Wednesday morning June 28

Thursday morning
Tuesday morning

Preparation

Opening response

Lord, open our lips
and our mouth will 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

Partners of a glorious hope

Charles Wesley
           
Partners of a glorious hope,
Lift your hearts and voices up!
Nobly let us bear the strife,
Keep the holiness, of life;
 
Still forget the things behind,
Follow Christ in heart and mind,
To the mark unwearied press,
Seize the crown of righteousness.
 
Jesus, fill us with thy love,
Never from our souls remove,
Heart to heart unite and bless,
Keep us in thy perfect peace!
 
In our lives our faith be known,
Faith by holy actions shown;
Faith that mountains can remove,
Faith that always works by love.

Confession of sin

The Lord is compassionate and merciful,
very patient, and full of faithful love.
He doesn’t deal with us according to our sin
or repay us according to our wrongdoing.
Because as high as heaven is above the earth,
that’s how large God’s faithful love is for those who honor him.
 
Silence is kept for reflection.
 
Holy God,
Holy and strong,
Holy and immortal,
have mercy upon us.

 
As far as east is from west—
that’s how far God has removed our sin from us.
 
As a father has compassion on his children,
that’s how the Lord feels compassion for those who honor him.
 
Let my whole being bless the Lord.
Let everything inside me bless his holy name.
 
Let my whole being bless the Lord,
and never forget all his good deeds.

The Word of God

Psalm 119:57-80

Refrain:
Lord, I know that your rules are right.
 
The Lord is my possession.
    I promise to do what you have said.
I’ve sought your favor with all my heart;
    have mercy on me according to your word.
I’ve considered my ways and turned my feet back to your laws.
I hurry to keep your commandments—
    I never put it off!
Though the wicked have surrounded me with their ropes,
    I haven’t forgotten your Instruction.
I get up in the middle of the night to give thanks to you
    because of your righteous rules.
I’m a friend to everyone who honors you
    and to all who keep your precepts.
Lord, the world is full of your faithful love!
    Teach me your statutes!
 
You have treated your servant well,
    Lord, according to your promise.
Teach me knowledge and good judgment
    because I’ve put my trust in your commandments.
Before I suffered, I took the wrong way,
    but now I do what you say.
You are good and you do good.
    Teach me your statutes!
The arrogant cover me with their lies,
    but I guard your precepts with all my heart.
Their hearts are unfeeling, like blubber,
    but I rejoice in your Instruction.
My suffering was good for me,
    because through it I learned your statutes.
The Instruction you’ve given to me is better
    than thousands of pieces of gold and silver!
 
Your hands have made me and set me in place.
    Help me understand so I can learn your commandments.
Then those who honor you will see me and be glad
    because I have waited for your promise.
Lord, I know that your rules are right
    and that you rightly made me suffer.
Please let your faithful love comfort me,
    according to what you’ve said to your servant.
Let your compassion come to me so I can live again,
    because your Instruction is my joy!
But let the arrogant be ashamed
    because they oppressed me with lies—
        meanwhile, I will be contemplating your precepts!
Let the people who honor you come back to me;
    let those who know your precepts return to me.
Let my heart be blameless in your statutes
    so that I am not put to shame.
 
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.

 
Refrain:
Lord, I know that your rules are right.

Psalm prayer

God our comforter,
send your Holy Spirit
to reveal your hidden mercy
even in our failures and troubles;
for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Old Testament reading
Job 22

Then Eliphaz from Teman answered:
 
Can a human being be useful to God?
    Can an intelligent person bring profit?
Does the Almighty delight in your innocence?
    Does he gain when you perfect your ways?
Does he rebuke you for your piety,
    bring you in for judgment?
Isn’t your wickedness massive,
    your iniquity endless?
You have taken payments from your family for no reason;
    stripped the naked, leaving no clothes;
    denied water to the thirsty,
    withheld bread from the starving.
(The powerful own land;
    the favored live in it.)
You have sent widows away empty;
    crushed orphans’ resources.
For this reason, snares surround you;
    sudden dread brings panic to you
    or a darkness that you can’t see;
    rushing water will cover you.
 
