Thursday morning March 21
Image: Unsplash
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 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
Author of Faith, Eternal Word
Charles Wesley
Author of faith, eternal Word,
Whose Spirit breathes the active flame;
Faith, like its finisher and Lord,
Today, as yesterday, the same.
To thee our humble hearts aspire,
And ask the gift unspeakable;
Increase in us the kindled fire,
In us the work of faith fulfill.
By faith we know Thee strong to save;
Save us, a present Savior Thou!
Whatever we hope, by faith we have
Future and past subsisting now.
To him that in thy name believes
Eternal life with thee is given;
Into himself he all receives,
Pardon and holiness and heaven.
The things unknown to feeble sense,
Unseen by reason’s glimmering ray,
With strong, commanding evidence
Their heavenly origin display.
Faith lends its realizing light,
The clouds disperse, the shadows fly;
The invisible appears in sight,
And God is seen by mortal eye.
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 O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One.
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: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
No other commandment is greater than these.
All the Law and the Prophets hang 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 mist,
like the early dew that vanishes.
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 40
𝙍: Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders You have done.
I waited patiently for the LORD;
He inclined to me and heard my cry.
He lifted me up from the pit of despair,
out of the miry clay;
He set my feet upon a rock,
and made my footsteps firm.
He put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear
and put their trust in the LORD.
Blessed is the man
who has made the LORD his trust,
who has not turned to the proud,
nor to those who lapse into falsehood.
Many, O LORD my God,
are the wonders You have done,
and the plans You have for us—
none can compare to You—
if I proclaim and declare them,
they are more than I can count. 𝙍
Sacrifice and offering You did not desire,
but my ears You have opened.
Burnt offerings and sin offerings
You did not require.
Then I said, “Here I am, I have come—
it is written about me in the scroll:
I delight to do Your will, O my God;
Your law is within my heart.”
I proclaim righteousness in the great assembly;
behold, I do not seal my lips,
as You, O LORD, do know.
I have not covered up Your righteousness in my heart;
I have declared Your faithfulness and salvation;
I have not concealed Your loving devotion and faithfulness
from the great assembly. 𝙍
O LORD, do not withhold Your mercy from me;
Your loving devotion and faithfulness will always guard me.
For evils without number surround me;
my sins have overtaken me, so that I cannot see.
They are more than the hairs of my head,
and my heart has failed within me.
Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me;
hurry, O LORD, to help me.
May those who seek my life
be ashamed and confounded;
may those who wish me harm
be repelled and humiliated.
May those who say to me, “Aha, aha!”
be appalled at their own shame. 𝙍
May all who seek You
rejoice and be glad in You;
may those who love Your salvation
always say, “The LORD be magnified!”
But I am poor and needy;
may the Lord think of me.
You are my helper and deliverer;
O my God, do not delay.
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: Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders You have done.
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 125
𝙍: Glorious things are ascribed to you, O city of God.
Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion.
It cannot be moved; it abides forever.
As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
so the LORD surrounds His people,
both now and forevermore.
For the scepter of the wicked will not rest
upon the land allotted to the righteous,
so that the righteous will not put forth
their hands to injustice.
Do good, O LORD, to those who are good,
and to the upright in heart.
But those who turn to crooked ways
the LORD will banish with the evildoers.
Peace be upon Israel.
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: Glorious things are ascribed to you, O city of God.
Psalm prayer
God of power,
you are strong to save
and you never fail those who trust in you;
keep us under your protection
and spread abroad your reign of peace
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Old Testament reading
Exodus 9:13-35
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, so that hail may fall on all the land of Egypt—on man and beast and every plant of the field throughout the land of Egypt.”
So Moses stretched out his staff toward heaven, and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and lightning struck the earth. So the LORD rained down hail upon the land of Egypt. The hail fell and the lightning continued flashing through it. The hail was so severe that nothing like it had ever been seen in all the land of Egypt from the time it became a nation.
Throughout the land of Egypt, the hail struck down everything in the field, both man and beast; it beat down every plant of the field and stripped every tree. The only place where it did not hail was in the land of Goshen, where the Israelites lived.
Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron. “This time I have sinned,” he said. “The LORD is righteous, and I and my people are wicked. Pray to the LORD, for there has been enough of God’s thunder and hail. I will let you go; you do not need to stay any longer.”
Moses said to him, “When I have left the city, I will spread out my hands to the LORD. The thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, so that you may know that the earth is the LORD’s. But as for you and your officials, I know that you still do not fear the LORD our God.”
(Now the flax and barley were destroyed, since the barley was ripe and the flax was in bloom; but the wheat and spelt were not destroyed, because they are late crops.)
Then Moses departed from Pharaoh, went out of the city, and spread out his hands to the LORD. The thunder and hail ceased, and the rain no longer poured down on the land.
When Pharaoh saw that the rain and hail and thunder had ceased, he sinned again and hardened his heart—he and his officials. So Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not let the Israelites go, just as the LORD had said through Moses.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
Hebrews 12:14-29
Pursue peace with everyone, as well as holiness, without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God, and that no root of bitterness springs up to cause trouble and defile many. See to it that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his birthright. For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected. He could find no ground for repentance, though he sought the blessing with tears.
For you have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom, and storm; to a trumpet blast or to a voice that made its hearers beg that no further word be spoken. For they could not bear what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned.” The sight was so terrifying that even Moses said, “I am trembling with fear.”
Instead, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to myriads of angels in joyful assembly, to the congregation of the firstborn, enrolled in heaven. You have come to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
See to it that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if the people did not escape when they refused Him who warned them on earth, how much less will we escape if we reject Him who warns us from heaven? At that time His voice shook the earth, but now He has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth, but heaven as well.” The words “Once more” signify the removal of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that the unshakable may remain.
Therefore, since we are receiving an unshakable kingdom, let us be filled with gratitude, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe. “For our God is a consuming fire.”
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 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 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.
Wednesday morning March 20
Image: Unsplash
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.
Tuesday morning March 19
Wednesday morning
Monday morning
Image: Unsplash
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.
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
Lord of life
In your mercy, hear us.
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.