Shane Raynor 3/10/26 Shane Raynor 3/10/26

Wed. morning Mar. 11

Opening response

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

Hear my voice according to your lovingkindness.
O LORD, give me life according to your judgment.

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

Give to Our God Immortal Praise

Words: Isaac Watts (1719)
Music: John Haton (c. 1793)
Our Great Redeemer’s Praise (#13)

Give to our God immortal praise
Mercy and truth are all His ways
Wonders of grace to God belong
Repeat His mercies in your song

He built the earth, He spread the sky
And fixed the starry lights on high
Wonders of grace to God belong
Repeat His mercies in your song

He fills the sun with morning light
He bids the moon direct the night
His mercies ever shall endure
When suns and moons shall shine no more

He sent His Son with pow'r to save
From guilt and darkness and the grave
Wonders of grace to God belong
Repeat His mercies in your song

Through this vast world He guides our feet
And leads us to His heav'nly seat
His mercies ever shall endure
When this our world shall be no more

Confession of Sin

Seek the LORD while He may be found,
call upon Him while He is near.
Let the wicked forsake his way,
and the unrighteous man his thoughts;
and let him return to the LORD, and He will have mercy upon him,
and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.

cf Isaiah 55

A time of silence and self-examination may be kept.

Lord God, I have sinned against you; I have done what is evil in your sight. I am sorry and repent. Have mercy on me according to your lovingkindness. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. Renew a right spirit within me, and restore unto me the joy of your salvation, through Jesus Christ my 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.

Blessed be the LORD,
because He has heard the voice of my supplications.
Therefore my heart rejoices,
and with my song I will thank Him.

cf Psalm 28:7,9

Psalm 38

𝙍: Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation.

O LORD, do not rebuke me in Your wrath,
nor chasten me in Your hot displeasure!
For Your arrows pierce me,
and Your hand presses down on me.
There is no soundness in my flesh because of Your indignation,
nor is there health in my bones because of my sin.
For my iniquities have gone over my head;
like a heavy burden they are too heavy for me.

𝙍: Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation.

My wounds grow foul and fester
because of my foolishness.
I am bent down, I am bowed down greatly;
I go around mourning all day long.
For my loins are filled with burning,
and there is no soundness in my flesh.
I am feeble and severely broken;
I groan because of the disquietness of my heart.

𝙍: Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation.

O Lord, all my longing is before You,
and my sighing is not hidden from You.
My heart throbs, my strength fails me;
as for the light of my eyes, it also has gone from me.
My friends and my companions stand aloof from my affliction,
and relatives stand far off.
Those who seek my life lay their snares;
those who seek my harm speak of destruction,
and plan treachery all day long.

𝙍: Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation.

But I, like a deaf man, do not hear;
I am like a mute who does not speak.
Thus I am like a man who does not hear,
and in whose mouth is no response.
For in You, O LORD, do I hope;
it is You, O Lord my God, who will answer.
For I said, “Hear me, lest they rejoice over me,
lest, when my foot slips, they exalt themselves against me.”

𝙍: Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation.

For I am ready to fall,
and my pain is continually before me.
I confess my iniquity;
I am sorry for my sin.
But my enemies are vigorous, and they are strong;
and those who wrongfully hate me are many.
Those who render evil for good attack me
because I pursue good.

Do not forsake me, O LORD;
O my God, do not be far from me.
Make haste to help me,
O Lord, my salvation.

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: Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation.

Psalm prayer

Almighty Lord and Savior, behold with pity the wounds of your people; do not forsake us, sinful as we are, but for the sake of the passion of your Beloved One, Jesus, come quickly to our aid, for his mercy’s sake.

Old Testament reading

Genesis 49:1-32

Jacob called to his sons and said, “Gather yourselves together, so that I may tell you what will befall you in the last days.

Gather yourselves together and hear, sons of Jacob,
and listen to your father Israel.

Reuben, you are my firstborn,
my might and the beginning of my strength,
the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power.
Unstable as water, you shall not excel,
because you went up to your father’s bed;
then you defiled it—he went up to my couch.

