Sunday morning March 12
Photo by Helena Lopes via Pexels.
Opening response
Lord, open our lips.
Our mouth will declare your praise.
Hear our voice according to your loving kindness.
Revive us, LORD, according to your ordinances.
Prayer of thanksgiving
Blessed are you, God of compassion and mercy,
to you be praise and glory forever.
In the darkness of our sin,
your light breaks forth like the dawn
and your healing springs up for deliverance.
As we rejoice in the gift of your saving help,
sustain us with your bountiful Spirit
and open our lips to sing your praise.
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
Angels Your March Oppose
Charles Wesley
Angels your march oppose,
Who still in strength excel,
Your secret, sworn, eternal foes,
Countless, invisible.
With rage that never ends
Their hellish arts they try;
Legions of dire malicious fiends,
And spirits enthroned on high.
From thrones of glory driven
By flaming vengeance hurled
They throng the air, and darken heaven,
And rule this lower world.
But shall believers fear?
But shall believers fly?
Or see the bloody cross appear,
And all their power defy?
Jesus’ tremendous name
Puts all our foes to flight:
Jesus, the meek, the angry Lamb,
A Lion is in fight.
By all hell’s host withstood,
We all hell’s host overthrow;
And conquering them, through Jesus’ blood,
We still to conquer go.
Our Captain leads us on;
He beckons from the skies,
And reaches out a starry crown,
And bids us take the prize:
“Be faithful unto death;
Partake my victory;
And thou shalt wear this glorious wreath.
And thou shalt reign with me.”
Confession of sin
Let us confess our sins against God and our neighbor.
Silence may be kept.
Most merciful God,
we confess that we have sinned against you
in thought, word, and deed,
by what we have done,
and by what we have left undone.
We have not loved you with our whole heart;
we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.
We are truly sorry and we humbly repent.
For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ,
have mercy on us and forgive us;
that we may delight in your will,
and walk in your ways,
to the glory of your name. Amen.
Almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us all our sins
through our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen us in all
goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep us in
eternal life.
Amen.
Psalm 46
God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we won’t be afraid, though the earth changes,
though the mountains are shaken into the heart of the seas;
though its waters roar and are troubled,
though the mountains tremble with their swelling. Selah.
There is a river, the streams of which make the city of God glad,
the holy place of the tents of the Most High.
God is within her. She shall not be moved.
God will help her at dawn.
The nations raged. The kingdoms were moved.
He lifted his voice and the earth melted.
The LORD of Armies is with us.
The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.
Come, see the LORD’s works,
what desolations he has made in the earth.
He makes wars cease to the end of the earth.
He breaks the bow, and shatters the spear.
He burns the chariots in the fire.
“Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted amongst the nations.
I will be exalted in the earth.”
The LORD of Armies is with us.
The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.
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
God of Jacob,
when the earth shakes
and the nations are in uproar,
speak, and let the storm be still;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Old Testament reading
Amos 7:10-17
Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the middle of the house of Israel. The land is not able to bear all his words. For Amos says, ‘Jeroboam will die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of his land.’ ”
Amaziah also said to Amos, “You seer, go, flee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there, but don’t prophesy again any more at Bethel; for it is the king’s sanctuary, and it is a royal house!”
Then Amos answered Amaziah, “I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet’s son, but I was a herdsman, and a farmer of sycamore figs; and the LORD took me from following the flock, and the LORD said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’ Now therefore listen to the LORD’s word: ‘You say, Don’t prophesy against Israel, and don’t preach against the house of Isaac.’ Therefore the LORD says: ‘Your wife shall be a prostitute in the city, and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword, and your land shall be divided by line; and you yourself shall die in a land that is unclean, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of his land.’ ”
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
2 Corinthians 1:1-11
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, and Timothy our brother, to the assembly of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, through the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound to us, even so our comfort also abounds through Christ. But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation. If we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer. Our hope for you is steadfast, knowing that, since you are partakers of the sufferings, so you are also of the comfort.
For we don’t desire to have you uninformed, brothers, concerning our affliction which happened to us in Asia: that we were weighed down exceedingly, beyond our power, so much that we despaired even of life. Yes, we ourselves have had the sentence of death within ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead, who delivered us out of so great a death, and does deliver, on whom we have set our hope that he will also still deliver us, you also helping together on our behalf by your supplication; that, for the gift given to us by means of many, thanks may be given by many persons on your behalf.
Silence may be kept.
The Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah)
Luke 1:68-79
Refrain:
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they shall be filled.
Blessed be the Lord, the 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 who have been from of old),
salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us;
to show mercy toward our fathers,
to remember his holy covenant,
the oath which he swore to Abraham our father,
to grant to us that we, being delivered out of the hand of our enemies,
should serve him without fear,
in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life.
