Thu. morning Mar. 19
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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
My Faith Looks Up to Thee
Words: Ray Palmer (1875)
Music: Lowell Mason (1831)
Our Great Redeemer’s Praise (#351)
My faith looks up to Thee,
Thou Lamb of Calvary,
Savior divine!
Now hear me while I pray,
take all my guilt away;
O let me from this day
be wholly Thine.
May Thy rich grace impart
strength to my fainting heart,
my zeal inspire;
as Thou hast died for me,
O may my love to Thee
pure, warm, and changeless be,
a living fire.
While life’s dark maze I tread,
and griefs around me spread,
be Thou my Guide;
bid darkness turn to day,
wipe sorrow’s tears away,
nor let me ever stray
from Thee aside.
When ends life's transient dream,
when death’s cold, sullen stream
shall o'er me roll,
blest Savior, then in love,
fear and distrust remove;
O bear me safe above,
a ransomed soul.
Confession of Sin
Let us confess our sins against God and our neighbor.
Silence may be kept.
Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your name. Amen.
Almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us all our sins through our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen us in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep us in eternal life.
Amen.
Psalm 25
𝙍: Remember, O LORD, Your mercies and Your lovingkindness.
To You, O LORD,
I lift up my soul.
O my God, I trust in You;
let me not be ashamed;
let not my enemies triumph over me.
Let no one who waits on You
be ashamed;
let them be ashamed
who transgress without cause.
Show me Your ways, O LORD;
teach me Your paths.
Lead me in Your truth and teach me,
for You are the God of my salvation;
on You I wait all day long.
Remember, O LORD, Your mercies and Your lovingkindness,
for they are from of old.
𝙍: Remember, O LORD, Your mercies and Your lovingkindness.
Do not remember the sins of my youth
or my transgressions;
according to Your lovingkindness remember me,
for Your goodness’ sake, O LORD.
Good and upright is the LORD;
therefore He teaches sinners in the way.
He leads the humble in justice,
and teaches the humble His way.
All the paths of the LORD are lovingkindness and truth,
for those who keep His covenant and His decrees.
𝙍: Remember, O LORD, Your mercies and Your lovingkindness.
For Your name’s sake, O LORD, pardon my iniquity,
for it is great.
Who is the man who fears the LORD?
He will teach him the way that he should choose.
He will dwell at ease,
and his descendants will inherit the land.
The secret counsel of the LORD is with those who fear Him,
and He will make His covenant known to them.
My eyes are ever toward the LORD,
for He will pluck my feet out of the net.
𝙍: Remember, O LORD, Your mercies and Your lovingkindness.
Turn to me, and be gracious to me,
for I am lonely and afflicted.
The troubles of my heart have increased;
bring me out of my distresses.
Look on my affliction and my pain,
and forgive all my sins.
Consider my enemies, for they are many,
and with what violent hatred they hate.
Guard my soul, and deliver me;
do not let me suffer shame,
for I take refuge in You.
Let integrity and uprightness preserve me,
for I wait for You.
Redeem Israel, O God,
out of all its troubles.
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: Remember, O LORD, Your mercies and Your lovingkindness.
Psalm prayer
Free us, God of mercy, from all that keeps us from you; relieve the misery of the anxious and the ashamed and fill us with the hope of peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Psalm 147
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.
𝙍: Great is our Lord, and mighty in power.
Praise the LORD, O Jerusalem!
Praise your God, O Zion!
For He has strengthened the bars of your gates;
He has blessed your children within you.
He makes peace in your borders,
and fills you with the finest wheat.
𝙍: Great is our Lord, and mighty in power.
He sends forth His commandment to the earth;
His word runs very swiftly.
He gives snow like wool;
He scatters the frost like ashes;
He casts forth His ice like morsels;
who can stand before His cold?
𝙍: Great is our Lord, and mighty in power.
He sends out His word and melts them;
He causes His wind to blow, and the waters flow.
He declares His word to Jacob,
His statutes and His judgments to Israel.
He has not dealt so with any nation;
and as for His judgments, they have not known them.
Praise 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.
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
Isaiah 11:1-10
And there shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
and a Branch shall grow out of his roots.
The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him,
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might,
the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD.
He shall delight in the fear of the LORD,
and he shall not judge by what his eyes see,
nor reprove by what his ears hear;
but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and reprove with fairness for the meek of the earth.
He shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked.
Righteousness shall be the belt of his loins,
and faithfulness the belt about his waist.
The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together;
and a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall graze;
their young ones shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child shall play by the hole of the asp,
and the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper’s den.
They shall not hurt or destroy
in all My holy mountain,
for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD,
as the waters cover the sea.
In that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, who shall stand as a banner to the peoples. For him shall the nations seek. And his rest shall be glorious.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
Matthew 13:54-58
When He came to His own country, He taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, “Where did this Man get this wisdom and these mighty works? Is He not the carpenter’s son? Is His mother not called Mary? And are not His brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this Man get all these things?” And they took offense at Him.
But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house.”
And He did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief.
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
Lord of life
In your mercy, hear us.
Silence may be kept.
Collect of the day
Merciful Lord, absolve your people from their offenses, that through your bountiful goodness we may all be delivered from the chains of those sins which by our frailty we have committed; grant this, heavenly Father, for Jesus Christ’s sake, our blessed Lord and Savior, 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 Christ, who bore our sins on the cross, set us free to serve him with joy.
Amen.