Wed. morning Feb. 25
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Opening response
O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
Hear my voice according to your lovingkindness.
O LORD, give me life according to your judgment.
Prayer of thanksgiving
Blessed are you, God of compassion and mercy, to you be praise and glory forever. In the darkness of our sin, your light breaks forth like the dawn and your healing springs up for deliverance. As we rejoice in the gift of your saving help, sustain us with your bountiful Spirit and open our lips to sing your praise.
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
The King of Love My Shepherd Is
Words: Henry W. Baker (1868)
Music: Irish melody
Our Great Redeemer’s Praise (#90)
The King of love my shepherd is,
whose goodness faileth never.
I nothing lack if I am his,
and he is mine forever.
Where streams of living water flow,
my ransomed soul he leadeth;
and where the verdant pastures grow,
with food celestial feedeth.
In death's dark vale I fear no ill,
with thee, dear Lord, beside me;
thy rod and staff my comfort still,
thy cross before to guide me.
And so through all the length of days,
thy goodness faileth never;
Good Shepherd, may I sing thy praise
within thy house forever.
Confession of Sin
When we cry to the LORD in our trouble,
He will save us from our distress.
God will bring us out of darkness
and out of the shadow of death.
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
A time of silence and self-examination may be kept.
May the Father forgive us by the death of his Son, and strengthen us to live in the power of the Spirit all our days.
Amen.
Let us give thanks to the LORD for His goodness,
and for His wonderful works to all people!
Let us offer sacrifices of thanksgiving,
and declare God’s works with rejoicing.
cf Psalm 107
Psalm 6
𝙍: Return, O LORD, rescue my soul.
O LORD, do not rebuke me in Your anger,
nor discipline me in the heat of Your anger.
Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am weak;
O LORD, heal me, for my bones are shaking.
My soul is greatly troubled,
but You, O LORD—how long?
Return, O LORD, rescue my soul.
Save me for the sake of Your lovingkindness.
For in death there is no remembrance of You;
in Sheol who will give You thanks?
I am weary with my groaning;
all night I flood my bed with tears;
I drench my couch with my weeping.
My eyes waste away from grief;
they grow weak because of all my enemies.
𝙍: Return, O LORD, rescue my soul.
Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity;
for the LORD has heard the voice of my weeping.
The LORD has heard my supplication;
the LORD accepts my prayer.
May all my enemies be ashamed and greatly troubled;
may they turn back and be suddenly ashamed.
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: Return, O LORD, rescue my soul.
Psalm Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ, may the tears shed in your earthly life be balm for all who weep, and may the prayers of your pilgrimage give strength to all who suffer; for your mercy’s sake.
Psalm 17
𝙍: Deliver me, O LORD, by your hand.
Hear a just cause, O LORD,
attend to my cry;
give ear to my prayer
that is not from deceitful lips.
Let my vindication come from Your presence;
let Your eyes behold the things that are right.
You have tried my heart; You have visited me by night;
You have tested me and found nothing;
I have purposed that my mouth will not transgress.
Concerning the works of men,
by the word of Your lips
I have avoided
the paths of the violent.
Keep my steps in Your paths,
that my footsteps may not slip.
𝙍: Deliver me, O LORD, by your hand.
I have called upon You, for You will answer me, O God;
incline Your ear to me, and hear my words.
Wondrously show Your lovingkindness by Your right hand,
O Savior of those who seek refuge
from their adversaries.
Keep me as the apple of Your eye;
hide me in the shadow of Your wings,
from the wicked who oppress me,
from my deadly enemies who surround me.
𝙍: Deliver me, O LORD, by your hand.
They close their hard hearts;
with their mouths they speak proudly.
They have now surrounded us in our steps;
they have set their eyes to cast me to the ground,
like a lion eager to rip its prey,
and like a young lion lurking in secret places.
𝙍: Deliver me, O LORD, by your hand.
Arise, O LORD! Confront him, cast him down!
Deliver my soul from the wicked by Your sword,
from men by Your hand, O LORD,
from men of the world whose portion is in this life.
You fill their belly with Your treasure;
they are satisfied with children,
and they leave their abundance to their infants.
As for me, I shall behold Your face in righteousness;
I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness.
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: Deliver me, O LORD, by your hand.
Psalm prayer
Generous Lord, deliver us from all envious thoughts, and when we are tempted by the desire for wealth, let us see your face; for your abundance is enough to clothe our lack; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Old Testament reading
Genesis 42:6-17
Now Joseph was the governor over the land, and it was he who sold to all the people of the land. So Joseph’s brothers came and bowed themselves down before him with their faces to the ground. Joseph saw his brothers, and he recognized them, but he pretended to be a stranger to them and spoke harshly to them. He said to them, “From where do you come?”
And they said, “From the land of Canaan to buy food.”
Joseph knew his brothers, but they did not know him. Joseph also remembered the dreams that he had dreamed of them. He said to them, “You are spies! You came to see the nakedness of the land!”
They said to him, “No, my lord, your servants have come only to buy food. We are all one man’s sons. We are honest men. Your servants are not spies.”
But he said to them, “No, you have come to see the nakedness of the land!”
They said, “Your servants are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan, and behold, the youngest is with our father today, and one is no longer living.”
Joseph said to them, “It is as I said to you, ‘You are spies!’ Here is how you will be tested. By the life of Pharaoh, you will not leave here unless your youngest brother comes here. Send one of you, and let him get your brother, and you will be kept in prison, so that your words may be tested, whether there be any truth in you. Or else, by the life of Pharaoh, you are surely spies.” He put them all together in custody for three days.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
Galatians 4:21-5:1
Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, the one by a slave woman, the other by a free woman. But he who was of the slave woman was born according to the flesh, but he of the free woman through the promise.
These things are an allegory, for these are the two covenants. The one is from Mount Sinai, which gives birth to bondage; she is Hagar. Now this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and represents the present Jerusalem, and is in bondage with her children. But the Jerusalem which is above is free, which is our mother. For it is written:
“Rejoice, barren woman
who does not bear;
break forth and shout,
you who have no labor pains!
For the desolate has many more children
than she who has a husband.”
Now we, brothers, like Isaac, are the children of promise. But as it was then, he who was born after the flesh persecuted him who was born after the Spirit, so it is now also. Nevertheless what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not be heir with the son of the free woman.” So then, brothers, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman.
Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has set us free, and be not entangled again with a yoke of bondage.
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:
Those preparing for baptism and confirmation
Those serving through leadership
Those looking for forgiveness
Those misled by the false gods of this present age
All who are hungry
Other intercessions and supplications may be offered as the Holy Spirit leads.
Response
In faith we pray
We pray to you, our God.
Silence may be kept.
Collect of the day
Almighty God, whose Son Jesus Christ fasted forty days in the wilderness, and was tempted as we are, yet without sin: give us grace to discipline ourselves in obedience to your Spirit; and, as you know our weakness, so may we know your power to save; 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
Trusting in the compassion 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 God our Redeemer show us compassion and love.
Amen.