Mon. morning Apr. 27
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
Spirit of God, Descend upon My Heart
Words: George Croly (1867)
Music: Frederick C. Atkinson (1870)
Our Great Redeemer’s Praise (#294)
Spirit of God, descend upon my heart;
Wean it from earth; through all its pulses move.
Stoop to my weakness, mighty as Thou art,
And make me love Thee as I ought to love.
Hast Thou not bid me love Thee, God and King?
All, all Thine own, soul, heart, and strength and mind.
I see Thy cross; there teach my heart to cling:
Oh, let me seek Thee, and, oh, let me find!
Teach me to love Thee as Thine angels love,
One holy passion filling all my frame;
The kindling of the heav’n-descended Dove,
My heart an altar, and Thy love the flame.
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 103
𝙍: The LORD is merciful and gracious.
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,
who forgives all your iniquities,
who heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit,
who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,
who satisfies your desire with good things,
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
𝙍: The LORD is merciful and gracious.
The LORD executes righteousness
and justice for all who are oppressed.
He made known His ways to Moses,
His acts to the people of Israel.
The LORD is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in mercy.
He will not always strive with us,
nor will He keep his anger forever.
He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
nor recompensed us according to our iniquities.
𝙍: The LORD is merciful and gracious.
For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;
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.
𝙍: The LORD is merciful and gracious.
For He knows our frame;
He remembers that we are dust.
As for man, his days are like grass;
as a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
For the wind passes over it, and it is gone,
and its place knows it no more.
But the mercy of the LORD
is from everlasting to everlasting
upon those who fear Him,
and His righteousness to children’s children,
to those who keep His covenant,
and remember to do His commandments.
𝙍: The LORD is merciful and gracious.
The LORD has established His throne in the heavens,
and His kingdom rules over all.
Bless the LORD, you His angels,
mighty in strength, who do His word,
obeying the voice of His word!
Bless the LORD, all you His hosts,
you who serve Him, who do His will.
Bless the LORD, all His works,
in all places of His dominion.
Bless the LORD, O my soul!
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 merciful and gracious.
Psalm prayer
Merciful Lord, as we come from dust and return to dust, show us the face of our Redeemer, that in our frailty we may bless your name and praise you all our days; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Old Testament reading
Exodus 32:1-14
Now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together around Aaron and said to him, “Come, make us gods which will go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”
Aaron said to them, “Break off the gold earrings that are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” So all the people broke off the gold earrings that were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. He received them from their hand, and fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made it into a molded calf. Then they said, “This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.”
When Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow will be a feast to the LORD.” So they rose up early on the next day, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.
The LORD spoke to Moses, “Go, and get down, for your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. They have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them. They have made for themselves a molded calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed to it, and said, ‘This is your god, O Israel, which has brought you up from the land of Egypt.’ ”
Then the LORD said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people. Now therefore let Me alone, so that My wrath may burn against them and I may destroy them. And I will make of you a great nation.”
But Moses sought the favor of the LORD his God, and said, “LORD, why does Your wrath burn against Your people, whom You have brought forth from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians speak, saying, ‘With evil intent He brought them out, to kill them in the mountains and to destroy them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your fierce wrath and relent of this harm against Your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants, to whom You swore by Yourself, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heavens, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give to your descendants, and they will inherit it forever.’ ” Then the LORD relented of the harm which He said He would do to His people.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
Luke 2:41-52
Now His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. When He was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast. When the days of the feast were complete, as they returned, the Child Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem. And Joseph and His mother did not know of it. But supposing Him to be in their company, they went a day’s journey. Then they searched for Him among their relatives and acquaintances. When they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching for Him. After three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. All who heard Him were astonished at His understanding and His answers. When they saw Him, they were amazed. And His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You treated us this way? Behold, Your father and I have anxiously searched for You.”
He said to them, “How is it that you searched for Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” But they did not understand the word which He spoke to them.
Then He went down with them and came to Nazareth and was obedient to them. But His mother kept all these words in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and men.
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 God, whose Son Jesus Christ is the resurrection and the life: raise us, who trust in him, from the death of sin to the life of righteousness, that we may seek those things which are above, where he 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.