Mon. morning Apr. 13
Opening response
O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
In your resurrection, O Christ,
let heaven and earth rejoice. Alleluia.
Prayer of thanksgiving
Blessed are you, Lord God of our salvation, to you be praise and glory forever. As once you ransomed your people from Egypt and led them to freedom in the promised land, so now you have delivered us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of your risen Son. May we, the first fruits of your new creation, rejoice in this new day you have made, and praise you for your mighty acts.
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
Lead On, O King Eternal
Words: Ernest W. Shurtleff (1887)
Music: Henry T. Smart (1835)
Our Great Redeemer’s Praise (#478)
Lead on, O King eternal,
the day of march has come;
henceforth in fields of conquest
your tents will be our home.
Through days of preparation
your grace has made us strong;
and now, O King eternal,
we lift our battle song.
Lead on, O King eternal,
till sin's fierce war shall cease,
and holiness shall whisper
the sweet amen of peace.
For not with swords' loud clashing
or roll of stirring drums
with deeds of love and mercy
the heavenly kingdom comes.
Lead on, O King eternal;
we follow, not with fears,
for gladness breaks like morning
where'er your face appears.
Your cross is lifted o'er us,
we journey in its light;
the crown awaits the conquest;
lead on, O God of might.
Confession of Sin
Come, Holy Spirit of God,
and search our hearts with the light of Christ.
Our Lord Jesus Christ said:
“The first of all the commandments is, ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
Amen. Lord, have mercy.
After a period of reflection
Come, let us return to the Lord and say:
Lord our God, in our sin, we have avoided your call. Our faithfulness is like a morning cloud, and like the early dew, it goes away. Have mercy on us; deliver us from judgment; bind up our wounds and revive us; in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
cf Hosea 6
May Almighty God, who sent his Son into the world to save sinners, bring us his pardon and peace, now and forever.
Amen.
Psalm 2
𝙍:The LORD is the strength of His people, and He is the saving refuge of His anointed.
Why do the nations rage,
and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against the LORD
and against His anointed, saying,
“Let us tear off their bonds
and cast away their ropes from us.”
𝙍:The LORD is the strength of His people, and He is the saving refuge of His anointed.
He who sits in the heavens laughs;
the LORD ridicules them.
Then He will speak to them in His wrath
and terrify them in His burning anger:
“I have set My king
on Zion, My holy hill.”
𝙍:The LORD is the strength of His people, and He is the saving refuge of His anointed.
I will declare the decree of the LORD:
He said to me, “You are My son;
today have I begotten you.
Ask of Me,
and I will give you the nations for your inheritance,
and the ends of the earth for your possession.
You will break them with a rod of iron;
you will dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”
𝙍:The LORD is the strength of His people, and He is the saving refuge of His anointed.
Now then, you kings, be wise;
be admonished, you judges of the earth.
Serve the LORD with fear;
and tremble with trepidation!
Kiss the son, lest He become angry,
and you perish in the way,
when His wrath is kindled but a little.
Blessed are all who seek refuge in Him.
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 the strength of His people, and He is the saving refuge of His anointed.
Psalm prayer
Most high and holy God, lift our eyes to your Son enthroned on Calvary; and as we behold his meekness, shatter our earthly pride; for he is Lord forever and ever.
Psalm 19
𝙍: The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.
The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the firmament shows His handiwork.
Day unto day utters speech,
and night unto night reveals knowledge.
There is no speech nor are there words
where their voice is not heard.
Their voice has gone out through all the earth,
and their words to the end of the world.
In them He has set a tent for the sun,
which is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
and rejoices like a strong man to run its race.
Its rising is from one end of the heavens,
and its circuit to the end of them,
and there is nothing hidden from its heat.
𝙍: The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.
The law of the LORD is perfect,
converting the soul;
the testimony of the LORD is sure,
making wise the simple;
the statutes of the LORD are right,
rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the LORD is pure,
enlightening the eyes;
the fear of the LORD is clean,
enduring forever;
the decrees of the Lord are true
and righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold,
yes, than much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
Moreover by them is Your servant warned,
and in keeping them there is great reward.
