Opening Sentence: Pentecost

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Philippians 1:2

Confession

Let us confess our sins against God and our neighbor.

Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name. Amen.

Almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us all our sins through our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen us in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep us in eternal life. Amen.

Invitatory

Lord, open our lips.

And our mouth shall proclaim your praise.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

Alleluia. The Lord has shown forth his glory: Come let us adore him. Alleluia.

Venite Psalm 95:1-7

Come let us sing to the Lord; *
let us shout for joy to the Rock of our salvation.

Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving *
and raise a loud shout to him with psalms.

For the Lord is a great God, *
and a great King above all gods.

In his hand are the caverns of the earth, *
and the heights of the hills are his also.

The sea is his, for he made it, *
and his hands have molded the dry land.

Come, let us bow down, and bend the knee, *
and kneel before the Lord our Maker.

For he is our God,
and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. *
Oh, that today you would hearken to his voice!

Antiphon

Alleluia. The Lord has shown forth his glory: Come let us adore him. Alleluia.

Psalm 30 Exaltabo te, Domine

1

I will exalt you, O LORD,
because you have lifted me up *
and have not let my enemies triumph over me.

2

O LORD my God, I cried out to you, *
and you restored me to health.

3

You brought me up, O LORD, from the dead; *
you restored my life as I was going down to the grave.

4

Sing to the LORD, you servants of his; *
give thanks for the remembrance of his holiness.

5

For his wrath endures but the twinkling of an eye, *
his favor for a lifetime.

6

Weeping may spend the night, *
but joy comes in the morning.

7

While I felt secure, I said,
"I shall never be disturbed. *
You, LORD, with your favor, made me as strong as the mountains."

8

Then you hid your face, *
and I was filled with fear.

9

I cried to you, O LORD; *
I pleaded with the Lord, saying,

10

"What profit is there in my blood, if I go down to the Pit? *
will the dust praise you or declare your faithfulness?

11

Hear, O LORD, and have mercy upon me; *
O LORD, be my helper."

12

You have turned my wailing into dancing; *
you have put off my sack-cloth and clothed me with joy.

13

Therefore my heart sings to you without ceasing; *
O LORD my God, I will give you thanks for ever.

Psalm 32 Beati quorum

1

Happy are they whose transgressions are forgiven, *
and whose sin is put away!

2

Happy are they to whom the LORD imputes no guilt, *
and in whose spirit there is no guile!

3

While I held my tongue, my bones withered away, *
because of my groaning all day long.

4

For your hand was heavy upon me day and night; *
my moisture was dried up as in the heat of summer.

5

Then I acknowledged my sin to you, *
and did not conceal my guilt.

6

I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD." *
Then you forgave me the guilt of my sin.

7

Therefore all the faithful will make their prayers to you in time of trouble; *
when the great waters overflow, they shall not reach them.

8

You are my hiding-place;
you preserve me from trouble; *
you surround me with shouts of deliverance.

9

"I will instruct you and teach you in the way that you should go; *
I will guide you with my eye.

10

Do not be like horse or mule, which have no understanding; *
who must be fitted with bit and bridle,
or else they will not stay near you."

11

Great are the tribulations of the wicked; *
but mercy embraces those who trust in the LORD.

12

Be glad, you righteous, and rejoice in the LORD; *
shout for joy, all who are true of heart.

Gloria Patri

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

Old Testament Lesson

Ezra 4:7, 11-24 (NRSV)

7 And in the days of Artaxerxes, Bishlam and Mithredath and Tabeel and the rest of their associates wrote to King Artaxerxes of Persia; the letter was written in Aramaic and translated.

11 this is a copy of the letter that they sent):
"To King Artaxerxes:Your servants, the people of the province Beyond the River, send greeting. And now 12 may it be known to the king that the Jews who came up from you to us have gone to Jerusalem. They are rebuilding that rebellious and wicked city; they are finishing the walls and repairing the foundations. 13 Now may it be known to the king that, if this city is rebuilt and the walls finished, they will not pay tribute, custom, or toll, and the royal revenue will be reduced. 14 Now because we share the salt of the palace and it is not fitting for us to witness the king's dishonor, therefore we send and inform the king, 15 so that a search may be made in the annals of your ancestors. You will discover in the annals that this is a rebellious city, hurtful to kings and provinces, and that sedition was stirred up in it from long ago. On that account this city was laid waste. 16 We make known to the king that, if this city is rebuilt and its walls finished, you will then have no possession in the province Beyond the River."
17 The king sent an answer:"To Rehum the royal deputy and Shimshai the scribe and the rest of their associates who live in Samaria and in the rest of the province Beyond the River, greeting. And now 18 the letter that you sent to us has been read in translation before me. 19 So I made a decree, and someone searched and discovered that this city has risen against kings from long ago, and that rebellion and sedition have been made in it. 20 Jerusalem has had mighty kings who ruled over the whole province Beyond the River, to whom tribute, custom, and toll were paid.²¹ Therefore issue an order that these people be made to cease, and that this city not be rebuilt, until I make a decree. 22 Moreover, take care not to be slack in this matter; why should damage grow to the hurt of the king?"
23 Then when the copy of King Artaxerxes' letter was read before Rehum and the scribe Shimshai and their associates, they hurried to the Jews in Jerusalem and by force and power made them cease. 24 At that time the work on the house of God in Jerusalem stopped and was discontinued until the second year of the reign of King Darius of Persia.

