Week 4
Thursday Morning



Greeting
O God, come to my assistance,
O Lord, make haste to help me.

Doxology
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to
the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever
shall be world without end. Amen

PSALM 147
Open our ears to hear you, O god who speak to the earth.

How good to sing God praise!
How love
ly the sound!

The Lord rebuilds Jerusalem
and gathers the exiles of Israel,
healing the
brokenhearted,
binding their
aching wounds.

God fixes the number of stars,
calling
each by name.
Great is our God and powerful,
wise be
yond all telling.
The Lord up
holds the poor
but lets the
wicked fall.

Sing thanks
to the Lord,
sound the harp
for our God.
The Lord stretches the clouds,
sending rain
to the earth,
clothing moun
tains with green.

The Lord feeds the cattle
and young ravens
when they call.
A horse’s strength, a runner’s speed-
they
count for nothing!
The Lord fa
vors the reverent,
those who trust
in God’s mercy.

Jerusalem, give glory!
Praise God with
song, O Zion!
For the Lord strengthens your gates
guarding your chil
dren within.
The Lord fills your
land with peace,
giving you
golden wheat.

God speaks
to the earth,
the
word speeds forth.
The Lord sends
heavy snow
and scatters
frost like ashes.

The Lord hurls
chunks of hail.
Who can
stand such cold?
God speaks,
the ice melts;
God breathes,
the streams flow.

God speaks his
word to Jacob,
to Israel, his
laws and decrees.
God has not done
this for others,
no others re
ceive this wisdom.

Halle
lujah!

READING
Romans 8:18-21
I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.


CANTICLE OF ZECHARIAH
God, our refuge and our strength, be our hope in times of trouble.

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 an
cestor 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 peo
ple salvation
through forgiveness
of their sin.

Out of God’s
deepest mercy
a dawn will come
from on high,
light for those sha
dowed by death,
a guide for our feet on the
way to peace.

INTERCESSIONS
As we greet this new day, we praise you, loving God, and beg for your blessing.

You are our safety and our strength:
~ Help us to support one another when we experience crisis and pain.
You created the world and all its creatures:
~Help us to be protectors and advocates of life, for the earth and all its inhabitants.
You sent your Beloved to free us from sin and the power of death:
~Help us to bring your peace to all who are sick and dying.
You call us to remember those who are forgotten:
~Help us to comfort those who suffer, especially those who are scorned and ignored.
You made us in your image:
~Help us to bring down the barriers that divide us and to recognize one another as members of the same human family.


THE LORD’S PRAYER

PRAYER

You are the God who upholds us in our weakness. Be with us when we are in trouble. May we open our ears to hear, as you call us each by name. Give us courage for this new day as we place our trust in you. We pray always and forever through the power of your Spirit. Amen.

BLESSING
May the God of mercy bless and protect us all. Amen.
May the God of peace comfort us in times of trial. Amen.
May the God of love shine forth in our lives. Amen.