Simeon and Levi are brothers;
weapons of violence are their swords.
Let my soul not enter into their council;
let my glory not be united with their assembly;
for in their anger they killed men
and in their self-will they hamstrung oxen.
Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce;
and their wrath, for it is cruel!
I will divide them in Jacob

and scatter them in Israel.

Judah, your brothers shall praise you;
your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies;
your father’s sons will bow down before you.
Judah is a lion’s cub;
from the prey, my son, you have gone up.
He crouches and lies down like a lion;
and as a lion, who dares rouse him?
The scepter shall not depart from Judah,
nor a lawgiver from between his feet,
until Shiloh comes;
and to him will be the obedience of the people.
He tethers his foal to the vine,
and his colt to the choicest vine;
he washes his garments in wine,
his clothes in the blood of grapes.
His eyes are darker than wine,
and his teeth whiter than milk.

Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea;
and he shall be a haven of ships.
His border shall be at Sidon.

Issachar is a strong donkey,
lying down between two burdens;
he saw that a resting place was good,
and that the land was pleasant;
so he bowed his shoulder to bear the burden
and became a slave to forced labor.

Dan shall judge his people
as one of the tribes of Israel.
Dan shall be a serpent by the road,
a viper on the path,
that bites the horse’s heels
so that its rider will fall backward.

I wait for Your salvation, O LORD!

Gad shall be attacked by raiding bands,
but he shall raid at their heels.

Asher’s food shall be rich,
and he shall yield royal delicacies.

Naphtali is a doe set loose;
he gives beautiful words.

Joseph is a fruitful bough,
a fruitful bough by a spring,
whose branches run over the wall.
The archers bitterly attacked him,
they shot at him and hated him.
But his bow remained firm.
His arms were agile
because of the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob,
because of the Shepherd, the rock of Israel,
because of the God of your father who will help you,
and by the Almighty who will bless you
with blessings from heaven above,
blessings from the deep that lies beneath,
the blessings of the breasts and the womb.
The blessings of your father have surpassed
the blessings of my fathers,
up to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills.
They will be on the head of Joseph,
and on the crown of the head of him who was set apart from his brothers.

Benjamin is a ravenous wolf;
in the morning he devours the prey,
and at night he divides the spoil.”

These are all the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them when he blessed them. He blessed them, each with the blessing appropriate to him.

Then he charged them and said to them, “I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought along with the field from Ephron the Hittite as a burial place. They buried Abraham and Sarah his wife there. They buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife there, and I buried Leah there. The field and the cave that is there were purchased from the sons of Heth.”

Silence may be kept.

New Testament reading

Hebrews 6:13-20

For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could vow by no one greater, He vowed by Himself, saying, “Surely I will bless you, and surely I will multiply you.” So after Abraham had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.

For men indeed swear by a greater authority than themselves, and for them an oath of confirmation ends all dispute. So God, wanting to show more abundantly the immutability of His counsel to the heirs of promise, confirmed it by an oath. So that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. We have this hope as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, which enters the inner sanctuary behind the veil. This is where Jesus has entered for us as a forerunner, since He has become the everlasting High Priest in the order of Melchizedek.

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:

Those preparing for baptism and confirmation
Those serving through leadership
Those looking for forgiveness
Those misled by the false gods of this present age
All who are hungry

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

Response

Father, hear our prayer,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Silence may be kept.

Collect of the day

Almighty God, whose beloved Son did not ascend to joy without first enduring pain, and did not enter into glory before being crucified: Grant us mercy, that as we follow the way of the cross, we may discover it to be the path of true life and lasting peace; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives 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, 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 God our Redeemer show us compassion and love.
Amen.

Shane Raynor 3/9/26 Shane Raynor 3/9/26

Tue. morning Mar. 10

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Opening response

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

Hear my voice according to your lovingkindness.
O LORD, give me life according to your judgment.

