Tuesday morning May 7
Wednesday morning
Monday morning
Preparation
Opening response
Lord, open our lips
and our mouth will proclaim your praise.
In your resurrection, O Christ,
let heaven and earth rejoice. Alleluia.
Prayer of thanksgiving
Blessed are you, Lord God of our salvation,
to you be praise and glory forever.
As once you ransomed your people from Egypt
and led them to freedom in the promised land,
so now you have delivered us from the dominion of darkness
and brought us into the kingdom of your risen Son.
May we, the first fruits of your new creation,
rejoice in this new day you have made,
and praise you for your mighty acts.
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
The Universal King
Charles Wesley
The universal King
Let all the world proclaim;
Let every creature sing
His attributes and name!
Him Three in One and One in Three,
Extol to all eternity.
In his great name alone
All excellencies meet,
Who sits upon the throne,
And shall forever sit;
Him Three in One and One in Three,
Extol to all eternity.
Glory to God belongs;
Glory to God be given,
Above the noblest songs
Of all in earth or heaven!
Him Three in One and One in Three,
Extol to all eternity.
Confession of sin
Come, Holy Spirit of God,
and search our hearts with the light of Christ.
Our Lord Jesus Christ said:
The first commandment is this:
‘Israel, listen! Our God is the one Lord,
and you must love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your being, with all your mind,
and with all your strength.’
The second is this: ‘You must love your neighbor as yourself.’
No other commandment is greater than these.
All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commandments.
Amen. Lord, have mercy.
After a period of reflection
Come, let us return to the Lord and say:
Lord our God,
in our sin we have avoided your call.
Our love for you is like a morning cloud,
like the dew that goes away early.
Have mercy on us;
deliver us from judgment;
bind up our wounds and revive us;
in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
cf Hosea 6
May almighty God,
who sent his Son into the world to save sinners,
bring us his pardon and peace, now and forever.
Amen.
The Word of God
Psalm 98
Refrain:
The Lord has made his salvation widely known.
Sing to the Lord a new song
because he has done wonderful things!
His own strong hand and his own holy arm
have won the victory!
The Lord has made his salvation widely known;
he has revealed his righteousness
in the eyes of all the nations.
God has remembered his loyal love
and faithfulness to the house of Israel;
every corner of the earth has seen our God’s salvation.
Shout triumphantly to the Lord, all the earth!
Be happy!
Rejoice out loud!
Sing your praises!
Sing your praises to the Lord with the lyre—
with the lyre and the sound of music.
With trumpets and a horn blast,
shout triumphantly before the Lord, the king!
Let the sea and everything in it roar;
the world and all its inhabitants too.
Let all the rivers clap their hands;
let the mountains rejoice out loud altogether before the Lord
because he is coming to establish justice on the earth!
He will establish justice in the world rightly;
he will establish justice among all people fairly.
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 Lord has made his salvation widely known.
Psalm prayer
Lord God, just and true,
you make your salvation known in the sight of the nations;
tune the song of our hearts to the music of creation
as you come among us to judge the earth;
through our Savior Jesus Christ.
Psalm 99
Refrain:
Magnify the Lord our God!
The Lord rules—
the nations shake!
He sits enthroned on the winged heavenly creatures—
the earth quakes!
The Lord is great in Zion;
he is exalted over all the nations.
Let them thank your great and awesome name.
He is holy!
Strong king who loves justice,
you are the one who established what is fair.
You worked justice and righteousness in Jacob.
Magnify the Lord, our God!
Bow low at his footstool!
He is holy!
Moses and Aaron were among his priests,
Samuel too among those who called on his name.
They cried out to the Lord, and he himself answered them—
he spoke to them from a pillar of cloud.
They kept the laws and the rules God gave to them.
Lord our God, you answered them.
To them you were a God who forgives
but also the one who avenged their wrong deeds.
Magnify the Lord our God!
Bow low at his holy mountain
because the Lord our God is holy!
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:
Magnify the Lord our God!
