Fri. morning Oct. 1
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
Are You Washed in the Blood
Confession of Sin
Let us confess our sins against God and our neighbor.
Silence may be kept.
Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your name. Amen.
Almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us all our sins through our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen us in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep us in eternal life.
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
2 Kings 2:1-18
Then when the LORD was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. Elijah said to Elisha, “Tarry here, I ask you, for the LORD has sent me to Bethel.”
But Elisha said to him, “As the LORD lives, and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel.
The sons of the prophets who were at Bethel came out to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that today the LORD is taking away your master from you?”
And he said, “Yes, I know. Keep silent.”
Elijah said to him, “Elisha, stay here, for the LORD has sent me to Jericho.”
And he said, “As the LORD lives, and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they entered Jericho.
The sons of the prophets who were at Jericho approached Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that today the LORD is taking away your master from you?”
And he said, “Yes, I know. Keep silent.”
Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here, for the LORD has sent me to the Jordan.”
And he said, “As the LORD lives, and as you live, I will not leave you.” And the two of them went on.
Fifty men of the sons of the prophets went and stood at a distance, and the two of them stood by the Jordan. Then Elijah took his robe and rolled it up and struck the water, and it was divided from one side to the other. Then the two of them crossed on dry ground.
And as they were crossing, Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask for something, and I will do it for you before I am taken away from you.”
And Elisha said, “Let a double portion of your spirit be upon me.”
He said, “You have asked for a difficult thing, but if you see me when I am taken from you, it will happen to you. If not, it will not.”
As they continued walking and talking, behold, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them, and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. Elisha was watching and crying, “My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and its horsemen!” And he did not see him again. Then he grabbed his own clothes and tore them in two pieces.
He picked up the robe of Elijah that fell from him, and he returned and stood on the bank of the Jordan. And he took the robe of Elijah that fell from him, and struck the water, and said, “Where is the LORD, God of Elijah?” When he had struck the water, it parted from one side to the other, and Elisha crossed over.
When the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho saw him from far off, they said, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” And they came to meet him and bowed down to the ground before him. They said to him, “Behold now, there are fifty strong men with your servants. Let them go and look for your master. Perhaps the Spirit of the LORD has lifted him up and thrown him on some mountain or into some valley.”
He said, “Do not send them.”
When they urged him until he was ashamed, he said, “Send them.” So they sent fifty men, and they searched for three days but did not find him. When they returned to him (for he had stayed at Jericho), he said to them, “Did I not say to you, do not go?”
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
Acts 24:24-25:12
After several days, when Felix arrived with his wife Drusilla, who was a Jewish woman, he sent for Paul and heard him speak concerning faith in Christ. As he lectured about righteousness, self-control, and the coming judgment, Felix was afraid and answered, “For now, leave! When time permits, I will send for you.” At the same time he hoped that money would be given him by Paul, that he might release him. So he sent for him more often and conversed with him.
But after two years Porcius Festus succeeded Felix. And Felix, desiring to do the Jews a favor, left Paul imprisoned.
Now three days after Festus had come into the province, he went from Caesarea up to Jerusalem. The high priest and the elders of the Jews spoke to him against Paul. And they begged him, asking as a favor against him, that he would summon him to Jerusalem, plotting to kill him along the way. Festus said that Paul should be kept at Caesarea and that he himself intended to go there shortly. He also said, “Let the men in authority go down with me. If there is anything wrong in the man, let them accuse him.”
Having stayed among them more than ten days, he went down to Caesarea. And the next day he sat on the judgment seat and ordered that Paul be brought in. When he arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him and brought many serious charges against him which they could not prove, while he defended himself, saying, “Neither against the law of the Jews, nor against the temple, nor against Caesar have I sinned at all.”
But Festus, desiring to do the Jews a favor, asked Paul, “Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem to be judged concerning these charges before me?”
Paul said, “I am standing before Caesar’s judgment seat, where I ought to be judged. I have done no wrong to the Jews, as you know very well. If I am doing wrong or have done anything worthy of death, I do not refuse to die. But if these are empty charges of which these men accuse me, no one may deliver me to them. I appeal to Caesar.”
When Festus had conferred with the council, he then answered, “To Caesar you have appealed. To Caesar you shall go.”
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:
Political leaders and the armed forces
Peace and justice in the world
Those who work for reconciliation
All whose lives are devastated by war and civil strife
Prisoners, refugees, and homeless people
Other intercessions and supplications may be offered as the Holy Spirit leads.
Response
Lord of life
In your mercy, hear us.
Silence may be kept.
Collect of the day
Almighty God, you have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you: pour your love into our hearts and draw us to yourself, and so bring us at last to your heavenly city where we shall see you face to face; 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.