Sun. morning Sep. 20
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
Immortal, Invisible
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 119:153-176
𝙍: I long for Your salvation, O LORD.
Consider my affliction and deliver me,
for I do not forget Your law.
Plead my cause and redeem me;
give me life according to Your word.
Salvation is far from the wicked,
for they seek not Your statutes.
Great are Your tender mercies, O LORD;
give me life according to Your judgments.
𝙍: I long for Your salvation, O LORD.
Many are my persecutors and my enemies,
yet I do not turn from Your testimonies.
I look at the transgressors and grieve,
because they keep not Your word.
Consider how I love Your precepts;
revive me, O LORD, according to Your lovingkindness.
The entirety of Your word is truth,
and every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever.
𝙍: I long for Your salvation, O LORD.
Princes persecute me without cause,
but my heart stands in awe of Your word.
I rejoice at Your word
like one who finds great spoil.
I hate and abhor lying,
but Your law do I love.
Seven times a day do I praise You,
because of Your righteous judgments.
𝙍: I long for Your salvation, O LORD.
Great peace have those who love Your law;
nothing causes them to stumble.
LORD, I hope for Your salvation,
and I keep Your commandments.
My soul keeps Your testimonies,
and I love them exceedingly.
I keep Your precepts and Your testimonies,
for all my ways are before You.
Let my cry come before You, O LORD;
give me understanding according to Your word.
Let my supplication come before You;
deliver me according to Your word.
My lips will utter praise,
for You teach me Your statutes.
My tongue will speak of Your word,
for all Your commandments are righteousness.
𝙍: I long for Your salvation, O LORD.
Let Your hand be ready to help me,
for I have chosen Your precepts.
I long for Your salvation, O LORD,
and Your law is my delight.
Let my soul live that it may praise You,
and let Your ordinances help me.
I have gone astray like a lost sheep;
seek out Your servant,
for I forget not Your commandments.
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: I long for Your salvation, O LORD.
Psalm prayer
God of mercy, swift to help us, as our lips pour forth your praise, fill our hearts with the peace you give to those who wait for your salvation in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Old Testament reading
Isaiah 45:9-22
Woe to him who strives with his maker,
the potsherd with the potsherds of the earth!
Shall the clay say to the potter,
“What are you making?”
Or the thing you are making say,
“He has no hands”?
Woe to him who says to his father,
“What are you begetting?”
Or to the woman,
“To what are you giving birth?”
Thus says the LORD,
the Holy One of Israel and his maker:
Ask Me of things to come
concerning My sons,
and you shall commit to Me the work of My hands.
I have made the earth
and created man on it.
I, even My hands, have stretched out the heavens,
and I have ordained all their host.
I have raised him up in righteousness,
and I will direct all his ways;
he shall build My city,
and he shall let My captives go,
neither for price nor reward,
says the LORD of Hosts.
Thus says the LORD:
The products of Egypt and merchandise of Cush
and of the Sabeans—men of stature—
shall come over to you,
and they shall be yours;
they shall come after you;
in chains they shall come over,
and they shall fall down before you.
They shall make supplication to you, saying,
“Surely God is with you, and there is no other;
there is no other God.”
Truly You are a God who hides Yourself,
O God of Israel, the Savior.
They shall be ashamed and also humiliated, all of them;
the craftsmen of idols shall go away in confusion together,
but Israel shall be saved by the LORD
with an everlasting salvation;
you shall not be ashamed nor humiliated
to all eternity.
For thus says the LORD,
who created the heavens,
who is God,
who formed the earth and made it,
who has established it,
who did not create it in vain,
who formed it to be inhabited:
I am the LORD,
and there is no other.
I have not spoken in secret
in a dark place of the earth;
I did not say to the descendants of Jacob,
“Seek Me in a waste place”;
I, the LORD, speak righteousness;
I declare things that are right.
Assemble yourselves and come;
draw near together, you fugitives of the nations.
They have no knowledge who set up the wood of their carved image,
and pray to a god that cannot save.
Declare and set forth your case;
let them take counsel together.
Who has declared this from ancient times?
Who has told it from that time?
Have not I, the LORD?
And there is no God besides Me,
a righteous God and Savior;
there is no other besides Me.
Turn to Me and be saved,
all the ends of the earth.
For I am God, and there is no other.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
Revelation 14:1-5
Then I looked. And behold, the Lamb was standing on Mount Zion and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand having His Father’s name written on their foreheads. And I heard a sound from heaven, like the sound of many waters and like the sound of a great thunder. I heard the sound of harpists playing their harps. They sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn that song except the one hundred and forty-four thousand who were redeemed from the earth. These are those who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are those who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These were redeemed from among men, as firstfruits to God and to the Lamb. No lie was found in their mouths, for they are without fault before the throne of God.
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 Lord, we beseech you mercifully to hear the prayers of your people who call upon you; and grant that they may both perceive and know what things they ought to do, and also may have grace and power faithfully to fulfill them; 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.