Tue. morning Sep. 22
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
Leaning on the Everlasting Arms
Confession of Sin
The LORD is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in mercy.
He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
nor recompensed us according to our iniquities.
For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so great is his mercy toward those who fear Him.
Silence is kept for reflection.
Holy God,
Holy and strong,
Holy and immortal,
have mercy upon us.
As far as the east is from the west,
so far has He removed our transgressions from us.
As a father pities his children,
so the LORD pities those who fear Him.
Bless the LORD, O my soul;
andall that is within me, bless His holy name.
Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all His benefits.
Psalm 48
𝙍: We have thought on Your lovingkindness, O God.
Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised
in the city of our God, in His holy mountain.
Beautiful in elevation,
the joy of the whole earth,
is Mount Zion on the sides of the north,
the city of the great King.
Within her citadels God is known
as a refuge.
𝙍: We have thought on Your lovingkindness, O God.
For behold, the kings assembled;
they passed by together.
They saw it, and so they were astounded;
they were troubled; they took to flight.
Trembling took hold of them there,
and pain, as of a woman in labor,
as when You break the ships of Tarshish
with an east wind.
As we have heard,
so have we seen
in the city of the Lord of Hosts,
in the city of our God;
God will establish it forever.
𝙍: We have thought on Your lovingkindness, O God.
We have thought on Your lovingkindness, O God,
in the midst of Your temple.
According to Your name, O God,
so is Your praise to the ends of the earth;
Your right hand is full of righteousness.
Let Mount Zion rejoice;
let the daughters of Judah be glad,
because of Your judgments.
Walk about Zion, and go all around her;
count her towers;
mark well her bulwarks;
go through her citadels,
that you may tell the next generation
that this is God, our God forever and ever;
He will be our guide forever.
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: We have thought on Your lovingkindness, O God.
Psalm Prayer
Father of lights, raise us with Christ to your eternal city, that, with kings and nations, we may wait in the midst of your temple and see your glory forever and ever.
Psalm 52
𝙍: I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever.
Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man?
The goodness of God endures continually.
Your tongue devises destruction,
like a sharp razor, you worker of deceit.
You love evil more than good,
and lying rather than speaking what is right.
You love all devouring words,
O you deceitful tongue.
But God will break you down forever;
He will snatch you away and pluck you from your home,
and uproot you from the land of the living.
The righteous will see and fear,
and will laugh at him, saying,
“Behold, the man
who did not make God his refuge,
but trusted in the abundance of his riches,
and sought refuge in his wickedness.”
But I am like a green olive tree
in the house of God;
I trust in the mercy of God
forever and ever.
I will give You thanks forever for what You have done.
In the presence of Your saints I will wait on Your name,
for it is 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: I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever.
Psalm prayer
Faithful and steadfast God, nourish your people in this wicked world, and, through prayer and the Scriptures, give us our daily bread; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Old Testament reading
1 Kings 13:11-34
Now there lived an old prophet in Bethel, and his sons came and told him all that the man of God had done that day in Bethel. They also told their father the words that he had spoken to the king. Their father said to them, “What way did he go?” For his sons had seen the way the man of God who came from Judah had gone. He said to his sons, “Saddle my donkey.” So they saddled the donkey for him, and he rode on it. He went after the man of God and found him sitting under an oak, and he said to him, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?”
And he said, “I am.”
Then he said to him, “Come home with me and eat bread.”
He said, “I may not return with you or go in with you, nor will I eat bread, nor drink water with you in this place, for I was commanded by the word of the LORD: You shall eat no bread and drink no water there, nor return by the way you came.”
He said to him, “I am a prophet like you, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the LORD, saying, ‘Bring him back with you into your house so that he may eat bread and drink water.’ ” But he had lied to him. So he went back with him to his house and ate bread and drank water.
