Opening response

Lord, open our lips,
and our mouth shall proclaim your praise.

Send your Holy Spirit upon us,
and clothe us with power from on high. Alleluia.

Prayer of thanksgiving

Blessed are you, creator God,
to you be praise and glory forever.
As your Spirit moved over the face of the waters
bringing light and life to your creation,
pour out your Spirit on us today
that we may walk as children of light
and by your grace reveal your presence.
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

Inspirer of the ancient seers

Charles Wesley

Inspirer of the ancient seers
Who wrote from thee the sacred page,
The same through all succeeding years;
To us, in our degenerate age,
The spirit of thy word impart,
And breathe the life into our heart.

While now thine oracles we read
With earnest prayer and strong desire,
O let thy Spirit from thee proceed,
Our souls to awaken and inspire,
Our weakness help, our darkness chase,
And guide us by the light of grace.

Whenever in error’s path we rove,
The living God through sin forsake,
Our conscience by thy word reprove,
Convince and bring the wanderers back,
Deep wounded by thy Spirit’s sword,
And then by Gilead’s balm restored.

The sacred lessons of thy grace,
Transmitted through thy word, repeat,
And train us up in all thy ways
To make us in thy will complete;
Fulfill thy love’s redeeming plan,
And bring us to a perfect man.

Thus furnished from thy treasury,
O may we always ready stand
To help the souls redeemed by thee,
In what their various states demand
To teach, convince, correct, reprove,
And build them up in holiest love!

Confession of sin

When we cry out to the LORD in our trouble,
he will save us out of our distresses.

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 praise the LORD for his loving kindness,
and his wondrous deeds for all people.

Let us offer the sacrifices of thanksgiving,
and declare God’s deeds with singing.

cf Psalm 107

Psalm 24

𝙍: The LORD of Hosts—He is the King of Glory.

The earth is the LORD’s, and the fullness thereof,
the world and all who dwell therein.
For He has founded it upon the seas
and established it upon the waters. 𝙍

Who may ascend the hill of the LORD?
Who may stand in His holy place?
He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not lift up his soul to an idol
or swear deceitfully.
He will receive blessing from the LORD
and vindication from the God of his salvation.
Such is the generation of those who seek Him,
who seek Your face, O God of Jacob. 𝙍

Lift up your heads, O gates!
Be lifted up, O ancient doors,
that the King of Glory may enter!
Who is this King of Glory?
The LORD strong and mighty,
the LORD mighty in battle.
Lift up your heads, O gates!
Be lifted up, O ancient doors,
that the King of Glory may enter!
Who is He, this King of Glory?
The LORD of Hosts—
He is the King of Glory.

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: The LORD of Hosts—He is the King of Glory.

Psalm prayer

O Lord of hosts,
purify our hearts
that the King of glory may come in,
your Son, Jesus our redeemer.

Psalm 72

𝙍: The LORD reigns, let the earth rejoice

Endow the king with Your justice, O God,
and the son of the king with Your righteousness.
May he judge Your people with righteousness
and Your afflicted with justice.

May the mountains bring peace to the people,
and the hills bring righteousness.
May he vindicate the afflicted among the people;
may he save the children of the needy
and crush the oppressor. 𝙍

May they fear him as long as the sun shines,
as long as the moon remains,
through all generations.
May he be like rain that falls on freshly cut grass,
like spring showers that water the earth.
May the righteous flourish in his days
and prosperity abound,
until the moon is no more. 𝙍

May he rule from sea to sea,
and from the Euphrates to the ends of the earth.
May the nomads bow before him,
and his enemies lick the dust.
May the kings of Tarshish and distant shores bring tribute;
may the kings of Sheba and Seba offer gifts.
May all kings bow down to him
and all nations serve him. 𝙍

For he will deliver the needy who cry out
and the afflicted who have no helper.
He will take pity on the poor and needy
and save the lives of the oppressed.
He will redeem them from oppression and violence,
for their blood is precious in his sight. 𝙍

Long may he live!
May gold from Sheba be given him.
May people ever pray for him;
may they bless him all day long.
May there be an abundance of grain in the land;
may it sway atop the hills.
May its fruit trees flourish like the forests of Lebanon,
and its people like the grass of the field.
May his name endure forever;
may his name continue as long as the sun shines.
In him may all nations be blessed;
may they call him blessed. 𝙍

Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel,
who alone does marvelous deeds.
And blessed be His glorious name forever;
may all the earth be filled with His glory.

Amen and amen.

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: The LORD reigns, let the earth rejoice

Psalm prayer

O God, may your kingdom come,
with deliverance for the needy,
with peace for the righteous,
with overflowing blessing for all nations,
with glory, honor and praise
for Christ, the only Savior.

Old Testament reading

Deuteronomy 32:15-47

But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked—
becoming fat, bloated, and gorged.
He abandoned the God who made him
and scorned the Rock of his salvation.
They provoked His jealousy with foreign gods;
they enraged Him with abominations.
They sacrificed to demons, not to God,
to gods they had not known,
to newly arrived gods,
which your fathers did not fear.
You ignored the Rock who brought you forth;
you forgot the God who gave you birth.