Isn’t God in the heights of heaven;
    see how high the topmost stars are?
You say: “What does God know?
    Can he judge through thick clouds?
    Clouds conceal him so he can’t see
        while he walks on heaven’s rim.”
Will you keep the ancient way
    traveled by sinful persons,
    who were snatched prematurely
    when a river flooded their foundations,
    who say to God, “Turn away from us;
            what can the Almighty do to us?”
Yet he filled their houses with good things;
    a sinner’s logic is beyond me.
The righteous see and rejoice;
    the innocent mock them:
    our enemies are certainly cut off;
    fire will devour what’s left of them.
 
Get along well with God and be at peace;
    from this something good will come to you.
Receive instruction from his mouth;
    put his words in your mind.
If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored;
    if you keep wrongdoing out of your tent.
Lay your prized possession in the dust,
    your gold from Ophir on a rock in a desert streambed.
The Almighty will be your prized possession,
    silver piled up for you.
Then you will take pleasure in the Almighty;
    lift up your face to God.
You will pray to him, and he will hear you;
    you will fulfill your solemn promises.
If you decree something, it will stand;
    light will shine on your ways.
When they’re humbled, you will say: “Cheer up;
    God will rescue the lowly.
    He will deliver the guilty;
    they will be saved by your pure hands.”
 
Silence may be kept.

New Testament reading
Romans 10:1-10

Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire is for Israel’s salvation. That’s my prayer to God for them. I can vouch for them: they are enthusiastic about God. However, it isn’t informed by knowledge. They don’t submit to God’s righteousness because they don’t understand his righteousness, and they try to establish their own righteousness. Christ is the goal of the Law, which leads to righteousness for all who have faith in God.
 
Moses writes about the righteousness that comes from the Law: The person who does these things will live by them. But the righteousness that comes from faith talks like this: Don’t say in your heart, “Who will go up into heaven?”(that is, to bring Christ down) or “Who will go down into the region below?” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart (that is, the message of faith that we preach). Because if you confess with your mouth “Jesus is Lord” and in your heart you have faith that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Trusting with the heart leads to righteousness, and confessing with the mouth leads to salvation.
 
Silence may be kept.

Gospel canticle
The Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah)

Refrain:
You have raised up a mighty savior for us in your servant David’s house.
 
Bless the Lord God of Israel
because he has come to help and has delivered his people.
He has raised up a mighty savior for us in his servant David’s house,
just as he said through the mouths of his holy prophets long ago.
He has brought salvation from our enemies
and from the power of all those who hate us.
He has shown the mercy promised to our ancestors,
and remembered his holy covenant,
the solemn pledge he made to our ancestor Abraham.
He has granted that we would be rescued
from the power of our enemies
so that we could serve him without fear,
in holiness and righteousness in God’s eyes,
for as long as we live.
You, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High,
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way.
You will tell his people how to be saved
through the forgiveness of their sins.
Because of our God’s deep compassion,
the dawn from heaven will break upon us,
to give light to those who are sitting in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
to guide us on the path of peace.”

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.

 
Refrain:
You have raised up a mighty savior for us in your servant David’s house.
 
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.

Prayers

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 social services
All who work in the criminal justice system
Victims and perpetrators of crime
The work of aid agencies throughout the world
Those living in poverty or under oppression
 
Other intercessions and supplications may be offered as the Holy Spirit leads.

Response

Lord, hear your people
and answer our prayers.
 
Silence may be kept.

Collect of the day

Lord, you have taught us
that all our doings without love are worth nothing:
send your Holy Spirit
and pour into our hearts that most excellent gift of love,
the true bond of peace and of all virtues,
without which whoever lives is counted dead before you.
Grant this for your only Son Jesus Christ's sake,
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.