Opening response

Lord, open our lips.
Our 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

Rejoice and Sing, the Lord is King

Charles Wesley

Rejoice and sing, the Lord is King,
And make a cheerful noise,
To God your ceaseless praises bring,
Again, I say, rejoice!

The great I Am, from heaven he came,
To make that heaven our own,
Bow every knee to Jesus’ name,
And kiss the incarnate Son.

The Son of God poured out his blood
And soul in sacrifice;
Plunge all in that mysterious flood,
That bears you to the skies.

The Victim slain arose again,
Returning from the dead:
Ye saints, essay your choicest strain,
And shout your living Head.

His glorious reign he shall maintain—
Your crowns from him receive;
And live, redeemed from death and pain,
As long as God shall live.

Confession of sin

Seek the LORD while he may be found.
Call on him while he is near.
Let the wicked forsake their ways,
and the unrighteous their thoughts.
Let them return to the LORD, and he will have mercy on them,
to our God, for he will freely pardon.

cf Isaiah 55

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

Lord God,
we have sinned against you;
we have committed evil in your sight.
We are sorry and repent.
Have mercy on us according to your faithful love.
Wash us completely clean of our guilt; purify us from our sin.
Put a new, faithful spirit deep inside us,
and return the joy of your salvation to us
through Jesus Christ our 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 our petitions.

Therefore our hearts greatly rejoice.
With our song we will thank him.

cf Psalm 28:7, 9

Psalm 27

Refrain:
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 evildoers came at me to eat up my flesh,
even my adversaries and my foes, they stumbled and fell.
Though an army should encamp against me,
my heart shall not fear.
Though war should rise against me,
even then I will be confident.
One thing I have asked of the LORD, that I will seek after:
that I may dwell in the LORD’s house all the days of my life,
to see the LORD’s beauty,
and to enquire in his temple.
For in the day of trouble, he will keep me secretly in his pavilion.
In the secret place of his tabernacle, he will hide me.
He will lift me up on a rock.
Now my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me.
I will offer sacrifices of joy in his tent.
I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the LORD.

Hear, LORD, when I cry with my voice.
Have mercy also on me, and answer me.
When you said, “Seek my face,”
my heart said to you, “I will seek your face, LORD.”
Don’t hide your face from me.
Don’t put your servant away in anger.
You have been my help.
Don’t abandon me,
neither forsake me, God of my salvation.
When my father and my mother forsake me,
then the LORD will take me up.
Teach me your way, LORD.
Lead me in a straight path, because of my enemies.
Don’t deliver me over to the desire of my adversaries,
for false witnesses have risen up against me,
such as breathe out cruelty.
I am still confident of this:
I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.
Wait for the LORD.
Be strong, and let your heart take courage.
Yes, wait for 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.

Refrain:
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.

Psalm 30

Refrain:
Sing praise to the LORD, you saints of his.

I will extol you, LORD, for you have raised me up,
and have not made my foes to rejoice over me.
LORD my God, I cried to you,
and you have healed me.
LORD, you have brought up my soul from Sheol.
You have kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.
Sing praise to the LORD, you saints of his.
Give thanks to his holy name.
For his anger is but for a moment.
His favour is for a lifetime.
Weeping may stay for the night,
but joy comes in the morning.
As for me, I said in my prosperity,
“I shall never be moved.”
You, LORD, when you favoured me, made my mountain stand strong;
but when you hid your face, I was troubled.
I cried to you, LORD.
I made supplication to the Lord:
“What profit is there in my destruction, if I go down to the pit?
Shall the dust praise you?
Shall it declare your truth?
Hear, LORD, and have mercy on me.
LORD, be my helper.”
You have turned my mourning into dancing for me.
You have removed my sackcloth, and clothed me with gladness,
to the end that my heart may sing praise to you, and not be silent.
LORD my God, I will give thanks to you forever!

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:
Sing praise to the LORD, you saints of his.

Psalm prayer

Lord, you hide your face
when we trust in ourselves;
strip us of false security
and re-clothe us in your praise,
that we may know you
as the one who raises us from death,
as you raised your Son, our Savior Jesus Christ.

