Shane Raynor 5/24/23 Shane Raynor 5/24/23

Thursday morning May 25

Opening response

Lord, open our lips.
Our mouth will declare 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

Refrain:
The LORD of Armies is the King of glory!

The earth is the LORD’s, with its fullness;
the world, and those who dwell in it.
For he has founded it on the seas,
and established it on the floods.

Who may ascend to the LORD’s hill?
Who may stand in his holy place?
He who has clean hands and a pure heart;
who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood,
and has not sworn deceitfully.
He shall receive a blessing from the LORD,
righteousness from the God of his salvation.
This is the generation of those who seek Him,
who seek your face—even Jacob. Selah.

Lift up your heads, you gates!
Be lifted up, you everlasting doors,
and the King of glory will come in.
Who is the King of glory?
The LORD strong and mighty,
the LORD mighty in battle.
Lift up your heads, you gates;
yes, lift them up, you everlasting doors,
and the King of glory will come in.
Who is this King of glory?
The LORD of Armies is the King of glory! 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:
The LORD of Armies is the King of glory!

Psalm prayer

O Lord of heavenly forces,
purify our hearts
that the glorious King may come in,
your Son, Jesus our redeemer.

Psalm 72

Refrain:
The LORD reigns!
Let the earth rejoice!

God, give the king your justice;
your righteousness to the royal son.
He will judge your people with righteousness,
and your poor with justice.
The mountains shall bring prosperity to the people.
The hills bring the fruit of righteousness.
He will judge the poor of the people.
He will save the children of the needy,
and will break the oppressor in pieces.
They shall fear you while the sun endures;
and as long as the moon, throughout all generations.
He will come down like rain on the mown grass,
as showers that water the earth.
In his days, the righteous shall flourish,
and abundance of peace, until the moon is no more.
He shall have dominion also from sea to sea,
from the River to the ends of the earth.
Those who dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him.
His enemies shall lick the dust.
The kings of Tarshish and of the islands will bring tribute.
The kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts.
Yes, all kings shall fall down before him.
All nations shall serve him.
For he will deliver the needy when he cries;
the poor, who has no helper.
He will have pity on the poor and needy.
He will save the souls of the needy.
He will redeem their soul from oppression and violence.
Their blood will be precious in his sight.
He will live; and Sheba’s gold will be given to him.
Men will pray for him continually.
They will bless him all day long.
Abundance of grain shall be throughout the land.
Its fruit sways like Lebanon.
Let it flourish, thriving like the grass of the field.
His name endures forever.
His name continues as long as the sun.
Men shall be blessed by him.
All nations will call him blessed.

Praise be to the LORD God, the God of Israel,
who alone does marvelous deeds.
Blessed be his glorious name forever!
Let the whole 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.

Refrain:
The LORD reigns!
Let the earth rejoice!

Psalm prayer

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.
You have grown fat.
You have grown thick.
You have become sleek.
Then he abandoned God who made him,
and rejected the Rock of his salvation.
They moved him to jealousy with strange gods.
They provoked him to anger with abominations.
They sacrificed to demons, not God,
to gods that they didn’t know,
to new gods that came up recently,
which your fathers didn’t dread.
Of the Rock who became your father, you are unmindful,
and have forgotten God who gave you birth.
The LORD saw and abhorred,
because of the provocation of his sons and his daughters.
He said, “I will hide my face from them.
I will see what their end will be;
for they are a very perverse generation,
children in whom is no faithfulness.
They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God.
They have provoked me to anger with their vanities.
I will move them to jealousy with those who are not a people.
I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.
For a fire is kindled in my anger,
that burns to the lowest Sheol,
devours the earth with its increase,
and sets the foundations of the mountains on fire.

