Sat. morning Jul. 11
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
When I Survey the Wondrous Cross
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 120
𝙍: Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips.
In my distress I cried unto the LORD,
and He heard me.
Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips,
from a deceitful tongue.
What shall be given to you,
or what shall be done to you, you deceitful tongue?
Sharp arrows of the warrior,
with coals of the broom tree!
𝙍: Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips.
Woe is me, that I dwell in Meshech,
that I dwell among the tents of Kedar!
Too long has my soul dwelt
with ones who hate peace.
I am for peace,
but when I speak, they are for war!
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: Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips.
Psalm prayer
God of consolation, look on us, pilgrims in a strange land; preserve us from slander and deceit, show us the truth, and give to our souls the peace of Christ.
Psalm 121
𝙍: The LORD will keep you from all evil.
I will lift up my eyes to the hills;
from whence comes my help?
My help comes from the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot slip;
He who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, He who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
𝙍: The LORD will keep you from all evil.
The LORD is your keeper;
the LORD is your shade at your right hand.
The sun shall not strike you by day,
nor the moon by night.
The LORD will keep you from all evil;
He will keep your soul.
The LORD will guard your going out and your coming in
from this time forth and forevermore.
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 will keep you from all evil.
Psalm prayer
Lord, ever watchful and faithful, we look to you to be our defense and we lift our hearts to know your help; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Psalm 122
𝙍: How lovely is Your dwelling place, O LORD of Hosts!
I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us go into the house of the LORD.”
Our feet are standing
within your gates, O Jerusalem!
Jerusalem is built as a city
that is firmly joined together,
to which the tribes go up,
the tribes of the LORD,
as was decreed for Israel,
to give thanks to the name of the LORD.
For there were set thrones for judgment,
the thrones of the house of David.
𝙍: How lovely is Your dwelling place, O LORD of Hosts!
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
“May they prosper who love you.
Peace be within your walls|
and prosperity within your palaces.”
For the sake of my brothers and companions,
I will now say, “Peace be within you.”
For the sake of the house of the LORD our God,
I will seek your good.
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: How lovely is Your dwelling place, O LORD of Hosts!
Psalm prayer
God of our pilgrimage, bring us with joy to the eternal city founded on the rock, and give to our earthly cities the peace that comes from above; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Old Testament reading
1 Samuel 4
And the word of Samuel came to all Israel.
And Israel went out to battle against the Philistines and they made camp beside Ebenezer, and the Philistines encamped in Aphek. The Philistines arrayed themselves in a battle line against Israel, and when the battle was over, Israel was beaten before the Philistines, who struck down on the field of battle about four thousand men. When the people came into the camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why has the LORD struck us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of Shiloh to us, that it might come among us and rescue us out of the hand of our enemies.”
So the people sent to Shiloh, that they might bring from there the ark of the covenant of the LORD of Hosts, who dwells above the cherubim. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.
When the ark of the covenant of the LORD came into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the ground was in an uproar. When the Philistines heard the sound of the shout, they said, “What does this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews mean?” Then they understood that the ark of the LORD had come into the camp.
The Philistines were afraid, when they said, “God is come into the camp.” And they said, “Woe to us! For this has never happened to us before. Woe to us! Who will deliver us out of the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods that struck the Egyptians with every plague in the wilderness. Be strong and be men, O Philistines, lest you be servants to the Hebrews, as they have been to you. Now be men and fight.”
So the Philistines fought and Israel was beaten. And they fled every man into his tent. It was a very great defeat, for there fell of Israel thirty thousand foot soldiers. Now the ark of God was taken, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died.
There ran a man of Benjamin from the battle line, and he came to Shiloh the same day with his clothes torn and with dust upon his head. When he came, Eli was sitting on a seat by the wayside watching, for his heart feared for the ark of God. Now the man came to tell it in the city, and all the city cried out.
When Eli heard the noise of the crying, he said, “What does the noise of this tumult mean?”
And the man hurriedly came and told Eli. Now Eli was ninety-eight years old, and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see. The man said to Eli, “I am he that came out of the army, and I fled today out of the battle line.”
And he said, “What is the word, my son?”
The messenger replied, “Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there also has been a great slaughter among the people. Your two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead. And the ark of God is taken.”
When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell from off the seat backward by the side of the gate. And his neck broke and he died, for he was an old and heavy man. And he had judged Israel forty years.
His daughter-in-law, Phinehas’ wife, was pregnant, about to give birth. And when she heard the news that the ark of God was taken, and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she knelt down and gave birth, for her pains came upon her. About the time of her death the women that stood by her said to her, “Do not fear, for you have borne a son.” But she did not answer or regard it.
She named the child Ichabod, saying, “The glory is departed from Israel,” because the ark of God was taken, and because of her father-in-law and her husband. She said, “The glory is departed from Israel, for the ark of God is taken.”
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
Luke 20:27-40
Some of the Sadducees, who deny that there is any resurrection, came to Him and asked Him, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies, having a wife but no children, then this man should take the wife and raise up children for his brother. Now there were seven brothers. The first took a wife and died childless. The second took her as wife, and he died childless. And then the third took her, and in like manner, all seven died and left no children. Last of all, the woman died also. Therefore in the resurrection whose wife will she be? For the seven had her as a wife.”
Jesus answered them, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage. But those who are counted worthy to attain that age, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage. For they cannot die any more, for they are equal to the angels and are the sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. Now, at the bush, even Moses pointed out that the dead are raised when he called the Lord ‘the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ For He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. For to Him all live.”
Some of the scribes said, “Teacher, You have spoken well.” After that they dared not ask Him any question at all.
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:
Our homes, families, friends, and all whom we love
Those whose time is spent caring for others
Those who are close to death
Those who have lost hope
The worship of the church
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.