Friday morning June 9
Saturday morning
Thursday 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
Draw Near, O Son of God, Draw Near
Charles Wesley
Draw near, O Son of God, draw near,
Us with thy flaming eye behold;
Still in thy church vouchsafe to appear,
And let our candlestick be gold.
Still hold the stars in thy right hand,
And let them in thy luster glow,
The lights of a benighted land,
The angels of thy church below.
Make good their apostolic boast,
Their high commission let them prove,
Be temples of the Holy Ghost,
And filled with faith, and hope, and love.
Their hearts from things of earth remove,
Sprinkle them, Lord, from sin and fear;
Fix their affections all above,
And lay up all their treasures there.
Give them an ear to hear thy word;
Thou speakest to the churches now:
And let all tongues confess their Lord,
Let every knee to Jesus bow.
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.
The Word of God
Psalm 142
Refrain:
Get me out of this prison so I can give thanks to your name.
I cry out loud for help from the Lord.
I beg out loud for mercy from the Lord.
I pour out my concerns before God;
I announce my distress to him.
When my spirit is weak inside me, you still know my way.
But they’ve hidden a trap for me in the path I’m taking.
Look right beside me: See?
No one pays attention to me.
There’s no escape for me.
No one cares about my life.
I cry to you, Lord, for help.
“You are my refuge,” I say.
“You are all I have in the land of the living.”
Pay close attention to my shouting,
because I’ve been brought down so low!
Deliver me from my oppressors
because they’re stronger than me.
Get me out of this prison
so I can give thanks to your name.
Then the righteous will gather all around me
because of your good deeds to 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.
Refrain:
Get me out of this prison so I can give thanks to your name.
Psalm prayer
God of compassion,
you regard the forsaken
and give hope to the crushed in spirit;
hear those who cry to you in distress
and bring your ransomed people to sing your glorious praise,
now and forever.
Psalm 144
Refrain:
The people whose God is the Lord are truly happy!
Bless the Lord, my rock,
who taught my hands how to fight,
who taught my fingers how to do battle!
God is my loyal one, my fortress,
my place of safety, my rescuer,
my shield, in whom I take refuge,
and the one who subdues people before me.
What are human beings, Lord, that you know them at all?
What are human beings that you even consider them?
Humans are like a puff of air;
their days go by like a shadow.
Lord, part your skies and come down!
Touch the mountains so they smoke!
Flash lightning and scatter the enemy!
Shoot your arrows and defeat them!
Stretch out your hand from above!
Rescue me and deliver me from deep water,
from the power of strangers, whose mouths speak lies,
and whose strong hand is a strong hand of deception!
I will sing a new song to you, God.
I will sing praises to you on a ten-stringed harp,
to you—the one who gives saving help to rulers,
and who rescues his servant David from the evil sword.
Rescue me and deliver me from the power of strangers,
whose mouths speak lies,
and whose strong hand is a strong hand of deception,
so that our sons can grow up fully, in their youth, like plants;
so that our daughters can be like pillars carved to decorate a palace;
so that our barns can be full, providing all kinds of food;
so that our flocks can be in the thousands—
even tens of thousands—in our fields;
so that our cattle can be loaded with calves;
so that there won’t be any breach in the walls,
no exile, no outcries in our streets!
The people who have it like this are truly happy!
The people whose God is the Lord are truly happy!
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:
The people whose God is the Lord are truly happy!
Psalm prayer
God our deliverer,
stir our weak wills,
revive our weary spirits,
and give us the courage
to strive for the freedom of all your children,
to the praise of your glorious name.
Old Testament reading
Job 5
Call out. Will anyone answer you?
To which holy one will you turn?
Surely anger can kill the foolish;
fury can kill the simple.
I’ve seen the foolish take root
and promptly curse their house.
Their children are far from safety,
crushed in the gate without a deliverer.
The hungry devour their crops;
it’s taken even from the thorns,
and the thirsty pant after their yield.
Surely trouble doesn’t come from dust,
nor does distress sprout from the ground.
Surely humans are born to distress,
just as sparks rise up.
But I would seek God,
put my case to God,
who does great things beyond comprehension,
wonderful things without number;
who provides rain over the earth’s surface,
sends water to the open country,
exalts the lowly,
raises mourners to victory;
who frustrates the schemes of the clever
so that their hands achieve no success,
trapping the wise in their cleverness
so that the plans of the devious don’t succeed.
They encounter darkness during the day,
and at noon they fumble about as at night.
Yet he rescues the orphan from the sword of their mouth,
the needy from the grip of the strong;
so the poor have hope
and violence shuts its mouth.
Look, happy is the person whom God corrects;
so don’t reject the Almighty’s instruction.
He injures, but he binds up;
he strikes, but his hands heal.
From six adversities he will deliver you;
from seven harm won’t touch you.
In famine he will ransom you from death;
in war, from the power of the sword.
You will be hidden from the tongue’s sting,
and you won’t fear destruction when it comes.
You will laugh at destruction and hunger;
you won’t be afraid of wild beasts;
for you will make an agreement with the stones of the field;
and the beasts of the field will be at peace with you.
You will know that your tent is secure.
You will examine your home and miss nothing.
You will know that you’ll have many children.
Your offspring will be like the grass of the earth.
You will come to your grave in old age
as bundles of grain stacked up at harvesttime.
Look, we’ve searched this out, and so it is;
listen and find out for yourself.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
Romans 3:1-20
So what’s the advantage of being a Jew? Or what’s the benefit of circumcision? Plenty in every way. First of all, the Jews were trusted with God’s revelations. What does it matter, then, if some weren’t faithful? Their lack of faith won’t cancel God’s faithfulness, will it? Absolutely not! God must be true, even if every human being is a liar, as it is written:
So that it can show that you are right in your words;
and you will triumph when you are judged.
But if our lack of righteousness confirms God’s justice, what will we say? That God, who brings wrath upon us, isn’t just (I’m speaking rhetorically)? Absolutely not! If God weren’t just, how could he judge the world? But if God’s truth is demonstrated by my lie and it increases his glory, why am I still judged as a sinner? Why not say, “Let’s do evil things so that good things will come out of it”? (Some people who slander us accuse us of saying that, but these people deserve criticism.)
So what are we saying? Are we better off? Not at all. We have already stated the charge: both Jews and Greeks are all under the power of sin. As it is written,
There is no righteous person, not even one.
There is no one who understands.
There is no one who looks for God.
They all turned away.
They have become worthless together.
There is no one who shows kindness.
There is not even one.
Their throat is a grave that has been opened.
They are deceitful with their tongues,
and the poison of vipers is under their lips.
Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.
Their feet are quick to shed blood;
destruction and misery are in their ways;
and they don’t know the way of peace.
There is no fear of God in their view of the world.
Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, in order to shut every mouth and make it so the whole world has to answer to God. It follows that no human being will be treated as righteous in his presence by doing what the Law says, because the knowledge of sin comes through the Law.
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:
Political leaders 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
Father, by your Spirit
Bring in your kingdom.
Silence may be kept.
Collect of the day
O Lord, from whom all good things come:
grant to us your humble servants,
that by your holy inspiration
we may think those things that are good,
and by your merciful guiding may perform the same;
through our Lord Jesus Christ,
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.