Saturday morning September 28
Opening response
O God, make speed to save us.
O Lord, make haste to help us.
Prayer of thanksgiving
Blessed are you, Sovereign God, creator of all,
to you be glory and praise forever.
You founded the earth in the beginning
and the heavens are the work of your hands.
In the fullness of time you made us in your image,
and in these last days you have spoken to us
in your Son Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh.
As we rejoice in the gift of your presence among us
let the light of your love always shine in our hearts,
your Spirit ever renew our lives
and your praises ever be on our lips.
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
The Mighty Conqueror Leaves the Dead
Charles Wesley
The mighty conqueror leaves the dead,
Jesus the Lord ascends on high;
The powers of hell are captive led,
Dragged to the portals of the sky.
There his triumphal chariot waits,
And angels chant the solemn lay:
“Lift up your heads, ye heavenly gates;
Ye everlasting doors, give way.
Loose all your bars of massy light,
And wide unfold the radiant scene;
He claims these mansions as his right,
Receive the King of Glory in.”
“Who is the King of Glory, who?”
“The Lord, that all our foes overcame;
The world, sin, death, and hell overthrew,
Jesus is the conqueror’s name.”
Lo! His triumphal chariot waits,
And angels chant the solemn lay:
“Lift up your heads, ye heavenly gates;
Ye everlasting doors, give way.”
“Who is the King of Glory, who?”
“The Lord, of boundless power possessed,
The King of saints and angels too,
God over all, forever blessed.”
Confession of sin
Let us admit to God the sin which always confronts us.
A time of silence and self-examination may be kept.
Almighty God,
patient and of great goodness:
I confess to you,
I confess with my whole heart
my neglect and forgetfulness of your commandments,
my wrong doing, thinking, and speaking;
the hurts I have done to others,
and the good I have left undone.
O God, forgive me, for I have sinned against you;
and raise me to newness of life;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
May the God of love and power
forgive us and free us from our sins,
heal and strengthen us by his Spirit,
and raise us to new life in Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Psalm 76
𝙍: The LORD has established His throne for judgment.
God is known in Judah;
His name is great in Israel.
His tent is in Salem,
His dwelling place in Zion.
There He shattered the flaming arrows,
the shield and sword and weapons of war. 𝙍
You are resplendent with light,
more majestic than mountains filled with game.
The valiant lie plundered; they sleep their last sleep.
No men of might could lift a hand.
At Your rebuke, O God of Jacob,
both horse and rider lie stunned. 𝙍
You alone are to be feared.
When You are angry, who can stand before You?
From heaven You pronounced judgment,
and the earth feared and was still
when God rose up to judge,
to save all the lowly of the earth. 𝙍
Even the wrath of man shall praise You;
with the survivors of wrath You will clothe Yourself.
Make and fulfill your vows to the LORD your God;
let all the neighboring lands bring tribute
to Him who is to be feared.
He breaks the spirits of princes;
He is feared by the kings of the 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: The LORD has established His throne for judgment.
Psalm prayer
Majestic and gracious God,
more awesome than the agents of war,
more powerful than the wrath of nations,
restrain the violence of the peoples
and draw the despised of the earth
into the joyful life of your kingdom,
where you live and reign forever and ever.
Psalm 79
𝙍: Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of Your name.
The nations, O God, have invaded Your inheritance;
they have defiled Your holy temple
and reduced Jerusalem to rubble.
They have given the corpses of Your servants
as food to the birds of the air,
the flesh of Your saints to the beasts of the earth.
They have poured out their blood like water
all around Jerusalem,
and there is no one to bury the dead.
We have become a reproach to our neighbors,
a scorn and derision to those around us. 𝙍
How long, O LORD?
Will You be angry forever?
Will Your jealousy burn like fire?
Pour out Your wrath on the nations
that do not acknowledge You,
on the kingdoms
that refuse to call on Your name,
for they have devoured Jacob
and devastated his homeland. 𝙍
Do not hold past sins against us;
let Your compassion come quickly,
for we are brought low.
