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Community Universalist Church

Daily Office

Morning · Wednesday, 4 March 2026 · Ordinary Time

We hear God's CALL TO WORSHIP in Revelation 19:6–7

I heard something like the voice of a great multitude, and like the voice of many waters, and like the voice of mighty thunders, saying, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns! Let us rejoice and be exceedingly glad, and let us give the glory to him.”

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 Colossians 3:1–2

If then you were raised together with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated on the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are on the earth.

We respond with CONFESSION using the words of John Hunter

Almighty God, Spirit of purity and grace, whose salvation is never far from the contrite heart, listen to our confessions of sin, and have mercy upon us.

For our many refusals of your call;
for all our forgotten vows;
for the better purposes which we have suffered to grow weak;
for the excuses we have fashioned to hide from ourselves our unfaithful lives;
for the vindictive passions we have cherished;
for our readiness to blame, and our want of thoughtfulness, patience, kindness, and sympathy;
for all the goodness of life which we have received thanklessly;
for the strength which we have wasted;
for the opportunities which we have neglected;
for all the beauty of this fair world and the love of human hearts which have passed before us and which in our thoughtlessness and care and passion we have not appreciated;
for our selfish comfort amid the wrongs, oppressions, and sorrows of life;
for the counsels of your Word which have spoken to us vainly;
for the grace and truth of your beloved Son which we have slighted;
for the pleadings of your Spirit to which we have not listened;

have mercy upon us, O God.

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 67:2–7 · Deus misereatur

2That your way may be known upon earth, *
your saving power among all nations.

3Let the peoples praise you, O God; *
yea, let all the peoples praise you.

4O let the nations rejoice and be glad; *
for you shall judge the peoples righteously, and govern the nations upon earth.

5Let the peoples praise you, O God; *
yea, let all the peoples praise you.

6Then shall the earth bring forth her increase; *
and God, even our own God, shall give us his blessing.

7God shall bless us; *
and all the ends of the world shall fear him.

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 dayDeuteronomy 26:1–11

Wednesday, 4 March 2026 · Ordinary Time

1It shall be, when you have come in to the land which the LORD your God gives you for an inheritance, possess it, and dwell in it, 2that you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you shall bring in from your land that the LORD your God gives you. You shall put it in a basket, and shall go to the place which the LORD your God shall choose to cause his name to dwell there. 3You shall come to the priest who shall be in those days, and tell him, “I profess today to the LORD your God, that I have come to the land which the LORD swore to our fathers to give us.” 4The priest shall take the basket out of your hand, and set it down before the LORD your God’s altar. 5You shall answer and say before the LORD your God, “My father was a Syrian ready to perish. He went down into Egypt, and lived there, few in number. There he became a great, mighty, and populous nation. 6The Egyptians mistreated us, afflicted us, and imposed hard labour on us. 7Then we cried to the LORD, the God of our fathers. The LORD heard our voice, and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. 8The LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand, with an outstretched arm, with great terror, with signs, and with wonders; 9and he has brought us into this place, and has given us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. 10Now, behold, I have brought the first of the fruit of the ground, which you, the LORD, have given me.” You shall set it down before the LORD your God, and worship before the LORD your God. 11You shall rejoice in all the good which the LORD your God has given to you, and to your house, you, and the Levite, and the foreigner who is amongst you.

World English Bible. Or read it at Bible Gateway in the NRSV: Deuteronomy 26:1–11 · the short form, Deuteronomy 26:5–10.

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 Saint Patrick

I bind myself today:
To the power of God to guide me.
To the might of God to uphold me.
To the wisdom of God to teach me.
The eye of God to watch over me.
The ear of God to hear me.
The word of God to speak to me.
The way of God to lie before me.
The host of God to defend me.
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.