Prayer of thanksgiving

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

Spirit of God, Descend upon My Heart

Words: George Croly (1867)
Music: Frederick C. Atkinson (1870)
Our Great Redeemer’s Praise (#294)

Spirit of God, descend upon my heart;
Wean it from earth; through all its pulses move.
Stoop to my weakness, mighty as Thou art,
And make me love Thee as I ought to love.

Hast Thou not bid me love Thee, God and King?
All, all Thine own, soul, heart, and strength and mind.
I see Thy cross; there teach my heart to cling:
Oh, let me seek Thee, and, oh, let me find!

Teach me to love Thee as Thine angels love,
One holy passion filling all my frame;
The kindling of the heav’n-descended Dove,
My heart an altar, and Thy love the flame.

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 6

𝙍: Return, O LORD, rescue my soul.

O LORD, do not rebuke me in Your anger,
nor discipline me in the heat of Your anger.
Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am weak;
O LORD, heal me, for my bones are shaking.
My soul is greatly troubled,
but You, O LORD—how long?

Return, O LORD, rescue my soul.
Save me for the sake of Your lovingkindness.
For in death there is no remembrance of You;
in Sheol who will give You thanks?

I am weary with my groaning;
all night I flood my bed with tears;
I drench my couch with my weeping.
My eyes waste away from grief;
they grow weak because of all my enemies.

𝙍: Return, O LORD, rescue my soul.

Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity;
for the LORD has heard the voice of my weeping.
The LORD has heard my supplication;
the LORD accepts my prayer.
May all my enemies be ashamed and greatly troubled;
may they turn back and be suddenly ashamed.

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: Return, O LORD, rescue my soul.

Psalm Prayer

Lord Jesus Christ, may the tears shed in your earthly life be balm for all who weep, and may the prayers of your pilgrimage give strength to all who suffer; for your mercy’s sake.

Psalm 9

𝙍: You, LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You.

I will give thanks to You, O LORD, with my whole heart;
I will declare all Your marvelous works.
I will be glad and rejoice in You;
I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.

When my enemies are turned back,
they will stumble and perish at Your presence.
For You have maintained my right and my cause;
You sat on the throne judging what is right.

𝙍: You, LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You.

You have rebuked the nations,
You have destroyed the wicked,
You have wiped out their name forever and ever.
O enemy, destructions are finished forever!
You have destroyed cities;
even the memory of them has perished.

But the LORD remains forever;
He has established His throne for judgment.
He will judge the world in righteousness;
He will give judgment to the peoples in uprightness.
The LORD also will be a refuge for the oppressed,
a refuge in times of trouble.
Those who know Your name will put their trust in You,
for You, LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You.

𝙍: You, LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You.

Sing praises to the LORD who dwells in Zion;
declare His deeds among the people.
He who avenges deaths remembers them;
He does not forget the cry of the humble.

Be gracious to me, O LORD; consider my trouble from those who hate me,
O You who lifts me up from the gates of death,
that I may recount all Your praise
in the gates of the daughter of Zion,
that I may rejoice in Your salvation.

The nations have sunk down in the pit that they made;
their own foot is caught in the net which they hid.
The LORD is known by the judgment that He executes;
the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands.

𝙍: You, LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You.

The wicked will depart to Sheol,
all the nations that forget God.
For the needy will not always be forgotten,
nor will the hope of the poor perish forever.

Arise, O LORD, may mortals not prevail;
let the nations be judged in Your sight.
Put them in fear, O LORD,
that the nations themselves may know that they are mortals.

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, LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You.

Psalm prayer

Remember, Lord, all who cry to you from death’s dark gates; do not forget those whom the world forgets, but raise your faithful ones to Zion’s gate, with your all-conquering Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Old Testament reading

Genesis 47:28-48:22

And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years, so the years of Jacob’s life were one hundred and forty-seven years. When the time drew near when Israel would die, he called his son Joseph and said to him, “If now I have found grace in your sight, please put your hand under my thigh and deal kindly and truly with me. Please do not bury me in Egypt, but let me lie with my fathers. Carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burial place.”

And he said, “I will do as you have said.”

And he said, “Swear to me,” and he swore to him. Then Israel bowed himself at the head of his bed.