The Word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Canticle 12 A Song of Creation
Benedicite, omnia opera DominiSong of the Three Young Men, 35-65

Invocation

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.

I The Cosmic Order

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.

II The Earth and its Creatures

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.

III The People of God

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.

Doxology

Let us glorify the Lord: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; *
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.

New Testament Lesson

Philemon 1-25 (NRSV)

1 Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our dear friend and co-worker, 2 to Apphia our sister, to Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house:3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 4 When I remember you in my prayers, I always thank my God 5 because I hear of your love for all the saints and your faith toward the Lord Jesus. 6 I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective when you perceive all the good that we may do for Christ. 7 I have indeed received much joy and encouragement from your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you, my brother. 8 For this reason, though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do your duty, 9 yet I would rather appeal to you on the basis of love-and I, Paul, do this as an old man, and now also as a prisoner of Christ Jesus. 10 I am appealing to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I have become during my imprisonment. 11 Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful both to you and to me. 12 I am sending him, that is, my own heart, back to you. 13 I wanted to keep him with me, so that he might be of service to me in your place during my imprisonment for the gospel; 14 but I preferred to do nothing without your consent, in order that your good deed might be voluntary and not something forced. 15 Perhaps this is the reason he was separated from you for a while, so that you might have him back forever, 16 no longer as a slave but more than a slave, a beloved brother-especially to me but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord. 17 So if you consider me your partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. 18 If he has wronged you in any way, or owes you anything, charge that to my account. 19 I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand:I will repay it. I say nothing about your owing me even your own self. 20 Yes, brother, let me have this benefit from you in the Lord! Refresh my heart in Christ.²¹ Confident of your obedience, I am writing to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say. 22 One thing more-prepare a guest room for me, for I am hoping through your prayers to be restored to you. 23 Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends greetings to you, 24 and so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow workers. 25 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

The Word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Gospel

Matthew 12:33-42 (NRSV)

33 "Either make the tree good, and its fruit good; or make the tree bad, and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit. 34 You brood of vipers! How can you speak good things, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 The good person brings good things out of a good treasure, and the evil person brings evil things out of an evil treasure. 36 I tell you, on the day of judgment you will have to give an account for every careless word you utter; 37 for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned." 38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to him, "Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you." 39 But he answered them, "An evil and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so for three days and three nights the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth. 41 The people of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the proclamation of Jonah, and see, something greater than Jonah is here! 42 The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon, and see, something greater than Solomon is here!

The Word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Canticle 19 The Song of the Redeemed
Magna et mirabilia Revelation 15:3-4

O ruler of the universe, Lord God,
great deeds are they that you have done, *
surpassing human understanding.
Your ways are ways of righteousness and truth, *

O King of all the ages
Who can fail to do you homage, Lord
and sing the praises of your Name
for you only are the Holy One.

All nations will draw near and fall down before you
because your just and holy works have been revealed.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

One of the great treasures of the Christian church is its hymns, and one of the greatest contributions to that treasure is that of the early Lutheran writers, beginning with Martin Luther and reaching a peak with J.S.Bach. On 26 October, the Lutheran church remembers three outstanding hymn-writers from Germany in the 1600's. Since that date is already taken on my Calendar, I here place them on 24 October.

Philipp Nicolai, hymnwriter 26 October 1608

Philipp Nicolai was born in 1556 in Germany, son of a Lutheran pastor. He studied theology at the universities of Erfurt and Wittenberg, 1575-1579, and became a pastor himself. It was a time of religious wars in Europe, and several times he had to flee or go into hiding and minister to his congregations secretly in house meetings. He was a theological writer, defending Lutheran theology chiefly against Calvinistic opponents. He also preached with great power and effectiveness. In 1588 he became pastor at Altwildungen, in 1596 he became pastor at Unna in Westphalia, and in 1601 pastor in Hamburg. But he is remembered today for writing two hymns.