Then as they sat at the table, the word of the LORD came to the prophet who brought him back, and he cried out to the man of God who came from Judah, saying, “Thus says the LORD: Since you have disobeyed the mouth of the LORD and have not kept the commandment that the LORD your God commanded you, but instead came back and have eaten bread and drunk water in the place of which the LORD told you to eat no bread and drink no water, your carcass will not be buried in the tomb of your fathers!”
After he had eaten bread and had drunk, he saddled the donkey for the prophet whom he had brought back. As he was going, a lion met him on the way and killed him, and his body was thrown in the road, and both the donkey and lion stood by it. And behold, men passed by and saw the body thrown in the road with the lion standing by the body, and they came and told the story in the city where the old prophet lived.
When the prophet who brought him back from the way heard about it, he said, “It is the man of God who was disobedient to the word of the LORD, and thus the LORD has delivered him to the lion, which has torn and slain him, according to the word of the LORD that He spoke to him.”
He said to his sons, “Saddle my donkey,” and they saddled it. He then went and found his body thrown in the road, and the donkey and the lion were still standing by the body. The lion had not eaten the body, nor attacked the donkey. The prophet picked up the body of the man of God and laid it on his donkey and brought it back. The old prophet came to the city to mourn and to bury him. He laid his body in his own tomb, and they mourned over him, saying, “Alas, my brother!”
And after he had buried him, he said to his sons, “When I am dead, bury me in the grave in which the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones. For the saying that he cried out by the word of the LORD against the altar in Bethel and against all the houses of the high places that are in the cities of Samaria shall surely come to pass.”
After this event Jeroboam did not turn from his evil ways, but made priests for the high places again from among all the people. Any who would, he consecrated to be priests of the high places. This matter became sin to the house of Jeroboam, so as to cut it off and to destroy it from the face of the earth.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
Acts 19:21-41
When these things were accomplished, Paul determined in his spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem, saying, “After I have been there, I must also see Rome.” He sent two who ministered to him, Timothy and Erastus, into Macedonia, but he delayed in Asia for a time.
About that time great trouble arose about the Way. For a silversmith named Demetrius, who made silver shrines for Artemis, brought much business to the craftsmen. He gathered them together with the workmen of similar trades and said, “Men, you know that by this trade we have our wealth. And you see and hear, not only at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, that this Paul has persuaded and turned away many people, saying that these things made by hands are not gods. Now not only is our trade in danger of coming into disrepute, but also the temple of the great goddess Artemis, whom all Asia and the world worship, may be discredited and her magnificence destroyed.”
When they heard this, they were full of anger and cried out, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” The city was filled with confusion. And in unison they seized Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul’s traveling companions from Macedonia, and rushed into the theater. When Paul intended to go in among the crowd, the disciples would not let him. Even some of the rulers of Asia, who were his friends, sent to him begging him not to venture into the theater.
The assembly was confused. Therefore some cried out one thing and some another, and most of them did not know why they had come together. The Jews pushed Alexander to the front as the crowd prompted him. Alexander motioned with his hand, wishing to make his defense to the mob. But when they learned that he was a Jew, for about two hours they all with one voice cried out, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”
The city clerk quieted the crowd and said, “Men of Ephesus, what man is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is the guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of the image which fell from heaven? Seeing then that these things are undeniable, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rash. For you have brought these men here who are neither temple robbers nor blasphemers of your goddess. So if Demetrius and the craftsmen who are with him have a complaint against anyone, the courts are open and there are proconsuls. Let them press charges against one another. If you seek anything further, it shall be settled in the legal assembly. For we are in danger of being charged with rioting today, since there is no reason we may give to account for this uproar.” When he had said this, he dismissed the assembly.
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:
All who are sick in body, mind, or spirit
Those in the midst of famine or disaster
Victims of abuse and violence, intolerance, and prejudice
Those who are bereaved
All who work in the medical and healing professions
Other intercessions and supplications may be offered as the Holy Spirit leads.
Response
Lord, hear your people
and answer our prayers.
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.