“I will heap evils on them.
I will spend my arrows on them.
They shall be wasted with hunger,
and devoured with burning heat
and bitter destruction.
I will send the teeth of animals on them,
with the venom of vipers that glide in the dust.
Outside the sword will bereave,
and in the rooms,
terror on both young man and virgin,
the nursing infant with the grey-haired man.
I said that I would scatter them afar.
I would make their memory to cease from amongst men;
were it not that I feared the provocation of the enemy,
lest their adversaries should judge wrongly,
lest they should say, ‘Our hand is exalted;
the LORD has not done all this.’ ”

For they are a nation void of counsel.
There is no understanding in them.
Oh that they were wise, that they understood this,
that they would consider their latter end!
How could one chase a thousand,
and two put ten thousand to flight,
unless their Rock had sold them,
and the LORD had delivered them up?
For their rock is not as our Rock,
even our enemies themselves concede.
For their vine is of the vine of Sodom,
of the fields of Gomorrah.
Their grapes are poison grapes.
Their clusters are bitter.
Their wine is the poison of serpents,
the cruel venom of asps.

“Isn’t this laid up in store with me,
sealed up amongst my treasures?
Vengeance is mine, and recompense,
at the time when their foot slides,
for the day of their calamity is at hand.
Their doom rushes at them.”

For the LORD will judge his people,
and have compassion on his servants,
when he sees that their power is gone,
that there is no one remaining, shut up or left at large.
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 offering?
Let them rise up and help you!
Let them be your protection.

“See now that I myself am he.
There is no god with me.
I kill and I make alive.
I wound and I heal.
There is no one who can deliver out of my hand.
For I lift up my hand to heaven and declare,
as I live forever,
if I sharpen my glittering sword,
my hand grasps it in judgement;
I will take vengeance on my adversaries,
and will repay those who hate me.
I will make my arrows drunk with blood.
My sword shall devour flesh with the blood of the slain and the captives,
from the head of the leaders of the enemy.”

Rejoice, you nations, with his people,
for he will avenge the blood of his servants.
He will take vengeance on his adversaries,
and will make atonement for his land and for his people.

Moses came and spoke all the words of this song in the ears of the people, he and Joshua the son of Nun. Moses finished reciting all these words to all Israel. He said to them, “Set your heart to all the words which I testify to you today, which you shall command your children to observe to do, all the words of this law. For it is no vain thing for you, because it is your life, and through this thing you shall prolong your days in the land, where you go over the Jordan to possess it.”

Silence may be kept.

New Testament reading

1 John 4:1-6

Beloved, don’t believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit who confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit who doesn’t confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God; and this is the spirit of the Antichrist, of whom you have heard that it comes. Now it is in the world already. You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world. They are of the world. Therefore they speak of the world, and the world hears them. We are of God. He who knows God listens to us. He who is not of God doesn’t listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

Silence may be kept.

The Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah)

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

Bless the Lord God of Israel
because he has come to help and has delivered his people.
He has raised up a mighty savior for us in his servant David’s house,
just as he said through the mouths of his holy prophets long ago.
He has brought salvation from our enemies
and from the power of all those who hate us.
He has shown the mercy promised to our ancestors,
and remembered his holy covenant,
the solemn pledge he made to our ancestor Abraham.
He has granted that we would be rescued
from the power of our enemies
so that we could serve him without fear,
in holiness and righteousness in God’s eyes,
for as long as we live.
You, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High,
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way.
You will tell his people how to be saved
through the forgiveness of their sins.
Because of our God’s deep compassion,
the dawn from heaven will break upon us,
to give light to those who are sitting in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
to guide us on the path of peace.”

Luke 1:68-79

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

Shane Raynor 5/23/23 Shane Raynor 5/23/23

Wednesday morning May 24

Aldersgate Day

Thursday morning
Tuesday morning

Opening response

Lord, open our lips.
Our mouth will declare your praise.

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

Prayer of thanksgiving

Hymn

Inspirer of the ancient seers

Confession of sin

Come, Holy Spirit of God,
and search our hearts with the light of Christ.

Our Lord Jesus Christ said:
The first commandment is this:
‘Hear, Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’

The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’
No other commandment is greater than these.
The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.

Amen. Lord, have mercy.

