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.

Hymn

O thou whom we adore

Charles Wesley

O thou whom we adore!
To bless our earth again,
Assume thine own almighty power,
And over the nations reign.

The world’s desire and hope,
All power to thee is given;
Now set the last great empire up,
Eternal Lord of heaven!

A gracious Savior, thou,
Wilt all thy creatures bless;
And every knee to thee shall bow,
And every tongue confess.

According to thy word;
Now be thy grace revealed;
And with the knowledge of the Lord,
Let all the earth be filled.

Confession of sin

When we cry out to the LORD in our trouble,
he will bring us out of 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 loving devotion,
and his wonders to the sons of men.

Let us offer sacrifices of thanksgiving
and declare God’s works with rejoicing.

cf Psalm 107

Psalm 135

𝙍: Hallelujah, for the LORD is good.

Hallelujah!

Praise the name of the LORD.
Give praise, O servants of the LORD,
who stand in the house of the LORD,
in the courts of the house of our God.
Hallelujah, for the LORD is good;
sing praises to His name, for it is lovely.
For the LORD has chosen Jacob as His own,
Israel as His treasured possession. 𝙍

For I know that the LORD is great;
our Lord is above all gods.
The LORD does all that pleases Him
in the heavens and on the earth,
in the seas and in all their depths.
He causes the clouds to rise
from the ends of the earth.
He generates the lightning with the rain
and brings forth the wind from His storehouses. 𝙍

He struck down the firstborn of Egypt,
of both man and beast.
He sent signs and wonders into your midst, O Egypt,
against Pharaoh and all his servants.
He struck down many nations
and slaughtered mighty kings:
Sihon king of the Amorites,
Og king of Bashan,
and all the kings of Canaan.
He gave their land as an inheritance,
as a heritage to His people Israel. 𝙍

Your name, O LORD, endures forever,
Your renown, O LORD, through all generations.
For the LORD will vindicate His people
and will have compassion on His servants. 𝙍

The idols of the nations are silver and gold,
made by the hands of men.
They have mouths, but cannot speak;
they have eyes, but cannot see;
they have ears, but cannot hear;
nor is there breath in their mouths.
Those who make them become like them,
as do all who trust in them. 𝙍

O house of Israel, bless the LORD;
O house of Aaron, bless the LORD;
O house of Levi, bless the LORD;
you who fear the LORD, bless the LORD!
Blessed be the LORD from Zion—
He who dwells in Jerusalem.

Hallelujah!

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: Hallelujah, for the LORD is good.

Psalm prayer

Wise and gracious God,
save us from the idols of our hearts
and keep us in your living presence,
that we may become a people for your praise
in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Old Testament reading

Exodus 33

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Leave this place, you and the people you brought up out of the land of Egypt, and go to the land that I promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob when I said, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ And I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked people; otherwise, I might destroy you on the way.”

When the people heard these bad tidings, they went into mourning, and no one put on any of his jewelry. For the LORD had said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites, ‘You are a stiff-necked people. If I should go with you for a single moment, I would destroy you. Now take off your jewelry, and I will decide what to do with you.’ ”

So the Israelites stripped themselves of their jewelry from Mount Horeb onward.

Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it at a distance outside the camp. He called it the Tent of Meeting, and anyone inquiring of the LORD would go to the Tent of Meeting outside the camp. Then, whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would stand at the entrances to their own tents and watch Moses until he entered the tent. As Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and remain at the entrance, and the LORD would speak with Moses. When all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance to the tent, they would stand up and worship, each one at the entrance to his own tent.

Thus the LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young assistant Joshua son of Nun would not leave the tent.

Then Moses said to the LORD, “Look, You have been telling me, ‘Lead this people up,’ but You have not let me know whom You will send with me. Yet You have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have found favor in My sight.’ Now if indeed I have found favor in Your sight, please let me know Your ways, that I may know You and find favor in Your sight. Remember that this nation is Your people.”

And the LORD answered, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”

“If Your Presence does not go with us,” Moses replied, “do not lead us up from here. For how then can it be known that Your people and I have found favor in Your sight, unless You go with us? How else will we be distinguished from all the other people on the face of the earth?”

So the LORD said to Moses, “I will do this very thing you have asked, for you have found favor in My sight, and I know you by name.”

Then Moses said, “Please show me Your glory.”

“I will cause all My goodness to pass before you,” the LORD replied, “and I will proclaim My name—the LORD—in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”

But He added, “You cannot see My face, for no one can see Me and live.”

The LORD continued, “There is a place near Me where you are to stand upon a rock, and when My glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. Then I will take My hand away, and you will see My back; but My face must not be seen.”

Silence may be kept.

New Testament reading

Luke 3:15-22

The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John could be the Christ. John answered all of them: “I baptize you with water, but One more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fork is in His hand to clear His threshing floor and to gather the wheat into His barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

With these and many other exhortations, John proclaimed the good news to the people. But when he rebuked Herod the tetrarch regarding his brother’s wife Herodias and all the evils he had done, Herod added this to them all: He locked John up in prison.

When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as He was praying, heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended on Him in a bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.”Silence may be kept.

The Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah)

Luke 1:68-79

𝙍: The Lord is risen from the tomb who for our sakes hung upon the tree. Alleluia.

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
because He has visited and redeemed His people.
He has raised up a horn of salvation for us
in the house of His servant David,
as He spoke through His holy prophets,
those of ages past,
salvation from our enemies
and from the hand of all who hate us,
to show mercy to our fathers
and to remember His holy covenant,
the oath He swore to our father Abraham,
to grant us deliverance from hostile hands,
that we may serve Him without fear,
in holiness and righteousness before Him
all the days of our lives.

And you, child, will be called
a prophet of the Most High;
for you will go on before the Lord
to prepare the way for Him,
to give to His people the knowledge of salvation
through the forgiveness of their sins,
because of the tender mercy of our God,
by which the Dawn will visit us from on high,
to shine on those who live in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet
into the path 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.

𝙍: The Lord is risen from the tomb who for our sakes hung upon the tree. Alleluia.

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,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
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,
is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and 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

In faith we pray
We pray to you, our God.

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 in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours
now and forever.
Amen.

Conclusion

May the risen Christ grant us the joys of eternal life.
Amen.