MORNING PRAYER Christmas Season Friday, 9 January 2015 Friday after Epiphany Preparation O Lord, open our lips and our mouth shall proclaim your praise. Your light springs up for the righteous and all the peoples have seen your glory. One or more of the following is said or sung: this or another prayer of thanksgiving Blessed are you, Sovereign God, king of the nations, to you be praise and glory for ever. 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 for ever. a suitable hymn, or Jubilate – A Song of Joy O be joyful in the Lord, all the earth; • serve the Lord with gladness and come before his presence with a song. Know that the Lord is God; • it is he that has made us and we are his; we are his people and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; • give thanks to him and bless his name. For the Lord is gracious; his steadfast love is everlasting, • and his faithfulness endures from generation to generation. Psalm 100 Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning is now and shall be for ever. Amen. This opening prayer may be said 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 for ever. Amen. The Word of God Psalmody The appointed psalmody is said. Psalm 2 The Lord is the strength of his people, a safe refuge for his anointed. Why are the nations in tumult, • and why do the peoples devise a vain plot? The kings of the earth rise up, and the rulers take counsel together, • against the Lord and against his anointed: ‘Let us break their bonds asunder • and cast away their cords from us.’ R He who dwells in heaven shall laugh them to scorn; • the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak to them in his wrath • and terrify them in his fury: ‘Yet have I set my king • upon my holy hill of Zion.’ R I will proclaim the decree of the Lord; • he said to me: ‘You are my Son; this day have I begotten you. ‘Ask of me and I will give you the nations for your inheritance • and the ends of the earth for your possession. ‘You shall break them with a rod of iron • and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.’ R Now therefore be wise, O kings; • be prudent, you judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and with trembling kiss his feet, • lest he be angry and you perish from the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Happy are all they • who take refuge in him. The Lord is the strength of his people, a safe refuge for his anointed. Most high and holy God, lift our eyes to your Son enthroned on Calvary; and as we behold his meekness, shatter our earthly pride; for he is Lord for ever and ever. Psalm 148 O praise the name of the Lord. Alleluia. Praise the Lord from the heavens; • praise him in the heights. Praise him, all you his angels; • praise him, all his host. Praise him, sun and moon; • praise him, all you stars of light. Praise him, heaven of heavens, • and you waters above the heavens. Let them praise the name of the Lord; • for he commanded and they were created. He made them fast for ever and ever; • he gave them a law which shall not pass away. R Praise the Lord from the earth, • you sea monsters and all deeps; Fire and hail, snow and mist, • tempestuous wind, fulfilling his word; Mountains and all hills, • fruit trees and all cedars; Wild beasts and all cattle, • creeping things and birds on the wing; Kings of the earth and all peoples, • princes and all rulers of the world; Young men and women, old and young together; • let them praise the name of the Lord. For his name only is exalted, • his splendour above earth and heaven. He has raised up the horn of his people and praise for all his faithful servants, • the children of Israel, a people who are near him. Alleluia. O praise the name of the Lord. O glorious God, your whole creation sings your marvellous work; may heaven’s praise so echo in our hearts that we may be good stewards of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Each psalm or group of psalms may end with Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning is now and shall be for ever. Amen. If there are two Scripture readings, the first may be read here, or both may be read after the canticle. Isaiah 65.1-16 I was ready to be sought out by those who did not ask, to be found by those who did not seek me. I said, ‘Here I am, here I am’, to a nation that did not call on my name. I held out my hands all day long to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, following their own devices; a people who provoke me to my face continually, sacrificing in gardens and offering incense on bricks; who sit inside tombs, and spend the night in secret places; who eat swine’s flesh, with broth of abominable things in their vessels; who say, ‘Keep to yourself, do not come near me, for I am too holy for you.’ These are a smoke in my nostrils, a fire that burns all day long. See, it is written before me: I will not keep silent, but I will repay; I will indeed repay into their laps their iniquities and their ancestors’ iniquities together, says the Lord; because they offered incense on the mountains and reviled me on the hills, I will measure into their laps full payment for their actions. Thus says the Lord: As the wine is found in the cluster, and they say, ‘Do not destroy it, for there is a blessing in it’, so I will do for my servants’ sake, and not destroy them all. I will bring forth descendants from Jacob, and from Judah inheritors of my mountains; my chosen shall inherit it, and my servants shall settle there. Sharon shall become a pasture for flocks, and the Valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down, for my people who have sought me. But you who forsake the Lord, who forget my holy mountain, who set a table for Fortune and fill cups of mixed wine for Destiny, I will destine you to the sword, and all of you shall bow down to the slaughter; because, when I called, you did not answer, when I spoke, you did not listen, but you did what was evil in my sight, and chose what I did not delight in. Therefore thus says the Lord God: My servants shall eat, but you shall be hungry; my servants shall drink, but you shall be thirsty; my