And you, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High;
for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways,
to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the remission of their sins,
because of the tender mercy of our God,
by which the dawn from on high will visit us,
to shine on those who sit in darkness and 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.
Refrain:
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they shall be filled.
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:
Those preparing for baptism and confirmation
Those serving through leadership
Those looking for forgiveness
Those misled by the false gods of this present age
All who are hungry
Other intercessions and supplications may be offered as the Holy Spirit leads.
Response
Lord of life
In your mercy, hear us.
Silence may be kept.
Collect of the day
Almighty God,
whose most dear Son went not up to joy but first he suffered pain,
and entered not into glory before he was crucified:
mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross,
may find it none other than the way of life and peace;
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
Trusting in the compassion of God, as our Savior taught us, so we pray
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours
now and forever.
Amen.
Conclusion
May God our Redeemer show us compassion and love.
Amen.
Saturday morning March 11
Photo by Kammeran Gonzalez-Keola via Pexels.
Opening response
Lord, open our lips.
Our mouth will declare your praise.
Hear our voice according to your loving kindness.
Revive us, LORD, according to your ordinances.
Prayer of thanksgiving
Blessed are you, God of compassion and mercy,
to you be praise and glory forever.
In the darkness of our sin,
your light breaks forth like the dawn
and your healing springs up for deliverance.
As we rejoice in the gift of your saving help,
sustain us with your bountiful Spirit
and open our lips to sing your praise.
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
Jesus, Thou Sovereign Lord of All
Charles Wesley
Jesus, thou sovereign Lord of all,
The same through one eternal day,
Attend thy feeblest follower’s call,
And O, instruct us how to pray!
Pour out the supplicating grace,
And stir us up to seek thy face.
We cannot think a gracious thought,
We cannot feel a good desire,
Till thou, who callest worlds from nought,
The power into our hearts inspire;
And then we in the Spirit groan,
And then we give thee back thine own.
Jesus, regard the joint complaint
Of all thy tempted followers here,
And now supply the common want,
And send us down the Comforter,
The spirit of ceaseless prayer impart,
And fix thy Agent in our heart.
Come in thy pleading Spirit down
To us who for thy coming stay;
Of all thy gifts we ask but one,
We ask the constant power to pray;
Indulge us, Lord, in this request,
Thou canst not then deny the rest.
Confession of sin
O King enthroned on high,
filling the earth with your glory:
holy is your name,
Lord God almighty.
A time of silence and self-examination may be kept.
In our sinfulness we cry to you
to take our guilt away,
and to cleanse our lips to speak your word,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
May the God of all healing and forgiveness
draw us to himself,
and cleanse us from all our sins
that we may behold the glory of his Son,
the Word made flesh,
Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Psalm 3
Refrain:
You, LORD, are a shield around me.
LORD, how my adversaries have increased!
Many are those who rise up against me.
Many there are who say of my soul,
“There is no help for him in God.” Selah.
But you, LORD, are a shield around me,
my glory, and the one who lifts up my head.
I cry to the LORD with my voice,
and he answers me out of his holy hill. Selah.
I laid myself down and slept.
I awakened, for the LORD sustains me.
I will not be afraid of tens of thousands of people
who have set themselves against me on every side.
Arise, LORD!
Save me, my God!
For you have struck all of my enemies on the cheek bone.
You have broken the teeth of the wicked.
Salvation belongs to the LORD.
May your blessing be on your people. Selah.
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:
You, LORD, are a shield around me.
Psalm prayer
Shield us, Lord, from all evil,
and lift us from apathy and despair,
that even when we are terrified,
we may trust your power to save;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Psalm 25
Refrain:
Turn to me, God, and have mercy on me.
To you, LORD, I lift up my soul.
My God, I have trusted in you.
Don’t let me be shamed.
Don’t let my enemies triumph over me.
Yes, no one who waits for you will be shamed.
They will be shamed who deal treacherously without cause.
Show me your ways, LORD.
Teach me your paths.
Guide me in your truth, and teach me,
for you are the God of my salvation.
I wait for you all day long.
LORD, remember your tender mercies and your loving kindness,
for they are from old times.
Don’t remember the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions.
Remember me according to your loving kindness,
for your goodness’ sake, LORD.
Good and upright is the LORD,
therefore he will instruct sinners in the way.
He will guide the humble in justice.
He will teach the humble his way.
All the paths of the LORD are loving kindness and truth
to such as keep his covenant and his testimonies.
For your name’s sake, LORD,
pardon my iniquity, for it is great.
