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 Romans 8:38–39 and Joel 2:13
I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from God’s love, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Rend your hearts and not your garments, and turn to the Lord your God; for he indeed is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and plenteous in love, and relents of the evil.
We respond with CONFESSION using the words of Alcuin of York
Almighty and merciful God, the fountain of all goodness, you know the thoughts of our hearts. We confess to you that we have sinned against you and done evil in your sight. Wash us, we pray, from the stains of our past sins, and give us grace and strength to put away all that is harmful; so that, set free from the bondage of sin, we may bring forth worthy fruits of repentance.
Eternal Light, shine into our hearts.
Eternal Goodness, deliver us from evil.
Eternal Power, be our support.
Eternal Wisdom, scatter the darkness of our ignorance.
Eternal Mercy, have mercy on us;
so that with all our heart, and mind, and strength, we may seek your face, and be brought by your infinite mercy into your holy presence; through Jesus Christ 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 126 · In convertendo
1When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, *
then were we like those who dream.
2Then was our mouth filled with laughter, *
and our tongue with shouts of joy.
3Then they said among the nations, *
“The Lord has done great things for them.”
4The Lord has done great things for us, *
and we are glad indeed.
5Restore our fortunes, O Lord, *
like the watercourses of the Negev.
6Those who sowed with tears *
will reap with songs of joy.
7Those who go out weeping, carrying the seed, *
will come again with joy, shouldering their sheaves.
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 dayIsaiah 35:1–10
Tuesday, 7 December 2027 · Advent
1The wilderness and the dry land will be glad.
The desert will rejoice and blossom like a rose.
2It will blossom abundantly,
and rejoice even with joy and singing.
Lebanon’s glory will be given to it,
the excellence of Carmel and Sharon.
They will see the LORD’s glory,
the excellence of our God.
3Strengthen the weak hands,
and make the feeble knees firm.
4Tell those who have a fearful heart, “Be strong!
Don’t be afraid!
Behold, your God will come with vengeance, God’s retribution.
He will come and save you.
5Then the eyes of the blind will be opened,
and the ears of the deaf will be unstopped.
6Then the lame man will leap like a deer,
and the tongue of the mute will sing;
for waters will break out in the wilderness,
and streams in the desert.
7The burning sand will become a pool,
and the thirsty ground springs of water.
Grass with reeds and rushes will be in the habitation of jackals, where they lay.
8A highway will be there, a road,
and it will be called “The Holy Way”.
The unclean shall not pass over it,
but it will be for those who walk in the Way.
Wicked fools shall not go there.
9No lion will be there,
nor will any ravenous animal go up on it.
They will not be found there;
but the redeemed will walk there.
10Then the LORD’s ransomed ones will return,
and come with singing to Zion;
and everlasting joy will be on their heads.
They will obtain gladness and joy,
and sorrow and sighing will flee away.”
World English Bible. Or read it at Bible Gateway in the NRSV: Isaiah 35:1–10 · the short form, Isaiah 35:1–6.
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 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.