Friday morning November 2

All Souls’ Day

Saturday morning
Thursday morning

Preparation

Opening response

Lord, open our lips

and our mouth will proclaim your praise.

All your faithful ones bless you.

They speak of the glory of your kingdom.

Prayer of thanksgiving

Blessed are you, Sovereign God,

ruler and judge of all,

to you be praise and glory forever.

In the darkness of this age that is passing away

may the light of your presence which the saints enjoy

surround our steps as we journey on.

May we reflect your glory this day

and so be made ready to see your face

in the heavenly city where night shall be no more.

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

Hark! A Voice Divides the Sky

Charles Wesley

Hark! A voice divides the sky;

Happy are the faithful dead,

In the Lord who sweetly die;

They from all their toils are freed.

Them the Spirit hath declared

Blest, unutterably blest;

Jesus is their great reward,

Jesus is their endless rest.

Followed by their works, they go

Where their Head had gone before;

Reconciled by grace below,

Grace hath opened mercy’s door.

Justified through faith alone,

Here they knew their sins forgiven:

Here they laid their burden down,

Hallowed and made meet for heaven.

When from flesh the spirit freed

Hastens homeward to return

Mortals cry, “A man is dead!”

Angels sing, “A child is born.”

Confession of sin

When we cry out to the Lord in our distress,

he will save us from our desperate circumstances.

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 thank the Lord for his faithful love,

and his wondrous works for all people.

Let us offer thanksgiving sacrifices

and declare what God has done in songs of joy.

cf Psalm 107

The Word of God

Psalm 31

Refrain:

I entrust my spirit into your hands.

I take refuge in you, Lord.

Please never let me be put to shame.

Rescue me by your righteousness!

Listen closely to me!

Deliver me quickly;

be a rock that protects me;

be a strong fortress that saves me!

You are definitely my rock and my fortress.

Guide me and lead me for the sake of your good name!

Get me out of this net that’s been set for me

because you are my protective fortress.

I entrust my spirit into your hands;

you, Lord, God of faithfulness—

you have saved me.

I hate those who embrace what is completely worthless.

I myself trust the Lord.

I rejoice and celebrate in your faithful love

because you saw my suffering—

you were intimately acquainted with my deep distress.

You didn’t hand me over to the enemy,

but set my feet in wide-open spaces.

Have mercy on me, Lord, because I’m depressed.

My vision fails because of my grief,

as do my spirit and my body.

My life is consumed with sadness;

my years are consumed with groaning.

Strength fails me because of my suffering;

my bones dry up.

I’m a joke to all my enemies,

still worse to my neighbors.

I scare my friends,

and whoever sees me in the street runs away!

I am forgotten, like I’m dead,

completely out of mind;

I am like a piece of pottery, destroyed.

Yes, I’ve heard all the gossiping,

terror all around;

so many gang up together against me,

they plan to take my life!

But me? I trust you, Lord!

I affirm, “You are my God.”

My future is in your hands.

Don’t hand me over to my enemies,

to all who are out to get me!

Shine your face on your servant;

save me by your faithful love!

Lord, don’t let me be put to shame

because I have cried out to you.

Let the wicked be put to shame;

let them be silenced in death’s domain!

Let their lying lips be shut up

whenever they speak arrogantly

against the righteous with pride and contempt!

How great is the goodness

that you’ve reserved for those who honor you,

that you commit to those who take refuge in you—

in the sight of everyone!

You hide them in the shelter of your wings,

safe from human scheming.

You conceal them in a shelter,

safe from accusing tongues.

Bless the Lord,

because he has wondrously revealed

his faithful love to me

when I was like a city under siege!

When I was panicked, I said,

“I’m cut off from your eyes!”

But you heard my request for mercy

when I cried out to you for help.

All you who are faithful, love the Lord!

The Lord protects those who are loyal,

but he pays the proud back to the fullest degree.

All you who wait for the Lord,

be strong and let your heart take courage.

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:

I entrust my spirit into your hands.

Psalm prayer

Lord Jesus Christ,

when scorn and shame besiege us

and hope is veiled in grief,

hold us in your wounded hands

and make your face shine on us again,

for you are our Lord and God.