Psalm prayer
Lord God, mighty king,
you love justice and establish equity;
may we love justice more than gain
and mercy more than power;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Psalm 100
Refrain:
The Lord is good; his loyal love lasts forever.
Shout triumphantly to the Lord, all the earth!
Serve the Lord with celebration!
Come before him with shouts of joy!
Know that the Lord is God—
he made us; we belong to him.
We are his people,
the sheep of his own pasture.
Enter his gates with thanks;
enter his courtyards with praise!
Thank him! Bless his name!
Because the Lord is good,
his loyal love lasts forever;
his faithfulness lasts generation after generation.
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 Lord is good; his loyal love lasts forever.
Psalm prayer
O Christ, door of the sheepfold,
may we enter your gates with praise
and go from your courts to serve you
in the poor, the lost and the wandering,
this day and all our days.
Old Testament reading
Deuteronomy 5:22-33
Those are the words the Lord spoke to your entire assembly with a loud voice while on the mountain, from the midst of the fire, the cloud, and the thick smoke. He added no more. God wrote them on two stone tablets, then gave them to me.
Now once you heard the voice from the darkness while the mountain was blazing with fire, you came to me—more specifically, all the chiefs of your tribes and your elders came— and you said: “Look here! The Lord our God has shown us his glory and greatness. We’ve heard his voice come out of the very fire itself. We’ve seen firsthand that God can speak to a human being and they can survive! But why should we die? Surely this massive fire will consume us! If we hear any more of the Lord our God’s voice, we will die. Is there anyone who has heard the living God’s voice speaking out of the very fire itself, like we have, and survived? You go and listen to all that the Lord our God says. Then tell us all that the Lord our God speaks to you. We’ll listen and we’ll do it.”
The Lord heard what you said, when you said this to me. The Lord then told me: I heard what the people said when they spoke with you. Everything they suggest is good. If only their minds were like this: always fearing me and keeping all my commandments so that things would go well for them and their children forever! Go and tell them: You may go back to your tents. But you, Moses, must stay here with me. I will tell you all the commandments, the regulations, and the case laws that you must teach the Israelites to do in the land that I am giving them to possess.
So you must carefully do exactly what the Lord your God commands you. Don’t deviate even a bit! You must walk the precise path that the Lord your God indicates for you so that you will live, and so that things will go well for you, and so you will extend your time on the land that you will possess.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
Ephesians 1:15-23
Since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, this is the reason that I don’t stop giving thanks to God for you when I remember you in my prayers. I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, will give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation that makes God known to you. I pray that the eyes of your heart will have enough light to see what is the hope of God’s call, what is the richness of God’s glorious inheritance among believers, and what is the overwhelming greatness of God’s power that is working among us believers. This power is conferred by the energy of God’s powerful strength. God’s power was at work in Christ when God raised him from the dead and sat him at God’s right side in the heavens, far above every ruler and authority and power and angelic power, any power that might be named not only now but in the future. God put everything under Christ’s feet and made him head of everything in the church, which is his body. His body, the church, is the fullness of Christ, who fills everything in every way.
Silence may be kept.
Gospel canticle
The Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah)
Refrain:
The Lord is risen from the tomb who for our sakes hung upon the tree. Alleluia.
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:
The Lord is risen from the tomb who for our sakes hung upon the tree. Alleluia.
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 people of God, that they may proclaim the risen Lord
God’s creation, that the peoples of the earth may meet their responsibility to care
Those in despair and darkness, that they may find the hope and light of Christ
Those in fear of death, that they may find faith through the resurrection
Prisoners and captives
Other intercessions and supplications may be offered as the Holy Spirit leads.
Response
Lord, in your mercy
hear our prayer.
Silence may be kept.
Collect of the day
Almighty Father,
who in your great mercy gladdened the disciples
with the sight of the risen Lord:
give us such knowledge of his presence with us,
that we may be strengthened and sustained by his risen life
and serve you continually in righteousness and truth;
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
Rejoicing in God’s new creation, 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 the risen Christ grant us the joys of eternal life.
Amen.