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Community Universalist Church

Daily Office

Morning · Thursday, 10 June 2027 · Ordinary Time

We hear God’s CALL TO WORSHIP in Habakkuk 2:20

The Lord is in his holy temple.
Let all the earth be silent before 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 Richard Baxter

We praise and glorify you our Lord and owner, for we and all things are your own. We praise and glorify you our king and ruler, for we are your subjects, and our perfect obedience is your due. Just are all your laws and judgment; true and sure is all your Word. We praise and glorify you, our great benefactor. In you we live, and move, and are: all that we are, or have, or can do, is wholly from you, the cause of all; and all is for you, for you are our end. Delightfully to love you is our greatest duty, and our only felicity, for you are love itself, and infinitely amiable. Amen.

We hear God’s CALL TO REPENTANCE in Revelation 3:17, 20

You say ‘I am rich and have grown rich, and I want for nothing,’ and you do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, naked!

I am standing at the door and knocking! If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will go in, and will feast with them, and they will feast with me.

We respond with CONFESSION using the words of the Leonine Sacramentary

Almighty and everlasting God, you are always more ready to hear than we to pray, and always give more than either we desire or deserve, pour down upon us the abundance of your mercy, forgiving us those things that our conscience is afraid of, and giving us those good things which we are not worthy to ask, but through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord.

Amen.

We hear God’s teaching for our lives in THE READING OF THE LAW in Deuteronomy 6:4–9

Hear, Israel:
   The Lord is our God,
   the Lord is one,
and you shall love the Lord your God
    with all your heart,
    and with all your soul,
    and with all your might.

These words, which I command you this day, shall be on your heart;
    and you shall teach them diligently to your children,
    and shall talk of them when you sit in your house,
    and when you walk by the way,
    and when you lie down,
    and when you rise up.

You shall bind them for a sign on your hand,
    and they shall be for symbols between your eyes.
You shall write them on the door-posts of your house,
    and on your gates.

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 96:3–10 · Cantate Domino

3Declare his glory among the nations *
and his wonders among all peoples.

4For great is the Lord and greatly to be praised; *
he is more to be feared than all gods.

5As for all the gods of the nations, they are but idols; *
but it is the Lord who made the heavens.

6Oh, the majesty and magnificence of his presence! *
Oh, the power and the splendor of his sanctuary!

7Ascribe to the Lord, you families of the peoples; *
ascribe to the Lord honor and power.

8Ascribe to the Lord the honor due his Name; *
bring offerings and come into his courts.

9Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness; *
let the whole earth tremble before him.

10Tell it out among the nations: “The Lord is King! *
he has made the world so firm that it cannot be moved; *
he will judge the peoples with equity.”

We pray a PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION in the words of Thomas Cranmer in the Book of Common Prayer (1549)

Blessed Lord, you have caused all Holy Scriptures to be written for our learning — grant us that we may in such a way hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them; that by patience and comfort of your holy Word, we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

We hear God speaking to us in THE READING for the day1 Kings 10:1–13

Thursday, 10 June 2027 · Ordinary Time

1When the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the LORD’s name, she came to test him with hard questions. 2She came to Jerusalem with a very great caravan, with camels that bore spices, very much gold, and precious stones; and when she had come to Solomon, she talked with him about all that was in her heart. 3Solomon answered all her questions. There wasn’t anything hidden from the king which he didn’t tell her. 4When the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, 5the food of his table, the sitting of his servants, the attendance of his officials, their clothing, his cup bearers, and his ascent by which he went up to the LORD’s house, there was no more spirit in her. 6She said to the king, “It was a true report that I heard in my own land of your acts and of your wisdom. 7However, I didn’t believe the words until I came and my eyes had seen it. Behold, not even half was told me! Your wisdom and prosperity exceed the fame which I heard. 8Happy are your men, happy are these your servants who stand continually before you, who hear your wisdom. 9Blessed is the LORD your God, who delighted in you, to set you on the throne of Israel. Because the LORD loved Israel forever, therefore he made you king, to do justice and righteousness.” 10She gave the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold, and a very great quantity of spices, and precious stones. Never again was there such an abundance of spices as these which the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

11The fleet of Hiram that brought gold from Ophir also brought in from Ophir great quantities of almug trees and precious stones. 12The king made of the almug trees pillars for the LORD’s house and for the king’s house, harps also and stringed instruments for the singers; no such almug trees came or were seen to this day.

13King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatever she asked, in addition to that which Solomon gave her of his royal bounty. So she turned and went to her own land, she and her servants.

World English Bible. Or read it at Bible Gateway in the NRSV: 1 Kings 10:1–13 · the short form, 1 Kings 10:1–5.

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 Thomas à Kempis

Grant me, most loving Lord, to rest in you above every creature; above all health and beauty; above all glory and honor; above all power and dignity; above all knowledge and skill; above all riches and arts; above all joy and exultation; above all fame and praise; above all sweetness and consolation; above all hope and promise; above all merit and desire; above all gifts and rewards which you can give and pour forth; above all joy and jubilation which the mind is able to receive and feel; in a word, above angels and archangels and all the army of heaven; above all things visible and invisible; and above everything which you, my God, are not. 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.