Sat. morning Jan. 3
Opening response
O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
You laid the foundation of the earth
and the heavens are the work of your hands.
Prayer of thanksgiving
Blessed are you, sovereign God, creator of heaven and earth, to you be praise and glory forever. As your living Word, eternal in heaven, assumed the frailty of our mortal flesh, may the light of your love be born in us to fill our hearts with joy as we sing:
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
Thou Didst Leave Thy throne
Words: Emily E. S. Elliott (1864)
Music: Timothy R. Matthews (1876)
Our Great Redeemer’s Praise (#202)
Thou didst leave Thy throne and Thy kingly crown,
When Thou camest to earth for me;
But in Bethlehem's home was there found no room
For Thy holy nativity.
O come to my heart, Lord Jesus,
There is room in my heart for Thee.
Heaven's arches rang when the angels sang,
Proclaiming Thy royal degree;
But of lowly birth didst Thou come to earth,
And in great humility.
O come to my heart, Lord Jesus,
There is room in my heart for Thee.
When the heavens shall ring, and the angels sing,
At Thy coming to victory,
Let Thy voice call me home, saying "Yet there is room,
There is room at My side for thee."
My heart shall rejoice, Lord Jesus,
When Thou comest and callest for me.
Confession of Sin
The LORD is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in mercy.
He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
nor recompensed us according to our iniquities.
For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so great is his mercy toward those who fear Him.
Silence is kept for reflection.
Holy God,
Holy and strong,
Holy and immortal,
have mercy upon us.
As far as the east is from the west,
so far has He removed our transgressions from us.
As a father pities his children,
so the LORD pities those who fear Him.
Bless the LORD, O my soul;
and all that is within me, bless His holy name.
Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all His benefits.
Psalm 127
𝙍: The LORD will guard your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.
Unless the LORD builds the house,
they labor in vain who build it.
Unless the LORD guards the city,
the watchman stays awake in vain.
It is in vain for you to rise up early,
to sit up late,
to eat the bread of sorrowful toil;
for so He gives His beloved sleep.
𝙍: The LORD will guard your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.
Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD,
the fruit of the womb a reward.
Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,
so are the children of one’s youth.
Happy is the man
who has his quiver full of them;
they shall not be ashamed
when they speak with their enemies in the gate.
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 will guard your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.
Psalm prayer
Lord, you are ever watchful and bless us with your gifts; as you provide for all our needs, so help us to build only what pleases you; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Psalm 128
𝙍: How great is Your goodness, O God.
Blessed is everyone who fears the LORD,
who walks in His ways.
For you shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands;
you shall be happy, and it shall go well with you.
𝙍: How great is Your goodness, O God.
Your wife will be like a fruitful vine
within your house,
your children like olive plants
around your table.
Behold, thus shall the man be blessed
who fears the LORD.
𝙍: How great is Your goodness, O God.
The LORD bless you from Zion,
and may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem
all the days of your life.
Indeed, may you see your children’s children.
Peace be upon Israel!
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: How great is Your goodness, O God.
Psalm prayer
O Christ, our true vine, may we your branches be ever fruitful in your service, and share your love and peace with all your children, in the power of the Spirit and to the glory of the Father.
Psalm 131
𝙍: O Israel, hope in the LORD.
LORD, my heart is not haughty,
nor my eyes lofty.
Neither do I involve myself in great matters,
nor in things too profound for me.
Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul,
like a weaned child with his mother;
like a weaned child is my soul within me.
O Israel, hope in the LORD
from this time forth and forevermore.
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: O Israel, hope in the LORD.
Psalm prayer
Eternal God, calm and quiet our souls; keep us humble and full of wonder and trusting as we live in your love; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Old Testament reading
Ruth 2
Now Naomi had a relative of her husband, a man of prominence and means from the clan of Elimelek. His name was Boaz.
Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, “Please let me go into the field and glean among the heads of grain behind anyone in whose eyes I may find favor.”
Naomi said to her, “Go, my daughter.” So she went to glean in the field behind the harvesters. She happened to come to a part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelek.
Just then Boaz came from Bethlehem and said to the harvesters, “May the LORD be with you!”
And they said to him, “May the LORD bless you.”
And behold, Boaz said to his servant who was in charge of his harvesters, “Whose young woman is this?”
So the servant who was in charge of his harvesters answered, “She is the young Moabitess woman who came back with Naomi from the land of Moab. She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather grain among the bundles behind the harvesters.’ So she came and has remained from morning until now, though she rested a little while in the house.”
Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Listen, my daughter. Do not go to glean in another field and leave this one. Stay close to my young women. Keep your eyes on the field in which they reap and follow after them. I have commanded the men not to touch you. When you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink from what the young men have drawn.”
So she fell on her face, bowed down to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should acknowledge me, a foreigner?”
But Boaz answered her, “I have been told all that you have done for your mother-in-law after the death of your husband, and how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to a people you did not know before. May the LORD reward your deeds. May you have a full reward from the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.”
Then she said, “May I find favor in your eyes, my lord, for you have comforted me and have spoken kindly to your servant, though I am not like one of your servant girls.”
At mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come over here, and eat some bread, and dip your piece in the vinegar.”
So she sat down beside the harvesters, and he passed her some roasted grain. She ate and was full and had some left over. When she got up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, “Let her glean even among the bundles, and do not harm her. Also pull out some grain for her from the bundles and leave it so that she may glean it, and do not rebuke her.”
So she gleaned in the field until evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley. She took it up and went into the city, and her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. She drew it out and gave her what she had left, after she had been satisfied.
Her mother-in-law said to her, “Where did you glean today, and where did you work? May he who took notice of you be blessed.”
So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked, and said, “The name of the man with whom I worked today is Boaz.”
Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May he be blessed of the LORD who has not withdrawn His kindness to the living and to the dead.” Naomi said to her, “This man is a close relative of ours, one of our redeeming relatives.”
Then Ruth the Moabitess said, “He even told me, ‘You should stay close to my servants until they have finished all my harvest.’ ”
Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, “It is better, my daughter, that you go with his young women, for in someone else’s field you might be harmed.”
So she stayed close to the young women of Boaz to glean until the end of barley harvest and wheat harvest. And she lived with her mother-in-law.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
Colossians 3:1-11
If you then were raised with Christ, desire those things which are above, where Christ sits at the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on earth. For you are dead, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life shall appear, then you also shall appear with Him in glory.
Therefore put to death the parts of your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, inordinate affection, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Because of these things, the wrath of God comes on the sons of disobedience. You also once walked in these, when you lived in them. But now you must also put away all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, and filthy language out of your mouth. Do not lie one to another, since you have put off the old nature with its deeds, and have embraced the new nature, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him who created it, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all.
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, especially in places of conflict
The Holy Land, for peace with justice, and reconciliation
Refugees and asylum seekers
Homeless people
Families with young children
Other intercessions and supplications may be offered as the Holy Spirit leads.
Response
Lord, hear your people
and answer our prayers.
Silence may be kept.
Collect of the day
Almighty God, who wonderfully created us in your own image and yet more wonderfully restored us through your Son Jesus Christ: grant that, as he came to share in our humanity, so we may share the life of his divinity; who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
Rejoicing in the presence of God here among us, 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 God, who has called us out of darkness into his marvelous light, bless us and fill us with peace.
Amen.