Opening response

Lord, open our lips.
Our mouth will declare your praise.

Send your Holy Spirit upon us,
and clothe us with power from on high. Alleluia.

Prayer of thanksgiving

Blessed are you, creator God,
to you be praise and glory forever.
As your Spirit moved over the face of the waters
bringing light and life to your creation,
pour out your Spirit on us today
that we may walk as children of light
and by your grace reveal your presence.
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

Out of the Iron Furnace, Lord

Charles Wesley

Out of the iron furnace, Lord,
To thee for help I cry,
I listen to thy warning word,
And would from Egypt fly.

Long have I bowed to sin’s command,
But now I would be free,
Escape from the dire oppressor’s land,
And live, O God, to thee.

Hast thou not surely seen my grief?
Hast thou not heard me groan?
O hasten then to my relief,
In pitying love come down.

From Pharaoh, and the Egyptian’s power
Redeem a wretched slave;
Thou canst redeem me in this hour,
Thou wilt the sinner save.

Now, Lord, relieve my misery,
Stretch out thy mighty hand,
Drown all my sins in the Red Sea,
And bring me safe to land.

Strength in the Lord my righteousness,
And pardon I receive,
And holy joy, and quiet peace
The moment I believe.

Confession of sin

Let us admit to God the sin which always confronts us.

A time of silence and self-examination may be kept.

Almighty God,
patient and of great goodness:
I confess to you,
I confess with my whole heart
my neglect and forgetfulness of your commandments,
my wrong doing, thinking, and speaking;
the hurts I have done to others,
and the good I have left undone.
O God, forgive me, for I have sinned against you;
and raise me to newness of life;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

May the God of love and power
forgive us and free us from our sins,
heal and strengthen us by his Spirit,
and raise us to new life in Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Psalm 104:24-35

Refrain:
I will sing to the LORD as long as I live.

LORD, how many are your works!
In wisdom, you have made them all.
The earth is full of your riches.
There is the sea, great and wide,
in which are innumerable living things,
both small and large animals.
There the ships go,
and leviathan, whom you formed to play there.
These all wait for you,
that you may give them their food in due season.
You give to them; they gather.
You open your hand; they are satisfied with good.
You hide your face; they are troubled.
You take away their breath; they die and return to the dust.
You send out your Spirit and they are created.
You renew the face of the ground.
Let the LORD’s glory endure forever.
Let the LORD rejoice in his works.
He looks at the earth, and it trembles.
He touches the mountains, and they smoke.
I will sing to the LORD as long as I live.
I will sing praise to my God while I have any being.

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:
I will sing to the LORD as long as I live.

Psalm prayer

Creator God,
send your Holy Spirit to renew this living world,
that the whole creation,
in its groaning and striving,
may know your loving purpose
and come to reflect your glory;
in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Old Testament reading

Isaiah 65:17-25

“For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth;
and the former things will not be remembered,
nor come into mind.
But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create;
for, behold, I create Jerusalem to be a delight,
and her people a joy.
I will rejoice in Jerusalem,
and delight in my people;
and the voice of weeping and the voice of crying
will be heard in her no more.

“No more will there be an infant who only lives a few days,
nor an old man who has not filled his days;
for the child will die one hundred years old,
and the sinner being one hundred years old will be accursed.
They will build houses and inhabit them.
They will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
They will not build and another inhabit.
They will not plant and another eat;
for the days of my people will be like the days of a tree,
and my chosen will long enjoy the work of their hands.
They will not labour in vain
nor give birth for calamity;
for they are the offspring of the LORD’s blessed
and their descendants with them.
It will happen that before they call, I will answer;
and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.
The wolf and the lamb will feed together.
The lion will eat straw like the ox.
Dust will be the serpent’s food.
They will not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain,”
says the LORD.

Silence may be kept.

New Testament reading

Revelation 21:1-8

I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth have passed away, and the sea is no more. I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband. I heard a loud voice out of heaven saying, “Behold, God’s dwelling is with people; and he will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; neither will there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain any more. The first things have passed away.”

He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” He said, “Write, for these words of God are faithful and true.” He said to me, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give freely to him who is thirsty from the spring of the water of life. He who overcomes, I will give him these things. I will be his God, and he will be my son. But for the cowardly, unbelieving, sinners, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their part is in the lake that burns with fire and sulphur, which is the second death.”

Silence may be kept.

The Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah)

Luke 1:68-79

Refrain:
Christ has gone up on high
and has led captivity captive. Alleluia.

Blessed be the Lord, the 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 who have been from of old),
salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us;
to show mercy toward our fathers,
to remember his holy covenant,
the oath which he swore to Abraham our father,
to grant to us that we, being delivered out of the hand of our enemies,
should serve him without fear,
in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life.
And you, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High;
for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways,
to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the remission of their sins,
because of the tender mercy of our God,
by which the dawn from on high will visit us,
to shine on those who sit in darkness and 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.

Refrain:
Christ has gone up on high
and has led captivity captive. Alleluia.

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.

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:

God’s royal priesthood, for empowerment by the Spirit
Those who wait on God, that they may find renewal
All people, that they may acknowledge the kingdom of the ascended Christ
The earth, for productivity and for fruitful harvests
All who are struggling with broken relationships

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

O God the King of glory,
you have exalted your only Son Jesus Christ
with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven:
we beseech you, leave us not comfortless,
but send your Holy Spirit to strengthen us
and exalt us to the place where our Savior Christ is gone before,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.
Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer

Being made one by the power of the Spirit,
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 the Spirit kindle in us the fire of God’s love.
Amen.