Shane Raynor 3/19/24 Shane Raynor 3/19/24

Wednesday morning March 20

Thursday morning
Tuesday morning

Opening response

O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.

Let your ways be known on earth,
your salvation among all nations.

Prayer of thanksgiving

Blessed are you, Lord God of our salvation,
to you be praise and glory for ever.
As a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief
your only Son was lifted up
that he might draw the whole world to himself.
May we walk this day in the way of the cross
and always be ready to share its weight,
declaring your love for all the world.
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

Hail! Holy, Holy, Holy Lord

Charles Wesley

Hail! Holy, holy, holy Lord,
Whom one in three we know;
By all thy heavenly hosts adored,
By all thy church below.

One undivided Trinity
With triumph we proclaim;
Thy universe is full of thee,
And speaks thy glorious name.

Thee, Holy Father, we confess,
Thee, Holy Son, adore;
And thee, the Holy Ghost, we bless
And worship evermore.

Hail! Holy, holy, holy Lord,
This be our song to thee,
Supreme, essential one, adored
In co-eternal three!

Confession of sin

Seek the LORD while he may be found;
call on him while he is near.
Let the wicked forsake their own ways
and the unrighteous their own thoughts.
Let them return to the LORD so 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 to us the joy of your salvation
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.

Bless 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 55

𝙍: Cast your burden upon the LORD, and He will sustain you.

Listen to my prayer, O God,
and do not ignore my plea.
Attend to me and answer me.
I am restless in my complaint,
and distraught at the voice of the enemy,
at the pressure of the wicked.
For they release disaster upon me
and revile me in their anger.

My heart murmurs within me,
and the terrors of death assail me.
Fear and trembling grip me,
and horror has overwhelmed me. 𝙍

I said, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!
I would fly away and find rest.
How far away I would flee!
In the wilderness I would remain.

I would hurry to my shelter,
far from this raging tempest.”

O Lord, confuse and confound their speech,
for I see violence and strife in the city.
Day and night they encircle the walls,
while malice and trouble lie within.
Destruction is within;
oppression and deceit never leave the streets. 𝙍

For it is not an enemy who insults me;
that I could endure.
It is not a foe who rises against me;
from him I could hide.
But it is you, a man like myself,
my companion and close friend.
We shared sweet fellowship together;
we walked with the crowd into the house of God.

Let death seize them by surprise;
let them go down to Sheol alive,
for evil is with them in their homes. 𝙍

But I call to God,
and the LORD saves me.
Morning, noon, and night, I cry out in distress,
and He hears my voice.
He redeems my soul in peace
from the battle waged against me,
even though many oppose me.
God will hear and humiliate them—
the One enthroned for the ages—
because they do not change
and they have no fear of God. 𝙍

My companion attacks his friends;
he violates his covenant.
His speech is smooth as butter,
but war is in his heart.
His words are softer than oil,
yet they are swords unsheathed.

Cast your burden upon the LORD
and He will sustain you;
He will never let the righteous be shaken.
But You, O God, will bring them down
to the Pit of destruction;
men of bloodshed and deceit
will not live out half their days.

But I will trust in You.

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: Cast your burden upon the LORD, and He will sustain you.

Psalm prayer

Lord, in all times of fear and dread,
grant that we may so cast our burdens upon you,
that you may bear us on the holy wings of the Spirit
to the stronghold of your peace;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Psalm 124

𝙍: Our help is in the name of the LORD.

If the LORD had not been on our side—
let Israel now declare—
if the LORD had not been on our side
when men attacked us,
when their anger flared against us,
then they would have swallowed us alive,
then the floods would have engulfed us,
then the torrent would have overwhelmed us,
then the raging waters
would have swept us away. 𝙍

Blessed be the LORD,
who has not given us as prey to their teeth.
We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowler;
the net is torn, and we have slipped away.
Our help is in the name of the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.

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: Our help is in the name of the LORD.