Help us, O God of our salvation,
for the glory of Your name;
deliver us and atone for our sins,
for the sake of Your name.
Why should the nations ask,
“Where is their God?” 𝙍
Before our eyes, make known among the nations
Your vengeance for the bloodshed of Your servants.
May the groans of the captives reach You;
by the strength of Your arm preserve those condemned to death.
Pay back into the laps of our neighbors
sevenfold the reproach they hurled at You, O Lord.
Then we Your people, the sheep of Your pasture,
will thank You forever;
from generation to generation
we will declare Your praise.
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: Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of Your name.
Psalm prayer
When faith is scorned
and love grows cold,
then, God of hosts, rebuild your Church
on lives of thankfulness and patient prayer;
through Christ your eternal Son.
Old Testament reading
2 Kings 4:1-37
Now the wife of one of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant, my husband, is dead, and you know that your servant feared the LORD. And now his creditor is coming to take my two children as his slaves!”
“How can I help you?” asked Elisha. “Tell me, what do you have in the house?”
She answered, “Your servant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil.”
“Go,” said Elisha, “borrow jars, even empty ones, from all your neighbors. Do not gather just a few. Then go inside, shut the door behind you and your sons, and pour oil into all these jars, setting the full ones aside.”
So she left him, and after she had shut the door behind her and her sons, they kept bringing jars to her, and she kept pouring. When all the jars were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another.”
But he replied, “There are no more jars.” Then the oil stopped flowing.
She went and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil, and pay your debt. Then you and your sons can live on the remainder.”
One day Elisha went to Shunem, and a prominent woman who lived there persuaded him to have a meal. So whenever he would pass by, he would stop there to eat.
Then the woman said to her husband, “Behold, now I know that the one who often comes our way is a holy man of God. Please let us make a small room upstairs and put in it a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp for him. Then when he comes to us, he can stay there.”
One day Elisha came to visit and went to his upper room to lie down. And he said to Gehazi his servant, “Call the Shunammite woman.”
And when he had called her, she stood before him, and Elisha said to Gehazi, “Now tell her, ‘Look, you have gone to all this trouble for us. What can we do for you? Can we speak on your behalf to the king or the commander of the army?’ ”
“I have a home among my own people,” she replied.
So he asked, “Then what should be done for her?”
“Well, she has no son,” Gehazi replied, “and her husband is old.”
“Call her,” said Elisha.
So Gehazi called her, and she stood in the doorway. And Elisha declared, “At this time next year, you will hold a son in your arms.”
“No, my lord,” she said. “Do not lie to your maidservant, O man of God.”
But the woman did conceive, and at that time the next year she gave birth to a son, just as Elisha had told her.
And the child grew, and one day he went out to his father, who was with the harvesters.
“My head! My head!” he complained to his father.
So his father told a servant, “Carry him to his mother.”
After the servant had picked him up and carried him to his mother, the boy sat on her lap until noon, and then he died. And she went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God. Then she shut the door and went out.
And the woman called her husband and said, “Please send me one of the servants and one of the donkeys, that I may go quickly to the man of God and return.”
“Why would you go to him today?” he replied. “It is not a New Moon or a Sabbath.”
“Everything is all right,” she said.
Then she saddled the donkey and told her servant, “Drive onward; do not slow the pace for me unless I tell you.” So she set out and went to the man of God at Mount Carmel.
When the man of God saw her at a distance, he said to his servant Gehazi, “Look, there is the Shunammite woman. Please run out now to meet her and ask, ‘Are you all right? Is your husband all right? Is your child all right?’ ”
And she answered, “Everything is all right.”
When she reached the man of God at the mountain, she clung to his feet. Gehazi came over to push her away, but the man of God said, “Leave her alone, for her soul is in deep distress, and the LORD has hidden it from me and has not told me.”