While he was pastor in Westphalia, the plague took 1300 of his parishioners, mostly in the latter half of 1597, 170 in one week. To comfort his parishioners, he wrote a series of meditations which he called Freudenspiegel (Mirror of Joy), and to this he appended two hymns, both of which have become world-famous.

The first hymn was, "Wake, awake, for night is flying" (Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme). It uses the image of the watchman on a city wall (Isaiah 52:8), and of the Parable of the Bridesmaids welcoming the Bridegroom to the Marriage Feast (Matthew 25:1-13), and of the Song of Triumph in Heaven (Revelation 19:6-9). It is a favorite Advent hymn.

The second hymn was, "How bright appears the morning star" (Wie schoen leuchtet der Morgenstern). This also, with a wealth of imagery, hails Christ as our deliverer, and celebrates his triumph. It has become a favorite wedding hymn, but is also sung for Advent, for Christmas, for Epiphany, and and as a general hymn of praise.

Nicolai wrote both the words and the tunes, but the arrangements we know are due to Bach. The earliest English translations are those of Catherine Winkworth, but there have been many translations since, some of them (especially for the second hymn) content to reproduce the general spirit of the original words rather than their specific meaning. In addition, several hymnwriters have set their own words (in various languages) to one of Nicolai's tunes. If pure quality, without respect to quantity, were our criterion, Nicolai would have to be ranked as history's greatest chorale-writer, and one of its greatest hymn-writers.

Nicolai died 26 October 1608 after a brief (four-day) illness.

Johann Heermann, hymnwriter 17 February 1647

Johann Heermann was born in Silesia in Germany in 1585, the fifth and only surviving child of his parents. As a child he suffered a severe illness, and his mother vowed that if he lived he would be trained for the ministry. He became a minister, and taught at the university, but was forced to stop in 1607 because of an eye infection. In 1611 he became deacon and then pastor of the Lutheran church in the small town of Koeben near his birthplace. The Thirty Years' War was then in progress, and Koeben was burned in 1616, plundered four times between 1629 and 1634, and ravaged by pestilence in 1631. Heermann several times was forced to flee, narrowly excaping death and losing all his possessions. In 1634 a throat problem forced him to stop preaching, and he retired in 1638 and died in 1647.

During the preceding century, during and immediately following the Lutheran Reformation, most Lutheran hymns had been "objective," affirming the doctrines of the faith, but not explicitly stating an emotional response. Heermann's hymns move toward the expression of the feelings of the believer.

His best-known hymn (in English circles) is "Ah, holy Jesus, how hast thou offended?" (Herzliebster Jesu, was hast du verbrochen), a chorale used by Bach in the St Matthew Passion. It is loosely based on a Latin verse (beginning "Quid commisisti, dulcissime puer, ut sic judicareris?"), variously attributed to Augustine and to Anselm, but now to Jean de Fecamp (d. 1078). The tune, by Johann Crueger, is perhaps indebted to Psalm 23 of the Geneva Psalter.

Other hymns of his include:

"O gracious God above, true fount of joy unending" or "O God, my faithful God" (O Gott, du frommer Gott);

"Oh, what precious balm and healing, Jesus, in thy wounds I find" (based on a Latin hymn of Bernard of Clairvaux);

"O Christ, our true and only Light, Illumine those who sit in night" or "O Christ, our Light, our Radiance true";

"Lord, thy death and passion give Strength and comfort at my need" (based on a Latin hymn of Bernard of Clairvaux);

"Lord, grant thy servants grace" (an ordination hymn);

"Praise God, this hour of sorrow Shall bring a brighter morrow" (a funeral hymn).

Paul Gerhardt, hymnwriter 7 June 1676

Paul (Paulus) Gerhardt was born in 1607 near Wittenberg in Germany, and studied theology at the University of Wittenberg from 1628 to 1642. In 1651 he was ordained and made pastor of a church in Brandenburg, near Berlin. In 1657 he became third assistant at St Nicholas Church in Berlin. In his sermons, he maintained the Lutheran position against the Calvinists. He refused to sign a pledge not to bring theological argument into his sermons, and was deposed by Frederick William of Brandenberg-Prussia in 1666. His wife and four of his children died. In 1669 he was made archdeacon of Luebben, and died there 7 June 1676.