Psalm prayer

O God, maker of heaven and earth,
through the blood of your Son you have set us free;
help us to put our trust in his victory
and to know the salvation won for us
by Jesus Christ our Lord.

Old Testament reading

Exodus 9:1-12

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and tell him that this is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: ‘Let My people go, so that they may worship Me. But if you continue to restrain them and refuse to let them go, then the hand of the LORD will bring a severe plague on your livestock in the field—on your horses, donkeys, camels, herds, and flocks. But the LORD will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, so that no animal belonging to the Israelites will die.’ ”

The LORD set a time, saying, “Tomorrow the LORD will do this in the land.” And the next day the LORD did just that. All the livestock of the Egyptians died, but not one animal belonging to the Israelites died. Pharaoh sent officials and found that none of the livestock of the Israelites had died. But Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not let the people go.

Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Take handfuls of soot from the furnace; in the sight of Pharaoh, Moses is to toss it into the air. It will become fine dust over all the land of Egypt, and festering boils will break out on man and beast throughout the land.”

So they took soot from the furnace and stood before Pharaoh. Moses tossed it into the air, and festering boils broke out on man and beast. The magicians could not stand before Moses, because the boils had broken out on them and on all the Egyptians.

But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not listen to them, just as the LORD had said to Moses.

Silence may be kept.

New Testament reading

Hebrews 12:3-13

Consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons:

“My son, do not take lightly the discipline of the Lord,
and do not lose heart when He rebukes you.
For the Lord disciplines the one He loves,
and He chastises every son He receives.”

Endure suffering as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you do not experience discipline like everyone else, then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. Furthermore, we have all had earthly fathers who disciplined us, and we respected them. Should we not much more submit to the Father of our spirits and live?

Our fathers disciplined us for a short time as they thought best, but God disciplines us for our good, so that we may share in His holiness. No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields a harvest of righteousness and peace to those who have been trained by it.

Therefore strengthen your limp hands and weak knees. Make straight paths for your feet, so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.

Silence may be kept.

The Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah)

Luke 1:68-79

𝙍: The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

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: The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

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 are offered

for the day and its tasks
for the world and its needs
for the church and her life

Prayers may include these concerns:

The persecuted church
The oppressed peoples of the world
All who are lonely
All who are near to death
All who are facing loss

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

Most merciful God,
who by the death and resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ
delivered and saved the world:
grant that by faith in him who suffered on the cross
we may triumph in the power of his victory;
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 Christ, who bore our sins on the cross, set us free to serve him with joy.
Amen.

Shane Raynor 3/18/24 Shane Raynor 3/18/24

Tuesday morning March 19

Wednesday morning
Monday morning

Opening response

O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.

Let your ways be known on earth,
your salvation among all nations.

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 25

𝙍: Remember, O LORD, Your compassion and loving devotion.

To You, O LORD, I lift up my soul;
in You, my God, I trust.
Do not let me be put to shame;
do not let my enemies exult over me.
Surely none who wait for You will be put to shame;
but those who are faithless without cause will be disgraced.

Show me Your ways, O LORD;
teach me Your paths.
Guide me in Your truth and teach me,
for You are the God of my salvation;
all day long I wait for You.
Remember, O LORD, Your compassion and loving devotion,
for they are from age to age. 𝙍

Remember not the sins of my youth,
nor my rebellious acts;
remember me according to Your loving devotion,
because of Your goodness, O LORD.

Good and upright is the LORD;
therefore He shows sinners the way.
He guides the humble in what is right
and teaches them His way.

All the LORD’s ways are loving and faithful
to those who keep His covenant and His decrees. 𝙍

For the sake of Your name, O LORD,
forgive my iniquity, for it is great.
Who is the man who fears the LORD?
He will instruct him in the path chosen for him.
His soul will dwell in prosperity,
and his descendants will inherit the land.
The LORD confides in those who fear Him,
and reveals His covenant to them.
My eyes are always on the LORD,
for He will free my feet from the mesh. 𝙍

Turn to me and be gracious,
for I am lonely and afflicted.
The troubles of my heart increase;
free me from my distress.
Consider my affliction and trouble,
and take away all my sins.
Consider my enemies, for they are many,
and they hate me with vicious hatred.

