Tue. morning May 19
Opening response
O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
Send your Holy Spirit upon us,
and clothe us with power from on high. Alleluia.
Prayer of thanksgiving
Blessed are you, creator God, to you be praise and glory forever. As your Spirit moved over the face of the waters, bringing light and life to your creation, pour out your Spirit on us today that we may walk as children of light and by your grace reveal your presence.
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
Am I a Soldier of the Cross
Words: Isaac Watts (c. 1721)
Music: Thomas A. Arne (1762)
Our Great Redeemer’s Praise (#600)
Am I a soldier of the cross,
a follower of the Lamb,
and shall I fear to own His cause,
or blush to speak His name?
Must I be carried to the skies
on flow'ry beds of ease,
while others fought to win the prize,
and sailed through bloody seas?
Are there no foes for me to face?
Must I not stem the flood?
Is this vile world a friend to grace,
to help me on to God?
Sure I must fight, if I would reign;
increase my courage, Lord!
I'll bear the toil, endure the pain,
supported by Thy word.
Am I a soldier of the cross,
a follower of the Lamb,
and shall I fear to own His cause,
or blush to speak His name?
Confession of Sin
Seek the LORD while He may be found,
call upon Him while He is near.
Let the wicked forsake his way,
and the unrighteous man his thoughts;
and let him return to the LORD, and He will have mercy upon him,
and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.
cf Isaiah 55
A time of silence and self-examination may be kept.
Lord God, I have sinned against you; I have done what is evil in your sight. I am sorry and repent. Have mercy on me according to your lovingkindness. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. Renew a right spirit within me, and restore unto me the joy of your salvation, through Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen.
cf Psalm 51
May the Father of all mercies cleanse us from our sins, and restore us in his image to the praise and glory of his name, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Blessed be the LORD,
because He has heard the voice of my supplications.
Therefore my heart rejoices,
and with my song I will thank Him.
cf Psalm 28:7,9
Psalm 98
𝙍: The LORD has made known His salvation.
Oh sing to the LORD a new song,
for He has done marvelous things!
His right hand and His holy arm
have gained the victory for Him.
The LORD has made known His salvation;
He has revealed His righteousness in the sight of the nations.
He has remembered His mercy
and His faithfulness to the house of Israel;
all the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation of our God.
𝙍: The LORD has made known His salvation.
Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth;
break forth into joyous song, and sing praises.
Sing to the LORD with the harp,
with the harp and the sound of a psalm,
with trumpets and the sound of the horn;
make a joyful noise before the LORD, the King!
𝙍: The LORD has made known His salvation.
Let the sea roar, and all that fills it,
the world and those who dwell in it;
let the rivers clap their hands;
let the hills be joyful together
before the LORD,
for He is coming to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness,
and the peoples with equity.
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 has made known His salvation.
Psalm prayer
Lord God, just and true, you make your salvation known in the sight of the nations; tune the song of our hearts to the music of creation as you come among us to judge the earth; through our Savior Jesus Christ.
Psalm 99
The LORD reigns;
let the peoples tremble!
He sits enthroned above the cherubim;
let the earth quake.
The LORD is great in Zion;
He is exalted above all the peoples.
Let them praise Your great and awesome name!
Holy is He!
The King in His might loves justice;
You have established equity;
You have executed justice
and righteousness in Jacob.
Exalt the LORD our God,
and worship at His footstool!
Holy is He!
Moses and Aaron were among His priests,
and Samuel was among those who called upon His name.
They called upon the LORD,
and He answered them.
He spoke to them in the pillar of cloud;
they kept His testimonies and the statute that He gave them.
You answered them,
O LORD our God;
You were a forgiving God to them,
though You took vengeance on their deeds.
Exalt the LORD our God
and worship at His holy mountain,
for the LORD our God is holy!
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.
Psalm prayer
Lord God, mighty king, you love justice and establish equity; may we love justice more than gain and mercy more than power; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Psalm 100
𝙍: The LORD is good; His mercy endures forever.
Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all the earth!
Serve the LORD with gladness;
come before Him with singing.
Know that the LORD, He is God!
