Sun. morning Aug. 16
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
BREATHE ON ME, BREATH
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 92
𝙍: You, O LORD, are on high forever.
It is good to give thanks to the LORD,
and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High,
to declare Your lovingkindness in the morning,
and Your faithfulness in the night,
with the ten-stringed lute and with the harp,
and on the lyre with a solemn sound.
For You, O LORD, have made me glad through Your work;
I will sing joyfully at the works of Your hands.
O LORD, how great are Your works!
Your thoughts are very deep!
𝙍: You, O LORD, are on high forever.
A brutish man does not know,
nor does a fool understand this:
that though the wicked spring up like grass
and though all the workers of iniquity flourish,
they will be destroyed forever:
But You, O LORD, are on high forever.
For behold, Your enemies, O LORD,
for behold, Your enemies shall perish;
all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered.
But You have exalted my horn like the horn of the wild ox;
You have anointed me with fresh oil.
My eyes have seen the downfall of my enemies,
and my ears have heard the doom of my wicked adversaries.
𝙍: You, O LORD, are on high forever.
The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree
and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
Those who are planted in the house of the LORD
shall flourish in the courts of our God.
They shall still bear fruit in old age;
they shall be healthy and flourishing,
to declare that the LORD is upright;
He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.
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: You, O LORD, are on high forever.
Psalm Prayer
Give us the music of your praise, Lord, morning, noon, and night, that our lives may be fruitful and our lips confess you as the true and only God.
Old Testament reading
JONAH 1
Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai, saying, “Get up, go to Nineveh, the great city, and cry out against it, because their wickedness has come up before Me.”
But Jonah got up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa and found there a ship going to Tarshish. He paid its fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.
But the LORD hurled a great wind upon the sea, and a mighty storm came upon the sea, so that the ship was in danger of breaking up. Then the sailors were afraid, and each cried to his god. They tossed the ship’s cargo into the sea in order to lighten the load.
But Jonah had gone down into the hold of the ship, had lain down, and was fast asleep. The captain came to him and said, “What are you doing asleep? Get up, call to your god! Perhaps your god will consider us, so that we will not perish.”
The sailors said to one another, “Come, let us cast lots that we may know on whose account this disaster has come upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah.
Then the sailors said to Jonah, “Tell us why this disaster has come upon us. What is your occupation? Where do you come from? What is your country? And from what people are you?”
Jonah replied, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.”
Then the men were very afraid and said to him, “What is this you have done?” For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the LORD because he had told them.
Then they said to Jonah, “What shall we do to you, so that the sea may quiet down for us?” For the sea was growing stormier.
So Jonah said to them, “Pick me up and toss me into the sea. Then the sea will quiet down for you, for I know that it is on my account this great storm has come upon you.”
Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to bring the ship to land, but they could not do it, for the sea grew more tempestuous against them. Then they cried to the LORD and said, “Please, LORD, do not let us perish for this man’s life, and do not make us guilty for innocent blood, for You, LORD, have done as it pleased You.” So they picked up Jonah and tossed him into the sea. Then the sea ceased from its raging. Therefore the men were very afraid of the LORD, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows.
Now the LORD appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
2 Peter 3:14-18
Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these things, be diligent that you may be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless. Keep in mind that the patience of our Lord means salvation, even as our beloved brother Paul has also written to you according to the wisdom given to him. As in all his letters, he writes about these things, in which some things are hard to understand, which the unlearned and unstable distort, as they also do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.
You therefore, beloved, since you know these things beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own firm footing, being led away by the deception of the wicked. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be glory, both now and forever. Amen.
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
O God, you declare your almighty power most chiefly in showing mercy and pity: mercifully grant to us such a measure of your grace, that we, running the way of your commandments, may receive your gracious promises, and be made partakers of your heavenly treasure; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, 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.