Then she said, “Did I ask you for a son, my lord? Didn’t I say, ‘Do not deceive me?’ ”
So Elisha said to Gehazi, “Tie up your garment, take my staff in your hand, and go! If you meet anyone, do not greet him, and if anyone greets you, do not answer him. Then lay my staff on the boy’s face.”
And the mother of the boy said, “As surely as the LORD lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So he got up and followed her.
Gehazi went on ahead of them and laid the staff on the boy’s face, but there was no sound or response. So he went back to meet Elisha and told him, “The boy has not awakened.”
When Elisha reached the house, there was the boy lying dead on his bed. So he went in, closed the door behind the two of them, and prayed to the LORD.
Then Elisha got on the bed and lay on the boy, mouth to mouth, eye to eye, and hand to hand. As he stretched himself out over him, the boy’s body became warm. Elisha turned away and paced back and forth across the room. Then he got on the bed and stretched himself out over the boy again, and the boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes.
Elisha summoned Gehazi and said, “Call the Shunammite woman.” So he called her and she came.
Then Elisha said, “Pick up your son.”
She came in, fell at his feet, and bowed to the ground. Then she picked up her son and went out.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
Acts 25:13-27
After several days had passed, King Agrippa and Bernice came down to Caesarea to pay their respects to Festus. Since they were staying several days, Festus laid out Paul’s case before the king: “There is a certain man whom Felix left in prison. While I was in Jerusalem, the chief priests and elders of the Jews presented their case and requested a judgment against him. I told them that it is not the Roman custom to hand a man over before he has had an opportunity to face his accusers and defend himself against their charges.
So when they came here with me, I did not delay. The next day I sat on the judgment seat and ordered that the man be brought in. But when his accusers rose to speak, they did not charge him with any of the crimes I had expected. They only had some contentions with him regarding their own religion and a certain Jesus who had died, but whom Paul affirmed to be alive.
Since I was at a loss as to how to investigate these matters, I asked if he was willing to go to Jerusalem and be tried there on these charges. But when Paul appealed to be held over for the decision of the Emperor, I ordered that he be held until I could send him to Caesar.”
Then Agrippa said to Festus, “I would like to hear this man myself.”
“Tomorrow you will hear him,” Festus declared.
The next day Agrippa and Bernice came with great pomp and entered the auditorium, along with the commanders and leading men of the city. And Festus ordered that Paul be brought in.
Then Festus said, “King Agrippa and all who are present with us, you see this man. The whole Jewish community has petitioned me about him, both here and in Jerusalem, crying out that he ought not to live any longer. But I found he had done nothing worthy of death, and since he has now appealed to the Emperor, I decided to send him.
I have nothing definite to write to our sovereign one about him. Therefore I have brought him before all of you, and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that after this inquiry I may have something to write. For it seems unreasonable to me to send on a prisoner without specifying the charges against him.”
Silence may be kept.
The Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah)
Luke 1:68-79
𝙍: You have raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of your servant David.
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: You have raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of your servant David.
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:
Our homes, families, friends and all whom we love
Those whose time is spent caring for others
Those who are close to death
Those who have lost hope
The worship of the church
Other intercessions and supplications may be offered as the Holy Spirit leads.
Response
Loving God, we look to you.
Receive our prayer.
Silence may be kept.
Collect of the day
Almighty God,
you have made us for yourself,
and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you:
pour your love into our hearts and draw us to yourself,
and so bring us at last to your heavenly city
where we shall see you face to face;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.
Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
As our Savior taught us, so we pray
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those
who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
forever. Amen.
Conclusion
The Lord bless us, and preserve us from all evil, and keep us in eternal life.
Amen.
Friday morning September 27
Opening response
Lord, open our lips
and our mouth shall proclaim your praise.
Prayer of thanksgiving
Blessed are you, Sovereign God, creator of all,
to you be glory and praise forever.
You founded the earth in the beginning
and the heavens are the work of your hands.