Old Testament reading
Leviticus 25:1-24

The Lord said to Moses on Mount Sinai, Speak to the Israelites and say to them: Once you enter the land that I am giving you, the land must celebrate a sabbath rest to the Lord. You will plant your fields for six years, and prune your vineyards and gather their crops for six years. But in the seventh year the land will have a special sabbath rest, a Sabbath to the Lord: You must not plant your fields or prune your vineyards. You must not harvest the secondary growth of your produce or gather the grapes of your freely growing vines. It will be a year of special rest for the land. Whatever the land produces during its sabbath will be your food—for you, for your male and female servants, and for your hired laborers and foreign guests who live with you, as well as for your livestock and for the wild animals in your land. All of the land’s produce can be eaten.

Count off seven weeks of years—that is, seven times seven—so that the seven weeks of years totals forty-nine years. Then have the trumpet blown on the tenth day of the seventh month. Have the trumpet blown throughout your land on the Day of Reconciliation. You will make the fiftieth year holy, proclaiming freedom throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It will be a Jubilee year for you: each of you must return to your family property and to your extended family. The fiftieth year will be a Jubilee year for you. Do not plant, do not harvest the secondary growth, and do not gather from the freely growing vines because it is a Jubilee: it will be holy to you. You can eat only the produce directly out of the field. Each of you must return to your family property in this year of Jubilee.

When you sell something to or buy something from your fellow citizen, you must not cheat each other. You will buy from your fellow citizen according to the number of years since the Jubilee; he will sell to you according to the number of years left for harvests. You will raise the price if there are more years, or lower the price if there are less years because it is the number of harvests that are being sold to you. You must not cheat each other but fear your God because I am the Lord your God. You will observe my rules, and you will keep my regulations and do them so that you can live securely on the land.

The land will give its fruit so that you can eat your fill and live securely on it. Suppose you ask, “What will we eat in the seventh year if we don’t plant or gather our crops then?” I will send my blessing on you in the sixth year so that it will make enough produce for three years. You can plant again in the eighth year and eat food from the previous year’s produce until the ninth year. Until its produce comes, you will eat the food from the previous year.

The land must not be permanently sold because the land is mine. You are just immigrants and foreign guests of mine.

Throughout the whole land that you possess, you must allow for the land to be bought back.

Silence may be kept.

New Testament reading
Titus 3

Remind them to submit to rulers and authorities. They should be obedient and ready to do every good thing. They shouldn’t speak disrespectfully about anyone, but they should be peaceful, kind, and show complete courtesy toward everyone. We were once foolish, disobedient, deceived, and slaves to our desires and various pleasures too. We were spending our lives in evil behavior and jealousy. We were disgusting, and we hated other people. But “when God our savior’s kindness and love appeared, he saved us because of his mercy, not because of righteous things we had done. He did it through the washing of new birth and the renewing by the Holy Spirit, which God poured out upon us generously through Jesus Christ our savior. So, since we have been made righteous by his grace, we can inherit the hope for eternal life.” This saying is reliable. And I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have come to believe in God might give careful attention to doing good. These things are good and useful for everyone.

Avoid stupid controversies, genealogies, and fights about the Law, because they are useless and worthless. After a first and second warning, have nothing more to do with a person who causes conflict, because you know that someone like this is twisted and sinful—so they condemn themselves.

When I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, try to come to me in Nicopolis, because I’ve decided to spend the winter there. Help Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their journey with enthusiasm so that they won’t need anything. But our people should also learn to devote themselves to doing good in order to meet pressing needs so they aren’t unproductive.

Everyone with me greets you; greet those who love us faithfully.

Grace be with all of you.

Silence may be kept.

Gospel canticle
The Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah)

Refrain:

You have shown the mercy promised to our ancestors, and remembered your holy covenant.

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 shown the mercy promised to our ancestors, and remembered your holy covenant.

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 saints on earth, that they may live as citizens of heaven

All people, that they may hear and believe the word of God

All who fear the winter months

All sovereigns and political leaders, that they may imitate the righteous rule of Christ

All who grieve or wait with the dying

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

Response

In faith we pray

We pray to you, our God.

Silence may be kept.

Collect of the day

Eternal God, our maker and redeemer,

grant us, with all the faithful departed,

the sure benefits of your Son's saving passion

and glorious resurrection

that, in the last day,

when you gather up all things in Christ,

we may with them enjoy the fullness of your promises;

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

Uniting our prayers with the whole company of heaven, 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

May Christ, who has opened the kingdom of heaven, bring us to reign with him in glory.

Amen.