Thu. morning May 14
Ascension Day
Opening response
O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
Your throne has been established from of old;
you are from everlasting. Alleluia.
Prayer of thanksgiving
Blessed are you, Lord of heaven and earth, to you be glory and praise for ever. From the darkness of death you have raised your Christ to the right hand of your majesty on high. The pioneer of our faith, his passion accomplished, has opened for us the way to heaven and sends on us the promised Spirit. May we be ready to follow the Way and so be brought to the glory of his presence where songs of triumph forever sound:
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
Christian! Dost Thou See Them
Words: Andrew of Crete (660-732); trans. John M. Neale (1818-1866)
Music: John B. Dykes (1823-1876)
Our Great Redeemer’s Praise (#475)
Christian! dost thou see them
on the holy ground,
how the pow'rs of darkness
rage thy steps around?
Christian! up and smite them,
counting gain but loss,
in the strength that cometh
by the holy cross.
Christian! dost thou feel them,
how they work within,
striving, tempting, luring,
goading into sin?
Christian! never tremble;
never be downcast;
gird thee for the battle;
watch, and pray, and fast!
Christian! dost thou hear them,
how they speak thee fair?
"Always fast and vigil?
Always watch and prayer?"
Christian! answer boldly,
"While I breath, I pray!"
Peace shall follow battle,
night shall end in day.
"Well I know thy trouble,
O my servant true;
thou art very weary–
I was weary too;
but that toil shall make thee
some day all Mine own,
and the end of sorrow
shall be near My throne."
Confession of Sin
O King enthroned on high, filling the earth with your glory: holy is your name, Lord God Almighty.
A time of silence and self-examination may be kept.
In our sinfulness, we cry to you to take our guilt away, and to cleanse our lips to speak your word, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
May the God of all healing and forgiveness draw us to himself, and cleanse us from all our sins that we may behold the glory of his Son, the Word made flesh, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Psalm 110
𝙍: The LORD reigns; He is clothed with majesty.
The LORD said to my lord,
“Sit at My right hand,
until I make your enemies
your footstool.”
The LORD will send your mighty scepter out of Zion.
Rule in the midst of your enemies!
Your people will follow you
in the day of your battle;
on the holy mountains,
at the dawn of the morning,
the dew of your youth belongs to you.
𝙍: The LORD reigns; He is clothed with majesty.
The LORD has sworn
and will not change His mind,
“You are a priest forever
according to the order of Melchizedek.”
The Lord is at your right hand;
He will execute kings in the day of His wrath.
𝙍: The LORD reigns; He is clothed with majesty.
He will judge among the nations; He will fill them with dead bodies;
He will execute the heads over many countries.
He will drink from the brook by the wayside;
therefore He will lift up His head.
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 reigns; He is clothed with majesty.
Psalm prayer
Lord Jesus, divine Son and eternal priest, inspire us with the confidence of your final conquest of evil, and grant that daily on our way we may drink of the brook of your eternal life, and so find courage against all adversities; for your mercy’s sake.
Psalm 150
𝙍: Let everything that has breath praise the LORD!
Praise the LORD!
Praise God in His sanctuary;
praise Him in His mighty firmament!
Praise Him for His mighty acts;
praise Him according to His excellent greatness!
𝙍: Let everything that has breath praise the LORD!
Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet;
praise Him with the harp and lyre!
Praise Him with the timbrel and dance;
praise Him with stringed instruments and flute!
𝙍: Let everything that has breath praise the LORD!
Praise Him with loud cymbals;
praise Him with clashing cymbals!
Let everything that has breath praise the LORD!
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: Let everything that has breath praise the LORD!
Psalm prayer
God of life and love, whose Son was victorious over sin and death, make us alive with his life, that the whole world may resound with your praise; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Old Testament reading
Isaiah 52:7-15
How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of him who brings good news,
who proclaims peace,
who brings good news of happiness,
who proclaims salvation,
who says to Zion,
“Your God reigns!”
Your watchmen lift up their voices;
they sing joyfully together;
for they shall see with their own eyes
when the LORD brings Zion back.
Break forth into joy, sing together,
you waste places of Jerusalem.
For the LORD has comforted His people;
He has redeemed Jerusalem.
The LORD has bared His holy arm
in the eyes of all the nations,
and all the ends of the earth shall see
the salvation of our God.
Depart, depart, go out from there,
touch no unclean thing;
go out of the midst of her; be clean,
you who bear the vessels of the LORD.
For you shall not go out with haste
nor go by flight.
For the LORD will go before you,
and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.
Behold, My servant shall deal prudently;
he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high.
Just as many were astonished at you,
his visage was so marred, more than any man,
and his form more than the sons of men;
so he shall sprinkle many nations.
Kings shall shut their mouths at him;
for that which had not been told them they shall see,
and that which they had not heard they shall consider.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
Hebrews 7:11-28
If perfection were attained through the Levitical priesthood (for through it the people received the law), what further need was there that another priest should rise in the order of Melchizedek, rather than established in the order of Aaron? For a change in the priesthood necessitates a change in the law. For the One concerning whom these things are spoken pertains to another tribe, from which no man served at the altar. For it is evident that our Lord descended from Judah, a tribe concerning which Moses said nothing about priests. This is far more evident when another priest arises in the likeness of Melchizedek, who becomes a priest not by a law pertaining to ancestry, but by the power of an endless life. For He testifies:
“You are a priest forever,
in the order of Melchizedek.”
For there is then an annulling of the previous commandment due to its weakness and uselessness. For the law made nothing perfect, but now a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.
And He was not made a priest without an oath. (Other priests were made without an oath, but this One with an oath by the One who said to Him:
“The Lord has sworn
and will not relent,
‘You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.’ ” )
Through this oath Jesus became the guarantor of a better covenant.
And the former priests were numerous, because they were hindered from serving, because of death. But He, because He lives forever, has an everlasting priesthood. Therefore He is able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, because He at all times lives to make intercession for them.
For such a High Priest was fitting for us, for He is holy, innocent, undefiled, separate from sinners, and is higher than the heavens. Unlike those high priests, He does not need to offer daily sacrifices—first for His own sins and then for the people’s, for He did this once for all when He offered up Himself. For the law appoints men who are weak as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints a Son who is made perfect forever.
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
Lord, in your mercy
hear our prayer.
Silence may be kept.
Collect of the day
Grant, we pray, almighty God, that as we believe your only-begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ to have ascended into the heavens, so we in heart and mind may also ascend and with him continually dwell; 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 Christ, who has opened the kingdom of heaven, bring us to reign with him in glory.
Amen.