It is He who has made us, and we are His;
we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture.
𝙍: The LORD is good; His mercy endures forever.
Enter His gates with thanksgiving,
and His courts with praise!
Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.
For the LORD is good; His mercy endures forever,
and His faithfulness to all generations.
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 good; His mercy endures forever.
Psalm prayer
O Christ, door of the sheepfold, may we enter your gates with praise and go from your courts to serve you in the poor, the lost, and the wandering, this day and all our days.
Old Testament reading
Numbers 22:36-23:12
When Balak heard that Balaam had come, he went out to meet him in a city of Moab which is on the border of Arnon, which is at the furthest end of the border. Balak said to Balaam, “Did I not earnestly send to summon you? Why did you not come to me? Indeed am I not able to honor you?”
And Balaam said to Balak, “Behold, I have come to you. Have I any power of my own to speak anything? The word God puts in my mouth is what I will speak.”
Balaam went with Balak, and they came to Kiriath-huzoth. Balak offered oxen and sheep and sent them to Balaam and to the officials who were with him.
On the next day Balak took Balaam and brought him up to Bamoth-baal, and from there he saw the extent of the people.
And Balaam said to Balak, “Build for me seven altars, and prepare for me seven oxen and seven rams.” Balak did as Balaam had spoken, and Balak and Balaam offered on every altar a bull and a ram.
Balaam said to Balak, “Stand by your burnt offering, and I will go. Perhaps the LORD will come to meet me, and whatever He shows me I will tell you.” And he went to a high place.
God met Balaam, and he said to Him, “I have prepared seven altars, and I have offered on every altar a bull and a ram.”
The LORD put a word in the mouth of Balaam and said, “Return to Balak, and thus you will speak.”
And he returned to him, and behold, he was standing beside his burnt offering with all the princes of Moab. Then Balaam uttered his oracle, saying:
“Balak has brought me from Aram,
the king of Moab from the mountains of the east,
saying, ‘Come, curse Jacob for me,
and come, defy Israel!’
How will I curse
whom God has not cursed?
Or how will I defy
whom the LORD has not defied?
For from the top of the rocks I see him,
and from the hills I behold him;
there, the people will dwell alone
and will not be counted among the nations.
Who can count the dust of Jacob
and the number of one-fourth of Israel?
Let me die the death of the righteous,
and let my last end be like his!”
And Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have done nothing but bless them.”
He answered, “Must I not take heed to speak what the LORD puts in my mouth?”
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
Luke 8:1-15
Afterward, He went throughout every city and village, preaching and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. With Him were the twelve and some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had come out, and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others, who supported Him with their possessions.
When a large crowd had gathered together and people were coming to Him from every city, He told this parable: “A sower went out to sow his seed. As he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it. Some fell on a rock. And as soon as it sprang up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture. Yet some fell among thorns. And the thorns sprang up with it and choked it. And other seed fell on good ground and sprang up and yielded a hundred times the amount sown.”
When He had said these things, He cried out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
His disciples asked Him, “What might this parable mean?” He said, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but to others they are in parables, so that
‘seeing they may not see,
and hearing they may not understand.’
“Now the parable means this: The seed is the word of God. Those along the path are those who hear. Then comes the devil, who takes away the word from their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. Those on the rock are the ones who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root, for they believe for a while, then in the time of temptation fall away. That which fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with the cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity. But the seed on the good ground are those who, having heard the word, keep it in an honest and good heart and bear fruit with patience.
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:
God’s royal priesthood, for empowerment by the Spirit
Those who wait on God, that they may find renewal
All people, that they may acknowledge the kingdom of the ascended Christ
The earth, for productivity and for fruitful harvests
All who are struggling with broken relationships
Other intercessions and supplications may be offered as the Holy Spirit leads.
Response
Father, hear our prayer,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Silence may be kept.
Collect of the day
O God the King of glory, you have exalted your only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven: we beseech you, leave us not comfortless, but send your Holy Spirit to strengthen us and exalt us to the place where our Savior Christ is gone before, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
Being made one by the power of the Spirit, 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.