We hear God’s CALL TO WORSHIP in Psalm 100, known as the Jubilate Deo
Be joyful in the Lord, all you lands;
serve the Lord with gladness
and come before his presence with a song.
Know this: The Lord himself is God;
he himself has made us, and we are his;
we are his people and the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving;
go into his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and call upon his Name.
For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting;
and his faithfulness endures from age to age.
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 Jonathan Edwards
The appearance of every thing is altered,
a calm, sweet cast or appearance of divine glory,
in almost every thing,
God’s excellency, his wisdom, his purity, and love,
appearing in every thing:
in the sun, moon, and stars;
in the clouds and blue sky;
in the grass, flowers, trees;
in the water and all nature.
We hear God’s CALL TO REPENTANCE in 1 John 1:8–9; Isaiah 1:18; Isaiah 55:7
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us the sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Come now, and let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
Let the wicked forsake their way, and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them return to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them; and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
We respond with CONFESSION using the words of Ambrose of Milan
O Lord, you have mercy upon all — take away from me my sins, and mercifully kindle in me the fire of your Holy Spirit. Take away from me the heart of stone, and give me a heart of flesh, a heart to love and adore you, a heart to delight in you, to follow and to enjoy you, for Christ’s sake. Amen.
We hear God’s teaching for our lives in THE READING OF THE LAW in Isaiah 58:6–7
Isn’t this the fast that I have chosen:
to release the bonds of wickedness,
to undo the straps of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and that you break every yoke?
Isn’t it to distribute your bread to the hungry,
and that you bring the poor who are cast out to your house?
When you see the naked, that you cover him;
and that you not hide yourself from your own flesh?
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 71:14–22 · In te, Domine, speravi
14But I shall always wait in patience, *
and shall praise you more and more.
15My mouth shall recount your mighty acts and saving deeds all day long; *
though I cannot know the number of them.
16I will begin with the mighty works of the Lord God; *
I will recall your righteousness, yours alone.
17O God, you have taught me since I was young, *
and to this day I tell of your wonderful works.
18And now that I am old and gray-headed, O God, do not forsake me, *
till I make known your strength to this generation *
and your power to all who are to come.
19Your righteousness, O God, reaches to the heavens; *
you have done great things; *
who is like you, O God?
20You have showed me great troubles and adversities, *
but you will restore my life *
and bring me up again from the deep places of the earth.
21You strengthen me more and more; *
you enfold and comfort me,
22Therefore I will praise you upon the lyre for your faithfulness, O my God; *
I will sing to you with the harp, O Holy One of Israel.
We pray a PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION in the words of John Calvin
Grant, Almighty God, that as you shine on us by your Word, we may not be blind at midday, nor willfully seek darkness, and thus lull our minds asleep; but may we be roused daily by your words, and may we stir up ourselves more and more to fear your name and thus present ourselves and all our pursuits as a sacrifice to you, that you may peaceably rule, and perpetually dwell in us, until you gather us to your celestial habitation, where there is reserved for us eternal rest and glory, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
We hear God speaking to us in THE READING for the day2 Kings 4:8–37
Wednesday, 17 June 2026 · Ordinary Time
8One day Elisha went to Shunem, where there was a prominent woman; and she persuaded him to eat bread. So it was, that as often as he passed by, he turned in there to eat bread. 9She said to her husband, “See now, I perceive that this is a holy man of God who passes by us continually. 10Please, let’s make a little room on the roof. Let’s set a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp stand for him there. When he comes to us, he can stay there.”
11One day he came there, and he went to the room and lay there. 12He said to Gehazi his servant, “Call this Shunammite.” When he had called her, she stood before him. 13He said to him, “Say now to her, ‘Behold, you have cared for us with all this care. What is to be done for you? Would you like to be spoken for to the king, or to the captain of the army?’ ”
She answered, “I dwell amongst my own people.”
14He said, “What then is to be done for her?”
Gehazi answered, “Most certainly she has no son, and her husband is old.”
15He said, “Call her.” When he had called her, she stood in the door. 16He said, “At this season next year, you will embrace a son.”
She said, “No, my lord, you man of God, do not lie to your servant.”
17The woman conceived, and bore a son at that season when the time came around, as Elisha had said to her. 18When the child was grown, one day he went out to his father to the reapers. 19He said to his father, “My head! My head!”
He said to his servant, “Carry him to his mother.”
20When he had taken him and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees until noon, and then died. 21She went up and laid him on the man of God’s bed, and shut the door on him, and went out. 22She called to her husband and said, “Please send me one of the servants, and one of the donkeys, that I may run to the man of God and come again.”
23He said, “Why would you want to go to him today? It is not a new moon or a Sabbath.”
She said, “It’s all right.”
24Then she saddled a donkey, and said to her servant, “Drive, and go forward! Don’t slow down for me, unless I ask you to.”
25So she went, and came to the man of God to Mount Carmel. When the man of God saw her afar off, he said to Gehazi his servant, “Behold, there is the Shunammite. 26Please run now to meet her, and ask her, ‘Is it well with you? Is it well with your husband? Is it well with your child?’ ”
She answered, “It is well.”
27When she came to the man of God to the hill, she caught hold of his feet. Gehazi came near to thrust her away; but the man of God said, “Leave her alone, for her soul is troubled within her; and the LORD has hidden it from me, and has not told me.”
28Then she said, “Did I ask you for a son, my lord? Didn’t I say, ‘Do not deceive me’?”
29Then he said to Gehazi, “Tuck your cloak into your belt, take my staff in your hand, and go your way. If you meet any man, don’t greet him; and if anyone greets you, don’t answer him again. Then lay my staff on the child’s face.”
30The child’s mother said, “As the LORD lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you.”
So he arose, and followed her.
31Gehazi went ahead of them, and laid the staff on the child’s face; but there was no voice and no hearing. Therefore he returned to meet him, and told him, “The child has not awakened.”
32When Elisha had come into the house, behold, the child was dead, and lying on his bed. 33He went in therefore, and shut the door on them both, and prayed to the LORD. 34He went up and lay on the child, and put his mouth on his mouth, and his eyes on his eyes, and his hands on his hands. He stretched himself on him; and the child’s flesh grew warm. 35Then he returned, and walked in the house once back and forth, then went up and stretched himself out on him. Then the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes. 36He called Gehazi, and said, “Call this Shunammite!” So he called her.
When she had come in to him, he said, “Take up your son.”
37Then she went in, fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground; then she picked up her son, and went out.
World English Bible. Or read it at Bible Gateway in the NRSV: 2 Kings 4:8–37 · the short form, 2 Kings 4:32–37.
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
Almighty God, the fountain of wisdom, you know our necessities before we ask, and our ignorance in asking; we ask you to have compassion upon our weaknesses; and those things, which for our unworthiness we dare not, and for our blindness we cannot ask, grant to give us for the worthiness of your Son, 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 Hugh Cameron
For the life which you have given and preserved,
the world in which we dwell,
and the hope of everlasting blessedness,
we thank you, O God.
For the pains and distresses which have moulded us as clay is moulded by the potter,
and for the consolations which so often like springs in the desert have refreshed our weariness,
we thank you, O God.
For comfort and help in sorrow,
in pain,
in bereavement,
and when flesh and heart failed,
we thank you, O God.
For the warnings of your spirit speaking to our spirits when the sky was bright and all people spoke well of us,
we thank you, O God.
For the life and doctrine of our Lord Jesus Christ,
for his love and sacrifice,
for his boundless compassion,
and for the glorious company of those who have followed him in weakness unto victory,
we thank you, O God.
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.