Shane Raynor 3/22/26 Shane Raynor 3/22/26

Mon. morning Mar. 23

Opening response

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

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

Prayer of thanksgiving

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

Blessed be God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Blessed be God forever.

The night has passed, and the day lies open before us; let us pray with one heart and mind.

Silence is kept.

As we rejoice in the gift of this new day, so may the light of your presence, O God, set our hearts on fire with love for you; now and forever.
Amen.

Hymn

Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing

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

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

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

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

Confession of Sin

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

Our Lord Jesus Christ said:

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

Amen. Lord, have mercy.

After a period of reflection

Come, let us return to the Lord and say:

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

cf Hosea 6

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

Psalm 73

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Psalm prayer

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

Psalm 121

𝙍: The LORD will keep you from all evil.

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

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

𝙍: The LORD will keep you from all evil.

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

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

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

𝙍: The LORD will keep you from all evil.

Psalm prayer

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

Old Testament reading

Exodus 8:1-19

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

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

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

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

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

And he said, “Tomorrow.”

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

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

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

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

Silence may be kept.

New Testament reading

Hebrews 11:17-31

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Silence may be kept.

The Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah)

Luke 1:68-79

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

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

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

Brief silence.

The Apostle’s Creed

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

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

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

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

Amen.

Intercession and thanksgiving

Prayers may be offered for:

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

Prayers may include the following concerns:

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

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

Response

Lord, in your mercy
hear our prayer.

Silence may be kept.

Collect of the day

Most merciful God, who by the death and resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ delivered and saved the world: grant that by faith in him who suffered on the cross we may triumph in the power of his victory; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer

Standing at the foot of the cross, as our Savior taught us, so we pray

Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those
who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
forever. Amen.

Conclusion

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

Shane Raynor 3/21/26 Shane Raynor 3/21/26

Sun. morning Mar. 22

Opening response

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

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

Prayer of thanksgiving

Blessed 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

Deeper, Deeper, in the Love of Jesus

Words: Charles P. Jones (1900)
Music: Charles P. Jones (1900)
Our Great Redeemer’s Praise (#328)

Deeper, deeper in the love of Jesus
daily let me go;
higher, higher in the school of wisdom,
more of grace to know.

Refrain:
O deeper yet, I pray,
and higher ev'ry day,
and wiser, blessed Lord,
in Thy precious, holy Word.

Deeper, deeper! Blessed Holy Spirit,
take me deeper still,
till my life is wholly lost in Jesus,
and His perfect will. [Refrain]

Deeper, deeper! Though it cost hard trials,
deeper let me go!
Rooted in the holy love of Jesus,
let me fruitful grow. [Refrain]

Deeper, higher, ev'ry day in Jesus,
till all conflict past
finds me conqu’ror, and in His own image
Perfected at last. [Refrain]

Confession of Sin

When we cry to the LORD in our trouble,
He will save us from our distress.

God will bring us out of darkness
and out of the shadow of death.

Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

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

May the Father forgive us by the death of his Son, and strengthen us to live in the power of the Spirit all our days.
Amen.

Let us give thanks to the LORD for His goodness,
and for His wonderful works to all people!

Let us offer sacrifices of thanksgiving,
and declare God’s works with rejoicing.

cf Psalm 107

Psalm 86

𝙍: All nations whom You have made shall come and worship before You, O Lord.

Incline Your ear, O LORD, and answer me,
for I am poor and needy.
Preserve my soul, for I am godly;
You are my God; save Your servant
who trusts in You.
Be merciful to me, O Lord,
for to You I cry all day long.
Make joyful the soul of Your servant,
for to You, O Lord,
I lift my soul.

𝙍: All nations whom You have made shall come and worship before You, O Lord.

For You, O Lord, are good and forgiving,
abounding in mercy to all who call on You.
Give ear, O LORD, to my prayer;
and attend to the voice of my supplications.
In the day of my trouble I will call upon You,
for You will answer me.

𝙍: All nations whom You have made shall come and worship before You, O Lord.

Among the gods there is none like You, O Lord;
nor are there any works like Your works.
All nations whom You have made
shall come and worship before You, O Lord,
and shall glorify Your name.
For You are great and do wondrous deeds;
You alone are God.

𝙍: All nations whom You have made shall come and worship before You, O Lord.

