Fri. morning Oct. 23
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
For the Beauty of the Earth
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 142
𝙍: Bring my soul out of prison, that I may give thanks to Your name.
I cry out to the LORD with my voice;
with my voice to the LORD do I make my supplication.
I pour out my complaint before Him;
I declare my trouble before Him.
When my spirit was overwhelmed within me,
then You knew my path.
In the way wherein I walk,
they have secretly set a snare for me.
Look to the right and see,
for there is no one who acknowledges me;
there is no refuge for me;
no one cares for my soul.
𝙍: Bring my soul out of prison, that I may give thanks to Your name.
I cried out to You, O LORD;
I said, “You are my refuge,
my portion in the land of the living.”
Attend unto my cry,
for I am brought very low;
deliver me from my persecutors,
for they are stronger than me.
Bring my soul out of prison,
that I may give thanks to Your name;
the righteous shall surround me,
for You shall deal bountifully with me.
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: Bring my soul out of prison, that I may give thanks to Your name.
Psalm prayer
God of compassion, you regard the forsaken and give hope to the crushed in spirit; hear those who cry to you in distress and bring your ransomed people to sing your glorious praise, now and forever.
Psalm 144
𝙍: Blessed are the people whose God is the LORD.
Blessed be the LORD my rock,
who trains my hands for war,
and my fingers for battle;
my lovingkindness and my fortress,
my high tower and my deliverer,
my shield and He in whom I take refuge,
who subdues my people under me.
LORD, what is man, that You take regard of him?
Or the son of a man, that You are mindful of him?
Man is like a breath;
his days are like a passing shadow.
𝙍: Blessed are the people whose God is the LORD.
Bow your heavens, O LORD, and come down;
touch the mountains, that they may smoke.
Cast forth lightning and scatter them;
shoot out Your arrows and destroy them.
Stretch Your hand from above;
rescue me and deliver me
out of the great waters,
from the hand of foreigners,
whose mouth speaks vain words,
and whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.
𝙍: Blessed are the people whose God is the LORD.
I will sing a new song to You, O God;
on a harp of ten strings will I sing praises to You,
who gives salvation to kings,
who delivers David His servant from the deadly sword.
Rescue me and deliver me
from the hand of foreigners,
whose mouth speaks lying words
and whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.
𝙍: Blessed are the people whose God is the LORD.
May our sons in their youth
be like plants fully grown,
our daughters like pillars,
sculptured to adorn a palace;
may our barns be full,
supplying every kind of produce;
may our sheep bring forth
thousands and ten thousands in our fields;
may our cattle be strong in labor,
may there be no breaking in
or going out;
and may there be no outcry in our streets!
Blessed are the people who are in such a state;
blessed are the people whose God is the LORD.
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: Blessed are the people whose God is the LORD.
Psalm prayer
God our deliverer, stir our weak wills, revive our weary spirits, and give us the courage to strive for the freedom of all your children, to the praise of your glorious name.
Old Testament reading
2 Kings 24:18-25:12
Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king. He reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. He did evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that Jehoiakim had done. Because of the anger of the LORD this happened in Jerusalem and Judah until He threw them out from His presence. But Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.
In the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, and set up camp near it. They built siege mounds against it all around. The city came under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. On the ninth day of the fourth month the famine was severe in the city, and there was no food for the people of the land. The city was breached, and all the fighting men fled by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, which is by the king’s garden, though the Chaldeans were all around the city. They went along the way of the Arabah. Then the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho. All his army deserted him. So they captured the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, and they passed sentence upon him. They slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah. They bound him with bronze fetters and brought him to Babylon.
In the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month (that was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon), Nebuzaradan, the captain of the bodyguard, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. He burned the house of the LORD, the king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem. Every great house he burned with fire. All the army of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guard tore down the walls of Jerusalem all around. The rest of the people who remained in the city, the deserters who had defected to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the crowd Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard took into exile. But the captain of the bodyguard left some of the poor of the land to be vinedressers and farmers.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
1 Timothy 5:1-16
Do not rebuke an elder, but exhort him as a father, the younger men as brothers, the elder women as mothers, and the younger women as sisters, with complete purity.
Honor widows that are widows indeed. But if any widow has children or grandchildren, let them learn first to show piety at home and to repay their parents. For this is good and acceptable before God. Now she who is a widow indeed, and desolate, trusts in God, and continues in supplications and prayers night and day. But she who lives in pleasure is dead while she lives. And these things command, that they may be blameless. But if any do not care for their own, and especially for those of their own house, they have denied the faith and are worse than unbelievers.
Do not let a widow be counted unless she is over sixty years old, has been the wife of one man, is well attested in good works, if she has brought up children, has lodged strangers, has washed the saints’ feet, has relieved the afflicted, and has diligently followed every good work.
But refuse the younger widows, for when their sensual desires have drawn them away from Christ, they want to marry, and bring judgment on themselves, because they have cast off their first pledge. Besides that, they learn to be idle, and not only idle, wandering around from house to house, but also gossips and busybodies, saying what they ought not. Therefore I desire that the younger women marry, bear children, manage the house, and give no occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully. For some have already turned aside after Satan.
If any believing man or woman has widows, let those assist them. Do not let the church be charged, so that it may relieve those who are widows indeed.
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
God, the giver of life, whose Holy Spirit wells up within your Church: by the Spirit's gifts equip us to live the gospel of Christ and make us eager to do your will, that we may share with the whole creation the joys of eternal life; 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.