Mon. morning Oct. 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
And Can It Be
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 80
Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,
You who lead Joseph like a flock;
You who are enthroned between the cherubim, shine forth!
Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh,
stir up Your strength,
and come and save us!
Restore us, O God,
and cause Your face to shine,
and we shall be saved!
O LORD God of Hosts,
how long will You be angry
with the prayers of Your people?
You have fed them with the bread of tears,
and given them tears to drink in great measure.
You have made us a source of contention to our neighbors,
and our enemies laugh among themselves.
Restore us, O God of Hosts,
and cause Your face to shine,
and we shall be saved.
You have brought a vine out of Egypt;
You have cast out the nations and planted it.
You cleared the ground for it;
it took deep root and filled the land.
The mountains were covered with its shadow
and the mighty cedars with its branches.
It sent out its branches to the sea
and its shoots to the Euphrates River.
Why have You broken down its walls,
so that all those who pass by the way pluck its fruit?
The boar from the woods ravages it,
and the insects of the field devour it.
Return, we beseech You, O God of Hosts;
look down from heaven and see;
have regard for this vine,
the shoot that Your right hand planted,
and for the son whom You made strong for Yourself.
It is burned with fire, it is cut down;
they perish at the rebuke of Your countenance.
Let Your hand be upon the man of Your right hand,
the son of man whom You made strong for Yourself.
Then we will not turn back from You;
give us life, and we will call upon Your name.
Restore us, O LORD God of Hosts;
cause Your face to shine,
and we shall be saved!
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
Faithful shepherd of your people, as we look for the light of your countenance, restore in us the image of your glory and graft us into the risen life of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Old Testament reading
2 Kings 5
Now Naaman, captain of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man before his master and held favor because by him the LORD had given deliverance to Aram. He was also a mighty warrior, but he had leprosy.
The Arameans had gone out raiding and had taken captive a little girl from the land of Israel, and she waited on the wife of Naaman. She said to her mistress, “If only my lord were before the prophet who is in Samaria! Then he would take away his leprosy from him.”
So Naaman went in and told his lord, “Thus and so spoke the girl from the land of Israel.” 5The king of Aram said, “Go, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” So he went and took with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten sets of clothes. He brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read, “Now when this letter comes to you, know that I have sent Naaman my servant to you, that you may take away from him his leprosy.”
When the king of Israel had read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, “Am I God, to kill and to give life, that this man sends a man to me to take away his leprosy? But consider, and see how he is seeking a quarrel with me.”
But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent word to the king, saying, “Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come to me, and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel.” So Naaman came with his horses and chariot and stood at the entrance to the house of Elisha. Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be returned and cleansed.”
But Naaman became angry and went away and said to himself, “Behold, he could have come out, and stood and called on the name of the LORD his God, and waved his hand over the infected area, and taken away the leprosy. Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage.
But his servants approached and spoke to him, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more when he said to you, ‘Wash and be clean’?” So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, according to the word of the man of God, and his flesh returned like the flesh of a little boy, and he was clean.
Then he returned to the man of God, he and all his company. He came and stood before him, and he said, “Behold, I know that there is no God in all the land, except in Israel. Now take a gift from your servant.”
But he said, “As the LORD lives, before whom I stand, I will take no gift.” He urged him to take it, but he refused.
Then Naaman said, “If not, let two mule loads of dirt be given to your servant, for your servant will no longer offer a burnt offering or sacrifice to any god, except the LORD. But may the LORD pardon your servant on one account: When my master enters the house of Rimmon to worship, and he leans on my hand, and I bow down in the house of Rimmon, when I do bow down in the house of Rimmon, may the LORD pardon your servant on this one account.”
He said to him, “Go in peace.” So he departed from him a short distance.
Then Gehazi the servant of Elisha the man of God said, “My master has spared Naaman the Aramean by not taking from his hands what he brought. As the LORD lives, I will run after him and take something from him.”
So Gehazi pursued Naaman. Then Naaman saw him running after him, jumped down from the chariot to meet him, and said, “Is everything all right?”
And he said, “Everything is all right. My master has sent me and says, ‘Even now two servants from Ephraim, from the sons of the prophets, have come to me. Give them a talent of silver and two changes of clothes.’ ”
Naaman said, “Please, take two talents.” He urged him and tied up two talents of silver in two bags with two changes of clothes and gave them to two of his servants, who carried them before Gehazi. When he came to Ophel, he took them from their hand and put them away in the house. Then he sent the men away, and they departed.
Then he entered and stood before his master. And Elisha said to him, “Where have you come from, Gehazi?”
And he said, “Your servant went here and there.”
He said to him, “Did my heart not go with you when the man turned from his chariot to meet you? Is it a time to take money, and to take garments, olives and vineyards, sheep and oxen, male and female servants? The leprosy of Naaman will cling to you and to your descendants forever.” So he went out from his presence, leprous like snow.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
Act 26:1-23
Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You are permitted to speak for yourself.”
So Paul stretched out his hand and made his defense: “King Agrippa, I consider myself fortunate that today I shall make my defense before you against all the accusations of the Jews, especially because you are an expert in all customs and controversies of the Jews. Therefore I beg you to patiently listen to me.
“My manner of life from my youth, spent from the beginning in my own nation and at Jerusalem, is known by all the Jews. They knew me from the beginning and could testify, if they wished, how according to the strictest sect of our religion I lived as a Pharisee. And now I stand on trial for hope in the promise made by God to our fathers, to which our twelve tribes hope to attain, as they earnestly serve God day and night. Concerning this hope, King Agrippa, I am accused by the Jews. Why is it judged incredible by you that God raises the dead?
“I myself was convinced that I must do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. This I also did in Jerusalem, and many of the saints I locked up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests. And when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. I punished them often in every synagogue and compelled them to blaspheme. And being extremely enraged against them, I persecuted them even to foreign cities.
“So I went to Damascus with authority and a commission from the chief priests. At midday, O King, I saw along the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who journeyed with me. When we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Aramaic language, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’
“I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’
“He said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. But rise and stand on your feet. For I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and a witness both of what you have seen and of what I will yet reveal to you. I will deliver you from your people and from the Gentiles to whom I now send you, to open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.’
“Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared first to those at Damascus, then at Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God and do works proving their repentance. For these reasons the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. Therefore having obtained help from God, I continue to this day, testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would happen: that the Christ must suffer, that He would be the first who would rise from the dead, and would announce light to His own people and to the Gentiles.”
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 media and the arts
Farming and fishing
Commerce and industry
Those whose work is unfulfilling, stressful, or fraught with danger
All who are unemployed
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
Almighty and everlasting God, increase in us your gift of faith that, forsaking what lies behind and reaching out to that which is before, we may run the way of your commandments and win the crown of everlasting joy; 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.