Teach me Your way, O LORD;
I will walk in Your truth;
unite my heart
to fear Your name.
I will give thanks to You, O Lord my God, with all my heart,
and I will glorify Your name forever.
For great is Your mercy toward me;
You have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.

𝙍: All nations whom You have made shall come and worship before You, O Lord.

O God, insolent men have risen against me;
a band of violent men have sought my life,
and they have not set You before them.
But You, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God,
slow to anger and abundant in mercy and truth.
Turn to me and have mercy on me;
give Your strength to Your servant,
and save the son of Your maidservant.
Show me a sign of Your favor,
that those who hate me may see it and be ashamed,
because You, LORD, have helped me and comforted me.

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: All nations whom You have made shall come and worship before You, O Lord.

Psalm prayer

God of mercy, who in your great love drew your Son from the depths of the Pit, bring your people from death to life, that we may rejoice in your compassion and praise you now and forever.

Old Testament reading

Jeremiah 31:27-37

Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and with the seed of beast. It shall come to pass that as I have watched over them to pluck up, and to break down, and to throw down, and to destroy, and to afflict, so I will watch over them, to build, and to plant, says the LORD. In those days they will say no more:

“The fathers have eaten sour grapes,
and the children’s teeth are set on edge.”

But everyone will die for his own iniquity. Every man that eats the sour grape, his teeth will be set on edge.

Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD,
when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah.
It will not be according to the covenant
that I made with their fathers
in the day that I took them by the hand
to bring them out of the land of Egypt,
because they broke My covenant,
although I was a husband to them,
says the LORD.
But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel
after those days, says the LORD:
I will put My law within them
and write it in their hearts;
and I will be their God,
and they shall be My people.
They shall teach no more every man his neighbor
and every man his brother, saying, “Know the LORD,”
for they all shall know Me,
from the least of them to the greatest of them,
says the LORD,
for I will forgive their iniquity,
and I will remember their sin no more.

Thus says the LORD,

who gives the sun
for a light by day
and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars
for a light by night,
who stirs up the sea
so that the waves roar,
the LORD of Hosts is His name:
If those ordinances depart from before Me,
says the LORD,
then the seed of Israel also will cease
from being a nation before Me forever.

Thus says the LORD:

If heaven above can be measured,
and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath,
I will also cast off all the seed of Israel
for all that they have done,
says the LORD.

Silence may be kept.

New Testament reading

John 12:20-33

Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the feast. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we want to see Jesus.” Philip came and told Andrew, and in turn Andrew and Philip told Jesus.

Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit. He who loves his life will lose it. And he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me. Where I am, there will My servant be also. If anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.

“Now My soul is troubled. What shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? Instead, for this reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name.”

Then a voice came from heaven, saying, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” The crowd that stood by and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to Him.”

Jesus answered, “This voice came not for My sake, but for your sakes. Now judgment is upon this world. Now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And if I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to Myself.” He said this to signify by what kind of death He would die.

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:

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

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

Response

Lord of life
In your mercy, hear us.

Silence may be kept.

Collect of the day

The Lord’s Prayer

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

Conclusion

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

Shane Raynor 3/20/26 Shane Raynor 3/20/26

Sat. morning Mar. 21

Opening response

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

Hear my voice, O LORD, according to your loving devotion;
give me life according to your justice.

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

Lead On, O King Eternal

Words: Ernest W. Shurtleff (1887)
Music: Henry T. Smart (1835)
Our Great Redeemer’s Praise (#478)

Lead on, O King eternal,
the day of march has come;
henceforth in fields of conquest
your tents will be our home.
Through days of preparation
your grace has made us strong;
and now, O King eternal,
we lift our battle song.

Lead on, O King eternal,
till sin's fierce war shall cease,
and holiness shall whisper
the sweet amen of peace.
For not with swords' loud clashing
or roll of stirring drums
with deeds of love and mercy
the heavenly kingdom comes.

Lead on, O King eternal;
we follow, not with fears,
for gladness breaks like morning
where'er your face appears.
Your cross is lifted o'er us,
we journey in its light;
the crown awaits the conquest;
lead on, O God of might.

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 32

𝙍: Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you righteous ones.

Blessed is he
whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered.
Blessed is the man
against whom the LORD imputes no iniquity,
and in whose spirit there is no deceit.

