Saturday morning January 19
Preparation
Opening response
Lord, open our lips
and our mouth will proclaim your praise.
Your light springs up for the righteous
and all the peoples have seen your glory.
Prayer of thanksgiving
Blessed are you, Sovereign God,
king of the nations,
to you be praise and glory forever.
From the rising of the sun to its setting
your name is proclaimed in all the world.
As the Sun of Righteousness dawns in our hearts
anoint our lips with the seal of your Spirit
that we may witness to your gospel
and sing your praise in all the earth.
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
Are There Not in the Laborer’s Day
Charles Wesley
Are there not in the laborer’s day
Twelve hours, in which he safely may
His calling’s work pursue?
Though sin and Satan still are near
Nor sin nor Satan can I fear,
With Jesus in my view.
Light of the world, thy beams I bless!
On thee, bright Sun of righteousness,
My faith hath fixed its eye;
Guided by thee through all I go,
Nor fear the ruin spread below,
For thou art always nigh.
Ten thousand snares my path beset,
Yet will I, Lord, the work complete,
Which thou to me hast given,
Regardless of the pains I feel,
Close by the gates of death and hell,
I urge my way to heaven.
Still will I strive, and labor still
With humble zeal to do thy will,
And trust in thy defense.
My soul into thy hands I give,
And if he can obtain thy leave,
Let Satan pluck me thence.
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.
The Word of God
Psalm 29
Refrain:
Let the Lord bless his people with peace!
You, divine beings! Give to the Lord—
give to the Lord glory and power!
Give to the Lord the glory due his name!
Bow down to the Lord in holy splendor!
The Lord’s voice is over the waters;
the glorious God thunders;
the Lord is over the mighty waters.
The Lord’s voice is strong;
the Lord’s voice is majestic.
The Lord’s voice breaks cedar trees—
yes, the Lord shatters the cedars of Lebanon.
He makes Lebanon jump around like a young bull,
makes Sirion jump around like a young wild ox.
The Lord’s voice unleashes fiery flames;
the Lord’s voice shakes the wilderness—
yes, the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
The Lord’s voice convulses the oaks,
strips the forests bare,
but in his temple everyone shouts, “Glory!”
The Lord sits enthroned over the floodwaters;
the Lord sits enthroned—king forever!
Let the Lord give strength to his people!
Let the Lord bless his people with peace!
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:
Let the Lord bless his people with peace!
Psalm prayer
Open our ears, glorious Lord Christ,
to hear the music of your voice
above the chaos of this world;
open our eyes to see the vision of your glory,
for you are our King, now and forever.
Psalm 33
Refrain:
The Lord’s faithful love fills the whole earth.
All you who are righteous,
shout joyfully to the Lord!
It’s right for those who do right to praise God.
Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre!
Sing praises to him with the ten-stringed harp!
Sing to him a new song!
Play your best with joyful shouts!
Because the Lord’s word is right,
his every act is done in good faith.
He loves righteousness and justice;
the Lord’s faithful love fills the whole earth.
The skies were made by the Lord’s word,
all their starry multitude by the breath of his mouth.
He gathered the ocean waters into a heap;
he put the deep seas into storerooms.
All the earth honors the Lord;
all the earth’s inhabitants stand in awe of him.
Because when he spoke, it happened!
When he commanded, there it was!
The Lord overrules what the nations plan;
he frustrates what the peoples intend to do.
But the Lord’s plan stands forever;
what he intends to do lasts from one generation to the next.
The nation whose God is the Lord,
the people whom God has chosen as his possession,
is truly happy!
The Lord looks down from heaven;
he sees every human being.
From his dwelling place God observes
all who live on earth.
God is the one who made all their hearts,
the one who knows everything they do.
Kings aren’t saved by the strength of their armies;
warriors aren’t rescued by how much power they have.
A warhorse is a bad bet for victory;
it can’t save despite its great strength.
But look here: the Lord’s eyes watch all who honor him,
all who wait for his faithful love,
to deliver their lives from death
and keep them alive during a famine.
We put our hope in the Lord.
He is our help and our shield.
Our heart rejoices in God
because we trust his holy name.
Lord, let your faithful love surround us
because we wait for you.
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’s faithful love fills the whole earth.
Psalm prayer
Feed your people, Lord,
with your holy word
and free us from the emptiness of our
wrongful desires,
that we may sing the new song of salvation
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Old Testament reading
Amos 5:18-27
Doom to those who desire the day of the Lord!
Why do you want the day of the Lord?
It is darkness, not light;
as if someone fled from a lion,
and was met by a bear;
or sought refuge in a house,
rested a hand against the wall,
and was bitten by a snake.
Isn’t the day of the Lord darkness, not light;
all dark with no brightness in it?
I hate, I reject your festivals;
I don’t enjoy your joyous assemblies.
If you bring me your entirely burned offerings and gifts of food—
I won’t be pleased;
I won’t even look at your offerings of well-fed animals.
Take away the noise of your songs;
I won’t listen to the melody of your harps.
But let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings
during the forty years in the wilderness, house of Israel?
You will take up Sakkuth your king,
and Kaiwan your star-god,
your images, which you made for yourselves.
Therefore, I will take you away
beyond Damascus, says the Lord,
whose name is the God of heavenly forces.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
1 Corinthians 5
Everyone has heard that there is sexual immorality among you. This is a type of immorality that isn’t even heard of among the Gentiles—a man is having sex with his father’s wife! And you’re proud of yourselves instead of being so upset that the one who did this thing is expelled from your community. Though I’m absent physically, I’m present in the spirit and I’ve already judged the man who did this as if I were present. When you meet together in the name of our Lord Jesus, I’ll be present in spirit with the power of our Lord Jesus. At that time we need to hand this man over to Satan to destroy his human weakness so that his spirit might be saved on the day of the Lord.
Your bragging isn’t good! Don’t you know that a tiny grain of yeast makes a whole batch of dough rise? Clean out the old yeast so you can be a new batch of dough, given that you’re supposed to be unleavened bread. Christ our Passover lamb has been sacrificed, so let’s celebrate the feast with the unleavened bread of honesty and truth, not with old yeast or with the yeast of evil and wickedness.
I wrote to you in my earlier letter not to associate with sexually immoral people. But I wasn’t talking about the sexually immoral people in the outside world by any means—or the greedy, or the swindlers, or people who worship false gods—otherwise, you would have to leave the world entirely! But now I’m writing to you not to associate with anyone who calls themselves “brother” or “sister” who is sexually immoral, greedy, someone who worships false gods, an abusive person, a drunk, or a swindler. Don’t even eat with anyone like this. What do I care about judging outsiders? Isn’t it your job to judge insiders? God will judge outsiders. Expel the evil one from among you!
Silence may be kept.
Gospel canticle
The Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah)
Refrain:
This is the Christ, the Chosen of God, the one who will bring healing to the nations.
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:
This is the Christ, the Chosen of God, the one who will bring healing to the nations.
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 unity of the church
The peace of the world
The healing of the sick
The revelation of Christ to those from whom his glory is hidden
All who travel
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 Father,
who at the baptism of Jesus
revealed him to be your Son,
anointing him with the Holy Spirit:
grant to us, who are born again by water and the Spirit,
that we may be faithful to our calling as your adopted children;
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
Believing the promises of God, 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 sends us to the nations, give us the power of his Spirit.
Amen.