𝙍: The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.
Who can understand his errors?
Cleanse me from secret faults.
Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins;
let them not have dominion over me!
Then I will be upright,
and I will be innocent of great transgression.
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable in Your sight,
O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer.
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 commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.
Psalm prayer
Christ, the sun of righteousness, rise in our hearts this day, enfold us in the brightness of your love and bear us at the last to heaven’s horizon; for your love’s sake.
Old Testament reading
Exodus 15:1-21
Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the LORD and spoke, saying:
“I will sing to the LORD,
for He has triumphed gloriously!
He has thrown the horse and his rider
into the sea!
The LORD is my strength and song,
and He has become my salvation.
He is my God, and I will praise Him;
my father’s God, and I will exalt Him.
The LORD is a man of war;
the LORD is His name.
Pharaoh’s chariots and his army
He has thrown into the sea;
his chosen captains also
are drowned in the Red Sea.
The depths have covered them;
they sank to the bottom like a stone.
“Your right hand, O LORD,
is glorious in power.
Your right hand, O LORD,
shatters the enemy.
In the greatness of Your excellence,
You overthrow those who rise up against You.
You send out Your wrath;
it consumes them like stubble.
With the blast of Your nostrils
the waters were gathered together.
The flowing waters stood upright as a heap;
and the depths were congealed in the heart of the sea.
“The enemy said,
‘I will pursue. I will overtake.
I will divide the spoil;
my lust shall be satisfied upon them.
I will draw my sword,
my hand shall destroy them.’
You blew with Your wind,
and the sea covered them;
they sank like lead
in the mighty waters.
“Who is like You, O LORD, among the gods?
Who is like You,
glorious in holiness,
fearful in praises,
doing wonders?
You stretched out Your right hand,
and the earth swallowed them.
“In Your mercy You have led
the people whom You have redeemed;
You have guided them by Your strength
to Your holy dwelling.
The peoples have heard and are afraid;
sorrow has taken hold on the inhabitants of Philistia.
Then the chiefs of Edom were amazed;
the mighty men of Moab, trembling takes hold of them;
all the inhabitants of Canaan are melted away.
Fear and dread fall upon them;
by the greatness of Your arm
they are as still as a stone,
until Your people pass over, O LORD,
until the people whom You have purchased pass over.
You shall bring them in, and plant them
on the mountain of Your inheritance,
in the place, O LORD, which You have made for Your dwelling,
in the sanctuary, O LORD, which Your hands have established.
The LORD will reign
forever and ever.”
For the horses of Pharaoh went in with his chariots and with his horsemen into the sea, and the LORD brought back the waters of the sea upon them, but the Israelites walked on dry land in the midst of the sea.
Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dancing. Miriam answered them,
“Sing to the LORD,
for He triumphed gloriously!
The horse and his rider
He has hurled into the sea.”
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
Colossians 1:1-14
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ who are at Colosse:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you. For we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all the saints, because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you have already heard in the word of the truth of the gospel, which has come to you, as it has in all the world, and brings forth fruit, as it has also in you, since the day you heard it and knew the grace of God in truth. And you also learned of Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ for you, who also declared to us your love in the Spirit.
For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, pleasing to all, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God, strengthened with all might according to His glorious power, enduring everything with perseverance and patience joyfully, giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled us to be partakers in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and has transferred us into the kingdom of His dear Son, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.
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 people of God, that they may proclaim the risen Lord
God’s creation, that the peoples of the earth may meet their responsibility to care
Those in despair and darkness, that they may find the hope and light of Christ
Those in fear of death, that they may find faith through the resurrection
Prisoners and captives
Other intercessions and supplications may be offered as the Holy Spirit leads.
Response
Lord, in your mercy
hear our prayer.
Silence may be kept.
Collect of the day
Almighty Father, you have given your only Son to die for our sins and to rise again for our justification: grant us so to put away the leaven of malice and wickedness that we may always serve you in pureness of living and truth; through the merits of your Son Jesus Christ 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
Rejoicing in God’s new creation, 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 the risen Christ grant us the joys of eternal life.
Amen.