Sunday morning June 5

Monday morning
Saturday 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.

Hymn

Come, Divine Emmanuel, Come

Charles Wesley
           
Come, divine Emmanuel come,
Take possession of thy home,
Now thy mercy’s wings expand,
Stretch throughout the happy land.

Carry on thy victory,
Spread thy rule from sea to sea,
Rescue all thy ransomed race,
Save us, save us, Lord by grace.

Take the purchase of thy blood,
Bring us to a pardoning God,
Give us eyes to see our day,
Hearts the gospel truth to obey.

Ears to hear the gospel sound,
Grace doth more than sin abound,
God appeased, and man forgiven,
Peace on earth, and joy in heaven.

O that every soul might be,
Perfectly subdued to thee!
O that all in thee might know,
Everlasting life below!

Now thy mercy’s wings expand,
Stretch throughout the happy land,
Take possession of thy home,
Come, divine Emmanuel come!

Confession of sin

Seek the Lord when he can still be found;
call him while he is yet near.
Let the wicked abandon their ways
and the sinful their schemes.
Let them return to the Lord so that he may have mercy on them,
to our God, because he is generous with forgiveness.

cf Isaiah 55

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

Lord God,
we have sinned against you;
we have committed evil in your sight.
We are sorry and repent.
Have mercy on us according to your faithful love.
Wash us completely clean of our guilt; purify us from our sin.
Put a new, faithful spirit deep inside us,
and return the joy of your salvation to us
through Jesus Christ our 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.

Bless the Lord,
because he has listened to our request for mercy.
Therefore our hearts will rejoice
and we will thank him with our song.

cf Psalm 28:7,9

The Word of God

Psalm 45

Refrain:
Behold our defender, O God, and look upon the face of your anointed.

A marvelous word has stirred my heart
    as I mention my works to the king.
        My tongue is the pen of a skillful scribe.

You are the most handsome of men;
    grace has been poured out on your lips.
        No wonder God has blessed you forever!
Strap on your sword, great warrior,
    with your glory and grandeur.
Go and succeed in your grandeur!
    Ride out on behalf of truth, humility, and righteousness!
    Let your strong hand perform awesome deeds.
Let the peoples fall beneath you.
    May your sharp arrows pierce the hearts of the king’s enemies.
Your divine throne is eternal and everlasting.
    Your royal scepter is a scepter of justice.
You love righteousness and hate wickedness.
    No wonder God, your God, has anointed you
    with the oil of joy more than all your companions!
All your clothes have the pleasing scent of myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
    The music of stringed instruments coming from ivory palaces entertains you.
The royal princess is standing in your precious jewels; 
    the queen stands at your right, dressed in the gold of Ophir.

Listen, daughter; pay attention, and listen closely!
    Forget your people and your father’s house.
Let the king desire your beauty.
    Because he is your master, bow down to him now.
The city of Tyre, the wealthiest of all,
    will seek your favor with gifts, with riches of every sort
    for the royal princess, dressed in pearls,
        her robe embroidered with gold.
In robes of many colors, she is led to the king.
    Her attendants, the young women servants following her,
    are presented to you as well.
As they enter the king’s palace,
    they are led in with celebration and joy.

Your sons, great king, will succeed your fathers;
    you will appoint them as princes throughout the land.
I will perpetuate your name from one generation to the next
    so the peoples will praise you forever and always.

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, please have mercy on me and lift me up.

Psalm prayer

Lord our God,
bring your bride, your holy Church,
with joy to the marriage feast of heaven,
and unite us with your anointed Son,
Jesus Christ our Lord.

Old Testament reading
Deuteronomy 6:10-25

Now once the Lord your God has brought you into the land that he swore to your ancestors, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give to you—a land that will be full of large and wonderful towns that you didn’t build, houses stocked with all kinds of goods that you didn’t stock, cisterns that you didn’t make, vineyards and olive trees that you didn’t plant—and you eat and get stuffed, watch yourself! Don’t forget the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. Revere the Lord your God, serve him, and take your solemn pledges in his name! Don’t follow other gods, those gods of the people around you— because the Lord your God, who is with you and among you, is a passionate God. The Lord your God’s anger will burn against you, and he will wipe you off the fertile land. Don’t test the Lord your God the way you frustrated him at Massah. You must carefully follow the Lord your God’s commands along with the laws and regulations he has given you. Do what is right and good in the Lord’s sight so that things will go well for you and so you will enter and take possession of the wonderful land that the Lord swore to your ancestors, and so the Lord will drive out all your enemies from before you, just as he promised.

In the future, your children will ask you, “What is the meaning of the laws, the regulations, and the case laws that the Lord our God commanded you?” tell them: We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt. But the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. Before our own eyes, the Lord performed great and awesome deeds of power against Egypt, Pharaoh, and his entire dynasty. But the Lord brought us out from there so that he could bring us in, giving us the land that he swore to our ancestors. Then the Lord commanded us to perform all these regulations, revering the Lord our God, so that things go well for us always and so we continue to live, as we’re doing right now. What’s more, we will be considered righteous if we are careful to do all this commandment before the Lord our God, just as he commanded us.

Silence may be kept.

New Testament reading
Acts 22:22-23:11

The crowd listened to Paul until he said this. Then they shouted, “Away with this man! He’s not fit to live!” As they were screaming, throwing off their garments, and flinging dust into the air, the commander directed that Paul be taken into the military headquarters. He ordered that Paul be questioned under the whip so that he could find out why they were shouting at him like this.

As they were stretching him out and tying him down with straps, Paul said to the centurion standing there, “Can you legally whip a Roman citizen who hasn’t been found guilty in court?”

When the centurion heard this, he went to the commander and reported it. He asked, “What are you about to do? This man is a Roman citizen!”

The commander went to Paul and demanded, “Tell me! Are you a Roman citizen?”

He said, “Yes.”

The commander replied, “It cost me a lot of money to buy my citizenship.”

Paul said, “I’m a citizen by birth.” At once those who were about to examine him stepped away. The commander was alarmed when he realized he had bound a Roman citizen.

The commander still wanted to know the truth about why Paul was being accused by the Jews. Therefore, the next day he ordered the chief priests and the entire Jerusalem Council to assemble. Then he took Paul out of prison and had him stand before them.

Paul stared at the council and said, “Brothers, I have lived my life with an altogether clear conscience right up to this very day.” The high priest Ananias ordered those standing beside Paul to strike him in the mouth. Then Paul said to him, “God is about to strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit and judge me according to the Law, yet disobey the Law by ordering that I be struck.”

Those standing near him asked, “You dare to insult God’s high priest?”

Paul replied, “Brothers, I wasn’t aware that he was the high priest. It is written, You will not speak evil about a ruler of your people.”

Knowing that some of them were Sadducees and the others Pharisees, Paul exclaimed in the council, “Brothers, I’m a Pharisee and a descendant of Pharisees. I am on trial because of my hope in the resurrection of the dead!”

These words aroused a dispute between the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. This is because Sadducees say that there’s no resurrection, angel, or spirit, but Pharisees affirm them all. Council members were shouting loudly. Some Pharisees who were legal experts stood up and insisted forcefully, “We find nothing wrong with this man! What if a spirit or angel has spoken to him?” The dispute became so heated that the commander feared they might tear Paul to pieces. He ordered soldiers to go down and remove him by force from their midst. Then they took him back to the military headquarters.

The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, “Be encouraged! Just as you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so too you must testify in Rome.”

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 are offered
for the day and its tasks
for the world and its needs
for the Church and her life

Response

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

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.

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