Guard my soul and deliver me;
let me not be put to shame,
for I take refuge in You.
May integrity and uprightness preserve me,
because I wait for You.

Redeem Israel, O God,
from all its distress.

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: Remember, O LORD, Your compassion and loving devotion.

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.

Psalm 147

𝙍: Great is our Lord, and mighty in power.

Hallelujah!

How good it is to sing praises to our God,
how pleasant and lovely to praise Him!

The LORD builds up Jerusalem;
He gathers the exiles of Israel.
He heals the brokenhearted
and binds up their wounds. 𝙍

He determines the number of the stars;
He calls them each by name.
Great is our Lord, and mighty in power;
His understanding has no limit.
The LORD sustains the humble,
but casts the wicked to the ground. 𝙍

Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving;
make music on the harp to our God,
who covers the sky with clouds,
who prepares rain for the earth,
who makes grass to grow on the hills. 𝙍

He provides food for the animals,
and for the young ravens when they call.

He does not delight in the strength of the horse;
He takes no pleasure in the legpower of the man.
The LORD is pleased with those who fear Him,
who hope in His loving devotion. 𝙍

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: Great is our Lord, and mighty in power.

Psalm prayer

Compassionate God,
as you know each star you have created,
so you know the secrets of every heart;
in your loving mercy bring to your table
all who are fearful and broken,
all who are wounded and needy,
that our hungers may be satisfied
in the city of your peace;
through Christ who is our peace.

Old Testament reading

Isaiah 11:1-10

Then a shoot will spring up from the stump of Jesse,
and a Branch from his roots will bear fruit.
The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him—
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and strength,
the Spirit of knowledge and fear of the LORD.
And He will delight in the fear of the LORD.

He will not judge by what His eyes see,
and He will not decide by what His ears hear,
but with righteousness He will judge the poor,
and with equity He will decide for the lowly of the earth.
He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth
and slay the wicked with the breath of His lips.
Righteousness will be the belt around His hips,
and faithfulness the sash around His waist.

The wolf will live with the lamb,
and the leopard will lie down with the goat;
the calf and young lion and fatling will be together,
and a little child will lead them.
The cow will graze with the bear,
their young will lie down together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
The infant will play by the cobra’s den,
and the toddler will reach into the viper’s nest.
They will neither harm nor destroy
on all My holy mountain,
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD
as the sea is full of water.

On that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples. The nations will seek Him, and His place of rest will be glorious.

Silence may be kept.

New Testament reading

Matthew 13:54-58

When Jesus had finished these parables, He withdrew from that place. Coming to His hometown, He taught the people in their synagogue, and they were astonished. “Where did this man get such wisdom and miraculous powers?” they asked. “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t His mother’s name Mary, and aren’t His brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas? Aren’t all His sisters with us as well? Where then did this man get all these things?” And they took offense at Him.

But Jesus said to them, “Only in his hometown and in his own household is a prophet without honor.” And He did not do many miracles there, because of their unbelief.

Silence may be kept.

The Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah)

Luke 1:68-79

𝙍: The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of 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.

𝙍: The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

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 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 are offered

for the day and its tasks
for the world and its needs
for the church and her life

Prayers may include these concerns:

The persecuted church
The oppressed peoples of the world
All who are lonely
All who are near to death
All who are facing loss

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

The Lord’s Prayer

Trusting in the compassion of God, as our Savior taught us, so we pray

Conclusion

May Christ, who bore our sins on the cross, set us free to serve him with joy.
Amen.

Shane Raynor 3/18/24 Shane Raynor 3/18/24

Mon. morning Mar. 23

Opening response

O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.

Let your ways be known upon earth,
your saving power among the nations.

Prayer of thanksgiving

Blessed are you, Lord God of our salvation, to you be praise and glory forever. As a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, your only Son was lifted up that he might draw the whole world to himself. May we walk this day in the way of the cross and always be ready to share its weight, declaring your love for all the world.