In the fullness of time you made us in your image,
and in these last days you have spoken to us
in your Son Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh.
As we rejoice in the gift of your presence among us
let the light of your love always shine in our hearts,
your Spirit ever renew our lives
and your praises ever be on our lips.
Blessed be God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Blessed be God forever.
The night has passed, and the day lies open before us;
let us pray with one heart and mind.
Silence is kept.
As we rejoice in the gift of this new day,
so may the light of your presence, O God,
set our hearts on fire with love for you;
now and forever.
Amen.
Hymn
Jesus, Thou Sovereign Lord of All
Charles Wesley
Jesus, thou sovereign Lord of all,
The same through one eternal day,
Attend thy feeblest follower’s call,
And O, instruct us how to pray!
Pour out the supplicating grace,
And stir us up to seek thy face.
We cannot think a gracious thought,
We cannot feel a good desire,
Till thou, who callest worlds from nought,
The power into our hearts inspire;
And then we in the Spirit groan,
And then we give thee back thine own.
Jesus, regard the joint complaint
Of all thy tempted followers here,
And now supply the common want,
And send us down the Comforter,
The spirit of ceaseless prayer impart,
And fix thy Agent in our heart.
Come in thy pleading Spirit down
To us who for thy coming stay;
Of all thy gifts we ask but one,
We ask the constant power to pray;
Indulge us, Lord, in this request,
Thou canst not then deny the rest.
Confession of sin
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 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.
Old Testament reading
2 Kings 2:1-18
Shortly before the LORD took Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal, and Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here, for the LORD has sent me on to Bethel.”
But Elisha replied, “As surely as the LORD lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.”
So they went down to Bethel.
Then the sons of the prophets at Bethel came out to Elisha and said, “Do you know that the LORD will take your master away from you today?”
“Yes, I know,” he replied. “Do not speak of it.”
And Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here, for the LORD has sent me on to Jericho.”
But Elisha replied, “As surely as the LORD lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.”
So they went to Jericho.
Then the sons of the prophets at Jericho came up to Elisha and said, “Do you know that the LORD will take your master away from you today?”
“Yes, I know,” he replied. “Do not speak of it.”
And Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here, for the LORD has sent me on to the Jordan.”
But Elisha replied, “As surely as the LORD lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.”
So the two of them went on.
Then a company of fifty of the sons of the prophets went and stood at a distance, facing Elijah and Elisha as the two of them stood by the Jordan. And Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up, and struck the waters, which parted to the right and to the left, so that the two of them crossed over on dry ground.
After they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken away from you?”
“Please, let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha replied.
“You have requested a difficult thing,” said Elijah. “Nevertheless, if you see me as I am taken from you, it will be yours. But if not, then it will not be so.”
As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire with horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up into heaven in a whirlwind.
As Elisha watched, he cried out, “My father, my father, the chariots and horsemen of Israel!” And he saw Elijah no more. So taking hold of his own clothes, he tore them in two.
Elisha also picked up the cloak that had fallen from Elijah, and he went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. Then he took the cloak of Elijah that had fallen from him and struck the waters. “Where now is the LORD, the God of Elijah?” he asked.
And when he had struck the waters, they parted to the right and to the left, and Elisha crossed over.
When the sons of the prophets who were facing him from Jericho saw what had happened, they said, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” And they went to meet him and bowed down to the ground before him.
“Look now,” they said to Elisha, “we your servants have fifty valiant men. Please let them go and search for your master. Perhaps the Spirit of the LORD has taken him up and put him on one of the mountains or in one of the valleys.”
“Do not send them,” Elisha replied.
But when they pressed him to the point of embarrassment, he said, “Send them.”
And they sent fifty men, who searched for three days but did not find Elijah.
When they returned to Elisha, who was staying in Jericho, he said to them, “Didn’t I tell you not to go?”
