Sunday morning September 30

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.

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

Arise, My Soul, Arise

Charles Wesley

Arise, my soul arise,

Thy Savior’s sacrifice!

All the names that love could find,

All the forms that love could take,

Jesus in himself hath joined,

Thee, my soul, his own to make.

Prophet, to me reveal

Thy Father’s perfect will;

Never mortal spake like thee,

Human Prophet, like divine;

Loud and strong their voices be,

Small, and still, and inward thine!

On thee, my Priest, I call;

Thy blood atoned for all:

Still the Lamb as slain appears,

Still thou standest before the throne,

Ever offering up my prayers,

These presenting with thine own.

Jesus, thou art my King,

From thee my strength I bring;

Shadowed by thy mighty hand,

Savior, who shall pluck me thence?

Faith supports; by faith I stand,

Strong in thy omnipotence.

Hail! everlasting Lord,

Divine, incarnate Word!

Thee let all my powers confess;

Thee my latest breath proclaim;

Help, ye angel choirs to bless,

Shout the loved Emmanuel’s name!

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.

The Word of God

Psalm 122

Refrain:

How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord of heavenly forces!

I rejoiced with those who said to me,

“Let’s go to the Lord’s house!”

Now our feet are standing

in your gates, Jerusalem!

Jerusalem is built like a city

joined together in unity.

That is where the tribes go up—

the Lord’s tribes!

It is the law for Israel

to give thanks there to the Lord’s name,

because the thrones of justice are there—

the thrones of the house of David!

Pray that Jerusalem has peace:

“Let those who love you have rest.

Let there be peace on your walls;

let there be rest on your fortifications.”

For the sake of my family and friends,

I say, “Peace be with you, Jerusalem.”

For the sake of the Lord our God’s house

I will pray for your good.

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:

How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord of heavenly forces!

Psalm prayer

God of our pilgrimage,

bring us with joy to the eternal city

founded on the rock,

and give to our earthly cities

the peace that comes from above;

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Old Testament reading
Isaiah 48:12-22

Listen to me, Jacob;

Israel, whom I called:

I am the one;

I am the first and I am the last.

My hand founded the earth;

my strong hand spread out the heavens.

When I call to them, they all stand up.

Gather yourselves, all of you, and listen.

Who among you announced these things?

“The Lord loves him.

He will do what God wants with Babylon

and with the descendants of Chaldea.”

I, I have spoken and told him

the things that will happen to him;

I will make him succeed.

Come close to me; listen to this:

Since the very beginning I haven’t spoken in secret.

Whenever anything happens, I am there.

(And now the Lord God has sent me with his spirit.)

The Lord your redeemer,

the holy one of Israel, proclaims:

I am the Lord your God

who teaches you for your own good,

who leads you in the way you should go.

If you would pay attention to my commands,

your well-being would be like a river,

and your righteousness like the waves of the sea.

Your offspring would be like the sand,

and your descendants like its grains.

Their name would never be eliminated,

never wiped out from before me.

Go out from Babylon;

flee from the Chaldeans!

Report this with a loud shout, proclaim it;

broadcast it out to the end of the earth.

Say, “The Lord has redeemed his servant Jacob!”

They weren’t thirsty when he led them through the deserts.

God made water flow from the rock for them;

split the rock, and water flowed out.

There is no well-being, says the Lord, for the wicked.

Silence may be kept.

New Testament reading
Luke 11:37-54

While Jesus was speaking, a Pharisee invited him to share a meal with him, so Jesus went and took his place at the table. When the Pharisee saw that Jesus didn’t ritually purify his hands by washing before the meal, he was astonished.

The Lord said to him, “Now, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and platter, but your insides are stuffed with greed and wickedness. Foolish people! Didn’t the one who made the outside also make the inside? Therefore, give to those in need from the core of who you are and you will be clean all over.

“How terrible for you Pharisees! You give a tenth of your mint, rue, and garden herbs of all kinds, while neglecting justice and love for God. These you ought to have done without neglecting the others.

“How terrible for you Pharisees! You love the most prominent seats in the synagogues and respectful greetings in the marketplaces.

“How terrible for you! You are like unmarked graves, and people walk on them without recognizing it.”

One of the legal experts responded, “Teacher, when you say these things, you are insulting us too.”

Jesus said, “How terrible for you legal experts too! You load people down with impossible burdens and you refuse to lift a single finger to help them.

“How terrible for you! You built memorials to the prophets, whom your ancestors killed. In this way, you testify that you approve of your ancestors’ deeds. They killed the prophets, and you build memorials! Therefore, God’s wisdom has said, ‘I will send prophets and apostles to them and they will harass and kill some of them.’ As a result, this generation will be charged with the murder of all the prophets since the beginning of time. This includes the murder of every prophet—from Abel to Zechariah—who was killed between the altar and the holy place. Yes, I’m telling you, this generation will be charged with it.

“How terrible for you legal experts! You snatched away the key of knowledge. You didn’t enter yourselves, and you stood in the way of those who were entering.”

As he left there, the legal experts and Pharisees began to resent him deeply and to ask him pointed questions about many things. They plotted against him, trying to trap him in his words.

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 universal church

Bishops, superintendents and all who lead the church

The leaders of the nations

The natural world and the resources of the earth

All who are in any kind of need

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

Almighty and everlasting God,

increase in us your gift of faith

that, forsaking what lies behind

and reaching out to that which is before,

we may run the way of your commandments

and win the crown of everlasting joy;

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

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.