Despite personal suffering and the horrors of the Thirty Years War, Gerhardt wrote over 130 hymns, expressing both orthodox doctrines and emotional warmth in response to them. His work, like that of Heerman cited above, is counted by hymnologists as transitional between the Confessional and the Pietistic periods of Lutheran hymnody. He has been called he greatest of Lutheran hymn-writers. (Note that when we say "hymns," we are talking about words. The composing of hymn-tunes is another matter.)

His hymns include the following:

"O sacred head, sore wounded" (O Haupt voll Blut), a translation of the Latin "Salve caput cruentatum," attributed to Bernard of Clairvaux. This hymn, known as the Passion Chorale, is used with great effectiveness by Bach in the St Matthew Passion, where eleven stanzas of it are interspersed through the account of the Passion of Christ, all sung to the same tune, but with different arrangements suited to the words of the different stanzas and to the contexts in which they appear. It is one of the best-known and best-loved of Good Friday hymns.

"Awake, my heart, and render" (Wach auf mein Herz, und singe), a morning hymn.

"The duteous day now closeth" or "Now all the woods are sleeping" or "Now rest beneath night's shadow" (Nun ruhen alle Waelder), an evening hymn.

"All my heart this night rejoices" or "Once again my heart rejoices" (Froehlich soll mein Herze springen), a Christmas or Nativity hymn.

"Commit thou all that grieves thee" (Befiehl du deine Wege), often sung to the same tune as the Passion Chorale. It is a hymn about trust in God in time of trouble, and is based on a poem of Martin Luther which in turn is a metrical paraphrase of Psalm 37 ("Fret not yourself because of the evil-doer.... Commit your way to the LORD and put your trust in him, and he will bring it to pass.")

"O how shall I receive thee" or "How shall I fitly meet thee" or "O Lord, how shall I meet you" (Valet will ich dir geben), a hymn welcoming the newborn Christ, used during Advent and Christmas, and in Bach's Christmas Oratorio.

"Awake, my heart, with gladness, See what today is done" (Auf, auf, mein Herz), an Easter hymn;

"Evening and morning, sunset and dawning";

"Jesus, thy boundless love to me" (translated by John Wesley);

"Since Jesus is my friend, and I to him belong";

"Put thou thy trust in God, in duty's path go on";

"A Lamb goes uncomplaining forth" or "A Lamb goes forth, our griefs to share", a Good Friday hymn;

"Blest is he that never walketh", a paraphrase of Psalm 1;

"If God Himself be for me, I may a host defy" (Ist Gott fuer mich);

"Emmanuel, we sing thy praise", a Christmas hymn;

"Holy Spirit, source of gladness! Come with all thy radiance bright";

"O enter, Lord, Thy temple, be Thou my spirit's Guest";

"O draw me, Saviour, after Thee! So shall I run and never tire", tr. J. Wesley;

"Give to the winds thy fears", tr. J. Wesley;

"A pilgrim and a stranger, I journey here below";

"I will sing to my Creator, Unto God I'll render praise";

"I'll praise thee with my heart and tongue, O Lord my soul's delight";

The hymn "Awake, my heart, and render," mentioned above, is often sung to a tune by a pupil of Melanchthon, Nicolaus Selnecker (1528-1592), Lutheran professor of theology at Leipzig, co-drafter of the Lutheran creedal statement called the Formula of Concord, who wrote words and music for many hymns. This particular tune is a hemiole (or hemiola): that is, it has alternate 6/8 and 3/4 rhythm. (A well-known modern example is the song "America" from the musical "West Side Story.") Thus, the first stanza is:

  Awake, my heart, and render     c - | c - B A - c | d - c -
  to God, thy sure Defender,      c - | c - d B - G | c - B -
  thy Maker and Preserver,        B - | c - c d - e | d - d -
  a song of love and fervor.      e - | f - e d - c | d - c -

The hemiola form is traditional in Latin America, in Africa, in Germany, and Finland, and elsewhere (The old Finnish Koraalikirja is full of hemiolas. Query: what are the German, Finnish, and Swedish names for the form?)

Joachim Neander, hymnwriter 1680

To these Lutheran hymnwriters, we may add a Calvinist, Joachim Neander, born in Bremen in 1650. After a rowdy life as an undergraduate, he underwent conversion and amendment. He became a schoolteacher, then undertook a life of solitary meditation. There is a cave named for him near Mettman-am-Rhein, which he perhaps used as his hermitage, until his death at the age of thirty. He is accounted the principal Calvinist poet in Germany, but only a few of his hymns are known in English. The best-known is "Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of Creation" (Lobe den Herren, den maechtigen Koenig der Ehren!), based on Psalms 150 and 103:1-6.