After a period of reflection

Come, let us return to the Lord and say:

Lord our God,
in our sin we have avoided your call.
Our love for you is like a morning cloud,
like the dew that disappears early.
Have mercy on us;
deliver us from judgment;
bind up our wounds and revive us;
in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

cf Hosea 6

May almighty God,
who sent his Son into the world to save sinners,
bring us his pardon and peace, now and forever.
Amen.

Psalm 2

Refrain:
The Lord is his people’s strength. He is a stronghold of salvation to his anointed.

Why do the nations rage,
and the peoples plot a vain thing?
The kings of the earth take a stand,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against the LORD, and against his Anointed, saying,
“Let’s break their bonds apart,
and cast their cords from us.”

He who sits in the heavens will laugh.
The Lord will have them in derision.
Then he will speak to them in his anger,
and terrify them in his wrath:
“Yet I have set my King on my holy hill of Zion.”

I will tell of the decree:
The LORD said to me, “You are my son.
Today I have become your father.
Ask of me, and I will give the nations for your inheritance,
the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession.
You shall break them with a rod of iron.
You shall dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”

Now therefore be wise, you kings.
Be instructed, you judges of the earth.
Serve the LORD with fear,
and rejoice with trembling.
Give sincere homage to the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish on the way,
for his wrath will soon be kindled.
Blessed are all those who take refuge in him.

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:
The Lord is his people’s strength. He is a stronghold of salvation to his anointed.

Psalm prayer

Most high and holy God,
lift our eyes to your Son
enthroned on Calvary;
and as we behold his meekness,
shatter our earthly pride;
for he is Lord forever and ever.

Psalm 29

Refrain:
The LORD will bless his people with peace.

Ascribe to the LORD, you sons of the mighty,
ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
Ascribe to the LORD the glory due to his name.
Worship the LORD in holy array.

The LORD’s voice is on the waters.
The God of glory thunders, even the LORD on many waters.
The LORD’s voice is powerful.
The LORD’s voice is full of majesty.
The LORD’s voice breaks the cedars.
Yes, the LORD breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.
He makes them also to skip like a calf;
Lebanon and Sirion like a young, wild ox.
The LORD’s voice strikes with flashes of lightning.
The LORD’s voice shakes the wilderness.
The LORD shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
The LORD’s voice makes the deer calve,
and strips the forests bare.
In his temple everything says, “Glory!”

The LORD sat enthroned at the Flood.
Yes, the LORD sits as King forever.
The LORD will give strength to his people.
The LORD will bless his people with 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:
The LORD will bless his people with peace.

Psalm prayer

Open our ears, glorious Lord Christ,
to hear the music of your voice
above the chaos of this world;
open our eyes to see the vision of your glory,
for you are our King, now and forever.

Old Testament reading

Deuteronomy 31:30-32:14

Moses spoke in the ears of all the assembly of Israel the words of this song, until they were finished.

Give ear, you heavens, and I will speak.
Let the earth hear the words of my mouth.
My doctrine will drop as the rain.
My speech will condense as the dew,
as the misty rain on the tender grass,
as the showers on the herb.
For I will proclaim the LORD’s name.
Ascribe greatness to our God!
The Rock: his work is perfect,
for all his ways are just.
A God of faithfulness who does no wrong,
just and right is he.
They have dealt corruptly with him.
They are not his children, because of their defect.
They are a perverse and crooked generation.
Is this the way you repay the LORD,
foolish and unwise people?
Isn’t he your father who has bought you?
He has made you and established you.
Remember the days of old.
Consider the years of many generations.
Ask your father, and he will show you;
your elders, and they will tell you.
When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance,
when he separated the children of men,
he set the bounds of the peoples
according to the number of the children of Israel.
For the LORD’s portion is his people.
Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.
He found him in a desert land,
in the waste howling wilderness.
He surrounded him.
He cared for him.
He kept him as the apple of his eye.
As an eagle that stirs up her nest,
that flutters over her young,
he spread abroad his wings,
he took them,
he bore them on his feathers.
The LORD alone led him.
There was no foreign god with him.
He made him ride on the high places of the earth.
He ate the increase of the field.
He caused him to suck honey out of the rock,
oil out of the flinty rock;
butter from the herd, and milk from the flock,
with fat of lambs,
rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats,
with the finest of the wheat.
From the blood of the grape, you drank wine.