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
Acts 24:24-25:12
After several days, Felix returned with his wife Drusilla, who was a Jewess. He sent for Paul and listened to him speak about faith in Christ Jesus. As Paul expounded on righteousness, self-control, and the coming judgment, Felix became frightened and said, “You may go for now. When I find the time, I will call for you.” At the same time, he was hoping that Paul would offer him a bribe. So he sent for Paul frequently and talked with him.
After two years had passed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus. And wishing to do the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul in prison.
Three days after his arrival in the province, Festus went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem, where the chief priests and Jewish leaders presented their case against Paul. They urged Festus to grant them a concession against Paul by summoning him to Jerusalem, because they were preparing an ambush to kill him along the way.
But Festus replied, “Paul is being held in Caesarea, and I myself am going there soon. So if this man has done anything wrong, let some of your leaders come down with me and accuse him there.”
After spending no more than eight or ten days with them, Festus went down to Caesarea. The next day he sat on the judgment seat and ordered that Paul be brought in. When Paul arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing many serious charges that they could not prove.
Then Paul made his defense: “I have committed no offense against the law of the Jews or against the temple or against Caesar.”
But Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, said to Paul, “Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem to stand trial before me on these charges?”
Paul replied, “I am standing before the judgment seat of Caesar, where I ought to be tried. I have done nothing wrong to the Jews, as you yourself know very well. If, however, I am guilty of anything worthy of death, I do not refuse to die. But if there is no truth to their accusations against me, no one has the right to hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar!”
Then Festus conferred with his council and replied, “You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you will go!”
Silence may be kept.
The Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah)
Luke 1:68-79
𝙍: You have raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of your servant David.
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: You have raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of your servant David.
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:
National leaders, public officials and the armed forces
Peace and justice in the world
Those who work for reconciliation
All whose lives are devastated by war and civil strife
Prisoners, refugees and homeless people
Other intercessions and supplications may be offered as the Holy Spirit leads.
Response
Lord of life
In your mercy, hear us.
Silence may be kept.
Collect of the day
Almighty God,
you have made us for yourself,
and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you:
pour your love into our hearts and draw us to yourself,
and so bring us at last to your heavenly city
where we shall see you face to face;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.
Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
As our Savior taught us, so we pray
Our Father 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
The Lord bless us, and preserve us from all evil, and keep us in eternal life.
Amen.
Thursday morning September 26
Image: Unsplash
Opening response
Lord, open our lips
and our mouth shall proclaim your praise.
Prayer of thanksgiving
Blessed are you, Sovereign God, creator of all,
to you be glory and praise forever.
You founded the earth in the beginning
and the heavens are the work of your hands.
In the fullness of time you made us in your image,
and in these last days you have spoken to us
in your Son Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh.
As we rejoice in the gift of your presence among us
let the light of your love always shine in our hearts,
your Spirit ever renew our lives
and your praises ever be on our lips.
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
Beyond the Bounds of Time and Space
Charles Wesley
Beyond the bounds of time and space,
Look forward to that heavenly place,
The saints’ secure abode;
On faith’s strong eagle pinions rise,
And force your passage to the skies,
And scale the mount of God.
Though suffering with our Master here,
We shall before his face appear,
And by his side sit down:
To patient faith, the prize is sure,
And all that to the end endure,
The cross, shall wear the crown.
Confession of sin
O King enthroned on high,
filling the earth with your glory:
holy is your name,
Lord God almighty.
A time of silence and self-examination may be kept.
In our sinfulness we cry to you
to take our guilt away,
and to cleanse our lips to speak your word,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
May the God of all healing and forgiveness
draw us to himself,
and cleanse us from all our sins
that we may behold the glory of his Son,
the Word made flesh,
Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Psalm 78:1-39
𝙍: How awesome are your deeds, O Lord!
Give ear, O my people, to my instruction;
listen to the words of my mouth.
I will open my mouth in parables;
I will utter things hidden from the beginning,
that we have heard and known
and our fathers have relayed to us.