What man is he who fears the LORD?
He shall instruct him in the way that he shall choose.
His soul will dwell at ease.
His offspring will inherit the land.
The friendship of the LORD is with those who fear him.
He will show them his covenant.
My eyes are ever on the LORD,
for he will pluck my feet out of the net.
Turn to me, and have mercy on me,
for I am desolate and afflicted.
The troubles of my heart are enlarged.
Oh bring me out of my distresses.
Consider my affliction and my travail.
Forgive all my sins.
Consider my enemies, for they are many.
They hate me with cruel hatred.
Oh keep my soul, and deliver me.
Let me not be disappointed, for I take refuge in you.
Let integrity and uprightness preserve me,
for I wait for you.
God, redeem Israel
out of all his troubles.
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:
Turn to me, God, and have mercy on me.
Psalm prayer
Free us, God of mercy,
from all that keeps us from you;
relieve the misery of the anxious and the ashamed
and fill us with the hope of peace;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Old Testament reading
Jeremiah 10:17-24
Gather up your wares out of the land,
you who live under siege.
For the LORD says,
“Behold, I will sling out the inhabitants of the land at this time,
and will distress them, that they may feel it.”
Woe is me because of my injury!
My wound is serious;
but I said,
“Truly this is my grief, and I must bear it.”
My tent has been destroyed,
and all my cords are broken.
My children have gone away from me, and they are no more.
There is no one to spread my tent any more,
to set up my curtains.
For the shepherds have become brutish,
and have not enquired of the LORD.
Therefore they have not prospered,
and all their flocks have scattered.
The voice of news, behold, it comes,
and a great commotion out of the north country,
to make the cities of Judah a desolation,
a dwelling place of jackals.
LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself.
It is not in man who walks to direct his steps.
LORD, correct me, but gently;
not in your anger,
lest you reduce me to nothing.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
John 7:25-36
Therefore some of them of Jerusalem said, “Isn’t this he whom they seek to kill? Behold, he speaks openly, and they say nothing to him. Can it be that the rulers indeed know that this is truly the Christ? However, we know where this man comes from, but when the Christ comes, no one will know where he comes from.”
Jesus therefore cried out in the temple, teaching and saying, “You both know me, and know where I am from. I have not come of myself, but he who sent me is true, whom you don’t know. I know him, because I am from him, and he sent me.”
They sought therefore to take him; but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come. But of the multitude, many believed in him. They said, “When the Christ comes, he won’t do more signs than those which this man has done, will he?” The Pharisees heard the multitude murmuring these things concerning him, and the chief priests and the Pharisees sent officers to arrest him.
Then Jesus said, “I will be with you a little while longer, then I go to him who sent me. You will seek me and won’t find me. You can’t come where I am.”
The Jews therefore said amongst themselves, “Where will this man go that we won’t find him? Will he go to the Dispersion amongst the Greeks and teach the Greeks? What is this word that he said, ‘You will seek me, and won’t find me;’ and ‘Where I am, you can’t come’?”
Silence may be kept.
The Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah)
Luke 1:68-79
Refrain:
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they shall be filled.
Blessed be the Lord, the 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 who have been from of old),
salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us;
to show mercy toward our fathers,
to remember his holy covenant,
the oath which he swore to Abraham our father,
to grant to us that we, being delivered out of the hand of our enemies,
should serve him without fear,
in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life.
And you, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High;
for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways,
to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the remission of their sins,
because of the tender mercy of our God,
by which the dawn from on high will visit us,
to shine on those who sit in darkness and 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.
Refrain:
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they shall be filled.
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:
Those preparing for baptism and confirmation
Those serving through leadership
Those looking for forgiveness
Those misled by the false gods of this present age
All who are hungry
Other intercessions and supplications may be offered as the Holy Spirit leads.
Response
Father, by your Spirit
Bring in your kingdom.
Silence may be kept.
Collect of the day
Almighty God,
you show to those who are in error the light of your truth,
that they may return to the way of righteousness:
grant to all those who are admitted
into the fellowship of Christ’s religion,
that they may reject those things
that are contrary to their profession,
and follow all such things as are agreeable to the same;
through our Lord Jesus Christ,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.
Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
Trusting in the compassion of God, as our Savior taught us, so we pray
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours
now and forever.
Amen.
Conclusion
May God our Redeemer show us compassion and love.
Amen.
Friday morning March 10
Photo by Aleksandar Pasaric via Pexels.
Opening response
Lord, open our lips.
Our mouth will declare your praise.
Hear our voice according to your loving kindness.
Revive us, LORD, according to your ordinances.
Prayer of thanksgiving
Blessed are you, God of compassion and mercy,
to you be praise and glory forever.
