Sun. morning Jul. 5

Opening response

O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.

Prayer of thanksgiving

Blessed are you, Sovereign God, creator of all, to you be glory and praise forever. You founded the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands. In the fullness of time, you made us in your image, and in these last days you have spoken to us in your Son Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh. As we rejoice in the gift of your presence among us, let the light of your love always shine in our hearts, your Spirit ever renew our lives, and your praises ever be on our lips.

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

Holy, Holy, Holy

Confession of Sin

Let us admit to God the sin which always confronts us.

A time of silence and self-examination may be kept.

Almighty God, patient and of great goodness: I confess to you, I confess with my whole heart my neglect and forgetfulness of your commandments, my wrong doing, thinking, and speaking; the hurts I have done to others, and the good I have left undone. O God, forgive me, for I have sinned against you; and raise me to newness of life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

May the God of love and power forgive us and free us from our sins, heal and strengthen us by his Spirit, and raise us to new life in Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Psalm 55

𝙍: Cast your burden on the LORD, and He will sustain you.

Give ear to my prayer, O God,
and do not hide Yourself from my supplication.
Attend to me, and answer me;
I am restless in my complaint, and I murmur,
because of the voice of the enemy,
because of the oppression of the wicked;
for they bring down trouble upon me,
and in anger they hate me.

My heart is in anguish within me,
and the terrors of death have fallen upon me.
Fear and trembling have come upon me,
and horror has overwhelmed me.

𝙍: Cast your burden on the LORD, and He will sustain you.

I said, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!
I would fly away and be at rest.
Indeed, I would wander far off,
and remain in the wilderness.   
I would hasten my escape
from the windy storm and tempest.”

Confuse, O Lord, divide their tongues,
for I have seen violence and strife in the city.
Day and night they go around it on its walls;
iniquity and trouble are in its midst.
Destruction is in its midst;
oppression and deceit do not depart from its marketplace.

𝙍: Cast your burden on the LORD, and He will sustain you.

For it is not an enemy who reproaches me;
then I could bear it;
nor is it he who hates me who has exalted himself against me;
then I could hide from him.
But it was you, a man, my equal,
my companion, and my acquaintance.
We took sweet counsel together,
and walked in the house of God in the throng.

Let death seize them,
and let them go down alive to Sheol,
for wickedness is in their dwellings and in their midst.

𝙍: Cast your burden on the LORD, and He will sustain you.

As for me, I will call upon God,
and the LORD will save me.
Evening and morning and at noon
will I reflect and groan,
and He will hear my voice.
He has redeemed my soul in peace
from the battle that was against me,
for there were many against me.
God will hear and afflict them,
even He who sits enthroned from of old.   
Because they do not change,
therefore they do not fear God.

𝙍: Cast your burden on the LORD, and He will sustain you.

He has put forth his hands against those who were at peace with him;
he has violated his covenant.
His speech was smoother than butter,
but war was in his heart;
his words were softer than oil,
yet they were drawn swords.

Cast your burden on the LORD,
and He will sustain you;
He will never permit
the righteous to be moved.
But You, O God, will cast the wicked down
to the pit of destruction;
bloodthirsty and deceitful men
shall not live out half their days.

But I will trust in You.

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: Cast your burden on the LORD, and He will sustain you.

Psalm prayer

Lord, in all times of fear and dread, grant that we may so cast our burdens upon you, that you may bear us on the holy wings of the Spirit to the stronghold of your peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Old Testament reading

Deuteronomy 24:10-22

When you do lend your brother anything, you may not go into his house to take his pledge. 11You must stand outside, and the man to whom you lend must bring the pledge outside to you. If the man is poor, you may not sleep with his pledge. In any case, you must return the pledge to him when the sun goes down, so that he may sleep in his own cloak and bless you, and it will be righteousness to you before the LORD your God.

You may not oppress a hired servant that is poor and needy, whether he is one of your brothers or one of your foreigners who are in your land within your towns. You must give him his wages on that very day before the sun sets, for he is poor, and sets his heart on it, lest he cry against you to the LORD, and it be a sin to you.

Fathers may not be put to death for the sons, nor shall sons be put to death for their fathers. Every man shall be put to death for his own sin.

You must not pervert the justice of the foreigner or of the fatherless, nor take a widow’s cloak as a pledge. On the contrary, you must remember that you were a slave in Egypt and the LORD your God redeemed you there. Therefore, I command you to do this.

Whenever you reap your harvest in your field and have forgotten a sheaf in the field, you may not go back to get it. It will be for the foreigner, for the fatherless, and for the widow, so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. When you beat your olive tree, you may not go over the boughs again. It will be for the foreigner, for the fatherless, and for the widow. When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not glean it again. It will be for the foreigner, for the fatherless, and for the widow. You must remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt. Therefore I command you to do this thing.

Silence may be kept.

New Testament reading

Acts 28:1-16

When they had escaped, they learned that the island was called Malta. The natives showed extraordinary kindness, for they kindled a fire and welcomed us all, because of the rain and the cold. When Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and put them on the fire, a viper driven out by the heat fastened on his hand. When the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “Surely this man is a murderer. Though he has escaped from the sea, the goddess Justice has not allowed him to live.” But he shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. They expected him to swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But while they waited and saw no harm befall him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god.

In that area was an estate of the chief man of the island, named Publius, who had welcomed us and courteously housed us for three days. It happened that the father of Publius lay sick with a fever and dysentery. Paul visited him and, placing his hands on him, prayed and healed him. When this happened, the rest on the island who had diseases also came and were healed. They honored us in many ways. And when we sailed, they provided us with necessary supplies.

After three months we sailed in an Alexandrian ship whose figurehead was the Twin Brothers, Castor and Pollux, which had wintered at the island. Landing at Syracuse, we waited there for three days. From there we circled around and sailed to Rhegium. After one day the south wind blew, and the next day we arrived at Puteoli. There we found brothers, and were invited to remain with them for seven days. And so we went to Rome. From there, when the brothers heard of us, they traveled as far as the Forum of Appius and the Three Taverns to meet us. When Paul saw them, he thanked God and took courage. When we arrived at Rome, the centurion handed the prisoners over to the captain of the guard. But Paul was allowed to remain by himself with the soldier who guarded him.

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 universal church
Bishops, superintendents, and all who lead the church
The leaders of the nations
The natural world and the resources of the earth
All who are in any kind of need

Other intercessions and supplications may be offered as the Holy Spirit leads.

Response

Loving God, we look to you.
Receive our prayer.

Silence may be kept.

Collect of the day

Almighty and everlasting God, by whose Spirit the whole body of the Church is governed and sanctified: hear our prayer which we offer for all your faithful people, that in their vocation and ministry they may serve you in holiness and truth to the glory of your name; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer

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

The Lord bless us, and preserve us from all evil, and keep us in eternal life.
Amen.