Week Two
Wednesday Morning
Greeting and Doxology
PSALM 33
All earth, be astounded, stand in awe of God.
Shout joy to the Lord,
lovers of justice,
how right to praise!
Praise God on the harp,
with ten-string lyre
sing to the Lord.
Sin God a new song.
Play music to match
your shout of joy.
For the word of the Lord is true:
what God says, God does.
This lover of truth and justice
fills the earth with love.
God speaks; the heavens are made;
God breathes; the stars shine.
God bottles the waters of the sea
and stores them in the deep.
All earth, be astounded,
stand in awe of God.
God speaks: the world is;
God commands; all things appear.
God blocks the plans of nations,
disrupts all they contrive.
But God’s plan and design
lasts from age to age.
Blest the land whose god is the Lord,
the heirs whom God has chosen.
The Lord looks down
and sees our human kind.
From heaven God surveys
all peoples on earth.
The maker of human hearts
knows every human act.
Armies do not save kings,
brute force does not spare soldiers.
The warhorse is a sham;
despite its power, it will not save.
God keeps a loving eye
on all who believe,
on those who count on God
to bring relief from famine,
to rescue them from death.
With all we are, we wait for God,
the Lord, our help, our shield.
Our hearts find joy in the Lord;
we trust God’s holy name.
Love us, Lord!
We wait for you.
READING: Romans 8:35-39
Who will separate is from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
CANTICLE OF ZECHARIAH
All praise and glory to you, God of all creation.
Praise the Lord, the God of Israel,
who shepherds the people and sets them free.
God raises from David’s house
a child with power to save.
Through the holy prophets
God promised in ages past
to save us from enemy hands,
from the grip of all who hate us.
The Lord favored our ancestors
recalling the sacred covenant,
the pledge to our ancestor Abraham,
to free us from our enemies,
so we might worship without fear
and be holy and just all our days.
And you child, will be called
Prophet of the Most High,
for you will come to prepare
a pathway for the Lord
by teaching the people salvation
through forgiveness of their sin.
Out of God’s deepest mercy
a dawn will come from on high,
light for those shadowed by death,
a guide for our feet on the way to peace.
INTERCESSIONS
Let us present our petitions before God who hears our every need:
~Christ our Light, hear our prayer!
For our church, may it spread the gospel to all who are experiencing suffering and pain in their lives:
For all nations, may they always seek peace, even in the face of war:
For those who are troubled and anxious, may they find peace in God’s life-giving word and eucharist:
For members of our regional community, may we actively support those who are experiencing suffering or difficulty in their lives:
For all those who have died, especially those who are close to us, may they experience the peace of God’s kingdom:
PRAYER
O God, in the beginning your Word called forth life from the depths of the earth to the highest heavens. We praise you for the wonders of creation, and we ask you to fashion us in your image that our lives may continue to praise you. We make this prayer through Jesus, the firstborn of creation. Amen.
BLESSING
May God’s blessing be upon us. Amen
May God’s light lead us in the way of Righteousness. Amen.
May our lives be patterned on Christ Jesus. Amen.