In the darkness of our sin,
your light breaks forth like the dawn
and your healing springs up for deliverance.
As we rejoice in the gift of your saving help,
sustain us with your bountiful Spirit
and open our lips to sing your praise.
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
Away, My Needless Fears
Charles Wesley
Away, my needless fears
And doubts no longer mine!
A ray of heavenly light appears,
A messenger divine.
Thrice comfortable hope,
That calms my troubled breast;
My Father's hand prepares the cup,
And what he wills is best.
He knows whatever I want;
He sees my helplessness,
And always readier is to grant
Than I to ask his grace.
My fearful heart he reads,
Secures my soul from harms,
And underneath his mercy spreads
Its everlasting arms.
If what I wish is good,
And suits the will divine,
By earth and hell in vain withstood,
I know it shall be mine.
Here is firm footing; here,
My soul, is solid rock,
To break the waves of grief and fear,
And trouble's rudest shock:
This only can sustain
When earth and heaven remove:
O turn thee to thy rest again,
Thy God's eternal love!
Here then I doubt no more,
But in his pleasure rest,
Whose wisdom, love, and truth and power
Engage to make me blest.
Confession of sin
Let us admit to God the sin which always confronts us.
A time of silence and self-examination may be kept.
Almighty God,
patient and of great goodness:
I confess to you,
I confess with my whole heart
my neglect and forgetfulness of your commandments,
my wrong doing, thinking, and speaking;
the hurts I have done to others,
and the good I have left undone.
O God, forgive me, for I have sinned against you;
and raise me to newness of life;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
May the God of love and power
forgive us and free us from our sins,
heal and strengthen us by his Spirit,
and raise us to new life in Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Psalm 40
Refrain:
Many, LORD, my God, are the wonderful works which you have done,
and your thoughts which are towards us.
I waited patiently for the LORD.
He turned to me, and heard my cry.
He brought me up also out of a horrible pit,
out of the miry clay.
He set my feet on a rock,
and gave me a firm place to stand.
He has put a new song in my mouth, even praise to our God.
Many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.
Blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust,
and doesn’t respect the proud, nor such as turn away to lies.
Many, LORD, my God, are the wonderful works which you have done,
and your thoughts which are towards us.
They can’t be declared back to you.
If I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be counted.
Sacrifice and offering you didn’t desire.
You have opened my ears.
You have not required burnt offering and sin offering.
Then I said, “Behold, I have come.
It is written about me in the book in the scroll.
I delight to do your will, my God.
Yes, your law is within my heart.”
I have proclaimed glad news of righteousness in the great assembly.
Behold, I will not seal my lips, LORD, you know.
I have not hidden your righteousness within my heart.
I have declared your faithfulness and your salvation.
I have not concealed your loving kindness and your truth from the great assembly.
Don’t withhold your tender mercies from me, LORD.
Let your loving kindness and your truth continually preserve me.
For innumerable evils have surrounded me.
My iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to look up.
They are more than the hairs of my head.
My heart has failed me.
Be pleased, LORD, to deliver me.
Hurry to help me, LORD.
Let them be disappointed and confounded together who seek after my soul to destroy it.
Let them be turned backward and brought to dishonour who delight in my hurt.
Let them be desolate by reason of their shame that tell me, “Aha! Aha!”
Let all those who seek you rejoice and be glad in you.
Let such as love your salvation say continually, “Let the LORD be exalted!”
But I am poor and needy.
May the Lord think about me.
You are my help and my deliverer.
Don’t delay, my God.
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:
Many, LORD, my God, are the wonderful works which you have done,
and your thoughts which are towards us.
Psalm prayer
Free us from our sins, O God,
and may our sacrifices be of praise
to the glory of your Son,
our Redeemer, Jesus Christ.
Psalm 41
Refrain:
LORD, have mercy on me, and raise me up.
Blessed is he who considers the poor.
The LORD will deliver him in the day of evil.
The LORD will preserve him, and keep him alive.
He shall be blessed on the earth,
and he will not surrender him to the will of his enemies.
The LORD will sustain him on his sickbed,
and restore him from his bed of illness.
I said, “LORD, have mercy on me!
Heal me, for I have sinned against you.”
My enemies speak evil against me:
“When will he die, and his name perish?”
If he comes to see me, he speaks falsehood.
His heart gathers iniquity to itself.
When he goes abroad, he tells it.
All who hate me whisper together against me.
They imagine the worst for me.
“An evil disease”, they say, “has afflicted him.
Now that he lies he shall rise up no more.”
Yes, my own familiar friend, in whom I trusted,
who ate bread with me,
has lifted up his heel against me.