servants shall rejoice, but you shall be put to shame; my servants shall sing for gladness of heart, but you shall cry out for pain of heart, and shall wail for anguish of spirit. You shall leave your name to my chosen to use as a curse, and the Lord God will put you to death; but to his servants he will give a different name. Then whoever invokes a blessing in the land shall bless by the God of faithfulness, and whoever takes an oath in the land shall swear by the God of faithfulness; because the former troubles are forgotten and are hidden from my sight. Canticle A Song of the New Jerusalem, or another suitable canticle, for example, number 31 (page 582) or number 36 (page 587), may be said Refrain: Above you the Holy One arises, and above you God’s glory appears. Arise, shine out, for your light has come, • the glory of the Lord is rising upon you. Though night still covers the earth, • and darkness the peoples; Above you the Holy One arises, • and above you God’s glory appears. The nations will come to your light, • and kings to your dawning brightness. Your gates will lie open continually, • shut neither by day nor by night. The sound of violence shall be heard no longer in your land, • or ruin and devastation within your borders. You will call your walls, Salvation, • and your gates, Praise. No more will the sun give you daylight, • nor moonlight shine upon you; But the Lord will be your everlasting light, • your God will be your splendour. For you shall be called the city of God, • the dwelling of the Holy One of Israel. Isaiah 60.1-3, 11a, 18, 19, 14b Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning is now and shall be for ever. Amen. Above you the Holy One arises, and above you God’s glory appears. Scripture Reading One or more readings appointed for the day are read. The reading(s) may be followed by a time of silence. 1 John 5.1-12 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the parent loves the child. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For the love of God is this, that we obey his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome, for whatever is born of God conquers the world. And this is the victory that conquers the world, our faith. Who is it that conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? This is the one who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ, not with the water only but with the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one that testifies, for the Spirit is the truth. There are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood, and these three agree. If we receive human testimony, the testimony of God is greater; for this is the testimony of God that he has testified to his Son. Those who believe in the Son of God have the testimony in their hearts. Those who do not believe in God have made him a liar by not believing in the testimony that God has given concerning his Son. And this is the testimony: God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. A suitable song or chant, or a responsory in this or another form, may follow O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness; let the whole earth tremble before him. Tell it out among the nations that the Lord is King. O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. Tell out his salvation from day to day. Let the whole earth tremble before him. Declare his glory among the nations and his wonders among all peoples. O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness; let the whole earth tremble before him. from Psalm 96 Gospel Canticle The Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah) is normally said, or A Song of the Blessed (page 606) may be said Refrain: This is the Christ, the Chosen of God, the one who will bring healing to the nations. Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel, • who has come to his people and set them free. He has raised up for us a mighty Saviour, • born of the house of his servant David. Through his holy prophets God promised of old • to save us from our enemies, from the hands of all that hate us, To show mercy to our ancestors, • and to remember his holy covenant. This was the oath God swore to our father Abraham: • to set us free from the hands of our enemies, Free to worship him without fear, • holy and righteous in his sight all the days of our life. And you, child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High, • for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way, To give his people knowledge of salvation • by the forgiveness of all their sins. In the tender compassion of our God • the dawn from on high shall break upon us, To shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, • and to guide our feet into the way 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 shall be for ever. Amen. Refrain: This is the Christ, the Chosen of God, the one who will bring healing to the nations. Prayers Intercessions are offered ¶ for the day and its tasks ¶ for the world and its needs ¶ for the Church and her life The cycle on pages 364–365 and the prayer on page 377 may be used. These responses may be used Lord, in your mercy hear our prayer (or) Lord, hear us. Lord, graciously hear us. Silence may be kept. The Collect of the day is said O God, who by the leading of a star manifested your only Son to the peoples of the earth: mercifully grant that we, who know you now by faith, may at last behold your glory face to face; 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 for ever. Amen. The Lord’s Prayer is said Believing the promises of God, as our Saviour 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 for ever. Amen. (or) Believing the promises of God, let us pray with confidence as our Saviour has taught us Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done; on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen. The Conclusion May Christ, who sends us to the nations, give us the power of his Spirit. Amen. Let us bless the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Posted on: Fri, 09 Jan 2015 06:30:01 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015