When I kept silent,
my body wasted away
through my groaning all day long.
For day and night
Your hand was heavy upon me;
my strength was turned
into the drought of summer.

𝙍: Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you righteous ones.

I acknowledged my sin to You,
and my iniquity I did not conceal.
I said, “I will confess
my transgressions to the LORD,”
and You forgave
the iniquity of my sin.

For this cause everyone who is godly will pray to You
in a time when You may be found;
surely in the flood of great waters,
they shall not reach him.
You are my hiding place;
You will preserve me from trouble;
You will surround me with songs of deliverance.

𝙍: Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you righteous ones.

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will counsel you with my eye upon you.
Do not be like the horse or like the mule,
which have no understanding,
which must be restrained with bit and bridle,
or they will not come near you.
Many are the sorrows of the wicked,
but lovingkindness will surround
the man who trusts in the LORD.

Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you righteous ones;
and shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart!

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: Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you righteous ones.

Psalm prayer

Give us honest hearts, O God, and send your kindly Spirit to help us confess our sins and bring us the peace of your forgiveness; in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Old Testament reading

Exodus 7:8-25

Now the LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, “When Pharaoh shall speak to you, saying, ‘Show a miracle,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your rod, and throw it before Pharaoh,’ and it shall become a serpent.”

So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh, and they did what the LORD had commanded. And Aaron threw down his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became a serpent. Then Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers. Then the magicians of Egypt likewise performed with their secret arts. For every man threw down his rod, and they became serpents. But Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods. Nonetheless, Pharaoh’s heart hardened so that he would not listen to them, just as the LORD had said.

The LORD said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is hardened. He refuses to let the people go. Go to Pharaoh in the morning as he goes out to the water, and you shall stand by the river’s bank to meet him. You must take the rod which was turned to a serpent in your hand. Then you are to say to him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to you, saying, “Let My people go, so that they may serve Me in the wilderness.” But up to this point you have not listened! Thus says the LORD, “In this you shall know that I am the LORD: Behold, I will strike the waters of the Nile with the rod that is in my hand, and they shall be turned to blood. And the fish that are in the river shall die, and the river shall stink so that the Egyptians shall be weary of drinking the river’s water.” ’ ”

Then the LORD spoke to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your rod, and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, over their canals, over their ponds, and over all their pools of water, so that they may become blood. And there will be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.’ ”

Moses and Aaron did so, just as the LORD commanded. And he lifted up the rod and struck the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants, and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood. The fish that were in the river died, the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink of the water of the river. Blood was everywhere throughout the land of Egypt.

Nevertheless, the magicians of Egypt did the same with their secret arts, and Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he did not listen to them, as the LORD had said. Then Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he did not concern himself with this either. So all the Egyptians dug around about the river for water to drink, because they could not drink of the water of the river.

Seven days passed after the LORD had struck the river.

Silence may be kept.

New Testament reading

Hebrews 11:1-16

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the men of old obtained a good report.

By faith we understand that the ages were set by the word of God, so that things that are seen were not made out of things which are visible.

By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain offered. Through this he was approved as righteous, with God testifying concerning his gifts. He still speaks through his faith, though he is dead.

By faith Enoch was taken to heaven so that he would not see death. He was not found, because God took him away. For before he was taken, he had this commendation, that he pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please God, for he who comes to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who diligently seek Him.

By faith Noah, being divinely warned about things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark to save his family, by which he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out into a place which he would later receive as an inheritance. He went out not knowing where he was going. By faith he dwelt in the promised land, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs of the same promise, for he was looking for a city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. By faith Sarah herself also received the ability to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised. Therefore from one man, who was as good as dead, sprang so many, a multitude as the stars of the sky and innumerable as the sand by the seashore.

These all died in faith not having received the promises, but having seen them from afar were assured of them, embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. Those who say such things declare plainly that they are looking for a homeland. And certainly, if they had been thinking of the country out of which they came, they might have had the opportunity to return. But they desired a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.

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

Loving God, we look to you.
Receive our prayer.

Silence may be kept.

Collect of the day

Merciful Lord, absolve your people from their offenses, that through your bountiful goodness we may all be delivered from the chains of those sins which by our frailty we have committed; grant this, heavenly Father, for Jesus Christ’s sake, our blessed Lord and Savior, 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

Conclusion

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