When the LORD saw this, He rejected them,
provoked to anger by His sons and daughters.
He said: “I will hide My face from them;
I will see what will be their end.
For they are a perverse generation—
children of unfaithfulness.
They have provoked My jealousy by that which is not God;
they have enraged Me with their worthless idols.
So I will make them jealous by those who are not a people;
I will make them angry by a nation without understanding.
For a fire has been kindled by My anger,
and it burns to the depths of Sheol;
it consumes the earth and its produce,
and scorches the foundations of the mountains.

I will heap disasters upon them;
I will spend My arrows against them.
They will be wasted from hunger
and ravaged by pestilence and bitter plague;
I will send the fangs of wild beasts against them,
with the venom of vipers that slither in the dust.
Outside, the sword will take their children,
and inside, terror will strike
the young man and the young woman,
the infant and the gray-haired man.
I would have said that I would cut them to pieces
and blot out their memory from mankind,
if I had not dreaded the taunt of the enemy,
lest their adversaries misunderstand and say:
‘Our own hand has prevailed;
it was not the LORD who did all this.’ ”

Israel is a nation devoid of counsel,
with no understanding among them.
If only they were wise, they would understand it;
they would comprehend their fate.
How could one man pursue a thousand,
or two put ten thousand to flight,
unless their Rock had sold them,
unless the LORD had given them up?
For their rock is not like our Rock,
even our enemies concede.
But their vine is from the vine of Sodom
and from the fields of Gomorrah.
Their grapes are poisonous;
their clusters are bitter.
Their wine is the venom of serpents,
the deadly poison of cobras.

“Have I not stored up these things,
sealed up within My vaults?
Vengeance is Mine; I will repay.
In due time their foot will slip;
for their day of disaster is near,
and their doom is coming quickly.”

For the LORD will vindicate His people
and have compassion on His servants
when He sees that their strength is gone
and no one remains, slave or free.
He will say: “Where are their gods,
the rock in which they took refuge,
which ate the fat of their sacrifices
and drank the wine of their drink offerings?
Let them rise up and help you;
let them give you shelter!

See now that I am He;
there is no God besides Me.
I bring death and I give life;
I wound and I heal,
and there is no one
who can deliver from My hand.
For I lift up My hand to heaven and declare:
As surely as I live forever,
when I sharpen My flashing sword,
and My hand grasps it in judgment,
I will take vengeance on My adversaries
and repay those who hate Me.
I will make My arrows drunk with blood,
while My sword devours flesh—
the blood of the slain and captives,
the heads of the enemy leaders.”

Rejoice, O heavens, with Him,
and let all God’s angels worship Him.
Rejoice, O nations, with His people;
for He will avenge the blood of His children.
He will take vengeance on His adversaries
and repay those who hate Him;
He will cleanse His land
and His people.

Then Moses came with Joshua son of Nun and recited all the words of this song in the hearing of the people. When Moses had finished reciting all these words to all Israel, he said to them, “Take to heart all these words I testify among you today, so that you may command your children to carefully follow all the words of this law. For they are not idle words to you, because they are your life, and by them you will live long in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”

Silence may be kept.

New Testament reading

1 John 4:1-6

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. For many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you will know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and which is already in the world at this time.

You, little children, are from God and have overcome them, because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. They are of the world. That is why they speak from the world’s perspective, and the world listens to them. We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. That is how we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of deception.

Silence may be kept.

The Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah)

Luke 1:68-79

Refrain:
Christ has gone up on high and has led captivity captive. Alleluia.

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
because He has visited and redeemed His people.
He has raised up a horn of salvation for us
in the house of His servant David,
as He spoke through His holy prophets,
those of ages past,
salvation from our enemies
and from the hand of all who hate us,
to show mercy to our fathers
and to remember His holy covenant,
the oath He swore to our father Abraham,
to grant us deliverance from hostile hands,
that we may serve Him without fear,
in holiness and righteousness before Him
all the days of our lives.

And you, child, will be called
a prophet of the Most High;
for you will go on before the Lord
to prepare the way for Him,
to give to His people the knowledge of salvation
through the forgiveness of their sins,
because of the tender mercy of our God,
by which the Dawn will visit us from on high,
to shine on those who live in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet
into the path 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.

Refrain:
Christ has gone up on high and has led captivity captive. Alleluia.

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,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
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,
is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and 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:

God’s royal priesthood, for empowerment by the Spirit
Those who wait on God, that they may find renewal
All people, that they may acknowledge the kingdom of the ascended Christ
The earth, for productivity and for fruitful harvests
All who are struggling with broken relationships

Other intercessions and supplications may be offered as the Holy Spirit leads.

Response

In faith we pray
We pray to you, our God.

Silence may be kept.

Collect of the day

O God the King of glory,
you have exalted your only Son Jesus Christ
with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven:
we beseech you, leave us not comfortless,
but send your Holy Spirit to strengthen us
and exalt us to the place where our Savior Christ is gone before,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.
Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer

Being made one by the power of the Spirit,
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

May the Spirit kindle in us the fire of God’s love.
Amen.