We will not hide them from their children,
but will declare to the next generation
the praises of the LORD and His might,
and the wonders He has performed. 𝙍
For He established a testimony in Jacob
and appointed a law in Israel,
which He commanded our fathers
to teach to their children,
that the coming generation would know them—
even children yet to be born—
to arise and tell their own children
that they should put their confidence in God,
not forgetting His works,
but keeping His commandments.
Then they will not be like their fathers,
a stubborn and rebellious generation,
whose heart was not loyal,
whose spirit was not faithful to God. 𝙍
The archers of Ephraim
turned back on the day of battle.
They failed to keep God’s covenant
and refused to live by His law.
They forgot what He had done,
the wonders He had shown them.
He worked wonders before their fathers
in the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan. 𝙍
He split the sea and brought them through;
He set the waters upright like a wall.
He led them with a cloud by day
and with a light of fire all night.
He split the rocks in the wilderness
and gave them drink as abundant as the seas.
He brought streams from the stone
and made water flow down like rivers. 𝙍
But they continued to sin against Him,
rebelling in the desert against the Most High.
They willfully tested God
by demanding the food they craved.
They spoke against God, saying,
“Can God really prepare a table in the wilderness?
When He struck the rock, water gushed out
and torrents raged.
But can He also give bread
or supply His people with meat?” 𝙍
Therefore the LORD heard
and was filled with wrath;
so a fire was kindled against Jacob,
and His anger flared against Israel,
because they did not believe God
or rely on His salvation.
Yet He commanded the clouds above
and opened the doors of the heavens.
He rained down manna for them to eat;
He gave them grain from heaven.
Man ate the bread of angels;
He sent them food in abundance. 𝙍
He stirred the east wind from the heavens
and drove the south wind by His might.
He rained meat on them like dust,
and winged birds like the sand of the sea.
He felled them in the midst of their camp,
all around their dwellings.
So they ate and were well filled,
for He gave them what they craved.
Yet before they had filled their desire,
with the food still in their mouths,
God’s anger flared against them,
and He put to death their strongest
and subdued the young men of Israel. 𝙍
In spite of all this, they kept on sinning;
despite His wonderful works, they did not believe.
So He ended their days in futility,
and their years in sudden terror.
When He slew them, they would seek Him;
they repented and searched for God.
And they remembered that God was their Rock,
that God Most High was their Redeemer. 𝙍
But they deceived Him with their mouths,
and lied to Him with their tongues.
Their hearts were disloyal to Him,
and they were unfaithful to His covenant.
And yet He was compassionate;
He forgave their iniquity and did not destroy them.
He often restrained His anger
and did not unleash His full wrath.
He remembered that they were but flesh,
a passing breeze that does not return.
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: How awesome are your deeds, O Lord!
Psalm prayer
God our deliverer,
as you led our ancestors through the wilderness,
so lead us through the wilderness of this world,
that we may be saved through Christ forever.
Old Testament reading
2 Kings 1:2-17
Now Ahaziah had fallen through the lattice of his upper room in Samaria and injured himself. So he sent messengers and instructed them: “Go inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I will recover from this injury.”
But the angel of the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite, “Go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria and ask them, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are on your way to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron?’ Therefore this is what the LORD says: ‘You will not get up from the bed on which you are lying. You will surely die.’ ”
So Elijah departed.
When the messengers returned to the king, he asked them, “Why have you returned?”
They replied, “A man came up to meet us and said, ‘Go back to the king who sent you and tell him that this is what the LORD says: Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending these men to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you will not get up from the bed on which you are lying. You will surely die.’ ”
The king asked them, “What sort of man came up to meet you and spoke these words to you?”
“He was a hairy man,” they answered, “with a leather belt around his waist.”
“It was Elijah the Tishbite,” said the king.
Then King Ahaziah sent to Elijah a captain with his company of fifty men. So the captain went up to Elijah, who was sitting on top of a hill, and said to him, “Man of God, the king declares, ‘Come down!’ ”
Elijah answered the captain, “If I am a man of God, may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men.”
