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Community Universalist Church

Daily Office

Morning · Thursday, 12 February 2026 · Ordinary Time

We hear God's CALL TO WORSHIP in Psalm 150

Praise the Lord.
Praise God in his holy place.

Praise him in the sky, his stronghold.
Praise him for his deeds of power.
Praise him for his boundless greatness.

We listen in silence for God's still small voice, CENTERING ourselves, becoming aware of God's presence within us and around us

We respond to God with ADORATION using the words of the Song of Creation (Benedicite, omnia opera Domini)

Glorify the Lord, all you works of the Lord,
    praise him and highly exalt him for ever.
In the firmament of his power, glorify the Lord,
    praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

Glorify the Lord, you angels and all powers of the Lord,
    O heavens and all waters above the heavens.
Sun and moon and stars of the sky, glorify the Lord,
    praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

Glorify the Lord, every shower of rain and fall of dew,
    all winds and fire and heat.
Winter and summer, glorify the Lord,
    praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

Glorify the Lord, O chill and cold,
    drops of dew and flakes of snow.
Frost and cold, ice and sleet, glorify the Lord,
    praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

Glorify the Lord, O nights and days,
    O shining light and enfolding dark.
Storm clouds and thunderbolts, glorify the Lord,
    praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

Let the earth glorify the Lord,
    praise him and highly exalt him for ever.
Glorify the Lord, O mountains and hills,
and all that grows upon the earth,
    praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

Glorify the Lord, O springs of water, seas, and streams,
    O whales and all that move in the waters.
All birds of the air, glorify the Lord,
    praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

Glorify the Lord, O beasts of the wild,
    and all you flocks and herds.
O men and women everywhere, glorify the Lord,
    praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

Let the people of God glorify the Lord,
    praise him and highly exalt him for ever.
Glorify the Lord, O priests and servants of the Lord,
    praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

Glorify the Lord, O spirits and souls of the righteous,
    praise him and highly exalt him for ever.
You that are holy and humble of heart, glorify the Lord,
    praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

We hear God’s CALL TO REPENTANCE in Lamentations 3:22-23, 31, 33, 40

It is because of the Lord’s loving kindnesses that we are not consumed,
    because his compassion doesn’t fail.
They are new every morning.
    Great is your faithfulness.

For the Lord will not cast off forever.
For he does not afflict willingly,
    nor grieve the children of men.

Let us search and try our ways,
    and turn again to the Lord.

We respond with CONFESSION using the words of Wilhelm Löhe

Lord Jesus Christ,
you carry the lost sheep back into the fold in your arms,
and you graciously hear the confession of the tax collector;
mercifully forgive all my guilt and sin.

Lord, you hear the penitent thief,
you have prepared an inheritance of mercy for your people,
and have not withheld pardon from the sinner;
hear the prayers of your servants according to your mercy.

Amen.

We hear God’s teaching for our lives in THE READING OF THE LAW in Zechariah 7:9-10

The Lord of hosts says:

Execute true judgments. Show kindness and mercy to each other. Do not oppress the widow or the orphan, the resident foreigner or the poor. Let none of you devise evil against another in your hearts.

We PRAISE God in the INVITATORY PSALM, the VenitePsalm 95:1-7 · Venite, exultemus

1O come, let us sing to the Lord; *
let us heartily rejoice in the strength of our salvation.

2Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, *
and show ourselves glad in him with psalms.

3For the Lord is a great God, *
and a great King above all gods.

4In his hand are all the corners of the earth, *
and the strength of the hills is his also.

5The sea is his, and he made it; *
and his hands prepared the dry land.

6O come, let us worship and bow down, *
and kneel before the Lord our Maker.

7For he is the Lord our God, *
and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.

Gloria Patri

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.

We PRAISE God in THE PSALM OF THE DAYPsalm 19:5–14 · Cæli enarrant

5In the deep has he set a pavilion for the sun; *
it comes forth like a bridegroom out of his chamber; *
it rejoices like a champion to run its course.

6It goes forth from the uttermost edge of the heavens and runs about to the end of it again; *
nothing is hidden from its burning heat.