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

Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing

Words: Robert Robinson (1758)
Music: Wyeth’s Repository of Sacred Music, Part II (1813)
Our Great Redeemer’s Praise (#37)

Come, thou Fount of every blessing;
tune my heart to sing thy grace;
streams of mercy, never ceasing,
call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
sung by flaming tongues above;
praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
mount of God’s unchanging love!

Here I raise my Ebenezer;
hither by thy help I’m come;
and I hope, by thy good pleasure,
safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
wandering from the fold of God;
he, to rescue me from danger,
interposed his precious blood.

O to grace how great a debtor
daily I’m constrained to be!
Let that grace now, like a fetter,
bind my wandering heart to thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
prone to leave the God I love;
here’s my heart; O take and seal it;
seal it for thy courts above.

Confession of Sin

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

Our Lord Jesus Christ said:

“The first of all the commandments is, ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

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 faithfulness is like a morning cloud, and like the early dew, it goes away. 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 73

𝙍: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD.

Truly God is good to Israel,
to those who are pure in heart.

But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled;
my steps had almost slipped.
For I was envious of the boastful
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

For there are no pangs in their death,
but their strength is firm.
They are not in trouble as other men are,
nor are they plagued like other men.
Therefore pride is their necklace;
violence covers them like a garment.
Their eyes bulge with fatness;
they have more than a heart could wish.

𝙍: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD.

They mock and wickedly speak of oppression;
they speak loftily.
They set their mouths against the heavens,
and their tongue parades through the earth.
Therefore his people return here,
and waters of abundance are drunk by them.
They say, “How does God know?
Is there knowledge in the Most High?”

Behold, these are the wicked; always at ease,
they increase in riches.

Surely I have kept my heart clean in vain,
and washed my hands in innocence.
For all the day long I have been plagued,
and chastened every morning.

If I had said, “I will speak thus,”
I would have been untrue to the generation of Your children.

𝙍: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD.

When I thought how to understand this,
it was troublesome in my sight,
until I went into the sanctuary of God;
then I understood their end.

Surely You set them in slippery places;
You cast them down to destruction.
How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment!
They are utterly consumed by terrors!
Like a dream when one awakes,
O Lord, when awakened,
You will despise their image.

When my heart was embittered,
and I was pierced in my heart,
I was foolish and ignorant;
I was like a beast before You.

𝙍: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD.

Nevertheless I am continually with You;
You have held me by my right hand.
You will guide me with Your counsel,
and afterward receive me to glory.
Whom have I in heaven but You?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides You.
My flesh and my heart fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.

For behold, those who are far from You shall perish;
You have destroyed all those who are unfaithful to You.
But it is good for me to draw near to God;
I have put my trust in the Lord GOD,
that I may declare all Your works.

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: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD.

Psalm prayer

Holy God, may we find wisdom in your presence and set our hope not on uncertain riches, but on the love that holds us to the end; in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Psalm 121

𝙍: The LORD will keep you from all evil.

I will lift up my eyes to the hills;
from whence comes my help?
My help comes from the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot slip;
He who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, He who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.

𝙍: The LORD will keep you from all evil.

The LORD is your keeper;
the LORD is your shade at your right hand.
The sun shall not strike you by day,
nor the moon by night.

The LORD will keep you from all evil;
He will keep your soul.
The LORD will guard your going out and your coming in
from this time forth and forevermore.

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 will keep you from all evil.

Psalm prayer

Lord, ever watchful and faithful, we look to you to be our defense and we lift our hearts to know your help; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Old Testament reading

Exodus 8:1-19

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the LORD: Let My people go, so that they may serve Me. But if you refuse to let them go, behold, I will plague all your borders with frogs. And the river will swarm with frogs, which shall go up and come into your house, and into your bedchamber, and on your bed, and into the houses of your servants, and on your people, and into your ovens, and into your kneading troughs. So the frogs shall come upon you, upon your people, and upon all your servants.’ ”

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch forth your hand with your rod over the streams, over the rivers, and over the ponds, and cause frogs to come up on the land of Egypt.’ ”

Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt. The magicians did the same with their secret arts and brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt.

Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, “Entreat the LORD, that He may take away the frogs from me, and from my people, and I will let the people go, so that they may sacrifice to the LORD.”

Moses said to Pharaoh, “Be pleased to command me: When shall I entreat for you, your servants, and your people, to destroy the frogs from you and your houses, that they may remain in the river only?”

And he said, “Tomorrow.”

Then he said, “Be it according to your word, in order that you may know that there is no one like the LORD our God. The frogs shall depart from you, and from your houses, from your servants, and from your people. They shall remain in the river only.”

Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, and Moses cried out to the LORD concerning the frogs which he had brought against Pharaoh. Then the LORD did according to the word of Moses. And the frogs died out of the houses, the villages, and the fields. So they gathered them together in heaps, and the land stank. But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and did not listen to them, as the LORD had said.

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your rod, and strike the dust of the land, so that it may become gnats throughout all the land of Egypt.’ ” They did so, for Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod and smote the dust of the earth, and it became gnats on man and on beast. All the dust of the land became gnats throughout all the land of Egypt. Then the magicians tried with their secret arts to bring forth gnats, but they could not, so there were gnats upon man and beast.

Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” Nevertheless, Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he did not listen to them, just as the LORD had said.

Silence may be kept.

New Testament reading

Hebrews 11:17-31

By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only son. Of him God said, “Through Isaac shall your seed be named.” He reasoned that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he indeed received him in a figurative sense.

By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come.

By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph and worshipped while leaning on the top of his staff.

By faith Joseph, when he was dying, mentioned the exodus of the Israelites and gave instructions concerning his bones.

By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden by his parents for three months, because they saw he was a beautiful child, and they were not afraid of the king’s command.

By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a time. He esteemed the reproach of Christ as greater riches than the treasures in Egypt, for he looked to the reward. By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king. He endured by looking to Him who is invisible. By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, lest the one who destroys the firstborn touch them.

By faith they passed through the Red Sea as on dry land, which the Egyptians attempted to do, but were drowned.

By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days.

By faith the prostitute Rahab, when she received the spies with peace, did not perish with those who did not believe.

Silence may be kept.

The Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah)

Luke 1:68-79

Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
for He has visited and redeemed His people,
and has raised up a horn of salvation for us
in the house of His servant David,
as He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets of long ago,
that we should be saved from our enemies
and from the hand of all who hate us,
to perform the mercy promised to our fathers
and to remember His holy covenant,
the oath which He swore to our father Abraham,
to grant us that we, being delivered out of the hand of our enemies,
might serve Him without fear,
in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our lives.

And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest;
for you will go before the presence of the Lord to prepare His ways,
to give knowledge of salvation to His people
by the remission of their sins,
through the tender mercy of our God,
whereby the sunrise from on high has visited us;
to give light to those who sit in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace.

Glory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning, is now,
and will be forever. Amen.

Brief silence.

The Apostle’s Creed

Let us unite in this historic confession of the Christian faith:

I believe in God,
the Father Almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ,
his only Son, our Lord.
He was conceived by the Holy Spirit
and born of the Virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the
right hand of the Father.
He will come again to judge
the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.

Amen.

Intercession and thanksgiving

Prayers may be offered for:

the day and its tasks
the world and its needs
the church and her life

Prayers may include the following concerns:

The persecuted church
The oppressed peoples of the world
All who are lonely
All who are near to death
All who are facing loss

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

Response

Lord, in your mercy
hear our prayer.

Silence may be kept.

Collect of the day

Most merciful God, who by the death and resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ delivered and saved the world: grant that by faith in him who suffered on the cross we may triumph in the power of his victory; 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

Standing at the foot of the cross, 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 Christ, who bore our sins on the cross, set us free to serve him with joy.
Amen.