Thu. 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
O Worship the King
Confession of Sin
When we cry to the LORD in our trouble,
He will save us from our distress.
God will bring us out of darkness
and out of the shadow of death.
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
A time of silence and self-examination may be kept.
May the Father forgive us by the death of his Son, and strengthen us to live in the power of the Spirit all our days.
Amen.
Let us give thanks to the LORD for His goodness,
and for His wonderful works to all people!
Let us offer sacrifices of thanksgiving,
and declare God’s works with rejoicing.
cf Psalm 107
Psalm 78:1-39
𝙍: How awesome are Your works, O Lord!
Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;
incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
I will open my mouth in a parable;
I will speak mysteries of old,
which we have heard and known,
that our fathers have told us.
We will not hide them from their children,
but tell the generation to come
the praises of the LORD,
and His strength and the wonderful works that He has done.
𝙍: How awesome are Your works, O Lord!
For He established a testimony in Jacob
and appointed a law in Israel,
which He commanded our fathers
to teach to their children,
that the generation to come might know them,
the children yet to be born,
that they may arise and declare them to their children,
so that they should set their hope in God
and not forget the works of God,
but keep His commandments;
and that they may not be like their fathers,
a stubborn and rebellious generation,
a generation that did not set its heart aright,
whose spirit was not faithful to God.
𝙍: How awesome are Your works, O Lord!
The Ephraimites, being armed with bows,
turned back in the day of battle.
They did not keep the covenant of God
and refused to walk in His law;
they forgot His works
and the wonders that He had shown them.
In the sight of their fathers He performed marvelous wonders
in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan.
𝙍: How awesome are Your works, O Lord!
He divided the sea and caused them to pass through,
and He made the waters stand up like a heap.
In the daytime He led them with a cloud,
and all the night with a light of fire.
He split rocks in the wilderness
and gave them plenty to drink like the depths.
He brought streams also out of the rock
and caused waters to run down like rivers.
𝙍: How awesome are Your works, O Lord!
But they sinned still more against Him
by rebelling against the Most High in the desert.
They tested God in their heart
by asking for the food they craved.
Then they spoke against God, saying,
“Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?
Behold, He struck the rock, so that the waters gushed out
and the streams overflowed.
Can He give bread also?
Will He provide meat for His people?”
𝙍: How awesome are Your works, O Lord!
Therefore the LORD heard this and was full of wrath;
a fire was kindled against Jacob,
and anger also came up against Israel,
because they did not believe in God
and did not trust in His salvation.
Yet He had commanded the skies above
and opened the doors of heaven,
and He rained down manna upon them to eat
and gave them the grain of heaven.
Men ate the bread of angels;
He sent them food in abundance.
𝙍: How awesome are Your works, O Lord!
He caused an east wind to blow in the heavens,
and by His power He directed the south wind.
He rained meat on them like dust,
winged birds like the sand of the seas;
then He let them fall in the midst of their camp,
all around their dwellings.
So they ate and were well filled,
for He gave them their own desire.
They were not separated from their desire;
but while their food was still in their mouths,
the wrath of God came upon them,
and He killed the strongest of them
and struck down the young men of Israel.
𝙍: How awesome are Your works, O Lord!
For all this they still sinned,
and did not believe in His wondrous works.
Therefore their days did He consume like a breath,
and their years in terror.
When He killed them, then they sought Him;
they turned back and sought earnestly for God.
They remembered that God was their rock,
and the Most High God their Redeemer.
𝙍: How awesome are Your works, O Lord!
Nevertheless they flattered Him with their mouths,
and they lied to Him with their tongues;
for their heart was not steadfast toward Him,
nor were they faithful in His covenant.
But He, being full of compassion,
forgave their iniquity
and did not destroy them.
He often restrained His anger,
and did not stir up all His wrath;
for He remembered that they were but flesh,
a wind that passes away and does not return.
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 awesome are Your works, O Lord!
Psalm prayer
God our deliverer, as you led our ancestors through the wilderness, so lead us through the wilderness of this world, that we may be saved through Christ forever.
Old Testament reading
2 Kings 1:2-17
Ahaziah fell down through a lattice in his upper chamber that was in Samaria and became ill. So he sent messengers and said to them, “Go, inquire of Baal-Zebub the god of Ekron whether I will recover from this illness.”