7The law of the Lord is perfect and revives the soul; *
the testimony of the Lord is sure and gives wisdom to the innocent.

8The statutes of the Lord are just and rejoice the heart; *
the commandment of the Lord is clear and gives light to the eyes.

9The fear of the Lord is clean and endures for ever; *
the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.

10More to be desired are they than gold, more than much fine gold, *
sweeter far than honey, than honey in the comb.

11By them also is your servant enlightened, *
and in keeping them there is great reward.

12Who can tell how often he offends? *
cleanse me from my secret faults.

13Above all, keep your servant from presumptuous sins; let them not get dominion over me; *
then shall I be whole and sound, *
and innocent of a great offense.

14Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, *
O Lord, my strength and my redeemer.

We pray a PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION in the words of Origen of Alexandria

We call upon God through Jesus Christ, that he who is the truth of God would shed light into our hearts and scatter the darkness of error; and we offer as our prayer the words of the prophet: "Destroy error by your truth." Amen.

We hear God speaking to us in THE READING for the dayExodus 20:1–17

Thursday, 12 February 2026 · Ordinary Time

1God spoke all these words, saying, 2“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

3“You shall have no other gods before me.

4“You shall not make for yourselves an idol, nor any image of anything that is in the heavens above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: 5you shall not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them, for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and on the fourth generation of those who hate me, 6and showing loving kindness to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

7“You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who misuses his name.

8“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9You shall labour six days, and do all your work, 10but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. You shall not do any work in it, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your livestock, nor your stranger who is within your gates; 11for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day, and made it holy.

12“Honour your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which the LORD your God gives you.

13“You shall not murder.

14“You shall not commit adultery.

15“You shall not steal.

16“You shall not give false testimony against your neighbour.

17“You shall not covet your neighbour’s house. You shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbour’s.”

World English Bible. Or read it at Bible Gateway in the NRSV: Exodus 20:1–17 · the short form, Exodus 20:1–6.

We REFLECT in silence

We greet the day with THE SONG OF ZECHARIAH, the Benedictus Luke 1:68-79

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel;
    he has come to his people and set them free.
He has raised up for us a mighty savior,
    born of the house of his servant David.
Through his holy prophets he promised of old,
that he would save us from our enemies,
    from the hands of all who hate us.
He promised to show mercy to our fathers
    and to remember his holy covenant.
This was the oath he 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.

You, my 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 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.

We pray the LORD'S PRAYER as Jesus taught his disciples, in those words which are most meaningful to us

Our [ Father / Mother / Creator ] in heaven,
Hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done on earth
as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our [ trespasses / sins ]
as we forgive those who [ trespass / sin ] against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
Amen.

We pray a PRAYER OF INTERCESSION in the words of the Book of Common Prayer

God, the protector of all those who trust in you, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy — increase and multiply on us your mercy; that you being our ruler and guide, we may so pass through things temporal, that we finally lose not the things eternal. Grant this, heavenly Father, for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

We silently pray PERSONAL PRAYER

Followed by

Amen

We pray a PRAYER FOR UNITY OF ALL PEOPLE

God, you have made of one blood all nations of the earth, and your will is that all your children should be gathered into one family of love: break down, we pray you, the walls that divide us; deliver us from hardness of heart and from contempt for those who differ from us; and hasten the time when all shall dwell together in that peace which passes understanding, knowing you as Father and one another as brothers and sisters; through Jesus Christ our Lord, in whom there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, but all are one. Amen.

We pray a PRAYER OF GENERAL THANKSGIVING in the words of Hubert Louis Simpson

We thank you for the good things of this life: for food and clothing and shelter; for work to do and zest in the doing of it. We thank you for the perpetual touch of the divine in life, for the image of yourself in the human soul; for the vigor of youth, the wisdom of age, and for all the lessons of experience; the steps by which we climb to higher things; for the courage of the brave, the indignation of the righteous, the kindness of the thoughtful, and all that makes us human and keeps us Godlike.

Amen.

A concluding BENEDICTION or blessing Numbers 6:24-26

The Lord bless us and keep us;
the Lord make his face to shine upon us,
and be gracious to us;
the Lord lift up his countenance upon us,
and give us peace.

Amen.