Silence may be kept.

New Testament reading

1 John 3:11-24

For this is the message which you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another— unlike Cain, who was of the evil one and killed his brother. Why did he kill him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother’s righteous.

Don’t be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. He who doesn’t love his brother remains in death. Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life remaining in him.

By this we know love, because he laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But whoever has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, then closes his heart of compassion against him, how does God’s love remain in him?

My little children, let’s not love in word only, or with the tongue only, but in deed and truth. And by this we know that we are of the truth and persuade our hearts before him, because if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. Beloved, if our hearts don’t condemn us, we have boldness towards God; so whatever we ask, we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do the things that are pleasing in his sight. This is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, even as he commanded. He who keeps his commandments remains in him, and he in him. By this we know that he remains in us, by the Spirit which he gave us.

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

Brief silence.

The Apostle’s Creed

Intercession and thanksgiving

Response

Lord, in your mercy
hear our prayer.

Silence may be kept.

Collect of the day

God of mercy,
who inspired John and Charles Wesley with zeal for your gospel:
grant to all people boldness to proclaim your word
and a heart ever to rejoice in singing your praises;
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

Conclusion

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

Shane Raynor 5/22/23 Shane Raynor 5/22/23

Tuesday morning May 23

Wednesday morning
Monday morning

Opening response

Lord, open our lips.
Our mouth will declare your praise.

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

Prayer of thanksgiving

Hymn

Inspirer of the ancient seers

Confession of sin

Come, Holy Spirit of God,
and search our hearts with the light of Christ.

The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’
No other commandment is greater than these.
The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.

Amen. Lord, have mercy.

After a period of reflection

Come, let us return to the Lord and say:

cf Hosea 6

May almighty God,
who sent his Son into the world to save sinners,
bring us his pardon and peace, now and forever.
Amen.

Psalm 98

Refrain:
The LORD has made known his salvation.

Sing to the LORD a new song,
for he has done marvelous things!
His right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him.
The LORD has made known his salvation.
He has openly shown his righteousness in the sight of the nations.
He has remembered his loving kindness and his faithfulness towards the house of Israel.
All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth!
Burst out and sing for joy, yes, sing praises!
Sing praises to the LORD with the harp,
with the harp and the voice of melody.
With trumpets and sound of the ram’s horn,
make a joyful noise before the King, the LORD.
Let the sea roar with its fullness;
the world, and those who dwell therein.
Let the rivers clap their hands.
Let the mountains sing for joy together.
Let them sing before the LORD,
for he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness,
and the peoples with equity.

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:
The LORD has made known his salvation.

Psalm prayer

Lord God, just and true,
you make your salvation known in the sight of the nations;
tune the song of our hearts to the music of creation
as you come among us to judge the earth;
through our Savior Jesus Christ.

Psalm 99

Refrain:
Exalt the LORD, our God.

The LORD reigns! Let the peoples tremble.
He sits enthroned amongst the cherubim.
Let the earth be moved.
The LORD is great in Zion.
He is high above all the peoples.
Let them praise your great and awesome name.
He is Holy!

The King’s strength also loves justice.
You establish equity.
You execute justice and righteousness in Jacob.
Exalt the LORD our God.
Worship at his footstool.
He is Holy!

Moses and Aaron were amongst his priests,
Samuel was amongst those who call on his name.
They called on the LORD, and he answered them.
He spoke to them in the pillar of cloud.
They kept his testimonies,
the statute that he gave them.
You answered them, LORD our God.
You are a God who forgave them,
although you took vengeance for their doings.
Exalt the LORD, our God.
Worship at his holy hill,
for the LORD, our God, is holy!