After this, Joseph was told, “Behold, your father is ill.” So he took his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim with him. When Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph is coming to you,” Israel strengthened himself and sat up in the bed.

Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me, and He said to me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will make you into a multitude of people and will give this land to your descendants after you for an everlasting possession.’

“Now your two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine. Any children you have after them will be yours and will be called by the names of their brothers in their inheritance. 7As for me, when I came from Paddan, Rachel died beside me in the land of Canaan on the way, when there was still some distance to get to Ephrath, and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).”

Then Israel saw Joseph’s sons and said, “Whose are these?”

And Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons, whom God has given me in this place.”

And he said, “Please bring them to me, and I will bless them.”

Now the eyes of Israel were dim with age, so that he could not see. So Joseph brought them near to him, and he kissed them and embraced them.

Israel said to Joseph, “I never expected to see your face; and behold, God has let me see your children also.”

So Joseph took them from beside his knees, and he bowed down with his face to the ground. Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them near him. Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on Ephraim’s head, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh’s head, crossing his hands, for Manasseh was the firstborn.

He blessed Joseph and said,

“God, before whom my fathers
Abraham and Isaac walked,
the God who fed me
all my life long to this day,
the angel who redeemed me from all evil,
bless the boys;
let them be called by my name,
and the name of my fathers, Abraham and Isaac;
and let them grow into a multitude
in the midst of the earth.”

When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him, and he took hold of his father’s hand to remove it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father, for this one is the firstborn. Put your right hand on his head.”

His father refused and said, “I know it, my son, I know it. He will also become a people, and he will also be great, but truly his younger brother will be greater than he, and his descendants will become a multitude of nations.” He blessed them that day, saying,

“By you Israel will bless, saying,
‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.’ ”

So he set Ephraim before Manasseh.

Then Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am about to die, but God will be with you and return you again to the land of your fathers. Moreover, I have given to you one portion more than your brothers, which I took out of the hand of the Amorites with my sword and my bow.”

Silence may be kept.

New Testament reading

Hebrews 5:11-6:12

Concerning this we have much to say that is hard to explain, since you have become hard of hearing. For though by now you should be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God and have come to need milk rather than solid food. Everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a baby. But solid food belongs to those who are mature, for those who through practice have powers of discernment that are trained to distinguish good from evil.

Therefore, leaving the elementary principles of the teaching of Christ, let us go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. This we will do if God permits.

For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to be renewed once more to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and subject Him to public shame. For land that drinks in the rain that often falls upon it and bears a crop useful to those for whom it is cultivated receives a blessing from God. But land that bears thorns and thistles is rejected and near to being cursed. Its destiny is to be burned.

But though we speak in this manner, we are persuaded of better things for you, things that accompany salvation, for God is not unjust so as to forget your work and labor of love that you have shown for His name, in that you have ministered to the saints and continue ministering. We desire that every one of you show the same diligence for the full assurance of hope to the end, so that you may not be lazy, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

Silence may be kept.

The Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah)

Luke 1:68-79

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

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 may be offered for:

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

Prayers may include the following concerns:

Those preparing for baptism and confirmation
Those serving through leadership
Those looking for forgiveness
Those misled by the false gods of this present age
All who are hungry

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

Response

Lord of life
In your mercy, hear us.

Silence may be kept.

Collect of the day

The Lord’s Prayer

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

Conclusion

May God our Redeemer show us compassion and love.
Amen.

Shane Raynor 3/8/26 Shane Raynor 3/8/26

Mon. morning Mar. 9

Opening response

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

Hear my voice according to your lovingkindness.
O LORD, give me life according to your judgment.

Prayer of thanksgiving

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

I Must Tell Jesus

Words and Music: Elisha A. Hoffman (1839-1929)
Our Great Redeemer’s Praise (#383)

I must tell Jesus all of my trials;
I cannot bear these burdens alone;
In my distress He kindly will help me;
He ever loves and cares for His own.

Refrain:
I must tell Jesus!
I must tell Jesus!
I cannot bear my burdens alone;
I must tell Jesus!
I must tell Jesus!
Jesus can help me, Jesus alone.