Neander was originally surnamed Neumann (New man). However, like many others of his time (such as Martin Luther's colleague Philip Schwartzerd, whose name means "black earth," and who changed it to "Melanchthon," which means the same thing in Greek), he adopted a Greek surname with the same meaning (NE- meaning "new" as in "neo-Marxist" or whatever, and ANDER meaning "man" as in "android, polyandry, andrology," and so on. In Greek, ANTHROPOS means "man (gender-inclusive)" while ANER, ANDR- means "man (gender-specific)". Thus, "anthropology" is the study of humans in general, while "andrology" is the medical study of the male body, just as "gynecology" is cencerned with the female body. The respective equivalents in Latin are HOMO, HOMIN- (gender-inclusive) and VIR (gender-specific). In English, "man" does double-duty for both. Some feminists are trying to substitute "person" for "man" in all gender-inclusive uses, but this is awkward, because the gender-inclusive meaning is the primary one for "man". I have thought of reviving "were" (pronounced "weer") as in "werewolf" and "weregeld" for the gender-specific meaning, but am not optimistic about the chances of success.). When Joachim Neander went to live in a cave by a river, the river came to be named for him as the Neander River, and the valley of that river was called the Neander Valley, or Neander Dale. The German word for "dale" is "thal" (the "th" is pronounced much like English "t"), and so the valley and general region is the Neanderthal. It is here that remains were first found of an early European population that have accordingly come to be called Neanderthal Man.

written by James Kiefer

Prayer

Almighty God, who through your holy Apostle have taught us to praise you in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs: We give you thanks this day for the gift of writing great hymns which you gave to your servants Philipp Nicolai, Johann Heermann, Paul Gerhardt, and Joachim Neander; and we pray that your Church may never lack those with the gifts of writing words and music to your praise, and may be ever filled with the desire to praise and thank you for your great goodness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Apostles' Creed

I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only son, our Lord.
He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit
and born of the Virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.

The Lord's Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy Name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done, on earth as it is in
heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass
against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.

Suffrages A

Show us your mercy, O Lord;

And grant us your salvation.

Clothe your ministers with righteousness;

Let your people sing with joy.

Give peace, O Lord, in all the world;

For only in you can we live in safety.

Lord, keep this nation under your care;

And guide us in the way of justice and truth.

Let your way be known upon earth;

Your saving health among all nations.

Let not the needy, O Lord, be forgotten;

Nor the hope of the poor be taken away.

Create in us clean hearts, O God;

And sustain us with your Holy Spirit.

Collect of the Day: Pentecost, proper 24

Almighty and everlasting God, in Christ you have revealed your glory among the nations: Preserve the works of your mercy, that your Church throughout the world may persevere with steadfast faith in the confession of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

A Collect for Saturdays

Almighty God, who after the creation of the world rested from all you works and sanctified a day of rest for all your creatures: Grant that we, putting away all earthly anxieties, may be duly prepared for the service of your sanctuary, and that our rest here upon earth may be a preparation for the eternal rest promised to your people in heaven; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

For Mission

Lord Jesus Christ, you stretched out your arms of love on the hard wood of the cross that everyone might come within the reach of your saving embrace: So clothe us in your Spirit that we, reaching forth our hands in love, may bring those who do not know you to the knowledge and love of you; for the honor of your Name. Amen.

World Cycle of Prayer

The Press

Ecumenical Cycle of Prayer

We pray for our sisters and brothers, members of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod.

The Lutheran Church Missouri Synod

For Joy in God's Creation

O heavenly Father, who has filled the world with beauty: Open our eyes to behold your gracious hand in all your works; that, rejoicing in your whole creation, we may learn to serve you with gladness; for the sake of him through whom all things were made, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

For the Good Use of Leisure

O God, in the course of this busy life, give us times of refreshment and peace; and grant that we may so use our leisure to rebuild our bodies and renew our minds, that our spirits may be opened to the goodness of your creation; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

For the Unemployed

Heavenly Father, we remember before you those who suffer want and anxiety from lack of work. Guide the people of this land so to use our public and private wealth that all may find suitable and fulfilling employment, and receive just payment for their labor; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

A Prayer of Self-Dedication

General Thanksgiving

A Prayer of St. Chrysostom

Almighty God, you have given us grace at this time with one accord to make our common supplication to you; and you have promised through your well-beloved Son that when two or three are gathered together in his Name you will be in the midst of them: Fulfill now, O Lord, our desires and petitions as may be best for us; granting us in this world knowledge of your truth, and in the age to come life everlasting. Amen.

Benediction

Let us bless the Lord. Alleluia. Alleluia.

Thanks be to God. Alleluia. Alleluia.