Opening response

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

Prayer of thanksgiving

Blessed are you, creator of all,
to you be praise and glory forever.
As your dawn renews the face of the earth
bringing light and life to all creation,
may we rejoice in this day you have made;
as we wake refreshed from the depths of sleep,
open our eyes to behold your presence
and strengthen our hands to do your will,
that the world may rejoice and give you praise.
Blessed be God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Blessed be God forever.

Hymn

O for a Thousand Tongues

Music by The Hymnodist: Spotify, Apple, Amazon, iHeart, YouTube Music, Pandora, Boomplay, Deezer
Lyrics by Charles Wesley

O for a thousand tongues to sing
My great Redeemer's praise
The glories of my God and King
The triumphs of his grace

My gracious Master and my God
Assist me to proclaim
To spread through all the earth abroad
The honors of thy name

Jesus, the name that charms our fears
That bids our sorrows cease
'Tis music in the sinner's ears
'Tis life, and health, and peace

He breaks the power of canceled sin
He sets the prisoner free
His blood can make the foulest clean
His blood availed for me

He speaks, and listening to his voice
New life the dead receive
The mournful, broken hearts rejoice
The humble poor believe

Hear him, ye deaf; his praise, ye dumb
Your loosened tongues employ
Ye blind, behold your savior come
And leap, ye lame, for joy

In Christ, your head, you then shall know
Shall feel your sins forgiven
Anticipate your heaven below
And own that love is heaven

Confession of sin

Seek the LORD while He may be found;
call on Him while He is near.
Let the wicked man forsake his own way
and the unrighteous man his own thoughts;
let him return to the LORD, that He may have compassion,
and to our God, for He will freely pardon.

cf Isaiah 55

A time of silence and self-examination may be kept.

Lord God,
we have sinned against You;
we have done what is evil in Your sight.
We are sorry and repent.
Have mercy on us according to Your loving devotion.
Wash us clean of our iniquity and cleanse us from our sin.
Renew a right spirit within us,
and restore the joy of Your salvation to us,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

cf Psalm 51

May the Father of all mercies
cleanse us from our sins,
and restore us in His image
to the praise and glory of His name,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Blessed be the LORD,
for He has heard our cry for mercy.
Therefore our hearts rejoice,
and we give thanks to Him with our song.

cf Psalm 28:7,9

Psalm 132

𝙍: Arise, O LORD, to Your resting place.

O LORD, remember on behalf of David
all the hardships he endured,
how he swore an oath to the LORD,
and vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob:
“I will not enter my house
or get into my bed,
I will not give sleep to my eyes
or slumber to my eyelids,
until I find a place for the LORD,
a dwelling for the Mighty One of Jacob.”

𝙍: Arise, O LORD, to Your resting place.

We heard that the ark was in Ephrathah;
we found it in the fields of Jaar.
Let us go to His dwelling place;
let us worship at His footstool.
Arise, O LORD, to Your resting place,
You and the ark of Your strength.
May Your priests be clothed with righteousness,
and Your saints shout for joy.
For the sake of Your servant David,
do not reject Your anointed one.

𝙍: Arise, O LORD, to Your resting place.

The LORD swore an oath to David,
a promise He will not revoke:
“One of your descendants
I will place on your throne.
If your sons keep My covenant
and the testimony I will teach them,
then their sons will also sit on your throne
forever and ever.”

For the LORD has chosen Zion;
He has desired it for His home:

𝙍: Arise, O LORD, to Your resting place.

“This is My resting place forever and ever;
here I will dwell, for I have desired this home.
I will bless her with abundant provisions;
I will satisfy her poor with bread.
I will clothe her priests with salvation,
and her saints will sing out in joy.
There I will make a horn grow for David;
I have prepared a lamp for My anointed one.
I will clothe his enemies with shame,
but the crown upon him will gleam.”

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.

Psalm prayer

Jesus, Son of David,
make us a priestly people;
clothe us in righteousness,
make us fruitful,
and give us hearts to shout for joy in your salvation;
we pray in the power of the Spirit.

Old Testament reading

Isaiah 48:12-22

Listen to Me, O Jacob,
and Israel, whom I have called:
I am He; I am the first,
and I am the last.
Surely My own hand founded the earth,
and My right hand spread out the heavens;
when I summon them,
they stand up together.
Come together, all of you, and listen:
Which of the idols has foretold these things?
The LORD’s chosen ally will carry out His desire against Babylon,
and His arm will be against the Chaldeans.
I, even I, have spoken;
yes, I have called him.
I have brought him,
and he will succeed in his mission.

Come near to Me and listen to this:

From the beginning I have not spoken in secret;
from the time it happened, I was there.”

And now the Lord GOD has sent me,
accompanied by His Spirit.

Thus says the LORD your Redeemer,
the Holy One of Israel:

“I am the LORD your God,
who teaches you for your benefit,
who directs you in the way you should go.
If only you had paid attention to My commandments,
your peace would have been like a river,
and your righteousness like waves of the sea.
Your descendants would have been as countless as the sand,
and your offspring as numerous as its grains;
their name would never be cut off
or eliminated from My presence.”

Leave Babylon!
Flee from the Chaldeans!
Declare it with a shout of joy,
proclaim it,
let it go out to the ends of the earth, saying,
“The LORD has redeemed His servant Jacob!”
They did not thirst when He led them through the deserts;
He made water flow for them from the rock;
He split the rock, and water gushed out.

“There is no peace,” says the LORD,
“for the wicked.”

Silence may be kept.

New Testament reading

Luke 11:37-54

As Jesus was speaking, a Pharisee invited Him to dine with him; so He went in and reclined at the table. But the Pharisee was surprised to see that Jesus did not first wash before the meal.

“Now then,” said the Lord, “you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You fools! Did not the One who made the outside make the inside as well? But give as alms the things that are within you, and you will see that everything is clean for you.

Woe to you Pharisees! You pay tithes of mint, rue, and every herb, but you disregard justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without neglecting the former.

Woe to you Pharisees! You love the chief seats in the synagogues and the greetings in the marketplaces. Woe to you! For you are like unmarked graves, which men walk over without even noticing.”

One of the experts in the law told Him, “Teacher, when You say these things, You insult us as well.”

“Woe to you as well, experts in the law!” He replied. “You weigh men down with heavy burdens, but you yourselves will not lift a finger to lighten their load.

Woe to you! You build tombs for the prophets, but it was your fathers who killed them. So you are witnesses consenting to the deeds of your fathers: They killed the prophets, and you build their tombs. Because of this, the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles; some of them they will kill and others they will persecute.’

As a result, this generation will be charged with the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the foundation of the world, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, all of it will be charged to this generation.

Woe to you experts in the law! For you have taken away the key to knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who were entering.”

As Jesus went on from there, the scribes and Pharisees began to oppose Him bitterly and to ply Him with questions about many things, waiting to catch Him in something He might say.

Silence may be kept.

The Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah)

Luke 1:68-79

𝙍: In your tender compassion, O God, the dawn from on high shall break upon us.

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.

𝙍: In your tender compassion, O God, the dawn from on high shall break upon us.

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 universal Church
Bishops, presiding elders, and all who lead the Church
The leaders of the nations
The natural world and the resources of the earth
All who are in any kind of need

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

Response

Father, hear our prayer,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Silence may be kept.

Collect of the day

God, who in generous mercy sent the Holy Spirit
upon your Church in the burning fire of your love:
grant that your people may be fervent
in the fellowship of the gospel
that, always abiding in you,
they may be found steadfast in faith and active in service;
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.