I must tell Jesus all of my troubles;
He is a kind, compassionate friend;
If I but ask Him, He will deliver,
Make of my troubles quickly an end. [Refrain]

Tempted and tried, I need a great Savior,
One who can help my burdens to bear;
I must tell Jesus, I must tell Jesus;
He all my cares and sorrows will share. [Refrain]

O how the world to evil allures me!
O how my heart is tempted to sin!
I must tell Jesus, and He will help me
Over the world the vict'ry to win. [Refrain]

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 5

𝙍: You, LORD, will bless the righteous.

Give ear to my words, O LORD;
consider my meditation.
Listen to the voice of my cry,
my King and my God,
for to You will I pray.

O LORD, in the morning You will hear my voice;
in the morning I will direct my prayer to You,
and I will look up expectantly.
For You are not a God who has pleasure in wickedness,
nor will evil dwell with You.

𝙍: You, LORD, will bless the righteous.

Those who boast will not stand in Your sight;
You hate all workers of iniquity.
You will destroy those who speak lies;
the LORD abhors
the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.
But as for me, in the abundance of Your mercy
I will enter Your house;
in fear of You I will worship
at Your holy temple.

𝙍: You, LORD, will bless the righteous.

Lead me, O LORD, in Your righteousness
because of my enemies;
make Your way straight before me.
For there is no uprightness in their mouth;
destruction is in their midst;
their throat is an open tomb;
they flatter with their tongue.
Declare them guilty, O God;
let them fall by their own counsels;
cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions,
for they have rebelled against You.

𝙍: You, LORD, will bless the righteous.

But let all those who take refuge in You rejoice;
let them ever shout for joy,
because You defend them;
let those who love Your name be joyful in You.

For You, LORD, will bless the righteous;
You surround him with favor like a shield.

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, LORD, will bless the righteous.

Psalm Prayer

Lord, protect us from the deceit of flattering tongues and lying lips; give us words of life which speak your truth and bless your name; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Psalm 7

𝙍: Grant me justice, O LORD, according to my righteousness, and according to my integrity within me.

O LORD my God, in You I put my trust;
save me from all those who persecute me, and deliver me,
lest they tear my soul like a lion,
rending it in pieces, while there is none to deliver.

O LORD my God, if I have done this,
if there is iniquity in the palms of my hands,
if I have repaid evil to him who was at peace with me,
or have delivered my adversary without cause,
then may the enemy pursue my life and overtake me;
may my enemy trample my life to the ground,
and lay my honor in the dust.

𝙍: Grant me justice, O LORD, according to my righteousness, and according to my integrity within me.

Arise, O LORD, in Your anger;
rise up because of the rage of my adversaries,
and awaken Yourself for me; You have commanded justice.
So shall the congregation of the peoples surround You;
For their sakes, therefore, return on high.
The LORD will judge the peoples;
grant me justice, O LORD, according to my righteousness,
and according to my integrity within me.
May the evil of the wicked come to an end;
may You vindicate the righteous;
You are a righteous God who examines the minds and hearts.

𝙍: Grant me justice, O LORD, according to my righteousness, and according to my integrity within me.

My defense depends on God,
who saves the upright in heart.
God is a righteous judge,
and God has indignation every day.
If a man does not repent,
God will sharpen His sword;
He has bent His bow and made it ready.
He has prepared for Himself deadly weapons;
He makes His arrows flaming shafts.

𝙍: Grant me justice, O LORD, according to my righteousness, and according to my integrity within me.

Behold, the wicked man writhes in pain of iniquity;
he has conceived mischief and brought forth falsehood.
He who digs a hole and hollows it
will then fall into his own pit.
His mischief will return on his own head;
his violence will descend on the crown of his own head.

I will thank the LORD according to His righteousness,
and will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High.

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: Grant me justice, O LORD, according to my righteousness, and according to my integrity within me.

Psalm prayer

Lord, your justice turns evil on itself: move us to examine our hearts and repent of all duplicity; for the sake of Jesus Christ, our Judge and righteous Savior.