But you, LORD, have mercy on me, and raise me up,
that I may repay them.
By this I know that you delight in me,
because my enemy doesn’t triumph over me.
As for me, you uphold me in my integrity,
and set me in your presence forever.
Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel,
from everlasting and to everlasting!
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.
Refrain:
LORD, have mercy on me, and raise me up.
Psalm prayer
God our deliverer,
raise up the poor and comfort the betrayed,
through the one who for our sakes became poor
and whose betrayal brought our salvation,
Jesus Christ our Lord.
Old Testament reading
Jeremiah 10:1-16
Hear the word which the LORD speaks to you, house of Israel! The LORD says,
“Don’t learn the way of the nations,
and don’t be dismayed at the signs of the sky;
for the nations are dismayed at them.
For the customs of the peoples are vanity;
for one cuts a tree out of the forest,
the work of the hands of the workman with the axe.
They deck it with silver and with gold.
They fasten it with nails and with hammers,
so that it can’t move.
They are like a palm tree, of turned work,
and don’t speak.
They must be carried,
because they can’t move.
Don’t be afraid of them;
for they can’t do evil,
neither is it in them to do good.”
There is no one like you, LORD.
You are great,
and your name is great in might.
Who shouldn’t fear you,
King of the nations?
For it belongs to you.
Because amongst all the wise men of the nations,
and in all their royal estate,
there is no one like you.
But they are together brutish and foolish,
instructed by idols!
It is just wood.
There is silver beaten into plates, which is brought from Tarshish,
and gold from Uphaz,
the work of the engraver and of the hands of the goldsmith.
Their clothing is blue and purple.
They are all the work of skilful men.
But the LORD is the true God.
He is the living God,
and an everlasting King.
At his wrath, the earth trembles.
The nations aren’t able to withstand his indignation.
“You shall say this to them: ‘The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth will perish from the earth, and from under the heavens.’ ”
God has made the earth by his power.
He has established the world by his wisdom,
and by his understanding has he stretched out the heavens.
When he utters his voice,
the waters in the heavens roar,
and he causes the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth.
He makes lightnings for the rain,
and brings the wind out of his treasuries.
Every man has become brutish and without knowledge.
Every goldsmith is disappointed by his engraved image;
for his molten image is falsehood,
and there is no breath in them.
They are vanity, a work of delusion.
In the time of their visitation they will perish.
The portion of Jacob is not like these;
for he is the maker of all things;
and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance.
The LORD of Armies is his name.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
John 7:14-24
But when it was now the middle of the feast, Jesus went up into the temple and taught. The Jews therefore marvelled, saying, “How does this man know letters, having never been educated?”
Jesus therefore answered them, “My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me. If anyone desires to do his will, he will know about the teaching, whether it is from God or if I am speaking from myself. He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory, but he who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and no unrighteousness is in him. Didn’t Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keeps the law? Why do you seek to kill me?”
The multitude answered, “You have a demon! Who seeks to kill you?”
Jesus answered them, “I did one work and you all marvel because of it. Moses has given you circumcision (not that it is of Moses, but of the fathers), and on the Sabbath you circumcise a boy. If a boy receives circumcision on the Sabbath, that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because I made a man completely healthy on the Sabbath? Don’t judge according to appearance, but judge righteous judgement.”
Silence may be kept.
The Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah)
Luke 1:68-79
Refrain:
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they shall be filled.
Blessed be the Lord, the 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 who have been from of old),
salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us;
to show mercy toward our fathers,
to remember his holy covenant,
the oath which he swore to Abraham our father,
to grant to us that we, being delivered out of the hand of our enemies,
should serve him without fear,
in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life.
And you, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High;
for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways,
to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the remission of their sins,
because of the tender mercy of our God,
by which the dawn from on high will visit us,
to shine on those who sit in darkness and 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.
Refrain:
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they shall be filled.
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:
Those preparing for baptism and confirmation
Those serving through leadership
Those looking for forgiveness
Those misled by the false gods of this present age
All who are hungry
Other intercessions and supplications may be offered as the Holy Spirit leads.
Response
Loving God, we look to you.
Receive our prayer.
Silence may be kept.
Collect of the day
Almighty God,
you show to those who are in error the light of your truth,
that they may return to the way of righteousness:
grant to all those who are admitted
into the fellowship of Christ’s religion,
that they may reject those things
that are contrary to their profession,
and follow all such things as are agreeable to the same;
through our Lord Jesus Christ,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.
Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
Trusting in the compassion of God, as our Savior taught us, so we pray
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours
now and forever.
Amen.
Conclusion
May God our Redeemer show us compassion and love.
Amen.