And fire came down from heaven and consumed the captain and his fifty men.
So the king sent to Elijah another captain with his fifty men. And the captain said to Elijah, “Man of God, the king declares, ‘Come down at once!’ ”
Again Elijah replied, “If I am a man of God, may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men.”
And the fire of God came down from heaven and consumed the captain and his fifty men.
So the king sent a third captain with his fifty men. And the third captain went up, fell on his knees before Elijah, and begged him, “Man of God, may my life and the lives of these fifty servants please be precious in your sight. Behold, fire has come down from heaven and consumed the first two captains of fifty, with all their men. But now may my life be precious in your sight.”
Then the angel of the LORD said to Elijah, “Go down with him. Do not be afraid of him.”
So Elijah got up and went down with him to the king.
And Elijah said to King Ahaziah, “This is what the LORD says: Is there really no God in Israel for you to inquire of His word? Is that why you have sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you will not get up from the bed on which you are lying. You will surely die.”
So Ahaziah died according to the word of the LORD that Elijah had spoken. And since he had no son, Jehoram succeeded him in the second year of the reign of Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat over Judah.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
Acts 24:1-23
Five days later the high priest Ananias came down with some elders and a lawyer named Tertullus, who presented to the governor their case against Paul.
When Paul had been called in, Tertullus opened the prosecution: “Because of you, we have enjoyed a lasting peace, and your foresight has brought improvements to this nation. In every way and everywhere, most excellent Felix, we acknowledge this with all gratitude. But in order not to burden you any further, I beg your indulgence to hear us briefly.
We have found this man to be a pestilence, stirring up dissension among the Jews all over the world. He is a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes, and he even tried to desecrate the temple; so we seized him. By examining him yourself, you will be able to learn the truth about all our charges against him.”
The Jews concurred, asserting that these charges were true.
When the governor motioned for Paul to speak, he began his response: “Knowing that you have been a judge over this nation for many years, I gladly make my defense. You can verify for yourself that no more than twelve days ago I went up to Jerusalem to worship. Yet my accusers did not find me debating with anyone in the temple or riling up a crowd in the synagogues or in the city. Nor can they prove to you any of their charges against me.
I do confess to you, however, that I worship the God of our fathers according to the Way, which they call a sect. I believe everything that is laid down by the Law and written in the Prophets, and I have the same hope in God that they themselves cherish, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked. In this hope, I strive always to maintain a clear conscience before God and man.
After several years, then, I returned to Jerusalem to bring alms to my people and to present offerings. At the time they found me in the temple, I was ceremonially clean and was not inciting a crowd or an uproar. But there are some Jews from the province of Asia who ought to appear before you and bring charges, if they have anything against me. Otherwise, let these men state for themselves any crime they found in me when I stood before the Sanhedrin, unless it was this one thing I called out as I stood in their presence: ‘It is concerning the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial before you today.’ ”
Then Felix, who was well informed about the Way, adjourned the hearing and said, “When Lysias the commander comes, I will decide your case.” He ordered the centurion to keep Paul under guard, but to allow him some freedom and permit his friends to minister to his needs.
Silence may be kept.
The Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah)
Luke 1:68-79
𝙍: You have raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of your servant David.
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: You have raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of your servant David.
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:
Local government, community leaders
All who provide local services
Those who work with young or elderly people
Schools, colleges and universities
Emergency and rescue organizations
Other intercessions and supplications may be offered as the Holy Spirit leads.
Response
Father, by your Spirit
Bring in your kingdom.
Silence may be kept.
Collect of the day
Almighty God,
you have made us for yourself,
and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you:
pour your love into our hearts and draw us to yourself,
and so bring us at last to your heavenly city
where we shall see you face to face;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.
Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
As our Savior taught us, so we pray
Our Father 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
The Lord bless us, and preserve us from all evil, and keep us in eternal life.
Amen.