Old Testament reading

Genesis 47:1-27

Then Joseph went and told Pharaoh, “My father and my brothers and their flocks and their herds and all that they possess have come from the land of Canaan and are now in the land of Goshen.” He took five men from among his brothers and presented them before Pharaoh.

Pharaoh asked his brothers, “What is your occupation?”

And they said to Pharaoh, “Your servants are shepherds, both we and also our fathers.” They said to Pharaoh, “We have come to sojourn in the land, for your servants have no pasture for their flocks, because the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. Now therefore, please allow your servants to dwell in the land of Goshen.”

Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, saying, “Your father and your brothers have come to you. The land of Egypt is before you. Have your father and your brothers dwell in the best of the land. Have them dwell in the land of Goshen, and if you know any capable men among them, then put them in charge over my livestock.”

Then Joseph brought in Jacob his father and presented him to Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How old are you?”

And Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The days of the years of my pilgrimage are one hundred and thirty years. My days of the years of my life have been few and evil, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the lives of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.” And Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from his presence.

So Joseph settled his father and his brothers and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best part of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded. Joseph provided food for his father, his brothers, and his father’s entire household, according to the number of their children.

There was no food in all the land, for the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and all the land of Canaan languished because of the famine. Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan for the grain that they bought, and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house. When the money was all spent in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, “Give us food, for why should we die in your presence? For our money is gone.”

Joseph said, “Give your livestock, and I will give you food for your livestock, if your money is gone.” They brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them food in exchange for the horses, the flocks, the herds, and the donkeys; and he fed them with food in exchange for all their livestock for that year.

When that year was ended, they came to him the second year and said to him, “We will not hide it from our lord, that our money is all spent. Our lord also has our herds of livestock. There is nothing left in the sight of my lord but our bodies and our lands. Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for food, and we and our land will be slaves to Pharaoh. Also give us seed, so that we may live and not die, so that the land will not be desolate.”

So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, for every Egyptian man sold his field because the famine was severe on them. So the land became Pharaoh’s. As for the people, he removed them to cities from one end of the borders of Egypt to the other end. Only the land of the priests did he not buy, for the priests had an allotment from Pharaoh, and they lived off their allotment that Pharaoh gave them. Therefore they did not sell their lands.

Then Joseph said to the people, “Behold, I have bought you and your land today for Pharaoh; here is seed for you so you may sow the land. At the harvest, you must give one-fifth to Pharaoh and four parts will be your own, as seed for the field and for your food and for those of your households and for food for your little ones.”

They said, “You have saved our lives. Let us find grace in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh’s slaves.”

So Joseph made it a law over the land of Egypt to this day, that Pharaoh should have one-fifth, except from the land of the priests, which did not become Pharaoh’s.

Israel lived in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen, and they had possessions there and grew and became very numerous.

Silence may be kept.

New Testament reading

Hebrews 4:14-5:10

Since then we have a great High Priest who has passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who was in every sense tempted like we are, yet without sin. Let us then come with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

For every high priest chosen from among men is appointed to represent men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. He is able to have compassion on the ignorant and on those who are wayward, for he himself is also subject to weakness. Because of this he must offer sacrifices for his own sins, just as he does for the people. No man takes this honor for himself, but he who is called by God receives it, just as Aaron did.

So also Christ did not glorify Himself to be made a High Priest, but it was He who said to Him:

“You are My Son;
today I have become Your Father.”

As He also says in another place:

“You are a priest forever
in the order of Melchizedek.”

In the days of His flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death. He was heard because of His godly fear. Though He was a Son, He learned obedience through the things that He suffered, and being made complete, He became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey Him, being designated by God a High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek.

Silence may be kept.

The Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah)

Luke 1:68-79

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

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 may be offered for:

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

Prayers may include the following concerns:

Those preparing for baptism and confirmation
Those serving through leadership
Those looking for forgiveness
Those misled by the false gods of this present age
All who are hungry

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

Response

Lord, in your mercy
hear our prayer.

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 God our Redeemer show us compassion and love.
Amen.