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 Anselm of Canterbury
O God, you are life, wisdom, truth, bounty, and blessedness, the eternal, the only true good; our God and our Lord, you are our hope and our heart’s joy. We acknowledge with thanksgiving that you have made us in your image, and that we may direct our thoughts to you. Lord, make us know you aright, that we may love, enjoy, and possess you more and more, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
We hear God’s CALL TO REPENTANCE in Luke 15:20–24
And he got up and went to his father. But, while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was deeply moved; he ran and threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. ‘Father,’ the son said, ‘I sinned against heaven and against you; I am no longer fit to be called your son; make me one of your hired servants.’
But the father turned to his servants and said ‘Be quick and fetch a robe – the very best – and put it on him; give him a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet; and bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and make merry; for here is my son who was dead, and is alive again, was lost, and is found.’
We respond with CONFESSION using the words of Augustine of Hippo
Cleanse me from my secret faults, O Lord, and spare your servant from the power of the enemy. I contend not in judgment with you, who are the truth; I fear to deceive myself, lest my iniquity lie to itself. Therefore I contend not in judgment with you; for if you, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall abide it? Amen.
We hear God’s teaching for our lives in THE READING OF THE LAW in 2 Corinthians 9:7
Let each person give according as they have determined in their hearts, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
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 78:2–7 · Attendite, popule
2I will open my mouth in a parable; *
I will declare the mysteries of ancient times.
3That which we have heard and known, and what our forefathers have told us, *
we will not hide from their children.
4We will recount to generations to come the praiseworthy deeds and the power of the Lord, *
and the wonderful works he has done.
5He gave his decrees to Jacob and established a law for Israel, *
which he commanded them to teach their children;
6That the generations to come might know, and the children yet unborn; *
that they in their turn might tell it to their children;
7So that they might put their trust in God, *
and not forget the deeds of God, *
but keep his commandments;
We pray a PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION in the words of Lancelot Andrewes
O God, you send forth the light, create the morning, and make the sun rise on the good and the evil alike. Enlighten the blindness of our minds with the knowledge of your truth. Lift up the light of your face upon us, that in your light we may see light, and that at the last, through the light of grace, we may come to the light of glory. Amen.
We hear God speaking to us in THE READING for the day2 Thessalonians 2:1–17
Friday, 20 November 2026 · Ordinary Time
1Now, brothers, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to him, we ask you 2not to be quickly shaken in your mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter as if from us, saying that the day of Christ has already come. 3Let no one deceive you in any way. For it will not be unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of destruction. 4He opposes and exalts himself against all that is called God or that is worshipped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, setting himself up as God. 5Don’t you remember that when I was still with you, I told you these things? 6Now you know what is restraining him, to the end that he may be revealed in his own season. 7For the mystery of lawlessness already works. Only there is one who restrains now, until he is taken out of the way. 8Then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will kill with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the manifestation of his coming; 9even he whose coming is according to the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 10and with all deception of wickedness for those who are being lost, because they didn’t receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11Because of this, God sends them a powerful delusion, that they should believe a lie, 12that they all might be judged who didn’t believe the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
13But we are bound to always give thanks to God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because God chose you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief in the truth, 14to which he called you through our Good News, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15So then, brothers, stand firm and hold the traditions which you were taught by us, whether by word or by letter.
16Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, 17comfort your hearts and establish you in every good work and word.
World English Bible. Or read it at Bible Gateway in the NRSV: 2 Thessalonians 2:1–17 · the short form, 2 Thessalonians 2:13–17.
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 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.