Old Testament reading

Ezekiel 28:1-19

The LORD’s word came again to me, saying, “Son of man, tell the prince of Tyre, ‘The Lord GOD says:

“Because your heart is lifted up,
and you have said, ‘I am a god,
I sit in the seat of God,
in the middle of the seas;’
yet you are man,
and no god,
though you set your heart as the heart of a god—
behold, you are wiser than Daniel.
There is no secret that is hidden from you.
By your wisdom and by your understanding you have gotten yourself riches,
and have gotten gold and silver into your treasuries.
By your great wisdom
and by your trading you have increased your riches,
and your heart is lifted up because of your riches—”

“ ‘therefore the Lord GOD says:

“Because you have set your heart as the heart of God,
therefore, behold, I will bring strangers on you,
the terrible of the nations.
They will draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom.
They will defile your brightness.
They will bring you down to the pit.
You will die the death of those who are slain
in the heart of the seas.
Will you yet say before him who kills you, ‘I am God’?
But you are man, and not God,
in the hand of him who wounds you.
You will die the death of the uncircumcised
by the hand of strangers;
for I have spoken it,” says the Lord GOD.’ ”

Moreover the LORD’s word came to me, saying, “Son of man, take up a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and tell him, ‘The Lord GOD says:

“You were the seal of full measure,
full of wisdom,
and perfect in beauty.
You were in Eden,
the garden of God.
Every precious stone adorned you:
ruby, topaz, emerald,
chrysolite, onyx, jasper,
sapphire, turquoise, and beryl.
Gold work of tambourines
and of pipes was in you.
They were prepared in the day that you were created.
You were the anointed cherub who covers.
Then I set you up on the holy mountain of God.
You have walked up and down in the middle of the stones of fire.
You were perfect in your ways from the day that you were created,
until unrighteousness was found in you.
By the abundance of your commerce, your insides were filled with violence,
and you have sinned.
Therefore I have cast you as profane out of God’s mountain.
I have destroyed you, covering cherub,
from the middle of the stones of fire.
Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty.
You have corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendour.
I have cast you to the ground.
I have laid you before kings,
that they may see you.
By the multitude of your iniquities,
in the unrighteousness of your commerce,
you have profaned your sanctuaries.
Therefore I have brought out a fire from the middle of you.
It has devoured you.
I have turned you to ashes on the earth
in the sight of all those who see you.
All those who know you amongst the peoples will be astonished at you.
You have become a terror,
and you will exist no more.” ’ ”

Silence may be kept.

New Testament reading

James 2:1-13

My brothers, don’t hold the faith of our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with partiality. For if a man with a gold ring, in fine clothing, comes into your synagogue, and a poor man in filthy clothing also comes in, and you pay special attention to him who wears the fine clothing and say, “Sit here in a good place;” and you tell the poor man, “Stand there,” or “Sit by my footstool” haven’t you shown partiality amongst yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brothers. Didn’t God choose those who are poor in this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the Kingdom which he promised to those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor man. Don’t the rich oppress you and personally drag you before the courts? Don’t they blaspheme the honorable name by which you are called?

However, if you fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well. But if you show partiality, you commit sin, being convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever keeps the whole law, and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all. For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not commit murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so do as men who are to be judged by the law of freedom. For judgment is without mercy to him who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

Silence may be kept.

The Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah)

Luke 1:68-79

Refrain:
You have raised up a horn of salvation for us
in the house of your servant David.

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:
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,
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:

The media and the arts
Farming and fishing
Commerce and industry
Those whose work is unfulfilling, stressful or fraught with danger
All who are unemployed

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

Almighty Lord and everlasting God,
we beseech you to direct, sanctify and govern
both our hearts and bodies
in the ways of your laws
and the works of your commandments;
that through your most mighty protection, both here and ever,
we may be preserved in body and soul;
through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
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 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

The Lord bless us,
preserve us from all evil,
and keep us in eternal life.
Amen.