Sun. morning Jun. 7
Opening response
O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare 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
Jesus Paid It All
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 38
𝙍: Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation.
O LORD, do not rebuke me in Your wrath,
nor chasten me in Your hot displeasure!
For Your arrows pierce me,
and Your hand presses down on me.
There is no soundness in my flesh because of Your indignation,
nor is there health in my bones because of my sin.
For my iniquities have gone over my head;
like a heavy burden they are too heavy for me.
𝙍: Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation.
My wounds grow foul and fester
because of my foolishness.
I am bent down, I am bowed down greatly;
I go around mourning all day long.
For my loins are filled with burning,
and there is no soundness in my flesh.
I am feeble and severely broken;
I groan because of the disquietness of my heart.
𝙍: Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation.
O Lord, all my longing is before You,
and my sighing is not hidden from You.
My heart throbs, my strength fails me;
as for the light of my eyes, it also has gone from me.
My friends and my companions stand aloof from my affliction,
and relatives stand far off.
Those who seek my life lay their snares;
those who seek my harm speak of destruction,
and plan treachery all day long.
𝙍: Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation.
But I, like a deaf man, do not hear;
I am like a mute who does not speak.
Thus I am like a man who does not hear,
and in whose mouth is no response.
For in You, O LORD, do I hope;
it is You, O Lord my God, who will answer.
For I said, “Hear me, lest they rejoice over me,
lest, when my foot slips, they exalt themselves against me.”
𝙍: Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation.
For I am ready to fall,
and my pain is continually before me.
I confess my iniquity;
I am sorry for my sin.
But my enemies are vigorous, and they are strong;
and those who wrongfully hate me are many.
Those who render evil for good attack me
because I pursue good.
Do not forsake me, O LORD;
O my God, do not be far from me.
Make haste to help me,
O Lord, my salvation.
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 help me, O Lord, my salvation.
Psalm prayer
Almighty Lord and Savior, behold with pity the wounds of your people; do not forsake us, sinful as we are, but for the sake of the passion of your Beloved One, Jesus, come quickly to our aid, for his mercy’s sake.
Old Testament reading
Deuteronomy 6:10-25
Then it shall be when the LORD your God brings you into the land which He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give you great and fine cities, which you did not build, and houses full of all good things which you did not fill, and hewn cisterns which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant, and you eat and are full, then beware lest you forget the LORD who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
You shall fear the LORD your God and serve Him and shall swear by His name. You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the people which surround you (for the LORD your God is a jealous God among you). Otherwise the anger of the LORD your God will be inflamed against you and destroy you from off the face of the earth. You shall not tempt the LORD your God, as you tempted Him in Massah. You shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and His testimonies and His statutes which He has commanded you. You shall do what is right and good in the sight of the LORD that it may be well with you and that you may go in and possess the good land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to drive out all your enemies before you, just as the LORD has spoken.
When your son asks you in time to come, saying, “What do the testimonies and the statutes and the judgments mean which the LORD our God has commanded you?” then you shall say to your son, “We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, and the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. And the LORD showed great and devastating signs and wonders upon Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his household before our eyes. He brought us out from there, so that He might bring us in, to give us the land which He swore to our fathers. The LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that He might preserve us, as He has to this day. It will be our righteousness if we are careful to keep all these commandments before the LORD our God, just as He has commanded us.”
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
Acts 22:22-23:11
They listened to him up to this word, and then they lifted up their voices and said, “Away with such a man from the earth, for he is not fit to live!”
As they shouted and threw off their garments and threw dust into the air, the commander ordered him to be brought into the barracks and examined with scourging, so that he might learn what crime they were alleging against him. As they stretched him forward with straps, Paul said to the centurion standing by, “Is it legal for you to flog an uncondemned Roman citizen?”
On hearing this, the centurion reported to the commander, saying, “What are you doing? This man is a Roman citizen.”
The commander came and said to him, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?”
He said, “Yes.”
The commander answered, “I bought my citizenship for a large sum.”
So Paul said, “But I was born a citizen.”
Therefore those who were about to examine Paul immediately backed away from him. And the commander feared, knowing that he was a Roman citizen, and because he had bound him.
On the next day, desiring to know exactly why he was accused by the Jews, he released him and ordered the chief priests and all the Sanhedrin to assemble, and he brought Paul down to stand before them.
Paul looked at the Sanhedrin and said, “Brothers, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day.” The high priest Ananias ordered those who stood by him to strike him on the mouth. Then Paul said to him, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! Do you sit judging me according to the law, yet order me to be struck contrary to the law?”
Those who stood by said, “Do you criticize God’s high priest?”
Paul said, “Brothers, I did not know that he was the high priest. For it is written, ‘You shall not speak evil of the ruler of your people.’ ”
Then Paul, knowing that one sect were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, cried out among the Sanhedrin, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of a Pharisee. I am being judged for my hope in the resurrection of the dead.” When he had said this, dissension arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit. But the Pharisees acknowledge them all.
There was a great outcry. The scribes that were from the sect of Pharisees stood up and argued, “We find no evil in this man. But if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him, let us not fight against God.” When much dissension arose, fearing that Paul would be torn to pieces by them, the commander ordered the soldiers to go down and take him from them by force and bring him into the barracks.
The following night the Lord stood by him and said, “Take courage, Paul. For as you have testified about Me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify at Rome.”
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 universal church
Bishops, presiding elders, and all who lead the church
The leaders of the nations
The natural world and the resources of the earth
All who are in any kind of need
Other intercessions and supplications may be offered as the Holy Spirit leads.
Response
Loving God, we look to you.
Receive our prayer.
Silence may be kept.
Collect of the day
O God, the strength of all those who put their trust in you, mercifully accept our prayers and, because through the weakness of our mortal nature we can do no good thing without you, grant us the help of your grace, that in the keeping of your commandments we may please you both in will and deed; 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.