments is, ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
Amen. Lord, have mercy.
After a period of reflection
Come, let us return to the Lord and say:
Lord our God, in our sin, we have avoided your call. Our faithfulness is like a morning cloud, and like the early dew, it goes away. Have mercy on us; deliver us from judgment; bind up our wounds and revive us; in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
cf Hosea 6
May Almighty God, who sent his Son into the world to save sinners, bring us his pardon and peace, now and forever.
Amen.
Psalm 70
𝙍: Make haste to me, O God.
Make haste, O God, to deliver me!
Make haste to help me, O LORD!
Let those be ashamed and confused
who seek my life;
let those be turned back and dishonored
who desire to hurt me.
Let them be turned back because of their shame,
who say, “Aha, aha!”
𝙍: Make haste to me, O God.
Let all those who seek You
rejoice and be glad in You;
and let those who love Your salvation say continually,
“Let God be magnified!”
But I am poor and needy;
make haste to me, O God!
You are my help and my deliverer;
O LORD, do not delay!
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: Make haste to me, O God.
Psalm prayer
God, our helper and defender, deliver us in our weakness, answer our longings and vindicate our faith, that we may see your glory in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Psalm 74
𝙍: Arise, O God, plead Your own cause.
O God, why have You cast us off forever?
Why does Your anger smoke against the sheep of Your pasture?
Remember Your congregation, which You have purchased of old,
which you have redeemed to be the tribe of Your inheritance,
and this Mount Zion, where You have dwelt.
Direct Your steps to the irreparable ruins;
the enemy has destroyed everything in the sanctuary.
Your enemies have roared in the midst of Your meeting place;
they set up their ensigns as signs.
They seem like men who wield axes
in a thicket of trees.
But now they break down all its carved work
with axes and hammers.
They set Your sanctuary on fire;
they have defiled the dwelling place of Your name, bringing it to the ground.
They said in their hearts, “Let us destroy them altogether.”
They have burned up all the meeting places of God in the land.
We do not see our signs;
there is no longer any prophet,
nor is there any among us who knows how long.
O God, how long will the adversary revile?
Will the enemy blaspheme Your name forever?
Why do You withdraw Your hand, Your right hand?
Take it out of Your bosom and destroy them!
𝙍: Arise, O God, plead Your own cause.
For God is my King from of old,
working salvation in the midst of the earth.
You divided the sea by Your strength;
You broke the heads of the sea monsters on the waters.
You broke the heads of Leviathan in pieces,
and gave him as food to the people inhabiting the wilderness.
You split open springs and torrents;
You dried up mighty rivers.
The day is Yours, the night also is Yours;
You have prepared the light and the sun.
You have established all the boundaries of the earth;
You have made summer and winter.
𝙍: Arise, O God, plead Your own cause.
Remember this, that the enemy has reviled, O LORD,
and that a foolish people has blasphemed Your name.
Do not give the life of Your turtledove to a wild animal;
do not forget the life of Your poor forever.
Have respect for the covenant,
for the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of violence.
Let not the oppressed return ashamed;
let the poor and needy praise Your name.
Arise, O God, plead Your own cause;
remember how the foolish man reproaches You daily.
Do not forget the voice of Your enemies,
the tumult of those who rise up against You, which increases continually.
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: Arise, O God, plead Your own cause.
Psalm prayer
Redeeming God, renew your broken people with your Holy Spirit, that they may walk your narrow way, and greet your coming dawn in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Old Testament reading
Isaiah 38:9-20
This is the writing of Hezekiah king of Judah after his illness and recovery:
I said: In the middle of my days,
I shall go to the gates of Sheol;
I am to be deprived of the rest of my years.
I said, I shall not see the LORD,
even the LORD, in the land of the living;
I shall see man no more
with the inhabitants of the world.
My dwelling is pulled up
and removed from me as a shepherd’s tent;
I rolled up my life like a weaver.
He cuts me off from the loom;
from day even to night You make an end of me.
I composed my soul until morning,
like a lion, so He breaks all my bones;
from day even to night You make an end of me.
Like a crane or a swallow, so I twitter;
I mourn as a dove;
my eyes look wistfully upward.
O LORD, I am oppressed; undertake for me.
What shall I say?
For He has spoken to me, and He Himself has done it.
I shall wander about all my years
in the bitterness of my soul.
O Lord, by these things men live,
and in all these things is the life of my spirit;
O restore me to health
and make me live!
Behold, it was for my own peace
that I had great bitterness;
but You have kept my soul
from the pit of corruption,
for You have cast all my sins
behind Your back.
For Sheol cannot thank You,
death cannot praise You;
those who go down into the pit
cannot hope for Your faithfulness.
It is the living who give thanks to You,
as I do this day;
a father explains to his sons
about Your faithfulness.
The LORD shall surely save me;
therefore, we will sing my songs to the stringed instruments
all the days of our lives
in the house of the LORD.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
Matthew 17:1-13
After six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother and brought them up to a high mountain alone, and was transfigured before them. His face shone as the sun, and His garments became white as the light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him.
Then Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If You wish, let us make three tabernacles here: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him.”
When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were filled with awe. But Jesus came and touched them and said, “Rise, and do not be afraid.” When they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.
As they came down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, “Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man is risen from the dead.”
His disciples asked Him, “Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?”
Jesus replied, “Elijah truly does first come and will restore all things. But I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not know him, but did to him whatever they pleased. Likewise, the Son of Man will also suffer at their hands.” Then the disciples understood that He was speaking to them of John the Baptist.
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
Lord, in your mercy
hear our prayer.
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.