Tue. morning Jan. 20
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Opening response
O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
Your light springs up for the righteous
and all the peoples have seen your glory.
Prayer of thanksgiving
Blessed are you, Sovereign God, king of the nations, to you be praise and glory forever. From the rising of the sun to its setting, your name is proclaimed in all the world. As the Sun of Righteousness dawns in our hearts, anoint our lips with the seal of your Spirit that we may witness to your gospel and sing your praise in all the earth.
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
My Faith Has Found a Resting Place
Words: Lidie H. Edmonds (1891)
Music: Norse melody
Our Great Redeemer’s Praise (#135)
My faith has found a resting place,
Not in device nor creed.
I trust the ever-living One;
His wounds for me shall plead.
Refrain:
I need no other argument,
I need no other plea,
It is enough that Jesus died,
And that he died for me.
Enough for me that Jesus saves,
This ends my fear and doubt;
A sinful soul, I come to Him,
He’ll never cast me out. [Refrain]
My heart is leaning on the Word,
The written Word of God,
Salvation by my Savior’s name,
Salvation through his blood. [Refrain]
My Great Physician heals the sick,
The lost He came to save;
For me his precious blood he shed,
For me his life he gave. [Refrain]
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 132
𝙍: The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer.
O LORD, remember David
and all his afflictions;
how he swore to the LORD,
and vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob,
“Surely I will not enter my house,
nor go up to my bed;
I will not give sleep to my eyes,
or slumber to my eyelids,
until I find a place for the LORD,
a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob.”
𝙍: The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer.
Behold, we heard of it in Ephrathah;
we found it in the fields of Jaar.
“Let us go into His dwelling place;
let us worship at His footstool.”
Arise, O LORD, to Your resting place,
You and the ark of Your strength.
Let Your priests be clothed with righteousness,
and let Your saints shout for joy.
For the sake of Your servant David,
turn not away the face of Your anointed.
𝙍: The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer.
The LORD has sworn in truth to David
from which He will not turn back:
“A son of the fruit of your body
will I set upon your throne.
If your sons will keep My covenant
and My testimony which I shall teach them,
their sons also, forevermore,
shall sit upon your throne.”
𝙍: The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer.
For the LORD has chosen Zion;
He has desired it for His dwelling place:
“This is My resting place forever;
here will I dwell, for I have chosen it.
I will abundantly bless her provisions;
I will satisfy her poor with bread.
Also her priests will I clothe with salvation,
and her saints will shout for joy.
“There will I make the horn of David sprout up;
I have prepared a lamp for My anointed.
His enemies will I clothe with shame,
but upon himself shall his crown flourish.”
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: The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer.
Psalm prayer
Jesus, Son of David, make us a priestly people; clothe us in righteousness, make us fruitful, and give us hearts to shout for joy in your salvation; we pray in the power of the Spirit.
Psalm 147:1-12
𝙍: Great is our Lord, and mighty in power.
Praise the LORD!
For it is good to sing praises to our God;
for it is pleasant, and praise is beautiful.
The LORD builds up Jerusalem;
He gathers together the outcasts of Israel.
He heals the brokenhearted
and binds up their wounds.
𝙍: Great is our Lord, and mighty in power.
He counts the number of the stars;
He calls them all by their names.
Great is our Lord, and mighty in power;
His understanding is infinite.
The LORD lifts up the humble;
He casts the wicked down to the ground.
𝙍: Great is our Lord, and mighty in power.
Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving;
sing praises on the harp to our God,
who covers the heavens with clouds,
who prepares rain for the earth,
who makes grass to grow on the mountains.
𝙍: Great is our Lord, and mighty in power.
He gives to the beast its food
and to the young ravens that cry.
He does not delight in the strength of the horse;
He takes no pleasure in the legs of a man.
The LORD takes pleasure in those who fear Him,
in those who hope in His mercy.
Praise the LORD, O Jerusalem!
Praise your God, O Zion!
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: Great is our Lord, and mighty in power.
Psalm Prayer
Compassionate God, as you know each star you have created, so you know the secrets of every heart; in your loving mercy, bring to your table all who are fearful and broken, all who are wounded and needy, that our hungers may be satisfied in the city of your peace; through Christ who is our peace.
Old Testament Reading
Genesis 7:11-24
In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the same day, all the fountains of the great deep burst open and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. The rain fell upon the earth for forty days and forty nights.
On the very same day Noah and the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and Noah’s wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the ark. They and every wild animal according to its kind, and all the livestock according to their kind, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth according to its kind, and every bird according to its kind, every bird of every sort, went with Noah into the ark, two by two of all flesh in which was the breath of life. So they went in, male and female of all flesh, just as God had commanded him; then the LORD shut him in.
The flood was on the earth forty days, and the water increased and lifted up the ark, so that it rose up above the earth. The water prevailed and increased greatly upon the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water. The water prevailed exceedingly on the earth, and all the high mountains that were under the whole heaven were covered. The waters prevailed upward and the mountains were covered fifteen cubits deep. All flesh that moved on the earth died: birds and livestock and beasts, and every creeping thing that crept on the earth, and every man. All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, all that was on the dry land, died. So He blotted out every living thing which was on the face of the ground, both man and animals and the creeping things and the birds of the heavens. They were blotted out from the earth, and only Noah and those who were with him in the ark remained alive.
The waters prevailed on the earth for one hundred and fifty days.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
Matthew 24:15-28
“So when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. Let him who is in the field not return to take his clothes. Woe to those who are with child and to those who nurse in those days! Pray that your escape will not be in the winter or on the Sabbath. For then will be great distress, such as has not happened since the beginning of the world until now, no, nor ever shall be.
“Unless those days were shortened, no one would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ,’ or ‘There He is,’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand.
“So, if they say to you, ‘Look, He is in the desert,’ do not go there; or, ‘Look, He is in the private chambers,’ do not believe it. For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will be gathered together.
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 unity of the Church
The peace of the world
The healing of the sick
The revelation of Christ to those from whom his glory is hidden
All who travel
Other intercessions and supplications may be offered as the Holy Spirit leads.
Response
Lord of life
In your mercy, hear us.
Silence may be kept.
Collect of the day
Almighty God, in Christ you make all things new: transform the poverty of our nature by the riches of your grace, and in the renewal of our lives make known your heavenly glory; 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
Believing the promises of God, 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 Christ, who sends us to the nations, give us the power of his Spirit.
Amen.