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:
Exalt the LORD, our God.

Psalm prayer

Lord God, mighty king,
you love justice and establish equity;
may we love justice more than gain
and mercy more than power;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Psalm 100

Refrain:
The LORD is good.
His loving kindness endures forever.

Shout for joy to the LORD, all you lands!
Serve the LORD with gladness.
Come before his presence with singing.
Know that the LORD, he is God.
It is he who has made us, and we are his.
We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Enter into his gates with thanksgiving,
and into his courts with praise.
Give thanks to him, and bless his name.
For the LORD is good.
His loving kindness endures forever,
his faithfulness to all generations.

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:
The LORD is good.
His loving kindness endures forever.

Psalm prayer

O Christ, door of the sheepfold,
may we enter your gates with praise
and go from your courts to serve you
in the poor, the lost and the wandering,
this day and all our days.

Old Testament reading

Deuteronomy 31:14-29

The LORD said to Moses, “Behold, your days approach that you must die. Call Joshua, and present yourselves in the Tent of Meeting, that I may commission him.”

Moses and Joshua went, and presented themselves in the Tent of Meeting.

The LORD appeared in the Tent in a pillar of cloud, and the pillar of cloud stood over the Tent’s door. The LORD said to Moses, “Behold, you shall sleep with your fathers. This people will rise up and play the prostitute after the strange gods of the land where they go to be amongst them, and will forsake me and break my covenant which I have made with them. Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall come on them; so that they will say in that day, ‘Haven’t these evils come on us because our God is not amongst us?’ I will surely hide my face in that day for all the evil which they have done, in that they have turned to other gods.

“Now therefore write this song for yourselves, and teach it to the children of Israel. Put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel. For when I have brought them into the land which I swore to their fathers, flowing with milk and honey, and they have eaten and filled themselves, and grown fat, then they will turn to other gods, and serve them, and despise me, and break my covenant. It will happen, when many evils and troubles have come on them, that this song will testify before them as a witness; for it will not be forgotten out of the mouths of their descendants; for I know their ways and what they are doing today, before I have brought them into the land which I promised them.”

So Moses wrote this song the same day, and taught it to the children of Israel.

He commissioned Joshua the son of Nun, and said, “Be strong and courageous; for you shall bring the children of Israel into the land which I swore to them. I will be with you.”

When Moses had finished writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished, Moses commanded the Levites, who bore the ark of the LORD’s covenant, saying, “Take this book of the law, and put it by the side of the ark of the LORD your God’s covenant, that it may be there for a witness against you. For I know your rebellion and your stiff neck. Behold, while I am yet alive with you today, you have been rebellious against the LORD. How much more after my death? Assemble to me all the elders of your tribes and your officers, that I may speak these words in their ears, and call heaven and earth to witness against them. For I know that after my death you will utterly corrupt yourselves, and turn away from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will happen to you in the latter days, because you will do that which is evil in the LORD’s sight, to provoke him to anger through the work of your hands.”

Silence may be kept.

New Testament reading

1 John 3:1-10

See how great a love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God! For this cause the world doesn’t know us, because it didn’t know him. Beloved, now we are children of God. It is not yet revealed what we will be; but we know that when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him just as he is. Everyone who has this hope set on him purifies himself, even as he is pure.

Everyone who sins also commits lawlessness. Sin is lawlessness. You know that he was revealed to take away our sins, and no sin is in him. Whoever remains in him doesn’t sin. Whoever sins hasn’t seen him and doesn’t know him.

Little children, let no one lead you astray. He who does righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. To this end the Son of God was revealed: that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whoever is born of God doesn’t commit sin, because his seed remains in him, and he can’t sin, because he is born of God. In this the children of God are revealed, and the children of the devil. Whoever doesn’t do righteousness is not of God, neither is he who doesn’t love his brother.

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.

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

Intercession and thanksgiving

Response

Lord, in your mercy
hear our prayer.

Silence may be kept.

Collect of the day

The Lord’s Prayer

Conclusion

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