But the angel of the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite, “Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say to them, ‘Is it because there is not a God in Israel, that you go to inquire of Baal-Zebub the god of Ekron?’ Therefore thus says the LORD, ‘You will not come down from the bed on which you have gone up but will surely die.’ ” Then Elijah departed.
When the messengers returned to the king, he said to them, “Why have you returned?”
And they said to him, “A man came up to meet us and said to us, ‘Go, return to the king that sent you and say to him: Thus says the LORD: Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending to inquire of Baal-Zebub the god of Ekron? Therefore you will not come down from the bed on which you have gone up, but you will surely die.’ ”
He said to them, “What sort of man was he who came up to meet you and told you these things?”
They answered him, “He was a hairy man with a leather belt around his waist.”
He said, “It was Elijah the Tishbite.”Then the king sent to him a captain of fifty with his fifty men. He went up to Elijah, and there he was, sitting on the top of a hill, and he said to him, “Man of God, the king says, ‘Come down.’ ”
But Elijah answered the captain of fifty: “If I am a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men.” Then fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty men.
Again the king sent to him another captain of fifty with his fifty men. He said, “Man of God, thus says the king: Come down quickly.”
Elijah answered them, “If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men.” Then the fire of God came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty men.
Then again the king sent a third captain of fifty with his fifty men. The third captain of fifty went up, came and fell on his knees before Elijah, and pleaded with him, “Man of God, may my life and the life of these fifty servants of yours be precious in your sight. Behold, fire came down from heaven and consumed the two captains of the former fifties with their fifty men. May my life now be precious in your sight.”
Then the angel of the LORD said to Elijah, “Go down with him. Do not be afraid of him.” So he arose and went down with him to the king.
Then he said to him, “Thus says the LORD: Have you sent messengers to inquire of Baal-Zebub the god of Ekron, because there is no God in Israel to inquire of His word? Therefore you will not come down from the bed on which you have gone up, but you will surely die.” So he died according to the word of the LORD which Elijah had spoken.
Then Jehoram reigned in his place in the second year of Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, because he had no son.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
Acts 24:1-23
After five days Ananias the high priest arrived with some of the elders and a lawyer named Tertullus. They brought before the governor their charges against Paul. When he was summoned, Tertullus began to accuse him, saying, “Since through you we enjoy much peace, and your foresight is bringing reforms to this nation, with all thankfulness, most excellent Felix, we always welcome it everywhere. But not to detain you further, I beg you to briefly hear us in your patience.
“We have found this man a troublemaker, instigating riots among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes. He even tried to profane the temple. So we seized him and wanted to judge him according to our law. But the commander, Lysias, came to us and forcefully took him out of our hands, ordering his accusers to come before you. By examining him yourself you will be able to learn about all these things concerning which we accuse him.”
The Jews assented, alleging these things to be true.
After the governor motioned to him to speak, Paul answered, “Knowing that for many years you have been a judge over this nation, I cheerfully defend myself. You may verify that it is no more than twelve days since I went up to Jerusalem to worship. They did not find me in the temple or in the synagogues or in the city disputing with anyone or stirring up a crowd. They cannot prove the things concerning which they now accuse me. However, I affirm that in accordance with the Way, which they call a sect, I worship the God of my fathers and believe everything written in the Law and in the Prophets. I have hope in God that there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust, which they also expect. In this do I always strive to have a clear conscience toward God and toward men.
“Now after many years I came to bring alms and offerings to my nation, when some Jews from Asia found me purified in the temple, neither with a crowd nor an uproar. 1They ought to be here before you to accuse me if they have any charges. Or let these men say what crime they found in me when I stood before the Sanhedrin, 2unless it is concerning this one statement which I cried out while standing among them, ‘Concerning the resurrection of the dead, I am being judged by you this day.’ ”
When Felix, who had more exact knowledge concerning the Way, had heard this, he adjourned the proceedings and said, “When Lysias the commander arrives, I will decide your case.” Then he ordered the centurion to guard Paul, and to let him have liberty, and to forbid none of his own people from attending to him.
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:
Local government, community leaders
All who provide local services
Those who work with young or elderly people
Schools, colleges, and universities
Emergency and rescue organizations
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.