Wed. morning Sep. 30
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
He Died for Me
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;
and all that is within me, bless His holy name.
Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all His benefits.
Psalm 77
𝙍: In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord.
My voice rises to God, thus will I cry aloud;
my voice rises to God, thus will He hear me.
In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord;
in the night my hand was stretched out without ceasing;
my soul refused to be comforted.
I remembered God, and was troubled;
I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed.
You hold my eyelids open;
I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
𝙍: In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord.
I have considered the days of old,
the years long ago.
I call to remembrance my song in the night;
I meditate within my heart,
and my spirit ponders:
“Will the Lord reject forever?
Will He be favorable no more?
Has His mercy ceased forever?
Have His promises failed for all time?
Has God forgotten to be gracious?
Has He in anger withheld His tender mercies?”
Then I said, “This is my grief;
but I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High.”
𝙍: In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord.
I will remember the works of the LORD;
surely I will remember Your wonders of old.
I will meditate on all Your work
and muse on Your mighty deeds.
Your way, O God, is holy;
what god is great like our God?
You are the God who works wonders;
You have declared Your strength among the peoples.
You have with Your arm redeemed Your people,
the sons of Jacob and Joseph.
𝙍: In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord.
The waters saw You, O God;
the waters saw You, they were afraid;
the depths also trembled.
The clouds poured out water;
the skies gave forth thunder;
Your arrows flashed back and forth.
The sound of Your thunder was in the whirlwind;
the lightnings lit up the world;
the earth trembled and shook.
Your way was through the sea,
Your path through the great waters;
yet Your footsteps were unseen.
You led Your people like a flock
by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
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: In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord.
Psalm prayer
God our shepherd, you led us and saved us in times of old; do not forget your people in their troubles, but raise up your power to sustain the poor and helpless; for the honor of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Old Testament reading
1 Kings 22:29-45
So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead. The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself and enter into the battle, but you wear your robes.” And the king of Israel disguised himself and went into the battle.
But the king of Aram ordered his thirty-two commanders who had control over his chariots, saying, “Fight neither against small, nor great, but only against the king of Israel.” So when the commanders of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, they said, “Surely it is the king of Israel.” And they turned aside to fight against him, and Jehoshaphat cried out. When the commanders of the chariots realized that it was not the king of Israel, they turned away from pursuing him.
A certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel between the joints of the armor, and because of this, he said to the driver of his chariot, “Turn around and carry me out of the battle, for I am wounded.” The battle intensified that day, and the king was propped up in his chariot against the Arameans and died that evening, and the blood ran out of the wound into the floor of the chariot. A proclamation went throughout the army as the sun was setting, saying, “Every man is to return to his city, and every man is to return to his own country.”
So the king died and was brought to Samaria, and they buried him there. The chariot was washed in the pool of Samaria, and the dogs licked up the king’s blood, and they washed his armor according to the word which the LORD spoke.
Now the rest of the acts of Ahab and all that he did and the ivory house that he built and all the cities that he built, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? So Ahab slept with his fathers. And Ahaziah his son reigned in his place.
Jehoshaphat the son of Asa began to reign over Judah in the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel. Jehoshaphat was thirty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Azubah, the daughter of Shilhi. He walked in all the ways of Asa his father. He did not turn aside, doing that which was right in the eyes of the LORD. Nevertheless, the high places were not taken down, and the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there. So Jehoshaphat made peace with the king of Israel.
Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat and the strength he showed and how he warred, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
Acts 23:12-35
At daybreak some of the Jews conspired under oath, saying they would neither eat nor drink until they had killed Paul. There were more than forty who had conspired. They went to the chief priests and elders and said, “We have bound ourselves under oath not to eat until we have killed Paul. So now, with the Sanhedrin, tell the commander to bring him down to you tomorrow, pretending to inquire further concerning him. We are ready to kill him before he arrives.”
But when the son of Paul’s sister heard of the treachery, he went and entered the barracks and told Paul.
Then Paul called one of the centurions over and said, “Take this young man to the commander, for he has something to tell him.” So he took him to the commander and said, “Paul the prisoner sent for me and asked me to bring you this young man who has something to tell you.”
Then the commander took him by the hand, went aside privately, and asked him, “What is it you have to tell me?”
The boy said, “The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down tomorrow to the Sanhedrin, pretending to inquire further concerning him. Do not trust them. More than forty men, who have bound themselves with an oath to neither eat nor drink until they have killed him, are waiting for him. And now they are ready, waiting for your promise.”
The commander dismissed the young man and ordered him, “Tell no one that you have reported these things to me.”
Then he summoned two centurions and said, “Prepare two hundred infantrymen, seventy mounted soldiers, and two hundred light infantrymen with spears to go to Caesarea at the third hour of the night. And provide mounts so Paul may ride and take him safely to Felix the governor.”
He wrote a letter that went like this:
Claudius Lysias,
To His Excellency Governor Felix:
Greetings.
This man was seized by the Jews and was about to be killed by them. When I learned that he was a Roman citizen, I came with soldiers and rescued him. Since I wanted to learn what crime they alleged, I took him to their Sanhedrin. I found him being accused of controversial matters about their law, but charged with nothing worthy of death or imprisonment. When it was revealed to me that there was a plot against the man, at once I sent him to you and ordered the accusers to state before you their charges against him.
So the soldiers, according to their orders, took Paul by night to Antipatris. The next day they let the cavalry depart with him and they returned to the barracks. When they arrived in Caesarea and delivered the letter to the governor, they presented Paul also to him. Upon reading the letter, the governor asked what province he was from. When he learned that he was from Cilicia, he said, “I will hear you when your accusers also arrive.” And he ordered that he be guarded in Herod’s Praetorium.
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 social services
All who work in the criminal justice system
Victims and perpetrators of crime
The work of aid agencies throughout the world
Those living in poverty or under oppression
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
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.